i know your hope is heavy

Life truly was a beautiful thing - there was too much positivity for him to dwell on the minor things he wished could be slightly different. Each day had its fair share of things to enjoy, to cherish and to love. Today was no different. Happily he continued on, briefly dipping his forepaws in the water to cool himself off before continuing on. He'd never been much of a swimmer, and had no real intentions of trying to fight against the flow of the river here, though it was not terribly extreme.

Before he caught sight of someone ahead of him - his attention had been taken by the gentle rapids, watching the water tumble over the rocks and riverbed - he heard the gentle jingling of.. something? It was not the sound of an animal. Curious, his head tipped upwards, soft gaze searching for her. The woman wasn't far ahead of him, and she was rather odd looking, though not in an entirely bad way. She was adorned with bells and some sort of cloth that hung from her neck. Nothing he could ever be bothered with, but it was interesting, and his gaze lit up as she drew closer.

Her words brought a deep laugh from his chest, booming and joyful and deeply uninhibited. "Why, thank you," he'd call out, voice thick with a northern accent, laughter audible in his words. "I've tried very hard to get it just right. I'm glad I've succeeded." Crimson gaze sparkled with a bit of playfulness at his own quip, his own eyes roving over her. She was lovely on the eyes, with gentle markings splattered all across her pelt, and was considerably smaller than himself. Interested shone in his stare as he padded closer to her, remaining close to the riverbank with each step. "You're a pretty one yourself. Would you honor me with a name?" She was pretty, and he was not ashamed to say it - why disregard beauty when it was right there in front of you?