"So this is the start of the trail?", Hector aked, looking out into the pathway of soil leading into the woods.
"You sure you want to do this?", Chloe asked him, half with amusement, but with concern in her eyes.
Hector nodded.
"Let's go, then."
The two puppies raced into the woods, their claws gripping into the soil, both their tails wagging excitedly. It was in the middle of the day, and Maximus and Daisy have left the farm with the master and a few other humans in a monster that morning. Chloe was worried that someone would suspect that she and Hector were missing, skipping mealtimes for all the pups their age. Hector and Chloe both ate their first two meals before leaving, because Hector reluctantly agreed. While they waited for the second meal, Hector showed Chloe that forest book he read the night before. Now they felt prepared, and were ready to start the adventure. Maximus and Daisy said they would probably not be back until all the dogs were asleep. Hector knew to keep his eye on the sun. He wasn't concerned. Chloe and he spent the morning away from the other dogs, only the humans knowing where they were. They carefully snuck their way through the horse place, being sure that no one was watching or following them, especially not Ranger and Tracker again.
After 10 minutes of walking on the trail, Hector and Chloe could not see too much yet. They heard birds chirping, and were in a cluster of trees of different species. Hector could recognize most of them, by what leaf and nut or seed fell from them.
After another minute, they reached a spot that appeared to lead down two different paths, one going left, another going right. They stopped, and looked down both paths.
"Which way should we go?", Chloe asked.
Hector sniffed both ways. He picked up a familiar scent on the right path. "Let's go this way," Hector suggested for the right path, pointing to it with his nose.
Chloe nodded, and Hector led the way down the right path. Hector continued to sniff for the next minute, and they stopped when they spotted two, what looked like, dens. The dens were about 50 feet away from the trail, and were a blur from that far away. Hector and Chloe both perked their ears, and looked at each other with curious faces.
They padded off the trail through the green vegetation, and paused in front of one of the dens.
Chloe peered inside it, and there was a nest of ferns and moss, the walls lined with boulders and grass. "Hello? Anyone in here?", Chloe waited for an answer.
While Chloe was looking inside that den, Hector was checking out the other one. "Hello?", he did the same into the other den.
Hector padded back to Chloe when he had no answer, either. Both of the dens appeared to be empty. But Hector could recognize the scent coming from them.
"Don't they smell familiar to you?", Hector asked Chloe.
Chloe sniffed the den, and agreed it did indeed. "Smells like cats," she remarked.
Hector remembered the cats telling him that they lived in the woods. "The four cats that wander around the farm...they told me that their nests are in the woods. These must belong to two of them. Misty and Bandit, I think."
"I'm guessing they're out hunting," Chloe suggested.
Hector nodded. "Well, let's get back on the trail."
Both puppies went back to the trail, and continued down the right path. After another two minutes, they heard the sounds of angry blue jays fighting at the tops of walnut trees. They both looked up and watched them.
"We would get a better view of the forest from the top of those trees," Hector remarked.
"How do you propose we get up there?", Chloe asked, sarcasm in her eyes.
"How would we?", Hector asked himself in his mind. "I'm...not...sure...," Hector answered with uncertainty.
"Let's enjoy what we can on the ground," Chloe suggested.
"Okay," Hector agreed.
As they continued along the trail for the next 20 minutes, they stopped again when they reached another end to a path, this time, a large space. The trail changed from soil to a more rocky path, similar to the garden path. There was a small house, on the other side, and standing in the middle are what looked liked tables with attached benches, and the large containers humans placed their rubbish in.
Hector and Chloe both sniffed. "Smells like human food here," Hector remarked.
"A very faint scent, though," Chloe added.
The place appeared to be deserted right then. Hector and Chloe trotted across the circular area, past the tables, and wanted to check out the house. It appeared to be open on two sides. They chose the side on the left, and saw that there was no door, just an opening, when they reached it. There were a few hard steps going up, and then a wooden floor in front of the opening. When they stepped inside, the floor went from wooden to more like tiles, very similar to the floor next to the pools in the play-place. As they walked in, there was one turn, and they ended up in one open room. There were several open black doors in front of tiny spaces lined up along the wall on the left side they were standing next to. Hector and Chloe sniffed the room, and both groaned in disgust.
"Yuck!", Chloe exclaimed. "I think this is a dirt-place!"
"I've explored this house enough, how about you?", Hector also exclaimed.
