That Awful Sinking Sensation

Surreal had enjoyed a good talk with Epiphron, catching up on things, and grieving over lost parents, though admittedly, that wasn’t enjoyable. BUt it was time to return home before Regulus got impatient and came after her. A faint, sad smile crossed her muzzle, coupled with a sigh. She was proud of her boy, but she felt like he should have had more time to just be a puppy. Instead… He’d had to grow up and take care of her instead. She hoped her next litter, if she were blessed enough to have conceived this season, would be able to enjoy their childhood to the fullest. She wanted her children to be able to run and play without worry.

She had followed the river that let out into the Mangroves inland, intending to follow the shoreline as it led west across the continent. Her shoulder ached with each step, but she pushed on, because she needed to get home. As she crossed a shallow part of the river, turning north a bit, she dipped her head, lapping water as she went. It was about then that the scent of deer caught her nose, and her belly growled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten more than a beaver lately. She frowned, testing her shoulder. It throbbed as she rolled it. Bringing down an adult deer was out of the question. But perhaps she could find a late fawn hiding in a thicket. So she started forward, following her nose. It was soon that she found an expanse of… sand? She started forward, then froze as she felt her paws sinking; it was a strange, strange feeling. It wasn’t the kind of sinking where there was solid ground underneath, it was.. She jerked back, and felt the strange stuff suck stubbornly at her paws before relinquishing her.

She stood for a moment, willing her heart to stop pounding. As she gazed about, she noticed the carcass half in, half out of the sand. It was a deer, a doe. Beside the dead creature quivered a young fawn, eyes wide with confusion. It couldn’t have been more than three days old, and had been lucky enough to have been on a safe patch of ground when its mother had stepped in the wrong place. Surreal frowned. Without the mother, this one was a goner. Best to put it out of its misery before starvation truly began to hurt. But just how was she to reach it?

Her eyes trailed over the ground, hoping for a clue. Ah. The pair had left tracks. They were faint, wind having erased a few here and there, but the path was clear. She set out, keeping her pace slow so as not to frighten the already skittish fawn. ”It will be quick, little one. Just stay put.” She offered a soothing voice to the fawn. What if that had been her, and Regulus had been standing there, at a loss as to what to do? She doubted the fawn understood her language. Apart from Obsidian and the missing foal Rikku, she had never met a prey animal that knew the language of predators.

She was almost there. Were her shoulder fully healthy and strong, she would have bounded forward right there and then, in a lightning strike of precision. But since that wasn’t the case, she slowed her pace to a few steps at a time, letting the fawn acclimate to her, until she was within striking range. ”It’ll be alright.”

She struck hard and fast. The fawn had no time to bleat or react before the life was severed, her canines punching into the base of the skull as she wrenched her head about, snapping the fragile neck. It was over in a breath. She turned, carrying the limp body and mapped out her path once more. However, with a full mouth, and a flopping, limp limbed body dangling from her jaws, it was hard to see where her paws were landing. All too soon, just as she was nearly out, she felt that horrible sinking feeling under her paws. With the added weight of the fawn, her dew-claws were brushing the surface of the sand before she knew it.

She heaved backward with a muffled whine that was completely involuntary on her part. The action only served to suck her down further. Her mind raced. What the hell could she do? Well, there was one thing. Maybe lightening the load on the sand would work. She tossed her head, flinging the dead fawn up and releasing it as soon as it reached its arc. The fawn landed on a safe patch, while Surreal tried to gather her wits. It seemed to have worked. She didn’t feel as though she were sinking as swiftly. However, she was up to her breast now, with her hind end thrust up in the air, her hind paws teetering between quicksand and solid land. She tried to heave backward, thrusting her power into her haunches. She gave a frustrated howl laced with fright as she felt the ground under her hind paws give. This was not her day...