Oak Tree Bend the gentle roar

RE: Quickly melting snow has turned rivers into rapids. 
For @Marina and Mako obvs, but any others welcome to help or whatnot

Spieden wasn't much one for napping, and truly didn't intend to make a habit of it, but she didn't think she'd ever been this tired in her life. Perhaps taking a few weeks of rest was more traditional, but it was time she couldn't afford. The adults were just about outnumbered by the youth, and that wasn't even taking into account three of those adults being nursing mothers... Oak Tree Bend had its work cut out for them.

When Spieden wasn't tending to her own brood she would do what fishing or hunting of small game she could nearby, stopping to check in on @Naira and @Aponi when she passed their respective dens. Somewhere in the back of the mind she knew she'd have to move the pups soon. They were growing quickly, much heftier than she remembered Sahalie and Drift being at their age, and soon they would be mobile enough that the creek that the den faced would be a real hazard. The sticking point was she wasn't sure where the hell she would move them. Tomorrow. She'd figure it out tomorrow.

Spieden hadn't even meant to doze off, but as she laid down to feed Marina and Mako she couldn't help but rest her head for a moment. Since the birth of her pups she hadn't been visited any more of those strange dreams again. But this time she found herself walking through her home, walking on trails that her paws hadn't touched in years but still lingered as fresh as ever in memory. She was looking for her family, calling their names but not finding even a single soul. As she came to the bank of the Salmon River she could feel the water lapping against her paws, errant spray brushing her chin.

A heavy weight had settled onto her shoulders, and there was a shrill sound... Seagulls? No... "SHIT!"

"FUCK!" Spieden yelled again as her head crashed into the low ceiling, clods of dirt raining down over her as the pups that had been perched on her shoulders tumbled off. The floor of the den was soft, damp, the lovely lapping waves of her dream now way too real, the water of the creek slowly encroaching up the slight incline. The little round opening was sliced into a scant semi-circle, affording a small glance of the outside world. Nearly pitch dark... How long had she been asleep!? "Oh no no no. Okay, umm... Let's see," She mumbled to herself with the shake of her head, bending down to take stock of her cubs with the nudge of her nose and a brush of her tongue. "You guys alright? I'll get you outta here, don't worry..."

Mako still hadn't quite figured out what the shimmering ribbon that pulsed and surged outside their den was. As soon as he could convince his stout little limbs to move he had tried to investigate it, confidently, albeit clumsily striding into that world of light that existed outside of the little earthen hovel. But after the first few attempts were thwarted by Mama he changed his game plan. So far he could tell it was a "river", and that Mama wanted him nowhere near it, but that didn't really answer what was it?

Whenever she left, which was frequently, he was already trundling through the tunnel and stumbling towards the bank. It wasn't milk or earth or his Mama or his sister, but it was always there, and he had no idea what to make of it. It scared him a little, was it alive? Sometimes he tried to shove Marina into it, not to any great success. If ducks could float on top of it, maybe she could too?

Mako liked when his Mama came back, at the least it meant he could eat, and sometimes she taught him what the ducks were, or something about the "fish" that he didn't understand. But sometimes it was more inconvenient than anything else. How was he supposed to figure out the mystery of the river when she was there trying to keep him from it?

When she came back that day she didn't even stay awake long enough for him to ask her if Marina could float. Though he filled his belly and passed some of the time trying to grab onto his sister's tail long enough to chew on it, he was growing awfully bored. He was about to sneak down to the bank himself and hope Mama didn't wake, but it seemed the river was coming to them instead!

Mako's puppy blue eyes widened as water surged up over his tiny paws. Cold! Colder than anything he'd ever felt before! He stomped his feet and happily growled as he splashed in their very own private beach. But the river didn't stop coming, and his toes were starting to hurt with the cold. "River, stop! NO!" He yelled at it, stomping his paw for inflection. Higher and higher the water came. Had he made it mad? Mako whimpered, backing away further and further until his rear hit the warm flank of his Mama. Quickly he scrabbled up her shoulders, whimpering and whining as he tried. She had to fix this!

