Hawkshadow743

A cold breeze stirred the fur of her mane and face, awakening her from a peaceful dream. Lilith sat up, slowly becoming aware of the feeling of cool stone beneath her paws and the faint glow turquoise glow bouncing off the close cavern walls. She turned, confusion coursing through her. She recognized this place; in fact, it was a very special place to her, somewhere she would never forget. But she didn’t understand. How had she returned here? It had been two weeks since her visit to the Soul Pool. She and Tikaani had parted ways after a time. The wise and wild tokota who had accompanied her on her journey to the Pool had assured her that all would be fine, and that the final part of her journey to connect with the eagle spirit would reveal itself in good time. That was all well and good, but she certainly hadn’t decided to undertake the trip again! The last thing Lilith remembered was falling asleep in her den the way she always did, satisfied from a long day of hunting and fishing.

Lilith’s breaths came hard and fast as she crashed through the undergrowth of the Aqtuquaq Forest, branches and brambles snagging at her pelt and ripping out small chunks of fur. Every scrap of focus and drop of adrenaline in her body was focused on the shape of the caribou in front of her. Its grunting snorts and panting breaths matched her own as it fled, blinding colliding into bushes and getting its legs snarled in trailing vines that lined the path. She’d set out that morning on a hunt and had lucked out on a caribou herd grazing on the lush summer grasses that were bountiful and easily unburied from freshly fallen snow. She had made quick work of separating this one from the rest of the herd, but it had surprised her and veered off from her intended path, making a beeline for Aqtuquaq. She wasn’t sure what had possessed the insane beast to go into the forest. If she were a caribou, she certainly wouldn’t have chosen to come here. Maybe it had thought it might be able to lose

It had been a long, hard journey to get here and despite the exhaustion tugging at her, Lilith knew the adventure was only just getting started. Snow blinded her and she squinted into the gloom, struggling to make out shapes through the curtain of falling snow. The scenery was a blur of gray and white, trees almost indistinguishable from the ground save for the murky shadows of their foliage. Her paws felt as heavy as stones but she forced herself to keep placing them one after the other, certain that she could make out the fuzzy silhouette of a cave rising out of the blizzard. There! It was there after all. Closer inspection revealed the yawning entrance of a cavern carved out of the mountainside by time and weather. That was her first destination. All of the great leaders of her pack had told her to seek out the elders. It was the way of things; the voices of the past guided young tokotas on their journey to the Soul Pool. She had been a bit perturbed at first—wouldn’t it be easier

The sun was hot against Desi’s back as he made his way through the tall grasses, his long tail swishing against the tickling fronds. The smell of salt and sea filled his nose and the ocean breeze whisked through his fur and tugged at his whiskers, full of the briny tinge that hinted at fish and food and adventure. He leaped the distance and landed amidst the hot sand, stepping lightly and sending cascades falling as he made his way across the dunes. This stretch of coastline on Stone Empire Territory was pristine, free of rocks and cliffs and largely untouched by humans. Sparse grasses grew here and there, struggling to thrive among the salty air and the barren sand. Desidarius’s sharp eyes caught the movement of tiny crabs scuttling across the beach. A ways down several gulls landed and pecked at the pebble-strewn track, their yellow beaks and strange-talons visible even from this distance as they hunted for food. Desidarius’s own stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t yet

Emery’s thoughts were filled with the roar of the river as he traversed the muddy banks, a lumbering ankylosaurus following along behind him. After Slither had been effectively relieved of escort duty, the grumpy leader of the group of explorers had appointed Scott to show him around. Emery didn’t mind the change in the slightest; he liked meeting new dinosaurs. But he did wish that Scott would speed up a tad. It had become increasingly obvious that the ankylo was used to going at his own pace. Emery would run ahead, eager to race the river and see if he could get far enough ahead to see beyond then next bend. He would look around, expecting to see his guide with him….only to realize that he had gone too far ahead and now had to wait for the plodding herbivore to catch up. Emery was trying to be patient; it wasn’t Scott’s fault that he couldn’t match up with a raptor’s natural speed, after all. Emery tried to rein in his enthusiasm and kept glancing over his shoulder while he

Lursa, Fringe, Ignatius and Balthazar trekked across the sweltering Banyan Plains in silence, barely exchanging glances as they traversed the terrain. Though fairly flat, it held hidden tangles of thorns that often littered their path and stabbed into the tough pads of their talons. The golden grasses, as tall as the ketucari, swayed in the breeze, possibly hiding dangers of its own. To speak amongst themselves might’ve alerted anything in the area to their presence and they already felt they had overstayed their welcome. “Lursa!” The belligerent kadin snarled when Ignatius dared to break their self-imposed silence. She was their unofficial leader on expeditions; often regarded as the ketu with the most experience. At any rate, Balthazar could hardly imagine her being content with sitting back and watching Fringe or Ignatius lead. “What?” Ignatius wasn’t cowed by her venomous tone. Balthazar couldn’t help but be impressed by how unflappable Ignatius was. If he’d been on the

Emery hissed as his foot sank deep into the mud with an awful sucking sensation, sticking fast. He sank his front claws into the nearest tree and worked to haul himself out, cursing under his breath. “I don’t know how anyone willingly lives here!” He muttered. “It’s no place for dinosaurs!” Slither, his guide and a kind young amargasaurus, laughed. Whether it was at his words or at Emery’s predicament with the mud, Emery wasn’t entirely sure. The long-necked dinosaur lumbered up, having no issues with the mud or the thorns or the long tangling roots that seemed to intentionally weave themselves across your path for the sole purpose of tripping you. The great amargasaurus just stomped over all of it. At the moment, Emery was jealous. “Oh, it’s not so bad! You get used to it after a while.” Slither lifted his head to peer at their path. The two of them had recently left the grove and the main base behind so Slither could give Emery a tour of the surrounding area. It had been a

Getting inexplicably lost seemed to be a running theme for the two ruks, but this time the scenery was so inspiring that Maanavilja didn’t mind. Fluffy green ferns as wide as Maanavilja’s rack brushed against their legs. She tipped her head back to gaze in awe at the soaring sequoias arcing high above their heads. “Audr, isn’t this is incredible?” The sound of the leaves whispering with the flow of the wind as the massive branches swayed with the course of nature’s breath was truly spectacular. Down below the trees the forest was littered with thick undergrowth which made it hard to navigate the forest floor. Wall-to—wall greenery surrounded them on all sides. It was a reminder of how truly insignificant Maanavilja’s day to day problems were. It was soothing, comforting, like the entire forest was embracing her as its own. An exasperated sigh shattered the illusion in seconds, sending her crashing out of the dreamscape and back to reality. Audr scowled up at the trees, looking