Larkcall Lowlands Life's little surprises

RE: Reika, you're right in the path of a small dust devil! AW

The weather hadn't broke which meant that Reika had to go further to hunt for something to eat. The trail she'd been following had lead her into the lowlands. It had been quite awhile since she'd been there but it wasn't a place that was completely unknown to her. She didn't know if it was just her knowledgeable that there wasn't any water or if it actually felt drier in the air but it did. She couldn't think about that because she needed to catch something and get back.

When she looked up to see where exactly she was Reika saw something in the distance. For a moment she just stood there staring at it. She'd never seen anything like it before in her life. It was like the dirt from the ground had lifted I to the air and was swirling all around.

It had been almost two weeks since Chan had brought Caspian to come and stay with Ryder and herself. The mother knew she was getting more attached everyday that went by, but she could not help it. Every day the younger boy grew older, and amusingly seemed to be morphing into a twin of her blood son. It was funny how things all seemed to be working out, and falling into place for the Lennox woman. So much so that she thought it best she made her way back to where she had met Chan to begin with.

Finley had no plan really, there was no ritual she was trying to complete. She just thought that the lowlands must hold some kind of karmic reprieve, it had changed everything for her. Going back there might bring further good luck in the raising of the boys, it was worth a try wasn’t it?

It was also amusing to the woman that as she traveled the trail of Reika became more and more apparent. The two women had never spoken privately but Finley was in great debt to her for the younger woman's assistance when she was in labour. Picking up her pace to catch up with the other wolf she had just barked out a greeting when she realized something was wrong.

Coming up beside where Reika was standing, Finley’s green eyes were wide. She opened her mouth once or twice before managing, ”What is that?” She had never seen anything like it, no tornadoes, hurricanes, dust storms, really she was a lucky woman.

It was supposed to have been a nice little visit out to the lowlands. She'd catch something to take back to the others and then she'd consider it to have been a successful trip. That however wasn't the case. Reika stood there frozen to the spot as she watched the sight of this thing she'd never seen before. She didn't even have a name for it.

The thing spun around pulling the dirt amd plants up around it. The scariest thing about it was that it was coming straight for her. Reika was so entranced by this phenomenon that she didn't hear the approach of another wolf. She was completely unaware of what was going on around her.

It wasn't until Finley spoke that she was brought back to the reality of the situation. Her head turned to see the new mother and then glanced back at the swirling thing. "I don't know but I don't think it's safe to be here," she said as her eyes scanned for someplace safe for them to go. "We need to get you to safety," she told Finley trying to remain calm.

It was interesting, despite not knowing what it was and Reika saying they weren’t safe to be here, Finley felt no fear. She actually smiled for a moment at the mention they needed to get her to safety. Maybe a few weeks ago this would have annoyed her, she had hated feeling like an invalid during her pregnancy, but now it was just somewhat amusing. Glancing around there was not much in the way of safety, this was the lowland afterall. It was mostly flat and well…low

Then she spotted a small rocky outcropping to their left. Gesturing with her muzzle in that general direction, ”Looks like that is our best option.” It couldn’t have been more than a mile, mile and a half away, if they sprinted it would take them a couple minutes, if they trotted they could get there in double that, maybe triple. Finley waited to see what her companion would do, how urgently she wanted to get away from this thing.

Green eyes turned in fascination to the turning form of dust, watching it rotate. It seemed so fast, and so slow at the same time.

Reika was doing her best not to panic in the face of the spinning cloud of dust. She knew she had to keep a clear head so that she could get herself and more importantly Finley to safety. For a long moment though all she could do was stare at the phenomenon. The other woman spoke though bringing her back to the task at paw. She spoke of a place they could go that was under a rocky outcropping. Reika looked it over. It looked like that was their only option considering their current location. "It will have to do," she said.

One more look back at the cloud of dust which seemed to be getting closer to them with each passing moment. "Come on Fin. We're running out of time," she said nudging the other woman's shoulder. Reika wouldn't go though until she knew that Finley was coming too. They woukd hurry there and hopefully have time to get situated under the outcropping so that they woukd be safe. "Can you run?" She asked hurriedly.

