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Inktober Days 15 & 16: Outpost & Rocket

The three introduced themselves and compared stories of their slides into the cave. Cleo the Armadillo had actually been in the cavern for quite some time. She had tried climbing up the walls at least a dozen different ways, but each time she had fallen back down into the sand.

“I guess I’d better taken you to meet the crew. We’re not the only ones that have fallen through,” she told them and pointed to a low opening in the rock. They crawled through into a passageway that led through many small caves. It finally opened up into a high roofed cavern with an opening to the bright blue sky far above.

“Here is our outpost where we stay. Though soon we’ll get back to the light of day,” Cleo explained. The cave was a flurry of activity, most centered around a large scaffolding. Cleo announced the new arrivals and soon they were surrounded by other animals that wanted to meet them.

“Have you told them about our plan?”
“Will they help?”
“Do you think they can?”

After a flurry of questions, and many animated interruptions, Allie May and Hugh came to understand a rocket was being built to try and get back to the surface. The trapped creatures had spent a lot of time exploring the labyrinth of connected caves and collecting a strange assortment of objects. These were being used to construct the oddest vessel Allie May had ever seen. She could not understand how it could possibly fly, but she kept her doubts to herself as she watched the animals continue with their work.

Note: At the halfway point of Inktober it seems both the words and images are struggling a bit. I find myself in need of a day off, so I combined today and tomorrow’s prompts. I’ll be back with “Storm” on Saturday.

Inktober Day 14: Armor

“Hugh! It’s you without a doubt! But then whose tail is here sticking out?” Allie asked him as she pointed to what, on closer examination, was not a furry tail but a scaly one

“It’s not a squirrel, a hare, or a pig. To find out we need to dig!” he told her as his front paws started the excavation. Alllie May threw up her hands to block the flying sand then moved to the other side to help him. It did not take them long to unearth the big scale covered ball attached to the striped tail. Allie was worried by its initial lack of movement but as they watched four sets of plated toes emerged. A pink snout peeked out next and then shaking sand from her armor the creature straightened all the way up.

“Well, I am obliged you two were around. That time I landed quite deep down,” she said, holding out a paw in greeting.

Inktober Day 13: Dune

At first the hole was nothing but a tunnel of darkness. Allie May could not see Hugh or anything else. She kept reaching out hoping to find anything she could grip, but there was nothing. After what seemed like several minutes of sliding through wet blackness there seemed to be a bit of light ahead of her. The tunnel opened up and for a moment she was flying instead of sliding, then she was on her back on a bed of cool sand. She tried to sit up but instead rolled over and across a huge sand dune. When her movement finally slowed enough she could see she had landed in an enormous cavern. There was hole way above her that let in enough light to see a roof of glistening stalactites, walls of dripping stone, and just a few yards away her friend’s long tail sticking out of the sand. She half crawled, half rolled her way across the sand to dig him out. She smiled when she heard him call her name, but it sounded like it was coming from the wrong direction. She turned and saw Hugh somersaulting down the sandy hill.

Inktober Day 12: Slippery

“I am trying not to get too vexed. But I wonder what I will lose next,” Allie sighed and wiggled her very muddy toes. She was still surrounded by mud. She pondered which direction was the most likely to lead her back to firm ground. She looked over to where Hugh had slid down the tree and was bounding towards her.

“I think I hear Tuner’s favorite song! If we follow the sound we can’t go wrong!” he shouted excitedly as he jumped over the mud she had just been stuck in and barrelled right into her. He was not a small animal and everything around them was slippery. Allie May lost her balance and the two of them went sliding through the mud.

As they both frantically tried to find something to hold onto, the muck around them began to bubble and swirl. Before they could even understand what was happening a hole in the mud opened up and swallowed them right up.

Inktober Day 11: Disgusting

After their snack they climbed down with the plan to head back to the center of the garden. Hugh felt sure that he knew the way, and set out confidently, but the longer they walked the less familiar their surroundings seemed.

After leading them for what seemed a very long way he admitted his confusion, “I don’t recognize the clearing we just crossed. I am afraid we are rather lost.”

Alllie sighed. The clearing had been full of the most enchanting wildflowers. She had enjoyed looking at all the sights while they walked it had not occurred to her to worry about which direction they were going. She tried to think back to the view from the top of the tree and guess where they were, but she really had no idea.

“I’m not really sure what to say… I guess we should just keep going that way,” she said and pointed towards what looked like a path leading back into the trees. Matthie nodded his agreement and it seemed like a very good choice at first. However gradually the ground beneath their feet got softer. What started as a bit mushy was soon an expanse of mud. They tried to walk carefully, stepping on rocks and what looked like firmer spots, but they did not always succeed. One misjudgment landed Allie in mud that came up to her knees.

