Daphne was proud of herself, and it showed in the way she hastily picked her way back towards the hot springs. She had been up by the falls with Pandora (she had decided she may as well give her cinnamon guardian a name), when the prettiest smooth green stone caught her eye just below the surface of the water. Pandora had used her dexterous fingers to fish it out, holding it up for the large girl to admire, with a low whispered "It’s perfect...", her eyes wide and full of stars as she imagined the look on Bowen’s face when she showed it to her (of course, she always planned on gifting it to her smallest sister, but she didn’t have to know that to start with). It went to perfectly with her eyes to be given to anyone else.

She was a little bit worried that if she tripped, carrying the stone gently in her jaws, that she might swallow it. It seemed Pandora agreed that was the likely outcome with her still oversized paws underneath her, so the raccoon decided instead to climb up on her back, carefully cradling the stone in her much safer paws. Daphne could have rolled her eyes, it wasn’t like Pandora was light by any means, but it might help her to build some extra muscle for her next spar against her brothers. Finally, she could smell her sister on the breeze, her tail beginning to wave about, knowing it wouldn’t be long now before she could hopefully see Bowen smile as excitedly as she had when she had found it. "Bo? Hey! Bo! You gotta come see this!"

"speech".

have a little faith in me

"Bowen" Mom had given her permission to play in one of the shallow springs. The water was just up to the cinnamon child's heels. When she laid down in the spring, she could comfortably rest her chin on the edge and still be fine, though mom warned her not to fall asleep in it. Just to be sure, Boogie was seated off to the side, watching. The chubby little opossum had taken to following her around since they'd met one another. Ears perked as Bowen heard Daphne calling for her. Raising her head, warm, sulfurous water dripped from her chin and neck. "I'm over here!" Standing up, she shook out her caramel cream coat. Her fur stood up in all directions but she didn't care. Stepping out of the spring she made her way towards her approaching sister, giggling at the raccoon sitting on her back.

Over here! Daphne’s tail began to wave rapidly, her large head swinging and finally catching sight of her sister framed by the final orange tones of fall. She grinned, carefully stepping her way across stones lining the spring. "Cool possum!" she commented with a smile. "Y’know what else is cool?" Her eyes lit up again, and she tipped her head back. "C’mon ‘dora, show it to her!" She pleaded with the fat raccoon. Pandora narrowed her eyes and clutched the stone to her chest for a moment before relenting with an audible sigh and holding out a hand to show the smooth green stone to Bowen before snatching it back to her chest. It would seem that Daphne would have some negotiating to do if it was ever going to get to where she intended.

"speech".

have a little faith in me

"Bowen" As her sister caught sight of her and came closer, Bowen grinned, tail swishing happily back and forth. Daphne caught sight of the opossum and gave him a compliment. "His name is Boogie." Bowen was quite smitten with the big guy and he was just as enamored with her. Already they were fast friends and hunted for treasure together. What more could a kid ask for in a companion? Daphne stopped and insisted that her raccoon show Bowen something. The smaller girl tilted her head to the side curiously and waited. After some coaxing, the raccoon held out a glittering green stone. The caramel cream girl's emerald eyes opened wide and she gasped. Now that was treasure! Just a quickly, the raccoon snatched it back and held it away from Bowen. It seemed that she wanted to keep it. Bowen frowned, her ears drooping slightly. "That's a pretty stone, Daph." Even her words were sad. She just couldn't help it.

The sadness in Bowen’s tone twisted like a knife in her chest and she no longer had any desire to be diplomatic with her companion about it. Daphne sighed and rolled her eyes at the raccoons antics. They’d already talked about this! "Pandora..." There was a warning in her voice that the raccoon continued to ignore, so with her paws occupied hoarding the stone to her large belly, Daphne kicked out her back legs like a bronco at a rodeo. The racoon was take by surprise, tumbling from her back and landing on the ground with an indignant sound. She stalked forward to stand over her, legs splayed while the raccoon tried to get up off her back without letting go of the rock. "We already talked about this, I got some shiny bugs I gotta show you yet, now give over!" It was a staring match up to the point she mentioned bugs, then the raccoons eyes took on a new sort of greed. Her little growl was ascent as best Daph could make out and she stepped back with a smile. "An’ stop snitchin’ on me!" she added as an afterthought to which Pandora rolled her eyes.

Reluctantly, she waddled over to give the stone to Bowen. "It matches your eyes." She said to her sister with a smile. "You guys wanna come bug huntin’ too? Maybe Pandora won’t sneak in and try to pinch it back if it’s a trade... Do you think three big bugs is fair?" She wasn’t entirely convinced, but it was worth a try, the little cinnamon bandit was entirely too stubborn sometimes.

"speech".

have a little faith in me

"Bowen" Bowen didn't want to be this way but she couldn't help herself. When she saw pretty things she just wanted them. And when she didn't get them, she felt horrible. Like the world was ending. There were so many pretty things in the world and she wanted them all. Already her treasure box that mom got her was overflowing. She'd begun to hide things in a folded fur beside it. What would she do when she had so much treasure that she couldn't fit it all in the fur? Would her moms make her get rid of things? It was a worrisome thought. Movement from the side brought Bowen's head turning. She watched as Daph bucked her raccoon off onto the ground. The girl's eyes went wide as she took in the scene. Her giant sister threatened the cinnamon raccoon and the creature reluctantly handed over the stone. Only after it had been promised bugs though. The russet girls heart soared as she took the shiny stone in her paws. Holding it up to the light, she watched it dance and glitter. It was one of the prettiest stones she'd ever seen. Tucking the stone in the little satchel around her neck, Bowen dove at her sister and wrapped her up in as much of a hug as she could manage. "Ohhh, thank you so much!" This was surely worth a bug hunt. "Of course we'll help hunt for bugs. As many bugs as you want, Pandora." The small girl grinned at the raccoon. A little grumpily, Bowen's opossum got to his feet and waddled towards the group. He didn't want to bug hunt for someone else. He wanted to bug hunt for himself.

Daphne was happy to return her sisters hug, she liked seeing Bowen smile and the stone had always been for her anyway. Pandora just got a bit funny about things like that sometimes. She gave Boogie a reassuring grin when her sister offered to help Pandora find bugs, "I’m sure we’ll find plenty for you too Boogie, if Pandora eats too many I won’t be able to carry her anymore." She shot her raccoon a sly smirk, knowing she would pay for the jab later. "I saw a really soft fallen down tree up by the top of the falls, I reckon if we work together we can break it, bugs love stuff like that!" Barely waiting for confirmation, Daphne tipped her head in the direction of the log and started to pick her way towards it, the others would have no trouble keeping up with her measured steps.

"speech".

have a little faith in me