"I hate humidity," Rocky sighed, eyeing how his fur was poofing out in a frizzy mess with distaste.

"Look," Crevasse said crankily, covered in mud. "At least you can wear boots."

Sunlight was frowning at a map while Pepper kept an eye on the surroundings. The swamps of L'Hatzif spread out before them, full of rustling creatures that slipped through the fungi foliage at a safe distance away from them. Towering mushroom caps shaded them above, with shafts of sunlight shearing through to glitter and sparkle off of the mud and patches of water. Bugs whined through the air, and all four of them had long since given up on not getting bit.

"Crevasse has a point," Sunlight mused, not looking up from his map. "You can wear boots. Xe can't."

"Why not?" A new voice spoke from above, and all four startled, looking up. An unfamiliar green-horned face peeked down at them, feathers ruffled in curiosity. "Oh, I see. The absence of legs does make that a problem…"

"Hello?" Pepper asked, somewhat disturbed she hadn't heard them coming. "Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm Cameron. Who are you?" They tilted their head. "You're not from around here."

"No," Rocky agreed. "I'm Rocky. We're from Rekes."

"Crevasse."

"Pepper."

"Sunlight."

"Nice to meet you all! I'm from… well, here. Belowground, before that."

The thought of being locked away underground made Sunlight grimace. "How are you liking it up here? Lot more room to fly, isn't there?"

Cameron's face lit up. "Oh yes! There's so much more room, and so many things to see… but I will admit, the swamps aren't quite for me. The mud fouls my feathers and drags… and it's such a pain to get off."

"You're telling me," Crevasse said mournfully, having clambered up onto a low cap and was trying to rub off some of the mud without much effect. "Never thought I'd say it, but I prefer snow to this."

Pepper made a mild noise of disagreement - she liked the mud just fine - but Cameron interrupted.

"Snow? What's it like?"

The four peered at them a moment, then Sunlight blinked. "...I forgot it doesn't snow here."

"Must be nice," Rocky mused.

"Snow is frozen water," Crevasse offered. Seeing Cameron's confused frown, xe sighed and elaborated. "It's like if rain was made of ice, and drifted down, then covered the ground and the trees. It's soft and crunchy and very cold."

Cameron's eyes grew wide and they leaned forwards with interest. "And does it snow often in this… Rekes?"

"More than I would like," Sunlight grumbled. "Almost a third of the year, and then every day if you're unlucky enough."

"Yes. A lot." Pepper supplied. "It's a lot colder there. Less humid, too."

"Some snow even stays year round… excellent for snowball fights." Rocky mused.

Cameron's eyes grew even wider. "Snowball fights?"

While the others launched into an explanation of snowball fights, Crevasse stretched out in the sun for a nap. Hopefully, the mud would be easier to remove when it was dry…