Chapter 11: Cave Clearing and Doodles.
Roshan stuck the end of the torch between two of the larger rocks, pushing to the right with all his strength in an attempt to move them away from the caves entrance. He had been at it for hours, long after the torch went out. Luckily small specks of sunlight managed to leak in.
With a grunt he applied more pressure. Come on, just a bit more...
The rocks tumbled away with a clatter, and the man had just a moment to move out of their way as they fell to avoid getting hit by them
Now the opening was at least three times as big as if had been. Maybe just big enough for him to squeeze through...
Grabbing his pack he climbed up the rocky pile, careful to watch his footing.
He tossed his pack and the torch (a stick would be the better term for it now that it wasn't lit) through the opening first, then cautiously squeezed through the opening himself, slipping his legs in first so he could land standing up.
He slid through quickly, stumbling when he landed on the other side. He bent down and scooped up his pack and the un-lit torch, taking a deep breath before walking through the tunnel, hoping to find some sort of plan on the way.
As he turned around the corner of the tunnel, her found one of the walls had a large crack in it- one looking out onto another place. Curious, Roshan wandered over and stared through the narrow crack, brown eyes widening at what he saw.
A mammoth, a sloth and a tiger disappearing into another cave. A trio a very familiar animals.
He had a sudden, vague sense of familiarity.
He was sat on top of the Mammoth's head as they wandered through a giant place make of ice, with frozen fish and lots of slides...
He stared att he cave where he'd seen them going for a while before shaking his head.
He must have been seeing things. No animal in its right mind would come down here. An even if they did, he needed to find his son and his men, not go looking for a runaway herd.
Still, even as he walked away, Roshan couldn't help but wish that it had been his old friends he'd seen, and if they were, that they had seen him.
"Hey Peaches, look!"
Louis stepped back to admire his handiwork. Peaches, still holding a very noisy Shorty, wandered over to see what he was talking about.
"Whoa, you did one of those cave pictures! Nice."
louis had used a rock to draw a picture roughly resembling Peaches, himself and the baby. It wasn't a work of art like the other ones, probably due to inexperience and lack of colour, but it was charming all the same.
"Ha, d'you think is someone came all the way down here that they'd find that? that would be like, so cool." Peaches said, placed Short down beside the drawing so he could see better.
Shorty stood up on his leg wobbly and rested both of his chubby hands over it, gurgling in wonder.
"He seems to like it." Louis remarked from beside him. Upon hearing his voice Shorty turned and toddled towards him, arms stretched to hug him.
"Um...mayne you shouldn't-" Too late. Short had caught the molehog in a bone-crushing cuddle. "Or m-maybe you wil..."
"Aw..." Peaches cooed, before reached over and once again removing Louis from the baby's grip. "C'mon now. We need to find a way of getting you home."
"How'd you think we're gonna manage that? I mean, we're so lost in here...for all we now we could be going around in circles."
"Hmm." Peaches knew he was right. She placed Shorty back down on the ground and raised her trunk to her head, prodding it. "There's gotta be a way..."
"Hey Peaches...look..." Louis pointed at Shorty, who had grabbed a nerby stone and was happily scribbling all over the smooth stone wall.
Louis picked up a stone, examining it. "What if we left behind a drawing- or a sign- everywhere we've been. So if we saw it again, we'd know we'd already been there."
Peaches paused for a moment, taking in what he had said. Then, she snatched him up in her trunk and hugged him close.
"Oh my gosh! that's the most brilliant idea, ever, Louis! You're awesome!"
"Actually it was Shorty that gave me the idea, but...thanks anyway." He replied nervously.
Peaches set him back on the ground and scooped up Shorty. "Alright, Mr incredible, grab a few rocks and let's get going! This'll totally speed things up..."
A few tunnels Later, Louis saw that Peaches was frowning thoughtfully, staring at the sleeping Shorty curled up in her trunk.
"What is it?" he asked, a little concerned.
"Na, it's nothing. It's just that with all this excitement going on I forgot Dad did something like this way before I was born..."
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean he returned a human baby to his herd."
"Whoa!" Louis looked genuinely surprised. "Guess you really do take after him..."
"It's how he, Diego and Sid met. They all traveled, like, hundreds of miles to get him back home and on the way...somehow became the best of friends."
"That sounds like a pretty good story. Why'd you never mention it before? Not that I'm angry about you not mentioning it or anything..."
"It's just...it always felt like a bedtime story more than something that actually happened. It sorta feels different now. I guess I can believe it more now that I'm actually experiencing it."
"Well, It isn't something I thought I'd been doing anytime in my life, so I wouldn't have known what it was like." Louis remarked. "Y'know...getting involved with humans. Wonder what happened to that baby they returned. Did they ever see him again?"
Peaches shook her head. "Nah. They never saw him again."
"Huh. That's kinda sad. But at least they got him back to his herd, right?"
"Uh-huh. But..." Peaches looked a little sad now. Louis tilted his head.
"What is it?"
"It's just that...I'm gonna miss him." She said, staring forlornly at the baby she was holding. The molehog paused for a while, before agreeing. "Yeah, I guess I'll miss him, too..."
CHAPTER 11 DUDES. YEAH.
Ow my back. I need to take a break...