Crystal's P.O.V

The storm didn't seem to be letting up. I couldn't tell if it was dawn yet with the skies still a dark gray color and rain still pouring outside. Spark was fast asleep on the opposite side of the den. His leg was partially covered by his tail, but I could still see parts of the injury. Where the druid wolf had buried his fangs into Spark's leg while Spark attempted to protect me from two of them tearing me apart. I silently thanked him and rose to my paws. Going back to sleep wasn't an option. So I sat, curled into the firm dirt wall behind me, warm and dry. The rain calmed to a drizzle outside.

I thought about going out and looking around. Spark had told of an ancient cave where his pack kept prey, and maybe I could find it and drag back the leg of an elk! Soon, when I could barely see the rain, I slipped outside. A cool breeze blew past. I sniffed for the scent of any kills, yet didn't find anything. Maybe the rain washed away any trace of the scent.

The ground was sticky and muddy, squelching underneath my paws. I first wandered to a massive boulder that sat up against two trees that came so close that their bases connected and their branches entwined. A naturally formed hole at the bottom of the rock served as a den. It went back deep into the rock, nearly making it hollow. Another rock was slanted against the boulder, giving the cave entrance a more hidden look. Maybe this could be where they stored the prey!

My wet paws clicked against the stone ground. A few bones, gnawed so specifically that it looked like the wolves had treasured them, sat in a corner. A bed of decaying moss and grassed was in the farthest corner. This wasn't the storing spot.

I checked several other dens, no luck. I even wandered into the forest area of camp. Suddenly I stumbled upon a tiny opening in the ground, topped with a patch of trees and a few rocks. I poked my head inside and sniffed. The faint scents of tender meat and kills were picked up, along with a rotten sort of smell. This was it! I happily ducked inside and explored the large cave. Yet surprisingly, there was no prey. Only a few scraps of fur and some old bones. I tilted my head and was examining the bones and fur when...

"The druids took all the kills."

I spun around, my heart racing, until I realized that it was only Spark standing at the mouth of the cave.

"Those savages would never attack and leave our food alone." He padded closer to me and laughed. "You look like you've just seen a ghost! I followed your pawprints here. It's so muddy outside..."

"You scared me!" I said, still terrified. "I thought you were a druid and was going to tear me up!" I then let out a laugh and let it go. Spark hadn't meant to spook me.

"We should get moving while the rain isn't pouring. Back down and straight towards the druids." I nodded in approval. So again, we were on the move and leaving camp before we knew it. Spark seemed hesitant to leave. I couldn't blame him. If I hadn't been forcefully taken from my home on the streets, I wouldn't ever think of leaving.

The rain slowly started up again. I thought about turning around, but we were already doing fine and walking at a steady pace. Plus, the trees sheltered us fine. So we kept walking, mud squishing as we went, rain slowly finding it's way to our fur. Not a word passed between us. The rain grew stronger. Our fur got wetter. Time went on.

The rain suddenly increased dramatically. Our fur was slick and wet. We moved fast, sought out trees to find cover beneath. Still we kept going.

Then it happened. Spark and I slowly made our way down a steep slope, the mud beneath our paws slippery. I stopped. I was having trouble keeping my footing. Spark stopped too. Silence. Then the ground moved. I slid a bit underneath us. Spark let out a panicked yelp and with his unsteady injured leg, toppled over into the mud below us.

"Spark!" My mouth gaped open as I watched him slide down the slope until he finally got a better grip only a few strides away from me. "Are you okay? Is your leg-"

"I'm fine! Just a little stunned, that's all. Let's keep going!" Spark answered before I could finish. I anxiously stood, afraid to take another step. The silvery wolf now had mud coating his legs and a bit of his flank. A flash of light tore across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. I cowered in my place. My ears were pressed against my skull. Spark turned to keep going, but he too was scared of falling. We stood, soaked and terrified. Another streak of light. More thunder. I gulped down air and held it in, taking a cautious step forward. I struggled to place my paw in a spot that wouldn't take me sliding down the muddy slope.

We seemed trapped. Moving risked another tumble. Staying was definitely not an option. I wondered if going back up would help, but clearly it wouldn't. More rain. More fear.

Then I noticed water pooling at the top of the muddy hill. It mixed with the mud and sent a watery, murky wash of muck down. Spark and I were careful not to loose balance as it came down. Then the ground moved. The mud that we were standing on shifted and moved. I stumbled and shook as well as Spark. The layer of mud and debris was slowly starting to dislodge from the slope. I wanted to run, but I couldn't. I stood there, shivers racking my body, heart pounding.

