After the earthquake...

[arbie]

I think it'd be fun just to write a post/short story about how our wolves(if they were) affected by the earthquake. As in, a post just after it struck.
c: If you want to, go ahead and write!

myu

Rocks fell. The world shook around her. God damn it, what was this? This was insanity. She had never been through an earthquake before, but she bloody knew one when she bloody felt it. She snarled, agitated, immediately jumping up and getting away from any areas that were an immediate danger. Mountains were out of the question, and she held no pity for any wolf that was there at the time, and after little thought, she was very sure everything else was out of the question. Dens were a danger zone, lakes were bad if you lost your balance, forests were also a danger zone. Honestly, the only place she could think of was the deadlands. Myu ran as fast as she could, ignoring any yells for help or cries of anguish. She didn’t care for them, this was all about surviving on her own. This was a test. Yes, that’s what it was. God just decided that there were too many wolves and wanted to get rid of the weakest.
Bah, bullsh*t. Myu knew a weak wolf would somehow survive. Bad luck like that always happened.

She slowed her pace, finding it difficult to run at such a speed and stay on all four feet at the same time. Her body shook as a more violent quake happened, and Myu almost fell. Snarling loudly at herself, Myu forced herself to her feet and leapt forward just as a rocky protruded from the ground from the earthquake. Forcing herself to continue, Myu clawed at another sharp rock that had been forced up from the ground, clawing at it. She glanced round when she made it to the top, lying down on her stomach. She attempted to catch her breath, looking about. The ground was still shaking insanely, and she closed her eyes tight. For once in her life, for once in her long life, she felt a little scared. Her heart was racing and, for a split second, she felt like she was going to die. Myu refused to let a whimper escape, she was too tough for that, but looking scared was fine.

Myu hated this feeling. Heart racing, the sudden jolting of the rock beneath her made her eyes open. There was that split second again. Every time that happened, there was a jolt in her heart, and she hated that feeling. The rock collapsed, and Myu yelped when she hit the ground. Jumping to her feet, Myu looked up to see where she had gone to. The mountain. Oh fantastic! Rolling her eyes, Myu stumbled at the shaking earth and she quickly looked up to see rocks falling. She turned, running to dodge them. Myu grit her teeth, ignoring the pain in her chest, and swerved to the left or right whenever she saw the shadows of rocks falling. Eventually she came to a halt when she thought she was far away enough. She skidded to a halt, feeling as if she was going to die again. But it wasn't a split-second feeling. Myu attempted to catch her breath, chest heaving.

She had just avoided death. Smirking proudly, she turned and looked at the rubble behind her. There was dust hanging in the air, but Myu ignored it, and slowly wandered through the land. Her legs ached like hell, and she felt like if she gnawed them off she’d feel a lot better. Her smirk turned into a frown when she looked about. She had suddenly noticed she wasn’t exactly alone in the deadlands. Looking round, she noticed a wolf half crush, gazing at her for help. Myu stared down at them, dark eyes narrowed, as if expecting him to explode from under her stare. Their eyes watered, and they were attempting to talk. Snorting, she passed by them slowly, as if flaunting the fact she had legs that worked and were not being crushed. This was a survival test. That wolf was weak. He couldn’t be saved. She refused to. Myu glanced round, smirking at them, before disappearing into the forest to find Duke.

roan

His breathing was heavy. Blood seeped from his wounds. His mind was disoriented. Where was he? What was flattening him? Why was he there? Tears welled in his eyes as his memory came back in flashes. Rocks. Shadows. Screaming. Running. He snivelled, clawing at the ground as he attempted to crawl away, but pain stopped him. He grit his teeth. Why was this so difficult? Angling his head to look down at his lower half, he stared in horror at the rock that was trapping his right leg. So he was lying on his left side. His legs felt numb. He now regretted deciding to try and climb the mountain. As the tears fell, Roan attempted to move again, whimpering for help, but his throat was dry. He tried to call for help, but all he could hear was tumbling rocks and wolves yelling for others in the distance. He wasn’t that far away, but it felt like it.

He clawed at the ground again with both front paws. Where was Midnight? Where were his nephews and niece? Did he only have one niece? Roan couldn’t even remember, and it made him cry even more. His heart was in his throat. What happened to Carmine? He had to move. He bared his teeth, but his lips relaxed before he could snarl. Roan didn’t feel up to it. He attempted to pull himself from under the rock, sad that it didn’t actually seem so big. Roan tried again, feeling the rock wobble slightly, and it put more pressure on his wound. He whimpered as loud as he could. Roan sniffed, trying to stop his crying and he pulled again, groaning at the pain, but then he felt a great weight being lifted off of his right leg. The rock.
He let out a heavy breath, thankful he was now free, and forced himself to lie on his stomach first. Roan looked at his leg, nose scrunching up in disgust. It was bleeding, scabby and all-round disgusting. He forced himself to his paws, lifting his back right leg immediately. Roan forced himself to stop crying, but his lips quivered. He was such a wimp.

