Dead Empress Backwater the only problem was with you and not them

RE:Dead Empress Backwater, a pair of tornadoes has touched down in your territory.
Tagging those who might be interested: @Vayko @Vanadis @Katna @Vasco @Sharlee @Eros @Oleander

It was late. Really late. It was typical that Viorel would be awake at this time of night, but given that Vanadis was now obviously pregnant he was sticking close to home. The last thing he needed was to be out trapezing through the night and something bad happened to her or their children growing in her belly. He had been doing as instructed and fetching his wife the needed herbs to settle her nausea when something caused the hair on his nape to stand straight up.

The night had gone eerily silent and still, but the air felt alight as if it were full of lightning. Viorel paused, and placed the bundle of herbs he had been carrying at his paws, looking around for some indication for why everything felt so strange. It was so quiet, and the sky looked so weird, almost lightish and green, not at all like the night sky he was so accustomed to. Still, he could see no immediate danger and picked the plants back up gingerly so as to not accidentally jostle them too much.

He had gotten most of the way back to where Vanadis was resting when the air suddenly started screaming at him. Wind rushed through the territory, strong enough to throw snow, mud, and grit off the ground and into the air. What was going on?

She was cozy in her den though she hadn't been able to sleep. It was starting to become a recurring trend with her lately. She wasn't sure how late in the night it was since she'd been sure that she had fallen asleep at some point and woken up to darkness at the entrance. She could feel it causing her fur to prickle against her skin even inside her den. Something just wasn't right.

She crawled her way to the entrance of her den sniffing the air outside but it didn't smell any different than usual. The feeling was having grew stronger which brought her fully out of her den. Looking up at the sky she saw the strange color of it and it scared her. What was going on?

No matter whatever feeling she's had been having lately she suddenly wanted to be around her family. So she took off toward the communal den they would be there she hoped. She hadn't gotten far when there was a piercing screaming through the trees. Then the sound of things hitting the ground all around her. She kept running but she felt it was coming up behind her fast. "VIOREL, VAYKO," she screamed trying to be heard over the sound that filled the air around her.

Eros had established himself as a nocturnal creature, and had been prowling about his usual stomping grounds when the air began to shift. At first, he acknowledged it with a simple annoyance, a twitch of his pelt here and there with a glare thrown up at the still boughs above his head. Then, gradually, his skin began to crawl and he found himself corralled back toward where his parents rested by some unknowable force. Maybe they could explain what was happening, and if not at least he'd feel better keeping watch.

It started before he was able to make it back, beginning as a gust that escalated into an endless roar. The wind picked up with a vengeance, ripping away debris from the forest floor and throwing it up his face. Eros snarled and flinched back, eyes stinging and ears burning as the sound swallowed him up.

Viorel squinted as debris barraged his face, ears pressing firmly against his skull as he tried to block out the screaming wind. He had never experienced a tornado before, and had no idea how much danger they were in. Abandoning the herbs that had frankly been swept away already, he started trying to make his way back to the communal den in a half blind stumble.

He had made it almost all of the way there when the distorted call of Sharlee reached him. The leader had no idea that she was yelling for him, he could not make out any words, just the distress in her voice. He let out a short blast of a call for anyone who was awake, not even sure if anyone could hear him and took off running towards where he thought she was. He had made it only a few wolf lengths when he skid to a stop, eyes wide in shock at the sight of the twister in the distance. It was far enough he was not in immediate danger, but the sight shook him to his very core and he felt suddenly helpless.

He was only frozen for a moment or two before shaking it off. He needed to get everyone to safety, no matter what the cost was. ”Sharlee! Sharlee, where are you?” He was yelling at the top of his lungs, but even he could barely hear himself. How was he supposed to find her? He had no idea Eros was also in danger, or where anyone else was, he could only hope they were safe in the den.

The screaming sound was so loud around her that it hurt her ears. There were things flying through the air. Leaves, branches and sometimes even small rocks. Sharlee hadn't ever experienced weather like this. The wind was so strong that she was afraid there wouldn't be a backwater left by the time it was all said and done. She knew she needed to get to the communal den as fast as she could. The others would be there, she hoped, and they could all be together until the storm if that was what it was passed.

She was screaming at the top of her lungs for Vi and Vayko hoping g they would hear her. She could hardly hear herself over all of the noise but she kept running. That was until she saw it coming strait for the backwater. Sharlee stopped in her tracks nearly rolling head over tail. She'd never seen anything like it so had no name for it but it only increased her fear.

She was brought back to what she'd been doing before by a faint sound. She thought it was someone calling into the wind but she couldn't be sure. Before she could start running again a tree branch slammed into her side sending her with a yelp across the ground from the force it hit her with.

