Part 11: Down Under

Main story folder & table of contents: "Escape From Manitou Island" 
Previous chapter: "Part 10: The Third Degree" 

PART ELEVEN:
Down Under

CHARMIAN SCREAMED AND yanked her head away from the small cave in the ground, eyes squinched shut and mouth wide open. Thomas and Turtle gawked when she shot to her feet, something large and bristling dangling from her ear.

"GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!!" she shrieked.

Thomas blinked, then glanced around himself and picked up a fallen branch. Turtle started hopping up and down and yelling. Charmian wailed and spun in a circle, hands flailing, an ugly growling snarling noise filling her ear, which stung as if it were going to be yanked from her head. Thomas tried to aim at it, but she wouldn't stand still long enough; he gave up on the stick and hurled his arm forward instead. Charmian felt a chilly gust sweep over her and clamped her hands over her arms; the thing attached to her ear let go, and she heard it fall away with a loud thump and a snarl. She hopped frantically away from it, whatever it might be.

"WHAT IS IT?!" she screamed. "IS IT A BADGER?!"

"I don't know--!" Thomas managed to get out, when Turtle promptly trotted toward the bristling furry thing and held out her arms with a huge smile. The other two opened their mouths and yelled in panic.

"TURTLE!!"

Turtle just grinned. The furry thing stopped its shaking and snarling and its head popped up; a second later it launched itself at her, and Charmian was ready to blast a fireball at it, until she noticed that all that it was doing was licking her.

She gaped.

Turtle just continued grinning, the small furry thing slobbering on her face. "That's a good boy! Yes it is!" Charmian started to relax out of her tensed posture and leaned slowly forward, brow furrowing. For the first time she noticed that the wriggling furry thing looked like some sort of cub, but for the fact that it bore little feathery wings...and tiny horns upon its head...and a winding tail. This wagged back and forth as its hind end wiggled, and it licked Turtle's face as if she were an ice cream cone. Charmian's eyes widened.

"Is--is that what I think it is--?" she gasped.

Turtle managed to pull her face away from the creature. "This is Tiiku! He's my bestest friend on the whole Island! Of course I haven't been anywhere but the Island, but I hope to go somewhere someday, if I could only figure out where, though--"

Charmian hesitantly stepped forward, Thomas following. The little wiggling creature turned its head and promptly growled at them, muzzle wrinkling; but as soon as she saw its eyes she knew exactly what it must be. Charmian's face began to light up and she clasped her hands together, feeling giddy.

"An Ocryx!" she cried. "A little baby OCRYX!" She started hopping up and down, and her voice made Thomas wince. "IT'S SO ADORABLE!!"

"We hang out together ALL the time!" Turtle continued, lugging the pup back toward the cave; it--he?--had stopped his growling, and now his nose wiggled as he tried to catch their scent. Charmian held out her hand, giggling madly, and started practically cackling as soon as his cold wet nose touched her fingers. Tiiku's tongue then dangled out of his mouth and his tail whipped back and forth. Turtle's eyes grew.

"Hey, he likes you! He usually doesn't like people at first. You usually have to get to know him. But Tiiku's a nice person. Never had a problem with him. Always really nice!"

Charmian stooped down to look the Ocryx pup in the face. "You are SUCH a cutie!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together gleefully.

Thomas frowned a little. "So you mean to tell me there's another one, now...?" he asked, starting to come forward, when Tiiku's snarl returned and he snapped at his hand. Thomas jerked back in surprise but the other two barely noticed.

"Let me guess," Charmian said, Tiiku wriggling in Turtle's grasp. "This is X'aaru's and Khiieta's pup! Right--?"

"Uh-huh!" Turtle answered. "He's younger even than I am! At least Papa says he is, and Papa's never wrong, at least he told me so, and I don't know my age so he must know, because who else would know?--and--"

Tiiku finally freed himself and landed in Charmian's arms. She let out a scream and hugged him tight. "AAAAAIIIEEEEE!!"

