The sky had been bright and shining when the two pups had hopped off the porch of the Manor. It was amazing, though, how suddenly the sky had changed, roiling with dark clouds that had split open within minutes. Despite the water that was falling from the heavens, the air was still warm and rather pleasant. Gotham scuttled through the grass, his black fur still not completely wet and his tongue lolling from his mouth after the morning's heat. The boy was ecstatic that his sister seemed to be emerging from the lull she had been in. His lips were pulled into a very deep smile as the two puppies shuffled across the grass, a soft giggle escaping his mouth every once in a while. It had pained him so to see her spirits so low, but it seemed as if, in defiance of the gray weather, things were looking up for the little girl.

As the rain started to sink through his fur and reach the tender skin beneath, Gotham called out to his sister, "I'm sooooo wets!" A few giggles escaped him again and he took a few more steps before stopping suddenly. Obscured by the rain, little holes in the cliff face not too far away were starting to become visible. "Looks! A places where we can hide!" With that remark, he started to run as fast as his little legs could carry him, hoping that his sister was close behind.

He made it to the entrance to the cave soon enough and launched himself into it, turning to face outside so he could watch Cambria as she bounded towards him. His fur was just starting to drip, the water slinking down long tendrils of wet hair to fall the short distance to dry ground. With an excited yip, the dark wolf cried out, "We made eeet! Rain monsters cannot get us wittle pupskees in here!" His words echoed through the dark cave, betraying a depth to it that wasn't obvious to the eye. Gotham turned his head to look over his shoulder, curious about how deep it really went.

Cambria was by his side in an instant. As soon as she began to shake, Gotham hunched his shoulders up to his ears as if that would somehow protect him, and let out a little howl of laughter. The heavy drops that his sister was shaking off plopped on his nose and his forehead from every which-way, and felt almost like they were tickling him. Once she stopped moving, the boy responded by shaking his own body. It seemed like most of the rain had already dripped out of his pelt, but there was still enough of it to form little pellets. That would show her!

He nodded vigorously when she agreed, feeling a little victorious that they had outsmarted the rain. It was so big, but the two little puppies had still managed to escape it! Cambria voiced her concern about the monsters, and Gotham turned his pair of bright blue eyes toward her. He hadn't quite meant what he had said in that way, but come to think of it, there probably were monsters out in the rain! His sister seemed a little worried, though, and given the sadness she had been feeling Gotham didn't want to make it worse. In fact, he wanted to make it the opposite of worse. The logistics of this plan were a little beyond what the pup was capable of so far, but he tried his best.

"Um, yes! Buhhht, iiiiif yooooooou," he crooned, extending the words to give himself more time to figure out what to say next before coming to an epiphany and returning to normal speech, "are smarts, thens they cannat get you! And, we are smarts, so they canna get us!" He finished with a flourish of his wagging tail, satisfied with the explanation he had spun. As he described these monsters, they were beginning to be more and more real to him, too, and he found himself inventing mythologies to go along with the monsters.

All of a sudden, he remembered that he had been curious about what was further in the cave. With a little hop, he cried out, "Let's go on an exploring back here!" He turned, and took a few steps into the dim crevice. He wouldn't admit it, but the dark frightened the boy a bit. Gotham hesitated a moment to make sure his sister was at his side. If she didn't want to go in there, he would have to make up a good excuse not to go, too. If I leave you alones, then the rain monsters might get you! That one sounded kind of like he was calling her dumb, and he wanted to be very nice to his sister so that she would be nice to him. Also, Gotham knew that lies were bad and so saying something like that would be mean and bad, which was probably the worst that someone could be! He took another trepid step, hoping that he wouldn't have to think of a good excuse.

Gotham hadn't really thought that his shaking had the actual goal of becoming dry, anyway; he was more interested in making his sister wet again! He giggled a little at her statement and shrugged, realizing that girls didn't think the way that boys did! They cared about being dry, but the little boy only wanted to get his sister back for making him even more wet in the first place! He wouldn't tell her that, though, because then she would be on to him and might even start playing the game, too. The ebony pup would have more competition, and less chance of winning! Naw, today they would go exploring instead of having a water fight, and Gotham wouldn't pursue the matter futher.

He knew that what he said about the monsters was not a complete truth. Of course, it was possible to outsmart the monsters, but in reality the monsters were also very, very smart. They were probably still in the cave with the two pups, clinging to their fur and dancing on the tips of their ears! No matter, though, because despite having a bad reputation the monsters were not really all that bad at all! Gotham sometimes felt kind of bad for them, because no one liked them. It was only their nature to be silly trickster beasts, and who could deny them that? The boy was pleased to have satisfied his sister, though, and would not tell her anything else she didn't know, especially if she thought they were scary. Instead, he gave a brief closed-mouth smile to her and nodded almost imperceptibly. She couldn't know that he was hiding the truth from her, otherwise Gotham would feel very bad.

