Dragoncrest Cliffs RAGE FROM A QUEEN

Tousaint can be skipped for a while!

A cricket crept along the boy's side, causing him to shift and twitch in his sleep. He huffed little sleep-barks as it tickled his ribs, but being a deep sleeper, he wasn't roused. Not until it chose to venture to the summit of his nose, of course. At that point, it made a crucial error with one of its six hairy legs, and with an explosive series of sneezes, the boy was hauled out of slumberland and into the waking nightmare of finding a cricket covered in his own spittle and snot. 

Dreary and disgusted, he rubbed at his nose, gagging lightly at the amount of drool that had been quietly dripping down the side of his face in his sleep. He looked about to see if anyone else had caught him in this offensive state- but it seemed his sneezes had awakened none but himself. All tired from another long, warm day. 

All, that is, save for Ms. Disobey. 

She wasn't there. Normally, he might have just assumed that she'd awakened and had gone out for a pee. He also suspected perhaps that she had brought the cricket in, but the absence of her giggles led him to believe she'd not been the culprit here. He waited for some time to see if she would wander back- but when fifteen minutes had passed and there was no sign of her, he began to get suspicious. 

He carefully pulled himself away from the warmth of the others, figuring if he went out to relieve his bladder, maybe he'd catch sight of her and still have an excuse for wandering around so late. 

When he was finished, he still remained rooted to the communal area, fixing the fur that had become ruffled while he'd slept. He got rid of the smears of drool, and plastered the unruly fur at the top of his head back down to his scalp where it belonged. All the while, there was still no sign of Sobeille. He murmured to himself, cursing her for wandering off; no doubt, she'd be getting into trouble somewhere. There was a possibility she'd gone swimming, and that she might be in danger- but he convinced himself that whatever fate had in store for her was every bit as much as she'd come to deserve. 

Minutes passed. His resolve began to falter. 

Perhaps she'd gone down to the beach- what if she had decided to go swimming alone? What if the bear from his nightmares had come back, and had whisked her away for a snack? He felt he should ask maman... but when he remembered his treasured toy, he recalled the clever gleam in his sister's beady gaze, the way her pupils had blown...

With horror, his mouth fell open. 

Without another word, he began to shuffle his way quietly but hurriedly toward the woodlands, hoping his treasured foxbrush was still where he'd left it.