[Chr24] [CHR24] No More Excitement

Complaining is not something Urvus likes to do, nor is it something he tends to appreciate or empathize with, but especially so with these 3 men and extra especially with Mirt. They had just barely escaped the pack of Raakon with their skins still intact thanks to the clever planning by Obarhi, some expert improvisation from Cumaar, and his own quick thinking and skills protecting Mirt and the Sweei plant. Yet, he has many regrets about saving the former now, as they journey back home with the Sweei plant and a supply of spirit water, because all he has heard has been the winding blasting his ears and Mirt’s ever-loquacious way of speaking his mind.

“…And there’s no way ANYONE will ever make me walk all this way again, mark my words!” Mirt’s voice is just audible over the wind. They’re making their way through the mountainous pass that lay between their homes in Tteboros, the same they had used to reach the spirit tree. But the snow had picked up since they last came through this way, and now it reaches up to their waists. Though Urvus can see that for Mirt it’s a bit deeper than that even. The path was so narrow they were forced to make their way in a single-file line; Obarhi was in the front as he knew the road best and lived on Ttatkor his entire life. Cumaar is next in the line; this is partially because of his glowing core on his neck and chest, and partially because Cumaar is close to Obarhi. Of course, right there with Cumaar is his vulpip, which seems to have no issue with the snow at all. In fact, out of all the misery and consternation the 4 of them had, the vulpip could not seem further from these feelings. It pounced and hopped and rolled through every drift and lump left behind from Obarhi or Cumaar walking through the snow. Mirt was 3^rd in their line, which was probably best considering he’s a bit shorter than the rest of them and the snow would likely swallow him whole if he stepped off the trail. This does mean that his complaining and whining is right next to Urvus, who is bringing up the rear of the group.

“And another thing,” Mirt shouts, “those Raakon were huge! They would have eaten me up in one bite. I’m never going to-”

Urvus didn’t hear the rest of what Mirt had to say though, as a gust of wind blasted his ears and drowned out most conversation. Even though he wasn’t concerned about Mirt’s moaning and whining, the weather did seem to be getting worse as the hours went by, and the deep snow was certainly not improving their progress on this return journey. Looking around him, rocky crag of the mountain’s face to his right, and a steep drop off hidden beneath heavy snow to the left. The sky was barely visible in the blizzard of flurries and snow, but it left a grey background for the increasing storm that seemed to have hovered over them all this time. But looking up does give Urvus a view of the rest of the mountain, and he hadn’t noticed the overhanging snow when they first travelled this way. Now, with the wind and heavy snowfall…

Urvus looked back at the other three men, who had continued on without him but were still just a meter or so ahead of him. He had to tell them, tell Obarhi. With a path through the snow already, he catches up easily enough and then pushes his way around Mirt, who shouts several protests at being shoved around. But once he’s closer to Cumaar, Urvus finally lifts his voice over the blistering wind and says, “We need to find shelter or get off this mountain! At this rate, the wind is going to blow an avalanche down on top of us!”

Cumaar looked at him as best he could, fat snowflakes hanging off his eyelashes, but Urvus could tell he didn’t quite understand what it was he had said. He opened his mouth to repeat himself, louder this time, when someone else speaks up instead.

“Oh sure, just let me freeze to death in the snow!” Mirt shouts, pulling himself out of the snow that Urvus had haphazardly pushed him into, “It’s not like I’m the one carrying anything important. Not like I’ve got the dumb. Special. Plant!” Mirt stands to his feet finally as he the last few words of his small tirade. But Urvus was more worried about just how powerful Mirt’s voice is, how well it carries, and the massive snow pile above them. Urvus tries to signal for him to be quiet, hoping the other will understand him. “Oh, what? You tired of hearing me now too, Urvus? Don’t act all high and mighty and pious, we all know this was a dumb mission that we were volunteered for because we’re not from this forsaken planet, and if anything goes wrong it’s not my fault!” He pointed a mitted finger at himself. “It’s not your fault, or yours!” He jabs the same finger at Urvus and Cumaar each. “It’ll be all HIS!!”

Like something from a stage production or movie, as Mirt finished his enraged shouting and sharply pointed at Obarhi’s back and the last word he uttered echoing off the nearby peaks, the wind calmed just long enough for all of them to hear the first unusual noise since they last ran from those deep guttural howls miles ago. It began as a low rumbling, something they likely only heard because of their larger ears. Really, it was a rumbling they felt more than heard; Urvus could tell because they all looked around themselves in that small moment of quiet and calm.

