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Blinded By My Silence rolled 1 100-sided dice:
58
Total: 58 (1-100)
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 Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 1:33 pm
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Days had passed since Watch had left the construction site, determined to find Raining Underwater and confront his feelings, for her, about his future, his fate, everything. Even so, the sun only set once, and had remained in hiding since he left, sheltering itself from the rancorous storm that had found its way to Matope. Rain drenched her earth and made the rivers bleed, swelling over and swallowing their banks, until the entire swamp was sopping and soaked. Days passed, and traveling became harder and harder as paths disappeared and water levels rose. Every step became more perilous than the last, but Watch did not let it deter him. Despite the rain, he walked on. Despite the altered landscape, he knew the way. After all, he'd walked it a thousand times in his dreams. Today, the rain had stopped, leaving wet and muddy chaos in its wake. The sky was clouded over, but alas, there was hope in the watery shafts of sunlight that managed to pierce the blanket of cloud.
He wasn't far now, the curve of the river's bend that marked the beginning of Rain's thicket was in sight, but impassible. He'd have to find way across. Red eyes, squinting from the wind, peered around and there! Up river, a tree had fallen. Tired eyes gleamed as he smiled, so close he could almost smell the scent of her fur.
Water rushed under him, the current much faster than he remembered, as Watch looked down from atop the fallen tree. The wood beneath his scarlet hooves was old, rotting and soft with moisture. This was a terrible idea, he realized as branches begun to tare away with the current. He was about to turn back right then, when a sickening crack shook him. The log was splitting, crumbling underhoof! He had just long enough to cry out before the muddy waters below swallowed him up and threw him against the river bed. Down river he tumbled and bobbed, desperately trying to make his way to shore. Past the river's bend and the sunning rock, he was taken, until finally coming to rest in a muddy reservoir down river from his destination.
Red eyes fluttered, but only one opened, the other caked closed with mud and grime as he tried to lift his head from the muck, with out much success. He was on his side, his lower half slowly sinking farther into the silt as a inch or so of water lapped at his shoulder. Groaning, he attempted to move bit by bit, assessing the situation. Pain thundered in his left hip, the one deepest in the mud. Bruises could be felt along his ribs as he coughed up brine.
There was no way he was moving right now. At least, not by himself.
Silent paw steps approached as Sootpaw, his Cheetah stepped up to him and gave Watch a lick on the nose.
"Go..." Watch said softly, "Find her."
And off the cat went, loping back into the woods to the clearing from ages ago.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 11:43 am
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 This weather was horrendous. Rain, relentless and stinging, poured down in great sheets. This was not the kind of rain that gives life but the kind that takes it. Topsoil was pounded free and washed into the swollen river, seedlings were battered into pulp. All of those baby greens she had so carefully tended had all been washed away by now. She suspected that much of the immature fruit, what would be the summer's treasure, would be knocked off the trees as well. What a waste.
Raining Underwater huddled in the hollow tree she called home, but even it was shaken by the wind and thunder. Persimmon, her wasp, rested in the nest built above. Something was... bothering her. She couldn't say what it was but only had a vague idea that something was not right. Her tailtip twitched irritably. It was dry and cool in the tree's heart, her stashes of food were likely safe although some undoubtedly would be ruined. It was comfortable in here, but she felt anything comfortable. Maybe it was just from being cooped up to avoid the weather, but...
"I'm going out," she said. Persimmon continued to groom herself, seemingly indifferent. The doe could not handle sitting here doing nothing while there was an unscratched itch nagging at her. You'll get wet, a voice in her mind said. I don't care, replied another. The doe stood and stepped out of her shelter; glossy black eyes watched her retreating back. The canopy of the great tree buffered the storm and tamed the sting of the water, but the doe turned her face up to feel it anyway. It burned. Imagine that, she thought, being burned by water.
The path to the river was mostly washed clean, all the way down to the smooth stones underneath the soil. It was treacherous going, and the roar of the river was deafening even from a distance. The normally quiescent water raged against its banks, tearing at exposed roots and swallowing chunks of earth. Something about standing there helped her feel better, but it wasn't enough. Restless, the doe kept walking.
Another animal bounded upriver in the distance, and she had to squint through the rain to see it. Was that a.... cheetah? In this weather? The poor animal was soaked to the bone. It has to be someone's pet to be out like this. Any other animal with any kind of sense would be sheltering right now. The irony of that thought in her situation didn't occur to her. She slowed to a stop to watch it and cocked her head to the side. As it got closer, it seemed familiar somehow. Was it? No. No it couldn't be. He's miles and miles away from here now. But it was, and she greeted the great charcoal cat with a wet, affectionate nuzzle. The poor animal was shivering from being soaked and seemed agitated. There's no way that Sootpaw would be all the way out here, alone, unless something had happened. Worry overwhelmed her. What is he doing out here? Where is his master?
"I'll follow you! Go!"
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 12:29 pm
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Soft paws flew over hard stone and wet earth, splashing in pools of dark water. The clouds above had split and rain pelted the cheetah as he ran, wrestling between the instinct to hide and the fear he had seen in his master's eyes. Fear scent and rain was all he could smell, and, for a moment, he wondered if he was heading the right way. But then those familiar scents, warmth, bedding, wax, and fur, met him and Sootpaw found his way. He turned the bend and there she was, as though she were waiting.
Sootpaw bounded up to her, his sides heaving and his spotted fur sticking to his skin. Eyes wide and frantic his body shaking, but when Rain gave word, the big cat did not hesitate. He took off, flying over the rocks, stopping every so often to make sure the watery doe was following on those hard hooves of hers.
It took longer coming back than getting there, but still, they made it. Water had risen, the ebb and flow of the river's edge pulling worryingly at the buck's mane. His red eyes were closed, but fluttered open as they approached.
"Good boy," Watch said with a weak smile, before looking to Rain, "I've missed you."
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space crawfish rolled 1 10-sided dice:
5
Total: 5 (1-10)
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 2:01 pm
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The run after Sootpaw was hard, but the cheetah was considerate enough to slow occasionally for her to catch up. Hooves skidded over slippery river rock, but she did not fall. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the flash of white and red against the gray and brown of the riverbank. She wanted to see him again, but not like this. Not like this. If it were not for the stinging of the rain, she could have told herself it was all a terrible fever dream. She knelt into the mud to lick the bitter mud away from his face. The river has battered and beaten him, and her brow knits together in worry.
"I missed you, too. I-" Her voice caught, but she steadied herself with a deep breath before she could become emotional. "Nothing looks broken..." The water and mud here doesn't look too deep, and Rain chews on her lower lip as she thinks. "I'm going to try and pull you out. Help as much as you can." Rain leaned in to give his forehead a gentle kiss. She knew this was going to hurt, but it can't be helped. She eased herself partway into the cold water and hooked one of her legs around one of his. With her body weight, she leaned back towards the shore to try and pull him out.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 6:53 pm
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Watch exhaled shakily as Rain's lips brushed the fur on his forehead. Despite the pain, the wet, and the cold, for a moment, she was all he could sense. Her scent, so haunting, filled him. Her leg wrapped around his, strong yet gentle. They were together agian, and for the first time since he'd left those many moons ago, the rancorous sea that was his heart was still. He was home once more.
And then she pulled.
Biting back a cry of pain, Watch bit his lip hard but did as she asked and tried to push. Slowly, with a sick sucking sound, his body moved slightly, but with every struggling inch, he felt that pain in his hip as his bone pulled farther out of the socket.
"Ah! Ah, stop.. Stop. My leg..."
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