Chapter 82: Underground
"Are you sure we should even be here...?" Luka asked.
"Beats me... that animal didn’t look friendly at all," Eris shook his head. He turned and stared at Karl who was following them from behind. "And why are you even here? You’re the last person I thought would follow."
Karl said with a firm expression, "I’m just paying off my debt, don’t overthink it," he said firmly.
Eris raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Or are you just looking for another lip feeding?"
Karl glared at him. "You stupid fox, I can really skin you of your furs if you don’t keep quiet."
Eris closed his mouth with a smile as he turned and continued moving. "Just saying."
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"We’ve been moving for a while now... Where exactly does that stupid animal stay?" Eris asked. All they could see was rock and sand through the tunnel.
They couldn’t help but wonder how far this beaver had moved.
"They stay underground. Based on what I heard, it’s deeper than this. So this is just their road... we’ll get there when we see a turn down."
"So we’ll be going deeper down?" Eris asked, shocked.
Little Black struggled. "I guess. So I think we should be..."
Before he could finish his statement, they heard a loud cry. It was the familiar cry of the quiet woman’s baby.
They all paused and looked ahead. Sunnie stretched out her light. Ahead, they saw another hole—one that would lead down. "I think that’s it."
They stared for a while before Sunnie led the way. They all followed until they got to the hole. The cry grew as they stared down into the hole; there were lights there.
It was clear that it was the home of the animals. It was just like a huge cave with rocks and openings at different places. There were fires set up at different spots to illuminate the place.
The six of them peeped down into the cave, taking a good look at it.
"Oh damn, that’s massive..." Eris said. "How many of those things do you think live in here?"
Little Black shrugged. "Three or something? I don’t know."
As they stared down, they saw the quiet woman’s baby crying. They had placed it on the floor as it stretched itself out, crying aloud.
"There she is..." Little Black pointed. "What now? Do we go and snatch it before they return?"
Sunnie didn’t even wait for them to finish deliberating; she simply jumped from above and landed in the cave.
Sunnie could tell it was because of her pregnancy, but she was feeling hyper and full of energy. She needed to do something to convert the energy; she really couldn’t stay in one place.
"What the..." They stared at Sunnie with shock, speechless.
She landed on the ground, tossed her fire stick into their fire, and then walked up to the baby.
"I guess she already decided," Luka blinked as Azure jumped down. Karl followed, then Luka. Eris stared at Little Black. "It must feel bad to be this little." He grabbed Little Black by his ears and jumped down.
"Ouch!" Little Black screamed as they landed, and it certainly did catch some attention because they began hearing movements around the cave.
Little Black covered his mouth with both hands as he looked around.
Eris stared at him. "Well, way to go, Little Mr. Screamy Pants."
Sunnie held the baby firmly, trying to console it as they looked around. Something was moving, and someone was coming as the ground began shaking. They knew they had to be ready.
"Let’s leave," Sunnie suggested as she tried running off, but the beaver suddenly burst out of a hole!
Sunnie staggered backwards as Azure held her from behind, preventing her from falling.
Everyone stepped backwards as they stared at the huge beaver glaring at them. It was scary, as though it was preparing to eat them immediately.
"How do we run now?" Little Black asked.
"We don’t," Sunnie said as she handed the baby to Azure, who stared at her, confused.
"We make ’em run." Sunnie stomped a foot on the ground and took to the air. She twirled and landed a hard kick on the beaver’s face.
The beaver was shocked. The kick had left it staggering backwards. It tried attacking, but Sunnie was faster.
One minute, Sunnie was behind it, landing a kick on its back that made it fall; the next moment, she had mounted the beaver, pulling it by its fur and ears.
Sunnie was everywhere and doing everything, so the beaver didn’t even know where to start. It tried screaming and swatting at Sunnie but to no avail. It couldn’t catch her!
The others stood there watching Sunnie move fast from all angles. Their eyes and heads moved with her—left, right, up, down. It kept moving as though they were watching an epic performance. And they watched until Luka grew dizzy.
"That’s a lot to keep up with," Luka shook his head as he continued watching.
Sunnie continued, faster this time, and before long, the beaver had fallen flat on its back, unconscious. It had grown exhausted trying to catch Sunnie, so it fell and didn’t get up at all.
Sunnie stood on its stomach as she turned and stared at them. "Well, I guess that would buy us some more time," she smiled, both hands on her waist.
They stared at her, wondering if she was still human or the goddess she claimed she was. They were beyond impressed.
"Wow," Little Black blinked.
Sunnie stepped down from the beaver and approached Azure, taking the baby from him. "Now that it’s done, I think we should start going before it gets up."
She held the baby as she turned to lead the way, but then came another sound. It was coming from the same cave, and Sunnie could tell that it was another beaver approaching.
Her smile slowly faded as they looked around. The place was shaking slightly, and it was clear what was coming.