Mismatched eyes blinked back at her from the warm water of the pool and her muzzle scrunched. She knew it was her reflection, but every time she tried to place a name to the face her ears began to ring with a high pitched whine, and a vision of teeth was all she could recall. To top that off, it seemed the cinnamon raccoon that wouldn’t leave her be was some sort of… friend? She had almost eaten it once but her instincts rebelled and the creature, rather than running away had chosen to throw river stones at her and chitter as if in disapproval. It was all too strange for her.

The dark girl reached out to smack her own reflection away, a heavy sigh leaving her chest as she did so. It was hard to know what she was supposed to be doing when she didn’t even know who she was.

Leaving the hot springs behind, she trudged towards the willow trees, the strange raccoon following her with a firefly in a bottle hung about it’s neck. She had tried to let the thing go but it had flown straight back in there, little weirdo. They made a strange band for sure.

"speech".

I could use some friends for a change

Grimshaw wondered if a little bit of immersion therapy would help with his downright fear of the hot springs. He couldn't help but admit however that the closer he got to the place, his heart began to race and not in a way that made him feel good. His head wasn't filled with thoughts of Malachai, no, instead it was the moment he was drowning and being held underwater by the crystal at the bottom of the pool. With his heart racing, his breathing quickened and it wasn't but a few moments later that his legs began to shake with fear and anxiety. This was close enough. He could just barely see the springs through the trees that blended between the willows and the warm pools of water. This was close enough.

It was closer than he had allowed himself to get since the day his teeth fell out. He couldn't complain though, they were growing back even sharper than before. He was even pleased to see that his second set of upper teeth had returned, proving to remain slightly loner than the others as they grew. Honestly, besides the constant nightmares and immobilizing fear when he got near the hot springs, Grimshaw looked alright. His weight had been better, but who hadn't lost weight during the infection?

He couldn't help but hope to see Malachai wandering around out here like he had so many times before during the infection, but no recent traces of the boys scent could be found. He found solace with the young man since the event, but today that would not be on his agenda. Instead, he found a scent he hadn't quiet expected to find. Having once seen his lost sister some seasons ago, he was curious to find her scent here now, and fresh. He followed it for some time before catching her some paces ahead with her trusty companion following behind.

"Daphne?" He called out, certain it was her but questioning just in case. He didn't want to startle her.

"Speech."

The girl had been sticking close to the place she had woken up for as long as she could remember, thinking that maybe if she stayed put, then someone who knew who she was or where she was meant to be might find her. So when a voice called out a name that left a ringing in her ears and made her want to cover her ears and scream, pained eyes turned in their direction.

He kinda, sorta but not really, looked like her? The scent wasn’t one that made her want to run and hide, but confusion was painted clearly on her face. She watched in confusion as the raccoon ran to the boy, chittering away, grabbing her head and holding up the firefly in the bottle as if the boy might be able to understand her foreign language. She was hesitant to let the words past her lips but she needed to know, even if it was just a name. "Do you know me?"

"speech".

I could use some friends for a change