Mercy

He was pretty close to the herd now, the monochromatic male following them down into a ravine. So engrossed in his tracking, he hadn't noticed when the sky started to turn dark with clouds. It had been nice and clear the last couple of days, and it would soon get worse. As he carefully clambered down into the ravine, he lifted his head as he suddenly heard the elk moving faster and seemingly calling out in distress. Confused, he didn't realize that he was about to get caught up in the middle of a storm. The further down he went, he noticed the elk growing more panicked as they hurried to get through the ravine. They were at the bottom already, and he was halfway down. Suddenly, the wind picked up and blew him against the side of the rocks he was walking by. He felt the temperature drop in the air and got the feeling something bad was about to happen. Bi-colored gaze turned towards the sky and he noticed the first sign of snowflakes began to fall.

And it didn't take long for those first few snowflakes to start turning into a raging blizzard. Cloud tried to make his way down the ravine to find shelter, and through the howling of the wind, he could hear the elk stampeding around and calling out. He feared he would lose them, and he didn't want this whole trip to be for nothing. So instead, he abandoned his search for shelter and tried to quickly make his way to the bottom. Several minutes of being battered by the blizzard went by, however, and he started to hear strange sounds. It almost sounded like the herd was stampeding back up the trail he was on, but it sounded...different. Quite suddenly, something clipped his back which sent him sprawling out on the trail, and before he realized it, branches and other debris were falling past him. He could feel the air from the stuff that was falling tug at his fur, and he suddenly wished he hadn't come down here after all.

It seemed that in the blink of an eye, trees and other things were sliding down the ravine, crashing onto the narrow trail he was on and breaking off ledges. Rocks and branches, snow and dirt were showering all around him, and he knew he needed to get out of there. His heart began to race as he turned around, deciding that he should head back up and out of the ravine. He didn't get to go far though before he heard an even louder sound. This time, he knew it wasn't the herd. It was too loud. He looked up only to find that there was an avalanche of snow, trees, and debris coming towards him. Panicked, he tried to outrun it, but when he got to a certain point, there was no way he could go any further without trying to jump. He knew that if he did try, however, that he would most likely lose his footing and fall the rest of the way. He didn't get a chance to think anymore before he got swept up by cascading snow and debris. He felt himself get swept up, tumbling and turning and lost his senses. He couldn't tell which way was up, and which way was down. His world constantly turned from dark to light to dark again, while occasionally getting glimpses of the sky or the ground. He felt no ground beneath him, and he was being thrown around like a ragdoll.

He was knocked against debris and rocks, and occasionally the side of the ravine. By the time he was done tumbling around, he had no idea where he was or what was going on. His world was dark, his body cold and numb, and he was sure that he was dead. He was trapped in a coffin of snow and other things, unsure of what would happen next. He tried to move his legs and winced when he felt a sharp pain on his left shoulder. He could smell the metallic scent of blood and knew that somewhere in that mess, he had gotten hurt and was bleeding. He felt battered and bruised, and beyond that felt tired. After tracking the herd nonstop then being tossed around, he felt like his energy had suddenly drained...

The world above wherever he was sounded dull to him, and he was unsure if the assault was still going on and he was being buried more, or if it had stopped...

Walk, "Talk" Think