Fascinated by the frozen world under her paws, Kanja crouched over the ice with her nose scant inches from its surface. She was amazed by how clear the ice was - she could almost see all the way to the bottom! If she had the attention span for it (and the nails) Kanja would have been tempted to dig out a tunnel at the base of one of the treetops. How neat would it be to have a little den under the ice? The idea amused her. Sure it would probably be cold and drippy, but hey, it would be a den under the ice.   After a few moments the novelty wore off and Kanja straightened and looked towards the shore. She could stand there and gawk some more, but where was the fun in that? Kanja backed up to a treetop and, using it as a springboard, propelled herself towards the shore. With the ice being as slippery as it was under the noonday sun, one good, solid kick aught to get her pretty close. She laughed as she slid towards the shore, and her legs wobbled and threatened to slip out from under her every few seconds but that was what made it so much fun.

Spring was a good time for the young healer, the perfect time for collecting herbs, some to dry and store for later, and others to keep fresh for potential emergencies. Somewhere along the way, it become less a chance to collect, and more a chance to explore. When she found a whole world buried beneath ice, any pretense of being here for work was lost. She scrambled forward, looking down at the odd sight of greenery beneath a shimmering, murky-clear film of ice. She breathed against the ice, wiping at with her paw to clear dirt and particles from her view, to get a better look beneath when laughter and the sound of something slipping against the ice caught her attention. She looked up to see a wolf propelling towards the shoreline towards her, legs wobbling against the slippery surface she skated upon. Riva put a paw on the ice herself, delight at the idea the other wolf had come upon. The second she put pressure against her paw, it went down, and she collided face-first with the ice. With a growl she slid her weight back to her rump, on the safer ground behind her, and lowered her head to the ground, watching the skating wolf with hungry curiosity. How was she managing it? Perhaps it was her lack of control that allowed her to propel forward to speedily, and Riva’s caution that was her undoing. Still, the idea of trusting all of her weight and grip immediately to the ice was daunting. ""

About halfway across the ice Kanja began to spin slowly. She tried to correct herself, to twist back to face the shore, but her efforts were in vain. Every attempt to right herself was either simply ineffective or nearly a face-planting disaster. In the end she just had to go with it. The turning did have one upside. Had she not turned Kanja may not have seen the cute little pixie at the edge of the ice. The girl looked a bit put out. She had her head on her paws like someone had just snatched the meal right out from under her nose. Knowing she had an audience perked up an already perky Kanja. Had she any control of her limbs she would have strutted to the shore, but since she was doing her best to simply remain upright she settled for a confident toss of her head and arching her neck proudly. For cool points Kanja decided to take her life into her paws and leap the last couple of feet to shore. She almost didn't make it - her hind paws slipped as she kicked off - but she recovered and was on solid ground with most of her dignity intact. She turned to face the girl who was a few yards away. Cocking her head, Kanja quipped, "The ice isn't going to bite, girl. Promise."

As she watched, the wolf began to spin, she seemed to attempt to shift her body and compensate for the movement, and Riva could see how risky that was. Having already had an experience on hitting the ice face-first, she could see how someone might want to avoid that. The strangers eyes caught hers at some point in the spin, and Riva’s eyes shifted back and forth to match the movement of the spinning wolf on the ice. The creature tossed back her head, arching her neck like a young buck with a rack full of towering antlers gracefully flowing from their crown, showing off in a Spring heat. Riva fought a smile at the imagery she cast, and found her eyes roving the shades of the woman. Her dark coat seemed to hold a shimmer, and no one could describe it as monotoned. She stood at a towering height, not quite twice as tall as the healer, but it was a near thing. Her long legs, easily on display on the ice, showed a rust band about her wrists, and a tail not made for balancing. As she completed her examination the lady, quite close to shore now, covered the last of the distance with a nearly-graceful leap. Despite that, leaping from ice was no easy feat, and the healer was impressed. “Are you sure? I could swear it already did” RIva quipped back, tilting her head so the other could see the cool, flattened fur across part of her face, where it had collided with the ice not long ago. ""

Upon seeing the mark on Riva's face, Kanja snorted a laugh. Alright, alright, alright. She was going to have to concede this round to the girl, but how was she to know she'd busted her face before Kanja had spotted her? The giantess had grown up on ice. She was used to walking on it and thought nothing of what others may have found more challenging. Kanja fixed the girl with an expected look. "Well? Bite it back. Second time's the charm so, ya know," Kanja adopted a "go get 'em, tiger" look and jerked her head towards the ice, "Jump on it." If necessary she'd give the girl a (more or less) friendly shove. Hell, after a good laugh Kanja might ever rescue her if she got stranded out there.

