Word: Vastitude

vastitude

\ VAS-ti-tood, -tyood, VAH-sti- \  , noun;

1. vastness; immensity: the vastitude of his love for all humankind .

2. a vast expanse or space: the ocean vastitude .

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                Jill crawled out of the entryway of the Feline’s domain into the vast main cavern.  The blue light revealed nothing dangerous.  Kyle stood there already, having left the smaller section of the cave just before her.  He was keeping as keen an eye as possible open for any of the dangerous creatures that might be around.  It seemed like they had learned to keep away from that area of the cave though, and the only creatures in the place capable of killing them.  As such, as long as the two humans kept around the general area, they should be safe.  It was once they got farther away that they really had to worry.

                Jill had been in sporadic contact with the outside world a few more times since her original contact was made.  They now had a definite rescue coming, and maybe even a better prepared expedition to really find out about the local flora and fauna in the large cavern.  First though, they had to get back where they started. 

                “We good?”  Jill asked once she stood up.

                “Looks like it.  I don’t see anything around.”  Kyle responded.

                “Good.  Hopefully it stays that way.”  She cast a quick glance back towards the small opening. None of the Felines were coming through it. 

                Although it was difficult to say for sure, but Jill suspected they thought leaving the cave would be akin to some kind of religious journey, and therefore, must be taken only by the two of them.  Jill had tried to get at least one of them to come along, but it was an effort in futility since they couldn’t properly communicate. 

                Kyle nodded and started moving slowly through the cavern, taking care to set his feet down carefully with each step.  Jill moved behind him with the same slow, cautious steps.  The springy moss made normal walking difficult, but it would be helpful if they ran into one of the monsters that lurked the expanses of the cavern.

                “So, they know what to bring, right?”  Kyle whispered.

                “Yes.”  Jill said, rolling her eyes.  They had had this same conversation several times in the last hour alone.  “I made sure to tell them to bring multiple lengths of very long chain instead of rope, lots of flashlights, food and water, bio sample bags, and some kind of weapon.  They know what to bring.  Now stop asking.  The answer won’t change in the next five minutes you know.”

                “All right, all right.  I’m just a little nervous about this, you know?”

                “Yeah, me too.  But hey, if everything goes well, we can be out of this place before night falls.”

                “That would be good, yes.”  Kyle said.  A stray thought entered his mind when she said that.  “Hey, how long do you think we’ve been down here anyway?”

                “Huh?  Couldn’t have been more than a few hours.  Half a day tops.  Why?”

                “Nothing.  Just wondering.  What did your phone say though?”

                “I didn’t check the date, but I don’t think it was very long.  Why?  Something happening?”
                “No, just curious is all.  I mean, what if we were down here longer than we thought, and people have been searching for us?”

                “So what if they are?”

                “Well, people knew we were coming to this cave, right?  Well, wouldn’t we have heard of some other humans down here?  Even if we didn’t see them, we probably would hear them.  It’s not like there’s a whole lot of other noise down here.”  Kyle said.  Jill became more than a little nervous as he spoke.

                “Well, this is a pretty big place.  Maybe they were just too far away for us to hear.  Or, maybe they turned around before they even got to this cave.  That tunnel was pretty long you know.”

                “Yeah, I know.  But still.  I can’t help but wonder.”  Kyle caught a glimpse of movement from behind a butterfly covered stalagmite and froze.  He held a hand up as a signal to Jill, who stopped short. 

                Kyle knelt down and started crawling along the mossy floor, using his hands to get a better grip on the purple groundcover.  He slowly peaked around a corner and froze.  One of the large beasts was creeping along almost as slowly as Kyle was.  The membrane on its back protruded quite a bit, so it had likely just eaten.  Kyle slowly backed away and hoped the creature didn’t see him.

                Once he was out of view, he gave a silent signal to Jill.  She nodded in understanding.  The two continued on their way, hearts pounding and feet moving as quietly as possible. 

                It took them awhile, but they reached the wall of the cave.  The blue paint marks there were different than those they had first seen, so they were able to tell they were in a different part of the cave.  It was enough for them though, since all they needed to do was follow it until they reached the entrance to the tunnel they had come in from. 

                Hour after endless, silent hour crept by as they made their way through the cave.  Neither knew how far away they were, but at the very least they knew that every step brought them closer.  Sure enough, they came upon it.

                It was like a beacon to them.  A large, dark hole in the side of the cave wall.  The two of them looked at each other with glowing faces. Jill had to force herself not to yell in joy and start running.  Even so, both of their paces quickened just a little bit.

                Then, with just a few feet to go before they reached to tunnel, an odd growling noise issued forth from behind them.  Jill froze, not wanting to see what was there.   Kyle did turn.  It was one of the predatory creatures, smaller than the one he had seen earlier, but no less dangerous.  And, if the fat membrane on its rear was anything to go by, it was hungry.

                “Uh.  Run.”  Kyle said simply. 

                Both of them burst into as fast a run as they could, although it was more akin to a leaping stride than an actual run.  It didn’t matter to them though, as the springy moss let them move quicker than normal.  Kyle risked a quick glance over his shoulder and saw the beast was keeping pace with them.  Its lumbering body ran on the moss with surprising surety.  He didn’t stop to try and figure out why though.

                A few feet before the entrance, Kyle felt a sharp sting on his shoulder.  He let out a cry of pain and stumbled.  Jill stopped and turned. 

                “I’m fine, let’s go!”  Kyle said, standing while clutching his shoulder.  He felt the nub of the beast’s tooth digging into his skin, hitting his shoulder blade.  He did his best to ignore the pain and keep moving.

                Just as his foot touched the cold, hard stone of the tunnel, another tooth hit him, this time in his calf.  He stumbled again.  This time, his knees hit stone.  He could almost feel the cracks form in the small bones in addition to the blood trickling down his leg and back.

                Jill rushed over and tucked his shoulder around hers and hoisted him to standing.  She dragged him as well as she could away from the mouth, adrenaline moving her limbs more than anything else.

                “Thanks.”  Kyle muttered as he placed as much of his weight as he could on his own feet.

                “Uh huh.  Thank me when we’re away from that thing.”

                “Uh, I think we are.”  Kyle said, glancing behind them.

                Jill stopped and looked.  The beast was not pursuing them.  It stayed in the cave, growling and baring its fine, bullet like teeth at them for a minute before turning back. 

                “Huh. Guess it doesn’t like it in here?”  Jill said.  She set Kyle down on the wall of the tunnel before collapsing herself. 

                “Good thing to.”  He said, touching the tender skin around the tooth buried in his calf.

                “You’re not going to pull that out?”

                “Not until we get something to wrap it with.  Don’t you know?  Pulling something like this out only makes it worse, since there’ll be nothing to plug the wound anymore.”

                “Oh.”  She said.  Silence filled the cavern for a moment.  “Um, should we go?”

                “You go.  I’m not sure how well I can walk right now.  You should get moving, and I’ll catch up as soon as I can.”

                “You sure?”

                “Yeah.  It looks like those things won’t come in here, and someone needs to be there for the rescue team.”

                “Alright, if you say so.”  Jill said reluctantly.  She stood, took one more look at Kyle as he did his best to tend to his wounds, and headed off into the darkness.  

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It's been awhile since I've written for these two, hasn't it.  Hopefully I remembered how they act and such alright.  And you know, did a good job of writing the story in the first place and such.  

Oh and hey, if my calculations are correct, this story here marks the second anniversary of this little blog here.  Yay!  Maybe I should try getting someone to actually read it now.  Hmmmmm....