Wind rustled through the lush leaves of the forest, heavy rain pelting the canopy. The black sky rolled with angry clouds, pouring as if it wished to pound the entire land into the earth, to flatten all the rain landed onto. Lightning lit the skies in flashes, a fleeting source of light in the darkness. Thunder growled and boomed, a terrible voice of fury from the skies.

It was an unusually strong storm, to say the least. It’d surely pass, but it was better to take any shelter possible, lest the rain chill one down to their bones and steal away the warmth of life. It was during times like these that Agailin wished he had remained with his herd.

The young buck stumbled through the forest, usually fluffy fur soaked and clinging to his skin. He shuddered, teeth chattering as he desperately fought through low-hanging branches trying to assault him and thorny bushes tugging on his body. He had to find somewhere protected, somewhere safe. He flinched as lightning flashed, the sudden lights useless and more antagonistic than helpful. The thunderclaps that followed made his heart leap in his chest, his ears flickering wildly before ultimately pinning firmly down against his head.

He yelped as his hoof caught on an overlooked, gnarly root, leading to him tripping and falling in his face in a puddle of mud. He lifted his head and sputtered, slipping on the mud with his hands as he flailed about before managing to grasp the slippery ground and push himself up. He moved his ankle to confirm it was fine, which thankfully it was, when he noticed something else as well. A small hole, a mostly hidden entrance to a cave.

He felt he could sob with relief at the sight. He didn’t waste any time scrambling to his feet, wiping mud from his face and roughly shoving past bushes into the embrace of the maw of the cave.

“Oh thank goodness,” He breathed out. Now he had shelter. But still, he was absolutely shivering, his teeth chattering. He crossed his arms over his chest as he walked forward. He’d find a good corner to wait this out in, and hope he didn’t die from something stupid like hypothermia.

That was when his ears suddenly perked up, jarred by a slight, hardly noticeable noise. He wasn’t alone in here.