Rain splashed down on the roof of the cave above, flattening the grass outside. Wind tugging at the leaves, many of them falling free from the tall trees that loomed over into the dark gray sky. Water splashed from above the tall cliff that the cave sat upon, slowly leaking over the edge. It was flooding again, but not at all like last time. It was reaching over the edge, pooling up near the cave and reaching until it stopped at a young pup's paws. She was now cornered, with no way to get out. She couldn't swim, and the water was already blocking the entrance to her only way out.
"Dad?" She called out, getting as close to the entrance as possible until the water reached to her paws. "Mom?"
Her mother and father had gone out to hunt, but it had been taking them much longer than it usually did. They had been away for nearly half the day already!
The pup let out a tiny whimper, glancing back at the water pilling up at the cave entrance, there was no way out now.
But she wasn't dumb, she knew how to get out, even if It might have to be a close call just to survive.
Crouching, she padded back to the end of the cave and began digging. Her tiny claws couldn't do much, but when it came to a life or death situation, it was all she had left to use. Unless, of course, she had to use her mouth to defend herself. But she couldn't possibly drink all that water, could she?
Looking back at the cave entrance, she considered changing her decision. The pool of water had expanded to her back paws, splashing up against them until they were soaked enough that they felt heavy on her back side. Looking down at the flood, her eyes began to water and dampen the fur around her eyes. There was no way out of here, she couldn't swim, and the cave was too far underground for her to dig under.
Collapsing onto ground, her fur had gotten splashed with the cold water tunneling into the cave. It was just as well though, by the time the water had reached her she would already be soaked anyways. Closing her eyes, she rested a paw over her nose and let out a whine. All she wanted was for her mom to be here, telling her stories and grooming her fur, lulling her to sleep and keeping her warm. Her father would be out hunting and bringing back a nice fresh fish for her to eat. But instead, she just got a flood and storm. Starving, cold, and scared. The pup had always imagined her life would end in a brave battle, her friends mourning her while the life slowly faded from her beautiful grass-green eyes.
The pup heard splashing in the water beside her, coming closer. She opened her eyes, waiting to see a beautiful starry-pelted wolf come to take her up to the sky where the rest go.
But instead, she saw her father, Jasam. His left side had been slashed from shoulder to leg, his dark gray pelt flattened and dripping from the rain.
"We need to get out of here." He huffed, grabbing his pup by the scruff and lifting her up off the ground. He darted out of the flooding cave, the pup's legs tucked close together as she limply swung from side to side over the splashing water. She didn't even have enough strength to keep her eyes open, the only thing keeping her awake was the water splashing at her feet as Jasam swam out and away from what once was their home. Looking back at it now, the pup could tell that she wouldn't be visiting it again anytime soon.
Once they got to solid ground, Jasam set her down and began to run again, flinching as a white stripe crashed down from the dark clouds. The pup had never quite been told what those things were, but all she knew was that she needed to stay away from them.
Struggling to keep up with her father, the pup began to run as fast as her short legs could take her, she felt that she wouldn't make it far though, her eyes were already heavy with the urge to sleep, and her stomach ached from resistance to eat since morning.
She eventually gave up and started into a trot to keep up with her father, her eyes beginning to close. She couldn't keep this up, not long enough to actually get wherever they were heading. Jasam had stopped to a trot as well, falling back and stopping beside his daughter.
"Hey, dad…?" The pup whimpered, looking up at him with her adoring green eyes. "Where's mom?"
Jasam hesitated to answer, staring straight ahead at the large cliff above. It was obvious they were heading up there, to hopefully escape the rising water.
"She's um…" He looked down at his paws and continued walking, his eyes clouding over. "Tsumari is gone…"
The pup instantly stopped walking, staring up at her father with her big round eyes again. "W-what… what happened to her?" She whimpered, her eyes watering with tears.
"She got shot…" Jasam responded with a sigh, glaring up at the sky with bared fangs. "By those damn things that some call humans!"
The pup flinched, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. She didn't like it when her father used foul words. "D-dad…?"
All her father did was huff and nose her along, forcing her to walk again. "Just come on, we need to get up to that cliff."
So the pup followed along, her tail dropped down between her damp legs as she walked. She let a sniffle escape her nose, her eyes watering again. She stopped for a moment, her father continued walking. The pup sighed and blinked the tears away, trying to be strong as she walked. She barely even noticed the rain splashing on her fur now, everything was just numb.
Catching up at her father, she tried to lighten the mood by admiring the view at the top of the tall cliff.
"Wow…" She exclaimed, looking down the cliff and at the shimmering water far below, ripples caused by the rain. The water had seemed to look like a rainbow in some spots, where it reflected the clouds in the sky that were finally beginning to open up. Sunlight shimmered through the clouds just like stripes, reaching down to the earth and giving the place a little color. It had been the first time she had seen it like this in two days, the whole earth beginning to lighten into a new world.
"It's so beautiful…" She smiled, slowly beginning to forget about her mother. "Is mom doing all this?" She asked, turning back to her father with a smile.
Jasam just chuckled and stared down at his pup for a few seconds, blinking up to the sky every now and then. "Do you… do you wish to join your mother?"
The pup's expression immediately changed, staring up at her father. "Dad… What do you mean? I don't wanna leave you!"
Jasam sighed, his ears flattening and his eyes clouding over with sorrow. The pup could tell that she had no other choice.
"I'm so sorry, dear. But I just can't take care of you anymore. I want you to be with your mother." Jasam whispered, nosing his pup closer to the edge of the cliff. She arched her back, black claws scraping against the cliff's edge. "Dad, no! Please, I don't wanna go!"
"Just remember that I will always love you. Tell your mother that I love her, too." And with that, Jasam gave one last thrust with his nose, sending the tiny pup off the edge.
The water below no longer looked like a rainbow to her, but it looked like a black wave of poison rushing up to grab her, and it was coming up fast.
It was clear that she would die drowning after all. But she never imagined that it would end like this...
Authors note This is a story that I've been working on for little less than a year maybe? It also gets updated on DA every few months, but not often. So I hope you enjoy, and tell me what you think about it!~