[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/sfFpgWn.png[/img][/center] [hr] It rained for a lifetime. At least, the Lord’s belly thought so. Cradled in his crook of the tree, the waters above and below were but a constant background noise now as he contemplated sustenance. When food failed to materialize, he slept. He continued to sleep most days, licking at the water on the tree, a nasty tasting sort but the Lord made do with what he had when he was thirsty. He got lucky when a small flying prey landed on the same branch as him and he, being the superior predator, managed to pounce without it even knowing he had been there. But that had been days ago and his instincts told him he needed to eat and soon or he would starve. It was at some point during that time of night when it was cool and he was awake that a sudden lack of sound made it to the forefront of his awareness and he began to search. Carefully he crept out from his nook and found, for once, he wasn’t wet. He looked up at the night sky and found that it looked back at him with a twinkle of light. Mesmerized for a time, the Lord did not fully comprehend what this meant until the morning came and he was able to see the receding of the waters below. Now was his chance. The ashen mud clung all the way up to his belly, coating him in a foul substance. He had been lucky enough upon his path to not sink entirely into the muck but not so lucky his legs and paws had gone untouched. But it was better to be a little dirty than to have succumbed to the fire, the water, or now the mire that surrounded him. Death clung heavily in the air and The Lord avoided such spots that had claimed both prey and predator. The trek was long and he was aimless in that landscape of decay. His belly was still gnawing at him and the Lord was growing desperate. Did he dare eat what remained? The temptation for sustenance was strong but he had the willpower to not ignore his instincts when it came to this. Eventually, the land began to dry and he happened across a chittering prey, whose fur was singed and whose tail was snapped in half. It was a dreadful thing that he stalked for a time before pouncing before it reached a tree. His hunger at last sated, though there wasn’t much meat on the thing, he lay down for a nap in the burnt out remains of a stump. He continued to wander after that. The smell of death became less and less upon the wind, replaced with something else, something he could not entirely define. But it wasn’t terrible, so he followed the scent. It led him to a land not so burnt and mired, whose ground gave way to soft sand. He remembered such a feeling long ago, before he first entered the forest of his youth. He picked up his pace, for with that strange smell, came something else as well- Food! He burst forth from sparse foliage only to pause upon the beach. Before him lay the great waters out in the distance, sparkling blue. That had been the scent all along. He would have stood there if not for the other more pressing matter. He followed his nose and ventured out onto the damp sand until he found something flopping next to a rocky pool. It glinted in the light, even as it was covered in sand. Its mouth was odd and it had eyes on either side of its head. It flopped when it saw him approach and very tentatively, the Lord reached out a paw and batted the creature. It flopped some more but did not attack him. It was prey and prey was food. He coiled himself, muscles bunching up for the pounce but before he could the prey flopped once, twice, and then splashed back into the pool. The Lord was miffed to say the least and he approached the water to see if the prey was still there. He found not even one, not two, but many of the prey in all shapes and sizes. The pool wasn’t so deep but the Lord didn’t feel like getting wet anytime soon. Instead, he decided to groom himself. He groomed for a time until a splash caught his attention and his eyes snapped to see that one of the prey had jumped out of the water and was now flopping about. Not wasting any time, the Lord began to stalk his floundering prey until he was coiled to pounce once more and pounce he did! Where he had thought to find the shiny prey under his paws, he only caught sand. The thing had flopped again at the last second. It was a mere few lengths away now, staring at the Lord with one unblinking eye. Then it flipped further away and the Lord gave chase. He gained in but a few strides and pounced once more but the fish was mocking him. Once again it flopped, sending sand in his face. The Lord gave a low hiss and the now covered in sand prey flopped again in defiance. As such the Lord made himself small, belly slightly touching the cool sand as he stalked forth. Then with a burst of speed he dashed forward and pounced! It was only then did the Lord realize all too late that the fish had given a final flop, right over a cliff and the Lord went right after. He floundered in the air, flipping as he spun before he managed to reorient himself in a feat of sheer magnificence. But that was right before he hit the water and with eyes wide, he was once again soaked. Unlike before, it was much worse this time. The turbulence of the waves was enough to frazzle the Lord and he paddled with all his might to find the surface. When his head breached for air at last, he was hit by a hard object! The hit startled the Lord but seemed to do no damage and upon closer inspection, he realized it was a great log. So he clawed at the thing and managed to lift his soaked body on top. There he took a moment to catch his breath before raising his head to figure out what had happened. Where he had jumped from was far above and before him now lay blue waters, with the occasional rise of rocks dotted without. More alarming was he was getting farther away from the cliff. He raced to the end of the log and almost slipped off. Sadly there was nothing to jump too. It seemed the Lord was stuck. Again. [hr] The drifting was endless. Though, after a day, he had gotten marooned when the log had gotten wedged on some rocks that vaguely looked like they had giant eyes and the water continued its journey without him. Now the Lord was surrounded by a sopping wet ground. It wasn’t quite sand, and it wasn’t quite rock but all of that together. But it wasn’t so bad really. There was plenty of prey about, flopping and dying. He filled his belly but foolishly tried to drink some of the water and ended up getting sick. He felt bad and decided to sleep. So the Lord found a comfortable spot at the base of the rocks, underneath the strange eyes and he was fast asleep. He had strange dreams of things he could not truly comprehend and at times it was as if they were visible but dreams were fickle things. He awoke with a start. Something wasn’t quite right. He sniffed the air, fearing smoke and flame but there was no acrid scent. Just slight decay and that strange smell of the water. He looked about but did not see anything out of the ordinary, just endless stretches of a barren landscape. He climbed higher, seeking a vantage point but still could not sense anything. He panicked as a sense of doom overcame him. He needed to run, he needed to hide! But where? Then the world began to rumble. Rocks began to shift and fall as a great split in the earth opened like a great yawn in the distance. Somewhere far out there he could see a burst of light and thunderous echoes. The Lord was having none of it and scrambled down his perch into a safe spot amidst the rocks. A great wooshing sound buffeted the outside world, sending dust up into the air. He sneezed and began to shake with fear. What was happening! [hider=Summary] The Lord journeys across the land to escape the now burnt out and waterlogged home of his youth. He goes to an ocean shore but doesn’t find much ocean until he accidentally jumps off a cliff into the water below. (The cliff being a drop off that was once covered in with water.) he gets washed out to a weird rock outcropping that seems to have eyes and as the water retreats more he eats some fish. Then he sleeps and has strange cat dreams. He awakes right before the cataclysm pops off. [/hider]