Creatures Caves

Chapter One
Once upon a time, there was a young Norn named Alice. She was a very lonely Norn, as her parents
were extremely protective of her, and they would never let her leave the incubator for fear of her being hurt. As a result, Alice had no scars or bruises, making her skin look almost perfectly smooth and untouched. She was an extremely attractive Emerald Norn, but sadly she had never had a mate due to her parents? rule that she wouldn't be allowed a boyfriend until she was a teenager. This made Alice feel extremely woeful, and she would often wonder what it would be like to love somebody.

One night Alice decided to leave the safety of the incubator area whilst her parents were soundly sleeping near the mushroom patch. She knew it was extremely risky, and she would be severely punished if she got caught, but she couldn't stay cooped up forever. She slowly crept towards the elevator, pressed the button, and climbed in. As she waited for it to reach the top, she glanced down at her sleeping parents. If she managed to explore Albia quickly, she should be back home by sunrise.

Alice set off across the barren desert. It was extremely cold, and she had to take care not to prick herself on any of the sharp cacti that sprouted from the sand. As she reached the ruins on the other
side, she could see an elevator. Would it be easier to just go back home? Alice decided to keep going, and she soon reached the rope bridge that hung across the waterfall. She peered down in
amazement at the lush, tropical jungle. How could her parents have kept her locked up away from all this?

Once she reached the other side, Alice began to feel very hungry, and she took a bite out of a triffid fruit. Yuck! It tasted disgusting! She threw away the rest of the fruit and carried on. Upon reaching
yet another elevator, Alice pressed a large button, and the lift went down two floors. It was very cold, dark and damp, and smelt very strange. Alice began to worry about her parents. Had they
already woken up and noticed her missing? She trembled with fear, but upon seeing another elevator, her curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly descended to the platform below.

Shortly after arriving at the bottom, Alice felt she needed a drink; exploring was very thirsty work, so she decided to head over to the deep blue pool on the other side. As Alice kneeled down to drink the water, her hands began to slip on the wet wooden pier, and she suddenly fell forward into the cold, dark water. As she struggled, coughing and spluttering, a small green frog came over to her. Alice grabbed onto the heroic frog, and it slowly carried her to the poolside. Alice shook herself and thanked the frog by giving it a kiss, when suddenly, WHAM! The frog transformed into the most handsome Norn Alice had ever seen!

"Thank you!" said Alice, blushing as she looked shyly at the Frog Norn. "No problem. My name's Francis, what about you?" said the Norn kindly. "I'm Alice, pleased to meet you." muttered Alice. "My goodness, the sun's coming up, I've got to go!" cried Alice, heading quickly for the elevator. "If you want to get home quickly, use the teleportation pad near the elevator!" said Francis. "Thank you!" said Alice. Upon reaching the teleportation pad, Alice pressed a button and was soon back home.

Chapter Two
Suddenly Alice's parents awoke "Alice, why is your fur all soaking wet?" said Alice's mother. "And why is your fur such a mess?" said her father. Alice stood there awkwardly, her parents staring at her angrily, as she tried to make an excuse. "I fell in the pond!" "Well go and get yourself dried off and ready for breakfast then! We're having Zander fish and carrot soup!" said Alice's mother. "Okay..." sighed Alice, slowly walking away.

After breakfast, it was time for Alice to go to Norn school. She, along with several other Norns, waited by the learning computer in the cavern for the teacher to arrive. Alice said to her best friend, Marsha, "Marsha, have you ever been in love?" Marsha replied, "Well, actually, no, I haven't. Why do you ask?" "Well, you see, last night I crept out and met a gorgeous, handsome Norn named Francis, and I can?'t get my mind off him! What should I do?" "Well, maybe you should pay him another visit and get to know him." answered Marsha. "I can't! You see, he's a Frog Norn he lives in a pond across the rope bridge, and I'm not allowed that far." said Alice desperately. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do!" said Marsha.