As she watched, the wolf began to spin, she seemed to attempt to shift her body and compensate for the movement, and Riva could see how risky that was. Having already had an experience on hitting the ice face-first, she could see how someone might want to avoid that. The expectation in the others eyes was almost enough to make Riva blush. Instead, she concentrated on her words. A challenge, was it? She leaped onto the ice. Perhaps there were better ways to go about it, but as she had watched Kenja skate across the ice (and with her own short and ill-fated experience) she had decided that all- in was the only way to go about it. The partial commitment she had attempted earlier had only resulted in her leg trying to run away from her well the rest of her had sat still. It was a well-thought out conclusion she had milled over long enough to agree with. Her execution on the other hand could have used some work. She plunged head first into the challenge before she could really consider the consequences of it. If she had given herself time to think, she knew she would have frozen. All and all, her actions left her full-throttle ahead on the ice as each of her four paws tried to go a different direction at once, through her main momentum was still forward. She kept trying to correct herself and making it worse, until she was sliding in random directions across the ice. Her aim wasn’t to keep moving, it was to keep from falling! Her legs were already getting exhausted at the heavy overcompensating and she was panting in moments. She couldn't stop! "Help!" She squeaked, through there was no desperation in it. She was laughing at the predicament she had gotten herself into. Perhaps she just wanted to watch Kanja dance across the ice again. ""

Her expectant gaze turned into a wolfish grin as Riva's paws struck the ice. The girl's moxie pleased her; she'd jumped onto the ice without hesitation and there weren't many wolves who would so readily leap into doing something that had hurt them once already. In seconds, though, the girl began to have trouble. Her movements were frenzied as she tried to stay upright and Kanja, ever the gleeful spectator, simply watched when she could have pulled the girl back to shore. She laughed as she watched and bounced giddily on her front paws as Riva spun. After a few moments she doubled over and giggled until her sides ached. Kanja had nearly gotten herself under control when the cry for help undid all of her hard word and she crumbled into a puddle of tears. By the time she managed to pull herself together, Kanja's sides ached as if she'd just run a marathon. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then eyed the distance that separated her from Riva. After all that laughing she probably owed it to the girl to help her. She straightened and sniffed. Alright, it as time to show her out it was done. Kanja leapt onto the ice, landing, this time, with cat-like grace. Her toes were splayed for traction and her legs were bent to lower her center of gravity. They still slid around, but her dignity was on the line now so she did her best to keep them in check. In seconds she was behind Riva and sliding closer. She rolled a shoulder forward, intent on ramming Riva in the butt with it and pushing her towards the tree she (Kanja) had been digging at not long ago.

She heard the laughter of her temporary companion. Every time she spun to right vantage point to see the woman, she would see her first bouncing on her paws, and then leaned over like her sides might split apart. Riva’s scowl had a hint of smile to it, even as she spun wildly out of control, slipping and sliding across the ice. Even her cry of help didn’t spur Kenja to action. Instead, her laughter only increased tenfold, wildly out of control. It was a wild, joyful thing that reached her across the ice with no difficult. Eventually, Riva was laughing to, her breaths wheezing for more than one reason as she joined in with the others mirth. She had to admit, she did look a little silly, and she had gotten herself into this predicament. When Kenja joined with the ice, it looked as natural as breathing. Her long legs graceful and sure, her balance precise and confident. It was hard not to admire her, and feel a touch of jealous for how easily she navigated a terrain Riva could barely begin to understand. Of course, Kenja’s help was nothing like she expected. A sudden force connected with her rear end, and with a surprised yip, the healer was propelled forward. She flailed more, afraid of the speed she was picking up, before the treeline was very suddenly before he. With a cry, her paws touched earth, and her body continued its momentum, felling the girl into the earth before her, head smooshing mud as she face-planted the hole Kenja’s paws had widened earler. ""