Death to Alacritis (Cairo/)

She walked on numb paws, mind whirling. Surely this must be another dream, but... It was too real. The ash. The explosion that shook the lands behind her. She could still remember looking over her shoulder in the pass heading south to unknown parts of the land, and seeing the plume of black, bursting into the sky, outward, upward, spreading to the heavens. Could still see the far away forest vanishing beneath a roiling pyroclastic slide. Valhalla had gotten out, just in time. Thanks to Glaciem. The northern pack had arrived with warning. Mount Animi was getting ready to erupt. Erani, and the rest of Valhalla had followed quickly in their path, leaving the lands they had called home...


Erani scanned the backs of the pack members, searching. How many had been unable to get out? How many had died? What had become of the other packs? Would there be herbs where they went? She frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the straggling yearlings behind her. She counted these pups with an intensity that had her holding her breath until the count came out as five again. These lives were as precious as a drop of water in a drought. If they died... She ran her eyes over the five yearlings. The children of Cairo and Guinevere. Syrinx, Epiphron, Eos, Preston, Neo. Yes, they were all there. Tired, tails dragging, paws leaving trails in the fresh fallen snow. How had time passed so swiftly? How had this tragedy happened?

Her mind drifted with a chill to the dream, in which Death had approached her and shown her a valley, ripped and torn, blackened and burned, rivers clogged with mud and ash. Had it been a warning? Was that even possible? She stopped in her tracks a moment, turning to gaze out over the desecrated landscape below. Her ears flattened as she gazed out over that land. Home was obliterated. Her den was possibly buried beneath tons of ash. Her supply of herbs gone. Her eyes dropped to the ground beneath her paws. Tremors still vibrated in the earth. They needed to get further away.

She wheeled on her hocks and padded along behind the pups, checking their gaits for any signs of injury. So far, they seemed to be alright, just exhausted from the hard travel. She was tired as well. And worried. Her head rose to look out among the wolves of Valhalla. Cairo was not among them. Were his children now orphaned? Or was he out of sight? But surely he'd be as close to his children as he could possibly get in this turmoil? They were all he had left of his family, barring Collision, Leon and Coeus. Her ears swiveled, trying to pick out his voice among the babble of despairing, anxious voices... His wasn't among those that she could hear.

She shook her head and looked back at his children. For now, she would have to go on faith that he was safe. She couldn't let his children know that she was afraid. For them, and the rest of the pack, she would be strong. She had carried what she could of her herb supply along. It wasn't even close to enough. She wished there had been some way to carry more, but all she'd had were her own jaws. She gave a decisive sweep of her tail. No use wishing for a different method now. They were gone. It was over.

Her eyes rose to the sky, blotted out wish falling ash and snow both. The snow that had fallen was rapidly becoming obscured by black, churned by many paws. It fell upon her back, heavy, disgusting, and she shook herself in an unsuccessful attempt to rid herself of the feel. The wet ash clung steadfast to her coat, and her ears flattened in distaste. Her eyes went back to the pups. Keep them safe. She held onto that thought. and trudged on through the ashen snow.

__________________________________________________________________________________


They had traveled even further, well into the night. Erani felt the exhaustion that she'd been fighting since they had reached the borders of Alacritis' devastated lands beginning to reach her mind, making her steps mechanical, one paw in front to the other. She didn't truly notice or realize that she and the pups straggled behind further and further, until they were alone, the sounds of the pack distant and then gone. Her ears flicked as she became aware, and her head jerked up, heart beating cold.

She forced the tiredness back as she tried to locate any scents of the pack, but in her lagging perceptions, her path had veered well away from the group. Her head turned to look for the pups. They were all there. All exhausted. She looked about, trying to take in their surroundings. Massive shadows surrounded them. Enormous. The scents were those of... Redwoods. Her heart pulsed heavily. It brought back memories of her birth family... Running through the gigantic trees, always wondering what it would be like to see from the top, where eagles perched, regally disdainful over the land bound four legged creatures below.

She glanced at her tired charges, wondering what they were thinking. She thought a while, then decided to find a place to rest them for the night, then follow their scent trails back to the main group in the morning. Praying to Luna that the ash filled snow wouldn't obliterate the trail. She cast a gentle eye to the yearlings, and spoke softly. "Keep close. We'll seek out a place to rest, then sniff out the pack tomorrow. Keep an eye out for anything that will serve as shelter; if you find a likely spot, tell me, and we'll see if it's safe? Alright?"

She turned, and made her way forward, eyes searching for any darker shadows in the great trunks of the redwoods. She could remember clearly the fallen, hollow log she had been born in. The smells of herbs and her family and pack. Her memories started to travel, and she shook them away. Shadow, yelping as her mother gently prized a splinter from his paw. Shadow, watching them quietly with a strange look in those disturbing blood crimson eyes. Her hackles rose, and fell as she forced her mind away, searching harder for a place to rest the yearlings and herself. There, finally, was a deeper shadow among the base of a massive redwood. She stopped, and gestured with her pale tail for a halt on their part. "This could be a spot. Stay here. I'll check it out."

She stepped forward, listening, sniffing, peering at the shadow. All was calm. After an extensive checking of the hollowed trunk, she deemed it safe. There ere no recent scents of anything but perhaps a fox, and other than that, a squirrel that would never be back. She returned to the pups and led them in, and settled herself in the front, between them and the opening. And there she sat, gazing out at the night, heart heavy as the sodden ash on her back.

_____________________________________

(OoC: Okay. First Post in Alacritis the New Land! I hope nothing is wrong with adding the pups to actions or anything.)