A Vision for Sight

Chapter 2: Rumours

Bored, plain and simple really. There was nothing to do in here; this cave was bare as far as she could tell. All she had to occupy herself was a rock she passed from paw to paw as she huffed and puff or sighed away. Daria hoped Floyd was around here somewhere, listening to her expressing her loneliness and boredom. But deep down she knew he wasn't here, through the fact that he said he was going away for the morning, and that she would have heard him climbing up the path. He wasn't exactly the most healthy he could be, or fit. He had low blood sugar, whatever that meant, she he could hear him panting before he was even have way up the slope. This just annoyed her more though. She wanted to be out there, exploring more, feeling the sun on her grey and cream fur, or so Floyd has told her, whatever that looks like. However, she did have something to look forward to today.

She flicked the rock to the side, standing up and walking almost to the cave entrance. She took careful steps, sliding her paws along the ground to feel something. There it was…that small crack in the cave floor. She position one paw on it and extended the other outwards, slowly and waiting to feel the sun's rays. When she did, she stopped, calculating in her head. "Ok…a little after mid-day, he'll be here soon." Every day around this time, Floyd came around to help her move around a little more. She understood completely why he didn't like her going out without him, and although he never enforced it, she didn't like making him unhappy. Well…not all the time… Patience was something she was still trying to learn; it needed a great deal of improvement. She knew she'd get lost if she went beyond her border without him

She turned around and walked back deeper into the cave, repeating over in her mind that it would only be a couple more minutes. She paced around, looking back constantly into the bright patch she could make out through the cloud in her eyes which was the cave entrance. She could tell where there was light or darkness. It was either like she was staring into a normal looking cloud when there was light, or a storm cloud from what she had learnt. Basically, she saw no kind of a silhouette within it, so all she could do was wait.

But it seemed she had fallen asleep, she opened her eyes, that brighter cloud in her eyes turning darker. Some power nap… "Floyd?" She yawned, standing on her back legs but stretching out her front. "Floyd, are you here?" Nothing. Where the devil was he? He was always here around dusk, no matter what he said or did during the day, he was always here. She walked towards the cave mouth, inhaling through her nose deeply. Not a scent of him. She listened intensely, only the breeze and autumn leaves hitting the floor. She wanted to find him, maybe something was wrong. She took two steps, only two before she walked into something. Not the den wall, not a rock, this was something soft, something her height.

"Now where do you think you're going?"

"He's not here; he's always here at this time. I was just…"

"Turning around and going back inside, he'll be here soon."

"You don't know that." She pushed passed the force and moved on, turning left where she could feel the ground descending. Twenty one paces forward, there the rock turned to dirt and grass, the ground was moist, there was a better chance of a scent being held here. She planted her nose to the floor and took several sniffs. Yes…there it was. He was here, no more then two hours ago, right after the time she must've fallen asleep! "Damn it." She muttered.

"Watch your mouth!" She rolled her eyes and sighed before moving on, following that scent around to the right. She still relied on her mind map, using the scent trail and adding it to it so she knew where she was and where it led her to. It was hard, but it wasn't the first time she had done this. Those days when hide and seek was her favourite game, and before she became a rebellious adolescent young girl, she did this kind of thing all the time, it was the best way to spread her scent around, wherever she couldn't find her scent, she was out of her border and she needed to turn around and go back. Never go beyond unless Floyd was around.

"Daria, you really need to go back. Something's not right, I don't like this."

"You don't like a lot of things." She replied a little laugh.

"It's not good to come out here near dark, you know that."

"You sound like Floyd."

"Just doing what any good guardian would do."

She followed it all the way across to the furthest side of the border, her nose practically sliding across the forest floor the entire way. His scent was still strong; he had left in this way not too long ago. She didn't know what was in this direction, only that he went this way rather often. But there was only so far she could head this way before she came across a new blockage. She froze, lifting her head up and confirm her suspicions. Her border ended here, she hadn't been further then this before. One hundred and twenty yards from the cave. She was already beyond her line, her comfort zone. Her mind instantly flashed to the time she last crossed it when she was much younger and without Floyd, she was lost for a whole night before she was found wondering a mile away near the outskirts of Shadow Forest.

"Floyd?" She called out. "Floyd! Are you out there?" She shouted, this time a little louder. No answer, he wasn't out there or anywhere near it seemed. She didn't know what to do. The likelihood of him being hurt wasn't even slim; he was most defiantly just caught up in something. But still…he's never been late before, he's always there before sunset. Well it's sun set, and he's not here.

"Don't you even think about it."

"I won't go far, only a few dozen yards." Daria responded.

"Remember how that went last time."

"I was younger then, I can take care of myself now." But then something changed, she sensed something.

"I remember that day, "I'll only be a second and I'll come…"

"Shush!"

"Fine, if you don't want my help then…"

"No, be quiet, can't you hear that there's someone talking." Daria's ears flicked and rotated around, trying to pin point where it was coming from. Two O'clock and closing in. She pressed her ear to the floor, taking her time when she thought she heard more then one voice. "I can hear three of them, and they're heavy."