Quite suddenly the woman came to life with a few strong words and Mako found himself in a heap on the damp floor with a grunt. He snuffed as she started prodding him, really, he was fine! "Fuck," He assured her.

Mama had returned, and when Mama came back, that meant it was time to eat. The rolly little seal had squirmed up to Speiden’s side with great interest, jostling her brother with her shoulder as they both suckled away until they’d had their fill of milk. After a meal always seemed the perfect time to sleep, her belly full and body warm. She burrowed up against her mother’s soft fur, brother tucked up next to her, and she didn’t move again until the world moved beneath her.

A startled yelp escaped the chocolate pup, landing on her back as the sky started to fall on top of them. She might have panicked, if not for being concerned about being squished. Instead Marina only squirmed about, getting her fat feet underneath her tubby body. By the time she was righted, the water was creeping in further and further – there was hardly anywhere left to hide!

“Bad,” she told the water, trying to backpedal somewhere less…wet. And cold. This was not good. She tipped her chin and whined, blue eyes peering up at her mother. “Bad,” she said again, glancing back down at the river. “Bad!”

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

@Spieden

Having the cubs so close to water felt like a bad idea to Sahalie. She wanted to say something, but they were Spieden's children, at the end of the day, and she assumed that the woman knew what she was doing. Still, the rainy season she had been born into was fast approaching and it just didn't feel right to have a den that was waterfront property. The morning that Sahalie resolved to convince Spieden to move the cubs to, at least, a more suitable, sizable den for the growing little ones was the morning that she woke up to her worst fear.

The rivers had flooded.

Sleeping in the communal den, the flooding had not been immediately evident to the girl as the wandered east towards the reclaimed otter den. The warmer weather had brought all the flowers and foliage out of hiding, and this made it harder still to see the river before she was right there at the bank. Except this wasn't the point at which she remembered the bank being, since there was no slope or sandy ground or anything of the sort. Her golden eyes widened and she gulped, looking left and right. "Oh no," she mumbled, breathless as she took off towards the den with a keen sense of emergency.

The hole that Spieden had made Marina and Mako's first home was barely visible, the water had risen so far. It was just a dark semi-circle above the water. Her heart hammered and she held her breath, splashing water carelessly as she drove into the river and waded towards the hole. The water colder than any ice. She bared her teeth and crouched down, trying not to wince as the river lapped at her belly. "Spieden!" she hoped that the woman was there. If the cubs were alone in there it would make things a little more complicated. The water washed away any trace of a scent, though, and it was all left to guess work. "Spieden we gotta go. Pass me one of the kids." Her jaws waited outside the opening.

Quentin, though he wouldn't dare admit that he had been following Sahalie for some time in hopes that she might want to spend some (casual, lesson-free) quality time, had been hot on the yearling's trail. Gone were the thoughts of showing her a particular part of the old forest and gone were the fleeting feelings of admiration when he realized that the nearby rivers had flooded over - right into the den where Spieden and her cubs had taken up residence. The scene that unfolded before him stunned him before he leapt into action. As his apprentice hastily planted herself at the opening, calling to the Leader and the two children within, Quentin took up a spot next to her, shoulder-to-shoulder and blocking all the light from getting down into the tunnel. Almost immediately, he withdrew, standing instead at her flank in the forearm-deep waters.

"Spieden?" he called, wincing at the idea that calling her by first name (just as Sahalie had) was a bit... forward on his part. "It's all right, we're 'ere. Everyone okay?" They needed to get them out and fast; and, as much as he wanted to dive down into the small space and retrieve someone... anyone... he stayed outside, listening hard over the surge of the river for the sounds of life within the dark tunnel.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)
Beirne may possibly join in any thread Quentin is in at any time, unless requested otherwise.