Both puppies turned around, and headed back outside. On the sides of the open area, there were two paths on each. They ran over to the set of paths on their side.
"Where now?", Chloe asked.
In the middle of the two paths, there was a wooden pole, that, to Hector's shock, had two branches, each with a different marking pattern on them.
Chloe looked up at the pole's branches, where Hector was looking. Hector looked at her. She had an expression on her face that appeared to be a mixture of doubt and curiousity. "What...," Chloe hesitated to ask Hector. "What do they say?"
Hector squinted his eyes, because it was harder for him to read the top from the bottom. His eyesight was still not that great. Just good enough for reading up close.
"I think...", Hector widened his eyes in shock. "The right branch pointing to the right path is saying that it leads to the waterfall!", Hector excitedly exclaimed. He jumped up and down briefly, his tail wagging fast.
"Then let's go down that path, then!", Chloe quickly responded.
Both puppies dashed through the right path. After several minutes, they stopped to catch their breath.
"I think we...", Hector began, catching his breath.
"...we misjudged...the...the distance...", Chloe finished for him, also panting.
Hector looked at a giant boulder on the other side of the path, that appeared to act as a "wall" separating the two paths. It blocked the sunlight a little.
"Do you wanna take a break for a minute?", Hector asked.
"I'm thirsty," Chloe responded.
Hector realized he was getting really thirsty, too. It was pretty hot outside, and they had to have been in the woods for an hour now, at least. "Let's walk along the boulders. It's shady," Hector suggested, pointing his tail towards the boulders.
Hector and Chloe continued, in the shade of the rocks, and after another few minutes, the path made a turn, and then there was a hill of the trail. When they reached the top of the hill, which was about 50 feet going up, they both froze and their eyes widened in shock. Down the hill, which was between 100 and 200 feet down, was a meadow. Standing in the meadow was a herd of brown hoofed animals.
"Deer!", Hector exclaimed. "Those are deer!"
"Wow!", Chloe added.
Both puppies darted down the hill towards them. Going down the hill was much easier than going up. They stood in front of the grazing herd.
"Hey! Can anyone tell us where we can find water?", Hector called out to the deer.
The deer standing closest to them paused their grazing, and looked towards them, twitching their ears.
After a few moments of silence, Hector asked again, slightly louder and clearer. "Are we close to the waterfall? Cuz I don't hear it yet."
The deer wiggled their noses, twitched their ears again, and then slowly continued their grazing.
Hector tilted his head with an annoyed expression, at all the deer ignoring his question. "Why don't they answer?", Hector asked, half to himself.
Chloe leaned closer to him. "Uh, Hector?", she asked Hector, in a slightly dumbfounded tone.
"Yeah?", Hector replied.
Chloe looked at the deer, and then back at Hector, who was now looking at her. "They probably don't speak canine," she remarked.
"Oh...right," Hector agreed, slowly, embarrassed. Of course the deer don't speak canine. "Don't dogs come here to see them all the time?"
"I don't think they like humans, Hector," Chloe remarked. "The dogs usually don't come alone."
"Right...," Hector agreed slowly again, nodding his head.
Two fawns walked over to them with curious faces.
Chloe yipped. In response, the fawns bleated. Chloe yipped again. The fawns bleated again. Chloe yipped even louder, and the fawns bleated louder. Hector yipped, and the fawns didn't respond. Hector yipped again, and they still didn't respond.
Chloe giggled. "They think you're crazy!", she remarked, amused.
Hector felt slightly embarrassed again, but immediately changed the subject. "Let's keep going. I'm parched!"
"Okay," Chloe chuckled in agreement. "Me too."
The two puppies looked down the trail. It still continued, but the herd was standing across it. They struggled through the tall grass, as they made their way through the maze of deer, trying not to lose the trail. When they finally reached the other side of the grazing herd, they picked up their speed, back on the trail.
They paused in their tracks when they heard the two fawns bleating to them again. Hector and Chloe turned around, and both yipped twice at them together. Both deer bleated at the same time in response. It was as if they were saying "good luck" to them.
Both puppies laughed, and continued on their way.
Across the meadow, they watched rabbits hopping along, and up in the sky of cumulus clouds, they watched and listened to the noisy gaggle flying.
"Why do they fly in that shape?", Chloe asked.
