Rena shivered as the rain pelted her body and matted her fur while the wind whipped at her like a wild beast. She took a deep breath and loosened her grip on the machete. The sky seemed darker, the clouds roiling and turning like a rough ocean above the trees. The wind was almost deafening as it howled around her, pelting her with rain, misty water droplets, and debris torn from the surrounding foliage.
Rena squinted, turning her gaze towards the top of the temple. Water flowed down the stairs like a river unleashed from the entrance high above her.
"Brave as a lion, strong as a bear," Rena whispered, "and smart as a fox." She bit her lip and forced her body to move towards the staircase, doing her best to ignore the fear that was threatening to paralyze her.
Gingerly, Rena placed her hands on the stairs as icy water flowed around them. She steadied herself and stared up at the looming entrance, just at the edge of her vision. Her eyes were now blurred from the rain, and the dark clouds cast an imposing shadow over everything. It was as if night was eager to come and was forcefully pushing the sun away.
Her gaze wandered the imposing surface of the large structure, riddled with cracks and fissures. Pieces of the temple lay strewn about the ground around her, like discarded remnants of its former glory. Rena breathed deeply, her heart pounding as she looked back up towards the structure's apex. Every step she took from this point would only bring her further from the relative safety she had found beneath the sheltering canopy of the trees. Finally, though, the debris littering the ground gave her an idea.
Rena shivered and stepped away from the structure, her eyes carefully scanning the surface as she began to walk around the perimeter. A building in such disrepair was bound to have an unintended entrance. Debris littered the ground like a graveyard, and it had to have come from somewhere. Rena's fur was now thoroughly matted with water. Her paws were numb from the cold as she stepped carefully around the obstacles.
Crack!
Rena's ears perked up as she turned and looked back at the sound. A flash of lightning illuminated a large chunk of building breaking away from the surface, emerging as a moth from a cacoon. Her legs reacted in the blink of an eye, pushing hard off the slick ground. Her heart skipped a beat as her feet slipped from under her, her sudden lunge causing her to lose balance.
Rena somersaulted forward as she rolled on the slick forest ground. Then, with the grace of a cat, she sprung back to her feet and gripped her machete. The stone sunk deep into the ground where she'd been, sending mud and slime everywhere. Rena blinked and quickly wiped a glob of churned earth from her face.
"Fuck."
Rena couldn't even hear her voice above the howl of the wind and deafening crack of thunder that followed in the wake of the bolt of lightning that had struck just seconds before. She did her best to ignore the sound, keeping a close eye on the looming structure. Seconds passed, then minutes, but no other lightning struck, or thunder sounded. Still, her body and mind fought against her as she wondered if the structure held any threat.
Another flash of lightning pierced the darkness, followed by a deafening crash of thunder. Rena's heart jumped with the unexpected noise, and she stood poised to throw herself out of the way of any more debris that might tumble towards her. Yet none came.
Rena slowly let her shoulders relax and took a deep breath as the rain and wind continued to assault her. Another flash of light illuminated the dark forest around her and the imposing surface of the vast temple. Rena's eyes went wide, and a smile split her feline features.
Rena practically ran towards the tiny crack in the structure's base. It was a small chink in the armor of the temple, but it was enough. Rena gazed through the gap, pitch darkness on the other side. If she was any larger, there would be no possibility of her making it through to the inside. As it was, there was already a reasonable possibility of getting stuck if she wasn't careful. Still, it would definitely be safer than climbing to the top of the stairs in the middle of the storm.
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