the heat did not abate. 
four days ago, a hawk had dropped its prey into the vast plains below; a chipmunk made unlucky victim to its talons. beneath the grasses, undiscovered by the wolves that roamed them, the creature began to rot. aided by the sun, and the dozens of tiny creatures that crept beneath the brush, the process was quick. should the sun have failed to rise that morn, been obscured by clouds or rain, perhaps the decomposition process would not have peaked as it did. perhaps, if the chipmunk had fallen a few feet in any other direction, and not alongside the half-rotten, storm-blown branch, the breath of wind would not have combined with the heat of the decomposition and the acres of surrounding fuel to produce the spark it did.

violently did the flames rear their heads, growing from a spark to a burn to a blaze in a moment. the grasses bent and reached towards them, as if eager to be consumed, and the flames did comply. above them, the sky was heavy and somber, a uniform slate that stretched in every direction. 

---

the smell of smoke was foreign and unfamiliar, at first, but ignited an instinctual fear she knew would be disastrous to ignore. gaze swept the plains, her view dismal from where she stood at the bottom of a hollow. a moment, two, and then she saw the flicker - red, orange, yellow - as the fires began their descent. she was struck by the oddness - as if a piece of the sun had fallen through the clouds to land on their plain, and stagger its way through the grasses. her voice rent the air a moment later, alarm evident and with a message to move. the smoke swirled against the sky, dark against the clouds. she moved for the rendezvous, issuing another summons for any nearby once she neared, thinking of the vast quantity of pups there that tended to wander straight into danger. 

@Aviana stepped away to stretch her legs, and the girl remained lodged firmly within the den, passing the time with one of her favourite activities of all time; napping. that was, until the first tendril of smoke slipped through the entrance and tickled her nose. the first chest heaving cough startled her awake, fear lancing through her suddenly. uncontrollably, the coughs become more violent, and she made wildly for the entrance. "ma!' she screamed, careening to the right where she'd last seen the retreating form of her mother. 

she found herself sudden within a thick patch of smoke, the result of the fire spreading to a pine tree just upwind. she heard, dimly, shouting of her uncle behind her, and tried to orient herself in the haze. but her eyes burned, her lungs burned, and her chest heaved painfully with coughs. she huddled in on herself, deciding the best course of action now would be to scream as she never had before. "ma! seb! ma!" 

the pack had in mind the same idea, and the wild activity around the den site threatened to overwhelm. she stilled, began ticking off boxes in her head. there was Padma, scooped up by Shale; Radcliffe, and the jaws of the nameless male; Sunny and Aviana and her daughter, a flash of grey that could only mean Seb. the missing flashed to mind, and she whirled to face Aditya. "I'll meet you at the Maplewood, if the fire doesn't spread." she whirled and ran, parallel to the wall of flame and vanishing quickly into the spoke a few shades darker than her pelt. she'd search his haunts, first, and hope she'd chosen the right thing to do later.

senses dulled and shock settled in as Sunny grasped her, moving towards the fall of flame. she wanted to scream, to cry, for this was a huge no-no, but could only hang in his jaws and burn as he lept through, downy baby fluff singeing. her breath became low, little more than a shallow woosh of air that barely moved her chest as she was deposited at her mother's side. she didn't move to her, didn't run, merely lay there dully with wide eyes and fluttering pulse, entirely overcome with terror.