All was a swirling mess of gray-white dust that took forever to settle. When at last it did, Kaaili recognized nothing. She cast her gaze around what was once the den site of the great, the unmatchable Uutar, and coughed dryly. Everything had been crushed by the thundering scree in the late morning, just as the pack had settled down to sleep through the hot part of the day. There had been pups in the den. Pups! Heaviness tugged at her heart at the realization that they wouldn't have stood a chance. A faint whiff of blood wafted into her snout and lingered, making Kaaili cringe slightly.

She tried to get to her feet, discovered that her tail was trapped under a stone, and whimpered as she pulled free and felt the blood rushing back to the end of her tail. Claws scrabbled feebly against dusty scree as she tried to search for the rest of the Uutar. "No, no, no," she groaned softly. A paw stuck out from under a heavy rock. When Kaaili moved it, she revealed the crushed skull of the Alpha male, a massive bulky white wolf named Tarukida, and jumped back in fright, tumbling down the crumbly slope and very nearly causing another rockslide. "No no no!" she squeaked.

Carefully she got up and panted with the emotional exhaustion of having discovered one of the leaders so... disfigured. A soft, careful howl wove from her lips as she called: "Is anyone alive?"

Dead. Everything was dead. Eaten away by vicious flames from a fire storm about a week ago. DeadWood carefully, but quickly, padded through the unknown forest she had mistakenly bolted into. She didn't even think twice about the direction she had fled when the claps of hunter-thunder had suddenly errupted, causing her entire pack to scatter as quickly as possible. For all she knew, they could be dead aswell, just like the forest she treaded in. The grass was nothing but ashes, burnt trees layed on the ground or leaned up against the other trees that has somehow remained standing, thorn bushes had begun to replace what might have been a beautiful landscape, and large rocks that had once been covered by bushes or tall grass were now completely exposed. However, the burnt forest seemed to provide her with more cover than the healthy ones did. Her fur blended in with the black and greys of the ashes and rocks, it might have been the only thing that saved her life.

DeadWood paused in her tracks, taking a moment to listen for anymore danger or a pack member. Her ears flicked and swivled, trying to pick up even the slightest of sounds. Her tail flicked as she just barely picked up a howl in the far distance, but it was very faint. "Hmm... Its far too distant to be one of my pack members... And too far to be a member of the Eirir.." DeadWood thought to herself. She turned and faced the direction it had came from, finding herself looking towards the Uutar Mountain. "Why would an Uutar be asking if anyone's alive? Surely they wouldn't care about us, they never have." DeadWood thought, puzzled. She quickly padded up to a large rock, wanting to get a better view of the mountain. She leaped up onto the stone and squinted her eyes. She growled in uncertainty, "Something's not right.." DeadWood stared at the space above the treeline. Ever so slightly she could see a light grey cloud, too light to be from a fire. "What is that..?"

DeadWood kept her gaze on the odd cloud for another moment or two and then brought her attention back to her current situation. She leaped down from the rock she had been standing on and made her way to a particularly thick thorn bush area. She needed to have some sort of protection, and from what she had observed from past experiences, hunters hated thick bushes, especially thorn bushes. Carefully, she weaved her way through the spikey bushes, crawling, jumping, and cautiously stepping over and under their branches. Once she was safely situated in the middle of them, she gave out a few loud roar-barks warning everyone, "Hunters have attacked! Hide or take shelter!"

(((Roar-barks are a trait of Maned wolves)))

Sasha lifted her head slightly, what had happened she saw nothing her ears rang loudly the air was dry and full of dust and derbies. Her eyes flicked open darkness was all she saw she pushed her body to a rock and helped herself up she stood in place licking her nose trying to give herself some comfort from the dryness. she moved her right front paw over and felt wet ... soft and wet.. she squealed and yelped moving backwards quickly, she could smell now blood .. smoke.. decaying bodies mixed with familiar scents. she saw a small amount of light shine threw what was the entrance to her den and didn't move she didn't want to step on more bodies .. more of her pack... how many more.. they had elders and pups... and Alpha where was he. she howled out. "anyone is anyone here" she howled once more... she needed to get out she needed to find anyone who had survived. she stepped down once more this time hearing a loud crack she felt the bones of another under her paw. she growled lowly as she help back tears "no!" she lunged towards the rocks covering the entrance to the cave they barely even moved this time with her whole body growling louder "no!" this time a small movement "no!" she roared out slamming her whole body to the rocks this time pushing them all out of place and outside the smoke filling her lung instantly she gasped out and yelped feeling her back leg get buried under the rocks her front claws grasping at the ground to pull it out.

