Auburn

Auburn: 1

A blinding pain burned on her side. Her labored breathing echoed in her ears, muffled only by the thundering storm overhead. Rain dumped down from the branches shielding her from view, dripping into her eyes. Where am I?

Auburn lift her head. An imprint of the side of her face was left in the wet earth. The movement only worsened her pain and she cried out, jerking her muzzle to her side. Blood. Then she remembered.

The allos. Her heart began to thud. Thunder crackled overhead.

Buttercup had been standing guard. Swelter told Auburn to hunt, and she had chosen the thicket just behind Buttercup's post. A dead ava lie at her feet, freshly killed from her own dispatch. But in the brush only a few paces from her had been another ava, downed by someone else.

It couldn't have been Buttercup. No, she had been too busy. Why would Swelter have sent her out if someone had already hunted?

Then it was pulled sharply into the bushes with a snarl. Powerful jaws crunched the ava's bones. Cruel yellow eyes stared at her, its teeth glistening with blood, matching the beast that had driven them from port. An allo.

Her heart seized as it studied her savagely. Before she could do anything more, it broke cover, towering over her.  She only knew to run, but hadn't thought of where, and before she could stop herself, her legs carried her -- and led the allo -- into the heart of Viper's nesting site.

Foot falls thundered behind her and an ear-splitting roar shook her to her core. The echoing of its blood thirsty scream was broken only by the panicked sounds of her disturbed pack as they tried to handle the sudden threat, snapping at its flanks and tail to draw it away. For a moment, Auburn thought her pack would win. Bulliet had appeared and leaped onto its back. A black and gold blur darted before Auburn's vision as Scythe raced to latch onto its side, snapping at it viciously. It was outnumbered, and sure to be overpowered by her pack's rage.

But the allo didnt seem concerned, and it easily tore Scythe from its scaly hide, sending her flying into Sinclair and knocking them both over. Moonstone and Gold, hissing and snapping at its front, suddenly froze mid-attack, alarmed.

The ground shook. Auburn had only a moment to react before she was bowled into.

Another allo.

Powerful jaws gripped her side and ripped her into the air. Her legs churned as Auburn tried desperately to find the ground again. Teeth found muscle, then bone. It was too much to bear. She couldn't breathe.

She squirmed and screeched frantically, blinded by the need to get away. The blurry forms of silver and black raced by in the corner of her vision before her eyes shut. And then suddenly, she was free.

Auburn was running before her feet hit the ground. Thunder rumbled overhead, blending with the stomping of the allo pair as they pursued. She ran blindly for cover.

Rain poured down, slicking leaves against her bloodied form. At least it would mask her scent. She ran until she could no longer, the distance between her and the allos growing larger and larger until they abandoned the chase. They had gotten what they wanted. Her legs gave and she collapsed into the thicket she would find herself waking in later.

Darkness blotted out her vision, and as the allos screamed their victory over her home, Auburn only had the strength to lift her head high enough to see between a gap in the ferns, running with her own blood. Her breath was ragged and she couldn't muster the strength to call out as, together, bloodied, bruised and defeated, her pack fled without her. She could only watch as their glistening bodies disappeared into the rain.

She had been left behind.