Driven [Finished]

[Darkmoon Dancer]

When she finished speaking, an enormous yawn overwhelmed the filly and her eyelids started feeling heavy. Why was everyone so tired all of a sudden? She looked around at the others and saw that Mourning Fog was practically sleeping. Golden Spider spoke, and so she turned to look at him, keeping her eyes open as wide as she could and realized what he said was true. She didn't know why, but she knew that they had to get out of here. She wasn't about to argue with the buck.

A few stumbles later, Last Whisper was standing over Mourning Fog and nudging him with her nose. "Up! Get up! We need to go! We need to leave!" More pushes as she helps the pink buck up, steering him towards the tunnel. She darts a glance over at the swan that had been honking, and with a look of urgency in her eyes, she says, "We need to get him out of here! Now!" She went back to nudging him forwards, urging him to get up and start running.
 

[elufae]

Mourning Fog groaned at Last Whisper's nudging. "Juss..five more minits.." he mumbled. Mmmmm it's not normal to be so tired so suddenly... he thought to himself and shook his head vigorously. Sunwing waddled lethargically to him and struggled to flap onto his back. With what seemed like her last bit of strength, she nipped his rump. That woke him up quite a bit. "Owww!" he exclaimed. "Aww we have to go back in there?" he complained, and feeling tired again, trudged as fast as he could. I suppose being filthy was better than being dead. Or whatever would happen to him should he stay.  

[Darkmoon Dancer]

The pink buck's yelp had woken her up a little, too. Trying very hard to keep her eyes open, the little filly had more or less shoved her head up against the buck's leg, pushing him forwards with all of her might. Once they made it into the tunnel, it was a little easier to stay awake, for there was much for her to do: swim, and swim hard.

She strode as hard as she could with her little limbs, and valiantly kept her head above water as she bunched up behind Mourning Fog, nipping him gently every so often to get him to speed up again, as he seemed the most lethargic of the group. She fired a glance over her shoulder and nearly yelped herself. Golden Spider felt it so urgent to get out of here that he was practically over top of her! She tried to pick up the pace, but with Mourning Fog in the way, there wasn't much she could do. A light headbutt was introduced to Mourning's flank and a plea, "Come on Mourning Fog! We need to go! We need to get out of here as fast as we can! Just think, we can get out of the mud on the other side of this tunnel!" the little filly urged the larger buck on as her sleepiness seemed to dim just a smidge.
 

[elufae]

Mourning Fog groaned at each n** and nudge. Why was everyone being so pushy? He felt like he was dragging stones on each leg. Yet with every step towards the other end of the tunnel, his mind felt more and more free from the sleepy clutches of whatever lay behind them. He shook his head and gradually quickened his pace, especially after hearing there would be no more mud. He was already seeing himself bathing and relieving himself of all the filth he had accumulated today. Yet he couldn't help but wonder what they were running from...  

[Darkmoon Dancer]

Thoroughly tired, the poor little filly puts all of her energy into making it out of the tunnel. When they emerge into the light, she breathes a heavy sigh of relief also, and trudges up the bank after Golden-Spider. As he mentions the leeches, her attention is taken back to them. She only had a few and quickly removed them in the same fashion she did last time: bite, pull, spit, and step.

But once they were all done, she lethargically strode over to a tree with large, almost-hugging roots. Her body slid down the tree as the exhausted filly yawned widely and settled down in the growing dark. But even as sleep began taking her over, she asked sleepily, "Why were we.... What was there...? What was... trying.... trying to get us....?" But even if the others replied her questions, the little filly had fallen asleep up against the welcoming embrace of the tree. That was enough adventure for the small filly, for a few days, let alone one!
 

[elufae]

Mourning Fog stumbled out of the tunnel and upon seeing the light of day again he smiled with relief. Then he heard Golden Spider's words. Looking down, he furrowed his brow and ripped the little nasties off. He was so fed up with them. "I'm alright. But you can all be assured that I will think twice before going into a strange tunnel...dark..muddy...leeches" he mumbled, half of the words lost in his low hum. "I'll be taking a long bath if you need me. I do hope we meet again, under...better circumstances" he chuckled, smiling at the two as he left, legs weary.