She had almost made it to the big lake with the waterfall when Baro called her away from it, and she hesitated. She peered into the waters, pouting her lips, sure that the flower would be somewhere around it. She was fully invested in the adventure they had crafted, on the quest for the treasure that everyone coveted but never found. She felt the pull of the waters - surely the flower would be resting down at the bottom of the lake, solely founded on the fact that it would be nigh on impossible to go down there. She couldn't even see the bottom! But surely that was why no one had found it!

But Baro was already running away towards one of the smaller ponds, and she shrugged and ran after him, calling for him to wait up. Maybe it would be by one of the smaller lakes....or....maybe they would find pirates waiting for them there!

"Baro, wait!" She called, and she stopped, looking around like there could be evil pirates all around. When Baro came back, she said in a hushed whisper, "You gotta be careful! I saw some pirates all around the lake right there. Do you see their ship with tattered sails? They must already have the flower!" She gasped. "They're gonna sail off with it if we don't hurry and grab it from them!"

Baro heard Thistle call for him to wait, but he was so close! Sliding to a stop, his claws nearly hit ice. Wincing at the cold getting between his toes, he dropped down to a crouch and bounded closer to her, ears perking as she warned him of... Pirates?!

"Oh no, that's really bad," he whispered back to her, tail lashing behind him playfully as she gasped. "We gotta stop them! Quick, and stay close behind me!" He told her, inhaling a big, brave breath before he faced the ponds again. "I'll lead the charge," he told her, taking a few careful steps forward into the snow, stepping into the holes his paws had already cut into the white landscape.

After a moment, he summoned the strength in his muscles and sprang forward, charging into a lion's rush towards the ice once again. The child got to the ice in a short time, immediately hitting it with one foot and losing all sense of grip. With a yowl, the boy's feet slipped under him and he was sent flying, tumbling head over heel, spinning across the horrible ice.

Why did he think this was a good idea at all?

"Ah!" She cried out, and she stepped onto the ice after Baro, and immediately her legs wobbled. Aaahhh no no no this was really scary and nerve-wracking and her knees were wobbling crazily all over the place and her head was just screaming the whole time. She almost fell and tumbled after Baro, her head dipping low for just a second, but she found her balance, her legs splayed out, her breath coming rapidly in her chest.

"T-the-the pir-pirates have set a trap for us, Baro!" She said, hoping to comfort him as he went skidding across the ice uncontrollably. "It's meant to kill us horribly, but we're okay! We've avoided the worst of it! Ju-just try to stop yourself -ah- use your claws, Baro!"

Baroque's brain simply wasn't working as he tumbled and slid and tumbled more. His body was a tumbleweed and his head was emptied by the violent motion, the air knocked out of his lungs. He couldn't think as it happened, but his ears-- somehow-- heard Thistle.

His claws unlatched from his paws-- or had they always been frantically splayed out like that? .. And he flailed for the ice, a claw snagging before the rest of them fell into place. The ice squealed as his mass tugged him along, but his body held and, panting like a dog, the poor boy had finally stopped.

"Goodness!" He yelped, feeling tears in his eyes. In his blurry gaze he saw Thistle, standing a bit away, and he cracked a wide grin through his tears. "I-I'm okay!" He reassured her between gasps.

They stayed like that for a while, panting, just getting over the fact their bodies were telling them they had almost died horrible deaths, and Thistle just gave out a small little giggle, then a fullbody laugh, a loud sound like the rustling of bells, light and delicate and full of mirth, and she laughed so hard that one of her knees finally did give out and she fell on her rump on the ice, sliding and turning a little as she did so, tears in her eyes.

"Th-" She started, trying to catch her breath. "The- ha! The pirate's trap didn't get us, Baro, we lived and we foiled their awful plans! And...and I think, with all the tumbling we did, we're right at the pirate's ship!"

She nodded to a tall rock just on the other side of the pond, out of breath. "See? We just...gotta climb that and take the flower back, but...the pirates might not like us boarding their ship."

For a moment, the children were out of breath-- and then Thistle began to laugh. Baroque couldn't help but smile at the joyful noise, breaking out into a full grin until she slipped. The grizzly lion cub let out a tiny yelp, scrambling pathetically across the ice with his sharp, digging claws to get closer. He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay but instead just slipped and bumped his nose into her leg. A snicker started in his throat as Thistle continued on with their game of pretend. He stiffed his laughter and followed her gaze to the stone, his tail swishing behind him.