"It's wolves!" That voice shouted into her head.

"W-Wolves?" She gasped, all this time she never came across another wolf. But that didn't matter, not when all she's learnt was that they were all bad and she was good. "Oh man…I gotta hide!" No point in looking around was there. "Think, think…" The voices were growing louder, she didn't have long. So much pressure, it shrouded her map, making her forget things. She started walking backwards; it was all she could think of! But suddenly, she thought. There was a log, from her current position, only seven paces in the direction of the den. It was hollowed, whether or not she could still fit in there was a mystery, but there was only one way to find out. She spun around; the seven paces at this speed made her strides only four before she felt. She rubbed her side against it until she hit the edge and backed up into it. She hadn't hidden in here for a little while, it was smaller then she remembers. It did the job though, Daria back up as much as she could when she was certain her head was covered, then she froze, trying to regulate her breathing and stay silent. She was terrified. "This is bad; this is really, really bad." She whispered.

"Shush…they're right there." She was stopped and she listened.

"…never seen a rabbit run so fast in my life." A male voice said. "But nothing can out run me."

"The fastest wolf around, aren't you, baby." A female voice then replied.

"You got it." The log then moved, almost rolling completely over, making Daria gasp at the same the two wolves fell over it, landing beside one another followed with the audible sounds of kissing. She didn't understand, who the hell where they? Her heart skipped a beat again when the log moved for a second time, not as badly, and the top tapped as claws laid upon it.

"Knock it off you two." A second male voice said. "Save it for later would you." The female giggled, one last kiss was exchanged before they clambered off one another and stood up.

"We've SO got to find you a girl, maybe one who likes to travel too." The female said. "Then we could double date."

"Or maybe I'd find a better reason not to puke at you two." He chuckled. There was then a moment of silence between the three of them, only a couple of seconds. Did they see her? She didn't move though, not unless she was certain of it.

"Hey, can you guys smell that?" The first male said out of the blue. She heard them all scenting the air. "There's someone here."

"And not long ago." The second added. "Maybe there's a pack around here." The log that male was standing on; it sounded like it was straining, cracking, she feared he'd fall through it and reveal her.

"Then we shouldn't rest for long; remember the last pack you stumbled across." Said the girl.

"Yeah, your pack." The first male laughed lightly.

"Hey Susie, you're a girl, maybe you can talk to this one." The second boy stated. They knew she was a girl, they were going to find her at some point, they knew it. She had to run; she needed to get out of here now!

"Don't move Daria!" So she didn't.

"Mom, you've got to help me, please." She begged quietly.

"Hey, did you hear that?" The second male said, moving around on the log she hid in.

"Hear what?" Susie wondered.

"Someone was talking."

"Callen's hearing voices again." The first said humorously.

"Hey, you know what happened, that witch was messing with all of us!" This "Callen" wolf replied hotly.

"It was imagination." Susie answered for her partner.

"That swamp was haunted." Callen added. "You both saw the witch too; it chased us for a mile!"

"You know, growing up outside of that forest in all…I learnt she wasn't always like that. Apparently it was a monster that guarded it, and the witch herself actually helps. My grandma went in there deaf but came out with some of the best hearing around."

"Now, you're both being stupid." This was good; the subject was being turned away from her and to this "witch". She couldn't help but be curious though, she was multitasking, listening to them and trying to figure out the fastest route home should they find her. "It was fun, we should go back sometime and try and figure it out."

"You're crazy, Nick." Susie said. Finally, three names she could put to the three wolves that trapped her. "I'm telling you I'm not going back there." She persisted.

"I agree, that would be a big…" The wolf above her fell through the log, clearly it wasn't enough to hold his weight and she knew it. His whole weight fell onto her tail, and with that she yelped and screamed from the abrupt and painful sting. She knew this was that time to run, no questions asked. She exploded out from the log, running blindly, quite literally, in where she was sure the cave was.

"What the heck…" Nick never had the chance to finish.

"Hey, hold up!" Susie shouted and giving chase after her with Nick right behind her. Callen yanked his paw out from the log and wasn't very far behind.

Daria halved everything, every distance between everything and the way home. Everything was measured at a single step; this was a large stride, so she estimated one stride for every two steps. Her mind was in a frenzy, where was everything? Where was she? How far back were they? She found the first marker, a tree with a low branch on the right side. "Ok…now one O'clock." She muttered to herself before taking off again.

"Damn this girl is quick." Nick said. "Come back, we just want to talk!"

"We won't hurt you!" Susie shouted also. It seems their words went unanswered. They watched her run into a tree and then carry on, then as soon as she hit a patch of long grass she turned sharply left. There was no pattern in this girl's running; she was all over the place. Was she just trying to confuse them? Shake them off? "What the heck is she doing?"

"Why are we even running after her?" Callen called out to his friends from the rear. He didn't see much point in this.

