The next few days blurred together for Gregor. He lay in the corner and slept a lot, occasionally playing some sort of game with boots.
They had mostly been eating hunks of beef-jerky from the Boots's bag, but now Gregor was trying to figure out more food as their supply was running low. Very low. That was a big issue. They had no source of heat to cook with. And almost all of the food required at the very least warming. There were several different types of vegetables, some of which could be eaten raw. But raw sweet potato? "Ew," thought Gregor. Not to mention Ripred ate like a pig and hated vegetables. Also, Boots would only eat a select few. Ah, well, he would worry about that later.
He gingerly felt his bandaged shoulder. To his surprise, it was feeling marginally less tender.
A few days later Gregor felt near to exploding. He was sick of being cooped up in a stupid little cave with nothing productive to do. And he was constantly worried about the others. What was taking them so long?
"Just face it," thought Gregor. "they're dead." Gregor could see Ripred had reached a similar conclusion. The rat was slumped against a wall, his tail twitching in agitation. The others were out somewhere risking their lives, and here he was lying in a cave. Gregor made his decision. "Ripred, we're going after the others!"
The rat chuckled infuriatingly at him.
"What?" shouted Gregor. His rager side was bubbling to the surface so that he felt much angrier than he ordinarily would have.
"Look at you," said Ripred. "I bet you can't even hold your sword."
Gregor painfully got to his feet. He swayed slightly on the spot. His eyes scanned the cave, passing over the assortment of Underland things. He spotted his backpack lying under a small outcropping rock. His sword was resting on top.
Gregor reached forward and tugged at it. His entire back screamed in protest. Small drops of pus and blood began trickling down his back. His arm shook as he slowly raised it.
"There!" panted Gregor triumphantly. "See."
His arm gave in and he dropped the sword. It clanged horribly against the stone ground. Gregor winced, both from the noise and the pain in his shoulder.
"Oh, wow!" said Ripred. "You showed me up. I feel silly." Gregor rolled his eyes at him.
Okay... so scratch that plan. But they couldn't survive in the cave forever. Already their food supply was dwindling. But, more alarmingly, so was their water. The water skins were almost empty, only a small amount of liquid remained. "We're almost out of water," Gregor told the rat.
"I wouldn't worry about it," said Ripred, pointing a claw through the cave entrance. Gregor painfully got to his feet and looked to where he was pointing. About twenty feet away from the cave a small bubbling stream was running through down a slowing hill. "I thought you said all the water here was toxic?" said Gregor.
"Oh, only some. I can easily tell the difference, but considering your track record..." The rat let the sentence hang.
Gregor grimaced inwardly. He could recall not only sticking his hand in a stream and almost losing half his fingers but also nearly being squeezed to death by podded plants.
"Okay, fair enough," said Gregor. "What about food?"
"Yeah... that one might be an issue," said Ripred. "There might be some fish in the stream..."
"Fish blucky!" shouted Boots, sticking out her tongue in disgust.
Gregor sighed. For a few months she had tolerated fish well, but one day she suddenly refused to even touch it. "What else," said Gregor. They'd never last long on the provisions in the bags. And what had he brought in his backpack. "Figures," thought Gregor gloomily. Also, light would soon become an issue. He had kept a small oil lamp burning in a crevice... he didn't really need it but Boots would complain if she couldn't see. There was alarmingly little oil left. Gregor had his flashlights but he wanted to reserve them for a real emergency. He had a handful of batteries but he hadn't checked them for juice. They could all be duds for what he knew. With the food with the water and the food they had left, Gregor guessed they had enough for four more days, maybe five if they rationed.
Gregor rolled over and drifted asleep.
Gregor awoke with a jolt. Something was stirring outside the cave. Heart hammering, he slowly crept along the cave floor until he reached his sword. He quietly drew it from his sheath. He stealthily crept along the floor. Gregor's hand slipped from what he was climbing on. He face-planted on the ground. He drew a sharp breath in, trying not to give away his presence. He reached the cave entrance. He raised the sword above his head. Directly outside the cave were several shadowy forms huddled about a dim light. Gregor's rager side was bubbling slowly to the surface. His hearing, vision, and sense of smell had perceptibly increased. Gregor was no longer aware of the pain in his back.
He charged forward at the group of figures, swinging his sword like a maniac.
"Gregor!" shouted a voice. Several of the figures drew swords in alarm. They were no match for him. Every stroke of his sword was death... Luxa's head rolled onto the ground at his feet, gushing blood.
Gregor awoke with a start. Heart hammering violently in his chest. The dream had been so real.
Gregor frowned in confusion. Several shadowy figures were standing outside the cave.
"Temp?" piped up a voice next to Gregor.
"Boots no!" shouted Gregor as she trotted towards the group outside the cave.
"Gregor, it is fine," said Ripred calmly. "They have returned." Returned? They had returned! Gregor was jubilant. They were back. Even York and Vikus. They must have somehow found the others.
"So..." said Gregor. "What happened?" As the entire group began spilling into the cave, Vikus recollected the tale. The others must have told him what happened to them because he seemed quite knowledgeable about their journey too. They talked for hours, catching each other up on each person's adventures. It was late when they finally lay down and went to sleep. Gregor was thrilled, not only because he now knew his friends were safe and well, but, also, because he was now exempt from guard duty.