Jungle Tunnel

Peach Pit, the euoplocephalus Fainel and her charges had found blocking their way, was a mess of laughter.

“Alright, alright!” he shouted, struggling to roll back onto his front after laughing so hard he fell over. “Good show! You’ve definitely earned your entry into Atlantis.”

Relieved, Fainel let the two oviraptors fall into her hands and didn’t toss them up again. Juggling them had been difficult, not to mention nerve-wracking. The poor things were so light! So fragile!

One of them had clearly enjoyed their role more than the other. Macaw looked like he’d just had a fun tumble down a hill.

“Please, put me down gently,” Hummingbird said. “I feel a little nauseous…”

“If you three want to find the safest way deeper into the jungle—one that won’t pit you against the aggressive plant life—I happen to know the way. Or you could go exploring on your own.” He stood up and shook the dust from his scruffy pelt. “Though I wouldn’t recommend doing that. You little ones were part of the flock that went topside, aren’t you? And the young lady hasn’t been down here before, if I had to guess. This place can be hostile for newcomers.”

Hummingbird blushed, not sure how to handle Peach Pit’s overly familiar attitude. “I hatched down here,” Hummingbird said. “But Macaw did on the surface. I was really little when we all left.”

Fainel suppressed a giggle. It was hard to imagine Hummingbird being any smaller than she was now. “You don’t remember anything about living down here, then?”

She frowned, thinking hard. “Uh, I wasn’t I was allowed to leave the nest very much, because of all the plants. Even the ones that weren’t hungry could trip you up, or you’d wander too far and get lost… that’s what my parents told me, anyway.”

Macaw blew a raspberry. It had taken all of eight minutes for him to nearly get eaten by a giant sundew.

“Your parents taught you well, then,” said Peach Pit.

Fainel agreed. “But I can see why they would want to move to the surface, once they were able to.”

Hummingbird nodded.

“How is it, topside?” Peach Pit asked her. “Do you like it better than down here?”

“It’s, um… not as scary as Atlantis, if that’s not too mean.”

“It’s pretty overgrown down here, isn’t it? A lot of dinosaurs have been coming down from the surface, and a lot of them have gotten themselves into trouble. If you’re not used to it, it can be pretty rough.”

“But it’s all you’ve ever known, so getting around is like second nature to you,” Fainel said.

“Exactly.” Peach Pit scuffed the ground with one of his front feet. “So, are we heading in together?”

“That would be very kind of you, wouldn’t it, Macaw?”

Macaw nodded quickly, eager to get moving again without worrying about a plant gobbling him up.

“Hummingbird?”

“We’ll make better progress if we have a guide, right? I say we go with him.”

“It’s agreed, then,” Fainel said, unable to hide her smile. The little ones were adorable, even when they weren’t trying to be. And she felt like they were growing more mature and learned every day—even Macaw, excitable as he was. “We’ll follow your lead, Peach Pit.”

“Excellent! Let’s get moving. The climate simulation will make it nighttime soon, and believe me, it’s much harder to get around Atlantis in the dark.”

The trio had grown into a quartet. Peach Pit moved as easily through the sprawling undergrowth as a salmon swimming upstream, both of which Fainel found equally impressive. The stone warrior was stout and round, yet Fainel was the one tripping over vines with her longer legs. And the oviraptors weren’t doing much better.

Peach Pit was kind enough to notice and help them out. “Would you little ones like to take a ride?”

“Yes, please!”

Fainel wished she was small enough to be carried through the jungle, but wishing wasn’t going to get them through any faster, so she kept her disappointment to herself.

Their journey took them to a river, which they followed until they met its source: a towering waterfall. To Fainel’s shock, Peach Pit effortlessly slid behind it on a narrow shelf of rock. She very carefully followed behind, finding a cavity hidden behind the veil of water. The space was just big enough for Fainel and Peach Pit to stand next to each other. At the far end of the cave was a dark tunnel.

“Alright, kids, time to get off,” Peach Pit said, lowering himself to the ground. “No more angry plants here. You can make the rest of the walk yourself.”

Fainel gave Peach Pit a wary glance. There was nowhere else to go, aside from heading back out into the jungle, other than heading further in. “We go in there? In the dark?”

“Dark?” He laughed. “It won’t that way for long. Just put one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get there eventually.”

Ominous. This euoplo made Fainel a bit nervous; she could never quite tell what he was thinking. Hadn’t he said Atlantis was more dangerous in the dark? But he’d been very kind to them, and she didn’t see why he would lead them too a dark, mysterious cave just to have them be eaten by a monster or something. Besides, she had to put on a brave face for the hatchlings that were with her.

“Thank you for guiding us,” she said to Peach Pit. Then she took a bold step towards the gaping darkness. “Come on, you two.”

Even Macaw seemed a little hesitant. But Fainel believed in them, and soon enough she heard the tapping of little claws against the rocks at her sides. “Be very careful, she told them. I don’t want to step on either of you.”

The darkness only became more pervasive the further they went, as the light from outside grew more and more distant. Fainel made Macaw walk on the opposite side of Hummingbird, and had Hummingbird… hum, to make sure she knew where the hatchlings were walking.

“So, that’s why I think sardines are tastier than salmon… Hey, look! There’s light up ahead!”

Somehow, there was, despite the cave not opening up to the outside. But as the group drew nearer, they began to notice moss and mushrooms growing on the walls and floor of the tunnel. And they glowed a vivid, neon blue. If it weren’t for the strange color palette, they chased away the darkness so well it almost felt like Fainel was out in the daylight.

“I can see what he meant when he said it wouldn’t be dark for long.”

“Yeah,” Hummingbird said, breathless with awe. “Macaw! Don’t eat the weird glowing moss! Everything down here keeps trying to kill you, you don’t have to make it easier.”

Macaw stopped, mouth open, and glanced over at Fainel.

“Please don’t eat it.”

He visibly wilted, his tail dragging along the rocks.

Maybe Fainel would let him have a nibble on their way back.