Hush Meadow Secret Caverns

Sibyl further backed away when the gargantuan male looked over the hole. She thought it was fortunate that the wolf was simply too large to fit through it, even if he tried he would probably just get stuck. They didn't need anyone else trapped down there, that was for sure. Sibyl's ears cupped forward, straining to hear the faint echo's of Narime's voice. It seemed that Narime' was, for the most part, whole and fine. Sibyl was a little dubious as to whether there were any ways out to find, but she kept this to herself. There was no way to lift the girl out of the cavern, so an escape route was the best anyone could hope for.

Sibyl felt rather useless, knowing there was nothing she could do to help. She gave an apologetic smile to the other two wolves at the surface. "I... I don't... I don't know what to do." She murmured, backing up with her shoulders hunched around her lowered head. She felt guilty, almost as if it were somehow her fault that Narime' were trapped with no real way to get out. An unsure whimper squeaked from her throat and a hasty "Sorry!" fell from her lips, before she quickly turned tail and ran. Hunting plans forgotten, she was going back to the Hollow to try to forget about this horrid mess, and try to imagine someone she barely knew wasn't going to starve to death at the bottom of a pit.

His red ears twitched as he listened to what she had to say. What he was hearing didn’t sound too good and it made the massive guardian worry highly. He exhaled a concerned whine and kept his whole body near the hole, he didn’t have time to go and find Elettra…something might happen in the time that he would have been gone. He didn’t leave though, and didn’t budge a muscle when the harmless wolf he had been threatening before backed away and left them. That just caused him to glance at the emerald eyed female as he listened to the words that came out of Narimé’s mouth. He would continue to worry, and keep his perch over the hole.

With concerned glowing golden amber eyes, Guiness took his post over the hole. He lay down, his ears pricked and eyes trained on the area, though his muzzle was buried in the snow, directly where the hole started. As he looked at the small thing now, it was easy to tell that the younger female had not been pushed by another wolf, her injuries would have had to have been much worse than they were…something else had happened. His large body took up much of the space, and he wouldn’t have been surprised as to if he would have stuck his head in the hole, it probably would have gotten stuck anyways. All he could do was stay there and watch over her. Hopefully, Sloane wouldn’t find out about the misshapen anytime soon.

Pillar of Strength

The Meadow, if anything, was a perfect neighboring terrain by the Ridge that offered plentiful hunting. When his paws did not bring him to the borders of the pack lands in servitude as a guardian, the ivory male allowed himself to drift to his instincts of hunting; winter was a harsh season and the pack caches it seemed were always low, despite the hard work of the members. Come spring it would prove to be more difficult he assumed, as Elettra and Koda would likely breed, and in turn, Willow Ridge would gain its first litter.

The ivory male prowled forward, his nose lifting to scent for any lingering prey. He did not find something to hunt however; instead, the once regal male found the familiar scents of Guiness and Narime not far from where he was, and with a chuff of concern, the large wolf moved forward, his paws sinking only slightly in the snow.

He came upon the small gathering rather quickly – his fiery eyes fell instantly upon the bulking sight of Guiness as it was hard not to notice the massive beast first. Bemusement coursed through him with this thought, and though his gaze drifted from the tawny wolf to seek out the slender silver form of the yearling, Phineas stiffened slightly as he noted she was missing. Two other she-wolves were with his fellow packmate, and as he was about to announce his presence, one of the females turned tail and fled.

His eyes narrowing, Phineas prowled forward now, a growl rippling from his throat as forboding fell over him. “Guiness, what’s happened?” He spoke to the male, though his eyes fell sharply upon the ivory she-wolf, as if her presence promised bad news.