It was like in the stories, the tales of the Tall Mountains that touched the sun. When one of the Mountains became angry, they would scream and cry, a noise that sounded like a thousand rocks crashing over each other, a rumbling so deep you heard it under your paws a thousand forests away. Then in their furious rage they would spit out their teeth, which were massive rocks the size of ten wolves. It is said that the teeth of the old mountains still litter the land today. The roaring and the spitting were so destructive they could kill wolf or lynx or hunter, anything that stood in the mountain's path.

But these were just stories.

So when Jal was playing in a mountain spring a fair few number of lopes away from the Uutar Den, and he noticed the ground trembling beneath his feet, he did not take heed. When a flock of birds that lived in one of the sparse spruces took to the sky, screaming and cawing, Jal did not take heed.
It was only when a lump of rock the size of his head landed at his paws with a splash did he look up to the Uutar Den, just in time to see it be obliterated by a cascade of boulders. An involuntary whimper escaped from his throat.
The rumbling intensified, and soon rocks the size of his paws were hitting his pelt, as he stood transfixed staring at his crushed home. When one bounced off the top of his head, he came to his senses and fled down the mountaintop.
As he stared from between the brambles, the cloud of dust seemed to be as tall as the tallest mountain.

As the dust cleared, and the shower of rocks had stopped, Jalil approached the wrecked den cautiously. Although the air was clouded and heavy with the smell of dust, he could just about scent his packmate, Kaaili, round the other side of the pile of rocks. The thin howl confirmed it. He quickly made his way round the pile of rocks, and seeing his elder, he lowered himself at her feet whimpering as a good youngling should do.
'What happened?' He enquired desperately. 'What happened to the pups? What happened to everyone?'

Within a moment Jalil was covered with relieved, fervent licks as the young wolf approached Kaaili. Normally she would display dominant body language, but it didn't cross her mind now. All she could think was that one other had lived. The pack was not extinct. Someone had survived. Now as he was asking questions, she circled him, prodding his flanks gently with her nose and sniffing carefully as she checked him over for injuries. When it became apparent that he was unhurt, she let out a long sigh and sat carefully in front of Jal on a large, stable-feeling rock. There should be no beating around the bush on this one. She stared him in the eyes a few moments and then dropped her gaze to his paws.

"Rock slide," she finally answered hollowly. "Everyone is dead. The pups..." Her voice cracked. "It was probably instant. Painless." Her ears fell flat against her neck.

Jal's eyes opened wide in horror, the news crashing over him as hard as the boulders from before.
'How can we be the only survivors? There were no hunting parties away?' Her eyes told him the answer faster than words could. Alone. The Uutar Pack was gone. He closed his eyes, wishing he could go back to this morning when everything was alright.

Having composed himself, he inspected Kaaili himself, checking if she was injured in any way. Her tail was a little flattened at the tip, but otherwise she looked relatively unharmed. Once he did this, he looked up at his packmate. Suddenly all 1 and a half years of his life didn't seem so old to him, he didn't seem so big and strong. He was just an oversized pup, who no longer had a mother.
'What do we do now?' He asked, defeated.

sasha growled at the rocks and howled loudly maybe someone would hear her
"help!" she howled again into the dusty sky tugging a lil at her leg.

"We should go," murmured Kaaili. "Down the mountain. This is no longer our home. We must...we must hunt." She didn't want to be in this position of leadership, but there was no other option. She started to pick her way down the scree carefully, and then...there was a howl.
Her ears swiveled slightly. "Hmm," she said softly. "It's in the Hills...perhaps they too have had misfortune. Perhaps the spirits are angered." This sentence ended with a grave rumble in her chest as she tried to decide whether to seek out the wolf who had howled. It would be a gamble, that was sure. Judging on the faintness of the howl, it was very possibly an Eirir, a One of the Hills, and she certainly didn't trust them one bit.

she howled once more before collapsing back to the ground her lungs filled with dust and smoke and her eyes red from the debris in the air. "damn" she said with spite
"this is not good.. stupid stupid im so stupid" she looked around tugging on her back leg again the rock moving a bit but the pain rushed threw it making her yelp out and whimper. she laid her paws out and just laid there whimpering tears rolling down her fur.. "there gone... all gone.."

The beast of evil faced down the Alpha male of Uutar. The great wolf barked at the beast, "Turn back from whence you came, beast! I will not let you harm my pack or our territory."

