Well, standing around a dead creature was not very good for our health, so the Doc grabbed Smelly’s head and off we went, where several rest periods found us well down the tunnel without further incident.
During one rest period someone brought up the fact that we didn’t have a group designation or name, so ideas were tossed around and discarded just about as fast as they came up.
It was one of the scouts, Jarod by name, who pointed out the obvious.
“Look; we have Tiny plastered all over our shields and our leader has a nickname which fits him. The Titan. Why not call ourselves Titans. Besides, look at all of us. Smallest guy in the group is Shorty (Shorty grumbled a reply which his mother would have swatted him for. His vocabulary was really quite large.) who’s six feet two in his bare (ugh) feet. Like it or not, we’re all Titans.”
There was a moment of silence in which we all looked at each other, followed by mass nods of assent. So it was that, for better or worse, we became ‘The Titans’. Feeling proud of ourselves, we continued our journey, on down the trail, still thus far unmolested.
Interesting note here. We had begun to notice something peculiar about our glowing plant life. It increased and decreased on a daily cycle, matching the approximent rise and fall of the sun in the outside world.
Try as he might, the Doc couldn’t understand why this was so. After scratching his head, Doc cut off some samples to study more closely, leading to another puzzle.
When cut, the flowers and moss stopped glowing, turning brown and lifeless in one’s hand. Okaaay. That was something new.
It was on our tenth rest period that things began to liven up.
We were camped in a small clearing just off the trail. Most were asleep, with some quiet murmuring here and there among the still awake. Guards were at their posts and all was peaceful and well.
Wizzz…thunk!!
The speed at which we woke up and moved almost brought tears of pride to my eyes. Actually, I was more concerned about the spear sticking out of some bushes nearby. It wasn’t one of ours.
Wiizzz….thunkthunkthunk!!!
Several more of those things landed among us as we formed ranks and immediately turtled. Surrounded and covered with our shields, with one lonely penant rising from the center, we had time to shake off the sandman and take stock of this new developement.
As we looked in the direction of the incoming spears, a rather odd sight greeted our disbelieving eyes. Little furry butts were scrambling into the distant bushes, while more spears came our way. I didn’t know whether to laugh or head for better cover.
[…] Chapter XII Published in: […]