He tried to gather himself, but the aftermath of the earthquake was amazing. He stared, and slowly turned to look at the mountain. It was also a wreck, and was probably half the height it used to be. Panic rose, and he went as fast as he could with his leg wound away from the base of the mountain. He needed to find Midnight or Carmine or Frosty, or someone! He was amazed at how empty it was, yet he could hear so much yelling and howling.
“Midnight? CARMINE?” his voice was soft at first, but he forced himself to yell and he sounded a bit vicious. He was feeling angry. How could they be gone? How dare the earthquake take away what he loved, what he had. Roan was a quiet wolf, he had never sinned, he had never started a fight, what had he done?! His eyes watered, but he stopped himself from crying and he continued through the pack land.
“Anyone?!” he called, voice hoarse. What if they were gone? What if he was knocked out for a long time? … Were they all dead? No, not all of them. He couldn’t have been cursed. No, no, no! That couldn’t be it.
His heart ached.

He limped through the land, keeping his head down. Roan gave up. He glanced to his left, spotting a lump of fur. His heart broke and he didn’t even attempt to see who it was. He could only see the bottom half of their body, so he was sure they were dead. They were all gone. He looked up slowly, spotting a few moving beings. He perked up, ears forward, but his tail hung between his legs when he noticed they were not Dancing Stars or loners. They were Falling Moons. Roan glanced round at the old pack land, wondering if it was worth staying. Things could get better. How?! How could they get better? He looked back at the Falling Moons, leaving through escape routes they had found. Frowning, trying not to think about how Caerwyn or Xaka would react, Roan slowly followed them, keeping to the back, trying to go unnoticed.
They couldn’t be dead. He would give them time. They would follow.
They had to.

iris

will be done soon

[wolfstar]

Rima tried desperately to clear her lungs from the rock dust that was permeating her breath. She was caught in the quake, but she was a Loner, and she knew no one would be helping her. So she got her feet under her, gagged up a lot of dust, and tried to stand for the third time. This time she got halfway up before she fell. She tried again, this time with success.

Rima grimaced, limping on her injured paw. She was on her way to who knows where, when she heard the sound of a wolf crying weakly for help. She hesitated,then headed towards the sound. She had nothing else to do, no where else to go.

[Fire]

'taku.
Screaming. Shouting. Wailing.
Destruction. Devastation.
The air was wrought with fear, those alive were either struggling away, wailing in pain, or sobbing uncontrollably at their dead relatives and friends. Everyone had lost someone, everyone.
A group of pups huddled together, hearts racing as they peered through the clouds of dust, not knowing where they were, or what was going on.
They wailed loudly, unable to do anything more. They didn't understand what was going on, it was all happening so fast. Deep down the ground rumbled, the ground shook again, there was more crashing and the sound of screams, as the pups huddled closer together, and looked around frantically.

In the distance he heard his name being called, he could hear his mother screaming the names of himself and his siblings. He longed to scream back, but the the dust choked him whenever he opened his mouth, and he could barely think with all the commotion that was happening around him.
'Mummy...' he sobbed quietly, tears streaming down his face; he barely felt the pain in his leg.
The ground shuddered again, and he tripped over himself, falling with a thud onto his chest.
He barely noticed.

He whined, and turned around, the ground shaking a fourth time he heard the crash of rocks as they fell from the mountain. They were close. Too close.
He scrambled up and leapt forward, hearing the ear numbing sound of more rocks crashing down behind him.
'MUM!' he screamed.
'DAD!'

He paused, glancing around, the dust began to clear, but he knew it wouldn't be that way for long, soon the ground would have a hunger-rumble again, and more rocks would fall from the mountains. He knew he wouldn't stay in one piece for long.
He heard a whining. It was close.
He recognised it vaguely, but even that was enough to make him thunder towards it with every ounce of adrenaline he had left in him.
'MAKAY-'
BOOOOOM
More rocks fell, and he screamed, sweat and blood dripping from his head, he squeezed his eyes shut, and then-
Nothing.

