Chapter 12: Cave Colours and Hopes.
"Whoa, guys, check this out!"
Crash and Eddie, who had run on ahead, where jumping up and down further on in the tunnel.
"It's not another dead end is it?" Diego called with somewhat of a grimace. Shira rolled her eyes. "Oh that'll be just great..."
"No! no! It's- it's a-"
"One of those thingies!"
Manny joined Shira in her eye-rolling. "Yeah, and what is 'one of those thingies' you're talking about?" He asked as he drew closer to them. His eyes widened.
Scribbled on the wall was a pitcure- unlike the ones the humans had drawn back at the start of the cave. It had been done with a rock like Sid sometimes did, and the figures on it where all too familiar.
"It's Peaches and Louis! they must have drawn this!" Ellie exclaimed as she ran a trunk over the picture. "We must be going the right way after all!"
"See?" Sid called, swaggering over with an air of confidence "I told you going up that other tunnel instead of the one you said we should take was a good idea Manny!"
"I only went up that way because Ellie agreed with you." Manny replied curtly as they began moving down the tunnel again, hope lighting up in their hearts. "What matters now is that we're on their trail."
"Wait, Manny!"
Manny halted, as did the others. Ellie was still back at the drawing, staring at it in concentration. Manny, slightly, concerned, turned back and rejoined her beside it.
"What is it?"
"What's that little thing Peaches is holding?" She gestured to a small, round figure curled up in her trunk. The image brought back a whole wave of memories.
Sid and Diego, who had also returned beside the cave drawing, seemed to notice it as well.
"That looks kinda like Pinky!" Sid said loudly, pointing at the figure.
"Pinky?" Shira repeated. Diego coughed slightly.
"Um...that's kinda a long story." He said, before going on to say "But what would another human baby be doing down here with them?"
"And what are the odds of it finding them?" Manny mumbled, completely confused. Ellie seemed to be thinking .
"Oh! what if, listen you guys, what if they found him in here and tried to return him somehow?" She said "They must have! just like you three had done all that time ago!"
"You returned a baby back to its heard?" Shira asked, grinning at Diego from the side.
"Uh...yeah, it's how the herd was brought together..." he replied dismissively.
"Aw, that is so sweat, softy. No wonder you're with these guys."
Diego huffed a bit "Okay, so I'm not made of stone."
"Well, if they did try to return him, why did they go into the caves?" Sid asked. Granny rolled her eyes and hit him on the head.
"Ow!"
"Because, doofus. The kid probably wandered in from some other cave and they thought those monkey people were on the other side."
The whole group stood quietly, staring at the old sloth.
"That's...actually possible." Diego said in amazement. The old sloth wandered past him huffily, giving him a bonk on the head as well.
"You think old people don't know anything? I've been alive since your grandaddy was a cub, I know more than you, Lady! Now lets move, I'm sick of this cave!"
The herd shrugged and followed the old sloth along the tunnel and away from the drawing, which would probably stay there for a very long time.
Roshan's men had returned to the camp with heavy hearts. After separated from Roshan, they had traveled back along the tunnel only to get caught in yet another earthquake, that blocked the way back to him. The tunnels were now dangerous and had all been changed, with some being blocked and others being opened.
It could take years to figured them all out. Still, even with all the complications they had somehow made it back to the exit. Without Roshan.
Nida had been completely crushed to learn that both her husband and her precious baby were both trapped in the caves now, and had broken down and wept for hours. Her relatives and friends hid their best to comfort her, but in the end there was nothing they could do to help.
The men promised to go back into the caves the next day with fresh supplies to look for them, but hope was draining along with the light in the evening sky.
Nida sat at the edge of the camp, seriously considering going into the caves herself, but in the end she knew it was pointless. The others were much more experienced, and getting herself lost would only complicate things further.
She held her hands against her eyes and wept.
Roshan was standing on a ledge, staring down a wide chasm. It was a very long way down. He'd walked a long way, and he'd found sever dead ends before coming to a stop at the edge of the tunnel.
There was a rocky wall opposite a small waterfall, one that had visible cracks and footholds he was sure he could use to get to the other side.
The other ledge was a bit further down- he would have to be careful when landing not to lose his balance.
Tying his pack to the belt on his waist, he threw the torch over to the other ledge, where it landed with a thunk.
Rubbing his hands together and bracing himself, Roshan took hold of the wall and placed his foot in one of the crasks. Taking a deep breath, he hauled himself off the ledge and began making his way precariously along the wall.
His hand slipped suddenly and he just managed to grab onto the handhold again before he fell, flattening himself against the cool stone.
He took a few more breaths to calm himself and continued.
Abruptly, the cave began to tremble. Roshan's eyes widened as the wall began to crack and shake. He had to jump for it.
Barring his teeth he through himself off the wall toward the ledge. He slammed stomach-first onto the side and slipping quickly off the edge.
He grabbed the tip of the ledge with his hands to stop his fall. With the chasm shaking dangerously like this, he knew that he couldn't linger there long for fear of falling.
He pulled himself back up onto the ledge and snatched up the torch, sprinting down the sloping tunnel.
The tunnel came to a sudden, deep slope, and Roshan was running so fast from the upcoming cave in that he didn't stop in time.
He lost his footing and tumbled down the slope, landing painfully on his leg at the bottom.
Grunting, he turned himself over and held his leg in his hands, applying pressure to help with the pain.
"Oh, no." He muttered. His leg was sprained; maybe even broken. This really decreased his chances of finding his way out- and if his leg didn't get seen to soon...
I really don't have much in my pack that'll help. I'll have to bind it the best I can and then...
He didn't know what next. Most of him wanted to continue searching for his son- even though the hope he was still alive was dwindling.
His head suddenly felt dizzy. He looked back at his leg, pulling the cloth away- to find it was bleeding quite badly. It had probably been cut on a sharp stone.
Roshan acted immediately began binding the would to stop the bleeding, but by the time he was done he'd almost passed out from the loss of blood.
The last thing Roshan remembered before the darkness closed in was wondering how in the name of his ancestors he was going to get out of here.
Chapter 12 people. It's all beginning to come together.
Review please!
My other stories are getting ignored :(
Oh well I guess people like Ice Age better...