"R-right, let's go! Grab my tail" He suggested, twisting around to face the rock. He kept on his belly, dragging himself across with his claws because he didn't dare stand. Thistle wasn't too heavy and the ice was slippery enough that he could drag her along by his obsidian stone.

Before too much longer he had reached the tall rock and he let out a huff. "I'm goin' up!" He declared to Thistle, glaring up at the stone. He was big, tough, and more than capable of defeating a big rock! He tried to get to his feet and then made an attempt to scramble up the boulder.

She grabbed onto his tail very gently with her teeth, careful not to apply any pressure to it in case it might hurt him, and with his slow and patient claws he dragged them both along the ice, her neck extended, her hooves and her rear positioned to comfortably slide along, and she found this whole situation incredibly fun!

But when he started to climb up the rock, she made a soft distressed sound and looked around, her lips pouting a little. Would she be able to climb with her hooves?

Well, there was no other way to try than to just do it and delve into it and see what might happen! So she wiggled her rear and prepared to jump.

And how high she jumped! She made it onto a shallow shelf and one of her legs slipped for a second, and she laughed nervously, and then she jumped again and made it to the top.

Then she looked around with Baro right beside her on top of the rock and she said, "Aaahh, well, it looks like we're surrounded, Baro."

Baroque was relieved to see that Thistle had jumped up beside him. His tail wrapped around her flank and held her close to him with a seatbelt of obsidian, his bright eyes searching their surroundings with mild, imagined fear. Thistle said they were surrounded and he did his best to imagine all of the pirates around them. He could picture the broad stone ship under them, along with the crew-- some birds, looking a bit like Bevy but with bright green feathers, a pair of scarred lions and a few nasty looking, big brutes of dogs. His ears laid back on his head as he imagined them all surrounding them, his short baby mane bristling.

But he could also imagine the flower, just under their paws-- well, paws and hooves. It was beautiful. He wondered, distantly, if Thistle could imagine it too, but his tongue got caught in his throat when he went to talk about it. "U-uhm," he stammered after a moment. "D-don't worry! We can hold them off!" He boasted, raising a paw and giving a tiny, baby-pitched roar.

"RAWWR!" He rumbled, swiping a paw at thin air, and then another. He reared back on to his hind legs and swept his paws at the air, breaking out into a laughter as he swayed-- dangerously close to falling from their new perch.

"Y-yeah!" She said bravely, keeping her eyes away from the edge. She was okay though, his tail was around her middle so she couldn't fall, and it filled her with a quiet courage that only Baro could give her. She swallowed and looked around, seeing all kinds of scowling and angry beasts, some baring their teeth, some chuckling and pounding their paws on the floor of the ship, and she could almost feel the swaying of the sea underneath them, and she laughed.

"They'll never get us if we're together!" She said, as courageous as a hero in a story, her chest puffed out. "The dynamic duo can never lose!" She made a battle cry and kicked at the imaginary pirates, pushing them over the edge and into the depths below, ducking under their swashbuckling sword swipes and laughing in the face of danger!

She felt braver than she'd ever felt before with Baro at her back and the pirates at her door, and she took a big, deep breath, feeling a rumble in her chest and a burning heat in her throat, and she let it out in one breath and one childish roar, super heated air rippling and burning her side of the pirates entirely, and they all ran off the ship to avoid the heat and into the ocean, her imagination glinting with pride.

"Rrraaar! Take that, and that! The mighty dragon Thistle has come to be your doom, evil pirates! Give us the flower, or- or- be very upset and kind of on fire!"

Baroque could feel the heat wash over him from Thistle's fire breath and every hair on his body stood on end. Was his imagination really that good? A chuckle broke through his body, pushing the thought away as he slashed at another feathery pirate.

"This'!" He chuffed, putting a paw down next to her hoof, gently nudging her leg. He pointed a claw down the boulder, a grin shining in his eyes. "If we hurry, we can get out of here! Grab the flower and follow me, okay?" He told her quickly, crouching down into a perfect pouncing posture. He waited a breath for her before he lunged down, landing on solid ground once more.

He swept around to make sure that she would get down fine, his bright blue eyes shining up at her. "Hurry!"