‘Cause there’s a shortcut down the beaten path

The other wolf, known as Flurry laughing at her, would make Meadowlark blush just a bit. If her fur could change to pink, it would be quite obvious. The sudden blush changed to shock and surprise at the statements of porcupine quills and purple fur. “You? Tame?" Meadowlark exclaimed. “Just how big do wolves get around here? And growing porcupine quills and saber teeth is normal? Did I.. die or something? If this is a dream.. well, I guess don't let it end!" Meadowlark laughed. After leaning in to get a closer look at the horns, her eyes widened in excitement and fascination. “Can you stab others with those?"Well, at least she knew her family wouldn't be coming anywhere near things that grew porcupine quills or saber teeth. Or better yet, looked like a morning sunrise just before it peaked. Her mind was blown by just seeing Flurry's appearance. Who or what else was out there, exactly? Perhaps this meant that she would be a little bit safer now.

“But, uh, yeah. To answer your question, I'm new." Her soft, white head glanced in the direction that Flurry indicated being the source of the hot water. “Of course! A volcano! I've heard of those things. Never thought that they would create things like these pools though!" Meadowlark looked down at the water again and tried to picture the underground lava and the hot air escaping from cracks in the earth. “So.. the bad smell is .. sulfur? Wicked! And I thought bear poop was bad.." Meadowlark chuckled, not pausing to think about whether or not the bear poop statement was bad. Her brain was too focused on the thoughts of volcano powered water creating the stinky pools.

Meadowlark moved a paw through the water and enjoyed the changing temperature as she moved, noting that her fur was getting a little crusty as it dried. Was that from the minerals in the water? While she pondered on what information Flurry shared about the volcano heated water, her mind clicked the gears to try and piece it all together. How the water made her fur crusty or why any soreness she had in her paws were now gone, and other questions that floated around in her mind like her tail drifted underneath the waters surface. It was all so fascinating.

“Oh, call me Meadowlark, like the bird. It's my favorite bird and when I was born, my mother liked its song." She had to pause for a bit to think just about where she came from. “Uh.. well I'm not sure now. I basically followed the setting sun for as long as I could until I came here. I think I've been traveling for at least a couple of weeks now? But it definitely was not anything like this place, for sure." While Meadowlark was still quite shy, talking about the volcano heating the soaking pools helped to ease the tension just a little. “I don't think anyone will find me here now. Not like I'm that important anyway."

“Speech"