Firefly Glen Stay away from the motion and madness

wc:707

For some reason, when Fennec's nose ran over the surface of the coconut, he felt the inclination to tap his foot against the ground, the way he might if someone had scratched his belly. But when her nose reached his ear it tickled, causing him to scrunch his nose up and sneeze, which naturally caused the coconut shell to tumble off his crown and clack to the ground with a pleasantly high, hollow noise. He gasped- but sighed with relief soon thereafter when he realized it was still in tact. It would have been a pretty sorry helmet had it broken after falling from his head.

The distraction was fleeting though, and wasn't enough to permeate the disappointment he felt when she spoke. “Yeah right.” There had been sarcasm in her tone- but he knew by now that sometimes she sounded sarcastic even when she was being serious. And when she didn't crack a joke, he noticed. It wasn't often that Fennec didn't knock a joke out of the park with the finesse of a major leaguer, especially when it was set up so well.

Her next comment was a bit too delayed for him to count it as a retort, and she'd begun to walk away, toward her den without a word, leaving a wilted and sullen Bronco behind. He stood, and would have begun to walk away had she not beckoned for him to come and check out her den. Like a loyal hound, his ears perked momentarily, though the woebegone expression on his face didn't quite fade yet. She'd invited him to see it likely because he'd brought her a gift. She was probably just doing this to be nice, taking pity on him and if that was the case, then it was an empty gesture...But he was a hopeless sap, after all, and he couldn't turn away from her invitation. He picked his way up the slope with exaggerated care, slinking with hs body close to the ground so his steps were light and nimble; the last thing he wanted to do was slip up now.

The first place he looked when he reached the entrance to the den was up- noticing the ceiling was stone, as though she'd managed to dig between layers of rock and earth formations, and find a sweet spot wherein her den would be stable and well protected. She'd put some thought into the angle of the entrance, which had just enough slope to it to keep rainwater from pouring in. The ground felt sturdy under his feet, so he ducked his head carefully and stepped inside, until his shadow blocked the light and the shaft of the cave became dark.

Something thick and strong wrapped around his midsection, quietly forcing the air out of his lungs. He didn't notice it so much, at first, but a second later when he went to draw a breath in, he realized that he couldn't- and that was when the panic seeped in, like a hidden dagger. He froze and tried to suck in a breath, but nothing happened. He couldn't even gag. The walls were too close, the scent of the earth too strong- and Fennec's voice sounded like it came from miles away, with the faint echo of having been spoken underground. A high-pitched ringing suddenly vibrated in his ears and he stumbled backwards as though he'd been struck in the face with a plank of wood.

He didn't make a sound as he scrambled out of the den tail-first, and tripped down the step-like path up the side of the ravine, tumbling over himself twice before he landed on the shoreline, coughed out a mouthful of air in surprise and bounced (more or less) into the shallow part of the river. The cold water immediately caused him to inhale a strained, gasping breath, and he remained where he was, hyperventilating, his muzzle just a few inches above the surface of the water bewildered beyond belief by what had just happened. He shook like an autumn leaf, barely clinging to the branch, and his fur stood on end as though he'd just been struck by lightening- and by the expression on his face, he might as well have been.