“Oh no! I think i’m stuck! This is rather disgusting muck!” she groaned as she tried to pull her feet out.

“Do not worry my new friend. A tree will help us once again!” Hugh was very excited to try and help. He climbed the nearest tree and scooted out onto a branch above her. He wrapped all four of his legs around the limb and held on as tight as he could, letting his tail down for her to grasp. Having something to pull on made all the difference. It took several yanks but finally she was able to move forward. Unfortunately when her feet finally came all the way out of the mud her shoes were not with them.

Inktober Day 10: Hope

Allie May climbed up to the limb from where Hugh had thrown the acorns.

“Thank you so much for helping me out, you saved my life without a doubt!” he said to her as he gave her a hug. “Look how I am still shaking with fear. That beast is not supposed to be around here.”

“Has he bothered you before? I hope we can still explore,” Allie’s breath, heart rate, and curiosity were returning to normal. “Let’s climb higher in this tree. I wonder what all we’ll see.”

She did not wait for him to answer but immediately started up towards the top branches. Her new friend came along right behind her. Once they got to the top the view was just as magnificent as Allie had hoped. Hugh was still trembling slightly but the beauty of the scenery in front of them soon calmed him. It was turning into a lovely day. Allie was glad to remember she had put a sandwich in her pocket before leaving her basket. She gave Hugh half and they enjoyed a tree top picnic. The sky above them was blue and clear. Below them the canopy of trees spread out like a patchwork quilt. It felt like there was no end to the possible adventures in store for them.

Inktober Day 9: Throw

Allie May’s mind and legs were both racing as she ran after them. She had only known Hugh a short while but he already felt like a friend. She needed to figure out how she could help him and quickly. When she nearly tripped over a big stone she stopped and picked it up. It was heavy but she was strong. With a running start she used all her bodily strength to throw it at the beast. The heavy stone landed squarely on the alligator’s back. He turned around and glared at Allie who was ready with another stone. Hugh scurried up a tree as she hit the alligator again, this time between the eyes. He growled and then started walking towards her. Her heart beat crazily in her chest. She wondered if she should run, but instead she picked up the biggest rock she could find, yelled as loud as she could, and ran straight at the alligator. She threw the third rock from a close range. It hit him on the head at the same time that a shower of acorns came down on his back. It did not knock him down but he appeared slightly stunned. Allie May used that time to climb up the tree after Hugh. The alligator shook his head and growled up at them, but then turned and headed back towards the pond.

Inktober Day 8: Teeth

The garden was quite large. After showing Allie the features around the circular paved center Hugh guided her across a bridge and down a twisting path that led into denser trees. Even in the shade there were interesting plants to admire. A willowy sculpture of a naiad emerging from a deep pool especially grabbed Allie’s attention. She was about to ask Hugh more about it when they heard a combination of splashing and snapping. As Allie turned around a huge set of teeth rose out of the water. Hugh shrieked and jumped as they snapped down close to his tail. A large scaly beast followed the teeth out of the water and lunged at Hugh who veered off the path and ran into the trees.

Day 7: Fancy

“Well, my name is Hugh, and I’m a Coypu,” the animal, who looked like an extremely large rat, introduced himself as Allie lowered herself down on the other side of the fence.

“My name is Allie May. And I’m having quite an odd day,” she responded as she looked around. They were in a garden. A very fancy but strange garden. As much of it was water as was land. There were pools of many shapes and sizes, with fountains and sculptures, exotic flowers of every color, and a stone path twisting around and across little bridges. The turtle was there, as well as his radio. Several enormous goldfish in the pool closest to Allie were halfway out the water dancing along to the upbeat song that was being broadcast.

“So do you like what you see? Isn’t this garden a great place to be?” Hugh seemed thrilled to be showing her around, pointing out his favorite features.

Note: I think to really draw this illustration the way I imagined it I need a piece of paper at least twice as big and several days worth of time to work on it. Let’s just consider this one a concept sketch for now.

Inktober Day 6: Rodent

However before Allie could climb through her newly formed window it was filled with a furry face. She stepped back in shock, almost falling down, as the largest rodent she had ever seen leaned through the opening and spoke to her.

“Well hello there, and how do you do? Come in, come in, we’ve been waiting for you!” he half said, half sung, then smiled widely showing two long and rather orange teeth.

“What? You’ve been waiting for me? I don’t understand. How can that be?” Allie stammered back in confusion.

“I heard the news from Tuner, the turtle, he was sure you’d pass every hurdle,” he answered, jumping down from the fence and motioning for her to follow.

“Ah, the turtle with the radio. I was so curious where he would go,” Allie admitted as she climbed up to the window and crawled through. Indeed, she had probably never been curiouser in her entire life.