The darkness seemed as if it had become an actual entity, a thing that was not characterized only by the absense of light but also by the way it seemed to stifle all sounds and wrap around one like a heavy blanket. Gotham's paws felt a little chilly as he continued to walk deeper into the cave, and uncertainty began to creep up on him, too. His head was kept low to the ground, and his tail fell behind him. This way he was less visible, and the darkness could not find him. He merged right into it, black on black, only his eyes catching the faint light and sending it back. The boy felt so sneaky! His poor sister, having been deprived of so much pigment, was not quite so fortunate, and Gotham felt just a little bad for her. As for what might be down in the caves, there was only one answer. "Monsters!" he cried out impetuously, not even a thought of what the word could do to his sister flitting through his mind. He immediately regretted it, and scrunching his shoulders up a little and pausing in his tracks he added hastily, "Haaah ha, I'm just a-kiddin'. Diddi trick ya? I thinks dat's all rucks en dirt en stuff." Eyes wide, hoping that his sister would buy his clever cover-up, he resumed his earlier pace, a hesitant plod through the underbelly of the land.

Oh! It looked like the damage had been done with his outburst, but the following words did, perhaps, ease Cambria's fear just a little. Eyes wide with regret, the boy stopped and turned around, peering at the cowering girl. Shrinking his head back into his shoulders a little bit, Gotham nosed her in the muzzle, staring into the eye that she had revealed. He did think there were monsters, and that was a problem when it came to trying to console his sister. The boy knew that telling lies was bad, but he was conflicted here. His desire to make his sister feel not sad was overwhelming - he couldn't stand to see her so frightened, especially after The Bad Thing that had happened to her just a little while ago - but he also knew that it was important to tell her the truth. Giving her a little lick on the top of her head, he said quietly, "You dun' have anythin' to worry about, Cambwi." It was a fine compromise; he told the truth, and hopefully his sister would feel better.

Of course, Gotham's expertise did not extend much further than the monsters that he had created. The two little pups were venturing deeper and deeper into the belly of the Earth. It was certainly possible that there had been branches in the caves, nooks and crannies to get lost in. The boy did not think much of these dangers at all, and clearly all his sister was worried about was the monsters that may or may not be lying in wait for the two pups (not to be mean, of course, just to play games!). The darkness was overwhelming but not complete, and Gotham's blue eyes had adapted and could faintly make out the boundary between rock and air. There was fear tickling at his insides, but not enough to make him stop and turn around. In fact, it rather made him want to venture further.

The fact that his sister was quite frightened made Gotham even more brave. With his chest puffed out a little, he peered into his sister's green eyes and replied, "'Course not." Cambria still seemed hesitant, though, and the boy would not rush her. He settled down to his haunches and curled his tail around his side. The darkness made every direction seem like every other direction, and if there had been more possible paths to chose Gotham would be quickly lost. He kept track of which way they had come from, and which way they were going, and that was all.

He wanted to be patient, but after a few moments he was itching to keep going through the tunnel. It was dark and kind of scary, but that just tempted the boy even more. He would conquer the darkness, and he would learn what was down there. Likely it would be more of the same - rocks and dirt and stuff, in keeping with the opinion he had previously voiced - but perhaps there would be treasure! He hadn't thought of that before, and now that he did their little adventure seemed even more exciting.

The boy resisted his urges enough to take a moment to make sure his sister wasn't too scared. "Are ya ready ta go?" he asked cheerfully, still peering into her eyes with his own wide blue ones. Her uncertainty was very clear, and again he reminded himself not to force her. It would be harder to explore completely with someone who didn't really want to, because then he would always have to be making sure she was okay. When he was older he could come back to the caves by himself, or with another boy. All boys like exploring, of course! It wasn't his parents fault that they had only given him sisters, but maybe soon they could get him a boy to play with. That would be very nice of them.

Thankfully, Cambria did not take too much coaxing. She stood up, maybe just a little hesitantly, before confirming that she was prepared to go even further into the little caves. Gotham smiled a little, surely his grin appearing like that of the Cheshire cat's in the darkness, and as she shook herself he turned himself forward to face the hidden world that snaked out before them. He peered over his shoulder at the girl behind him, making sure that she was still ready, and took a few steps forward. It seemed as if they had made that little patch of earth they had stopped within warm and perhaps even familiar, and as Gotham stepped out of that area the air seemed chill and dank again. Once again, darkness was a heavy cloak. The boy gave a little shiver but continued on, slowly.

