HOME | DD

Description
A paw lashed out from the surface of the water. Cream. Dark at the ankles in stark contrast to the white toes. Delicate, tiny, pink claws caught on knots of seaweed. The seaweed and algae was dragged under as the pup struggled to pull his muzzle above the surface. A tiny brown nose poked out from between and waves, heaving a giant breath. The massive waves, a million times his size, smashed him around, dragging his tiny, freezing body deeper into the water. He lashed out his paws again, fighting for something to hold on to. His paws struck wood and he snatched it up, clinging to it like his life depended on it.
Because it just might.
Pulling his head above the roaring, screaming water, Evynn took several huge gulps of air. The wood he was clinging to was a piece of bark, obviously ripped from the trunk of a tree by force, by a storm or some other vicious nature. It was not very large, but Evynn was small and thin enough that it was just large enough to keep him afloat. The waves had calmed, it was odd. Evynn looked up to discover he was in the eye of the storm.
Now was the time for decision.
He looked to the north and saw Jormungandr. His home, where he was raised. Where his mother, and father were.
But his sister, Juno, was gone. She had left to go find a better life, somewhere less restricted. Evynn had begged her not to go, begged her to stay with him, but she had told him that Jormungandr wasn't where she was meant to be. She had vanished by daybreak the next morning.
Evynn turned his head to the south and saw it. Ulfrheim.
That was where his sister was going. And he had to believe that was where she would be.
And he had to believe he would find her.
Someday.
Evynn heaved his waterlogged fore paws onto the bark and began to swim. Out of the eye of the storm, out of safety. Into the unknown, raging water toward a distant land he had no idea about.
This was not a good idea.
He kicked harder, forcing himself through the thick, heavy, churning waters of the northern Hongerige. He breathed evenly through his nose, trying not to cough and splutter when seawater splashed his soaked face. His eyes were squinted against the rain and his muscles screamed with exhaustion. The waves got hungrier and more intimidating the closer he got to the mainland, but at least he was getting closer.
Suddenly, the shore seemed so close he could almost touch it. He could see the details in the sand and the glint of the weak light on the wet rocks. He was getting closer. Relief blossomed through him. He was getting closer, closer. Far too close. The relief turned to panic in a quick, sharp pain, like a smack in the face. He flailed his paws wildly, in vain. The waves smashed his small body against the bed of rock. He clawed at the ground, trying to get a grip on the rock before the waves dragged him out again. But his paws slid on the slippery surface as the strong water dragged his fur and pulled him back out.
"No! Stop!" He wailed. "I need to get there! My sister is there! She's...She's waiting for me!"
It wasn't until he said it aloud that he realized how much he wanted, no, needed that to be true.
The waves obliged bringing him closer to the rocky bed. He was prepared this time. He put his fore paws out in front of his and prepared himself as the waves reared to smash him down. Shock jolted through his legs as they hit the hard stone, but he kept his head. He buried his claws in a clump of clinging algae and held on with all his remaining strength. The water dragged at his fur and he felt like the water and the algae were warring over him. But he managed to cling on and as soon as the waves retreated in defeat, he launched himself from the rocky outcropping and dashed up the beach as fast as his legs would take him. After he was a good distance away from the water, where he knew it couldn't get him, he collapsed.
I made it. I'm in Ulfrheim.
Evynn lay there for a short while, until a mantra started in his head.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up.
If he stayed here, some manner of beast would surely find him.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. GET UP!
He pushed himself to his paws, his muscles shrieking in protest. Tears leaked out of his big, violet eyes.
I'll find you, Ju.
He forced himself to move, his paws dragging along the sharp, rocky sand as they fought his wishes. Rain hit his muzzle, like tiny bullets from the sky. Clouds, fog, grey, warping his vision as he stumbled across the wide, tundra of sandy nothingness. Dimly, he registered the ground changing from rough, gritty sand to soft, lush grass and wet, sticky leaves.
A forest.
He stumbled deeper into the tree wracked woods, breathing a soft sigh of relief as the soft, wet grass soothed his exhausted, sore paws.