Just then, the teacher burst in. "Good morning Nornlings! Great to see you're all so eager to learn! Anyway, today I have organized a special exploration trip for you all. Come on, lets go!" The teacher led Alice and the rest of the Norns up the elevator. They then headed across the rope bridge and onto the other side.

"This is near where I met Francis last night, Marsha! You don't suppose I could sneak off for just a sec?" whispered Alice to Marsha. "Just think of all the trouble you'll get in!" said Marsha, worriedly. "But I guess you could, but remember, I have nothing to do with this!"

Alice headed off down the various elevators until she reached the pond. "Oh, hi Alice! I'm so glad to see you!" said Francis. "Hello! I was just in the neighbourhood and..." "Did I mention how beautiful your fur is Alice?" said Francis. "Oh, thank you! Anyway, it must be pretty lonely and boring for you down here, Francis. Why don't you ever leave the pool?" said Alice. "Well, us Frog Norns need the pool water to survive, and if we leave, then we die." replied Francis. "That's so sad! I bet nobody ever visits you apart from me." said Alice. "I'll tell you what. I'll visit you every day! That way, you'll never get lonely!" "Oh thanks Alice! You truly are a wonderful friend!" exclaimed Francis.

Meanwhile, Marsha was having trouble keeping her cool. She and the rest of the class had headed off towards the Desert Island, and it was nearly time for the teacher to do a role-call. "Oh Alice, hurry up!" muttered Marsha as she slowly stumbled onto the dinghy.

"See you tomorrow, Alice!" said Francis as he waved goodbye. "Bye!" replied Alice as she headed into the elevator. What had she done? How could she possibly visit Francis every single day? When she reached the top of the elevator, she quickly hurried to class. "Marsha, thanks for covering for me!? said Alice. "You're welcome, but don?t take as long next time!" replied Marsha, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

After the teacher did a role-call, all of the Norns headed off down the volcano and into the submarine back home. When Alice got back home, her mother made her a delicious Carrot Cake, but as she slowly nibbled on the cake, she couldn't stop herself worrying about her promise to Francis.

Chapter Three
Over the next few days, Alice did manage to keep her promise, but it caused her to become very tired, and her grades at Norn school began to slowly drop. Eventually, she was confronted by her parents. "Alice, we recently heard that your grades at school are dropping. What is the meaning of this? Alice looked up at her parents, her face filled with a mixture of embarrassment and guilt. "Well, I haven't been sleeping well lately." she said nervously. "Why's this? Are you being bullied? Please tell us, Alice." said her mother comfortingly. "Well, you see, it's my teacher. She is always slapping me when the others aren't looking." muttered Alice "How dare she! I am going to see that teacher this very instant and give her a piece of my mind!" roared Alice's father. "But dad? oh never mind!" said Alice.

Alice's father headed down into the caverns and spotted Alice's teacher using the Learning Computer. Before she could answer, the teacher was knocked off her feet by a huge slap. "You evil monster! If you ever hurt my daughter again they'll be trouble!" screamed Alice's father as he slowly walked away, from the unconscious teacher.

The following day, school was cancelled. Alice was extremely bored, and asked her mother if she could go and visit Marsha. "Oh, okay then! Remember though, no further than the rope bridge!" Alice couldn't believe it. For once in her life she was actually allowed out of her home.

When Alice reached the top of the lift, she could see Marsha playing with the fishing rod by herself. She then realized that she hadn't visited Francis the day before, but then she looked at Marsha. Whowould she choose? Alice decided to leave Marsha and headed towards the rope bridge.

Eventually she reached the pool. "Hello, Francis, are you there?" shouted Alice. "I'm right here!" said Francis sitting on the edge of the pier. "I'm sorry I couldn't visit you yesterday, I was too tired!" "Don't worry Alice, I'm always here for you!" "Thanks, Frankie." said Alice. Suddenly Alice felt a sudden urge to kiss Francis, but this time when she did, there was a loud pop at the end of it. "Better be going then, bye Frankie!" said Alice, and slowly headed up the elevator.

