burn the land, boil the sea [closed, Panto]
Jan 31, 2015 0:08:53 GMT -5
Post by Rosalina on Jan 31, 2015 0:08:53 GMT -5
Aela hadn't bothered to venture this far from home in quite some time. She had been more prone to wandering when she was younger and slightly more rebellious, but nowadays it was rare that she'd be found more than a few miles away from the casino where her extended family made their home. And now that Dominic had returned to them after months of being presumed dead, she no longer had a reason to aimlessly wander through the streets of downtown, trying to get her mind off of the dark and depressing thoughts of just where exactly he had gone. All of those would have been perfectly valid reasons for why she now found herself trapped in the mines, and yet none of them would have applied. She'd known perfectly well that a hurricane was about to blow into the area, knew perfectly well that all dogs outside of an established pack had been advised to take shelter wherever they could. Her own family had gone to take shelter in the basement of the fighting arena that her father frequented, and she had been about to join them. But something had stopped her. Call it curiosity, call it stupidity, but Aela had found herself traveling to the woodlands against her better judgement. She hadn't been to the forest in quite some time, and she wanted to know if anything within the tall evergreens had changed since she had journeyed there last. She'd only barely gotten there, inhaling the musty scent of fallen leaves with a small smile and preparing to step inside, when all hell had broken loose in the atmosphere above.
The shepherd had quickly decided to take shelter, running in the general direction of where she hoped the mines would be. Unfortunately, she hadn't quite realized that such a steep and dangerous climb would be required to get there. Several times Aela had almost gone tumbling down the mountainside, barely managing to gain a grip on the slippery surface with claws that were worn down from walking upon city streets. Visibility was limited due to the wind lashing raindrops into her face, and she could barely hear anything over the screeching howl of the wind. The risk of a fall resulting in grievous injury increased with altitude, and for a moment Aela half-debated turning around and heading back towards the forest to see if it would be any easier to find shelter there. A moment later she squared her shoulders, determinedly pressing on. She'd come too far to cease and desist now, and going down was bound to be even more tricky than ascending. Besides that, she was an Agilulfo, and Agilulfos did not back down from something as insignificant as a storm, no matter how violently it raged. Thankfully the entrance to the mines soon came into view, and Aela could allow herself to give a heavy sigh of relief, practically sprinting through the open entrance into the large central cavern. Sliding into a somewhat disheveled sitting position, the shepherd mix allowed her fur to drip off for the smallest of moments, suddenly grateful for the fact that she had relatively short fur. Not only would she not suffer from the uncomfortable feeling of having all that wet fur pressed against her side, but it would also be less prone to absorbing any excess water, drying her off much more quickly.
After a few moments Aela finally mustered up the energy to heave herself back into a stand, shaking any excess water droplets out of her coat before surveying her surroundings. She appeared to be in some kind of central alcove, with several other caverns branching off from it- for a moment she half-debated exploring said caverns, before quickly deciding against such a thing. Knowing her, she'd probably end up getting hopelessly lost within the labyrinth of stone, and the last thing she wanted to do was give her family cause to worry. Perhaps she would stay here and wait until the storm died down enough to make travel slightly less dangerous. Although there did not appear to be any readily available food sources around, the large spring that sat in the middle of the cavern at least ensured that there would be a steady supply of fresh water. Nodding as if in satisfaction of such a fact, the shepherd mix trotted over to a small outcropping of rocks that laid at the edge of the cavern, lithely leaping atop of the largest one and lowering herself into a laying position. Perhaps not the most comfortable of resting places, but it would have to do for the time-being. The climb to get to the mines had managed to rather thoroughly exhaust Aela, and she was looking forward to getting some much-needed rest.
Unfortunately, in her exhaustion she'd forgotten to consider the fact that other canines might have been lurking in the area. She would soon come to regret such a decision.
Word Count: 824
Playmates: {PANTOMIME! with Ophion
Other: My computer kind of ate the first version of this post, so I had to make do with the slightly crappier version. My next posts will be much better, I promise. (Here I am getting hurricane threads up at the last minute haaaahhhh)