Opening my eyes and raising my head above the lip of my bed to look at the entrance I can see that the storm has passed and that only a light drizzle remains. Climbing out of my powder bed and shaking off the clinging dust sends a small cloud into the air. Being partially buried is surprisingly pleasant! Maybe it's a dragon thing?

Walking over to look at my food supplies leaves me rather disgusted. On the one hand I'm not hungry which is great. On the other is the fact that everything but the bones has been covered in a layer of insects... The rabbits I didn't skin or gut are probably the most disgusting surprisingly.

Giving up on my current food stores seems fairly reasonable. It's not like anything can be salvaged out of that disgusting mess.

Going up to the untouched pile of bones I look for the largest and longest bone possible ending up with a leg. Gnawing on it a little explains why quite a lot of animals do it. It's therapeutic! It's like chewing a toothbrush or a pencil without worrying about swallowing plastic or wood varnish. Is that stuff varnish?

Walking over to the ramp to check the water level while I play with my bone like a toothpick causes a slight bit of anxiety... I don't really need to worry with how fast the water was flowing but the fear of remaining evidence is unsettling all the same...

Seems like the water drains as quick as it floods since it only comes up to my knees currently. I had to start paddling to get back earlier.

After a quick check for wolves and murder rabbits of which there were no signs I decide it's time to continue towards the mountains.

Later lair two! I'm going to miss you!

Flicking my tail in farewell I start wading in the direction of the mountain while digging my claws in for extra leverage.

Forcing my way through the mud and water I really have to question some of the things in this area.

The fact that the pine trees have consistently grown in bands along the mountain bases but not in the foothills might be evidence that storms of that kind are common in this area. The odd tree or two growing around here are rather suspect too now that I take another look, exposed roots and tilted in the direction the water was flowing... the only trees not tilted are the ones that took root on the high ground.

The question bothering me the most currently is how large are the pine trees? Because I walked roughly three hours from the ravine towards the mountains before settling down for my first night and the mountains don't seem to be getting any closer. I can tell that I am in fact getting closer because the ground is gradually sloping upward. Probably from the water flowing to the centre of the valley.

Wait...

Wouldn't the ravine be the centre of the valley if that's where the water is flowing? Huh, that explains a lot. The valley is a giant river basin. That ravine must be just the trickle left behind when all the water is gone. Guess I learned something from those documentaries after all!

Dammit, broke my bone... Chewing up the pieces and swallowing I continue my train of thought.

Just how frequent are those storms if that's the case? If it's a weekly event I'm fine with it but if it's daily I'm just going to go with the flow as it were and try and find my way out of the mountain range. No way am I living in a frequently flooding river basin. I can see that getting old fast...

Oh come on!

What the hell is with these berry bushes!? This is like the twelfth patch I've come across today! Are they that adapted for underwater survival or something? I can understand the grass surviving because it's one of the hardiest plant families but berry bushes should have no chance in these conditions! The fact that they look completely unaffected by the water level and haven't been ripped up by the water current earlier makes their survival just as absurd!

Let's go around. I don't trust a plant that is brave enough to be bright purple in a sea of green...

Continuing on after my detour around what is probably THE single most suspicious species of plant I have ever seen, The water has receded from this point and there are occasionally small depressions with water in them that are currently filled with floating bits of dirt. Drinking from them is probably guaranteed to get me sick. I should make some kind of basin outside my next lair so I don't have to drink river or ground water after it rains. Hopefully I can build my next lair in the tree line and out of the flood zone.

Am I even anywhere close to the mountains yet? Taking a look confirms that yes, I am getting closer but I'm not anywhere near "close" yet. Frustrated at how long this is going to take I click my tongue sending sparks flying.

Wait what?

Clicking my tongue a few more times has the exact same results. Is this seriously something I could have done the whole time? Rubbing my tongue inside my cheek to check what's causing the sparks lets me find rough patches on the surface of my tongue. It's almost like a cats tongue but putting friction against the patches causes sparks.

I could have made fire by doing this!

Thoroughly disappointed in myself I start to absentmindedly click my tongue in different ways as I'm walking. Stupid sparks...

Whoa! That one was like a firework! The pit under my tongue has a few of those patches too huh?

Wait.

Oh I'm an idiot.

This is probably what was missing with my fire breathing attempt... I'm almost tempted to try it... maybe after I have another lair to retreat to if things go wrong a second time. I'm pretty sure the first time I gave myself a concussion...

Looking up to try and look for the sun all I see is clouds. The mountain range really is large since the clouds start about halfway up from what I saw... yesterday? Holy crap... It feels like forever...

