The Times They Are A-Changin'

Terra inspects the pillar in front of her and determines for herself that it is sturdy and safe. Lotus stays slightly behind her, allowing the girl time and space to come to her own conclusions and, when she turns t to speak to him, she notices he seems to shake himself from silent thoughts. A grin appears as she explains about a race and he grins at her which causes the girl’s heart to flutter in her chest. She lives for that smile, for his voice, and strong support. Life may have stalled for her in that cave but now she lives for him. Tail wags faster as she looks up at the boy as she thinks, yet again, of how grateful she is to have found him.

Without warning, Lotus leaps forward, laughing as he howls a challenge to her. Shock paints her features for a moment as she watches him take off but, to her credit, Terra is quick to recover, barking a laugh as her long legs push off and send her racing after the tall boy. He may have a longer stride but the earthen toned girl is determined to win and she pushes herself, lengthening her stride until she is galloping across the land like she was born to. Laughter fills the air as she moves up to and past Lotus, nimbly leaping over a downed stone structure that lay have buried in their path.

They run, laughter and happiness filling the moments as the pair thunder across the ground. They stay close together, often trading the lead as they go and Terra loves that they are able to keep each other on their toes. Joy fills her chest as the finish draws closer and the tawny hued girl spies a pillar that would make a great runway. Quickly she traces it with her eyes, realizing that, if she runs along it, it would be the perfect incline to line her up with the end pillar. It would put her in a prime spot to leap atop the finishing pillar and she can end the race with a grand flourish. She calculates it all in two blinks of an eye, her body leaning slightly to the side to pull her away from Lotus’s side and line her up with her new objective.

Slowing slightly to allow Lotus to charge ahead, Terra moves out from their original path, easily leaping onto the desired pillar and she begins the run up to the perfect jumping off point. As she runs, the world narrows, her focus becoming solely on reaching the perfect point that will send her leaping effortlessly up onto the pillar and allowing her to claim victory. Legs churn as the point draws closer, excitement zipping along every nerve ending as her muscles bunch in anticipation. Suddenly, a startled yelp has her focus shattering as he emerald eyes divert to where Lotus is worry causing her to take her eyes off the end goal and drop her guard.

This causes a ripple effect. Worry for Lotus makes her eyes turn downward which causes Terra to miss her jump off point. When she snaps her attention back to the shortening runway, she finds she has to jump or fall. Legs push off, sending airborne but, as she sails through the air, her heart leaps up into her throat as the realization that she isn’t going to make it slams into her. Front legs make it, hitting the top of the pillar but everything else falls short. Her chest slams into the side of the unforgiving stones and she feels bones give as pain sparks to life and engulfs her chest.

Still, the fight or flight response has her legs scrambling to push her up and onto safety but, with the pain stealing her breath, her legs quickly grow weak. Terror fills her mind as she feels gravity take hold of her form and she can no longer fight it as she is pulled back down to the ground, her claws make one last, weak scrap along the stone pillar as she begins to fall. While it only takes a few moments for her to fall, Terra feels those moments stretch and lengthen as thoughts and fears bombard her mind. Will he leave her now that she has messed up? Her left hind leg impacts the ground first and the bones snap under her weight, filling the air with a sickening crack and a resounding howl of pain is ripped from her lungs as white-hot pain lances her brain.

The world fades away as she lays on her side, the pulsing, sharp pain becoming a blanket agony as her brain has too many pains to try and sort out. She attempts to slow her breathing since each movement of her chest sends stabs of pain flaring with each shuddering breath she attempts to take. Terra attempts to try and lessen the gnawing pain by shortening her breathes until they are short, panting, wheezes that escape her mouth. As she lays on her side in the green grass, in her own world with the pain, she idly wonders if Lotus will leave now that she has proven how useless she really is.


"Terra Qilaq"