The first one to react was actually not even a ‘buck. It was Cumaar’s vulpip, which made a few whimpers before climbing up Cumaar’s form and pushing its way inside his backpack. Then Urvus felt something in his toes, a vibration, just faintly. He looks up and meets with the gold eyes of Obarhi, who seems to have also felt the same thing. All this time, Urvus had admired their mission leader and his steadfast, level-headed sense of purpose. Even with the Raakon, Urvus saw the natural-born leadership skills come to the front and plan their next move. But now Urvus doesn’t see that brooding, hard gaze; instead, all he sees is a look of fear and dread, and a single command.

Run.

Obarhi turned and ran as much as he could, and Cumaar did the same. Urvus could hear the low rumbling still shaking the ground beneath his feet. But louder cracking sounds drew his attention upward once more. Definitely not good sounds for a mountain pass to make at this point in their journey. He turned back to run as well but saw that Mirt was still just standing there staring up at the sky. Urvus got closer to Mirt and grabbed him by the coat before urging him forward; they needed to get moving and now!

“What’s going on, why are we in a hurry now?” Mirt asks, the wind picking up again to dull the sound of his voice. But Urvus doesn’t have the time to explain everything to the other lycanbuck right now; he has a singular goal and that is getting off this mountain in one piece and alive. Even with the wind blasting them in the ears and face and seemingly doing its best to pull them down a long drop, the ground was still shaking and Urvus could hear more concerning cracking and rumbling even through the storming gusts. He does his best to get Mirt to move faster but the younger buck does not seem to get the picture.

“Quit pushing me, you’ll make me fall into the snow!” Mirt shouts over his shoulder.

“Mirt, you need to run! Now!” Urvus commands, giving him another strong push. Mirt had turned to say something more but his gaze landed on something over Urvus’ right shoulder and whatever it was he sure turned around fast and started to fight his way through the high snow as quickly as Urvus had ever seen him move. He himself snuck a glance backward and only saw a brief glimpse of a white wall to know all he wanted to know about what came behind him. He didn’t know if the wall was coming after him but there was no time to wonder or look a second time; the ground was nearly vibrating beneath his feet with the massive force of heavy packed snow charging its way down the mountain’s face at them. Urvus quickly caught up with Mirt who was struggling through the deeper snow alone – no path in front of them. Does…did that mean the other two were…? Did the mountain claim two more for itself?

A rush of peachy fur sipping past their position revealed the truth – Cumaar and Obarhi had both seen the futility of running through such terrain and took to the air. But of course, neither Mirt nor Urvus could fly, which means they would either need to take a very daring leap or learn to run on top of the snow. He saw their chance for an exit though, a bend in the mountain path brought them right up to the edge of the road and at the precipice of a steep, deep drop. Urvus helped push Mirt through the snow to get closer to the edge before grabbing him by the coat.

“Wha-What are you-”

“So sorry, no time,” Urvus states right before using all of his strength to heft Mirt out of the snow and over the edge. Time seemed a bit slower in this moment as he watched Mirt free fall downward for what felt like minutes before Cumaar’s long, twisting feral body appeared out of the white noise below Mirt, perfectly catching him on his back. But Urvus had little time to wait; he still had to get himself off the mountain too, before the mountain pushed him off itself.

He turns back only to see an unstoppable cascade of snow and ice pouring down the rocks, and slowly centimeter by centimeter moving closer to where he stood. Urvus turned his back to the nearing avalanche and took a deep breath just to calm his nerves. Every fiber of his body fought against him as he took these last few sprinting strides, every ounce of himself shouted the instinctive wisdom to not jump off the side of a mountain. How anyone anywhere could ever find this enjoyable was far beyond his understanding. But he had to do it, he had to jump, or he’d get crushed or buried or otherwise dismembered with the sheer power of the frozen water that now erased all but these last steps as evidence anyone had ever walked this path at all.

With the last bit of strength he had left in his freezing legs, Urvus launches himself away from impending death and into nothing. Again, time seemed to slow around him. He could feel the wind blasting him in the face, and then across his side, before it rushed up and billowed out his coat and hair and nearly blowing his pack off his shoulders. The snow seemed to move in every direction before it all started to fall upwards towards the sky. Well, really, Urvus was falling down through the snow, down into empty white doom. For a brief moment, he thought he had made a mistake, that Obarhi and Cumaar were not prepared for him yet and he had sealed his own fate by deciding to take this leap of faith. But then a large dark brown wing appeared to his right, and then brown fur was in front of his face. The change in direction was a bit hard, and Urvus definitely felt the air get knocked out of his lungs. But never has he been quite so happy to be laying flat on his stomach on the back of something else.

“No more excitement, thank you,” Urvus groans as he catches his breath on Obarhi’s back. Yes, this has been enough excitement to last him many, many lifetimes.