Zee had gotten tired of being den bound and Iolaire couldn't blame her. The little healer suggested that they take a walk through the willows. It was a pretty place. Calm and serene. She could also work as they went. Io needed more saplings to transplant around the garden. Willows were lovely. They grew tall and wide and would provide shade for both the garden and the pack. A very ideal tree to cultivate.

The pair walked at a reasonable pace, chatting about this and that. They picked their way through the numerous streams that babbled their merry way between the trees. Io quite liked this place. It was just so calming to her. More than once, the woman stopped, closed her green-gold eyes, and inhaled deeply of the earthy scent of trees and water. It was during one of these deep inhales that she smelled oncoming rain. Brows furrowing slightly, she searched for an open space between the wide umbrella of branches. Far off in the distance, the sky was not just dark, but black. A storm was coming. Another damn storm.

"Zee," Io looked back to her sister in law. "We need to go back. A storm is coming." she then offered a reassuring smile. "We'll be okay though. Let's just go." They would have to go just as slowly and be careful with their footing. The many streams and roots could sprain an ankle. With Zee pregnant on top of it, they would need to be extra careful.

It was a good idea to get out of the den before the children came, and from what Iolaire and the other healers told her it wouldn't be too much longer now. Thankfully the nausea had nearly completely subsided and all that was left was sore paws and a bit of a waddle in her walk. Regardless of her condition her sister-in-law was not the type to force her into her den, not like Sirius who would hide her in a hole if he could out of sheer overbearing protectiveness. The weeping woods were not a long walk at all, and she often admired the trees from the Armada's territory. The way they sprawled and hung was beautiful, and as they walked she found herself spending much of the time looking up at the canopy.

Iolaire's voice broke the serene silence, and the Queen's ears swiveled to catch her words. Was there concern in her tone? As Io mentioned the brewing storm her gaze began to focus out past the trees and into the sky behind. The darkness in the distance was unnerving, and Zee felt the children stir within her in response to her anxiety. "Yes, lets go." She responded hurriedly. Iolaire seemed to be doing her best to impart her calm onto the horned woman, but Zee was unable to soak any of it up. She was too far from home, but had no desire to be caught in the storm. She trotted forward, her gait rushed and not quite comfortable with her swollen stomach.

The rain came on quickly, and Zee knew from experience that the thunder would not be far behind. The ground soaked up the extra moisture greedily, and she felt her paws begin to sink in the mud. She could barely tell if Iolaire was in fact still with her, driven only by her desperation to make it home. It took only one misstep, perhaps a paw that caught on a root, and the she-wolf was sliding. Ironically her first reaction to her body dragging through the mud down into a gaping hole was her beloved coat, and for a moment she forgot the rain entirely. "Oh shit." She swore, turning her head back to inspect her tarnished fur. The second thought was her unborn pups, though from their still-regular movements within her she knew there was no trouble with them. Her head hung in defeat - imagining how many hours she'd need to spend to fix her wrecked coat - when suddenly a soft boom of thunder in the distance brought her back to her priorities. "Io?!" She called out frantically, lifting a paw to wipe the mud from her eyes so she could better see their predicament.

Iolaire stayed a pace ahead of Zee so that she could help to find the quickest and safest path. The smaller fae also noticed that the ground was drinking up the water. It was a strange thing since so much water ran through the place, but as Iolaire thought about it, she could only imagine that the land was parched due to the heat of the volcano and was greedy for any sort of sustenance. A dangerous mix and one that she should have foreseen. Moments later, the hungry ground opened and swallowed the pair of women as if it was starving.

Iolaire gave a slight shriek of panic as the ground gave way. She tried to crane her head to see Zee and barely caught a glimpse of muddied, tan fur as she slid into the earth. At least it hadn't been a fall. The cracked earth was angled and so the pair slid to the bottom of the hole. Upon landing, Iolaire's wide eyes searched first for Zee, who was calling for her. Sliding forward through the mud, Io came to the horned woman's side. She cast her gaze upwards, searching for a means of escape. Suddenly, one of the adolescent trees at the edge of the pit toppled over, landing across the opening of their prison. Iolaire curled herself around her sister in law protectively. Thankfully, the tree landed solidly across the opening and wouldn't fall down to crush them.

