Chapter #3Hi Ho The Derry-O, A Camping We Will Go! by: FriskyBoots   A young feline woman stood atop the leaf-covered hill, deep in the woods outside her hometown. She took a deep breath, enjoying the musty smell of the various plant life. Brilliant emerald green eyes flitted back and forth as she used the hill as a vantage point, searching for a particular clearing. Her eyes lit up, her tail giving a happy flick, as she found the place she was searching for. Shifting the straps of the heavy pack on her back, so large it dwarfed the scrawny catgirl, she made her way down the hill. A few stumbles that thankfully didn't result in her rolling down the hill later, and she was plopping the oversized backpack on the ground with a small 'oof' of relief.
"Aaaaah!" She exhaled deeply, having sucked in a large breath of refreshing forest air. She loved that musty, woody smell. She camped in this exact spot every summer, had ever since she was a little kitten of a girl. She'd always loved the woods and having some peaceful quiet to herself for a few days was jut the thing she needed after a year of hustle and bustle. Taking a moment to push aside some stray strands of her long red hair, she set about getting all her things unpacked and in their proper place. After nearly an hour of work, she was done. Slapping her furry hands together to rid them of dirt, she plopped down happily on a small fold-up chair. Between the long hike lugging that heavy pack around and setting it all up, she definitely needed to kick back for a bit. Her thin legs were sore and complaining, and she took a moment to arch her back in an effort to work the kinks out of it and her shoulders. The hard part was over though! Now she got to sit back and relax, not worrying about anything and just enjoying the woods.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of the other thing she liked about camping; camping snacks! Rummaging through her much lighter pack, she retrieved the essential ingredient: extra large marshmellows! As far as she was concerned, it wasn't quite a camping trip unless you had marshmellows to roast and to make s'mores with. Plus, since she was out here alone, that just meant she got to keep all of it to herself! Tail flitting about in anticipation, she fished out some matches and got a campfire going. It was still a little early to be lighting a fire, but the sun wasn't that far from going down and the night would be cold anyways. Giving a small giggle of amusement as she squished a plump marshmellow between her fingers, she popped it into her mouth. She had long since found she was too impatient to simply wait for the marshmellows to be roasted, so as she chewed the tasty treat she set about impaling a handful of the fluffy white cylinders on a large stick and held them over the open flame.
The fire crackled and snapped, the flames just short of reaching the tantalizing treats she was dangling above it. Swallowing her small sample, her free hand dipped back to her bag and popped another marshmellow into her waiting mouth. Just as the marshmellows started to turn a crispy golden brown, her hand dipping back down to the bag for one more marshmellow... She found to her confusion that there was no rustling of her furry hand on plastic and no plump and squishy treats between her outstretched fingers. Confusedly, she glanced away from the roasting marshmellows and found the entire bag had somehow vanished! A rustle of movement caught the corner of her eye, snapping her gaze back in front of her to find that the roasting marshmellows on her stick had vanished as well!
"What the?" She muttered, confused and alarmed at her vanished treats. Standing up, she glanced around in search of an explanation or culprit. Not far away she spotted one. A big lump of snow-white fur sat on the ground. Big floppy ears and large hind legs, and the large puffball of a tail, gave it away as a rabbit almost immediately. Just a very fat one, looking like a ball of fluff more than a lean and spry animal.
"That hit the spot..." A loud sigh of contentment came from the rabbit, and it patted it's chubby paws on it's large belly appreciatively.
"Hey! Those were mine!" The tiger-patterned catgirl objected, an annoyed look on her face. Her stomach gave a rumble of support for her protest, having not had it's fill of the marshmellows either.
The rabbit didn't pay her any mind, pulling a gold pocketwatch from a fold of fur-covered fat. After fumbling with the latch and getting it open, the rabbit let out a surprised squeak and quickly stuffed it back where it came from. With surprising agility for such a fat creature, it bolted off into the woods.
"Oh dear! I'm late! I'm late for a very important date!" The rabbit's cry floated back into the clearing.
