Not what I expected

It had been good weather lately and Kione had made his way across the land to get to know Auster a little better.  He’d made his way to the south end of Auster, needing to explore a bit more and he’d never quite made his way to the south westernmost point of the land and today would be that day.  Unfortunately, as he was drawing closer he spotted the clouds coming in from the ocean.  Black and thick, flashes of light hidden inside.  Now Kione enjoyed a good swim but being stuck out in a thunderstorm was another matter.

Spotting an outcropping of rocks the wild dog made his towards it, scenting the area to find out if any predators waited inside to surprise him Kione moved in.  Not that Kione was one to turn down a fight but since his main advantage was suited to wide-open spaces he could be at least a little cautious. No recent scent suggested he’d be sharing the cave with another but there was a strange scent to the air all the same.  It wasn’t dangerous but different.

Kione made his way inside the cavern looking about curiously.  There were glowing pockets that gave him an unpleasant reminder of the endless night.  His first thought was to turn back with distaste but the whole reason he had come this way to explore.  In here he would be dry and certainly, it was something new to explore.  This was different than the night in many ways, that was an unpleasant memory that cropped up from light in the dark.

As Kione moved in closer he saw no mushrooms or rocky gems, only pools from which whispy smoke came.  Kione stepped farther in, shaking his head that was feeling a bit fuzzy.  The notion to leave occurred again but as if on queue the thunder rumbled once and then sheets of rain started to hammer down outside.  Well, might as well wait out the storm.  His nose still smelled nothing dangerous just, the scent was something he had no name for.

Stepping further into the cave he moved between the strange lights cautious not to touch just in case.  Until Kione stopped in his tracks and stared ahead in confusion.  His own kind! Yes, there though the smoke was another like him.  Something was distorted and off but it was probably just the way the air between them wavered.

“Hey,” Kione barked in a cheery greeting.  Her reaction was strange though as she stared straight through him and then started to walk away.

“No, no wait!”  Kione ran after the figure but as he leaped over a pocket of blue on the ground to land next to her she was no longer there.  Kione spun around at a dizzying speed, finding it actually was dizzying this time.  Confusion was starting to flood Kione.  His instincts screamed to leave, his soul pined to make sure there weren’t others like him here.  It wasn’t the sort of space he imagined them living but who would have thought Kione would be in a pack of wolves.  The sound of rain was dimmer farther in here but he could still make it out.

Kione roamed farther in, occasionally spotting a tail, imagining he heard a voice. When he was about to give up it was the back end of two wild dogs he was chasing after!  Kione started to pick up his pace in excitement.  Stopping at a strange crunch beneath his paws, looking down he spotted the remains of a coyote.  Some parts were just bones, other spots around the skull and tail still had flesh dangling from them.  There were no bite wounds from predators to have done this.

Looking up Kione didn’t say anything at the moment, no, he did.  Still, something in his mind was waking up to how strange he felt and how unreal everything was.  How long had he even been here?  Kione finally noticed the walls about him he had been ignoring and how they twisted and turned.  Damn it all!  Kione closed his eyes taking reluctantly deep breaths, more of the fumes in the air entering but also the path he had taken to get here.  Damn it.  Opening his eyes everything was wavering about.  He saw others like him, Kione saw wells move, a skeleton dance.  There was a pup he had known.

Kione forced himself to remain calm and walked towards the exit.  He didn’t run blindly as much as he wanted to, he ignored a lot of what his eyes told him.  Under the fumes, his scent still existed and the nose was one thing he could trust.  It took a good while to get out, pausing at times to test the area in various directions before being confident.  At times he almost followed something he saw in one way or another but he was resolved to go after nothing.  Nothing good would come from here.

Eventually, Kione made it to the exit.  However long he had been there for the rain was done, pools of water were scattered around the ground.  The farther he moved outside the more Kione’s mind seemed to clear up.  The wild dog was sure he would never go there again.


"Kione"