In this spot beside the pool of water, with the sound of birds and wind through the leaves of the trees...
... yes, right here, right now, just as the words "I love you" flowed freely into echo, the underbrush suddenly rustled, and a small, high-pitched, delighted "Wheee!" overwhelmed the background noise of waterfall. Out of the underbrush, a small, ferret-sized form dashed out, leapt for the water... and landed on top of the mini-lake, as if it had been frozen solid, though it was indeed still very liquid. This small creature, cackling with glee, skittered across the mini-lake's surface as if on ice, little tail's tuft waving in excitement. Little tail's tuft, a mark that this small creature was female. Size and behavior, a mark of her extreme youth. Fur a combo of dark and pale earthtones, with golden highlights. Lower parts of scaled limbs a metalic silver, lightly tarnished, eyes very oddly the same pale blue as the blackwinged lady, though tinted with violet hues. And four tiny nostrils, inhaling air for another set of whoops.
However...
... all this excitement, all this sense of glee, broke her concentration. And, well, as expected, four little limbs couldn't keep her above water.
SPLOOSH!
With a flail of limbs, this small creature fell, broke through the water's no longer reinforced surface tension, and found herself treading water wildly. Of course, this didn't keep her from her expressions of joy, once her little head popped above water....
However.
The Little One had made it nearly all the way across the mini-lake, so she skittered and flailed and reached the opposite shore, hopped out with obvious gusto, and shook herself off.........
Just then, in the same direction she'd come from, what had only been five, maybe ten seconds earlier, without a rustle, another form slipped from the trees and avoided the underbrush...
... a form much bigger than a ferret, long slender tail tufted on the end, just like the Little One. And like the Little One, on all fours, only far more smooth and graceful. One swift, floating leap carried her over the mini-lake, straight to her child's side. Barely had her feet touched ground, then another larger form, also on all fours, slipped into the clearing with barely a rustle. This one, much more brightly colored and marked than the other adult. No tail's tuft, no... but he had the most magnificent shroudruff on his shoulders, formed by blue-tipped, blood-red feathers, contrast to his fur and scales. This shroudruff ruffled slightly open, then closed swiftly against his back with a soft chuff of sound, as his gaze focused on mate and offspring.
Then.
Forest green eyes turned to the two nearby lovebirds, as this creature stood up, large ears alert, big, toothy grin on his face. Upright posture and lack of pants made very evident, far more than the feathered shroudruff and lack of tail's tuft, that this creature was, indeed, quite male. Fur or no fur. However, the brightness in his eyes... the sniff and alert turn of eyes and tilt of head at sign and scent of blood... well, the grin subsided, and his attention suddenly turned towards mate and offspring again...
... "Sweetness," he called out. "I'll go get a towel... be right back!"
A wink and a grin again towards the lovebirds, then he turned away, dropped to all fours, ran a very short distance... leapt... and...
... the air swallowed him up, from tip of four-nostrilled snout to tail's end. As if... as if he'd crossed the threshold of some invisible door. Only six seconds later, in the exact same plane of air, his snout emerged again, the air spitting him out from nose to tail. He landed on his digitigrade hind limbs, claws gripped to earth to steady his pose. Another moment, to grin at the lovebirds, then he sprinted round the mini-lake, and helped his mate dry off their errant daughter.
If the two lovebirds had watched close enough, they would have seen this strange male creature give his mate a small bronze box, as well as a dark olive green towel.........
Then.
Well, not just then, but throughout the whole scene, the two lovebirds would have heard the happy giggles of a damp child, counterpoint to the rustle of leaves brought on by wind, compliment to the sound of water falling.........
