Don't Panic

Despite the rules, Artur had not told his mother that he was going out of pack bounds today. She had been gone patrolling, and he'd been in a bit of a mood. He didn't want to wait around to get her permission and risk any of his siblings inviting themselves along. No, he wanted to be alone today. So rather than wait for permission like he should have, he told Princess he was going and she agreed - albeit reluctantly - to tell his mother that he was out. That was just as good as asking permission, wasn't it?

Of course, if he had waited to ask permission, Gwen could have told him that she'd seen a nasty storm coming in on the horizon. Princess, who was barely older than Artur himself, and was a cat, simply didn't have the sort of experience to recognize the signs. Neither did Artur.

So the young male set out alone, confidently, but with no one but the cat immediately aware of his whereabouts, for the land outside the wall of druid's moor. He knew there was a ravine there full of interesting little caves and nooks and crannies for a pup to poke his nose into, and the rough terrain gave the would-be fighter the sort of workout he imagined a warrior would need, balancing on rocks and clambering over fallen logs.

He was just making his way down the slope towards the bottom of the ravine when a crack of thunder made him nearly jump out of his skin, and an instant downpour followed as though released by the sound. He blinked the water from his eyes in bewilderment, but the wind was already picking up, driving it into his face even harder. Uh oh, he wasn't going to be able to make it home in this. His mom was going to be furious.

Just then, a wind-born branch smacked him in the side, drawing a yelp, and he realized that the whole hillside he was on was starting to ooze down the slope. He dodged another tumbling branch, then a rock, and started to feel a bit panicked. Ok, ok, slow down and think. He obviously needed to - he dodged a whole tree this time - needed to get out of this mess before the whole hillside came down on him. Think, Artur, think.

Get to a cave. The solid rock wouldn't flow down like the mud on the hill, and it would protect him from the wind-borne debris. There was one this way, if he could get to it. He bounded down the slope at breakneck speed, dodging the tumbling stones and trees of the avalanche. His heart was pounding practically out of his chest, but he kept his cool and finally scooted into the cave just as a tree slammed into the entrance. It got very, very dark as debris continued to build up, until the rumbling finally stopped.

Artur stopped to catch his breath. He was still panting, and had a half dozen aches and pains where he'd been hit by falling debris, and his white fur was slicked down by mud, but he was starting to feel very pleased with himself for thinking his way out of the dangerous avalanche. But then he paused... realizing that he was now trapped in here. Well, he could think his way out of this one, too.