The creature released a heavy, and mocking, laugh, "I've enslaved every pack before, what makes you think you can take me on?" The beast then brushed a paw against it's large buck-teeth as it's bushy tail twitched in the wind, "I, the Giant Evil Squirrel Overlord of Jumamar will not back down to anyone; especially not you, Rudder the Great! While you may have defeated the Grizzly of Ublar, I will not be as easy."

Rudder, the great wolf of the forest, growled at the beast, "Turn back now, or be defeated here." The beast released a roar before charging our hero. Rudder displayed his great speed by jumping to the side, dodging the Giant Evil Squirrel Overlord of Jumamar's attack. He then chomped on the Giant Evil Squirrel Overlord of Jumamar's tail, a sound of both pain and panic erupted from the beast's mouth. Rudder then shook his head from side to side, pulling the full weight of the beast left and right. And he shook... and he shook... and shook... and shook... and-

Rudder was brought back to reality; Why is the ground shaking? Dropping the stick from his mouth, Rudder glanced around at his surroundings in worry. He wasn't near the den, probably would get scolded by dad again for wandering off. However, his thoughts were on the more pressing matter of the earth shaking. Rudder also now noticed a loud rumbling coming from the direction of the mountain, What's going on?!

As if hearing his thoughts, the ground stopped shaking and the rumbling ceased. He waited a few moments before bolting for the den without second thoughts. What happened? Did the mountain move? Was the earth upset? These thoughts, as well as many others, passed through the little cub's mind as he ran home... Or what was home.

It took the sandy-colored wolf cub a few minutes to get within visual rang of the den, where he saw the damage. What... what happened? Boulders, stones, rocks and pebbles could be seen strewn all over the place, as if the mountain had vomited up parts of itself.

Movement near what was the den caused the little cub to freeze, Who is that? He took a sniff of the air. All he could smell was the familiar smell of pack-members, stone and... Blood? The little cub needed to get closer to find out what happened but without getting caught. He didn't want to get scolded for running off again.

As he quickly, and quietly, climbed up the scree to try to hear or see what's going on. He managed to get close enough to smell distinctly that Kaaili and Jal were nearby. Rudder noticed that they were on the move, down the scree. He stopped on a stone as they moved, hoping not to be noticed as they passed by. The stone he stood on however, didn't like the added weight of the wolf cub. It started to roll down the slope, crashing into other stones or boulders as it did. Rudder gave a quick yelp as he jumped off the stone that intended to take him down with it. The cub managed to keep his footing as he watched the stone tumble down to the bottom of the scree.

Rudder quickly looked back at Kaaili and Jal, realizing they probably heard that. He lowered his ears and tucked his tail between his legs, expecting a scolding from either of them for running off again.

Jal had never been more glad to see a pup in his life. He had heard the little rocks tumbling, and for a horrible second he thought the mountain had awakened again. He had whipped his head round, ready to run, when he saw a little bundle of tan fur looking at Kaaili and himself sheepishly.
'Rudder!' He yelped, euphoric. Jalil bounded over to the cub, snuffling and licking him all over in happiness. 'Are you well? Are you hurt? Where were you? Where you in the den?' He prodded Rudder with his nose, not smelling any blood on him, rejoicing in the fact that not all of the Uutar clan were dead. He turned to Kaaili and said, 'Look, Kaaili! Come! Rudder is still alive!'

Kaaili's ears pricked and she turned her head as fast as a snake's strike. A precious pup had survived! She rushed after Jal as fast as the unstable scree would allow without sliding again. Practically shaking with the relief that one of the litter wasn't dead, she gave Rudder a couple of reassuring licks, her tail giving a couple wags so strong that they made her posterior wiggle. There'd be no easy way to explain to him that his parents and siblings had been crushed, so she decided that it could wait, unless the pup asked.

"Come with us, Rudder. We're not angry at you, but we have to go down the mountain. You've never been below treeline, have you?"

Sasha stayed to the ground her whimpering not stoping she didnt know what to do she was alone and confused about what had happen from what she knew she was all that was left of her pack.. but then a thought crossed her mind what about the other packs. what became of them... she knew the Rretili were sneaky but could they have survived and the Uutar well they were very un trusting but she still was concerned.. they all had pups and elders... maybe some of them survived .. she knew she was closer to the Uutar borders. she looked up toward the mountain top and let out one last loud howl the last one she had in her "Help Please!"

DeadWood's ears flicked and she quickly turned her head in the direction of the Eirir. Faintly she could hear a desperate howl for help, so desperate it almost sounded broken. It wasn't as faint as the howl she heard earlier, so the only other option was that it was a howl from an Eirir wolf.