Pulling back a bit, Iolaire searched Zee's face. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Above them, the rain fell and the thunder rumbled ominously. As though the situation wasn't bad enough... Zee was terrified of thunderstorms. What a great situation to be in...

The rain beat down more heavily, and Zee's heart sped in time with the onslaught. Iolaire was suddenly there, curled around her as a crash came from above. Panicked gaze combed the walls of the hole and the tree that now lay atop it, already looking desperately for an exit that didn't exist. She flung herself away from the healer forward towards the slope, scraping her paws in the mud in a futile attempt to climb the slick wall. Iolaire's voice reached her, though it was somewhat distanced in her mind and foggy. "Sirius!" The horned queen called, though the yell was drowned by the storm. Her scraping against the wall kicked up mud into her face that was promptly inhaled, and she skittered backwards.

Her sister was still there, and Zee whirled on her. "Io, Io we need to get out of here." Panic flooded her voice, and her roaming gaze never left the confines of the hole. "Please just get us out." Would they be stuck in here forever? Would the rains fill their hole and drown them before help could arrive? Zee's breathing sped, coming out in ragged quick exhales. From above the thunder crashed once more, and Zee threw herself at her sister's feet, hiding her face between the healer's small feet. It felt like years ago when she'd used Sirius' titanic frame for shelter, and Io's protection was much wetter in comparison.

As Zee came sliding back down the muddy wall. Iolaire received a splash of muddy water in the face. She sneezed involuntarily, managing to get more mud on herself in the process. Yuck. As the horned woman screamed for Sirius, Io winced. There was no way that he would hear them in this storm. They would have to wait until it passed to call for help.

Zee frantically begged Io to get them out and the smaller woman curled herself around the larger. "Shhhh... Try to be calm. Everything you feel, they feel and I won't let anything happen to you or them." She tried to use the puppies within Zee to keep a calm hand upon her. "The tree is keeping us safe. We have to wait until the rain stops, then we'll make a plan. For now, we sit tight." Taking her pack off, Iolaire hooked it on an exposed root to keep it up out of the mud. With her hip still against Zee's soaked body, she turned and began quickly digging an alcove in the muddy wall. The quickness with which the earth gave way proved just how much water the land had soaked up.

With the divot in the wall complete, Io urged Zee into it. She would be up, out of the water and would have more protection than if she were to stay on the ground with Io. As she worked, Iolaire kept reassuring her sister. They would be perfectly fine. Of that, she had no doubt. Now it was just a waiting game. The storm would have to end before they could call for help.

Zee slowly moved into a state of more shock then anything else, petrified beneath the healer as the thunder crashed above. Mud plastered her lips and nose and yet the prideful she-wolf barely noticed, too overcome with terror and desperate for safety. She felt Io's body curl around her and leaned against it heavily, muddying the other woman's pelt with her face. "Oh great." She whimpered, the variable of her children's easy manipulated feelings being brought to light. They were scared too, and there was nothing Zee could do about it.

She felt the healer shift, and then urge her into a makeshift hole in the mud. Her first reaction was obedience - that weak, slave mentality coming through with the expectation that stronger wolves would protect her - but she quickly stiffened at the entrance, turning back towards the woman with a fearful glance. "No! It'll collapse, I'll be lost within the walls of this pit forever." Her body trembled, and her unwillingness to move planted her feet hard in the dirt. She knew Iolaire wouldn't steer her wrong, but there was something different about the safety of a den and a alcove dug into the shifting mud. "We need to get out." She cried, ears pulled tight to her skull. "I can't stay here."

