It took a while to resurface. When I got back, the bat was nowhere to be found. That's strange. Where'd he go? He's gonna miss out on all this grub I found. And, I can't keep the falcon waiting too. Guess we'll just start without him.
I crawl towards the falcon and the snake and barf out the prey in my mouth. I realized that my tongue is so big, thick and flat that it can cover my throat so I can store anything in my mouth without accidentally swallowing it.
Here you go, falcon. Fresh meat. It might be mixed with my spit, but you can't be picky about it. We're short enough on food as it is.
The falcon comes closer and starts pecking at the food with his beak. He starts with its head, gouging out its eyes and swallowing its eyeballs. Then, he continues with the rest of its head. After that, he pecks at its body and starts by plucking out the liver. Blood begins to stick on the falcon's beak and it slowly messes up his face as more bloody parts get stuck on him. This is my first time seeing him eat and he's already a messy eater.
The snake, on the other hand, instantly gulps down his prey whole. Then, he slowly crawls and rests beside me with his stomach slightly bloating. I'm starting to wonder who's really the younger one among them.
"W-What are they eating?!"
A voice is heard in my head. Looking up, the bat is seen hovering on top of us. There's a moth caught in his talons. Maybe he grew hungry waiting so he went to hunt for food on his own.
You wanna come down and join us? I promise we're not gonna eat you or anything.
"I-It's fine. I'll just... eat over here"
The bat roosts upside down on a stalactite and starts munching on his prey. Maybe he still needs time to get used to us. We certainly didn't give him a good first impression with how untrusty I was on him at first and how the falcon jumped on him before. I hope we can do better on the next reincarnated person we meet. If we ever meet another one, that is.
After we had our fills, we began our journey together in the dark cave.
So, we just follow this river?
"It's bound to lead to a way out, won't it?"
Well... it's as good a start as any.
With me drifting along the stream and baby snake on my back, we follow the river downstream, with hopes that it leads to an exit. The falcon is nonchalantly perched next to baby snake and is pruning his feathers as we go. The bat on the other hand is still distant from us and remains flying overhead. He reminds me of the little girl who used to be scared of me at first. I wonder if it's gonna take another life-and-death event to earn each other's trust.
"...... *ahem* So uh, how long have you been a crocodile?"
Huh? Oh. I dunno. Over a month, I guess.
"Where did you wake up?"
The end of a river.
"You fell from up this cave. Did you come from up there?"
What? No. It's... it's a long story.
"Let's hear it. It should at least help pass the time"
Hmm.... Alright, but on one condition. You join the others riding on my back.
"Uhh....."
They. Won't. Eat. You. Just do it. You can cuddle falcon's feathers if you want to. I guarantee its fluffiness.
"Why don't I just..."
The bat lands on top of my head.
"... stay here instead. You don't mind, do you?"
It's fine. Those guys do it to me all the time. You sure you don't wanna go snuggle with them though?
"In time. Just... not now"
Suit yourself.
And so, I told the bat everything that I've been through as a crocodile. How I died from a plague, waking up a few years in the future as an overgrown scaly lizard in another country, being sent to Ancient Egypt in the past, and up to the present. When I told him I ate humans, he flinched, but I followed it up by saying I saved humans too, though maybe he didn't hear me because he was still frozen in shock. It took a while to resume the conversation again.
"So, you keep getting sent to different places in different times?"
Only two so far. Well, three, counting this one.
"Will it happen to me too?"
Who knows. I'm not really an expert about this yet. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do in this second life of mine. This whole time, I've just been doing what I want, doing things out of curiosity or necessity, sometimes out of false hopes. Even now, I'm looking for the exit with you 'cause getting out of this cave is the current priority at hand.
"..... Oh......"
There was a moment of silence that lasted for a while when the current suddenly sped up. We stumbled upon a ledge and the water continues to stream downwards. It was actually a waterfall so I had to make a stop and surface on land. Although I can see in the dark, there's only so far I can see in the distance. I don't know how steep it is.
Hey, bat. Can you tell me how far down this waterfall is with your echolocation?
"Echolo-wha?"
You know... your echo vision. Your sonar sensor thingy.
"......?"
You... you're a bat, and you really don't know?
"What does me being a bat have to do with anything?
Everything! I mean, how else are you able to navigate in the dark?
"I just rely on hearing to see where I'm going. Everytime my ears twitch, I see clearly. Though, it's not exactly seeing, it's more like several colorless shapes appear in my head"
Yeah... that's called 'echolocation'. So what do you see?
"I'll... have to take a closer look."
The bat nods his tiny head in response and flies over the falls. The falcon followed after him and dived down the falls to... somewhere. I wonder if falcons see in the dark too. He must've found a rock to perch on down there. It seems the river continues ahead.
The baby snake isn't on my back anymore. Falcon must've brought him down along with him. Now all that's left is me.
"It's pretty far down. Straight down, in fact. And, I don't know how deep the base of the waterfall is. Even if you jump, there's a chance you might-...."
Before the bat could finish, I had already tensed my leg muscles and leapt forward. My large figure still in the air as I slowly— gradually plunge towards where I believe water would be, hoping it would be deep enough to cushion my fall.
As luck would have it, the base of the falls was deep enough, thankfully. Just like the bat said, it was a straight fall, so there weren't any rocks to hinder me. I sank deep under the water, but I didn't hit the bottom. This basin is deeper than I thought.
I swam back up the surface. Meeting me there is the falcon perched on a rock extension by the wall with the baby snake curling his body around the falcon's neck. There was apparently no land around us at all. Just water from end to end of the cavern. There are stalagmites sticking up the water like spikes too.
How far down did I fall? Looking up, there are a number of holes up in the walls that are also releasing a torrent of water. There's water falling everywhere. We must be in some part of the cave where all the water is centered. I just now noticed how widely spacious this whole area is.
The bat comes flying down after me.
"Phew... you're alright. You had me worried there for a second"
I'm fine. So where to next? There's nothing but walls and water here, I don't see any openings around. But, if there's no opening, this entire cave should be submerged by now. Unless... the path continues underwater.