DeadWood growled at herself, thinking about what she should do next. "As far as I know my pack is gone, hunters could possibly still be out, but two is better than one I suppose..." She thought to herself, and then chuckled, "Well, if hunters DO find me, I better have someone else for them to pick." DeadWood said to herself and then quickly weaved her way out of the thorn bushes she had hidden in. Once she was safely out she quickly began to sprint across the burnt forest, towards the direction of the Eirir where the desperate howl came from. Ashes kicked up behind her as she ran as fast as she could. She needed to get there quickly, or else she could have quite possibly put herself back into immense danger. Within minutes DeadWood had bolted past the boarder of the burnt forest and darted into the Eirir territory.

DeadWood dodged and weaved around various trees of the territory. After a few minutes of running, she skidded to a halt once she came face-to-face with what used to be the Eirir den. Huffing a bit, DeadWood shouted, "Where are you?!" All she could see were rocks and dust. A few of the large rocks were spattered with blood, but since DeadWood was sinister to begin with, she didn't mind. DeadWood attempted to move a few, they only moved slightly. She growled in annoyance. "Where are you?!" She shouted again and loudly roar-barked a few times to try to alert anyone near-by.

(((Sorry that I haven't been able to post, school has been stressful)))

Rudder was a tad bit confused over Jalil and Kaaili's reactions, something didn't seem right. He didn't dwell on this set of thoughts for long with all of Jalil's questions ringing in his ears, "I'm fine..."

Kaaili's question caused the little cub to squirm a little, "Erm... No..." It was a half-lie, he had once chased a butterfly of evil down there but not beyond. Rudder tried to quickly think of a way out of more possible troubling questions when he heard a faint howl. "Who was that?"

Sasha herd a growl and yiped out as she tried to move hearing the voice ask were she was her lungs still smoke filled she could barely speak "over here please on the side" she said trying to be as loud as she could.

She twisted her body and tried to grab a nearby rock with her paw and push it out for the other to see. it was a small rock but could be herd and that was enough.

DeadWood turned as she heard a weak voice call out from her left. As she turned she saw a small rock tumble towards her paws. She carefully padded towards the direction the rock tumbled from, as she walked past a few more large rocks she spotted a white female wolf with her leg trapped underneath another large rock. DeadWood paused and glanced inside the den, seeing nothing but fallen rocks and crushed bodies. "You, my dear, are very lucky to be alive at this moment.." DeadWood said, now looking down at the wolf. DeadWood must have looked very grim and intimidating due to the other female's position. DeadWood was already rather tall, but from the other's angle it was possible for her to look even taller. DeadWood's eyes held no sympathy, her body language showed no urgent concern. Her ears perked forward as she looked at the female's trapped leg. Slowly, DeadWood backed up, head held low in concentration. With a loud growl she darted forward and slammed her torso up against the rock, just giving enough force to cause it to budge and roll away. DeadWood took a few steps back to give the wolf some space, "You, what is your name? Were there any others out hunting or scouting? Because if there are, they might be dead too. Hunters attacked my pack, they might still be out there." DeadWood said, sitting down a few steps away from the wolf. "I am DeadWood."

"Sasha" she spoke softly moveing her back leg a lil it hurt but felt fine otherwise.
"and i dont know i was alseep when i woke up... i busted out of the den but then the rocks they fell.." she looked to the other she was so tall and sleek looking.

"you said something about hunters.."

Jalil heard the howl, as faint as it was. He turned to Rudder, aware that the pup wasn't to know about the disaster. Jal decided to just come out with it- the faster he told Rudder, (hopefully) the faster the news would heal.
'Up at the den...' He began, carefully. 'Up at the den, there was a great shower of rocks. Sometimes in the old times the mountains used to become angry, and when they were angry they would spit out their teeth at the world below.' The words flowed easier, as the old tales of his mother and grandmother seemed to come unbidden out of his mouth. 'One of these rocks landed on our den, and..it killed everyone inside. We are the only Uutar left..me, you, and our packmate Kaaili.'
'Now we must go behind the treeline, to hunt and, to find out who that howl belongs to.' He looked at Kaaili, hoping he had explained well enough.

Kaaili nodded in approval and closed her eyes to think, hoping that the explanation wouldn't frighten poor little Rudder too much. "We will find food," she agreed, "and we will find out about whoever howled, but we must be careful." She took a couple of pensive steps down the rocky slope and made an effort to keep her ears standing straight in a show of false confidence. "We can't let Rudder out of our sight, so that leaves only one to hunt...unless the howler is worthy of trust." Her hackles raised at the thought of facing a stranger, but she shook the dust out of her fur and continued to lead the way slowly, unsure of herself.