It had taken days to reach this place. The dark wolf hid among the snow drifts as best a wolf of his complexion could, aided by the shadows of skeletal shrubbery. He had managed to find himself in a perfect position to watch as the silver wolf fell through the ice, and was even far enough away to enjoy a hearty chuckle to himself at her expense. He observed keenly as more and more converged on the spot, eyes narrowing as his nostrils flared in an attempt to take in their scents, or to catch more than snippets of their conversation - but he was just too far away. It seemed most of them knew each other to some degree, but there were others that were plainly outcast, perhaps from different packs - even seeming to keep their distance from each other... If they were so naive to trust strangers so willingly, perhaps this would be easier than he had first anticipated. Fleetfoot had not been lying when she called those that dwelled here soft. If all it took was a few well spun phrases to earn another’s trust, the sly one knew he would flourish here. Resistance would be futile. Hardly fearing detection, he stood then, the scar on his rear left leg stretching as he stood. With a hasty shake, loose snow fell from his fur and with a final glance at the gathered about the hole in the ground, he debated again whether it wouldn’t be worth it to charge down there to push one or two of them in? Mischief lit his eyes then as he spared them a final glance. It would be impossible to rest if their endless jabber continued to persist - even if only snippets drifted to him in clarity. There was enough white noise from birds and bugs to distract the stranger male. With a final dark smirk the male turned, not caring if his movement was noticed by the children below. He headed away from the gathered at a ground eating trot. A shake up would do them some good.

Cali was still annoyed with Guiness for being so arrogant and assuming, but she knew that he was just worried about Narime', his pack mate. So she cut him some slack and decided to let it go. It really wasn't worth staying angry over, especially with poor Narime' in such a precarious position. When the other fae that had been there first, stammered out some words and practically fled from them, she couldn't help giving him a quick glare before focusing on the hole in the ice once more.

Something was bothering her, nipping at the back of her mind and she couldn't quite put her paw on it. She furrowed her brows in concentration and then it hit her. Narime' had said that she was going to rest... to sleep. She remembered as a pup that one of the hunters in her pack had taken a fall somehow and hit his head pretty hard. The Healer had kept him awake, warning him of the possibility of never waking up after a hard blow to the head. Simply going to sleep...forever.

In a mild panic, she stepped forward, risking the ire of the brute that had taken up watch just as another wolf approached. Ignoring both of them for the moment, she called down to the fallen wolf. "No! Don't! Don't go to sleep, Narime'. You might not wake up!" She didn't know if the other wolf heard her or not, but she had to try. She turned to the two males, panic clearly written in her emerald eyes. "She needs to stay awake, if possible. At least for a few hours. Someone in my birthpack hit their head in a hunt and the Healer was adamant about that. We need to keep her talking, even about nonsense to keep her awake, if possible."

Her heart raced as she thought of her young friend never waking up. She had to make it through this. She just had to. She looked at the two males, one focused intently on the opening and the other likely thinking that she'd lost her mind. Again, without thought, she said, "We need to get Elettra. Now." These two wolves didn't know her from the moon, but she had to help her friend however she could, Elettra would never forgive her if she let her young charge die.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

Fuck it. I'm making this her waking up post. More people are joining anyway..

12/11/2012 Morning Cloudy 33 degrees F.

She had already been drifting off to sleep when she heard the worried voice of someone above. Or had she been asleep already? Ears twitched sideways remembering the voice from somewhere. Had she met this other wolf before? Maybe... but the young wolf was so tired yawning once more she opened her eyes fully and glanced up. What was that? About falling asleep and never waking up? Did she really just say that? Then it hit her. The voice and the sound of falling water from within the cave matched up.. She met that wolf once before near waterfalls. No Bramble Falls.

" Cali is that you? " She called wearily dragging her tired body to a sitting position. " Hello? " She called once more while turning her head to gaze back towards a tunnel. Why were they being so loud? Did they want her to stay awake or something? She needed rest, that Nari was sure of. Rest enough just to help her back and leg maybe. Nari did not know that she had already been sleeping for quite a while.

Lowering herself again Narimé listened to the others talking above trying to keep herself awake. However her eyes continually drooped and tiny dreams began playing in between Nari's random bouts of awakefulness. Eventually however her bodies needs finally won out and the girl was sleeping fitfully in the cold dark hole. She slept for another four hours until she woke up once again.

