A newfound friendship is yours for the taking
Trust is a must
Was this that newfound friend that had been written about earlier?
Louis could not reason correctly.
He cut the bush, once again.
His silhouette vanished into the entangling bush once more. It surrounded him, the vines and thorns cut deep into his legs and ankles, engulfing him in a flash. He disappeared from view, into the heart of the bush.
Agony, real pain, and fear gripped him once again.
A small pool of warm blood, pooled at his feet.
The cave troll hesitated by the bush; he glanced downwards, sniffing the moist, humid air. His nostrils flared as he leaned in closer and slobbered. The mucus fell from his engorged, black lips, splitting the branches below, moving them about.
Louis was covered from head-to-toe in a warm gooey slime.
He was frozen steadfast in place.
Louis quaked in fear.
He did not make a sound.
Louis's breath was controlled and shallow.
The cave troll mumbled something underneath his breath that was indiscernible, wiped his craggy mouth with his dirty, tattered sleeve, then proceeded into the bowls of the vast cave, following the black stream as it meandered along.
Danger had been diverted for the moment.
"His name is George...George the Cave Troll," offered up the voice.
Louis gulped once.
He stopped shaking only long enough, to realize that he was bleeding from his arms and legs, he dropped Chug's pocketknife to the ground. The bush retreated; the piercing thorns and vines released their grip. He now found himself under the canopy of thorns and blueberries hanging about. He was still entombed but not under attack from the bush, as before. The black stream ran under the bush feeding its thick, gnarled roots.
"He patrols this cave on a regular basis. He is the warden, the keeper or whatever you want to call him."
"Is he friendly?"
"Can be if he has been well-fed, lately".
"Has he?"
"Don't know. I can only guess, but you and I are still alive."
"Then you are...a...ah..." Louis fumbled in his thought; he could not see a figure in the thicket, he could only hear a voice "are you a creature of the dark...of the Neither World...then?"
"I am a thief".
Louis thought he had made the right decision to go into hiding, he trusted his inner instincts.
He was still alive, only by the slimmest of margins.
"I am not a resident of this foul cave, or this unclean world, I have been punished and sent here. You see I am a burglar, a common pickpocket and bandit. I was caught; this is my destiny now to live inside of the eternal Blue Hour, in the inner sanctum of the Under-World."
"Who caught you? Who sent you here?"
Louis scanned the faint blue light inside of the bush. A movement finally caught his attention at the far, backside of the thicket. There was a small figure sitting on a rock, overhanging the black stream. His toes were splashing in the dark foreboding waters. He was eating the unnatural blueberries off a nearby thorn-covered vine. His hands appeared to be furry, and he had two oversized ears at the top of his head.
Louis narrowed his eyes once more in an attempt to clarify his vision.
"I can see you...I think...are you sitting on a rock, not more than fifty paces in front of me, eating?"
"That is I...I the thief...hide your vegetables, if you have any".
Louis thought that an odd thing to say.
"Why would I hide my vegetables?"
"Because that is what I steal mostly."
A tentative few small steps were taken by Louis towards the far side of the thicket, around a very large group of roots, found at the center of their prison. The blue fogs swirled about his feet, the cave troll drool, dripped from his body.
As Louis approached, the figure jumped to his feet, swallowing the rest of his lunch.
"They really are not that bad once you get a taste of them. They turned my stomach the first few times but..."
"Your voice sounds very familiar...and...and...are you...?"
"Yes I am the same..."
"Digger!"
"Louis...I thought that was you" said the undersized rabbit.
"What are you doing here in this horrible place...? I have not seen you for so long. Last time was during Thanksgiving last year. You stole most of the vegetables for our holiday meal from Mr. Beamer's garden. Is that when you got caught?"
"Why yes. I went back to my rabbit hole with my booty, only to be pulled by my furry feet, deep into the abyss. George the Cave Troll had grabbed me...and here I am...and have been, for the longest time."
"It was written in the Good Book of Thebes that I would...that I would make a new friendship and have, to trust inside of that friendship...for my salvation. Are you that friend, Digger? You see I am on a quest to find Shambala; to become a High-Thinker."
"I don't know about all that, but if you need a friend, I can be that friend. You see I dwell alone in the dark and have been captured, as you are now but you see, you made the choice to enter into this thorn-filled prison; I did not."
"Yes I did. I could have run. I could have been free to fight the cave troll. I might have bested him. After all, I have already bested a hungry ancient cave bear. And what is the difference between him and a cave troll? But I trusted you, so therefore you are now my friend."
"Trust is a tricky word. I am a trickster remember, I am a thief. I will steal whatever I can to better myself; I have a dark side to me."
"But since you agreed to be my friend you would not steal from me, nor mislead me, because real friends will not do that to each other."