Initially. Zee didn't put up a fight as Io urged her out of the water. The water was only able deep, but still. Suddenly, the tan woman ballked and began to panic again. She slid out of the crevice in the wall and fought to flee again. "Hey," Iolaire said softly at first, but Zee, in her panic, couldn't and wouldn't hear. "HEY!" The dark woman snapped, bringing her paws up to either side of Zee's face. She fought for eye contact. "I need you to focus and I need you to listen to me." She directed Zee's gaze upward. " The tree is holding the wall up. The roots are holding the tree in place. There's no chance of it collapsing further." She patted the alcove with one paw. "I won't have you or my nieces and nephews catching a chill. This is important, Zee."

Thunder cracked and lightning illuminated the hole. Io could see that the back of the alcove that she'd dug was dry. That was good. She stayed close to the frantic woman, though Zee was almost in her lap already. "We can't get out on our own. The sides are too steep and too slick. We have to wait out the storm. Despite what you think, this place is safe and storms like these don't last long." How could she distract her sister from her panic?

"I used to be deathly afraid of storm just like you. Ever since I was a pup, they had always meant danger." She offered a reassuring smile as she spoke. "Then, one night, a storm like this one saved my life. I had been beaten raped. It began to storm and, in the chaos, I escaped. I was being hunted. They were going to kill me. The rain ate my paw prints and the storm swallowed my scent. The shadows swallowed me up until I was well away and safe." Io pressed close to Zee. Partly to comfort her sister and partly to comfort herself. "I realized that thunder was just noise. It can't hurt you. Rain is just water. And lightning is just light. It can't hurt you unless you're out in the open." Io nuzzled into Zees cheek. "We're going to be okay. On my life, I'll keep all of you safe." She swore it.

Iolaire's words came across to her firmly, and Zee felt her paws upon her face. She did her best to maintain the eye contact, though her gaze drifted off the healer sporadically to search the muddied walls for the dozenth time hoping for escape. "I'm listening." She insisted softly, though she still thought the alcove was a ridiculous death-trap.

Another crack of thunder sounded overhead, and the horned queen lunged forward to grab for her sister's thick furred neck. She aimed to take hold of the tough fur and drag her back swiftly into the alcove with her before she could change her mind about it's comparative safety. Once Iolaire was with her in the dry hole, she'd move further against the woman to bury her face within her fur. The sound of the rain shifted, from the splatters of puddles and mud to the dull thumps above. It sounded more like a den, and calmed Zee if only enough to listen to Iolaire's tale.

It was a sad story, and Zee felt the shame of cowering in her fur when the woman had obviously suffered worse in life. It was lucky that Deathbelle was a kind mistress and a true friend, or perhaps Zee's story would have been similar. She swallowed hard, doing her best to breath deeply and force relaxation into her quivering form. It was hard to ignore Iolaire's warning of the pups and their feelings, and she bit back a sob. "I think I'd rather be raped or murdered then have to stay out in a storm." Her whispered reply came, ashamed that her phobia was so deep rooted. "I know it sounds bad, but I can't imagine anything worse." Eyes squeezed shut, willing nature to end it's attack upon her. Even if Sirius showed up now, Zee doubted she'd have the courage to leave the alcove and go back into the storm towards the den.

Iolaire made an audible choking sound as Zee grabbed her around the neck and jerked her into the alcove with her. "Bloody hell..." She coughed out as she settled in the space with the terrified woman. The space hadn't been made to fit both of them, so they were packed in pretty tightly, but if that's what Zee needed...

She told her story to try and distract the frightened mother to be. She tried to show her that storms weren't as bad as she thought they were. Everything had positives to go along with the negatives. Iolaire hadn't expected Zee's response at all. The dark woman grimaced, teeth flashing for a moment, though Zee wouldn't see since she was clutched so closely to Io's chest. The memory that she'd shared had been one of the two most painful moments of her life. It had been incredibly traumatic and it had ruined her for a long while. Only now was she coming to terms with it, in fact. So for her brothers wife to say such a thing... it was quite painful.

Iolaire said nothing in regards to her feelings. The woman was panicked. She was terrified. Most of all, she was pregnant. Already the storm was moving off. There was still thunder and lightning but it was getting more sporadic. The rain was becoming sparse and was no longer the roar that it had been. Soon she could call for help and they could be out of this mess. Out of this mess... and Iolaire could be on her own.