Here comes one more set of helping paws!

In the blink of an eye, the season had changed. A late season snowfall had covered the ground in snow once more, but summer was here to stay. The ground was damp from the melting snow, and for not the first time that day, Serach found himself steadying himself as he slipped on a patch of mud. His underbelly was coated in the stuff, only enhancing his already grizzled and haphazard appearance. Although the temptation to stop and clean himself off was strong, he didn't have the time to waste. Hurrying along, he made a beeline for Spieden's den, anxious to check up on her and her two pups, Mako and Marina. He had heard of the horror story that was @Kisla's near drowning experience, and while the Bend's creek was fairly shallow, Spieden had not left much room for any unexpected flooding.

He heard the water before he saw it, and the sound caused his stomach to drop. Had it really been that much snow? He couldn't recall, but that didn't matter right now. Whatever the cause, the creek was very quickly rising, the water lapping greedily at the rocky banks before sucking it under. He could barely see the den, blocked by Sahalie and Quentin, but he knew it would not be long before the water reached the lip of the den and flooded it completely.

Leaping down from the embankment, he hit the water with a splash. Thankfully, he stayed upright and was able to push through the shockingly cold water to join Sahalie and her companion. Wasting no time, he pushed on Quentin's flank with his shoulder. "Move!" he half snarled the command, attempting to shove Quentin towards the bank and dry land. Sahalie's friend or not, the last thing Serach wanted to worry about was Quentin possibly drowning too.

He couldn't see past Sahalie to confirm one way or the other if Spieden was actually in there, and the whole den smelled so strongly off his packmate that it was hard to tell. But they couldn't wait any longer. Pushing on Sahalie's side with his nose, he urged her into the den. Ignoring the chilling water lapping at his stomach he barked at her. "Get in there! If they're there, we need to get them now!"

 

Kino has awoken to the world resembling something of a sauna to him. The weather had been on the fritz since the beginning of spring, never being able to make up its mind whether or not it wanted to keep snowing, raining, or maybe, if it was in a pleasant mood, give them a bit of heaven sent sunshine. The air when he’d come from his slumber had been muggy at best, humid from the heat that had seemed to come to a swelter from late in the night. It clung to his body, making him feel sticky and rather unhappy to say the least. Exiting the communal den, he realized where most of the humidity had come from. The heat had quickly melted the last of the clinging snow, sending its water up into the atmosphere to later rain down on them in vengeance. He just hoped it would stay in the form of rain rather than turn into snow.

Starting on his rounds of cache checking and border patrolling, the boy pausing in the middle, auds swiveling to cache a strange noise. Was that…roaring? The sound reminded him of a past moment in time, when he’d met a man and come across a waterfall. The sound sounded much like that waterfall, except much, much louder. Curiosity getting the better of him he began to make his way toward it, stopping in his tracks. No…it couldn’t be. The river suddenly rushed before him, much further into the territory than it normally was. The thing had swollen in size overnight, ballooning with the melting snow that fed into it. His heart dropped in his chest. Spieden and the cubs! Then, the boy was off.

His legs powered him into a flying sprint, blowing past trees and flying over debris in a silver blur that would leave anyone standing still reeling. He had to get to them, had to make sure they were safe. As he neared the den, he was able to make out the forms of Sahalie and a male he’d yet to meet but had scented around the territory. Even from where he was he could see that the gap of the mouth of the den was closing quickly, and he felt a surge of brief annoyance. Hal was a smart girl, but why was she just standing there? Then, a white blur came onto the scene which he recognized as Serach. The man seemed to have his gears kicked into the right shift, butting the other male out of the way and commanding his friend to get to it. Thank god someone has their focus on, he thought to himself, slowing from a sprint to a trot.