Thomas rolled his eyes and approached the cave, getting down on hands and knees to peer inside. "Hello...?" he called out, and his voice echoed back; he frowned when there was no response, and glanced back at the others.

"Mind breaking up the party a bit?" he suggested. "It seems there's no one home."

"Huh--?" Charmian let Tiiku slip to the ground and approached the cave herself. "What do you mean, no one home...?"

Tiiku trotted to the edge of the cave and peered down. "Of course they're home!" he exclaimed, and Charmian's and Thomas's eyes goggled. "They're just busy!"

Thomas glanced at Charmian in time to see her eyes grow so wide that they threatened to fall from her head. "He...he...talks...?" she gasped, then her face scrunched up. "That is so frigging CUTE!!"

"What could they possibly be busy with...?" Thomas asked, sticking his head down in the hole again.

Tiiku perched right beside him, hind end wagging from side to side. "They were just busy looking down in the big crack, is all!" he said.

"Crack?" Charmian's giddiness at last started to fade and she frowned a little, stepping forward. "You mean like Crack-in-the-Island," she said tentatively. "Down in the cave. Right--?"

"No, I don't," Tiiku protested. "I mean the big crack that popped up last night. That's what I mean."

Charmian and Thomas looked at each other, then back down into the cave. After a moment they were both testing it with their feet, finding no footholds anywhere in sight.

"How does one get down in there safely...?" Charmian asked, biting her lip.

"Easy!" Tiiku wagged his tail. "You jump right in! I do it all the time!"

"You also have wings," Thomas groused. Tiiku growled at him and he flinched away before scowling.

"I don't even have to use my wings," the puppy protested. "It's a safe landing every time, and fun too."

Charmian pondered this for a moment, then let out a small sigh. "Well...if it's fun then it can't be all bad," she admitted, although Thomas gave her a dirty look. "Do you really think he could lie?" she asked, pointing at Tiiku, and the pup wagged his tail and let his tongue hang out past his chin. Thomas didn't look in the least bit convinced, but swung his legs into the cave just the same.

"Besides," Charmian said as she followed suit, "I know X'aaru and Khiieta, and they would hardly go choosing some unsafe cave to live iIIIIEEEEE!!"

She had let go and pushed herself off of the cave ledge, expecting to perhaps land on her feet or, at worst, her knees, a little distance below--yet instead she sailed through open space, before her feet touched something which slid out from underneath her, and a second later she was careening down into blackness. She heard Thomas let out a startled yell above her, and felt something tiny and stinging pelt against her. Fearing insects--or something even more ominous--she flung her arms up over her head, still screaming, then the ground disappeared again, and then she splashed into a pool of water. She fell forward, her head plunging under, but the bottom was mere inches away and she could feel something soft and springy when she dug her fingers into it. She jerked her head up and sputtered, shaking the water from her hair and blinking wildly. She couldn't see anything, but a moment later with a yelp she felt a great splash beside her and sputtered again. When something grabbed her arm she let out a shriek and hit it as hard as she could, and heard a startled yell in response.

"Charmian!!" Thomas cried.

"Oops! Sorry!!" Charmian pulled her arm back, cringing. "I can't see a thing down here! Where are we--? What's this stuff--?" She pulled her other hand out of the water with a grimace, and realized that whatever the soft springy stuff was, she was sitting right in the middle of a bed of it. She stuck out her tongue.

Something smaller splashed just behind her, then something slightly bigger than it landed on her other side. She gasped both times before remembering Turtle and Tiiku, and lowered her hand. "And what, exactly," she growled, "makes you think that was FUN--?"

"Easy!" Tiiku got to his feet and shook himself off, dampening them further. "The whoooooooo! And then the aaaaaaahhhhhhh, and then the aaaiiiiiieeeeeeeee!" She heard a tiny splash and then something wet was placed in her hand; she grasped onto it before making another face. It felt like what she'd poked her hand into earlier.

