The Luna and her Quadruplet Pups by Jane Above Story

Chapter 117

3rd Person

When dawn broke on the pups’ first full day in the Southern Isles, the sun found them still curled in the protective shelter of a huge strangler fig, safely. ensconced in the hollows of the tree it once engulfed.

Of course, the night hadn’t left them entirely unscathed. Sleep was nearly impossible in the pitch black rainforest, with deadly predators roaming the forest floor and terrifying noises echoing in the distance. They eventually drifted off out of pure exhaustion, but when they woke they were covered in itchy bug bites and sweating through their clothes.

They didn’t have any food or water, and as frightening as the jungle was, they were smart enough to know they had to try and find a way out. So the four children set out into the unknown, moving through the dense undergrowth one after the other, their small hands fisted in the shirt of the person in front of them.

Riley led the way, hesitantly scanning the ground for spiders, snakes and poisonous frogs, while the others kept their ears open for the monsters they’d heard calling in the night.

“What was that!” Ryder yelped, jumping a foot in the air when a twig snapped behind them.

All four pups whipped around, scanning the area and scenting the air. Unfortunately, their foreign surroundings were so unfamiliar they didn’t recognize any of the strange smells which met their noses. After ä moment passed without any signs of movement or further sounds, they continued onward.

“I’m starving.” Parker complained, his stomach rumbling to punctuate his words. “Are you sure we can’t eat those mushrooms we saw?”

“No, Mommy says never to eat mushrooms from the ground” Ryder reminded him, “they might be poison.”

“1 think it’s more ‘portant that we find water:”

Paisley announced, already feeling lightheaded after so many hours without hydration.

As if the sky heard her worried words, a huge clap of thunder sounded overhead and once again the pups found themselves being drenched in a relentless downpour. “Arrgh, does it always have to rain here?!”

Riley exclaimed in frustration.

Parker answered slyly, earning himself an unamused glare from his

is a good

to a huge leaf shaped like an elephant’s ear, pulling the tip down towards her face and letting all the water that had collected on its

genius!” Ryder exclaimed, running over to another

could. The torrential storm continued to douse the earth in fresh water, and before long

quickly realized that

it created some of the biggest, muddiest puddles they’d ever seen in their lives. Riley realized it first, jumping with both feet into a huge

hopping into

game, jumping from puddle to puddle and competing to see who could

to a stop before the same sprawling pool, so deep that the tops of the tangled tree roots were visible above the surface. “Woah!” They exclaimed in

and prepared to leap. “One, two, three!” As soon

face, not until she reached down and grabbed a handful

handful, but the boys were used to

Riley chortled. “ls a mud

in her young life. She’d always been too sick to do this sort of thing, and the pups she usually played with had never understood her adventurous spirit. They were all the children of stuffy aristocrats who would never dream of getting dirty just for the fun of it, but playing with her siblings completely free of inhibitions or worries despite their grave situation – well, it felt

unbridled joy, even tackling Ryder and rolling around with him

thousands of eyes watched as they played. It was easy to feel alone in the wilderness, but creatures great and small moved stealthily around them, keenly aware of the intruders in their domain. In fact, the jungle’s many inhabitants found themselves baffled by the behavior of these strange creatures. Within minutes they were all covered head to foot in mud, racing around and splashing each other – making far more noise than any natural ground dweller would ever dare. In the sprawling canopies it was common for birds and monkeys to claim their territory with loud announcements,

own noisemaking had joined a symphony of wildlife calls, which had dulled beneath the rain’s deafening cascade, but crescendoed back to life as the storm eased. But now everything went eerily silent, the only sounds remaining in the dark forest were the pup’s laughter and the final trickling of the afternoon shower. It wasn’t until the deep puddle in which the children waded

others, pointing at the surface of the dark

for signs

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