What woke her was the light filtering down through the hole. It was like a bright sun was shining right into her eyes. Shaking her head and sitting up Narimé calmly breathed for a few moments just shaking off her grogginess. The pain in her head was still there and likely would stay for a few more days, however her back no longer hurt and her leg only hurt a little. She was able to put pressure on it. Looking around Nari wondered if anyone was still above her trying to help. So she called out.

" Is anyone up there!? "

Remember no posting order.

Also. For each tunnel she explores I will post a picture and the tunnel map so you guys can see where she's going. Everyone good?

(This post was last modified: Dec 31, 2012, 10:48 PM by Narimé.)

OOC: Ok. Sounds good.

His golden amber eyes switched their direction when the voice of a pack mate greeted his ears. They twitched when he arrived, and still having the business air about him, he spoke, "The ice broke and Narimé fell. She is injured and there is no way out…at least that we know of." It would probably be the first true sign to his own pack mates that he was fully there. Some wolves seemed to believe that Guiness had something wrong with his head, for when he did speak, he kept it brief and sweet…sometimes it might have even been confusing. His sister knew though…and perhaps Sloane too…he was just a silent happy man.

When the white female spoke to Narimé, the large guardian’s ears twitched. Sleeping would have been bad…he should have known that. Rustling in a nearby bush caught his attention, but when he turned his head there was nothing there, just a moving branch…perhaps a fleeing rabbit from the scene. His nostrils flared in frustration and when he heard Cali’s suggestion he doubted what she was saying. Koda had gone on a hunt with Shade around this time…he had scented them leaving the territory on his patrol a few days ago and they had not yet returned. Elettra would need to stay with the pack.

His mind silently raced, worried about the trapped female…who else was there. Hadn’t there been another female that had healed…but she was from another pack. Her name had been important…and Guiness had recently met her. Nina…she would be nearby wouldn’t she? Tempest and Sloane hadn’t gone far had they…? Perhaps they would still be nearby. His own heart started pumping ferociously in his chest…his ears twitching, his head moving towards Phineas to see what his reaction would be. He should know if Elettra would be too busy or not, even with the pack affairs that were happening. After all….Guiness was the lowest subordinate.

Pillar of Strength

Unsure if any wolves were staying with her up above Nari shook her head and gazed into the darkness. What was there for her to do now?

"Only one thing to do now... Just search. Keep looking for a way out. Keep looking even if I'm cold, hurt, or hungry.." She told herself quietly twitching an ear at the sounds within the cave. Before she had taken the time to rest the previous night Narimé had planned out exactly how she was going to go about searching through the tunnels.

Firstly the silver she wolf would travel slowly, making sure that there was no danger in the direction she was heading. Secondly, Nari would note each area and what was within it. Whether there were fallen rocks, deep crevices, deep water, or places too tiny for her to fit through. Thirdly, if she couldn't find a way out one tunnel Nari would backtrack her way out following her scent and repeat the process in the other two tunnels.

"And when I get tired I'll come back to this place," She looked up only slightly at the blinding light coming through the cieling. " and I will rest here until its time to look through the other places." She nodded with a solemn face then turned away from the light drifting down from above. The wolves up there couldn't help her now.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/001/9/3/gyadfbashdn_by_terra_anne-d5q3t18.jpg

Padding in place a few times the young wolf tested her leg a second time and deemed it strong enough to walk on. The only pain that really bothered her was the headache still bouncing across her skull every few minutes. Otherwise she was fine and able to look around for a while. Turning her gaze to the three tunnels Narimé eyed them for a few moments then began padding towards the first tunnel that was closest to her.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/001/8/b/akjdbsfkjabdsh_by_terra_anne-d5q3w4c.jpg

Hearing the falling water sound grow nearer she realized that the water must have been falling down quite a drop. Nervousness claimed the girl as she edged closer to the first tunnel. Her eyes spotted it first. The sheer drop that she had seen in this tunnel the day before only as an inky blackness. So her eyes hadn't been deceiving her. There really was no floor in this tunnel. Which meant that she couldn't go exploring down it. "Too dangerous.." She backed away mentally crossing off this place from her mental map. "But thats good. It means I only have two tunnels to look through not three.." Of course she wasn't thinking that less tunnels might also mean less chances of finding a way out.

