That Tickled, Try Again

Snow (Jondai Remix)

It had been a complicated task for the wolf, Navigating his way around the Alabastrine Shrine without crossing over it's borders at any point. He'd ended up having to walk around it, at times literally hovering dangerously close to the scent markers at times. It was nightfall by the time he'd made his way to the river that now barred him from further passage Westward. He needed to keep moving. There was a goal that he had to complete, but first he had to find his way into the West. So, one way or another, he was going to cross this river.

Pausing at it's edge, he looked down into it, his reflection clear as day amid the still waters in the starlight. It brought a puzzled look to his face. He looked up, and something drew his attention to the mountains. He'd give them a quizzical look before turning his head to look around the general area. It was quiet. Too Quiet. The world was still, stiff even. The water didn't move, the wind was missing. The sounds of wildlife in the night were absent. Something was a miss. The wolf didn't quiet understand, but it was as if all of Boreas was holding it's breath for some reason. He needed to cross the river, and he needed to do it quickly.

Taking a deep breath, the wolf lowered himself to his haunches then launched himself into the waters. They were cold. But he'd honestly expected it to be colder. All the same, he didn't want to hang around. So, quickly, he began swimming his way across. It probably wasn't the most graceful of swimming that a wolf had every performed, but the creature was in a hurry. For a moment, he caught himself actually thinking of and longing for the warmth of the Hot Springs he'd been in before, that warm comforting water sinking into his pelt and warming his bones. After a few minutes of paddling, he was about half way across. he found a rock that stood higher from the bottom than the rest, just enough he could climb atop it and take a moment to catch his breath, the waters coming up a little past his ankles.

Something just felt... Wrong. He began looking around frantically for the answer, but other than the stillness of the world, nothing was obvious. And Then, Mother Earth would provide him with her answer.

Drive It Like You Stole It

He felt it around his ankles before he saw it, the ground shook, and the water began racing away from the mountains. He turned his head and beheld the waters rising up out of the river and charging at him. Something was very very wrong. And this was going to hurt no matter what he did. So, the wolf's face broke out into a determined snarl as two words crossed through his mind. Let's Go. And with that, he turned away from the wave and the mountains, lowered himself to his haunches, and with all his might, jumped into the air away from it, diving into the waters so that he was already submerged when it caught him.

The turbulence sent him tossing and turning all along the riverbed. He was at once slammed against the bottom against his left shoulder, hard. He wanted to yell, but forced his lungs to hold their oxygen in. His claws dragged against the loose rock and dirt as the river dared to wash him away, and he managed to get footing enough to force himself back above the surface with a hard kick, but only for a moment long enough to breath, then he was sucked back down again. Something sharp collided with the bridge of his snout and his vision blurred, all got hazy for a moment. For several minutes, he was tossed about in the river as the world shook and rumbled and the water grew.... Warm?

Just when the wolf thought he might fight his way out of this, his vision failing, his body growing stiff, his limbs not responding, he suddenly felt as if he was not alone. If felt like something seized him by the scruff of his neck and threw him in the right direction. Suddenly he burst from the waters and grabbed hold of the bank. He'd been washed nearly out into the bay. It was all confusing at first as he pulled his way out of the water. His left front leg was on fire, and could barely move, and there was a massive gash that now ran across the bridge of his snout, blood running down the sides of his maw. Pulling himself out of the waters with one finally heave, he turned back towards the mountains, and his jaw dropped in aw. Fire billowed into the sky, the ground still trembling beneath his paws. Everything was cast in an unholy, maddening red glow. It was a volcano. And it had erupted. This... Was NOT Good.