"Fire," she said. A flicker of fire appeared over her fingers, and the other two besides Thomas seemed impressed. Charmian eyed the sopping pine needles resting in her hand, then peered around herself at the pool of water. A thick bed of brown needles rested on the shallow pond bottom here. Another look around showed that the floor of the little cave they'd landed in was covered, more or less, with more needles, apparently having fallen down there and sifted toward the cave bottom over the years. Charmian realized that this was not only what had softened her way down as well as her landing, but what had stung her arms in the first place. She started pushing herself up, dripping wet.

"We must be below lake level," she mused aloud, staring at the smoothed but lumpy walls around her. "I had no idea this thing would be so deep."

Tiiku clambered onto the little shore and bobbed his head toward an opening. "C'mon! I'll show you the crack!" He disappeared within, and the others had to hurry to climb out of the water and catch up.

"So I guess a three-quarters Ocryx and a three-quarters Ocryx produce a...nother three-quarters Ocryx," Charmian said, obviously confused. She squeezed water from her shirt and vest. "I suppose this cave connects to Devil's Lake somehow...?"

"That's what Mother and Father say," Tiiku called out over his shoulder, "but they never let me go down certain tunnels. They say it could be bad luck. Our den is over that way," he said, nodding right. "The big crack appeared in this tunnel." He turned left and continued.

Thomas rubbed his head. "I really fail to see how one keeps everything straight...so to speak," he murmured.

"This is nothing compared to Scott's Cave," Charmian said with a wince. "Pray that no giant spiders show up."

"Actually, I think I'd like to see some giant spiders right about now..."

Tiiku halted so abruptly that Charmian nearly walked right over him. "Right that way!" he exclaimed, pointing with his nose and wagging his tail. "That's where the big crack appeared!"

Charmian got a skeptical look. "How come you aren't leading the way in...?"

Tiiku's lip stuck out. "Because I'm not allowed in that tunnel! Fft!" He made an odd noise which she assumed was the wolf equivalent of "Duh!"

Charmian cast him a dark look before stepping into the tunnel--she had to duck her head to do so. "You're a little bit snippy, for an Ocryx..." Thomas followed and she had to hold her hand higher in order to see. The air was warm but humid, and she grimaced a few times, feeling filthy.

It wasn't too long before the tunnel opened up into a long cave, which could have almost merely been a wider section of tunnel. She squinted and held her hand out to see two vague forms at the far end of it, close to the wall; as soon as she cleared her throat quietly they both moved, heads turning to peer back at her. She saw two pairs of green-and-red eyes and smiled, waving her free hand.

The bigger of the two shapes popped upright, and then started coming toward her. "Charmian--?" it said, and then started hopping up and down excitedly. "Look, she's back, she's back!"

The smaller shape began hopping up and down as well. "I knew she would come back! Because she said she would!"

Charmian approached the two and the light from her fire showed her X'aaru and Khiieta, the two demons grinning from ear to ear, tongues lolling out even further than Tiiku's had. She smiled and scratched X'aaru behind the ear, not quite able to stop him before he gave her a wet sloppy kiss; as soon as he pulled back Khiieta did the same thing, and she started laughing as she tried wiping the saliva off of her face.

"I'm glad to see you, too!" she exclaimed. "And Tiiku, who led me down here..."

"Oh! You've met him? I wanted to introduce you to him!" X'aaru let out a snorting noise that she took to represent disappointment. "I knew you would like him so much!"

"He's growing up so quickly, too!" Khiieta added. "Just yesterday he seemed so small...and now he's getting bigger and bigger...sometime we'll have to move out of the cave and into a bigger one!"

"Oh! That's not true!" X'aaru protested. "He'll never get that big..."

"Silly!" Khiieta retorted. "I meant for when all the REST arrive! You really didn't think we would have only one pup, did you--? I was hoping to have four or five or more! And at this rate we probably will!"