"The tired take a break in the low back, and they keep count of each other," Hector explained, from the book he read. "It actually resembles one of the markings in a pattern."
"Oh," Chloe responded.
Up ahead were trees again, continuing on into the forest. They smelled water, and where the grass was much shorter, and behind some cat-tails, they spotted a pond.
"Water!", Hector and Chloe both exclaimed excitedly at the same time, then raced towards the pond.
They paused in front of the pond, and leaned down and took a much needed drink. In the meadow, the only shade there was was the tallest grass. The pond water was not the best tasting water, but for the moment, any water would taste great. After two minutes of lapping up the water, they finally decided they were quenched.
Chloe sighed in relief, then Hector did as well. They then kept padding until they finally reached the trees. As they headed through the forest, it had been another hour since they began to walk on the right trail back at the wooden pole.
They spotted a raccoon spying on them through his tree hole. An opossum was hanging upside down on a tree limb. In the tree tops, they heard the chattering of several squirrels.
"Don't you ever feel the urge to chase them?", Chloe asked.
"What?", Hector replied.
"The squirrels," Chloe added.
"Why would I chase squirrels?", Hector asked, confused.
"You wouldn't?", Chloe asked, also confused. "Cocoa sure loves to," she chuckled. "I remember one time he was so determined to catch his prey, he accidentally hit his head on the bark of the tree while the squirrel ran up it." She laughed at the funny memory.
"What's the point of chasing prey, when you can't eat it anyway?", Hector argued. "Besides, chasing a ball is already a boring game. I can't see why a squirrel makes any difference."
Chloe rolled her eyes in response. "I still don't get why you are so against dog games."
"I never said I was 'against' them," Hector argued. "It's just that I don't find fetching a ball, or a stick, or a squirrel, is a game."
"If it's not a game, than what is it?"
"A boring way of managing a health requirement."
Chloe in response gave him a confused look.
"A futility of an exercise," Hector added.
Chloe gave him the "whatever" look, and then just slowly looked away, and picked up her speed, without saying anything else. Hector knew he said something weird, but, Chloe should be used to him saying stuff like that by now.
After another 15 minutes of walking, they came across another body of water. When Hector and Chloe reached the edge of the water, they saw that it was a lagoon, and a stream connected to it, leading down a long way through the forest. Cascades splashed into the water from tall boulders.
Chloe looked at the little waterfalls in amusement. "Those aren't what we walked all the way here to look at right?"
Hector chuckled. "Of course not. I don't see a giant fort anywhere."
"This is like the pool area in the play-place," Chloe remarked. She turned towards Hector and gave him a confused look. "You haven't even swam in there, yet, have you?"
"Not too much, no," Hector replied.
"Well, then, let's take a break from hiking, and swim, then!", Chloe suggested.
"Swim?", Hector asked.
Chloe ran over through the cat-tails and up the 40 foot tall boulders. She stood over the waterfall, and looked over to Hector. Hector watcher her in shock. "You watching, Hector?", she called over to him. "One, two...", Chloe started to countdown to her jump, and crouched down ready to spring. "THREE!", she yelped, leaping off the boulder, and gliding over the waterfall, plunging into the water below.
Hector padded over to the edge of the water near the waterfall, and waited for Chloe to come up. After 30 seconds, he started to get concerned. "Chloe? Chloe?", he called for her.
"Your turn, Hector!", she commanded playfully, making Hector jump in fright and yelp, and fall into the water. Chloe sneaked up behind him. She laughed in response. "Come on!", she urged. "It's so much fun!"
Before Hector could reply, she bolted back up the boulder, and stood at the top waiting for him. As Hector watched her, he got back up, and out of the water. He followed her up the boulder, but before he could reach her, she again jumped off the cliff. She whooped as she leaped over the waterfall.
Hector hesitated for a moment, and then got a little closer to the waterfall. Chloe surfaced below, and watched Hector. "Come on, Hector!", she urged again. "JUMP!"
Hector got a little bit closer, but before he could jump, he slipped on some moss growing on the side of the boulder, and fell off the cliff. He yelped as he did. Under the water, he swam away from the bubbles, and then surfaced, taking a breath.
Chloe paddled next to him. "I said JUMP, not SLIP, down the boulder!", she teased playfully.
Hector smiled. "It was an ACCIDENT!", Hector playfully argued, splashing Chloe, with his front paws.
Chloe shook the splash off her face, and splashed back. Her splash was bigger, since she was bigger.
