Chapter 21—Arriving at the Cavern
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"Whoa," Leo gasped when he could look around.
"Yeah," I said simply. "It's awesome."
For those of you who don't remember, the hidden cavern is huge. It has a lake, forest, meadows, and a lot of caves lining one side of the cavern. On the edge of the forest were two houses.
"Who lives there?" he asked us, pointing to the houses.
"The guardians," I told him. "Come on, we'll introduce you."
We traveled over to the houses and I started by knocking on Shanai's door.
"Hello?" I said when the door didn't open. "Is anybody home?"
"The person who lives here wasn't here, but is here now," an old voice said behind us. We spun around and saw Shanai walking up to the door.
"It is good to see you again," we told her, bowing our heads out of respect.
"Who's this?" Leo asked, clearly confused by her sudden appearance.
"Leo Shane, meet Shanai, the Unbeatable Master," I told him. "Shanai, this is Leo Shane, Eli and Trixie's son.
"Leo, eh?" Shanai said, looking at Leo. "Karina told me about you the last time we spoke."
"It's an honor to meet you," Leo said, eyes wide. It was similar to how I reacted to meeting her. She was said to be the greatest slinger of all time, before Blakk 'killed' her.
"Why are you five here?" she asked us.
"We were sent here to train safely," Emma explained. "The University was attacked yesterday, so we need to be ready for the next one. Ms. Shane sent us here."
"Karina? She was right. You are welcome to train here," Shanai told us. "We don't have extra beds, though, so you'll need to find other places to sleep."
"Of course," I said.
She nodded and walked inside her home. "I suggest you introduce Leo to my grumpy neighbor before he comes out demanding why so many people are here," she added before closing the door.
"Let's introduce you to her neighbor, then," I said. We walked over to Red Hook's house and I knocked on the door repeatedly.
"Why do you always knock?" I heard him yell.
"There's no bell out here!" I yelled back. There was a pause before the door was flung open to reveal Red Hook, red hook and all.
"You're back," he said.
"Yes. We are here to train, but first I want to introduce you to my cousin, Leo," I told him, ushering Leo forward.
"So there's another Shane?" he demanded.
"Well, yeah," I told him. "Shanai thought it would be best if we introduced him before you come out yelling at us."
"Can't deny that," he grumbled. "Okay, then, you can stay. Begin training at any time you want. Oh, and try not to bother me too much."
"Thank you," we replied. He just scowled and closed the door.
"Was he always like that?" Leo asked us.
"Yeah," I said simply. "We should get some rest, though. It's getting late," I added, looking at the clock on my Glasses.
"Sure," Mark said, yawning widely.
"First, let's show Leo around the cavern," Emma suggested.
"Sure. I'll go," I said. We showed Leo around the cavern and watched his jaw drop every time he saw a really rare slug in a group of other rare slugs.
"Whoa," I heard him gasp. "How many slugs are here?"
"Roughly twenty, not including the herd of Fandangos that keeps this place alive," I told him, pulling up the correct data. "About half of the species are considered very rare."
"Not anymore," he mumbled.
"Actually, they're still considered very rare," Emma told him. "After we recorded everything about the cavern we locked it away in SU archives under very heavy computer protection. With the Shadow Clan protecting the entrance as well, it makes it very hard to get into this cavern unless you have connections with the Clan, like we do."
"Oh, cool," he commented as he waved to an Enigmo slug. It waved back but lost its balance and fell on top of a Forgesmelter. We chuckled but continued to the lake.
"Is this where you found your Riviera slug?" Leo asked me, motioning to the lake.
"No," River told him. "We don't like to stay around other slugs. We prefer only the company of other Riviera slugs."
"Oh," Leo said. As we walked over to the caves he looked at them in awe. "Are these the caves you jumped from?" he asked me.
"Yep," I replied.
He shook his head slowly. "You can have some really stupid ideas sometimes," he told me.
"Now you tell me," I said sarcastically. They laughed as we made our way back to where the others set up camp.
"Where's your sleeping bag?" Emma asked me when I pulled out the hammock.
"I didn't bring one," I told her. I started to set up the hammock, but Stinger and Spinner chirped to me not to.
"What do you guys suggest, then?" I asked them, even though I knew the answer while I put away the hammock.
"Launch us and find out," Stinger told us.
I laughed and loaded him before launching him at the trees. The slug flew back and forth between the trees, forming a very well padded hammock that hung between the trees.
"Good idea, guys," I told them before grabbing my blanket and jumping onto the hammock. It flexed beneath my weight but held firmly.
My slugs just chirped and ducked as another Arachnet was fired at the trees next to me. Another hammock was formed that Emma jumped onto.
"Copy-cat," I murmured as I hung my hand off the edge of the hammock.
"I love you, too," she said as she dangler her hand as well, holding on to mine.
I fell asleep with a smile that night.
"Wake up!" I heard the next morning before water was squirted into my face. I sat up suddenly, sputtering as I tried to get the water out of my nose.
"Well, I told you to wake up," River told me as Speedy burst out laughing.
"Yeah, well, next time don't almost drown me," I told her as I rubbed the water out of my eyes. Speedy kept laughing so I threw him into the forest. He velocimorphed, though, and ricocheted back to me.
"What time is it, anyways?" I groaned when I noticed that nobody else was awake.
"Check your clock," Yang told me sleepily. I looked at the screen on my glasses and noticed that it was only three in the morning.
"Why did you wake me up?" I demanded.
"She told us to," Speedy said, pointing to a figure at the edge of the forest line.
I couldn't see the person's details, but recognized the hood as Shanai's.
"You guys stay here," I told them. "Speedy, Yang, you're with me."
They nodded and jumped on my shoulder as I grabbed my staff and walked over to the figure.
"Follow me," the person told me, turning around and walking into the forest. She sounded like Shanai, but her albino Boon Doc, Ping, verified her identity.
"Where are we going?" I demanded, trying to follow her through the jungle.
"Quiet," she said. We kept going until we reached the wall of caves. We walked into the smallest one at ground level, which was barely more than a crack, and when we got to the back of the cave she placed her hand in a deep depressing and turned some kind of lever.
"What's going on?" I demanded, but Ping waved at me to be quiet as a rumbling vibrated around the cave as a large rock on our left side slid out of the way to reveal…a hidden passage!