Exploring is thirsty work, so it was with this in mind that Smoke turned her attention toward finding an appropriate source to slake her thirst. It was a mission easier said that done, as the abundance of growth within the caverns meant that the air always had the scent of moisture to it. But a perceptive nose would notice how it waxed and waned through the tunnels. Which eventually she did, and after some puzzling and a series of trials and errors brought her to a small alcove into which an even small spring fed to produce a pool of clear water. It was not stagnant, so somewhere beneath the surface the water also exited to parts unknown.

Yet nothing was ever so simple as to just allow a thirsty courser to quench their thirst unbothered. As the grullo bent her head to take a drink, her attention was caught by the sight of an abnormally large toad climbing onto a mossy stone beside the pool. It wasn't just that this toad was, frankly, freakishly large. No, it was that as it topped its chosen perch, it withdrew a large pipe from behind the stone, packed it with some sort of dried substance, and set it alight. What in the world? she wondered as she dropped her head the rest of the way to drink from the achingly cold water. Her eyes never left the toad as it puffed on the pipe and emitted the associated smoke from openings in its back. Peculiar doesn't even begin to describe this one.

As she watched, the toad turned its attention fully upon her with eerie intelligence in those unblinking eyes. "WHO ARE YOU?" it uttered in a surprisingly deep voice for a body still small in comparison to herself.

Blinking, Smoke lifted her head from the water to turn her face fully toward the toad. Droplets fell from the whiskers on her muzzle as she did so, scattering across the pool's surface and forming dark circles on the stone. "Excuse me?"

"I SAID-"

"You don't have to yell, I can hear you just fine."

The toad paused, staring for a long second, before beginning again. "I said, who are you?"

"I am called Smoke, for the color of my coat. And yourself?"

"I do not have to tell uninvited visitors who I am."

"That is a rude thing, demanding who someone is and not returning the favor."

"It is rude of you, to drink from my home without asking."

It had a point. "For that I apologize, for I am unaccustomed to creatures such as yourself. I did not expect you to be of the speaking variety."

The toad, somehow, seemed quite pleased with itself. Which was hard to explain on an amphibian. "Apology accepted, since you put it so eloquently. I do not doubt you have encountered the beastly cousins of my kind. For that mistake, I shall not blame you. This time."

Smoke bobbed her head once, slowly. "I do appreciate that. Should my path ever take me this way again, I shall be sure to inquire first."

"See that you do. Now, finish your drink and then be off."

Smoke blinked once, feeling a little bit bewildered by this exchange. But not one to second guess such a 'generous' offer, she went back to drinking the pool's water while keeping one eye on the toad who continued puffing on his pipe. Whatever he was consuming was unfamiliar to her, and she didn't care to prolong conversation with him to learn more. But eventually she felt satisfied and lifted her head, nodding once to the toad. "Well met then, and may your days be safe."

It nodded back to her with solemn aplomb, taking only the shortest break from its pipe. Smoke turned away, retracing her steps toward more familiar routes. Such an odd creature.