"So we can find out where we are. Or maybe she has a pack here somewhere." Nick answered back to him.

Daria was panicking, her hyperventilation causing her to tire. Her stamina wasn't as great as it could be; there wasn't much room to go for a long run exactly. "Keep moving Daria, they're not far behind." She wasn't planning on stopping either.

Callen looked up, sensing something clearly nobody else did. The skies were turning grey, a storm looked like it was going to hit. But there was no rain, there was no thunder, this was something he hadn't seen before in his two years of life. He didn't like it.

Finally, she hit the cliff wall and immediately turned left again, the dirt turned into stone and the ground ascended up. The three wolves stopped at the bottom of the slope watching as she sped up and away veering right and disappearing into what must be her den. "Guys are you seeing this?" Callen said, still looking up to the sky and nudging Susie.

"A storm? That's strange."

"Even better, maybe she'll give us shelter in there."

"Oh this is bad; this is really, really bad." Daria panted and leaning back up against the wall just on the inside of the cave. She didn't know what to do. Not only did she go beyond her border and encounter those she was told to ignore, but now she's brought them to her own doorstep.

"I hate to say it, but…"

"This is not the time to say "you told me so"." She hissed.

"Hello!" That girl shouted up suddenly. "We just want to talk!"

"Way to go Callen, you scared her." Nick whispered.

"How was I supposed to know she was hiding in there?" He seethed back.

"Listen, there's a storm coming, can we come up?"

Daria didn't know what to do; she's never been in this situation before. She figured there was only one thing she could do. "Don't…Don't coming a-any closer!" It was all she could think of. Plain and simple. The message as clear.

"Come on, let's go slowly." Susie whispered with Nick nodding in agreement.

"Guys, she clearly said "not to go closer. It's her home, leave her be."

"Do you want to get caught out in a storm again? Because I don't." Nick said back, this time rather hot tempered. Callen was more worried about the strange activity going on above their heads, something really wasn't right here. Hence why he stayed put, he wasn't going to move.

"They're coming."

"What do I do? Tell me, please." She begged again. Although she didn't understand why wolves were bad, seeing as she was one and look how she turned out, growing up being told almost every day that "wolves are bad", seemed to have sunk in. It was a natural instinct now. She didn't get an answer from her guardian after that, only a change in the atmosphere she didn't like. She knew something was about to happen.

"Look, my name is Susie, these are my friends. We won't hurt you."

"You don't understand, you…you can't be here." Daria still insisted.

"Guys!" Callen was beginning to lose his nerve and temper now. "I'm serious. Stop barging in, let's just go, alright!"

"What's wrong buddy? Lost your sense of adventure." Nick smirked. He didn't like that at all, not one little bit. The dark clouds above only darkened, a gloom settled in around them, he hadn't seen anything like this since the swamps. Nick looked back ahead, the cave saw no more then ten feet away. "Look, we're coming up, so there's no need for…"

"I said STAY AWAY!" Then everything cleared, hell broke loose. There was one single clap of thunder, and with thunder comes lightening. A bolt screamed out from the dark clouds screeching before hitting the floor outside the cave. Daria leapt away and curled up into a ball as far back against the further wall. It crashed into the ground, a tingle running through all their bodies. Then it was gone, like all lightening does. Nick looked up from shielding his partner, and Callen uncovered his face. What on earth was that? They all thought it? But it wasn't over…

The scorched rock the lightening landed was cracked. In fact it still was, the rock snapped and cracked, the lines moving closer to them and a rumbling vibrating underneath them. Suddenly, the side of the path gave way, falling down like a landslide. More and more of it did this the more the cracks opened up. "Crap, RUN!" Nick bellowed and pushing Susie back down the slope. The cracks were keeping up with them, the path crumbling away falling into boulders and adding an eerie look to the place. It was so loud, never had any of them seen anything like it. Callen called for his friends to hurry up and he started walking backwards. In time, the two made it to the bottom and together all three of them continued on, not once looking back as they sped away into the forest. The stone settled, piled up on top of one another, the rest of the path was gone, there was no path any more, only jagged rocks piled up beneath the cave entrance.

In the back, Daria was still curled up sobbing quietly, her paws covering her ears and her eyes sealed tight shut. She knew what it was, so she wasn't crying for that reason or those wolves. She was crying because it was all her fault. If only she had listened to Floyd. She shouldn't have crossed her border and she shouldn't have led them home. She should have just tried to hide again and loose them, she knew she needed to listen more, why did it never sink in? However, just because she knew what caused all that noise doesn't mean it was any less scary. She felt something on her back, a small amount of weight that moved from her shoulder blades to the mid-section of her back. A comforting rub. "Nothing will hurt you my baby."

A good old classic "dun...dun...dun..." moment, got to love them. On another note, it's good to see some of the regular names as well as new ones. Review and read on guys, I always like to know what you think, reviews and PM's go straight to my phone so I'll see it straight away! Until next time! :)