I think I should get more sleep. I'm clearly not keeping up with my quota.

I think it might be getting dark... It's been getting gradually darker this whole time and the cloud cover hasn't changed at all. This drizzle hasn't stopped either annoyingly enough so there's probably nothing I can burn even with my new fire starting powers. I'm just glad I don't feel the cold that badly anymore because I would have most likely died of hypothermia if I did.

Since I don't think there's much chance of me reaching the mountains today I may as well start setting up lair number three. Maybe I can make that rain basin while I'm at it?

Looking for a decently sized hill to set up in for the night is fairly simple. Further down the valley the hills were fairly small and worn down but these hills are prime location for luxury lairs! Making my way up the hill and starting to carve out my now standard high ramped entrance I have a strange thought.

Why have I been digging the entrances facing down the valley every time? It's helpful and it's stopped the wind, rain and water from getting in but it wasn't really planned... twice is a coincidence but thrice is a pattern I think it went? Maybe I should pay more attention to what I'm actually doing?

Making my lairs is really soothing to do, it's almost like my little zen gardens! Maybe I can make some large ones with actual plants and structures? It will take a while to do and the first few will probably be terrible but it could be a nice way to pass my time! Everyone needs a hobby after all! I could even have an actual garden instead of my little windowsills full of plants! I wonder what kinds of plants even grow around here? The most I've seen is grass, berry bushes and stunted trees... maybe there are some flowers or something that grow around here that I just haven't seen? Mushrooms are probably growing around here somewhere too now that I think about it.

Well now that the entrance is carved out I need to get the master bedroom made before I can start working on my bowls and basins. I'm definitely going to need more than the one basin I originally thought of, I can't believe bowls were an afterthought... I'm truly becoming a savage heathen...

Doors. I'm missing doors.

I can't believe they didn't cross my mind! Here I am checking for wolves and the rabbits of caerbannog every time I poke my head outside and when I'm relaxing carving out my lair in wanders a rage rabbit! I'm honestly not sure who was surprised more...

It's really surprising what you forget about sometimes. The fact I was missing doors came as a bit of a slap to the face so hopefully there isn't anything else like that I'm missing...

At least I have some lunch now? I'm rather glad I had a rock to brain it with! So, should I skin it now or...? Looking around and seeing the piles of stone, gravel and stone dust quickly answers my question. Dinner can wait I guess...

I am pretty much done though... I just need to crush my gravel and fill my bed with the finer powder then put my stones in a bigger pile rather than the few dozen smaller ones. Oh yeah! I was going to try and carve bowls! Late dinner can wait until I have some decent dinnerwear.

Looking out the entrance really doesn't tell me how late it is... I can tell it's been getting darker for a couple hours now but it's still fairly light out... Hopefully I didn't decide to settle down around midday because that would suck.

Crushing the gravel with the flat blade of my tail I sweep the powder into my bed cavity gradually filling it up before adding the stone powder that was already piled up. Much fluffier! Finished with making my bed I start pushing the stones into one large pile.

Let's get some bowls made! Taking one of the rounder stones I start to drag my claws across the top grinding away at the stone. My claws really are sturdy! The only thing I've seen affect my claws so far has been themselves. I really should start sharpening them. This would probably go so much faster if I could just cleave the top of the stone off with one razor sharp claw. Now that I have the rough shape of a bowl I need to gouge out the bowls interior!

Now I just have to chuck the sock and other gross bits outside before I can start eating. Waddling over to the entrance on my back claws I toss the sock full of nasty outside hearing the satisfying sound of useless stone clattering and cracking. Nothing is sneaking up on me again! Walking back over in a much more comfortable four legged posture I lie down next to my very late dinner and start eating while occasionally crunching on a bone for variety. It was truly ingenious to use those piles of weirdly bowl shaped stones full of holes as a crude alarm system. I wonder what could have caused such a stroke of genius? I guess the world may never know!

My new bowls really are fetching! The crooked shape and claw marks on the outside just give them extra charm! The best part is that since I will be leaving in the morning I won't have to wash them! I will miss you wobbles. And of course you too ditzy!

Finished with my food I stack the bowls together and head to the entrance to take a drink from my new water basin. The clear water inside proves how great my idea was. Cool rainwater is truly refreshing compared to river water! At this point light is fading fast. I guess I was only four or five hours off... Oh well.

Heading back inside to get some sleep I climb into bed and dig myself into the much thicker layer of stone dust. I knew that gravel would be useful for something. Buried up to my back with my head poking above the surface I slip off to sleep dreaming of what I would find amongst the pines...