Post by Roka on Feb 1, 2015 22:39:17 GMT -5
It was warm, warmer than she remembered being in a long time. She had been floating in the sea for longer than she could remember, and yet she was now on land. She took a ragged breath before choking on the clear air. For the past days she had breathed in nothing but the salty air of the ocean and this fresh air burned her parched lungs. Her mouth was dry, her tongue and lips chapped. The oceans water had tasted too foul to drink. Her fur was matted and covered in salt, but for the first time in days she was dry, and on land. She looked around trying to remember how she had arrived in this strange new place. She stood on shaky legs, wobbling slightly under her full weight. Even having lost some of her mass from being stranded at sea she was still a large wolf. She looked over herself disgruntled at the thick layer of dirt that clung to her matted fur. Her once beautiful grey coat was now a brown one could only describe as musty. She shook trying to rid herself of the dirt to no avail. If only I could find some water to wash in. She began to walk, or hobble to be honest further along the hills listening for any signs of water. She could smell all kinds of prey about, more than she thought possible. My senses must be jumbled from the wreck. There is no way there are this many animals together in one place. Even if there are that means that there are also other predators around too. She shuddered thinking about her last encounter with another predator. The snow leopard had come from nowhere tearing into her while she had been eating an abandoned carcass. The damn thing must have been predisposed to fighting with wolves, because he knew right where to claw to make it matter. She had remembered the pain that his claws had caused when they had raked mercilessly over her left eye. But more than the pain she remembered the blood and how it oozed down over her face slowly, almost sickeningly as if to torment her. She had hoped that her eye would heal with time, but her sight never returned.
Then the humans came to take her away. They had poked her and prodded her, feeding her terrible tasting dry food, until she was back to herself. It had taken time before she was able to do anything normal again, to learn to see with her other senses. She longed for the day when she could go back to her tundra, go back to her solitary, free life. It never came. Instead she was forced into this metal cage that was cold and biting from every direction. She had growled and snarled until her throat was raw, but they didn't let her out. They took her to this large metal monster on the water and that was the last thing she saw before she hit the water. Water! Focus now. I need to find some water. Dragging herself forward she pressed on feeling the familiar cold beneath her toes. She looked down to the familiar white of snow. SNOW! She began to roll in the frozen liquid. The cold seeped into her fur, and for once she was glad. Once the majority of the dirt was gone she was more content to lick the rest of the dirt away. After she was clean enough she looked over herself again. Grr. Skinny, too skinny. Need to find food She began to search in earnest, hoping to find the dead remains of something. She was far to weak to bring down anything on her own. For once she was unhappy with her solitary, she knew she was going to need serious help if she was going to be able to find anything edible. She searched the skies for any traces for birds circling in the sky. She wasn't too proud to eat the leftovers from another animal, anything if it meant survival. Nothing. Damn.