Gavin shrugged his shoulders as he trudged through the plains. His pack was starting to hurt his shoulders a bit, but he had only been walking for about 3 hours. He wanted to make it at least 5 hours before he had a break.

He looked around him as he walked, and saw that there were just shrubs and trees and rock.

To make time fly by, he began to sing "Circle of Life" by Elton John. As he got into the song, he began to walk faster. Soon the minutes turned into hours as he sang song after song while walking.

Eventually, it was lunch time.

Gavin sat down on a flat rock, and pulled out a grilled cheese sandwich. Every so often, he would drink some water from his canteen. After eating the sandwich, he continued on his way.

About 30 minutes later he came across a stream, which gave him the perfect opportunity to fill his canteen. He got down on one knee by the stream, and set the opened canteen into the water. He had to wait several minutes since this was no ordinary canteen. This canteen was magically enhanced to hold 10 gallons of water. After the canteen had been filled, Gavin crossed the stream, and continued to walk.

After walking for several more hours, he had to set up camp for the night.

This occurred for 2 more days, but on the third day it changed.

Towards the end of the third day, Gavin noticed that the landscape was changing. Instead of there being tons of shrubs and trees, there were fewer and fewer. The rocks were also becoming shorter and shorter.

When he looked ahead of himself, he could see sand in the distance. Excitedly, he ran to it.

After running for about 15 minutes, he collapsed on his knees in the sand.

He had made it to the desert!!

He set his pack and duffel bag down next to him, and then went back to the plains to get firewood. He made four trips before he was satisfied with the amount of firewood he had found.

With the wood he found and the flint and steel he had, he made a small fire right as the sun went down. He then pulled out his sleeping bag and opened it, setting it close to the fire, but not too close.

He got out his food, and started to eat when he heard a small bark.

Looking towards the desert, he saw two small foxes sitting close to him. When he saw them, he was able to identify them as fennec foxes by their big ears.

He set his food down, and turned to put more wood on the fire. When he turned back to his food, he caught both of the foxes trying to get his food.

Gavin chuckled at this, and the foxes froze in place, having been caught. He slowly reached out, and pet them on the head, saying, "It's ok. I just can't help but think you guys are so cute! Enjoy the food. I have more."

With that, he turned back to the fire, having eaten his rationed portion for the day.

The foxes stared at him in surprise and confusion. This male creature wasn't mad?? They continued to eat, but they kept watching him as he sat at the fire, tossing on a stick every once in a while.

These foxes were sisters, working together to survive the desert. They had never gotten a chance to eat a meal like this, or met a creature as kind as this one was.

Soon, they had eaten all the food they had gotten, and were very full. They looked at the fire, and could feel its warmth. They heard the man say, "If you want to, you can come lay down by the fire for warmth. I promise i wont do anything to hurt you." They looked at the man, and one of the sisters had a strange thought.

How warm is the creature?

She shook her head at this, catching the attention of her younger sister, who asked her what was wrong. When she said, "Nothing," her sister then said, "If it's nothing then how come you are blushing?"

She quickly looked away, and said she wasn't blushing, causing her sister to chuckle silently.

Gavin could hear them whine and bark at each other, which he figured meant they were talking to each other about something. He looked to see if they had finished eating, and chuckled to see two stuffed foxes looking at each other.

He picked up the plate the food had been on, and wiped it off with a paper towel from the side pocket, before tossing the towel into the fire, and placing the plate into the duffel bag.

He then turned to the foxes, and said, "You guys were hungry, weren't you."

The foxes looked at him, and nodded their heads, causing him to smile. 'Well, i know you like the food," he said, smiling.

"If you want to, you can come lay down by the fire for warmth. I promise i wont do anything to hurt you," Gavin said, his tone getting serious at the end.

One of the foxes said something to the other, causing it to turn its head away. He could have sworn he saw a blush on its face, but he dismissed it as the firelight.

He then turned his head to look at the fire, while the sisters had their own talk about what they were going to do.

The blushing sister said, "Let's go over by the fire."

The younger sister nodded, and said, "Ok, fine. But just because you want to be by the man. Right sister?"

The sister said, "Oh come on. Let's just go by the fire." She then got up, and started walking towards the fire, her sister following her.

Gavin saw the foxes come up to sit by the fire out of the corner of his eye, and smiled. He had company.

They sat in silence around the fire for what seemed like hours, but had really only been 30 minutes, before the foxes started to move again.

Gavin had just added some more fuel to the fire, when he felt something crawl onto his lap. Looking down, he froze.

The fennec foxes had gotten into his lap, and were looking at him.

Gavin relaxed. "So, would you like to know more about me?" he asked them. The foxes nodded, and yipped in response, making him smile.

"Well, ok, but i have a question for you two?"

The foxes stared at him, waiting for the question.

"Ok. Well, are you boys or girls? Yip once if your a boy, and yip twice if your a girl please."

