Story: Kanbaranuma
Chapter 1: The horses
"Save some for me." Cream snorted shoveling her nose through the grass as her friends inhaled it. "Yeah, sure." Midnight retorted with a mouthful of the plant. "You know, you guys wouldn't regurgitate that stuff a much if you slowed down a bit." Spot said, agreeing with Cream. They continued crunching the grass, the sound of thunder crashing quietly in the distance. "Maybe we should find shelter for tonight. I feel a storm coming." Rain said quietly, the wind blowing her mane around like a ragdoll. "Fine." Midnight huffed swallowing a last bit of food. The rest of the horses raised their heads and trotted up to Rain and Midnight. Their heads swiveled around as they searched for a shelter. A cave maybe, or the a few trees to shelter them from the oncoming storm. "Over here." Thunder said quietly, pointing to a slab of rock leaning over a boulder creating a stone lean-to. The clicks of their hooves echoed through the cold room creating an eerie aura among the horses. Cream wimpered quietly, not going un-noticed by Midnight who erupted in laughter. "Pony!" he neighed with a smile. Cream glared at him, but went on. "We found a shelter. Can we go back out-side now?" Spot said quietly, her ears back and tail lashing. "Not two sissys?" Midnight spat. "This is priceless" He crowed again. "Shut up." Spot lashed at him. "Break it up you two. We'll go back outside, enjoy the nice weather while it lasts." Thunder whinnyed, cantering out of the shelter as he spoke.
Rain rolled around in the sun, the grass tickling her hocks as they brushed against them. Cream lightly munched in a spot the others hadn't obliterated yet, and Thunder decided to teach Midnight a lesson. Spot worked on her figure, prancing around in cirlces, lifting her feet as high as a Tennesee Walking Horse. Not 30 minutes afterwards, the clouds covered the sun, casting a shadow below. Rain, Thunder, and Cream gathered bedding, while Spot gathered daiseys from a near-by meadow to brighten the drab slab of stone. Midnight remained oblivious to the clouds, and continued scarfing down grass. "Come on you oblivious peice of meat!" Cream snapped at Midnight as they retreated to the shelter as it started to drizzle.
Midnight glowered at Cream and shuffled to the rock with the rest. They spread the bedding over the ground, and placed the flowers in random spots around the shelter. The smell of rain drifted in through the opening, along with the cold storm air. Rain lied down, and started nibbling ticks out of her silver fur, blood staining her sleek coat. "While Thunder scanned his her, he saw the multiple patches stained with blood. "Woah!" He whinneyed trotting over to Rain. "Injury?" he questioned lightly, sniffing the blood. "No!" she said with a light laugh. "Just murdering some ticks." She joked. Thunder blushed. "Oh. You need an assistant?" He asked with a smile. "Sure. Best of all, if the coppers get me, I'll have someone to blame." She smirked, crunching another tick. The only sound in the cave after that, was he crunching of ticks, and Midnight's light snoring.
Chapter 2: The wolves
Smokey scented the air, but the stench of the crisp rain drowned out al other smells. "Great." He growled. "No dinner tonight." Mist looked at him with sad eyes. "Oh come on..." she murmered. "The rain draws worms out of the ground, and the worms draw birds out of the nest." She encouraged. "Anyways, would you go home to your pups empty handed?" she questioned him thoughtfuly. "You're right Misty." Smokey barked. "I wouldn't want to dissapoint them." Misty smiled. "Come one, lets go to the wormiest place in Kanbaranuma. The marsh."
They stalked over to the lake, circling it until they found the reeds signaling they had reached the marsh. Sure enough, a plethora of birds filled the marsh. From swans to robins, blue-birds to geese. A colorful array o them lined the edge of the lake. Of course, only the small colorful birds were there for the worms. The water-fowl were there mindng there own buisness. Because of course, the lake was their home. Smokey smaked his lips, imagining loads of birds to eat, his pups plump, not skinny and sickly like they were now. Misty fell down into a crouch, her eyes fixed on a crow to bust pulling a worm out of the ground to notice Misty inching closer to it every step. Smokey started stalking a rbin, in case after they startled the birds they didn't fly back. Misty and Smokey pounced virtualy at the same time, both snagging their prey with ease.
They carried their catches home, deciding to feed the pups first in case the birds did not come back. The pups heard their parent's footsteps as they neared the den. The pups bursted out ot the den, crying, "Mama, Papa! What did you bring us, what did you bring us?" Misty smiled and dropped her crow. "Yummy birds! Are you excited?" she asked in a sing-song voice. One of the pups burst in excitement, "Oh mama! I want the black one!" She chimed, inhaling the warm aroma wafting off it. "Patience Cloud. Wait for your father to get here." The other pup came out, his dark grey coat blending in with the dark forest. "Do I get papa's catch?" He asked. "Yes Storm." Misty cooed licking his muzzle. As soon as she licked him, Smokey came into veiw with his prey, and more. A robin, and a squirrel. "Oh Smokey.." Misty cooed nuzzling him. "Can you get some more? I'll stay with the pups." She said with a smile. "Sure." he sighed, trotting into the forest.
Chapter 3: The bears
"Get in your den." River growled. "But why? It's raining outside, and the rain is SO FUN!" Brownie whined. "Ya know what? Its also SO WET!" Moon growled. "Fine" Brownie pouted. "Good girl." Moon said quietly licking Brownie's cheek. "Hey! Hey! Watch the face! WATCH THE FACE!" Brownie spat wiping her face off. River chuckled and curled up in his nest, sticking his snout into the warmth if his belly fur. Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the forest for a slit second. Seconds later thunder boomed. "EEK!" Cried Brownie. "Hush darling." Moon soothed. "It is only the clouds play fighting." Brownie looked up at her in awe. "The clouds play-fight too?" Brownie mused entergeticly. "Of course." River said with a smile. "The thunder is when they play their drums, and the lightning is when they chase lights down to earth." He murmered softly, nosing Brownie into his den. "I wanna slep outside!" Brownie squeaked running back outside. "No." Moon snapped, shoving the cub lightly back into his den. Moon curled up next to her daughter, and heard a deep howl in the distance. "The wolves are going to bed too." Moon mused. "That was their farewell to the day." As she finished the sentence, she slowly drifted off, into peaceful sleep. Brownie's eyes sowly drooped closed as well, as did River's afterward.
The storm raged on through the night- the wind howling through the trees. The moon was barely visible through the thick blanket of clouds.
Comments and critique welcome!
EDIT: Woah. Only took me 11 minutes....