They would need to run if they were going to out run the spinning cloud of sand.

Finley watched the cloud rotate towards them, it was mesmerizing and she couldn’t tear her eyes away. It was the nudge against her shoulder that finally got her moving, and at the question she couldn’t help but let out a single chuckle, ”Yes Reika, I can run.” It seemed like a silly question, and the mother was not sure why the other woman was babying her in this moment, but tried to reason it was because everything seemed so new and somewhat dangerous.

The mother was not a strong wolf, but she was a fast one and she could keep up with whatever Reika could do, maybe even outpace her a little. Paws churned up further dust as the women ran side by side, and they were almost all the way there when all the hair along Finley’s spine stood up. The wind suddenly spun around them, dirt and small rocks pelting against the Lennox wolf’s dark coat as she squinted to try and keep it from her eyes.

Almost as soon as it hit them did it pass by mostly uneventfully. She was coated in dust and grit, looking almost grey, but she was uninjured. Looking towards Reika she blinked a few times, and then Finley burst into laughter, ”what the hell was that?’ It seemed silly that they had run from it, ”Are you okay?’ Maybe she was underreacting.

Not knowing what the spinning cloud was Reika wasbworried something really bad was going to happen to them. They needed shelter from it and the only place was a good distance. She had to get Finley moving so they could hopefully reach safety in time. The other woman seemed mesmerized by the cloud so Reika tried urging her along. "Good, cause I think we should do that now," she stated urgently. She took one last look at the cloud hoping they'd have time to get out of its path.

The Archer girl turned and started to run only looking back to make sure Finley was with her. Reika was relieved when she sensed the other at her shoulder and together they ran for safety. That was until Reika felt her fur standing on end. Deep down she knew they weren't going to make itbto safety. The spinning cloud over took them spinning all around them. It was hard to keep her eyes open from the dust.

A moment later the cloud was gone and they were both still standing there. Reika opened her eyes looking around confused. She shook her head at Finley's question, "I have no idea. It was like a tornado but not. I thought it was going to be much worse." Her gaze finally landed on the mother, "I'm fine, are you?" That was the craziest thing she's experienced.

Finley’s side heaved as she gasped to catch her breath after the weird small tornado had passed over them and they were left unscathed. Reika looked just as confused as the mother left as the pair looked around. The wind had settled and the dust was returned to the ground and here they were just standing out in the open. Nodding at the other woman’s question she answered, ”Yeah I’m okay. That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.” Suddenly she wondered if these things were common in this part of the Lore. It certainly had not been at her birth pack.

Looking over at Reika who was also coated in dust and painted a grey colour that matched her own filthy pelt Finley started laughing again. She blurt out, ”We look absolutely ridiculous!” She couldn’t imagine the pair of them just showing back up to the others, certainly not her sons, looking quite so dirty. She didn’t know if she had ever had this much grit on her, ever. She was just starting to get it back together when she looked over at Reika and started laughing all over again. What an unusual situation.

The Archer girl was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened to them. She thought for sure they were going to get swallowed up. It was quite the opposite. She didn't feel like she'd suffered a single injury which she was Thankful for. With the knowledge that she was okay she turned to check on Finley. "That's good," she said relieved before addressing her friends thoughts on what just happened. "Me too! I'm still not really sure I understand what just happened." Reika really wished she did but she didn't really know if she ever would.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Finley laughing. She turned her silver gaze on the other woman just a she explained why she was laughing. It was only then she noticed how dirty they both were. Then she started laughing, "We sure do. We're going to have quite the story to tell when we get back though." She did have to admit that the dust was a little itchy in her coat.

For a minute Finley enjoyed just laughing with Reika as she looked bewildered around the area. There were no more signs of the small tornado - or not tornado - that had just run over them. If it had not been for their filthy pelts the woman would have been tempted to think that she had imagined the whole thing. Then she gave her pelt as good of a shake as she could, only to find that the dirt and dust was much too deep for this to help much.

Smiling she said, ”Come on, let’s go back and go for a swim. That should do the trick I think.” Then they started making their way back to the impromptu camp they had all set up. Finley wanted to get washed off before her boys saw her and thought rolling in the dirt would be a fun game.

FADE