Hector felt the full force of the splash, and splashed her again. Both puppies laughed happily as they splashed each other.
"Race you back up there!", Chloe yelped, already paddling towards the water's edge.
"Hey!", Hector yelped back in amusement, following her as fast as he could.
Chloe darted back up the boulder, Hector right behind her, and she jumped over the waterfall to escape, Hector jumping after her, both whooping as they plunged into the lagoon.
As they surfaced again, they both continued their playful laughing.
For the next hour, they had fun playing in the water. It felt good to cool down on a hot day, and Hector and Chloe wanted to make the most of their trip. They finally decided to keep going, keep looking for the real waterfall.
They pulled themselves over onto the very muddy side of the lagoon.
"That was awesome!", Chloe exclaimed.
"I knew we should have stopped and played here!", Hector praised himself.
Chloe chuckled. "Hey, genius, it was MY idea," she corrected him.
"Yeah," Hector claimed. "But I THOUGHT of it first, I just didn't say it before you."
"LIAR!", Chloe playfully teased, leaning over with her rear in the air.
"Oh, yeah?", Hector teased back.
Hector pounced on her, and they tumbled over each other, getting all muddy, until Hector yelped as Chloe pinned him to the ground, easily.
"Hah, hah, pinned you!", Chloe teased.
"Hey," Hector responded. "Let go of me, sis," he commanded playfully, struggling to free himself.
Chloe let go, and walked away. Hector, got up, and turned around, and crept up towards her as she was walking away.
Hector pounced on her again, on the back, and he rode Chloe as she tried to knock him off, while he was clinging on to her. Chloe then succeeded on making him let go as she whacked him with her tail, and they rolled over, and Chloe easily again pinned her tiny brother to the ground, into the mud. Hector grunted.
Chloe chuckled again, with a mischievious smile. "Hector, never underestimate girl power," she teased playfully again, in a flirty tone.
Hector looked into Chloe's beautiful blue eyes, and for a few moments, he stared into them, and they seemed to mesmerize him. Chloe stared into his eyes, too, and both puppies felt a brief connection to each other, like this has been the best day of both of their lives.
Both Hector and Chloe snapping out of their sudden trance, she let go of him, and as he got up, she rolled in the mud more. "Doesn't this mud smell so good?", she asked.
Hector sniffed the earth below his paws. "Yes," he agreed. "Not as good as dew, but yes." He shook some mud off his fur.
Chloe got back up, and shook some mud off her fur, too. "We should keep going, right?", she asked.
"Let's keep going!", Hector agreed. "I can sense the real waterfall already!", he exclaimed with excitement.
They headed back onto the trail, and continued the hike. As they walked right next to each other, they kept glancing at each other's eyes, as if they were both thinking of something, the same thing, but didn't know what it was. Neither said a word until after another 10 minutes, and Chloe broke the silence.
"I'm hungry, Hector," Chloe remarked. "Are you hungry?"
Hector felt that feeling in his belly, too. "Yeah."
"Is there something here in the woods we can eat, you think?"
"I don't know."
"What about a flower of some sort?"
"I know you love your plants, and your flowers, every way, but I find there is something suspicious about the flowers out here looking different then the ones in the garden. You might not want to eat something you don't know what it is," Hector warned. "And I'm afraid I don't know any safe-to-eat flowers."
Chloe sighed.
After another 5 minutes, they came across a berry bush. Hector looked at the wild berries, and recognized them from the forest book. "Hey, Chloe," he remarked. "We can eat these berries. They're edible!"
"We can?", Chloe asked.
"Yes!", Hector happily exclaimed.
"Yes!", Chloe approved.
Both puppies chowed down on the wild berries, replacing their next meal. For several minutes, they ate until they felt better.
"Not bad tasting when you're starving, that's for sure!", Chloe commented, licking her lips.
"Agreed," Hector agreed, also licking his lips.
Both puppies continued on the trail. After another 20 minutes, they spotted another hill, but this time, is was over 200 feet tall. And the trail stopped at a wooden ramp. In the distance, they could hear the faint sound of the waterfall.
"Wow!", Hector excitedly exclaimed. "The waterfall must be at the top!"
"Come on!", Chloe urged.
The two puppies raced towards the start of the hill.
They paused in front of the ramp. The wooden ramp was 30 feet long. "Must be big so the horses can climb up it," Chloe remarked.
