Kakepuku #2

The cave was very dark and damp, the lake was more of a circle so the radius was about 7 metres, around about the middle of the lake was an island about 3m in and 1m wide and 1m long. Claudia decided to swim to the island first because we thought it would be a good idea and Claudia was the bravest out of us. Because of the hidden lake we completely forgot about Emily so we never realized that she never came out of the tunnel with us. After Claudia had reached the island she told us that the water was cold and dark but it was fine to swim in. Me and Ella dived in at the same time and started to swim for the island. After about a minute Ella was lagging behind and while I had reached the island safely Ella got bitten on her legs by white and pink eels. Her screams echoed around the cave with quick thinking Claudia got her rope out of her backpack and threw it to Ella and started to haul her in. She wasn’t coming fast enough so I helped. She came in faster and faster and finally she reached the island. She was crying and she had blood everywhere on her legs. We helped her recover from her shock and Claudia went into her survival kit and while she was searching in her kit, I was tying cord around Ella’s legs to stop the blood flow so that it wouldn’t hurt so much and so she wouldn’t bleed to death. Finally Claudia found her bandages and bandaged Ella’s legs up. After we had sorted Ella, we looked around the island and found a kiti. Again Claudia looked first: a glazed look stole over her eyes, me and Ella got curious so we looked too … it was EMPTY!!! She was still staring at nothing so me and Ella shook her until she ‘came to’. Suddenly her body went through a lot of changes at one time so she didn’t look like Claudia anymore she was a fawn Miss Tummnis was crouching right next to us. We thought about our choices:

1. We couldn’t go back where we came from because it was on a cliff and

2. If we went to the next tunnel we’d have to swim there but the eels would come.

From my research, fawns can jump about 2m without a run up so Claudia could take Ella part of the way, I could swim and hope that I don’t get bitten but at the moment I don’t trust Hope so I argued that the idea with all my might. In the end we chose No.2 (sadly). I’d have to swim. We put the plan into action. Claudia braced herself and jumped she and Ella got most of the way I got bitten by the eels and it felt like they were feeding on my blood. From Ella’s yelp she got bitten too. Claudia, realizing we were hurt, flung us to safety and swam back herself. I saw light ahead, it was the end of the dreaded tunnel. I dragged myself out of the tunnel. Finally fresh air! I gladly took deep breaths until Claudia came with Ella and bandaged my legs up. We set up camp in the area and made a fire and sat in a protective circle just as I was dropping off to sleep I got snatched up by this Emily-spider-thing and taken down the tunnel again and next thing I know I’m breaking out of this silk cocoon and wandering up out of the tunnel for the second time and I was really surprised that someone was there. It was Leina but transformed into a super-hero person. She asked “do you want to be an animal of any kind?” I said “yes, I would like to be a bluebird please.” Leina concentrated and I found myself growing smaller and smaller, my arms turned into wings with blue feathers, my head sprouted feathers and a beak and four of my toes disappeared from sight. I was a bluebird! A 12cm high bluebird! I said “thank you so much Leina!” “You’re welcome,” she replied as she watched me fly off into the