It took a moment for her to register what had just happened, her annoyance replaced with confusion. After a moment that was replaced with indignation as she realized it'd just stolen her food and run away, and she gave chase. There was no way she was going to let that rabbit get away with that! Her sandal-clad feet slapped against the leaves and snapped fallen twigs as she pursued the thieving hare, accidentally snagging her hair or shirt against a low branch here and there. Despite these mishaps, the large ball of white was easy to keep track of against the green and brown of the forest floor. The rabbit made a sharp turn towards a large tree, diving into a large hole at it's base.
"Oof!" The fat hair grunted as it's rotound middle stopped it from passing through completely. Flailing it's hind legs, the pursuing catgirl gave a cry of triumph as she quickly caught up. Just as she reached down to grab the thief by it's hind feet, a sound like a cork popping free of a bottle sounded and the hare vanished into the hole.
"Hey!" She cried out in frustration, fingers closing around empty air. She quickly dropped to her hands and knees, peering into the hole. Only pure black met her inquiring gaze, far to covered in shadows for her to see even the hint of a white rabbit in there. It was a large tree the rabbit had fled into, so she supposed even one as fat as that would have enough room to hide. Reaching one hand in tentatively, she flailed it around in search of anything. Her hand again met only open air, and with a frown she reached in with her other one as well. Still finding nothing, not even the feel of solid wood, she ducked her head through the hole as well. Having expected to smack against dirt or wood, she was surprised when she pitched forward, unbalanced and tumbling into the hole entirely. While she was much taller than the rabbit, her scrawny form was much thinner and had no trouble making it through at all.
Down she fell through the pitch black darkness, air rushing past her, and she let out a surprised shriek. Suddenly the darkness was broken by light far below her, and she screamed louder at the sight of ground below her. If such a long fall didn't kill her, it'd certainly break something! She slammed into the yellow ground hard... Bouncing back up? Too confused to be scared, she bounced a few more times, each time with less momentum, before she found herself simply sitting on the ground in confusion. She smacked the ground a few times with her hands, the spongey material wiggling and smooshing in response before going back to it's natural shape.
"Sponge?" She mumbled to herself, pinching it between two fingers. A small piece broke off, and she brought it up to her green eyes to get a better look at it. Squishing it between her fingers and turning it, her nose tickled as she got a whiff of a familiar smell. She tilted her head curiously, confused. That smell was... Sponge cake? That was impossible! How could the floor of a cave under the forest be made out of sponge cake? Compelled to prove it couldn't be sponge cake, she tentatively gave it a lick. To her amazement, it tasted exactly how it smelled. Now more curious than confused, she popped the piece of sponge cake into her mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. Her stomach gave a rumble of approval, and her eyes lit up in further amazement. It was sponge cake! Impossible or not, she was absolutely sure that's exactly what it was!
Standing up tentatively, giving an amused giggle as she bounced up and down on the spongey surface a few times, she glanced around for the first time. The 'cave' wasn't very large. It was a big round room, the ceiling so far up as to vanish in the darkness. She couldn't even tell where the hole she had fell through was. The entire floor was made of bright yellow sponge cake, and the walls seemed to be made of dark, smooth stone of some kind. On the far wall, the size of a mousehole, was a door. She blinked at it curiously when she saw it, but the large white table set in the middle of the room caught her attention first. A note sat upon it, along with a small clear bottle.
"Eat me...?" She read aloud, puzzled. She lifted up the small bottle, eyeing the contents. "Chocolate chips?"
After a moment, she shrugged. She didn't know where she was or what was going on but, that rabbit had come through here too. This note seemed like it was some kind of instructions, and there didn't seem to be any other way out. Unscrewing the lid, she fished out a single chocolate chip and popped it into her mouth. The taste of chocolate met her tongue, and she made a small 'mmm' of appreciation. Fishing out another chocolate chip, she popped it into her mouth as well when a strange tingling sensation prickled across her orange and black fur.
"Weird..." She murmured, looking at her hands and arms in confusion. Still wanting more chocolate, she dumped the whole thing into her hand and set the jar aside. Popping another into her mouth, she returned to examining the room. That doorway seemed like the only other thing worth looking at. Another chip into her mouth, the tingling still present. With a sigh, she looked back towards the table. That door was way too small. Another chip, and she paused.
"Wasn't that table taller?"   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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