†
After the encounter with Annubis, Temblor makes a point of patrolling the length of his borders. Let no one mistake this land for empty, and let anyone who crosses in Paradise know that it is occupied, firmly, by a stallion with vigilance.
This exercise grants him the practical opportunity of getting to know his new home. Temblor does not like it. The air is constantly heavy, and when the sun is not beating down through every hole in the canopy the rain strives to drown the earth as if the sky has a personal vendetta against all the color rioting below. It is beautiful, he supposes. The flowers are wide and fragrant and draw the eye endlessly against the vivid green backdrop. There is never a dull moment, for day and night a variety of creatures roam both the canopy and the jungle floor. He has kept his eyes peeled for wolves, but. There is neither hide nor gleaming eye to be found of such a beast, here: only the wide, lambent eyes of a spotted cat he startled upon during one late-night patrol. He treads carefully, more wary of wildcats than any wolf.
He refuses to stay homebound, however, and with little to keep him in the territory beyond marking his borders consistently, Temblor ventures out purposefully on a warm, annoyingly sunny day. By the time he reaches the mountain range at the north end of the island, the sky has of course cluttered with clouds. One has merely to blink and it summons the rain. His wide hooves sink in the already-wet earth as the first fat drops begin to fall, and soon enough he is as saturated as Atlantis.
His plan, initially, had been to ascend the heights and observe the island from that superior vantage point, and from there perhaps find the band which calls this territory home and introduce himself to his neighbors. He pauses for a moment on a gentle slope, trying in vain to flick water from his ears. He should go back, attempt this another day— make the trek during a rainstorm, so the sun returns by the time he makes his climb. He's already come this far, however, and when he returns to Paradise it will not be to leave it again so soon, not with Annubis's visit still so fresh in his mind. And so, stupidly, coltishly, Temblor heaves himself up and picks his way through the soggy, rock-strewn path, ears pinned against the drumming rain.
Deep in thought and determined to keep water from draining into his ears, Temblor misses the distant roar of something mighty moving at a rush. He doesn't miss the shudder of the earth beside him, however, and for a moment he freezes, trying to gauge if he felt that right. It trembles again, and Temblor reacts instinctively, gathering his weight beneath him and launching to safety.
At least, such was his intent.
The earth to his right gives way without any further warning, stirred rapidly to a sludge by the water pouring down the mountain. It knocks Temblor to his knees, and he struggles to right himself in the sticking muck even as he feels the awful pull of the current. He plants his hind feet and heaves, hauling himself upright even as he feels the ground under his right hind begin to dissolve. He slips, catches himself before he can lose his footing entirely, and scrambles for firmer ground. His forelegs find purchase on rock, solid beautiful impregnable rock, and as he pulls himself out of the sucking mudslide a fallen tree slams into his right hip. It knocks him again to his knees, and fortunately spins him to the edge of the 'slide rather than deeper into that deadly current. He wriggles out of the grasping stuff and emerges half-caked in mud, a deep and pointed ache in his right hip.
He pauses just long enough to chart a course to safety, simultaneously testing his right hind. Pressure on his hip hurts. But, he can use it, and even though the eruption of adrenaline through his system is fading as swiftly as it overtook him, he can walk. He flees the crumbling mountainside, seeking low ground that won't open like a mouth beneath his feet, and finds himself on an unfamiliar route home through the rain.
TEMBLOR
& swallows you whole
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