Eros had no idea what was happening, much less what to do about it. The situation only swelled until he couldn't think at all, and his body would only do one thing; run. It was nearly impossible to see where he was going, but he did his best to avoid obstacles and keep a straight line all the same. Hopefully, he would be lucky and trip over his mother's birthing den...

Roots and brush tripped him, and several times he collided with brambles, tree trunks and ridges of broken earth. They impeded him greatly, and he would have new scrapes and bruises to add to the perpetual collection his rambunctious life maintained.

His paw caught and he was sent flying a final time, into a natural culvert created by torrential rains of the past. No longer was the raking wind coming from everywhere at once, the earthen walls of the ditch shielding him from whatever was tearing the forest apart. Eros flattened himself as much as he could into the wet dirt, panting from the exertion of his blind flight. He couldn't hear anything still but the beating of his own heart and the bellowing storm, and could only hope that everyone else was safe...

The leader had no idea that his son was also out here in danger, he was focused solely on getting to Sharlee. He was running as fast as he could towards where he had last heard her. His yellow eyes kept flicking back towards the twister that was approaching, although he was trying to ignore it. He needed to find his cousin, needed to know she was safe.

Her tawny view came into view just in time to see a branch slap across her side, and Viorel winced in sympathy but kept moving. He reached her side just a moment later, nudging her with his nose and trying to prompt her back up onto her paws. The twister was approaching dangerously quickly, and they did not have time to be out here in the open. He started shoving more persistently, guiding her away from the twister as debris continued to fly around them.

Viorel practically fell into the culvert as it appeared seemingly out of nowhere. His heart beat frantically and he allowed Sharlee to climb in first before diving in himself, almost toppling right on top of Eros. The father gasped with surprise and pulled his son in close, trying to form a physical shield around the two other pack members as best as he could. A sickening crack sounded nearby, an empress tree snapping like a twig and coming crashing down the longest branches landing less than a foot from where the trio was hiding. The ground shook and the wind howled violently.

The wolves had no way of knowing yet, but the twister was slowly moving directions and losing force. Soon they would be safe, they just needed to wait it out.

White hot pain shot through her side as she was hit. The force sent her tumbling a few feet from where she'd been struck. The whole world seemed to slip away as all she could think about was the pain until she felt herself being nudged. Sharlee was disoriented as she slowly came back to her senses. It finally came to her attention that it was a wolf nudging her. She blinked a few times before Vi came into view. Then the sound came loud in her ears.

Everything came back to her in that moment. The wind, the sound, the urgency to get to the den and to safety. She got to her paws as fast as she could. The pain still burned in her side and became intense with each movement. Finally she was at her full height and allowing Viorel to guide her to safety.

When they came to the Culvert Sharlee was confused but at the funnel cloud bared down on them she didn't question it. She half climbed half fell into the indentation. Once at the bottom she turned to make sure Vi came in after amd breathed a sigh of relief when he did. A moment later Eros was found and her cousin pulled his son close. Sharlee huddled close to the father and son hoping they would be safe where they were.

Eros was only just beginning to wonder after how long this would go on when he was hit. A yelp was pushed from his lungs along with his breath, and for a moment he was scrambling to get away from whatever had landed on him. It pulled him closer, and all at once he recognized his father. Tears of gratitude sprung to his eyes as the boy curled into Viorel's embrace.

When he realized his aunt was with them as well, Eros reached out a paw to place it over one of her own. It was the only way he had of holding onto her as well, and it brought him further comfort. Everything would be okay, it had to be...

The ground shook around them, and the sound of the wind was absolutely deafening and still Viorel could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He did not think that he had ever been so frightened in his entire life, and his son and cousin were in danger as well. A branch rattled near his head and the leader curled tighter around his family, doing everything that he could to be a physical shield against the weather.

Almost as soon as it had started, things began to dissipate. The wind slowed and quieted, branches creaked dangerously amongst the trees but everything else was eerily silent. Viorel stayed pressed against the wall and other wolves as he steadied his breathing, counting in his head. Eventually, when he was sure they were safe, he stood on his hind legs and looked over the ridge.

The clouds were still a sickening colour and there was a path of destruction where everything had touched down. Roots of fallen trees stretched into the sky, leaves ripped apart into confetti in the grass. It was terrible, but it was over. Jumping up he looked down at Eros and Sharlee, ”I think we’re okay now. We should go find everyone else.” Hopefully this trio had the worst of it. Viorel waited for both of them to get out of the culvert before murmuring to the woman, ”We’ll get Clover to check your side as soon as we get back.” His tone was firm, there would be no excuses. And then they were off, staring in horror at the path around them.

FADE

(This post was last modified: Aug 22, 2022, 11:10 PM by Viorel.)