One paw in front of the other.
He chanted to himself.
I've got to find her.
Suddenly, his acute hearing picked something up.
"Hey! I think I heard something!" Came a sharp, feminine voice from somewhere through the maze of trees and shrubbery.
Evynn froze, fear rearing through him, his heart pounding.
Somebody heard me.
"Don't be an idiot, Blur." Came another voice, this one exasperated and scoffing.
"Seriously, I heard something, Hel! I think I saw something too, something small and cream colored!" The first voice insisted.
Somebody saw me...
"You're just being an idiot and hallucinating. Let's go."
In a blind panic, Evynn ran for his life. His paws thrummed against the ground as his heart pounded in his chest.
Somebody's after me. They're gonna kill me. I'll never find Juno.
He crashed through bracken, leaves, shrubs, trees and rocks. Finally, covered with cuts and bruises, Evynn slowed his crazy dashing race. He collapsed against a tree, his lungs screeching for air and his body nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He slid to the ground in a mossy hollow between two tree roots and finally closed his eyes. His body gave out and he slumped down, his head spinning. The forest was quiet, no birds sang, no crickets chirped, the only sound was that of the raindrops slowly peppering on the leaves overhead. He let out a soft whimper and buried his muzzle in his paws.
I miss you, Ju.
When he next blinked his eyes open, the world was tinted red. The color of blood. A metallic smell stung his nostrils as he shook his head trying frantically to clear his vision.
"Evynn..."
He jumped as a voice hiss in his hear.
"You must find your sister..." It whispered, wind rushing up around him.
"I know!" He yelped. "But I don't know where she is!"
"FIND HER!"
Evynn jumped awake with a bark of panic. The dream voice echoed in his mind, reverberating through his entire body. He tok a couple breaths to calm himself down, focusing on counting the daisies on the ground.
After a short rest, Evynn forced his sore muscles to get up. He began to pad gently through the forest. His violet eyes scanned
the treetops, unconsciously looking for any signs of life. The rain had stopped, but stray droplets still dripped through the canopy onto his already soaked muzzle. His limbs were sore, but less exhausted, and he was able to trot slowly across the soft, flimsy leaves. He arrived at a small stream that tumbled over a small overhang of rocks and flowed into a swirling, sparkling pool. The sun broke through the trees and the sunlight bounced and spun in glimmering prisms all around. It reflected off the wet, shiny rocks and made the whole scene seem to glow.
"So pretty." Evynn breathed.
The trees around suddenly looked a lot less menacing and everything around him seemed to grow lighter. The sun felt wonderful on his soaked muzzle and he took a small pawstep forward into the clearing.
He was so engaged in the beautiful image that he almost didn't hear the menacing snarl behind him. Almost.
He swung around, heart pounding.
They found me.
But it was not a pair of Felvargs. It was a massive, bedraggled grizzly bear. It's fur was brown and matted so thickly with dirt that it was surely much lighter than it looked. It's massive fangs dripped blood and it's eyes were feral. It loomed over him and he cowered. His ears folded flat against his head and his tail tucked between his legs. They would stay that way for a long time.
Evynn snapped out of his shock and scrambled to get away, his paws slipping and siding on the wet, soggy leaves. With a savage roar, the grizzly bear lashed out at Evynn's frantically retreating form, claws out. Pain exploded across Evynn's back as the long, sharp claws slashed into him. He screamed in pain, tears streaming down his face and into his fur. He ran for his life, crashing through the shrubbery and bracken, taking every small space so that the bear could not get him. He could hear the animal crashing through the underbrush behind him, so he kept running, though his exhausted body and terrible wound protested. He left a trail of blood on everything he passed, pain screaming through his body. Eventually, the forest seemed quiet, too quiet. The bear had stopped it's pursuit a while back and Evynn could no longer hear it.
He couldn't hear anything.
He collapsed against a tree, sobbing. Pain radiated through him and despair clouded his vision.
Help.
He screamed in his mind.
