Naming Clay

Chapter One

He couldn't breathe, a squishy, wet paw forced his mouth to part and then slid down his throat. He thrashed, his claws scratching at his gums and between his teeth. Grit and dirt scratched the roof of his mouth. His lungs roiled and he coughed, the sound dull and solid. Thick, grayish mud dribbled from his tongue and lips. His stomach heaved and globs of it dotted the ground. But no matter how much he spit out some still lodged in his throat. Staggering, fur hot from the effort, he fell onto his side and choked. Around the edges his vision darkened.

Mother, he wondered, where are you? I want you with me if I'm dying.

Is this really what is feels like to die?

I'm scared. Please, stars above, don't let me drown!

Oh no, if I die in darkness will I go to the Catacombs instead of the Starlands?

But it was the middle of the day and now the viscous sludge was crawling up his sides and grabbing his paws. He was sinking. The cold, damp mud slurping his whiskers, drinking him like cracked earth during the first rain. It swallowed him, he felt its paws converging over his head, enveloping him in darkness, its embrace chilling and heavy.

He was gone, just like that. And no one was there to tell what had happened-

Clay awoke with a gasp, blinking in the blinding midday sun. He glanced about, panicked by his sightlessness, his tiger eyes wide as moons. A shadow fell over his face and his eyes struggled to adjust as the silhouette spoke. "Singing bird," she murmured. "You were having a nightmare, I had to wake you."

Now her familiar scent wreathed around him, and Clay went limp. "Oh." He mumbled. "I was?" He only vaguely remembered the terror that had plagued him had to do with drowning.

Click nodded and rubbed her cheek to his, sharing scent. "You were screaming."

Clay looked away from his mother's concerned expression, his pelt burning. "Oh." He peered over her shoulder at the rest of their family, The Powers, and saw that most were staring at them. Even Marsh and Ripper, the dominant female and male, were whispering and angling their snouts in his direction. He buried his nose in his paws and let out a miserable sigh.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, singing bird." Click assured him, flopping down at his side, and combing her teeth through his shoulder fur. "Besides, Suri didn't see."

Clay lifted his head and sniffed. "She didn't."

"No. She went off with Quiet a little bit ago."

"Click!" Clay jumped to his paws. "You told me you'd wake me when Suri got up!"

"I was relieved of sentry duty, and you looked peaceful, so I had a snooze myself." His mother explained, sounding not at all concerned.

"Unbelievable!" The five-moon-old pup huffed. He stomped towards the rest of the group, who'd gone back to lounging now that there wasn't a pup in a weird fit to stare at. The Powers always sought shade around high sun to sleep off the worst heat of the day. Clay had assumed that Suri would want to nap with the rest of them, but he supposed he was wrong.

That or Quiet had convinced her not too. Clay's blood simmered as his thoughts rattled the older pup's name. "Wait!" Click called, rushing to catch up with her son. "Where are you going?"

"To fetch Suri." Clay grunted, his gaze scanning for signs of his friends among the slumped figures of the family.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Last time you confronted Quiet didn't exactly go well..." Clay whirled on her, and she wilted even though he was only half her size. But she looked him in the eyes all the same. "I just don't want you to get hurt." She finished meekly.