If there was treasure in these caves, it was really far in. He couldn't hear any monsters, either, and couldn't see anything at all. In fact, after a few more minutes of wandering it seemed almost... boring. The darkness did not give way to the shimmering of gold, or a pile of bones. Perhaps it was a good thing that no such macabre discovery was made, because Gotham didn't want Cambria to get scared. The boy, on the other hand, would surely think such a thing was mesmerizing and absolutely stunning - before tucking tail and running away, of course.

Gotham slowed a little, furrowing his eyebrows and peering forward as if he was concerned about missing something potentially interesting. "Cammi, is this still fun?" the pup asked, just to make sure. If she was bored, too, maybe they should just turn back and look for adventure somewhere else. As far as treasures went, this particular tunnel seemed to be a dead end.

He stopped completely now, and stared deep into the darkness that pooled before them. The boy had half expected there to be monsters or treasure or something really exciting down there, and after the little bit of exploring they hadn't found a single thing besides dirt and darkness. A little sigh escaped his mouth and he sat down, turning to look, rather blindly, at his sister. Without the little noise they had been making as their paws hit the ground it seemed strangely quiet once more. There wasn't any hint that there was anything interesting up ahead, either, and Gotham's short attention span was starting to fizzle out.

Cambria seemed to be okay with heading back out and doing something else. The boy didn't want to drag her away from anything she was really enjoying, but that didn't seem to be a problem at this point. He did, however, feel guilty for having convinced her to continue and then only a few minutes later decided to stop their exploration. At least Cambria had learned that there was nothing to be afraid of! Maybe they could come back sometime and look some more, because now it wouldn't be so scary. The place had quickly lost its interest, though, and at least at the moment Gotham didn't care too much for a return visit.

Thumping his tail a little bit and pressing his tongue against his sister's cheek, he said, "Yeah." After a couple seconds of more staring into the darkness, he added, "But only if ya den wanna keep goin'." Of course, his interests were not the only important ones, and perhaps in the short time between being petrified and Gotham's decision to stop the girl had developed a lust for exploring the dark tunnels. She didn't seem to be having an immense amount of fun, though, and the boy figured that she was probably as bored as he was.

The tunnel was rather narrow, so the boy would have had a bit of difficulty squeezing past his sister. Anyway, she wasn't scared anymore, and he wanted her to be brave too! So, lifting his head a little in a yip (but not far enough to hit his head on the rocky ceiling!), he cried, "Come on, Cammi, I'm a-followin' ya! Yew ken pick a cave now, 'cos I picked this un." Gotham hadn't been too lucky with his choice; perhaps Cambria would pick a better one.

The boy was proud of his entire family, and perhaps he would have been proud even if his sister hadn't wanted to lead the way. She had come all the way into this cave, after all, and that was a kind of scary thing! Maybe he confused pride and love, as all feelings were kind of fuzzy and muddled to him, but he at least felt great positive feelings for each one of his family members. There was not one of them that he was not excited to see. The pup was lucky to have some of his extended family around, too, and the support of pack members that weren't even related to him by blood. He hoped, deep inside, that they were proud of him too.

He grinned as his sister called him on, popped to his feet and began to follow her. Gotham had almost completely forgotten that it was raining, and as he heard its little footsteps get louder he took a moment to place the odd sound. Mindful of the funny monsters, he tiptoed through the rain after Cambria. Once they were inside and she was shaking her fur out, the raven pup giggled. Not this again! When she was done he cast her a coy grin and shook himself out, too, no doubt getting the very few droplets of water that he had accumulated all over his sister.

When he was done he merely stood still, allowing the girl to take the lead.

He found this game inordinately amusing. It wasn't clear why, but perhaps it was because he had gotten away with soaking his sister at first. Just by shaking, he could undo the hard work she had done to dry herself! It was kind of sneaky what he was doing, too, as if his intent to bug her could be passed off as something he was just doing because, well, everyone does it! But Cambria was onto him, now, and he was going to pay for it!

Gotham giggled as his sister seemed to attempt to climb on top of him, bending his knees a little to brace himself. He gargled out a roar of sorts as she clasped his ear, opening his mouth wide and trying to get a bit of her flesh between his teeth. Once Cambria had both her forelegs around his neck, the little boy lifted his forelegs too, and the two pups were on their hind legs, grappling in midair with the ceiling of the cave looming above their big ears. The boy roared some more, the funny noises interspersed with giggles, and his tail wagged violently. Playing was so much fun! He was very happy that Cambria was not sad anymore.