This was turning into a miserable journey.

Not three hours into the hike, Nick and Judy were slammed by a rainstorm that stopped them dead in their tracks, and forced them to seek shelter. Nick had guided Judy towards rockier ground at the base of a set of hills, and they searched along the small rocky outcropping until they came across a cave, partially visible, only slightly above the muddy ground. Upon entering, both were slightly dismayed at seeing that the insides went down rather than up.

"Maybe it leads up further inside?" Judy suggested hopefully.

"It could," Nick said, peering inside. "You want to find out?"

"I'd like to keep dry, but I can't see ahead," Judy replied.

"Isn't there some rule being made about ladies first?" Nick asked.

"That's for entering a building," the rabbit objected. "Besides, what makes you think I'm a lady?"

"Well you are a doe, yes?" Nick checked, looking down at her with a half-serious expression.

"Just get in the cave," Judy snapped. Nick's ears folded back and his expression was one of something between amusement and surprise, but he nodded and started leading the way into the cave. Judy stood just far enough inside to be able to stay out of the rain. Her ears were trained to listen for Nick as he explored the small cave, and she could hear his footsteps over the rain only for a minute before they disappeared, the sounds of raindrops hitting the rock and trickles of water from the entrance drowning them out.

She waited what she was sure was minutes but felt like hours, the sound of rainfall blocking out all but the loudest of noises from the forest – and absolute silence from the cave. Judy didn't enjoy being sat there, sopping wet and still being hit with water and wind, much less that she couldn't hear Nick at all. With a roll of her eyes, the rabbit hefted her stick and slowly made her way into the cave, carefully walking around the various sharp rocks she could see, and tentatively working around those she couldn't.

It grew gradually darker the further she went into the cave, the cold dirt and stone under her feet making her shiver slightly. More than once she had to use her stick to catch herself from tripping. It wasn't until she was completely enveloped within the dark that Judy began to feel as though she made a mistake. This was furthered when she heard something scrape the ground ahead of her. "Nick?" She whispered, hoping for a response.

Judy had the creeping sensation that there was something behind her, but casting a glance over her shoulder revealed only more darkness. It seemed as though the cave had expanded into an endless abyss, where even her sensitive hearing was dampened.

Judy let out a small shout of surprise as something brushed against her and Nick's voice sounded in her ear, a loud "Boo!" that jolted her. When the fox's laughter began to fill the cave, Judy's fear gave way to annoyance, and she groaned. "Nick, that's not funny!"

"You're right, it was hilarious," Nick said as he chuckled. Judy let out a sigh of irritation as she tried floundering around for the fox. She took a step forward and nearly tripped, only to be caught by the fox. "Easy there, Carrots," Nick said. "You can't see in here as well as I can."

"So I've noticed," Judy said dryly. "Is this cave good enough to wait out the storm?"

"If we can get a fire going, yes," Nick said. "The only problem with that is-"

"The rain is making everything sopping wet, right," Judy finished. She turned and sat down on the roug stone floor, shivering slightly at the cold. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"I don't have anything more than kindling, sorry," Nick muttered. "But... Hold on." There was the sound of Nick's claws hitting stone as he walked away, before that faded to the faint sound of rain and thunder.

Judy sat and stared at where she had last heard Nick from, eyes wide though she couldn't see anything. Her ears were raised high and swiveled about, straining to pick out any sounds aside from the rhythmic beating of raindrops on the ground outside. "Nick?" Judy asked quietly. Nothing. "Nick?" she asked again, louder this time. Again, nothing. Where was he? He didn't leave her all alone in here, did he?

The rabbit scrambled to her feet and began trying to make her way to the cave entrance, bumping into the wall several times as she took tentative steps forward. Before she could go any further, though, the sound of claws against rocks came back, accompanied by labored breathing. "Nick?!" she asked hopefully.

"What is it, Carrots?" the fox answered. Judy let out a sigh of relief.

"Where did you go?"

"We needed dry wood, right?" Came the response, though it was almost drowned out by the sound of wood hitting the ground, followed by a few soft hisses of annoyance from Nick. "So I got wood."

"You found dry wood in this weather?" Judy asked, somewhat surprised.

"If you know where to look, it's possible," Nick said. "Now don't move, I need to set this up so we can get warmed up."

Judy nodded and sat against the wall, curling up and shivering as she listened to Nick muttering to himself as he stacked up wood. He let out the occasional grunt, or a faint breath of surprise as he kicked something, before the rabbit could hear him shuffling down to the ground. "What are you-" She started to ask, silencing herself as there was a brief flicker of light – sparks, illuminating Nick's face for a brief moment. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he blew on the small bundle of kindling before him. A sharp cracking sound, and more sparks flew, but died as they hit the kindling.

"Come on," the reynard muttered, clearly annoyed. He tried a few more times, each one resulting in a flicker of sparks but no actual flame. Judy was about to tell Nick to take a break, when suddenly, she saw trails of burning fibres after another strike. Nick quickly cupped his paws around it, hiding it from view as he began to blow on the kindling, letting out a quiet "Yes!" of success as Judy saw an orange flame rise above his paws. The fox quickly moved the bundle underneath a 'tent' of sticks surrounded by small rocks, and before long, the fire was going well enough to light up the cave.

"Well aren't you the regular firebug?" Judy asked, grinning as she moved closer to the fire. She held her paws out, relieved at the warmth it gave off. Nick grinned as he looked up at Judy, stuffing the items he needed back into his pack.

"Well, someone has to take care of things around here," he joked, sitting across from Judy at the fire. He let out a 'Mmm' of satisfaction as he curled up beside the flames. The fox and rabbit sat in silence, absorbing the warmth with small smiles. Judy looked around the cave – it seemed rather barebones, mostly gray with patches of green moss and lichen here and there, a few cobwebs but, surprisingly, no signs of the spiders or bats she expected.

Nick leaned back a bit and looked toward the entrance, sighing. "Well, doesn't look like the storm's going to let up anytime soon," he said. "Do you know any good stories?"

Judy shook her head. "I don't, actually. Growing up we only heard the usual – Robin Hood, Merlin, those. What about you?"

Nick grinned as he heard Judy mention the legendary fox that was Robin Hood. "Well, I know some tales of a certain fox that I doubt you've ever heard before."

"Robin Hood?" Judy asked. Nick nodded, clasping his paws together.

"Oh the stories I could tell you about him," he grinned. Judy wordlessly got up and sat beside Nick, much to his clear surprise, with clear excitement on her face.

"Tell me, then!" She said.

Nick chuckled softly, nodding. "Alright, alright, Fluff. Let's see, what's a good one... Ah! Did you ever hear about the time Robin Hood managed to stop a small army by making them think he was a bigger army?"

"He did?"

"Oh, you bet he did. It was on a hot summer day..."