X'aaru's face started to go bright red and he looked as if he wanted to disappear into the wall; a second later Khiieta seemed to understand what she'd actually said, and her face went red to match. Charmian had to force herself not to laugh at their humiliation. "It's okay!" she said. "I think it's cute to want to have so many kids." They seemed to start perking up a bit and she gestured at the far wall. "Actually, it was Tiiku who sent me. He said something about a crack appearing, and I was hoping to see it for myself."

"Oh." The two demons glanced at each other. "Well," X'aaru said, "he wasn't supposed to know about it, because we didn't want him worrying..."

"...But it's opened up in that wall over there, and we don't know what it could all be about," Khiieta finished, as if they were reading each other's thoughts--which they very well could have been, she knew. They all glanced toward the cave wall. "I was kind of worried that Tiiku would fall in..."

"He knows how to fly!" X'aaru excaimed. "And how do you fall in on your side...?"

They started arguing quietly as Charmian and Thomas made their way toward the opposite end of the cave. Charmian could see the crack even before she reached it. She felt uneasy merely on seeing it, although she didn't have a concrete reason why.

This crack, in the lower edge of the cave wall, wasn't much wider than Crack-in-the-Island, but something about it made her feel tense. She stopped to peer through it as the others came nearer.

"When did you notice it...?" she asked aloud. "Since Tiiku made it seem like you don't come down here often..."

"Oh. We don't," Khiieta affirmed. "But there was an odd noise yesterday, like a chhkkkhhkkk..."

"No," X'aaru said, "it was more like a chhokkkkkhhkkk..."

"In any case, when we came down here to look, there was this." The demon tilted her head curiously. "Do you really think it means anything? I was starting to think maybe it's a shortcut to somewhere."

X'aaru shook his head adamantly. "It isn't a shortcut, but it's bad just the same!"

Khiieta made a scoffing noise as Charmian finished examining the crack and pulled her head back. "You just say that because everything smelled funny!"

Both Charmian and Thomas whirled to look right at her, and she blushed a little. "Smell--?" Charmian echoed, and turned fully toward her. "You mean whatever made the crack smelled--?"

"Well--yes. It smelled like fish," Khiieta said matter-of-factly.

X'aaru made a face. "No, it wasn't like fish! It smelled like fur!"

"Fur--?" Charmian got out.

"Yes, like..." X'aaru lifted his nose, as if thinking hard. "Bobcat fur."

Khiieta huffed. "It was nothing like bobcat fur! Why do you say that?"

"Because that's what it smelled like! Why do you say fish?"

"Because THAT'S what it smelled like! You've never even smelled a bobcat!"

"Yes I have! And when's the last time you smelled fish...?"

They started bickering again. Charmian supposed it was nice that they at least argued politely, and turned once more to the crack. She rubbed at the edge of it, and it troubled her that it was jagged, rather than moderately smoothed like everything else in the cave. There were broken bits on the floor, almost as if...

"Something was trying to break through," she murmured, and frowned.

The two demons stopped arguing and looked at her. "Huh--?" They approached and sniffed at the crevice. "Something was trying to break in...?" X'aaru asked uneasily.

Thomas got an odd look. "What sort of thing would try breaking into a cave like this...? If it wants to live in a cave then wouldn't Cave of the Woods or something be an easier bet?"

"I don't think it was looking to break into a cave so much as it was trying to just get through." Charmian chewed her lip, then looked up at Thomas. "From the lake."

He seemed perplexed. "You think this is connected to that other thing...?"

"It seems like a bit more than a coincidence, doesn't it?" Charmian asked.

"What are you talking about?" Khiieta asked with worry. "You said something's trying to break in from the lake--? Oh! It isn't a Nebanaubae, is it--?" She started shifting from foot to foot. "There aren't NEBANAUBAE down here, are there--?! Oh! They SCARE me!!"