The foxes immediately yipped twice, telling Gavin that they were girls.

"Ok little ladies. Thank you. Now, about me." And he proceeded to tell them all about him. What he was, what he was doing out here, and other things like that.

After he had finished telling them about him, he yawned and said, "Well girls, I'm glad you listened to my history, but I'm afraid I have to go to bed now. It's getting late. And I want to get a good start in the morning."

The foxes whined, and made such adorable pouty faces that Gavin almost gave in. Almost.

"I'm sorry, but i need to go to bed. Am I going to have to pick you up to do that?" he said, looking at them. They nodded. "Well, here I come." With that, he scooped them up in his arms, causing them to squeal in delight, and placed them on the ground next to him, before getting up.

He waved to them, and said, "Goodnight girls." He then went over to his sleeping bag, got in it , and went to sleep, the fox sisters watching him.

The older one turned to the younger and said, "I don't want him to leave, do you?"

The younger shook her head. "I don't want him to leave either. I like him, and I know you do too."

She blushed, and said, "Well, we can't stop him, but maybe we can come with him."

"How sis?"

She went over to the open side pocket he had forgotten to close, and said, "We can hide in here. Gavin won't notice us in here till it's too late. I'll go first."

She entered the pocket, and wormed her way to the end before curling up into a ball to sleep, hidden from view. Her sister followed her soon after, curling up into a ball and hidden as well.

Soon all three were fast asleep, and in the land of dreams.

Gavin woke up the next morning, and yawned loudly before stretching. He had slept ok the previous night, but had been mildly uncomfortable.

He pulled out some fresh clothes, and changed his old ones with them. Now he was wearing light blue shorts, thin gray socks, his blue sneakers, and a white short sleeve button shirt

After eating breakfast, he packed up his stuff, noticing that the foxes were gone, and started to make his way into the desert, completely unaware of two little hitchhikers in his pack.

After an hour had passed, he came upon a cactus. This cactus looked strange though. It had long spines all over its body, and its branches looked like arms with spines for fingers. As he got close to it, the branches started to move towards him, causing him to quickly back away and pass by it.

A few more hours went by, and it was lunch time. Gavin pulled out a picnic blanket and a small umbrella from the duffel bag. He spread out the blanket, and placed the pack on it, before opening up the umbrella and holding it over him as he sat down.

He opened up the pouch on top of his pack, and pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After he closed his pack, he began to eat, drinking small amounts of water every now and then.

After he finished eating, he packed everything back up, and continued walking.

Suddenly, the wind began to blow, causing Gavin to stop. He looked in front of him, and saw a sand storm coming his way. He quickly kneeled down in the sand, placing his duffel bag and pack before him, and opened the umbrella in front of him.

The storm hit him in the next minute. He could feel the wind pushing against the umbrella. He tightened his eyes shut, waiting for the storm to end. and as fast as it had hit, it was gone.

Gavin closed the umbrella, and put it on his belt. He got up, feeling sand fall off his legs. He patted his things to get sand off them, and then continued on his way.

2 more hours went by before anything interesting happened.

He walked over a sand dune, and found himself staring at large black ruins. He quickened his pace, and found himself at the edge of the ruins, allowing him to see that the ruins were made of a black stone.

He walked around the edge till he came upon a fairly sturdy-looking awning.

Walking under it, he found a door to the ruins, and went over to try and open it. But he couldn't figure out how to open it. He could not find a visible or hidden keyhole or latch. So he sat down in the shade provided by the old awning, to rest and think about how to open the door, looking at it as he did so.

To his surprise, he noticed that there were several carvings on the door. He looked at them closer, and saw that they were words. But they were in a language he could not read.

Gavin sighed, and traced his fingers on one of the carvings in thought.

The carvings suddenly started glowing, startling Gavin. He quickly stood up, and stared at the glowing carvings. He watched as they began to change shape, and realized that they were becoming English words. Once the glowing had stopped, Gavin read the words.

Answer this riddle, and the door will open for you.
Fourty white ponies on a red hill,
first champ, then stamp, and then stand still.

What am I?

Gavin read and reread the riddle several times, making sure he had all of it before he made his answer.

He stood in thought for a few minutes, thinking of what it could be. He ran his tongue over his teeth, and his eyes widened.

He knew the answer!!

He looked at the door, and said, "The answer to your riddle is teeth!"

The carvings glowed, and then the door began to open, rumbling as it did so. Gavin watched as the door disappeared into the ground, before the rumbling ceased.

Gavin walked to the edge of the doorstep, and peered inside. He didn't see any traps, so he went inside.

As soon as he had gone inside, the door rose back up, blocking his exit and leaving him in darkness.

Author's Note

How did you guys like this? I hope it was ok.

I have a slight headache after writing this chapter.

If you guys have any suggestions for improvements, don't hesitate to comment.

More coming soon. Need ideas for traps.