Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Mikhail's dark nose quivered as he regarded his surroundings curiously. This place was wrong somehow. The man couldn't quite place it, but he was fairly certain the sheer quietness was entirely incorrect and the fallen trees were a bad sign. He didn't know why. Wasn't sure he wanted to know why. But here he was nevertheless, trekking westward even though he wasn't sure he was going anywhere in particular. He hadn't really been "going anywhere" since his younger years. He rather wanted to take a seat somewhere and rest even though the land he was wandering through at present seemed unsettling.

Spying another fallen tree, the white wolf altered course to approach its upended roots. He regarded them thoughtfully for a moment, taking in the twisting roots, the dirt attached to them... it had been a large tree, alive and green once. Now it lay pathetically on its side, roots airborne and useless; it was dead for lack of nutrition, had probably been this way for months. What would have caused this? An ominous feeling pressed into his chest.

He felt it within before he heard it... a trembling beneath his paws. The earth was moving! It lasted only a few seconds, but Mikhail still couldn't stop the small yelp that escaped his jaws as he crouched to keep his balance. Ah, well that explained it then. Earthquakes! He knew this place was much too quiet! No animal in their right mind would stay in a place plagued by earthquakes. Maybe he should reconsider his resting place... if there were small tremors now, there was bound to be something worse on the horizon... he doubted these small rumblings were the end.