The scent that he gathered from the new male was distinctly herbish, nothing like the nature and wind-swept scent that many of the others members had from their rounds. This led him to believe that perhaps the Bend had finally found themselves a healer, but why was he sitting around here? “Do you think the cubs and Spieden are going to need anything if they inhale water, or to keep them from getting cold? That water’s freezing,” he hinted subtly, hoping he would take the hint. The cubs were the most vulnerable to sickness at the moment, they would need whatever they could get to make sure that didn’t happen. Turning back to the den itself, he forced himself to wade in and over to them. “Can I take one of them and get them to the communal den to dry off? Or…should I help Miss. Spieden instead if she needs it?” he asked the man. He didn’t care which duty he was assigned, he just wanted to be there to help.

Spieden glanced around frantically, paws testing the edges of the swirling, ink-dark water. She couldn't grab them both at once, but the thought of pulling each cub out one at a time and thus, leaving one behind to the mercy of the encroaching river for even a moment was too much to bear. But the alternative was all of them drowning in this hole, and the longer she hesitated the less time they all had.

But an answer to her conundrum soon presented itself."Sahalie!" Spieden yelled in return, "Take him!" She wasted no time on explanations or further deliberation, quickly hoisting Mako from the ground by his scruff and wading forth into the biting cold that flowed around her ankles and then her belly as she crouched to push through the smaller entrance. She quickly thrust the flailing boy towards Sahalie, the boy's lower half dragging along in the water. She hardly waited for Sahalie to get a hold of him before she turned and hastily trudged back into the den. This time she scooped up Marina, getting a firm hold on the girl's downy mane before sloshing through the flooding entrance. She kept her head lifted as high as she could manage, scalp scraping the muddy ceiling, but doubtless Marina would end up wet anyways.

Spieden's eyes darted around as she emerged,  startled by all the wolves gathered around. She hadn't even noticed their approach, with all the other excitement going on. Unfortunately, watching everyone's frantic faces, the one thing she wasn't watching was where she was going. Her paw met something smooth, a slick patch of algae encrusted riverstones newly submerged by the rising tide. Her foot slid out from under her, and unbalanced by the hefty pup in her jaws she slipped and tipped face first into the drink.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2016, 02:35 AM by Spieden.)

@Spieden mako next?? then @Marina??? I don't think we really need a posting order but the pups should at least get in

In no time the was reinforcement at her back. Quentin, in all his awkward glory, got in the way and then retreated to a spot where he could be more readily helpful. Her gaze turned back to the tunneling otter hole, awaiting a sign from Spieden. Suddenly at her back there was the crashing sound of another body entering the water, and the gruff "Move!" told her that it was Serach. Her ears twitched on her head as she considered telling the older packmate off. Quentin was just trying to help. None of this was about the limelight, and there was no need for arguing amongst themselves. Which, in the end, was precisely why she held her tongue.


But Serach was too restless just to wait, and suddenly his nose was in her flank shoving her towards the den. Her head whipped back as she shot him a warning glance, "I'm not going to crowd her! That'll just--" A flash of silver in the corner of her eyes distracted her from furthering her senseless arguing, hopefully he would distract the rest of them from arguing. The atmosphere was increasingly tense and she did not care for it. We're all just trying to help, she told herself repeatedly.

Only a heartbeat later and she heard her caretaker's voice from inside the hole, followed by a distinct plunk of water as the chubby form of Mako his the water in front of her. Because the girl was not, and had never been interested in wasting any time, her jaws snapped the cub right up and she backed her way out of the mouth. She splashed herself unhappily through the cold water, trying her best to keep her poor, confused little charge above the rising waters as she charged up the bank. How far should she take them? 

"Allather!" she attempted to bark through a mouthful of soggy black fur, summoning her silver advisor. If he wanted to be helpful he could use his completely unsoaked body to help dry and warm Mako once they got to safe ground. "Wi meee" And then she turned and was gone into the trees, too frantic to even look behind her and notice that Spieden had slipped.

(This post was last modified: Jun 24, 2016, 07:42 PM by Sahalie.)