[Elektra]

Once I had gotten to Nori, all of the troubles and worries that had been causing me distress washed away.  Everything around me seemed to just dissolve, leaving only myself, and the volcano.  I climbed up to the ledge with an entrance to the inside of the volcano, ignoring the occasional pricks and bumps of my paws against the rock.  Once I got up, I morphed, letting the heat wash over my human skin.  But then I heard the rumbling.

[Elektra]

I hadn't thought much of it at first.  I'd been up there many times before, and as a result, I didn't think much of it.  I only wish that I had.  After waiting a few minutes, I had started to go in further.  I had been enjoying the intense heat, feeling almost as one with the fiery feeling inside of me, around me, with me...  But then it began to get worse.

[Elektra]

The rest of the rumbles were each louder the the one before it, and I started to worry.  But then the ground below me began to shake, and I lost my balance.  I was thrown to the floor, a sickening crack in my wrist causing me intense pain.  After a few failed attempts, I managed to get up.  And that was when I finally realized that my whole life depended on me getting out of that place.  And fast.

[Elektra]

And eruption.  I had chosen to go to a damned volcano that hadn't erupted in over twenty years, just to have it erupt while I was there.  As soon as I had figured out what was going on, I started for the exit, and just in time.  For only a few minutes after I had gotten out, it erupted.  And of course, I made my mistake right then.  I had been running as fast as my human legs could carry me, for if I shifted, my front left paw wouldn't have been able to support me.  But when I had been running, I looked back.  And because of that single glance, my whole life had been turned upside down.

[Elektra]

I drifted in and out of an uneasy sleep, reliving that last part over and over again.  The feeling of all that overwhelming heat coming over me, the feeling that my time had come.  But just as the pain reached its max, I woke up, only to drift back to sleep again, and go through it once more.  Finally though, one of the nurses that I hadn't seen before came in, and slowly injected something into my IV.  A few minutes after, I began to drift off, and this time there were no dreams.

[Elektra]

The more I thought about how much my life sucked at this point, the more tired I got.  Hell, I seriously thought that my life couldn't get any worse.  Of course, it did.  A few hours later, after I finally did get some sleep, I woke up gasping, and suddenly it felt as if I couldn't breath.  The monitor beside me started beeping loudly, and nurses rushed into my room.  I started flailing around, unable to control my movements.  "She's seizing!" one of the nurses said to the rest, alarm flashing in her eyes.  I thought I saw Dr.Rose rush in, but I couldn't be sure, because a few seconds later, I blacked out.  But right before I lost all consciousness, I know for sure I heard that loud beeping suddenly go flat...

[Elektra]

I awoke to the sound of someone breathing near me.  Looking over, I ignored the pain that the movement caused me, and saw Dr.Rose sitting on a rolling stool near my bed.  That same clipboard was in her hands, and she looked up at me.  She nearly jumped back off of the stool when she saw my chest moving up and down.  Immediately she flipped a switch on beside me, and stared at me again.  "But.  But.  But you're not alive." she stuttered.  "You've been declared dead for over a day now.  That's not possible!"  She turned away from me, swaying from side to side, and I wondered who really needed to be lying in the bed right now: myself, or her.