Somebody help me!

Description
A paw lashed out from the surface of the water. Cream. Dark at the ankles in stark contrast to the white toes. Delicate, tiny, pink claws caught on knots of seaweed. The seaweed and algae was dragged under as the pup struggled to pull his muzzle above the surface. A tiny brown nose poked out from between and waves, heaving a giant breath. The massive waves, a million times his size, smashed him around, dragging his tiny, freezing body deeper into the water. He lashed out his paws again, fighting for something to hold on to. His paws struck wood and he snatched it up, clinging to it like his life depended on it.
Because it just might.
Pulling his head above the roaring, screaming water, Evynn took several huge gulps of air. The wood he was clinging to was a piece of bark, obviously ripped from the trunk of a tree by force, by a storm or some other vicious nature. It was not very large, but Evynn was small and thin enough that it was just large enough to keep him afloat. The waves had calmed, it was odd. Evynn looked up to discover he was in the eye of the storm.
Now was the time for decision.
He looked to the north and saw Jormungandr. His home, where he was raised. Where his mother, and father were.
But his sister, Juno, was gone. She had left to go find a better life, somewhere less restricted. Evynn had begged her not to go, begged her to stay with him, but she had told him that Jormungandr wasn't where she was meant to be. She had vanished by daybreak the next morning.
Evynn turned his head to the south and saw it. Ulfrheim.
That was where his sister was going. And he had to believe that was where she would be.
And he had to believe he would find her.
Someday.
Evynn heaved his waterlogged fore paws onto the bark and began to swim. Out of the eye of the storm, out of safety. Into the unknown, raging water toward a distant land he had no idea about.
This was not a good idea.
He kicked harder, forcing himself through the thick, heavy, churning waters of the northern Hongerige. He breathed evenly through his nose, trying not to cough and splutter when seawater splashed his soaked face. His eyes were squinted against the rain and his muscles screamed with exhaustion. The waves got hungrier and more intimidating the closer he got to the mainland, but at least he was getting closer.
Suddenly, the shore seemed so close he could almost touch it. He could see the details in the sand and the glint of the weak light on the wet rocks. He was getting closer. Relief blossomed through him. He was getting closer, closer. Far too close. The relief turned to panic in a quick, sharp pain, like a smack in the face. He flailed his paws wildly, in vain. The waves smashed his small body against the bed of rock. He clawed at the ground, trying to get a grip on the rock before the waves dragged him out again. But his paws slid on the slippery surface as the strong water dragged his fur and pulled him back out.
"No! Stop!" He wailed. "I need to get there! My sister is there! She's...She's waiting for me!"
It wasn't until he said it aloud that he realized how much he wanted, no, needed that to be true.
The waves obliged bringing him closer to the rocky bed. He was prepared this time. He put his fore paws out in front of his and prepared himself as the waves reared to smash him down. Shock jolted through his legs as they hit the hard stone, but he kept his head. He buried his claws in a clump of clinging algae and held on with all his remaining strength. The water dragged at his fur and he felt like the water and the algae were warring over him. But he managed to cling on and as soon as the waves retreated in defeat, he launched himself from the rocky outcropping and dashed up the beach as fast as his legs would take him. After he was a good distance away from the water, where he knew it couldn't get him, he collapsed.
I made it. I'm in Ulfrheim.
Evynn lay there for a short while, until a mantra started in his head.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up.
If he stayed here, some manner of beast would surely find him.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. GET UP!
He pushed himself to his paws, his muscles shrieking in protest. Tears leaked out of his big, violet eyes.
I'll find you, Ju.
He forced himself to move, his paws dragging along the sharp, rocky sand as they fought his wishes. Rain hit his muzzle, like tiny bullets from the sky. Clouds, fog, grey, warping his vision as he stumbled across the wide, tundra of sandy nothingness. Dimly, he registered the ground changing from rough, gritty sand to soft, lush grass and wet, sticky leaves.
A forest.
He stumbled deeper into the tree wracked woods, breathing a soft sigh of relief as the soft, wet grass soothed his exhausted, sore paws.