"Yeah," Hector agreed. He looked towards the top. "What a climb!", he thought. "It's probably much farther than just up there," he sighed. The sound of the waterfall was still faint.
"I bet the DOGS ride the horses up this ramp, too," Chloe stated.
"No doubt about that," Hector agreed.
"Well, the sooner we get moving, the faster we get there," Chloe assured.
Hector nodded. "Let's go."
The two puppies began the long hike up the ramp. When they finally reached the top, they panted in exhaustion. It had taken them 15 minutes to get to the top, going as fast as they could. They walked for another minute to the cliff ahead, and when they looked down, they both gasped in surprise. About 30 feet down, there was a very interesting place. They trotted down, and paused in front of a big wooden "sign" that had marking language written on it, and a paw print as the background picture.
"You want to just rest for a little while?", Hector asked.
"Yes," Chloe agreed.
Both puppies layed down near the sign, in the grass below, which was much shorter than in the meadow, implying that humans have cut it down. Both puppies took another minute to pant, and catch their breath, before speaking again.
"I'm thirsty again," Hector remarked. "What about you?"
"I am too," Chloe nodded. She took a glance at the sign, and then looked back at Hector. "What does that sign say?"
Hector tried to read it. "One of those patterns I haven't seen before. It looks like cam...a...tur...i, I think."
"What does that mean?", Chloe chuckled.
"No idea," Hector replied. He sniffed the air around him. "Doesn't this place smell kinda weird?"
Chloe sniffed too. "Yeah, it kinda does," she agreed.
They both looked in front of them, and there were several gray stones lined against each other in several rows. Some of them had flowers in front of them. They all appeared to have carved marking patterns on them. There were so many, there had to be at least a 1,000, spread across the area.
"What ARE those things?", Chloe asked.
Hector thought for a moment. He shook his head slowly, his eyes wide. "I have no clue."
"I wonder why there's so many of them."
"They must mean something, then."
"Yeah, but what?"
"Maybe it has something to do with the waterfall."
Hector lifted his head higher, and peered over the stones. At the end, he could see another 30 foot tall hill led farther. Behind it, he could see a very tall wooden house. The sound of the waterfall was getting a little louder. "That has to be the fort," he stated.
"How long have we been out here?", Chloe asked.
"Hours," Hector answered, looking at the sun that was now starting to set. "Hope nobody is looking for us."
"So, we see the waterfall, then we head back, right?", Chloe asked, with concern in her eyes.
"Possibly," Hector answered with uncertainty. "Depends on what more we can find."
"Let's look closer at those stones," Chloe suggested.
Hector nodded in agreement, and they got up, ending their brief break, and trotted over to the closest stones. Hector already started to read the writing. "It appears to say 'Alexander' on it."
"That must be someone's name," Chloe suggested. "What about this one?", she pointed with her paw to the one next to it.
Hector read it. "Elizabeth," he answered. "That must be a name, too." Hector took a few steps back, and took a few moments to glance at the other nearby stones lined up against those two. "They all have names on them. And they also all appear to say 'in memory of', too," he examined.
"'In memory of'?", Chloe asked, confused. "What does that mean?"
Hector looked back at Chloe, with a serious look on his face. "Again, Chloe, I don't know."
Chloe peered over the stone she was standing in front of, and looked at the very many others behind it. "Maybe it's a way to honor whoever these beings are," Chloe guessed.
"Maybe," Hector agreed. Hector did agree it probably had something to do with honor, something good, but the scent he was picking up for some reason made him uncomfortable. He changed the subject before any bad thoughts could occur to him. "Hey! I'll RACE you to the top of the hill!", he challenged.
Chloe spun around, and chuckled. "You're on!", she approved.
Without saying anything else, Hector darted off, and Chloe immediately followed. Both puppies raced across the many stones for the next few minutes, until they were both at the top of the hill, panting. Usually Chloe could run much much much faster than Hector, but today, she was exhausted from the hiking already, and didn't win by as much as she usually would. Standing next to each other, they looked at the giant fort in awe. It was a big wooden house that was not all the way sealed. It appeared to be held together by the hill holding the waterfall, a giant mound in the middle. Staircases on both sides allowed the climb up to the openings. The sound of the waterfall was very loud, and they knew they would see it once they got inside the fort, towards the top. As they darted to the side of the fort, Hector spotted something black on the ground, in the middle. He ran over to it, and saw that it was a giant hole.
