The Mousecateers are in the cavern, standing near the magical underground lake they discovered after a long and perilous trek from the mouth of the cave. The day has been stressful. They don’t know whether they will be rescued or left to fend for themselves. They have just been discussing the possibility of one of them swimming across the lake, finding their way out of the mountain’s interior and alerting the staff at the resort to their situation.
They follow Sirin’s gaze downward.
‘Well, one thing is for sure,’ says Nero. ‘We won’t be swimming across there. It looks as if we need to scout this place out further, and then we need to go back to the main party to look for materials and some volunteers to help us build a raft. We will need something sturdy enough to get everyone across without attracting an attack from that monster.’
‘It’s a Pacific Longfin Eel,’ says Lucinda. Her pretty white tail is still bushed out from the surprise.
Instead of leaving anyone behind, Nero thinks it best they all return to the cave entrance. Lucinda will be needed to lead the way, and they will need several cats to carry the materials to this lake. He doesn’t want to leave a lone cat behind in this cavern with that monster. Who knows what might happen?
After they walk around the rocks at the edge of the lake, working out where to build a raft and picking up a few materials, the party sets off on their trek back to the entrance.
The images and videos were generated by AI from the author’s prompts.