Shivering slightly she padded back toward the light feeling an ache in her back. Pausing she twitched her ears forward listening for anyone outside unsure if she'd heard someone. Then she carefully stretched. First her front end which caused her to wince at the pain in her leg. Then her back which had a dull ache since she'd awakened, and lastly her back legs and tail.

Hearing nothing above her disheartened the girl for a few minutes. She simply stood there wishing someone would speak above. The sound of falling water from the first tunnel was what shook the girl out of her reverie. Turning to the right she scented the stale air that came from the remaining to tunnels. Each had the same scent of earth, mud, and water. So instead of standing there unsure of herself Narimé began sneaking forward to the second tunnel.

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/362/d/8/htfrgyuaewiofkershj_by_terra_anne-d5pizxb.jpg

She knew from her short observations yesterday that this tunnel had a low cieling but a wide girth. Letting her bluish purple eyes get used to the darkness the woman travled slowly admiring the stalactites and stalagmites that passed her by. Some of these wonderous slimy looking spikes had even grown into each other creating small pillars. Most of theformations were seen along the edges of the cave paying silent vigil to the young wolfs exploration.

Rounding a curved corner in the tunnel Nari was stunned to see even larger columns spread sparcely among the middle of the wide tunnel. Lifting her head to gaze at the sparkling stones Nari forgot about the low ceiling for a moment.

"OUCH!" Her startled yip echoed through the cave drumming her ears with Nari's hurt voice. Feeling fresh pain blossom across her head Narimé cursed herself for being so stupid. Though it worried her that the tiny bump on the ceiling had hurt so much. "I must have hurt my head hard when I first fell in here.." She closed her eyes and took some time to let the pain sizzle away.

Not knowing how long the silver wolf had been sitting there Narimé finally stood back up keeping her head low. "Well at least my eyes can see in here better now." She regarded the columns with awe as the girl continued walking through the confines of the cold hard stone. A tiny whisp of air caught her nose. At first she thought nothing of it, but as she padded closer to the end of the tunnel Nari began to smell the scent of fresh air.

Excitement ran through the youth as she sprung forward smile upon her face. "There IS a way out!" She quickly came upon a mountain of boulders forcing herself to stop and gaze up at the stones with a confused look on her maw. "Why... do I smell air? REAL air?" She scented around the base of the rocks then felt a puff of wind stroke her ruff. Glancing up the young wolf spied a tiny opening at the top of the boulder mountain. Crawling her way up she stuck her nose in the tiny hole and breathed in a full breath of fresh air.

Pulling back the wolf looked at the tiny hole only large enough to fit her head through. "Why?..WHY!" She snarled angrily then tried digging at the giant stones blocking her way. All the young woman recieved were bleeding paws and torn claws. Crying in utter frustration Nari sat there for over and hour just scenting the fresh air through the hole. As the hour ended Nari sat with an annoyed look on her face. Then she stuck her nose through the hole again. The fresh air was like cocaine to the girl. She never wanted to leave it. The only thing that roused her was the scent of rain beginning to mix in the fresh air.

"If it rains.. I.. I don't think that will be good for me." In her head waves of water splashed through the tunnels carrying the body of a silver wolf with them into the depths of the earth.

"No no no... that's not happening.." The fear of termination got the girl moving again. Within ten minutes she had back tracked her way to the main hole again. Now that her eyes were used to the dark Nari had to squint just to see where the third tunnel was. Pausing before she entered the silver wolf called out.