"Hey, Chloe! Come over here!", he called to Chloe, excitedly. In a flash, Chloe was there, and stared down at the hole.
"It must be an underground cave!", Chloe exclaimed. "Let's go in!"
She hopped down into the dark hole, and Hector followed. As he hit the ground, his paws felt sore after the long hike, and now after he landed on a very hard rocky cool ground. He grunted, and then continued to follow Chloe into the cave. It was completely dark after he turned into a long corridor. After 30 seconds, it was so dark, he could not see Chloe in front of him. He also realized that they were going down a hill, further underground. It was completely quiet. Hector just then remembered the nightmare he had before. The silence, then the footsteps, the complete black, and the cold environment, were all here.
"Is this what my dream was trying to tell me about? Does this cave have something to do with my dream?", Hector thought, with fear, a cold shiver down his spine making him shudder.
After another two minutes, they bumped into the wall of the cave, and now knowing they need to turn, turn, and finally see a light down the next corridor.
Hector and Chloe sigh with relief to see a light, and run towards it, careful not to bump into each other. When they reach the light, they turn to see a room of the cave, very enormous.
"Wow!", they both say at the same time, in fascination.
On the walls of the cave's room, there were all kinds of "paintings" of dogs that looked like the farm dogs. They were doing all sorts of things. There were also paintings of humans doing things, and also images of what appeared to be wolves, and then also a few images of other forest animals. They were all different colors, and shapes, and there were more pawprints than any other images. Hector was reminded of the paw prints in the barn where they slept. The room was about 100 feet tall, and Hector realized that was the part of the hill that appeared in the middle of the fort. Above the room, was a room of the fort. Spiral stairs were in the center of the room, leading up to the fort. As Hector and Chloe took 10 minutes looking at all the paintings, in fascination, Hector felt a wave of uneasiness. He felt like he was being watched. Not by Chloe. By someone, or something, else. He could sense another presence in this room other than Chloe. He did not smell anyone else, though. Only the faint smells of the humans, dogs, and horses that recently visited.
"Come on, Hector!", Chloe called to Hector from the staircase, snapping Hector out of his thoughts. "The fort! The WATERFALL!"
Hector turned, and padded up to her, as she already began to walk up the stairs. As Hector walked up the stairs, he felt like something was following him, walking up the stairs behind him. He paused, turned to look, but saw nothing. He felt another chill down his spine, and picked up his pace towards Chloe, very happy she was there with him.
When they reached the top, there was another set of spiral stairs attached to the ones they just climbed. They both took a moment to look at this room of the fort, tired of walking up the stairs. This room did not have too much, but there were signs on the wooden walls with marking patterns on them, and also another couple of those tables with attached benches, and rubbish containers. There was what appeared to be another room on the opposite side of the stairs, but Hector assumed it was another dirt-place.
"Hey, Chloe?", Hector asked.
"What's the matter?", Chloe replied.
Hector glanced around for a moment, then leaned in closer to Chloe. "Did you sense anyone else here?", he asked quietly.
"Someone else?", Chloe replied, confused, also in a quiet voice.
"Yes."
"No, why?"
"I felt someone else's presence. Does that sound strange to you?"
Chloe glanced around, and looked at Hector with an expression that said "Are you nuts? What are you talking about?".
After a few more moments, of silence, nothing more than the roaring of the waterfall upstairs, Chloe finally urged Hector to follow again. "One more set of stairs, and we are at the waterfall."
Hector excitedly wagged his tail, putting those scared feelings aside. They raced up the stairs, and when they reached the top, they both together, peered over the last step, slowly, and looked at each other after a look at the cool place.
"Whoa...", they commented at the same time with great interest.
"This is it," Hector proudly commented. "We made it!"
"This is so cool!", Chloe agreed.
"It's great, isn't it?", he asked.
"We could get in big trouble," she chuckled.
"Not if we don't get caught," he mischeiviously chuckled as well.
The two puppies stepped into the room of the fort, walking across the wooden floor, and looked at the giant objects around the room. They had a black head and ears and whitish eyes, but no feet. They had a very fat belly, but with no back. They appeared to all be sleeping. "THESE must be the WATER MONSTERS I heard about!", Hector thought excitedly. As he heard, they were asleep, and some of them were covered with dust and cobwebs, as if they hadn't been used in a long time, like Audrey and Layla had described before. The roaring of the waterfall echoed through the room, and at last, Hector and Chloe stood in front of the waterfall, both sighing in excitement.
