Phantom Hollow There's no place like home

"Nightjar!" Wildfire shouted when she swore she saw him sneak away from the group amidst all the chaos. Of course, it was difficult to see down here in the darkness. It was impossible to hear anything, either, between the roaring overhead and the echoing voices all around her. Aware that she definitely wouldn't be heard over the racket, Wildfire didn't attempt to tell anyone about her absconding brother. Instead, she decided to go after him herself.

Within five minutes, the pup realized she had made a terrible mistake. Not only did she not find Nightjar (had he even run off at all or was that just a hallucination?), she couldn't figure out how to find her way back to the group. Unable to shout loudly, she nonetheless tried to scream her family's names: "Mama! Dud! Nightjar! Rave!" No one replied. Only her own voice bounced back to her. Panic took seed in her heart when she realized she was effectively reduced to a single sense: touch. The darkness and silence pressed on her from all sides.

The fear got the best of her and Wildfire began to scramble through the dark belly of the earth, bumping roughly into earthen walls every few seconds but ignoring the pain. She stopped briefly when the passageway narrowed, forcing her to crawl, but she emerged into a much larger chamber on the other side. She couldn't see anything but she could feel wide open spaces around her. Her footsteps echoed. The ground was moist and occasionally her feet splashed in standing water.

After what felt like hours, she saw a gray light up ahead. Wildfire ran toward it, her heart thundering in her chest, when she collided suddenly with a stalactite suspended from the rocky ceiling. She lost consciousness immediately and sprawled on the cold, damp earth. She didn't stir for a long time, long enough for the storm to dissipate. The light in the distance went from gray to a warm, pale yellow. It brightened, then dimmed, and went dark. Then it slowly illuminated once more...

When she finally roused, Wildfire's head pounded. She reached a paw up and touched it against a tender spot on her right temple. There was a giant bump there and some dried blood crusted in her fur. Feeling woozy, she nonetheless climbed to her feet and began to trot toward the light again. Her whole body ached by this point, particularly her head. Hunger gnawed at her gut and thirst made her tongue feel heavy and thick in her mouth. She moved tirelessly toward the light as it grew from a speck to a dot to a hole to a portal through which she passed.

Wildfire's golden eyes squinted when she resurfaced from the bowels of the earth. She blinked, waiting for them to adjust, then sucked in a breath. Bare trees stretched as far as the eye could see, their torn and shredded foliage littering the forest floor. A thick mist hovered a few inches above the ground, partially obscuring the massive amounts of debris and giving the woodland a decidedly wintry feel. Wildfire shivered involuntarily as she stepped forth into this strange wilderness. Not only it was it spooky to behold, she had absolutely no idea where she was.

She glanced back at the small cave mouth behind her, wondering if she could go back the way she had come. She shuddered, violently this time. Not only would it be impossible to retrace her steps, she would never step foot in another cave as long as she lived. Wildfire forcibly turned away, then drew in a long breath to fight back against a renewed sense of panic. She started to move again, picking her way carefully through the wind-torn wilderness, searching desperately for water.