is this going to be my grave

Modesty was glad to have it over with, although now it had happened a few times, she was more than happy to initiate things when the mood took her. It meant neither of them really had a lot of time for responsible and contributing pack member stuff though, and she still wanted to show her worth, so she had snuck out while Gil was still asleep to do a bit of exploring. Between losing her fur and everything being creepy and all the angst and drama about having a fiance and needing to do her duty and make babies so she didn't lose her divinity... well, what was a girl supposed to do?

What she hadn't taken into account, was the fat and heavy clouds hanging low in the sky. Initially, she thought a little bit of drizzle wouldn't hurt. But now the sky was pelting down and between her barely squinting eyes and the sheeting rain she could hardly see two wolf lengths ahead of her. That was probably why she didn't see the crack in the ground until it was too late, the earth falling away beneath her as the barren hills swallowed her up.

Instinctively, (this wasn't her first time falling from a height), she let her body go limp, although she probably could have spared herself the embarrassment. Her paw hit the ground, her shoulders still above ground level and she managed to hit her chin on a rock that was jutting out from the fissure. If the rain hadn't been so cold, she would have been burning from shame. She looked closer now, and cursed her large size, just grateful she hadn't started to show yet. She angled her head and took a look into the hole, noticing it spread out into a narrow, low cave beneath her feet, a small stream of water trickling downhill along the way she was facing.

Well, she supposed she had two options and neither was particularly pleasant. A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder overhead sealed the deal for her. Modesty wriggled her large body into the narrow opening and gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the reduced light, crouching over to make her way forward. Her quills dragged along the ceiling above her initially until the tunnel opened out into a wider cavern. The rainwater was feeding a deep pool in the centre of the opening, an eerie glow came from the water, though no strange cave fish could be seen. She could see the evidence of previous earthquakes around her in the loose rocks that littered the cave system here and there.

Another tunnel branched off this one, and she could see the muted light of the overcast day outside coming through, the fresh and bracing breeze of an autumnal storm a welcome change from the stink of bat shit and cave rats. She made her way to the exit of the tunnel, taking shelter just inside as she waited for the weather to pass.

“Speech.”