Sex: FemaleThe storm was vicious, winds ripping at trees already struggling to keep their leaves with the change of season. Autumn had arrived in the Lore with the bite of winter already in the air. Pip braced against icy wind and rain, nose straining to find her crossing ahead and hear the roar of it even over the rage of the sky.
It felt like a worse betrayal than when her own siblings had left Grizzly Hollow without word of warning or goodbye. Aegir wanted to grow up, be a dragon. He didn't want to be held back by anyone. Including her. Pip could read between the lines. She'd been doing it her entire life. She refused to sway him with tears or otherwise. If he wanted to be only with his father for a while, she could give him that. It was better if she just disappeared anyway. The little mute knew she only ever held the others back. She was tiny and frail and not as strong for travel as the others. Even if she had always proven she could provide for her loved ones, it never would be enough, would it?
She refused to stand there and continue listening to her own blood degrade her in such a manner, no matter how unintentional. The driving rain suited her sour mood. However, the harder she tried to hold on to her anger, the faster it slipped away, drowned by the sound of booming thunder and cracking lightning. Pip's breath hitched with each inhale and she lifted her face skyward as if the rain would wash away her tears. It was too much. Of course she'd been coddling him too much. Holding him too tight. He wasn't a puppy anymore. She was foolish to treat him as such.
Even distracted, the lithe female moved with confident pawsteps along the log. Though it was slippery, her toes splayed well and found strong footholds to keep her from losing her balance. But she couldn’t anticipate the crack of lightning that split the sky. She jolted at the brilliant flash nearby and sound of it, felt the vibrations through the log and braced. As quickly as it had come, it cleared away, but was followed by the loudest snarl of thunder she’d ever heard in her life. Strange that the sound seemed so close and focused just upstream.She took the first step forward after bracing herself only to pause. That snarl was growing louder and not fading like normal thunder…The mute looked upstream in time to see a torrent of water carrying a gnarled, downed tree swiftly towards her. In a desperate move for survival, she leaped for the other side of the rapids.
Air whooshed from her lungs with the solid hit and she felt freezing water close over her head. Disoriented as she was, the sea wolf fought for the surface only to be plunged under again. She could scarcely hear the sound of the storm in the sky over that of the din of chaos as she was carried farther from the crossing she knew. Even for her, the current was far too strong, backed by the fury of the storm. Pip managed one plaintive chirp before the flash flood waters carried her too far to see land she knew. Her paws scrambled at rocks and roots, whatever she could reach, in an effort to find purchase without success. And then there was less push from the water but a frightening pull. Pip looked downstream to note the sudden drop off.
There was no bracing for the falls. They were suddenly upon her and she was falling. The last her consciousness registered was the close of water over her head once more.