Submission (#3500) Approved

I took in a deep breath before lowering myself close to the ground as I stared up at the canopy above me, the enormous trees hiding the view of the sky from me. A challenging grin grew across my muzzle as I wiggled my hunches back and forth before propelling my body up into the air, landing on a branch. I barely touched the thick branch for a second as I leapt from one branch to another, moving farther and farther up until finally I bursted through the leaves claiming the sky.  Landing gracefully on top of the brush I let my gaze sweep over the leafy top that securely hid its residents below. Sitting down I drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled as I turned my gaze towards the blue sky with small fluffy clouds littering it. I felt nothing but blissful peace  as I sat there until a gust of wind made me lurch forward and my long hair whip into my face. The tree below me was replaced with nothingness, my fur flowing up as I began to fall into an endless empty void.

My eyes flung open at the sudden weight of my body falling, the once crystal clear waters turned into nothing more than a torrent, quickly propel towards me. Grimacing at the surprising sight I twisted my body around stretching my paws out to securely grab a hold of a thick branch even wrapping my tails around it to keep myself from slipping and continuing my fall. Heaving, I pulled myself back up and securely onto the branch quickly bracing myself as another gust of wind hit, threatening to send me back down towards the water. I turned my gaze up to the tree line watching the leaves get ruthlessly ripped off the branches as I could see only a gray clouded sky through the cracks of the branches.

“How wonderful…” I muttered in disdain having always hated this time of month here in Ealei where the weather turns into a nasty gust of the wind making it a challenge to keep my paws on the branch more or less the ground. I felt a sharp sting across my face forcing me out of my thoughts and sharp hiss to escape my legs before I violently tossed the branch that smacked me to the side leaving it in the mercy of the wind. 

“I can’t stay out here.” I spoke to myself as I carefully began to make my way down the tree, forcing each muscle to stay tense as I tried to keep myself out of the mercy of the wind. Mind made up I began my track forward, careful with each step I took not wanting to go barely towards the water to let combo of the torrent and rocks rip me to shreds.

Walking along I looked around for suitable places where I could hide out during this terrible weather for the month. Coming across a tree with thick roots sticking out of the ground showing a small hide away right beneath the tree itself. Curious I bounded on over and got down to my stomach as I stuck my head in only for my ears to lay against my head in disappointment. 

It could keep me warm and shelter but water can flood the place easily, no place I could store food, and it’ll take hours to clear out all the rocks and extra small roots to make it a suitable place to stay. Sighing in disappointment I sat back letting my tails curl around me a bit. “Maybe as a last resort but let’s keep looking.” I spoke along to myself as I got back up on my paws and once more began the hunt.

I wandered and I wandered as the wind continued to be a threat yet I managed to keep my ground. Finally I notice the opening to a cave alongside the cliff side causing my eyes to lit up and ears to shoot upward. Carefully I climbed up, clinging to each rock as I kept my body as close as possible to the cliff itself, bracing myself against the harsh wind. Pulling myself up at the entrance of the cave I wasted no time in making my way inside ready to look around the place and make it my shelter to wait out the weather, however before I can even start to start planning I came to a pause.

Titling my head a bit I stood tall while my ears continued to twitch to the slightest sound of I believed to be voices bouncing off the walls. “Is that…?” Not thinking much of it I made my way hurry and hurry into the listening to sound, following it as it got louder and louder. The farther I went in the darker it got, forcing me to make my pace even slower despite the eagerness to find out the source of this noise. Soon enough a small speck of light began to flicker causing me to pause for only a split second before I took off ignoring the sharp pains that coursed through my paws. 

The darkness bursted into light as I flung myself out of the new found exit of the cave I had found. Excite had gotten a hold of me, almost tossing myself off the side of the cliff as I skidded to a halt making a few pebbles fly off the side, yet I didn’t care how close I got to the edge. Smiling from ear to ear I stared at the small town that claimed the treetops as other Elnins wandered about making their own way to their homes to take shelter.

“As much as I love the outdoors I ain’t about to say no to a hotel.” Without thinking much of it I made my way towards the town more than ready to flop onto a warm comfy bed and devour some hot food.