When Alice was near the desert, she could see a large group of Norns crowding around something. Curious, she headed over. To her shock, lying in the middle of the circle was Marsha's lifeless body. "What's happened?" asked Alice. "Marsha was playing by herself, near the fishing rod, and she fell into the sea and drowned." sobbed Marsha's mother. Suddenly, Alice was overcome with guilt and realized that if she had gone to play with Marsha instead of visiting Francis, none of this would have happened.

When Alice got back home, her parents looked at her angrily. "Where have you been?" screamed her mother. "I, I..." "Shut up! We all know what you've been up to! You snuck away instead of going to Marsha's, didn't you? It's your fault that Marsha drowned! If you wouldn't have been so selfish, she'd still be alive!" roared Alice's father. Suddenly Alice snapped. "Well, if you two idiots hadn't kept me cooped up for half my life, I wouldn't sneak out, would I? You're so concerned about my own safety that you don't give a damn about how I feel! I hate you both! I wish you two were dead instead of Marsha!? screamed Alice at the top of her lungs as she headed for the elevator. "I'm going to see someone who really cares about me!" she shouted as she pressed the button.

Chapter Four
When Alice reached the pool, she broke down into tears. How could her own parents accuse her of being responsible for Marsha's death? But in her heart, Alice knew that she could have prevented her death if she had been less selfish. "Francis, Francis, are you there?" sobbed Alice. "What's wrong Alice?" said Francis as he climbed from the pool and embraced Alice. "My best friend Marsha's dead and its all my fault! If I stayed with her, I could have helped her when she fell into the sea!" wailed Alice as Francis held her in his hands. "No, it's not your fault, Alice! It was a freak accident, nobody could have prevented it" he replied. " I can't go back. Do you mind if I stay here with you for a while, Frankie?" sniffed Alex. "Not at all!" replied the Frog Norn, "But we'll need some more food." "I'll go and gather some!? replied Alice.

Alice headed down a few more elevators and found a patch of juicy aubergines. As she dug them up, she reminisced about the incident earlier, and how she had lost her best friend, Marsha. Tears ran down her face as she picked the last aubergine, and she suddenly fell to her knees and began to cry. Marsha was the best friend she had ever had, no one, not even Francis, would ever replace her. She realized she had to say her last goodbye to Marsha, so after delivering the food to Francis, she headed to the desert, "I'll be back soon Frankie." she said as the elevator ascended.

When Alice reached the desert, she threw a large bunch of beautiful flowers she had picked on the way onto Marsha's coffin "Goodbye, Marsha, I'll never forget you." whispered Alice, tears running down her face.

Back at the pool, Francis had eaten both of the aubergines, and felt quite guilty. To make up for this, he headed towards the elevator to retrieve some more, just as Alice was coming down in the elevator. Suddenly his body began to wither, and Alice grabbed hold of him. "Frankie, you can't survive out of water! Get back to the pool!". But it was too late; Frankie had transformed back into a frog and was lifeless in Alice's arms. "No, this can't happen! Frankie, speak to me!". She ran over to the pool and dipped Francis into the water, but it was no use. He had died.

Alice dug a small hole beside the pool and placed Francis' small, withered body inside it. "Goodbye, Frankie. I will always love you." said Alice, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Just as Alice had finished filling the tiny hole with dirt, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach, and crouched down onto her haunches. She had laid an egg. "An egg? Thank you Frankie, this is the most wonderful gift you ever gave me." said Alice, rubbing the egg gently with her hand.

In time, the egg hatched into the most handsome Norn Alice had ever seen - he looked exactly
like his Frog Norn father. "I'll call you Prince." said Alice looking into the baby's large, amber eyes. "And you?ll always remind me of your handsome father, Francis."

After a short while, Alice decided to visit her parents. They apologized for their
accusations, and promised to support her throughout her life as a mother. They were very understanding when she explained to them about her affair with Francis, his untimely death, and what a great boyfriend he was. Alice vowed never to love another Norn as much as she loved Francis, and the promise stayed with her until she passed away at the age of 15 hours the great-grandmother of 12 great-grandchildren.