**Minutes...Hours...Days?**

He woke with a jolt, and his head began to spin instantly. He recoiled, but it all flooded back so fast he felt like he was going to be sick.
His eyes stung with tears, and his fur was matted with blood, sweat and dirt. The world seemed unusually quiet, he didn't like it. His ears retreated back, and his eyes grew wide.
The dust had died, but it was still caught in his throat, he gagged, and coughed, and spluttered until he felt like dying from exhaustion.
There was no-one here...All of them...
Gone.
His eyes welled with tears, but he felt like he had no tears left to cry. What had happened? He didn't even know where he was. He slowly rose, and stared around him in bewilderment. The world around him span, head throbbing violently. He moaned softly, looking at the aftermath.


UNFIN

[wolfstar]

oh, oops. Rima is Ritbant's mother. She was in the valley before leaving, after all of the other wolves. She met her mate here, they stayed for a time, had a pup, then the mate died, and Rima went mad, taking Rit with her when she left the land. She died from a weak hart and mind, and Rit was on his own.

[Paint]

not a caer in the world.

With a last pathetic shudder, the earth fell still, and Caer shuddered to a halt in unison. His muscles had grown so strong in his last few boughts of illness, but he didn't understand nor care why. He wasn't happy, he was at an advantage with his new muscles but nothing made him happy. Trapped in this endless circle of wanting to murder and hurt others, so sure that it would make him content to do so; but truly, even when he had ruined someone's life or even ended it, he felt no happier. He knew he had to keep going, to keep killing. Maybe that way, he would find whoever it was who drove him crazy- when they were dead, he would be happy.

His green eyes glittered maliciously, and a psychopath's smile spread across his face as he lay in the dirt, teeth becoming grimy as he was lying on his side. His smile was half in the earth, he liked it this way. He wasn't quite sure why he didn't get up- but when he stretched his large muscled leg, he felt pain shooting up it. He didn't cry out. It was just pain, it wasn't as if it wouldn't go away. He still smiled, half masked by the dirt he lay in. He could hear some screaming for a while. At one point, he felt hungry, but he didn't get up to go and feed himself. He waited until the screaming stopped, and then it was silent for a very long time.

Caer wasn't sure how long he stayed there, days or maybe even weeks, holed up in a cave broken and bound by nature. For days or maybe even weeks, he still smiled to himself, in the darkness and the emptiness. He had no incentive to get up and go. Life had been fun a while ago, when he'd been fighting Caerwyn for space in his mind. Now it was just Caer. He'd killed Quianna, and a few more wolves on his way up here. Blade, apparently Caerwyn's uncle, hadn't even been finished off by Caer- he'd left him to bleed to death. It was more fun that way, there was more suffering. Travelling the valley, looking for wolves to ruin and torture, nature had interrupted and done his job for him.

Nature had taken the only pleasurable thing in life, and flipped it, reversed it. Now he was lying in a cave, broken and no doubt he'd lost a lot of blood. He was in the darkness for a very, very long time; always smiling, always staring. There was nothing to stare at, but he stared nonetheless, with his always acidic green eyes.

Eventually instinct kicked in. He heard the sound of movement outside, and he jolted upright, feeling slightly dizzy from lack of food. He tested his leg as he stood up. It hurt, that was true, but there was not as much blood as he had thought and he could actually move it- quite gingerly. No snappings or crackings, so it wasn't actually broken. Probably twisted or bruised badly. A sensible wolf, a weak wolf, would hobble along on three legs until he felt better. But Caer wasn't going to wait around anymore. He stamped down on his damaged leg, seizing up and freezing as the pain shot through. Then it was gone. It won't be so bad next time, Caer thought smugly.

The wall of rocks looked despicably difficult to get through. Caer's fury ignited, he was so unbelievably angry at nature for doing this to him. He didn't give a damn about getting hurt, but he was trapped like a mother and her whelps. He didn't like it, it made him feel weak. He wasn't weak. He was very strong and very angry, and he didn't care about anything. That made him very dangerous, as usual, but this time no one would get hurt but him when he ran at the wall over and over. He cut himself many times on falling rocks, and his eyes were clouded with dust for a long time, but eventually he broke through. The light was blinding and disorientating, and he limped -against his will- out into the blinding light. Part of him wished he was already dead.

Whatever had moved outside, it had gone. His ears flickered, and for the first time he wondered how long he'd been lying in the dust and dirt under the rocks. Quite a long time, if he judged by his appetite. He'd never felt more starving in his life. Currently, though, he was captivated. The valley was completely destroyed. There was nothing here that would keep any wolf- the trees were felled, there was no scent of prey, hardly a wisp of wolf fur in the breeze. It was empty, desolate, a ruin of something once beautiful. It was amazing, and although he was furious at nature for taking his fun away, he did appreciate that it put on a good show. It almost felt good to be in this wasteland. Felt a lot better than a beautiful valley.

