The upside of spring in the mountains was that the snow started to melt, making land travel easier. The downside was that the snow started to melt, turning into water and swelling the little creeks into rushing waterways.

Seafoam, Ambergris and Bloodstone were doing a quick walkthrough of the forest to check on how things that had been covered by snow over the winter were doing. Sky had wanted to come along, and was darting through the tree branches above, occasionally dropping melted snow on their heads.

The ground was springy underfoot, a far cry from the frozen hardness it had been in the cold. Grass was starting to grow back as well, with stubborn mountain flowers already doing their best to bloom. The life that had slept over the winter was coming back out - for better or worse, considering the mosquitoes.

Seafoam sighed as more water dripped on their head, and glared up into the canopy where Sky just laughed and moved on.

"Impertinent creature," they muttered half-heartedly, and Ambergris snorted.

Bloodstone raised an eyebrow at Ambergris. "I seem to remember a time when you were of the same temperament…"

Ambergris shook aer head. "Don't remind me."

Seafoam tuned the two out as they started teasing each other about stupid stunts and the like, and frowned slightly as the sound of rushing water came from ahead. There was a stream there, yes, but it should still be too far away to hear…

Their confusion was solved when the four came out of the trees and face-to-face with a raging torrent.

The three on the ground stopped, while Sky in the air above circled uncertainly.

What was normally a stream during the dryer months had widened to fill and then burst its banks, the usually tame, ankle-deep current quickening and now closer to knee depth. It didn't seem like much, but Seafoam knew that at this speed, even that would be enough to snatch them downstream and to an unknown end. Being snowmelt, the water was also barely above freezing, and would spell a death sentence if Ambergris or Bloodstone fell in.

The water rushed past as the four stared, carrying sticks and other small debris past in the blink of an eye, dark spots in it's frothing white current.

"I am not getting in that," Ambergris said flatly, aer ears pinning back.

"Nobody is," Seafoam agreed, eyeing the water warily. They shoo'ed off Sky from getting too close, motioning them towards a nearby tree instead.

Bloodstone eyed the water, frowning. "Then how do we get across?"

"What if we didn't cross?"

Seafoam grunted. "We do need to."

"Do we really need to?"

Bloodstone sighed and nudged Ambergris with a shoulder. "We're not going to wade through it - look, there's some logs."

The logs in question were the remnants of some trees that had been washed down the river, branches and boughs and a few smaller fragments of trunk. They were held together by a bend in the river, and bobbed and moved in the current. They could work to cross… but it be would one at a time and tricky.

Ambergris took a look at those logs and shuddered, and Seafoam couldn't help but agree. They envied Sky's wings, able to easily soar above the raging river… the whelp was perched in a nearby tree, watching the goings on with mixed interest and confusion.

The three clustered around the point where the logs met the shore, jammed up against some rocks that at least held them somewhat steady.

"I'll go first," Seafoam volunteered, shaking themself out. "If I fall in, I'm the most likely to be fine."

Bloodstone and Ambergris hesitated and nodded, and they stepped onto the first log warily. It bobbed and sunk, but held their weight, supported by the other logs in the tangle. But the first step was the easiest. The worst ones would be the ones in the middle, too far to go back, but not quite near enough to the other side to jump if the branches gave way…

Seafoam made slow progress, feeling the branches beneath their hands vibrate with the current, bobbing and shaking as they trusted their weight to them and then moved on. It was a nerve-wracking process, but they eventually made their way to the other side and scrambled up onto the bank with a giant sigh of relief.

Sky soared down from the tree - narrowly missing Bloodstone's head as she made to step onto the first branches - and landed on Seafoam's back. Seafoam winced at the aerobic's claws digging in to hold on, then had an idea.

"She's doing something scary," they told Sky, "Can you call some encouragement?"

Sky puffed up in delight. "You can do it!" they yelled at Bloodstone, who was nearly across. Though the tark'ee didn't have the protective blubber that Seafoam had, it made her lighter and the crossing easier.

Bloodstone laughed and completed the crossing, bowing dramatically in Sky's direction when back on solid ground.

Last came Ambergris. Ae eyed the water and the logs with trepidation, not eased by the successful crossing of Seafoam and Bloodstone. Ae slowly stepped onto the first log, freezing as it sunk into the water under aer weight, and hesitated.

"You can do it!!" Sky called again, and Seafoam winced at the volume then nodded encouragingly at Ambergris.

Ambergris tried to smile, failed, and instead focused on making aer way across the logs one step at a time. Step after step… and then ae was across!

Sky whooped and went to dive around aer head as ae flopped onto the grass with a sigh of relief.

"We can stop here for a break, I think." Seafoam nodded at the exhausted tar'kee. They understood - their limbs still trembled slightly with the residual adrenaline of crossing. Even Bloodstone nodded in agreement, and began to play with Sky.

Ambergris nodded with no small relief, breath starting to calm. A break sounded like a very good idea right now…