Rolling down the cliff sides and hills, Northcutt was forcefully enjoying the new weather that replaced the snow and despair across the land, after having followed Espresso for so long he longed for the winter to be around again.

In the meantime, he'll enjoy the good weather that has come to replace the delicious snow of old and new, a new year doesn't begin without approaching it with excitement. He just didn't expect the sudden floods in Zaya's home -- to the point that the herd had to move after a recent flood devastated the protected lands, drowning the soil in water, some trees survived but it turned into a marsh afterwards. No point in living there when they prefer green grass on the other side.

While Northcutt was running, jumping, rolling around in glee for himself and only himself, Zaya was nudging an owl kitten up very gently and calmly. Steadying the kitten when it was about to fall after it had hatched from its egg, the owlcat above watched in the prideful silence of her baby taking their first wobbly steps.

"There you go, easy now--up! Up! There you go!" Zaya watched as the owlkitten had managed to climb up the tree where its mother was watching, the owlcat herself carefully climbed down from her nested spot to meet her baby halfway before picking up her kitten and moving to the warm, comfy nest she made. "Have a nice day now!"

Zaya danced carefully, her cannons clutched to her chest as she carefully danced away adorably from the tree, her armored legs shaking and rattling from the metal clanging and banging on each other. She didn't want to disturb the Owlcat and her reunited baby but she got a glare anyways from slowly dancing away from the tree. The kitten popped out its head and watched with its mother as Zaya danced away; curious now.

~-~

Soon, Zaya caught up with Northcutt still rolling around for the past hour, getting the flowers and nectar on his back to get the dirt caked and smudged there; to make it even more better for his back. Weary traveling costs a lot to do.

"Are you going to roll there all day long?" Zaya asked, her doe-like curious eyes peeking over Northcutt's legs, the stallion looked at her and huffed at her nose. making her snort and back up. "Ew!"

"Oh, don't be a whiner Zaya, you've gone through worst before." Northcutt bluntly and blatantly replied to Zaya, he was mostly sarcastic but the words still hurt her feelings anyways. Even if it wasn't meant to sound like that. As Northcutt decided to get up, he put his head around her back and nickered at her calmly in apology, tail swishing comfortably, even her little deer tail did the same as well. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it."

"I know, but it still hurts." Zaya backed up from hugging Northcutt, blushing slightly before she turned around, took a deep, long breath, then exhaled it slowly but also sharply somehow. Northcutt looked at Zaya awkwardly but said nothing, just rolling his eyes playfully at her back.

~-~

Just as Northcutt was going to approach Zaya again to talk with her, he stopped at feeling something at his frogs, looking down he's met with an owlkitten nuzzling his leg as if he was it's mother and not the owlcat currently stalking him from the bushes to retrieve her kitten back.

"Zaya I--" Northcutt was going to try and speak, but he was caught off by an owlcat attacking him from behind, he instinctively grabbed the kitten in his mouth to not hurt it and then started bucking around like crazy to get the mother owlcat off of his back.

Zaya's ears perked up as she turned her head to the sudden commotion, she deadpanned Northcutt holding an owlkitten by his mouth and trying to buck one off of his back, she sighed before stopping him. She grabbed the kitten and set it down, the owlcat mother stopped and scrambled down from Northcutt's now scratched up back from the sudden stealth attack.

"Geez, I didn't know that owlcats have such sharp claws like a talon on the foot..." Northcutt started to lick his scratch marks quickly, interested in only healing his back from the attack. Zaya just shook her head and watched the mother owlcat nuzzle her baby affectionately.