The Cave	
                                                                        (Part 1 of ??)
                                                                 By Skreft L'Mont

                "Dudes, come on!" James barked, glancing back at his companions. He continued stepping carefully around the rocks on the shore of the river, paying some measure of attention to the ground. "It's just up here!"

	"Slow down! Sheesh! We're coming!" Adam yipped back, grabbing James's arm, and helping him along. Adam's moderate girth disallowed any major dexterous movement on his part, hence his needing help in navigating along the rock covered shoreline. "Careful Travis." He said to Travis, as his friend stumbled slightly.

	They had been camping by the river on the outskirts of town during summer vacation. It was James's idea to go hiking alongside it, after he had read about a cave just a few miles upstream. It was actually rather easy to talk their respective parents into letting them camp. After all, they had known each other for years , and James was the alpha of the group. He wouldn't let anything happen to his pack - be they friends or family.

	The young wolf took after his father; Same dark grey fur, same light grey underbelly, and a  very similar mindset. He really did think of himself as the alpha of their group. They looked up to him to make decisions, and stood by him even if it meant getting into trouble. James stopped walking, and waited on his pack, panting slightly to catch his breath. "You guys are too slow." He grinned at them.

	Adam had a tendency to speak before thinking. The young red fox was slightly brash, always clever, and had a slight chip on his shoulder. "At least you're not dragging Tubby McLardo along with you." He mumbled, letting out a slight yelp when an open fisted paw connected with the side of his head.

	"Enough with the fat jokes! I get it! 'Ha! Ha! Look at the fat raccoon!' I know I'm fat, ok!" Travis looked hurt, his ears folded back, his whiskers twitching slightly. He was definitely the stoutest of the three, having tipped the scales at slightly over two hundred pounds. His grey body fur shone in the midday sun, and his tail lashed about as he glared at Adam.

	"You know I didn't mean it. I'm just joking around." Adam looked at Travis, ears back slightly, frowning a little. "I'm sorry."

	"Think you two lovebirds could hurry it up?!" James barked again, sounding fairly impatient.  He stood waiting, tapping his foot, and lashing his tail slightly, watching his two friends as they slowly ambled his way.

	"Oh for the love of...WE"RE COMING!!" Adam screamed back, looking annoyed, his tail bushing out and twitching. Travis kept his ears folded back at the shout, and tried to hide the blush that crept up his muzzle at the 'lovebirds' remark. 

	When the two of them caught up to the wolf, he huffed through his nose, and walked more slowly along the river. "I think that cave is just a little bit this way." He said, pointing his finger further down the shore. The two shorter furs followed the wolf, Travis only slightly slowing them down.  Twice already they had to stop him from attempting to catch fish with his bare paws.

	"What do you think is in the cave?" James asked his friends.

	"Treasure!" Adam yipped excitedly, holding Travis's arm as he helped him over some rocks.

	"Dead bodies." Travis murmured.

	"Such a downer, dude.." Adam frowned at the raccoon. Travis flicked his ears.

	"Sorry." Travis frowned. 

	When they came around the bend, they could see the mouth of the cave. It looked big enough for the three of them to climb into. The mouth faced the river, and looked as though it was underwater most of the time. James sniffed around the entrance, but could only detect the scent of fish and dirt. 

	"I'll go in first." He announced. No one argued with that. He was their alpha after all; let him deal with the danger first. He set his backpack on the ground, pulling out a flashlight, and putting his bag back on before stepping into the cave. The floor of the cave was still wet, and a little mud was sliding between his toes. "Ewwww." He mumbled, shining the light around the cave. As far as he could tell, the cave went into the ground at least one hundred feet, sloping slightly upwards. Roots hung from the ceiling, and various debris such as beer cans and bits of paper were strewn about. "Hmmm, looks like they were carried in by the river." He thought to himself. Sensing no apparent danger, he called to his friends. "Hey! I think it's safe!"

	"Find any treasure?" Adam called into the cave.

	"Not yet! Get your fluffy butt in here!" The wolf hollered.

	The fox and raccoon shambled their way into the cave, not needing a flashlight due to their night vision. They caught up to James fairly quickly; the raccoon holding the fox's paw. The wolf shined the light on them, noticing Travis holding Adam's paw.

	"I always thought you two were close, but not like that." He snickered with a smirk.

	"Oh, go shave yourself! You know Travis needs help getting over rocks and stuff!" The fox barked. The raccoon prayed to any gods that his blush would go unnoticed.

	"I'm just kidding. Come on, let's look around." The wolf practically ordered before marching on, shining his light all around the cave. 

	Eventually, the cave stopped, the floor was flat, and a few pieces of broken electronic components lay about the floor. The back wall of the cave looked like a door belonged there, but none of them could feel a door. 

	"Guys...this is weird. It's like a old mad scientist used to hide here." James remarked.

	"The floor feels kind of soft. Maybe we should try digging a bit." Adam remarked. Travis nodded his head, and the three of them got down on their haunches, and began digging.

	"Maybe we should have brought a shovel. I'm not exactly like my ancestors." Travis mumbled. The wolf and fox chuckled, and continued to dig.

	"Ow!" Adam yelped, pulling his paws out of the hole they dug. He looked at his paw, noticing that one of his claws was bent back slightly. It bled a little. "I think I hit something." The others looked at his paw, then kept digging around. They could feel a hard box like object buried in the dirt. 

	After several minutes of continued digging, they pulled it out. It appeared to be a metal box, roughly eighteen inches square. They examined it closely, not seeing any seams. They shook it, listening to a thump inside it.

	"I wonder what's inside?" Travis asked.

	"I dunno. We could take it home, and try to cut it open." James suggested.

	"Good idea." Adam agreed. Travis slid the box into his backpack, and wiped his paws on his jeans.

	"We should probably start heading back to camp." He suggested. 

	"Yeah, we could poke around here some more tomorrow. I've had enough excitement for the day. Plus, my paw hurts." Adam replied.

	"Ok, ok. We'll head back. I'd still like to know what this place is, though." James remarked.

	They started to hear a rumble coming from outside the cave. 

	"What the heck was that?!" Travis said, looking around. 

	The fox's ears perked. "I hear water." Looking down towards the mouth of the cave, he could see water rising.

	"Let's get the heck out of here!" The wolf barked, starting to run for the entrance. The water rose a little faster, up to his knees by the time he reached the entrance. He looked back, making sure his pack was keeping up. "Come on!"

	"We're coming!" James barked back, practically dragging Travis along with him. The three of them had to swim out of the mouth of the cave, since the river had riven dramatically. They swam for the shore, their clothes completely soaked, but at least they got the dirt off their clothes.

	"This is weird. It's far too late for spring flood." Travis remarked.

	"Duh." Adam replied, shaking himself dry, and spraying water on his companions.

	"Gah! Watch it, fox!" James growled, punching Adam in the arm.

	"Ow! You're a jerk, James." Adam growled at James.

	"Hey, calm down." Travis said. Putting his paws out placatingly.

	"Alright, alright." James said. "Let's get back to camp."

	"Agreed." Adam replied. The three of them started walking slowly back to camp, following the river. Their thoughts mostly concerning the box they had found. A box, which may contain treasure.

End. Part 1.