So he stayed. He managed to pick off a starving mountain goat. The poor thing had struggled with a broken leg all the way down the mountain, bleating miserably as Caer sauntered up to it. Having gone through all that suffering, Caer felt no need to extend it. He just killed the creature and ate it, not even leaving time to gloat. There was nobody to gloat to. He wanted another wolf. He wanted to bite at a wolf's throat, to make the wolf feel pain. He never asked himself why- he didn't need a reason. No, he never needed a reason. It was just a need within him.

If he'd ever care to think about it, he'd know it was sad. If he was ever stupid enough to wonder why he had this strange need to hurt others, he'd probably realise, he'd probably stop this rampage and be normal again. But he was clever enough never to ask himself that. He was clever enough never to ask himself why he acted like he did- because if he asked himself, then he'd stop.

So was the psychy of Caer. Always pushing ahead, looking, yearning for the suffering of others with a hidden reason. It was a sickness, and truthfully Caer was dying rather than living. Still, he didn't care, and he pressed on. He travelled the valley in search of any other kind of wolf or creature, but it had been weeks since any wolves had been here- alive, at any rate.

So he escaped out of the valley, over the mountains, and picked up a trail. At the base of the mountain, on the other side, a vast desert-like wasteland- worse than the valley- stretched before him. There was no sound, no movement. Just silence and a hot end-of-summer breeze kicking up dust around the tall dark wolf.

If he dipped his nose to the ground, lids closed over his acidic green eyes, and truly concentrated... he could pick up the scent... very slightly. Wolves, no doubt from this valley, had travelled this way. He smiled sadistically.

No one was rid of Caer. Not yet.

[[Midnight]]

Justyn

It seemed to Justyn that the rocks, silt, dust, and blood would never be washed out of his fur, nor would the images ever disappear from his traumatized, young mind.

Everything had happened so quickly that, when it was actually over, the few-month-old pup was too dizzy and confused to grasp what had happened. He couldn't register what it was that his mother had shouted to him while the earth had its seisures, nor could he grasp what little energy he had left to try and remember it. Everything was quiet around him, apart from the trickling of water and the howls of pain every now and then, that echoed through the desolated mountains. Despite the relative stillness, Justyn's head was roaring.

He had no clue how long ago that shaking had ended. It was probably only a few days. Ever since the big quakes had stopped, there had been little tremors that followed it, and more and more rocks and dust would fall from the cliffs above them and would pelt the black body of Justyn's mother, as she protected her son even in death. Justyn was afraid to leave his mother's belly, for fear that the rocks would fall again and this time he'd be hurt and he'd be all alone. While he was here, his mother would protect him. Yes, she would. That's what she lived for. Protecting those she loved. That's she had told her children, Justyn himself.

Whining pitifully, Justyn peered in the narrow face of his young mother. By now, with the blood and the dust, she no longer looked black-pelted. She hadn't moved in days... But she had to be alive. The rock that she was unable to avoid had only knocked her unconsious, and any day now she would suck in a breath, open her eyes, and climb away from this place. She'd lead the pack again with Caerwyn, Justyn's father. Where was Father, anyways? And Kazuki, Pitt, Esmerelda.

The minutes ticked by until they become hours. The hours became a couple of days, before Justyn was almost to weak to move. He hadn't eaten in so long. And that smell... That smell was terrible. His mother's body was beginning to rot while it was open to the hot sun. The ants had crawled through the cracks of the earth and had begun to feed on her decaying body. The tears that hadn't come in the beginning were now flowing so much that Justyn didn't think he'd ever stop crying.

He knew that, if he wanted to live, he needed to leave his dead mother and find something to drink and eat. No matter what happened, his mother wasn't going to get up now. The earth had claimed her. Finally, he stumbled away from the graveyard on unsteady legs, heading towards the sound of the trickling water.

The more he traveled, the weaker he got. But his mind was starting to clear now that the shock was fading away. His mother, Alpha of Dancing Stars, was dead. As far as he knew, everybody was dead. There was no sign of life here. And there definately wouldn't be any sign of his father, either, since he had been banished by his own pack. In all of the fear and pain, Justyn had forgotten that just hours ago, his own father had been kicked out by his mother, and he would probably never be coming back. Fresh pain welled up from his stomach. It wasn't any kind of pain he had felt before - it made him feel like he was on fire.

Mother is dead because Father wasn't here to protect her. To protect us.

Clenching his teeth so hard until he formed a headache, Justyn continued to travel without any resolve, the anger of his confusing childhood growing with each pawstep he took, as he dwelled on it more and more. He started to become angry with his mother, for dying to protect him. Why didn't know what to do? Why did she banish Father from the pack when he could have helped her? So many childish questions burned through his brain.

If only he knew where his paws were taking him - straight into the fangs of the moon.