Chapter 8: Cave Crashing and Babysitting.
Shorty just wouldn't stop screaming.
Peaches had tried everything bouncing him up and down, throwing him into the air and catching him. Louis had tried playing peek-a-boo with him, but the baby just wasn't interested.
Peaches and Louis were wandering through a exceptionally wide cave. The morning sun somehow managed to leak in from tiny cracks, though how they did not know.
Shorty was thrashing about in Peaches' hold, his round face pink with all the screaming he had done.
Louis had clamped his paws over his ears; something Peaches wouldn't mind doing at the moment.
"There's gotta be something dow here we can give him!" She exclaimed. The tunnel they were walking in was sloping upwards, making even more difficult to travel.
"Hey look!" Louis momentarily removed his paws from his ears, pointing forwards. Looking over the teen mammoth saw the cave opened up into a larger, wide cavern.
She frowned in curiosity and continued forward, trying to ignore Shorty's screams.
When they entered the cavern, they saw something that lifted their spirits by a million. In the middle of the cavern was a tree- seemingly fed by the leaked in sunlight peaked through from very, very high above.
The tree held fruit resembling plums, and they were familiar to them both. And fruit meant...
"Food!" both the mammoth and molehog exclaimed. Louis hurried forward towards it as Peaches followed from behind.
But, just as Louis was nearing the tree he was struck with something small and hard.
"Ouch!"
Peaches glanced at him "What's up?"
"Something hit me!"
Peaches looked around. "I don't see anything."
"No really, something hit me!"
"Maybe you were just imaging thi-Ow, hey!"
High pitch cackled erupted from the leaves of the tree. Peaches scowled.
"Alright, who's throwing stuff?" Her response was another hit with a stone. "Ow!"
"Hey, leave her alone!" Louis stepped forward boldly, only to be bombarded by a flurry of tiny stones. He ducked, retreated back beside Peaches.
Then, up on the tree branches, a group of purple-ish furred rats appeared holding tiny blowguns, obviously what they had been using to ward off the two teenagers and the baby.
Shorty had quietened for the moment, curious about the smiling rats in the trees.
"Look, we just want a few pieces of fruit, is that too much to ask!?" Peaches yelled at them in annoyance. Apparently it was, for they shot a few more stone in her direction. "Ow! cut that out!"
They responded by cackling harshly. Louis turned to his mammoth friend, asked "How are going to the food now?"
"We whoop their little buts, that's what we do! here, hold Shorty!" Before the molehog could pretest, Peaches had shoved the infant into his arms and stormed forwards.
She reached up into the tree, dodging a stone as she reached up and grabbed one of the pests using her trunk. Abruptly is sank it's sharp teeth into her trunk, causing her to yelp and throw the rat to the side.
The other rats were momentarily distracted as they were laughing their guts out at both the mammoth and their comrade's misfortune.
Peaches took the chance to pluck a piece of fruit out of the tree and toss it behind her, and managed to collect a second one before they began bombarding her with stones again.
She retreated, using her trunk to rub her head. "Little jerks..."
Louis had placed Shorty on the ground, and was currently tearing the fruit in half. Peaches was about to question him when she saw Louis pulling the seed out of one of the halves.
He then handed them both to the whimpering baby, who happily began munching away.
"Wow..lucky you remembered about the seeds!"
Louis looked surprised at this "Well...yeah, I guess." He rubbed his neck a little.
"So are you hungry? you can have the other fruit." said Peaches.
"What? no, you have it, you've been carrying him all this time!" They sat staring at the last piece, wondering how they were going to sort it out when Shorty began wailing again.
Louis laughed nervously "Guess he's still hungry..."
"Uh-huh...and he's the youngest, so..."
"We give it to him?" Louis smiled, picking up the other fruit. Peaches returned it.
"Yeah."
They both watched with some amount of pride as Shorty ate the last fruit. Then, Peaches lifted the baby and they began moving around the tree's perimeter, with the mammoth scowling at the rats as they did so.
