[Silver]

"Wake up, wake up, waaaaaaake up!" Sprout shouted, bouncing up and down on top of his good friend Fritz.

Fritz had been startled awake by someone jumping on his bed, but he didn't actually realize what was going on for a few seconds. Long enough for Sprout to step on his paw, his tail, and his ribs. He swiped at his friend, pushing him over and out of the bed. He stumbled to his feet and let out a snort. "What the heck!?"

"It's time to gooooo," Sprout said, still bouncing around the room. It didn't look like falling off the bed had fazed him even slightly.

"Okay, okay," Fritz said into a yawn. He still didn't 100% know what was going on, but he was too tired to protest.

[Silver]

Sprout bounded out the door and took a few steps before he realized that nobody was following him. "C'moooon," he whined. He headbutted his friend in the side, trying to literally push him out the door.

"Now what," Fritz interrupted himself with a yawn, "is so important? What're you so excited for?"

"Don't you remember?" Sprout rubbed his face with his paw in exasperation. "We're going on a treasure hunt!"

"A treasure hunt?" Fritz racked his brain and smoothed out his hair. "Oh yea! Was that today? Well, what're we waiting for!" Suddenly the enthusiasm caught up with Fritz, and he was rearing to go. The two of them stampeded down the stairs and out the front door. It was adventuring time!

[Silver]

The boys raced through town, each one taking the lead then falling back in a never ending cycle. They nearly crashed into a handful of pedestrians and at least one stationary pole on their way to adventure. As they approached the edge of the little town they lived in, the boys skidded to a stop and looked directly at each other.

"Hey do you know where we're going?" Fritz asked.

"Well, mostly," Sprout said with a confident seeming nod.

"Are you sure?" Last time they went on one of Sprout's adventures, they got horribly lost and had to go all day without eating anything.

"It'll be fiiiine," he insisted, bouncing forward. Fritz took a second to consider his options and eventually chased after his friend. What's the worst that could happen?

[Silver]

Over the fields, and through the flowers they went. The boys traveled for quite a while, until even their little town was out of view. At first they skipped, then they ran, then they walked. It was hard to keep up that level of enthusiasm forever. Just as Fritz was about to suggest they go home and find a less far away thing to do, Sprout made a loud declaration.

"We're here!"

"We are?"

"Yea, look, there it is," he pointed with his paw.

"It's just a bunch of rocks. You have to use explosives to get treasure out of rocks, Sprout. I read about it in a book."

"Not the rocks, Fritz, they're just in the way. C'mon, we'll get closer and you'll see what I mean."

[Silver]

Sprout bounded expertly over the rocks since he knew the way. He had already been here to check it out before, but he didn't want to venture inside alone. Not that he was afraid or anything. Certainly not. With the two of them it would be a lot easier to navigate. Shame Cantare didn't want to come, too. The three of them had some of the best adventures!

Fritz wasn't as graceful in his tackling of the odd terrain. He stumbled from one rock to another, trying to keep his footing. His front paws hit a rock, but his back paws didn't quite make it. He gasped and scrambled up, kicking something behind him to give him the boost he needed. By the time he was on top of the rock, he was panting and out of breath.

[Silver]

Fritz had almost caught up, but when he looked up he noticed that he couldn't see Sprout anywhere. Now Sprout was bright orange, so he was usually easy to find, but it was like he had completely disappeared.

"Sprout, what's going on?" Fritz called out. He had a feeling his friend was playing a trick and was standing just around the next rock, waiting to tackle him. He proceeded cautiously, keeping an eye out for all the possibilities. A sound caught his attention, and he turned his head to look at what he was sure was going to be his friend. But there was nothing there. Fritz decided to ignore it and press forward. He wasn't paying enough attention, though, so he slipped. This time, he wasn't quick enough to catch his fall.

[Silver]

Fritz tumbled for what seemed like forever. He was confused and dizzy as he hit the ground. Eventually, he managed to find out which way was up and pulled his head up to look around. He wasn't ready to stand yet. The first thing he saw was a bright orange stripe. It was Sprout's butt.

"What the heck," Fritz growled. He was about ready to take a swipe at Sprout for all of this.

"We're here!" Sprout said, eyes full of wonder.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" Fritz wanted to get right to the point. He was already sick of this stupid adventure.

"Get up and look," Sprout said. Fritz wasn't too happy to hear this, but he obliged. Lucky for him, he was still young enough that a tumble like that was soon forgotten.

[Silver]

Fritz was pretty glad that he got up to take a look around. His journey here was rough, for sure, but what he saw before him was too good to pass up. He had tumbled into a beautiful, untouched cavern. Small gemstones sparkled within the walls, and the whole place was dimly lit with some sort of mystical light. It was...

"This is so cool!" Fritz said, bouncing on his paws. "What the heck, did you know this was here?"

"I sure did! I wanted to bring you here to hunt for treasure!" Sprout looked very proud of himself and his very good idea.

"Holy moly, this place is like, full of gems!" Fritz bounded up to one of the sparkling spots on the wall. He tapped at it with his claws, hoping to pull it loose.

[Silver]

"Yea, but they won't come loose. Trust me, I tried. Broke a claw and everything!" Sprout explained.

Fritz still idly scratched away at the gem with his claw, considering what Sprout had said. "That sucks. I really wanted to bring some home."

"Well I think that if we journey deeper into the cavern, we might find something cool! Are you in?"

"I am so in!" Fritz took the lead this time, bouncing past Sprout and deeper into the tunnel. It seemed to go on forever.

Sprout was excited to see that Fritz was on board. He happily bounded after him with all of his enthusiasm from the beginning of the journey returned. The tunnel went on for a while before coming to a fork. Sprout looked both ways, shrugged, and headed down the path to the left. Fritz followed along, not liking to be the one who made tough decisions.

[Silver]

They followed the tunnel as it turned and twisted. From time to time it got wider, then thinner, and sometimes they had to crawl through at a crouch. The boys traveled for what seemed like days, but was probably only a few hours at most.

Deeper into the cavern the walls began to glitter more brightly as the gemstones became more abundant. Some littered the floor, having been lodged loose by some unknown force. The boys picked up which ones they could, and put them into a pack Sprout brought specifically for the purpose. They speculated on how awed everyone would be when they brought them home.

After a while, the growling of Fritz's stomach echoed through the tunnel. He plopped down and said, "Hey I'm pretty hungry. What do you say about heading home for now?"

"Sounds great!" Sprout said. "Lead the way."

"Wait... I thought you were keeping track.