She awoke to the sound of thunder booming outside, a faint spark of yellow lit up the world shortly after, casting rippled, diluted beams through the heavily flowing water that curtained them off from the rest of the world. They were luckily there was a little bit of height between their ledge and the pool of water the waterfall fell into, or they might have woken up to wet paws. She shivered at the idea of their little cave flooding, and snuggled deeper into Birch’s coat, finding that she was not at all cold as she had expected to be, waking up in a storm as she did.

Her time awake was short lived before sleep pulled her down again, and when she woke next there was sunlight streaming into their cave, dancing blue over the running water, which seemed to have eased its falling pace. She could still hear the rain outside, diluting the sunlight, but the heaviness of the storm seemed to have left. She yawned and as her awareness grew, she realised she had stretched out at some point in the night, and was tangled heavily with the giant beside her. Every part of him that touched her felt warm from the heat that seemed to radient off him naturally.

A little embarrassed, she untangled herself from him and got to her feet, stretching out her paws, tongue lolling down her face as she let out a splitting yawn. There was no trace of dampness left in her coat from ehr earlier run-in with the rain, and when she examined her ribbon, that, too seemed to be dried. She painstakingly laid the material flat and placed her paw on top, using her teeth in well-practiced motions to tie it into the bow that normally adorned her foreleg.

This done she nosed through her supplied and took stock of what was around them. Her tummy was rumbling, and she had no doubt the bigger brute would wake up hungry. Hopefully he didn’t view little wolves as appetizing on an empty stomach. She grinned, knowing such thoughts would never cross his mind. Still, she didn’t know how long the rain would continue for, and they would need sustenance soon. She stood on the lip of the stone, trying to pair out past the falling water as she debated leaping free of the cave and finding them some food.

"Speech"

WITH YOUR FEET IN THE AIR AND YOUR HEAD ON THE GROUND The roll and crash of thunder had closed in on their little hideaway during the night, but Birch was far from concerned. What did he have to fear from a little bit of noise from above? The only concern that the night's storm might bring him was the potential to flood this little cave. However, he wouldn't worry about that until his paws started to feel soggy. Instead, he slept comfortably with his body against that of another wolf. Weeks of sleeping alone were washed from his mind by the familiarity of cuddling. The morning brought with it a lull in the storm. Evergreen gaze blinked slowly open, foggy brain struggling to remember how he had ended up where he was. This wasn't home. Where was his family? Smacking his lips, he rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He spotted a petite female standing at the edge of the stone floor of the cave. Riva. He had weathered the storm here, in an unfamiliar land, with a new friend. The titan lifted his head with a grunt, stretching his leaden limbs. "Morning," he greeted in a voice still rough with sleep. It took far too much effort to roll onto his belly, and arrange his legs so that he could stand. Not that such a feat was easy in the confines of their hideaway. Ears lowered so as not to brush the roof, he blinked at Riva a few more times. A quick glance at the rush of water that tumbled across the front of the cave presented a few weak beams of light trickling through. "Still raining?" he questioned blearily. "speech"

Art by pimsri

The cool air that emanated from the falling water added to her reluctance to leap through it and out into the dreary world beyond. The storm had broken, but the rain still continued, an endless drizzle from a weeping sky. Her vigila of the rain was broken as a deep voice behind her called her attention. She turned to look at the giant as he blinked sleep-laden eyes at her. A slower waker, it seemed. She found a warm smile tingling the edges of her lips as she grinned at him. He pulled himself to his paws, making it look like a mission and a half, and his ears flattened so not to brush against the roof of their small hideaway.

“Endless” she replied, a little wearily. A wolf could easily go a few days without food, she had done so on occasion, especially when the hunting was scarce. She knew that even if they braved the weather, it would be difficult to track down a scent, as everything would be washed away from the rain, and covered in the scent of mud and lightning. Besides, anything they would hunt for would be taking shelter, just as they where. She sighed softly, and fought the urge to fiddle with her recently tied bow. Sit here and be hungry, or head out into the rain, and be hungry. Neither option sounded fun, and yet, she wasn’t one to give up. She bit back her second sigh as she evaluated her thoughts, and realised she was going to head out there and hunt for them. Birch didn’t deserve to spend the day on an empty stomach. “What would you like for breakfast?” she turned her expressions back into a smile as she looked back at Birch, asking him as through they had an array of choices to choose from.



"Speech"