"You are right Louis. I knew who you were in Centerville, and I knew that you tended Mr. Beamer's garden, so I did in an off-hand way steal from you as well, but since we just agreed to be friends, I will not steal from you again. I have learned my lesson by way of my imprisonment in this evil thicket."
"Then how can we be free from this prison? You seem to know the answers to my questions," said a perplexed Louis as he placed a forefinger to the side of his nose.
"I do not know that answer, to that question or I, like you would not be entombed as we speak. I would be living in the light of the day, and back on Mr. Beamer's farm. If you are to be a High-Thinker then you have to think, and solve that question yourself."
"You're right Digger...let me think...then."
Digger started to circle Louis with his large fluffy ears, hanging to his sides. He placed a finger upon his nose as Louis had, in a slightly mocking gesture that was fleeting to Louis.
Circling counterclockwise in small circles both, were lost in deep thought.
"Maybe when I fell from the clouds into this hole, I lost my chance for my enlightenment. Maybe the test, or my one chance for enlightenment has already been lost, and this is my punishment for failure."
"That could be."
"But maybe there is more to this than meets the eye. I must do something..."
"And what is that?"
"High-Thinkers" must...must...think..."
Just as Louis spoke out another loud thump came from the far side of the cave.
"Quiet...for we are not alone, once more" queried a worried Digger.
Both immediately ran for the cover of the large roots in the center of the thicket as another large figure, stirred the blue fogs of the cave, splitting in two, the faint blue lights with his massive shadow.
The shadows grew nearer as Digger quietly spoke out.
"A Centaur and an Ogre" said the frightened thief, "It is Harry the Centaur and Olly the Ogre. They are heading in the direction of George the Cave Troll. He calls them...he does..."
"Who calls them Digger?" inquir
ed a frightened, whispering Louis.
"Petar...the Dark Haired One...The Black Fire..."
As Olly and Harry ambled down the trail along the black stream, they mumbled between themselves, they did not notice the two prisoners below their feet, trapped in their thorny cell.
Louis overheard a few impassioned words, as they passed by.
"Dragon the Dragon, will he be there as well?" asked Olly, in a low gravelly voice.
"Yes, so will George the Cave Troll. Growlar and Broadfoot, the twin cave bears were to come, but they both were murdered within the last few years. Paragus knows of the killers; he will have his revenge during the rising of the dark moon at the summer solstice in a few days. All are being called from the darkness of the Under-World, to rise up once again."
Louis and Digger shrunk in fear as the great beasts, slowly ambled pass.
Both prisoners mumbled sighs of relief, as death slowly passed them by, once more.
Digger turned towards Louis and again, spoke in a shaky voice.
"Paragus is a Minotaur...he helps rule the Neither World."
"He is Petar's father...is he not?" asked Louis.
"No, he is just a servant of the Dark Lord; Petar's father is a serpent who rules the Neither World."
"Are you sure Digger? How do you know all of this?"
"I have been trapped in the Neither World for months now dining on these awful blue berries, and drinking this fouled water. It appears that this is the central trail, where all the things that menace in the night traverse. I have overheard their conversations on many occasions from my hiding place, from inside of my prison. It appears that, Petar's father has grown in evil power over the years, during his dwelling in the Neither World; he has grown more powerful than ever, and has now evolved and transmogrified into an underworld, going against nature beast."
Louis stood up a little taller, taking a deep breath of conviction.
"I now know my true destiny, if I can only escape from my present reformatory. If what you say is true, then I am to face Petar Aden Deegan's father...this serpent, in the half-light of the next dark moon's passing."
"You are the Chosen One then?" asked a very confused Digger.
"Yes it truly appears so, from what I have been told. You see this is my quest, this is my training, to becoming enlightened and save the world, but I have failed. I find myself trapped inside of this Blue Hour darkness with no means to escape now. As all the dark creatures of the night are gathering in the nothingness, in the darkness, I am helpless to help."
Both looked at each other for comfort, but none could be found.
Both now sat upon a large root at the base of the black stream. Louis was ever so hungry but he dared not to eat a blueberry, or drink from the unearthly dark waters. This would only make him sick, he knew it. He had to deny himself the obvious if he were to survive. He was wet, cold, hungry, and alone in the dark with a thief; he now calls friend.
His only friend in the world, it appeared.
He tried his best to think of comforting thoughts: about Centerville, his Molly, Chug, thoughts about his loving mother, and prideful father.
He had failed them.
Maybe he was not the Chosen One after all.
Doubts grew in his mind and heart, once again.
Louis's cobalt blue eyes shone brightly in the dim blue, unearthly lights of the cave when a stunning revelation entered his mind: he had left two of the three sweet rolls that Elwood Booker The Farmer, Horus the Elder, had given him. There were three. One had been offered to Harpeia and her sisters. Two were left, to be used later (according to Charlie's plan), but Louis was too weak of mind to think about that now, too unsure in his thoughts, just too hungry.