One paw in front of the other.
He chanted to himself.
I've got to find her.
Suddenly, his acute hearing picked something up.
"Hey! I think I heard something!" Came a sharp, feminine voice from somewhere through the maze of trees and shrubbery.
Evynn froze, fear rearing through him, his heart pounding.
Somebody heard me.
"Don't be an idiot, Blur." Came another voice, this one exasperated and scoffing.
"Seriously, I heard something, Hel! I think I saw something too, something small and cream colored!" The first voice insisted.
Somebody saw me...
"You're just being an idiot and hallucinating. Let's go."
In a blind panic, Evynn ran for his life. His paws thrummed against the ground as his heart pounded in his chest.
Somebody's after me. They're gonna kill me. I'll never find Juno.
He crashed through bracken, leaves, shrubs, trees and rocks. Finally, covered with cuts and bruises, Evynn slowed his crazy dashing race. He collapsed against a tree, his lungs screeching for air and his body nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He slid to the ground in a mossy hollow between two tree roots and finally closed his eyes. His body gave out and he slumped down, his head spinning. The forest was quiet, no birds sang, no crickets chirped, the only sound was that of the raindrops slowly peppering on the leaves overhead. He let out a soft whimper and buried his muzzle in his paws.
I miss you, Ju.
When he next blinked his eyes open, the world was tinted red. The color of blood. A metallic smell stung his nostrils as he shook his head trying frantically to clear his vision.
"Evynn..."
He jumped as a voice hiss in his hear.
"You must find your sister..." It whispered, wind rushing up around him.
"I know!" He yelped. "But I don't know where she is!"
"FIND HER!"
Evynn jumped awake with a bark of panic. The dream voice echoed in his mind, reverberating through his entire body. He tok a couple breaths to calm himself down, focusing on counting the daisies on the ground.
After a short rest, Evynn forced his sore muscles to get up. He began to pad gently through the forest. His violet eyes scanned
the treetops, unconsciously looking for any signs of life. The rain had stopped, but stray droplets still dripped through the canopy onto his already soaked muzzle. His limbs were sore, but less exhausted, and he was able to trot slowly across the soft, flimsy leaves. He arrived at a small stream that tumbled over a small overhang of rocks and flowed into a swirling, sparkling pool. The sun broke through the trees and the sunlight bounced and spun in glimmering prisms all around. It reflected off the wet, shiny rocks and made the whole scene seem to glow.
"So pretty." Evynn breathed.
The trees around suddenly looked a lot less menacing and everything around him seemed to grow lighter. The sun felt wonderful on his soaked muzzle and he took a small pawstep forward into the clearing.
He was so engaged in the beautiful image that he almost didn't hear the menacing snarl behind him. Almost.
He swung around, heart pounding.
They found me.
But it was not a pair of Felvargs. It was a massive, bedraggled grizzly bear. It's fur was brown and matted so thickly with dirt that it was surely much lighter than it looked. It's massive fangs dripped blood and it's eyes were feral. It loomed over him and he cowered. His ears folded flat against his head and his tail tucked between his legs. They would stay that way for a long time.
Evynn snapped out of his shock and scrambled to get away, his paws slipping and siding on the wet, soggy leaves. With a savage roar, the grizzly bear lashed out at Evynn's frantically retreating form, claws out. Pain exploded across Evynn's back as the long, sharp claws slashed into him. He screamed in pain, tears streaming down his face and into his fur. He ran for his life, crashing through the shrubbery and bracken, taking every small space so that the bear could not get him. He could hear the animal crashing through the underbrush behind him, so he kept running, though his exhausted body and terrible wound protested. He left a trail of blood on everything he passed, pain screaming through his body. Eventually, the forest seemed quiet, too quiet. The bear had stopped it's pursuit a while back and Evynn could no longer hear it.
He couldn't hear anything.
He collapsed against a tree, sobbing. Pain radiated through him and despair clouded his vision.
Help.
He screamed in his mind.
Somebody help me!