There was a small narrow pool of water that connected to the top of the waterfall, that ran through the room, along the water monsters. The waterfall appeared to connect to another small waterfall that fell down on the side of the top of the hill, into a river, probably the same one that they had seen before, that connected to the lagoon they played in before. An opening led to an outside deck with tables and chairs, also wooden, with a protective fence around it. They stepped out onto the deck, and hopped onto a table right next to the fence, and looked at the view.
"Wow!", they both exclaimed. "What a view!"
From the fort, they could see everything. They saw the meadow they walked in earlier a long way away, and a LOT of trees, everywhere, the whole woods! They could feel the water splattered from the waterfall landing on their faces, and the mist forming from it as well. Hector and Chloe sniffed the beautiful air, and looked out to the dsitance. Over the beautiful horizon, the sun was setting, and the clouds were purple, the sky was pink, and the sun was slowly changing into an alluring bright red color. The light touched the two puppies, and the breeze blew their ears.
"What a beautiful sunset," Chloe commented.
"Yeah...", Hector sighed. He perked his ears as Chloe's paw touched his paw. Hector turned to look at Chloe, and Chloe did the same. Hector gazed into Chloe's blue eyes, and they sparkled like the stars. He felt that same feeling he had before.
"Hector?", Chloe asked.
"Yeah?", Hector responded, slightly taken out of his trance.
"This day has been the best day of my life," she commented. "I am so happy to be sitting here next to this waterfall with you."
Chloe leaned down and nuzzled Hector affectionately, and Hector returned the affection. Both of their tails wagged.
"Chloe?", Hector asked, pausing the nuzzling.
"Yeah?", Chloe replied.
Hector felt he had to ask her something important. "Do...do you...", he started.
"Do I what?"
"I want to say that I..."
"You what?"
"I...I..."
"What?"
"Do you...do you...", Hector tried to get the words out, but he just couldn't. He just sighed, and finished a sentence. "Do you want to try out a water monster?"
"A water monster?"
"Yeah. Ride down the waterfall?"
"Are you crazy?", Chloe spoke, in a tone that completely changed the mood.
"No. We can ride the river half the way so we can get home faster."
"Oh. I guess that sounds okay."
"It'll be FUN. It'll be just like that other waterfall at the lagoon, only bigger."
"Yeah, you're right, Hector. Let's try it out."
Both puppies hopped off the table, and ran back into the room. They paused in front of a water monster, one that wasn't covered in dust and cobwebs, and one that was sitting in the water already at the end of the pool on the other side of the room. They examined the orange thing for a moment.
"How are we supposed to wake it up?", Chloe asked.
Hector hopped inside its belly, and took a look at the back of its black head. There was a button much bigger than the other few buttons on it.
"I think we wake it up with this button," Hector remarked. He pressed the button, and the monster made a roaring sound immediately, startling both puppies. Hector pressed the middle button, thinking it was suspicious, and after he pressed it, the monster began to move. But it was only moving slowly.
"Hop in, Chloe!", Hector urged.
Chloe hopped in, and Hector tried another button. He pressed one of the small buttons on the bottom, and it made the monster's eyes bright, shining a yellow light on the water. There was also an object that looked like it could be pulled.
"I wonder if that works like horse reins," Chloe wondered, as Hector was looking at it.
Hector and Chloe were sitting on a small bench with a backrest in front of its head, and it appeared to have attachable belts similar to the ones humans clip on inside a land monster. "I think we should strap ourselves in, Chloe," Hector warned.
Chloe picked up the other end of the belt on her side of the bench, and Hector took his end, and he clicked the two together, just like inside a land monster, and pulled the little loose part of the belt, and tightened the belt over their bodies, so that they were both fastened in.
By the time they were done fastening the belt, they were in a straight line in front of the waterfall, heading slowly towards it.
"Are you gonna pull that thing or not?", Chloe asked urgingly.