He reached into his backpack in a flurry, finding the sugary delight right where he had stored them, only a week before. As they appeared in the soft light, out of the bag, Digger's eyes lit up; he licked his blueberry blue colored lips, with his blue berried blue, colored tongue.
"What are those two delectable looking things, Louis?"
"They are a gift from a friend."
A cunning smile came across Diggers face, as his mannerisms changed to that of a thief again: which Louis did not notice due to his constant hunger.
"As you can see I am most thin right now. Downright skinny, do you not agree? Rabbits should not be this skinny. Could an undernourished and very skeletal looking rabbit, who is your new best friend, have those to eat? Remember it is better to give than receive. You would be re-gifting to a friend in need."
Digger smiled inside of his cleverness.
Louis paused to think.
"But I am so hungry, and you can eat these here blueberries, from our prison walls. I cannot. They will make me sick. I will surely die before you if, I give you my only nourishment left, and these are special delights."
"But I am your friend."
"It is bad enough that I even think of eating these sweet rolls. I will get in trouble with Mr. Beamer, and Charlie if I do. They are a part of a greater plan, that I am not quite sure of yet but you are my friend, and I do not want to see you suffer. Oh, what shall I do?"
"Well I am smaller than you, so I cannot forcefully take them from you. I am not very menacing, so I cannot scare them from you, and I am surely not any smarter than you are, because we are both trapped due to our stupidity, and lack of common sense, to be in this predicament in the first place. You will have to decide by yourself," said Digger, once again smiling at his cunningness.
Digger sucked in his belly.
Louis looked at Digger's ribs showing through his fur then looked at his thin arms and forlorn face.
Digger let his two furry ears droop even lower, down the sides of his face; his two lovely brown disarming eyes, hollowed.
Louis concluded his thinking, finally coming to a natural conclusion.
"We are stuck in the Under-Dark world, of these caverns and subterranean tunnels of the Neither World, with no chance of escape.
None...
Now, if I cut the branches of this thicket with my pocketknife again, the branches will once again, tighten around my legs and arms, and the thorns will cut deep into my flesh. I will die in this going against nature lit world, filled with twisted, bad-tempered beasts. You will live longer than I will, because you can survive on the blueberries and dark water, I cannot. However, you are right it is better to give than receive, so I will share with you, even when it will shorten my own natural life. Here take them both, and enjoy them friend."
Digger rubbed both of his furry hands together, and then reached for the sweet rolls. He relished in their taste. Four quick bites and they were gone.
Louis smiled friendly at Digger, "You would have done the same for me; I know it because you are my friend as well!"
There was a rustling inside of the thicket, which alarmed Louis and Digger. Louis jumped upon another large, thick root found nearby. It diminished and started to retreat, into the earth below Louis's feet.
"It retracts. The bush is thinning!" yelled out an excited Digger "freedom will be ours!"
"Wha-t the heck...?"
The thicket (after a few more moments), disappeared from view, totally swallowed by the black dirt below their feet, only one white, lone delicate flower could now be seen in its place.
"I don't understand Digger. What happened...why are we free from the grasp of this strange evil?"
"I think I understand Louis. You did a selfless act. You placed me before yourself. You performed an act of, High-Thinking...a complete act of selflessness. Your training is complete. You are enlightened at last."
Just as Digger's proclamation was finished, a ray of warm sunshine appeared over their heads. It grew wider and brighter. A cool gust of fresh air surrounded them, brightening their sprits. Looking upwards, Louis took in a long, deep breath, filling his
small lungs to their capacity with fresh Tibetan air.
Louis took one of Digger's hands in his, grabbed his backpack, flinging it over his shoulders, and they were away towards the life giving sunshine. Climbing up, the sides of the cavern and out through the rabbit tunnel they went. Louis started to whistle, as Digger started to thump his toes, in a musical fashion after every other hop.
Appearing into the warmhearted sunlight after a long climb, both hugged each other when they reached the safety, of the ending of the tunnel.
"I owe you a favor Louis, you saved my life. Whatever you need, you just ask, I now promise as before, to call you friend and not steal from you in the future."
"Will you come with me on my quest then? You have keen eyesight, you are a natural born thief who may come in handy in the future, and yes you do owe me a favor that I will hold you to."
"Yes I will come with you, plus I know a few things about the Under-World and a few things about the peculiar beasts that lurk there. I might come in handy after all," said Digger as he hopped onto Louis's thin shoulders.
As Digger did this Louis looked down only to see, the white flower (from the prison thicket), held in his left hand.
The ground closed up behind them; the dark gate to the Neither World was gone from sight. Just as they turned around to scan the horizon, and gain their bearings, Louis looked up to see a delirious sight: Charlie's considerable outstretched white wings, fluttering, high above him.