"They're just fish people!" X'aaru tried to console her. "And if one tries to get in here, you know what I'll do!" He flared his wings and fluffed his fur and attempted a growl, though he didn't seem nearly as brave as he should have been.

"There's no Nebanaubae," Charmian said, which silenced the panicking demon. "It's just...a little something that popped up over on the West Bluff. That's all." She stood straight and rubbed at her neck, before reaching an arm into the crack and feeling around at the sides of it. "This appeared yesterday? With a lot of noise?"

"A weird chhkkkhhkkk noise," Khiieta said.

"No," X'aaru countered, "more like a chhokkkkkhhkkk."

"And it smelled like fish--or fur."

They nodded.

Charmian pulled her hand out of the crack and peered at her damp fingers. They gleamed a little in the low light cast by her other hand, and she drew them closer together. The others peered at her fingers and saw the coppery sheen there. Charmian felt her throat tighten, then rubbed the substance off on her vest and turned away from the tunnel. She waved at Thomas to follow, though he seemed even more confused than ever by now.

"X, Khi, I think it'd be smart if you block off that crack for now," Charmian advised as she walked. "No real reason--just in case. If it spreads, it might make part of the cave collapse."

"Oh." The demons glanced at the cave wall, frowning. "I never thought of that," X'aaru said. "We'll get right on it!"

"Charmian?" Thomas whispered, the tunnel coming back into view. "What are you thinking...?"

"Pakwa said he saw things in the lake," she whispered back, Tiiku and Turtle joining them. "That thing that I saw was in a lake. This cave has to be below lake level...and whatever cracked that wall was approaching from the outside...from the east." She gestured at the cave they had left behind. "Based on how far we walked, it has to go out under Lake Huron." She glanced at her fingers again as if they still gleamed. "I think we should talk with Niskigwun and Geezhigo-Quae again. Whatever those things are, I think they're trying to find a way to the Island."

Thomas frowned but said nothing. They made their way back toward the little pool, though it was only then that Charmian realized she knew no way to actually get out of the place. They stared up at the little opening and she sighed before scowling at Tiiku as soon as he flared his wings, and he lowered his head, abashed. She looked at Turtle. "How do you ever get out of here?"

Turtle blinked. "I fly," she said, as if Charmian were stupid for not knowing.

Charmian and Thomas stared at her. They looked at each other, then sighed a little bit. "Maybe there's another way out," Thomas suggested.

"There's bound to be, though we might be skeletons by the time we FIND it!" Charmian started to say, when a pebble struck her on the head and she winced, holding up a hand. "Ow! Who did that--?"

"Charmian?" a faint voice from above called. They all glanced up to see a silhouette peering down at them; Charmian squinted, and could tell from its shape that it must be Niskigwun. "Are you down there--?"

"Yeah! It's us!" Charmian hopped up and down a little and waved her hands. "Please come get us!! There's no ladder or anything!"

Niskigwun tilted his head, then vanished from sight. A moment later he reappeared and the hole grew dark, then the air breezed around them and they all crept back toward the walls. Charmian kept her hand with its flame raised as the Michinimakinong landed on one foot in the pool; he made a face, and looked as if he wanted to hop out, yet held his place. He waved at her.

"There's been a development," he said. "I think it would be best if we went back to the Sky Tree."

"Development...?" Charmian stepped toward him. "I really don't like the sound of that..."

Thomas took a step forward as well. "You'll come back for me, right--?" he asked with a frown; Niskigwun glanced at him, then got a very odd look. Charmian mock-slapped his arm.

"Come on, he needs help out too! And Turtle, too, though I think Tiiku will be all..." She trailed off when Turtle hopped up and down a few times, tiny wings popping out of her back; she drifted up toward the cave opening and stuck out her tongue at Charmian as she did so.

"Told you I could fly!" she said, and floated up and out of sight.