Hector reluctantly grabbed the "reins" with his right paw, his paw trembling with concern. He pulled the reins, and suddenly, the water monster roared furiously on the command to go faster, and it sure did. The two puppies screamed in fright as the water monster went surging through the pool at top speed, and then plunged over the giant waterfall forcefully. In a few seconds, they were in mid-air, going down the waterfall at a super speed, and they were still screaming, as they felt like they were falling out of their seat, the mist blurred their vision, the sprayed water stinging their eyes, and the view of going down such a great height. They held on as tight as they could, and Hector still held onto the rains, as they plummeted down.
After what felt like forever, they finally reached the bottom of the waterfall, and the angry water monster made a huge splash as it felt the belly smack, roaring in pain, while it sped up, and struggled to stay horizontal and not flip over. The river they were now in had big white waves slashing into the water monster and getting them both wet.
"HECTOR!", Chloe yelped.
"IT'S GONE MAD! I HAVEN'T GOT THIS!", Hector yelped.
"LET GO OF THE REINS!", Chloe yelped urgingly.
Hector let go, and they both held on tight, closing their eyes, and within 30 seconds, the water monster calmed down, slowly down its speed. They opened their eyes, and saw that.
Hector immediately took back what he said. "No, Chloe, I HAVE got this!"
They both laughed, as they realized this was actually so much fun.
The river began to calm down too, and after a cascade, the waves stopped.
Hector and Chloe breathed in relief. They looked at the walls of the monster's belly. "I sure wish we were bigger," Hector remarked.
"Yeah," Chloe agreed. "That way we could actually see where we're going and look at the view."
"Well, the important thing is that we will get back to the farm faster this way, right?"
"Right."
"The sun will be down in no time. We have to be in our nest before Maximus and Daisy come back."
"You sure this is going the right way, Hector?"
"Positive. There was more than one trail, right? So we should see a trail next to where this river ends, at least one that leads to that circular spot."
"Okay. It was your idea to do this, and to come here, anyway."
"If you get sick, eat grass. That helps you to..."
"I know what grass does, Hector."
"Okay, okay..."
For the next several minutes, the water monster carried them through the calm river, and Hector could see tall trees of the forest again.
Hector was now trying to think of that thing he was trying to say earlier. "Chloe?", he hesitantly asked.
"What?", she responded.
"That thing I was REALLY trying to say earlier, well..."
"Sure..."
"Well...uh...you remember when...you know...Ranger and Tracker..."
"What?"
"...um...our parents are leaders...and..."
"Yes."
"...well...that first day...tried...waterfall...we couldn't cuz they..."
"Hector, what is it?", Chloe demanded.
"I...I...Do...you...", Hector kept stammering, still not being able to get the words out of his system.
Some moments of awkward silence went by as the water monster splashed through the river.
Chloe turned her attention back on the river, and heard waves coming again.
"Hector?"
"Yeah?", Hector asked, still thinking of the words.
"The river."
"What about the river?"
"The waves, they're back."
"What?", Hector started to get confused.
The water monster began to grunt, and began to panic. Rapid waves were back, and hit the water monster over and over again. This time, though, the waves starting to fill up its belly.
"OH, NO!", Hector panicked.
"HECTOR! THE REINS!", Chloe began to panic as well.
Hector tried to pull the reins, but the water monster was rocking back and forth repeatedly, almost knocking the two puppies out of their seats. He couldn't grab it! The belly of the water monster was filling up fast, and it was starting to go under the water!
"HECTOR!", Chloe yelped in fear.
The waves took over, and the water monster began to sink.
"HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP US!", the two puppies screamed out for help.
In a few seconds, the water monster was under the water, under the huge rapid white waves. Hector and Chloe quickly batted at the button that held the belt together, and they freed themselves from it. Now the water monster swam away, leaving them under the waves. Hector and Chloe quickly struggled to the surface, and they gasped for air as they briefly went above the water. Then they went back down, and then they went back up, and they coughed, and then went farther down, and then when they surfaced a third time, they took a giant breath before they sunk back down, as two bigger waves smashed them down towards the bottom of the river. Their visibility was gone. They couldn't get back up to the surface. They were about to drown!
40 very long seconds went by, and Hector kept his eyes shut, as he was still under the water, and just about out of breath. He was thinking the worst, and slowly began to pass out. "ANCESTORS, HELP ME!", he screamed in his head. All he could hope for now is that that being he detected inside the cave was about to jump in and rescue him and Chloe. He waited for another long 15 seconds.
Just when he was about to give up, he felt someone or something grab a tight hold of his scruff. "Is it that thing I sensed in the cave?", Hector prayed.