Now that she was getting to know the ravine she walked around like she owned the place, and she kind of did. She was a princess and her mother was the empress. What was Belle’s was hers, which meant the ravine was hers. Venom was endlessly sticking her head into dens and flicking her tongue at the inhabitants. Of course she was never shooed away, but she had been a little nervous about entering the den at the far end of the ravine. It smelled like predator and other pups.

Not that she would ever tell anyone she was nervous about it. She was a brave warrior of both Abraxas and Klein descent. She was going to be a goddess someday, her daddy said so. The young white marked pup scampered further down the path, her tail wagging behind her as she went. She’d have to find an owl like mommy’s someday soon, though she couldn’t be lonely with all her siblings milling about.

Pesto followed quietly behind Venom as her sister explored the many dens, doing her best to stay out of sight. She was not typically a cautious child, but she looked up to her older and larger siblings and without her mother and father nearby to influence her feelings, she found herself absorbing the energy given off by the pup out ahead. Venom stopped at the den at the far end of the ravine, and Pesto snuck up behind her cautiously. "What'dya thinks in there?" She asked with a tilt of her head. Venom didn't go into this one as boldly as she had the others, that must have meant danger. Pesto was intrigued, but also concerned as she looked to her sister. "Maybe there's a bear in there." She whispered. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

The gloved youth spooked at her sister’s voice. Her claws extended, the quills in her hackles stood on end and she flicked her forked tongue nervously. She was on edge here, and Pesto wasn’t helping anything. ”I don’t know. More pups it seems like but..” She took a cautious step forward, white paws delicately holding her weight. ”Bear too.” The pup didn’t think her sister smelled the animal like she had, but even if she guessed it was right. It smelled like one of their sleeping furs, which when not in the den gave her more of a fear response. She took another step forward, becoming more sure of her nose. The bear hadn’t been here in a long time. Now it smelt like wolf, like another wolf and their father. And puppies. Dark ears perked forward but she stopped there. She wasn’t sure how she felt.

Pesto squeezed in close to her sister, feeling the tiny pokes given off by the quills but not minding too much. She'd been stabbed enough by her sister's mutations, they were barely noticeable to her now. "I dare you to go in there." The smaller pup told her, eyeing her playfully. "You said you can take on a bear, right? Klein's aren't afraid of anything." Pesto enjoyed poking fun at her siblings and asking them to show off their skills. Venom had all sorts of cool things wrong with her body and mother said they'd make her strong. Why didn't Pesto get anything like that? Oh well, maybe one day she could breathe fire and then she'd be the strong one.

It's a tremor!

The two pups talk about what may or may not be in the den at the ravine's end. Down deep below, there is a rumbling. Some rocks knocked loose, maybe. The sound echoes up, quiet at first, but then louder as a chunk of the ravine's wall crumbles and slides down the endless gap. Not long after, the earth begins to shake. It would be enough to make any grown wolf wary, but for a pup, it may knock them off their feet. It's a tremor! Watch your step, the ravine is a dangerous place to fall!

Pesto suddenly dared her to go into the den and fight the bear that may or may not have been within. Venom felt her quills and hackles rise as she worked up her courage, but before she could even say anything there was a great rumble and suddenly the ground beneath her delicate paws was rumbling. Eyes widened in fear as she looked over to her sister and made a great attempt to be brave. She called out for help as she was tossed off her feet and towards her sister. Maybe they would be safer together? Venom didn’t even know what else to do as she couldn’t even keep her feet underneath her. She tried to stay calm, but inwardly she wanted to scream and cry for her mother, father, or Sirius. ”Pesto!” She cried out instead, worried for her sibling.

Pestilence was convinced that her sister had taken her up on her dare and she prepared a grin at the thought before suddenly the ground began to shake. Pesto's ears fell back and her limbs splayed as the ground threatened to knock her off her feet. Her sister's call reached her, and she looked to her with utter terror. She wanted desperately to protect her sister, to comfort her although Pesto herself needed some hard comforting as well. She wobbled over to the other pup and threw her head down upon her shoulders - embracing her without risking their balance too badly. "It must be the bear!" She cried desperately, body shaking. "He heard us and now he wants us to leave!" The pup continued her hold on her sister, ignoring the prickles from the other pup's quills. At least if they were to die here, they'd die together. Unless the bear was only hungry for one meal, in which case Pesto assumed it'd be her because she didn't have prickles to protect herself with. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

The two girls clung to each other as the deadly earthshaking threatened their existence. Even still they held to each other, both wanting to offer protection to the other pup. Venom trembled despite trying to swallow back her fear and put on a brave face for her sibling. Maybe this was indeed the bear, if it was she knew it had to be terrible indeed. Surely not, but maybe her sister was right. Not that now was the time to argue. Venom didn’t know how they would avoid it if it was a bear, she couldn’t even walk.

”How are we supposed to leave? We can’t even walk.” She whined as the shaking seemed to go on forever. Rocks and dirt continued to fall from the sides of the tall ravine. Venom couldn’t think of what to do.

Pestilence wanted to cry for her mother, but didn't want to look like a baby infront of her older sister. She sunk down to the ground to better distribute her weight, and found it easier to keep from falling over. "Hey, remember when Sirius told us to get low when we fight so we don't fall down? We can do that here too! If we crawl we might be able to make it home." The pup skittered forward on her belly away from the bear cave to demonstrate. "And when we get far enough away I'm sure the bear will not be angry anymore and he'll stop shaking the ground." It made perfect sense to the princess, and she looked back to see if her sister would think it was a good plan. She could have just headed home alone, but she cared deeply about Venom and wanted to make sure she was safe, too. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Venom couldn’t show the gratitude she had for her sister when she suggested they lower themselves in order to move. She followed Pesto’s lead, and even though moving was still difficult it was more possible now. Venom couldn’t say for sure that her sister’s theory was true, but if they could get away it was worth a try. She still wasn’t convinced a bear could shake the ground so tremendously.

With no shortage of difficulty The two girls surged forward and away from the den. Was this ever going to end? Were they going to make it out alright, or were they going to be crushed by the rocks falling from the top of the ravine? As the questions raced through her mind she looked to her sister, wanting to make sure she was faring alright and that no matter what they made it through this together.