The nameless cave (standard:mystery, 2931 words)
Author: Lev821	Added: Nov 06 2015	Views/Reads: 3990/1931	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Is the myth of the cave, where those who enter do not come out, real?

As they reached the crest of a peak with a chill wind greeting them,
they looked down into the small valley, 60 metres below and all saw 
what they had sought. The leader of the expedition continued onwards, 
downwards, and the rest followed. 

In the Dokriani glacier, in the eastern Himalayan mountains, the
expedition of eight made their way towards what was a large gaping maw 
of a cave. 

They trekked just over a hundred metres across the jagged ice and stony
ground until the expedition leader, Andrew Rouse turned and held a hand 
up. "Ok, here we are, at this cave. At this cave without even a name. 
As we scheduled, four of you will camp overnight inside, if it's 
possible to do so, and at exactly 8am we will all need to regroup 
outside, where we make towards the Jaonli peak, and if the weather 
allows us, we should be there by nightfall. In two hours from now, it 
will be dark, so the four of us will pitch here". Andrew turned and 
looked into the cave, forty metres away, seeing only darkness. 

It was a privately guided expedition initiated by a tour company who
sometimes allowed paying members of the public to join scientific 
researches for a fee. In this case there was room only for two. Misha 
and Yan, one year married from Poland. 

The expedition was primarily to find and trek areas of the mountains
that had never had human contact, never had a human footprint in the 
snow, and along the way, for three members, Dhanjay Regimi from 
Bangladesh, Gregory Childes from Connecticut USA, and E.J from New 
Zealand, conduct research into the potential effects of global warming. 
Could more evidence be found that linked climate change with the 
actions of humans? Although they each had separate aspects of it to 
study. 

There were two Tibetan guides, Sonam Gyal and Kalsang who both knew the
mountain terrain well and knew where the places where that had not had 
human contact, and as they had headed deeper into the mountains they 
knew they could make a slight detour and visit this particular cave 
that had garnered rather a reputation in the locals, so much so that 
they advised against going in there. It was a place to avoid, and 
although it was fairly well known in the myths and legends of the 
Himalayas, it was certainly not as well known as the Yeti, but those 
that knew of it, were curious and fearful of a cave, where it is said, 
and certainly believed by the locals, that if you enter it, you never 
come out. 

Nobody who has ever walked in, has came out. No-one. This was the
folklore that dated back since the birth of the mountains, before the 
Yeti took up residence, and the two guides had already strictly stated 
that they would not enter. The team could enter if they wished. The 
team could do what they liked, but the guides were not entering as they 
believed in it. The others though, were more sceptical, some having 
only scientific minds that stated simply: 'Show me the evidence'. 
Everything was evidence based with many scientists who could not think 
outside the box, because to them, the box was all there was, and was 
closed. 

Sonam, Kalsang, Andrew, and E.J, nobody knew what the initials stood
for, he was never asked and never said, all put down their gear. 
Gregory walked across to Andrew: "Ok, we'll see you in the morning, 8am 
sharp". "Yes," said Andrew, "If you come out," he said with a smile. 
"If the Yeti hasn't dined out on you". Gregory nodded and smiled. 
"Alright then, see you in the morning". He, Dhanjay, Misha and Yan, all 
began to trek towards the cave, and as they reached the mouth, they 
each turned and gave a little wave to the others, who waved back, 
before they walked without hesitation, without fear, into the gaping 
maw of the nameless cave. 

A bird circled somewhere high above, and flew beyond a mountain peak. 

The light from outside did not penetrate far, and they all found
themselves putting on their torches. It was damp, and the stony ground 
sloped slowly downwards until it opened out into a spacious area after 
around 80 metres where dripping water reverberated every few seconds. 
This was where the cave ended, and they could see that the ground was 
dry, flat and spacious enough for them to set up camp. 


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