Flash Flood!

"WHISPER!"

The scream wrenches from her throat.

Where had her sister gone?

"WHISP-"

Soon she was taken away too.

Water flooded the warren. Fast. At an alarming rate. The booming call of Sirius was deafened by the cracks of thunder. They had not heard the warning. Their focus had been on the muddy puddles on the dirt covered ground. Climbing up the small boulder, toes spread to keep their balance, before leaping off to splash. Whisper's last launch had sprayed thick goop across her bi-colored face. Peels of laughter littered the air. Her eyes squeezed shut as she plopped down on the rock and rolled over onto her side. Oh, this was fun!

She and Whisper had been sneaking out to play in the puddles the last few nights. Out to the clearing in front of their den. Where it was safe but quickly grew boring. They knew those puddles. Knew how deep they were. They wanted different puddles. Wanted to know a sense of excitement and adventure. Dreamer's Col was supposed to be safe too. Their grandfather lived there. So did everyone else too. They would keep them safe within the confines of the warren if trouble were to arise.

Except this was the type of trouble they hadn't expected.

"MOMMY!"

Her gurgling cry reaches over the surface as she dips back down. Paws clamber and swim around her as she tries to reach the surface. Sucking in water and air at every chance she gets. Panic fills her as she is swept through the warren. One darkened nose tips over the waves as she fights to live. Where was everyone?

"DADDY! HE-"

Ursa is dragged under once more. Her plump weight causing her to sink farther than expected. Mommy, daddy, HELP! Thoughts scream in her head as the world swirls around her. Everything begins to flash as she ebbs in and out of consciousness. All they had wanted to do was jump into some muddy puddles... They had been having fun. Dirtying their clean white paws when mama had just bathed them. Of course, they would have gotten in trouble for sneaking out. Ursa and Whisper weren't typically the ones to go breaking the rules. They preferred to stay home and be good girls. This one time... One damn time they wanted to break the rules turned out so... terrible.

Another garbled shriek rips from her hoarse and pained throat as she surfaces once more.

"WHISPER! WHISP-"

Ursa is cut off once more as the current drags her under. She can no longer see her sister. She can't see anything. Everything around her is dark. Full of water, of shadows, of everything she had ever feared. Was she going to live? To die? Though she can't tell, tears are streaming down her face, forcing her eyes closed. Her lungs are full of water. Her heart is going at a rate that is impossible to understand. She is coughing, sputtering, fighting to survive.

Soon, the light of the moon is washing over her. The flood is pushing her out of the warrens and into the center of the open Col. But the water doesn't stop coming. Ursa cannot stay awake any longer. She tries, but cannot stop the water from taking her...