"If anyone's up there!.. I already found one exit, but it was blocked. No wolf could get through those boulders...but...if there's one.. Then there are bound to be others right?!." She laughed nervously wondering if she was just talking to empty space. Was Guiness still there? Or maybe Cali? She was not sure.

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OOC: I'm gonna let someone else post before I post the next tunnel.I osted the pictures URLs so you guys can see where she's going and what she's seeing.

Feel free to not wait for Phin on next rounds, as he's hoping to find Elettra. I'll send Vami a PM to join this thread too?

His ears preened forward, catching the voice of Guiness with misplaced surprise – he hadn’t known the large male could string sentences together given their first meeting, though there was no point on dwelling to the thought. His tail gave a flick, his eyes falling upon a she-wolf whose scent was unknown to him. The urgency in her tone caused him to stiffen, and the Argyris wolf found his eyes drifting to the hole Narimé had seemingly vanished in to.

The stranger was right however – Elettra should have been witness to this, and with quick thoughts, the ivory male allowed his gaze to settle back upon Guiness. “I will go get Elettra,” he murmured, his claws digging to the ground. Without waiting for argument, Phinea spun on his paws, weaving his way back the way he had come, his pace a good run. The cool winter air whipped at his features, though he welcomed the sting, even with his thick pelt. He would come upon the borders of the Ridge soon, and even before halting, the wolf would tilt his muzzle up, releasing his urgent cry for Elettra to come to his side, for she was greatly needed.

The large Thorben was grateful to hear that his pack mate would go fetch Elettra…for truthfully it would have made the large male anxious to have to leave the silver female. When Sloane wasn’t around, she was his responsibility, paws down…she was family now. The patter of her footsteps caused him to peer down, worried to see that she was going through the tunnels below. Trying to likely find a way out. As if this was distressing him, he sent her a low whine…one that warned her to be careful since he couldn’t travel with her. In the meantime, he would attempt to find some source of food for the girl…she would definitely need to keep her strength up in the condition she was in. Though, just as he was about to leave, the sharp yowl of Narimé caused him to loop back around, his ears flattening on his head.

With a small sigh he headed off, his ears twitching and nose moving every once and awhile. His pace increased briefly, to put himself between some of the mayhem before he quickly starting tracking for any signs of a meal. After many increasing passing minutes he found the trail of a rabbit. He wasn’t sure what good he would do trying to run with it, but sneaking up on it could be an easy task for him, as long as he found some sort of way to stay hidden. Considering his large form, the task was not an easy one, but he would, hopefully, manage. He crept forward, his nose hovering over the snow, trying to grasp onto the scent as best he could. He was getting closer…he knew. Narimé needed this meal. Her life depended on it…on him and on the pack as a whole.

When the black rabbit came into view, Guiness was ready…he crept forward as quiet as possible, hoping that he wouldn’t step on anything under the snow covered ground. He was there undetected, an invisible force, one might say if he weren’t so large. When he was merrily a few feet from the prey, he sprung silently towards the animal, using his back legs to propel him forward. His large form and fangs came into contact with flesh, and almost as soon as he leapt the life of the creature was drained. The large guardian had done so in the quickest way possible. With a snort, he picked up the limp body and quickly made his way back towards the hole where the silver female had fallen into. She wasn’t there though…still exploring hopefully?

As more time went by, Guiness became more and more anxious, choosing to ignore the white female that had snapped at him earlier, though he hadn’t been paying attention to that either. When his pack mate’s voice echoed in his ears his heart beat dropped slightly. She was okay and had gone through to tunnel and found another hole, though way too small for her to fit through. She also reported she was going to go through the other tunnel to see where it led to. Worry was clear in his words as he called down to her, "Please be careful. Eat this first." And with his words were the black rabbit that he caught as he gently threw it down to her. Hopefully, it would be enough to sustain her for a small while, even though it was a scrawny rabbit.

Pillar of Strength