Charmian and Thomas stared after her with wide eyes. When Charmian glanced at Niskigwun he just shook his head wearily. "She does not surprise me anymore." He made certain that Charmian was settled on his back properly and flared his wings. "Your friend will just have to wait for his turn," he said, at which Charmian had to give Thomas a sympathetic shrug. His mouth twitched but he crossed his arms and stayed where he was; Niskigwun crouched, then pushed himself off abruptly, the two of them zooming up at the little opening so fast that Charmian thought for sure her head would strike the side and kill her. She shut her eyes tight and felt Niskigwun's wings fold beside her; then there was a great jarring motion, and she gasped and clutched at him tighter to avoid falling. The Michinimakinong was busily scrabbling out of the cave, and he halted halfway through, panting and glancing at her over his shoulder.

"Go on!" he wheezed. "I'll go and get him now. If I do not fly fast enough, this opening will tear my wings off!"

Charmian nodded quickly and clambered over his shoulders, jumping onto land. She dusted at herself, surprised to see not only Turtle but Pakwa standing nearby; she glanced back down to see that Niskigwun had vanished, though he reappeared a moment later, with Thomas; they both crawled out this time, brushing wet pine needles from themselves and peering down into the cave. Tiiku fluttered out and alit upon a rock near its edge, cocking his head curiously.

"All right," Charmian said, turning back to the panting Niskigwun. "What's this about a development? Don't tell me something's gone wrong after all--!"

"Not...not precisely," Niskigwun said, still trying to catch his breath; he winced and rubbed at one wing. "Rather...something odd seems to be happening, yet what it is, I cannot say..."

Pakwa pointed westward. "Spoke with lake demon. Says there's a little problem in bottom of the lake."

"Problem--?" Charmian stared at him. "What sort of PROBLEM?" Her face screwed up. "And I thought that was a BOTTOMLESS lake--!!"

"Figure of speech," Pakwa said, giving her a sour look. He shuffled himself and sat down. "Says something broke down in the lake."

"Broke?" Charmian snapped. She waved her hands. "What do you mean, BROKE?!"

He shrugged. "Something broke. Didn't ask what, he was in a bad mood."

Charmian started pulling on her hair. "This reminds me of what the Dreamspinner told me," Niskigwun said, drawing her attention. His face was grave. "He...did not say quite the same thing...yet he said that he had heard something, from some of the manitous, who heard it from the Nebanaubae. The manitous wished to know where the Nebanaubae were going--as they were all departing from the water. The Nebanaubae mentioned something about..." He paused, then frowned, perplexed. "About the water being bad." He rubbed at his head. "What do you suppose that even means? Water being bad? The water looks exactly the same as it always has..."

"That's what X'aaru and Khiieta said," Charmian said, silencing him. "A big crack appeared down in their cave, and it's wet, and they said it smelled funny. Just like Augwak said about what happened on the west shore." She started walking. "Right now, I think a trip to the Sky Tree would be a really good idea."

The others looked confused but started following. Charmian located the nearest trail and turned east, rubbing at her neck. I hate even thinking this, she thought to herself, but I wonder if Geezhigo knows more about this than she said--? She sends Niskigwun, then doesn't tell what it is that she's worried about. It's obvious she knows SOMETHING, but how much--? Will any of this make sense to her? If she knows something, then why doesn't she trust me...?

Mainlander, a different voice said, and she gasped and halted so abruptly that she nearly tripped. Everyone else halted as well, staring at her; she put a hand to her ear and blinked at the trail with wide eyes.

Thomas came to stand beside her. "What is it?" he asked, his voice leaving no option to just not answer. "Someone spoke to you, didn't they?"

Charmian paused before nodding, still touching her ear.

"Who was it?"

She chewed on her lip, then peered up at him, eyes still wide. She blinked.

"I think...I think it was Chakenapok," she said.

Continue:

Part 12: Signs  (13+) Barrington discovers his whereabouts, and Chakenapok sends some strange information... #1199442 by Tehuti, Lord Of The Eight

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