It's warm. And dark. And quiet.

Mayfal could stay there forever. It felt so safe, until it stopped feeling so safe. What could possibly happen? Anything. Everything. All of it was not safe.

Warm became hot, and with the heat, the hope of release. A hunger for knowledge. What was around them? What could get them and what could they get?

Nothing was happening...yet.

Maybe Mayfal just needed to make it hotter, if that was possible. They touched the enclosure of stone. Still not hot enough.

They stretched out their body, all paws pressing against stone, and the small space continued to get warmer.

Then what could only be assumed to be pieces of rock started making impact with Mayfal's hide. This went on for a while, and when it stopped, a chill went down Mayfal's spine.

Mayfal's eyes opened and...again, darkness. Just as lost as before. the only difference was a new setting. One that wasn't at all warm and cacophonous with chattering and rumbling and cracking. Why was everything cracking?

Mayfal decided to finally use their legs (they weren't very long, they could tell that at least). Perhaps they were just in a place without much light. They stood and moved their head to the left slowly. Then to the right. They followed the direction of wherever their head pointed, but the darkness remained constant.

Then it dawned on Mayfal, as a fox, they should have been seeing already, even if it was dark. Mayfal placed her head back on the ground. Still cold but with more noticeable vibrations. Their head felt so heavy, like a bag of rocks.

They had so many questions, but the one that kept coming into Mayfal's head was, "What...is...happening?"

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet made her way through the tunnel, on her way to Eridanus for her daily exploring session when she heard the loud noise. The sound of many pieces of rock falling on the ground. What was that? She ran towards the sound, her eyes scanning the darkness. "Hello? Who's there?"
The darkness was oppressive, she hoped to find whoever it was quick, because it was not easy to get around in the dark tunnel.

@Mayfal

In their contemplation, Mayfal's situation only became more confusing. A voice came from...ahead? Direction was not very clear, but there was a voice.

Mayfal waited for a second. Then, without much vigor, they responded, "Hello?"

Was this the one that would get them? Or was this the one they could get?

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet pricked her ears, and heard a response. "Don't worry, I'm coming!" she ran towards the sound. Soon, she heard breathing near her. She pricked her left ear, and her right was quite useless. Her eyes strained to see, but there was a faint outline, of a creature. Shattered rocks around them. Comet quickly concluded that they must've just hatched from their chrysalis. "Let me help you, can you hold onto my tail?" she brushed her tail over the faint outline of their mouth, hoping they would know the grab on.

@Mayfal

Mayfal heard something. Something large bounding against the ground. The thuds got louder, until there was something right in front of them.

This creature was offering its tail. Where was its tail?

Suddenly, a sensation of warmth quickly brushed over Mayfal's mouth, causing them to jump backwards onto a shard of rock. They let out a yelp.

This answered their questions. What was happening? Danger. They were about to be gotten.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet didn't know that brushing her tail like that would cause them to jump backwards. "Are you okay?" she spoke in the general direction of the yelp. She had only just realized how scary she must seem. "I'm just here to help. If you grab my tail I can lead you out of this dark place. I promise I won't hurt you." It was very hard being in the dark tunnel, even though she could see in the dark, this tunnel was unusually black and oppressive. "The exit is very close, grab onto my tail with your teeth." She found the creature once again, luckily it looked like they weren't hurt too badly. But you couldn't see very well in the dark. "Here." Comet brushed her tail against their mouth again, hoping they wouldn't startle.

@Mayfal

The same warm brush came to Mayfal's mouth again. Whoever this was, they could see Mayfal. And they kept making promises of safety. But what exactly was the worth of promises? They supposed they would find out soon.

Mayfal gave in to their possible demise, partly because of the hope of a brighter place, which came with the hope that sight might actually be possible. They took the tail in their mouth, gently at first, but then with some firmness. A pitiful attempt at a warning, just in case.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet felt a surge of relief as she felt small teeth grasp her tail. It was a bit firm, but she remembered when she had first navigated through this cave herself in the same way. She had bitten onto the tail of Aristotle, who had led her out. She guessed that the animal was a bit nervous, so she didn't mind the tight hold.
"Okay, let's go." she decided to continue to Eridanus instead of Orion, because that place had a lot of food and plants. She decided to do her best to help this newly emerged gembound. Finally, she exited the darkness of the tunnel and into the bright cave of Eridanus. "You can let go now. We're here! Isn't it pretty?" Even though she had been here many times, the lushness of the place never failed to amaze her. Now, she could see that the animal was a fox, a white one. Well, Comet's fur was a snowy white too, and she thought about how similar they were. Fox, and wolf. They were both still pups too, although Comet was older.

@Mayfal