A Jagged Adventure

CHAPTER TEN

Maybe I should wait for Beanie. He thought a bit guiltily.

Red sighed impatiently and waited. He waited. And waited. And then he waited some more. He yawned and waited. He scratched an ear with his hind paw and waited. He paced in circles and waited. He growled and waited. He bit at falling snowflakes and waited. He howled for Beanie and waited.

He was done waiting.

If they're so slow they can't even follow the linear path I took to get here, then forget them! He thought angrily. I'm doing this on my own!

It occurred to Red that maybe Shark and Beanie had run into trouble, but he didn't hear any signs of a struggle, and it seemed even the tiniest paw-step could be heard echoing around the locale.

Shaking snow out of his fur, Red noticed a giant indent, like a hole, farther along the cliff face he was waiting besides. He walked up to it and found that it was a massive tunnel leading down into an underground cavern. He sniffed the tunnel opening.

Monsters!

Without hesitation, he launched himself into the tunnel and half ran, half-slid down the curving passage to the water-logged cavern below. He came to a stop and saw stalagmites and stalactites decorating the vast cavern that stretched before him. Snow and water dripped from large fissures in the ceiling, and near the edge of the cavern on the small bit of land available, he saw some sort of odd human-made contraption that had been left to rot.

Red crept forward, sniffing the air, and sneezing at the frigid temperatures.

Something moved to his right, and he leapt around to face it, snarling into the shadows.

Easy dog, a voice said from behind. We mean you no harm.

Red spun around to face the second foe and came face to face with a Great Baggi. The monster snorted in surprise and took a step back. Red instinctively launched himself at it, closing his jaws around its thick neck.

AAAAAAAAH! GET IT OFF!

The Great Baggi roared and thrashed, flinging his head, and therefore Red, back and forth violently. Red, whiplashed, let go and landed on his feet. He immediately sprang at the Great Baggi again, but something big and furry slammed into him and pinned him to the icy rocks with long, sharp claws.

Red snarled and tried to bite the Lagombi that held him.

Hey, the Lagombi leaned in close, sniffing at him. Chill out!

Hahaha, chill out! The Great Baggi seemed to be laughing, but Red wasn't sure. Good one, Hops!

You liked that? Hops the Lagombi seemed pleased. Again, Red wasn't sure. He wrestled in vain with the massive beast, biting at claws to no avail. I thought of that joke on the spot, can you believe it?

Enough clowning around. Red's heart dropped when a third voice, sharp and high, entered the fray. He saw a large bird swoop in from one of the cavern fissures. The Aknosom landed right in-front of the two monsters and glared at Red with hatred in its tiny red eyes.

Red recognized that look. He'd given that look to many monsters in the past, right before... He gulped.

Nix, we found him! The Great Baggi said joyfully. We found the One!

Red tilted his head in confusion.

"What?" He snarled. "What is anti-insomnia here going on about?"

The Lagombi burst out laughing, letting go of Red to roll around giddily.