But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline

Aquene had been out searching for more wormwood around the lake. She knew insect bites usually got worse around the fall, so she liked to make sure that she was stocked up on them because the pups would no doubt get bitten to shreds with the way they ran around with little care in the world… it was then that she felt the trembling of the earth. At first she thought she was imagining it, that she was just tired and it was all a figment of her imagination… but then the trembling came with the sound of hooves and her eyes widened.

Where were the pups?

That was her first thought, frantically searching for the scent of not just Kateri, but Leo and Stella too. She took off, letting out a panicked call for not just them, but the rest of the pack as well. It was important. She saw the beasts and bolted to the side. Fortunate for her, stampedes tended not to change direction because usually something spooked them into their run. She needed to get a headcount and make sure that no one fell into their path, and then they could figure out how to move forward.

He was not in the den. In fact, he was as far from it as he could get, without actually crossing the border of course. Leo, like so many times before, had gotten tired of his siblings’ constant clamoring – a harsh way to put it perhaps, but the quietest of the Vuesain pups had a low tolerance for chatter. Instead he went exploring, stretching his tether to the utmost in his search for new experiences. At this point, he had mapped most of the territory to himself, sniffing out every nook to be sure he hadn’t missed anything. Very soon, the protected lands of Sanguine Cove would not be enough for him.

But for now, Leo would obey the rules, keeping exactly one paw length inside the scented line as he trotted a long, stopping now and then to sniff a plant or look closer at a particular rock. He had just stopped to inspect a particularly interesting specimen, seeming to shimmer faintly in the sun. His head lowered to bring his dual-colored eyes as close as possible, he reached out a paw to roll it over, when it suddenly did so on its own.

The lanky pup jumped back, startled, ears flattening against his skull. Around him, all the stones and gravel had suddenly started to dance as the very ground beneath his paws began to shake. Tail curling beneath him, Leo looked around, hoping to find a safe spot, but everything seemed to be quaking, more and more intensely. And then he spotted them, or it as it appeared: one giant mass of hooves and antlers, rushing towards him.

Spinning on the spot, the boy started running, too terrified to even shout. He just ran, stumbling over his oversized paws but pushing ahead, not daring to look back, but hearing the ruckus coming closer and closer. He couldn’t outrun it, soon enough the frontrunners would be pulling up along side him, obscuring his view so that he didn’t even see the others darting around, though he heard their shouts. But his only response was a whine, easily drowned by the thunder of hoofs.

But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline

Frazzled was one word that the healer knew she could use to define herself. She spotted Nash and with it brought a calming sense of comfort, though even that did little to stay her nerves. Too many pups were currently unaccounted for. In that matter, all were unaccounted for, including her daughter. “I’m fine but I don’t know. I don’t know where any of the pups are. Kateri went off to play with the others.” The worry in her tone was hard to miss before others started to arrive, others she really didn’t know all that well but the help that reminded her that she wasn’t dealing with this situation alone.

Siyet was finding and talking directly to Nash. She answered in turn. “We need to try and herd them away from the territory… I don’t know where any of the pups are right now but we need to find them and make sure that they’re safely out of the path.” In the pack den was likely the place for them right now. The herd was coming right towards them, and with it she saw Jethro and Chan, chasing and trying to herd the creatures as she had already suggested. She didn’t think, she just acted, instantly falling into the form as she pushed to herd these creatures away from the pack lands and any young that they might have the chance to stumble across.

It was then that she saw Leo. Fear gripped her.

“Leo!” She yelled out as she pushed her muscles harder, pushing for any and all speed she might be able to muster to get ahead of the herd. She needed to get him out of there. He was frozen, not that she blamed him for that at all because she could hardly imagine the thoughts gripping his puppy mind. She managed to get ahead of the herd, opening her mouth in the hopes of grabbing him by the scruff on the fly so she could pull him quickly out of the stampeding path.