"If I didn't have this kid to look after, you'd all be squashed by now!"
She didn't both looking back to see their reactions. They entered the tunnel opposite, which was much more closed that the cavern they'd left.
"Y'know...we'd make pretty good parents one day! I could total handle this!"
Louis smiled a little. "Yeah...I guess we would..."
"Hey softy, come look at this!" Shira called back. Diego ignored the nick-name and hurried up beside her to where she was at the end of the tunnel.
"Look at this..."
"...Oh."
The tunnel came to an abrupt halt, stretching out into a huge underground chasm with a river at the bottom. It was pretty high up. They stood on a ledge, and the only way across was over a narrow, steady-looking bridge.
"Perfect." Manny mumbled as he approached. "Well, there is no way any of us are crossing that. C'mon, we'll try that other tunnel."
The two sabers were about to comply when a loud cracking sound from above stopped them.
"Manny! the tunnel behind us, it's-"
CRASH
Ellie came rushing down the tunnel towards them as the ground began to shake. The ceiling above them was begining to crack as well as the ground around them. The way that had came had completely collapsed.
"We have to cross! it's the only way!" Diego shouted. "Shira, you first!"
The female saber knew there was no time to argue and sped forward across the bridge.
"C'mon!"
Diego rushed over next, joining Shira on the other side.
Manny glanced around the trembling chasm before turning to his wife "You next, Ellie!"
"But Manny-"
"Just go!"
Ellie turned and carefully yet quickly made her way across. Finlay, Manny began making his way over.
CR-A-CK
"Manny!" Diego shouted "Look out!"
"RUN!" Ellie called frantically. Manny saw the cracks traveling along the bridge and darted forward but the ground supporting his hind legs gave away and he began falling backwards.
Ellie reached forward and wrapped her trunk around his, pulling with all her might. She managed to pull her husband onto the ledge, gasping in worry.
"Sweetie, Are you alright?" She exclaimed. Manny nodded shakily.
"Yeah I'm fine. Now, quick, inside the tunnel! this whole place's gonna collapse!"
The four hurried into the tunnel just as the cave behind them collapsed, blocking the way back for good.
"No going back now." Shira murmured quietly.
"Well... guess that means going forward" Diego replied, continuing onward.
Ellie looked over at Manny. "I almost lost you..."
Manny took hold of her trunk with his. "Don't worry. You didn't."
Ellie smiled in return. "I hope we find Peaches soon, Manny, and get back home. Crash and Eddie will be up to no good..."
"Well find her. As for your brothers, as long as their still back at the clearing with Sid, everything will be fine."
Crash and Eddie were rolling Sid along in the tree trunk in one of the tunnels. There were no more cave paintings (much to the possums disappointment) and they were calling for their sister when they heard a distant rumbling.
"Did you hear that?" asked Crash.
"Yeah, it sounded like Manny when he's hungry" Eddie replied. His brother shrugged.
"Oh well. As long as it's not...dangerous..."
"Mabeths itsth wasth a caveth inth?"
"What was that, Sid?"
"Rabies with claws and gray things?"
"Noth, maybeth itsth wasth a caveth-"
CRACK.
The possums whirled around when the cave began to tremble. "Ah!"
They grabbed hold of Sid's log and began rolling it quickly along. The tunnel behind them was closing up with rubble.
As the trembling subsided, the possums slowed down.
"Uuhhhh...ohhhhhh..."
"I guess we're sorta trapped in here..."
"Yeah. With Sid."
The two possum brothers glanced at each other with fear-riddled looks- and then promptly began running around and shrieking in terror.
Sid wriggled around in the log, still mostly paralysed.
"Maaaaaannnnnyyyyth, Dieeegoooth, weeereeth areth yooooutth?"
A Longer chapter for all you amazing folk out there. WOO.
So, The Possums are trapped in the caves along with a paralysed Sid now. Things just keep getting better and better.
Reviews are loved.