"Crystal!" Spark suddenly shouted, eyes wide and legs splayed slightly. "Watch out!"

I dared a glance over my shoulder to see a massive wave of mud and broken tree branches and rocks sliding towards us. I turned around and braced myself, gritting my teeth and squeezing my eyes shut as it came over me.

Spark's P.O.V

I watched in sheer terror as the wall of debris and mud swallowed Crystal. My ears were flattened and eyes wide in shock, mouth wide open. It wasn't long before I too was knocked off my feet into the churning madness. I couldn't see, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't hear. I could only feel. Feel as a massive log slammed against my side and pain rocketed through my entire body. The log pushed on me. I turned and pressed my paws against it, grasping it barely. Everything around me was twisting and turning.

One paw reached the surface. I felt air against it, and the steady pound of rain against my fur. My lungs burned for air. I used all the strength left inside me to pull my head above the surface. I took a deep, heaving breath, coated in mud. I shook my head a bit so that I could barely see. I hung onto the log desperately. The forest went by in a blur, too far from my reach.

Crystal. Where was Crystal? "Crystal!" I screamed as loud as I could before realizing that she probably couldn't hear me. My head was sucked underneath again. Then it bobbed up and I gasped for air.

The log could reach the trees. It caught on the closest tree soon, barely resisting the current. I held on as well as I could, terrified and disoriented. Maybe I could escape to the forest! I first heaved more of me onto the log. It shifted yet stayed in place. The muck threatened to suck me down into the churning river of mud and debris. My breaths came in wheezing gasps for air. I looked into the madness and searched for anything; a single paw paddling at the mud, a head bobbing up and down, a call for my name. Nothing. I didn't have much time to get out of there. I got one hind leg onto the log, the good one. Now for my injured leg. Slowly I tried to search for any feeling in the throbbing leg, any feeling at all that could help me get it onto the log. But I just didn't have enough strength in me to make it move.

I tried a different approach... dragging my lame leg. I almost had my survival secured when the wood began to crack and break. The chunk with a twisted nob where a branch should've been, the one that was hooking onto the tree, snapped and fell off. The log started moving and threw me off.

It seemed like forever before I managed to get my head to the surface again. I moved swiftly, carried down the slopes. Soon I would be deposited somewhere and the craziness would stop. But that seemed so far away. It was like fighting against a twisting, turning, suffocating river made of loose rocks and mud and tree branches.

A small rock hit my shoulder and then drifted past me. A branch poked at my flank. I ducked to avoid a fir branch that extended far from it's trunk and towered over the muck river. Pain and exhaustion. I wanted to yell for Crystal again, but I couldn't. Another minute or two felt like an entire day. But I somehow didn't die in the insanity. A mud river raced past a herd of elk. The bull elk stared wild-eyed at it, while his herd backed away in a crazed frenzy. And finally, slowly, the muck spread out and the river got lower and lower. Then I stopped. Only a few seconds passed before another layer of filth washed over me and nearly suffocated me.

I kicked with my good leg and my two front legs, fighting until I got to the surface.

"Crystal!" I yelled out, but my voice was weak. I fought until I was freed of the mud. I dragged myself to where the mud had thinned out and I could lay down, panting heavily. My tongue lolled out onto the mud. The taste was horrible, but letting air enter my lungs was better. I was still. The rain tried to wash my fur, that was coated with mud. My flank was the only thin that moved. It rose up and down as I breathed.

How could something turn so chaotic so soon? It seemed impossible. Once I was finally steady enough to stumble around, I did.

I searched around the area, nose low to the ground and twitching, trying to pick up Crystal's scent. But it was like with the fox-dung... he scent had been masked. What if something had happened? What if Crystal was gone? Lost forever in a wave of muck. I denied the thought, denied that it could happen. What if I was going on my own from then on? I couldn't imagine traveling without the half-wolf by my side. It was strange... thinking that I could be so sad about a half flea-bag. I laid down hopelessly next to the mud. My world was spinning. My head hurt, my body hurt... And soon I had passed out.

A/N: Cliffhanger! So Spark and Crystal haven't seen many storms on their journey, so I thought I'd give them a big one! And a mudslide. Because I can. Winter break is over, but I'm working hard on this story!