[Jaykobell]

The map didn't smell nearly as bad as that disgusting Skyllard. The pen, though, was another story entirely. It wasn't that bad if he kept it away from his face, and hopefully, the wind and open space would clear out the stench. The prospect of being stuck with this throughout an entire cave system did not appeal to him at all.

His two partners followed diligently behind him in silence. "So?" the smallest of the three, the little girl covered under the red cloak, asked.

The one at the front stopped, and he grimaced. "There's not much on it," he said, and although he had expected it — there was a reason they needed explorers to chart the caves — he hadn't imagined the map to be so bare.

[Jaykobell]

She frowned at his answer. "How much is actually on it?"

He turned around and showed the map to the two of them. The only thing that counted as a map was the small point of entry at the bottom; everything else was completely empty and for them to chart down. "This much."

Her frown turned into a snarl. "Seriously?"

The plague doctor approached to see the map closer, and he scratched his head. "I guess it makes sense," he said hesitantly. "That's why they need people to come here and chart out the cave systems."

The answer didn't make the little girl feel any better. "I should've eaten that stupid duck," she muttered under her breath.

[Jaykobell]

"Eating him wouldn't have helped any, Braith," the leader said as he rolled up the map, "since he was the one organizing these expeditions. And then we would've had Sibyl on our backs for it."

Upon that name being mentioned, the two of them fell quiet. The lab boy more so than Braith, who simply made unhappy grimaces at the words. "Whatever," she muttered in defeat. "Eating him would've been a good riddance."

Admittedly, he couldn't argue with that statement. "Caraway," he said as he turned to the plague doctor, "here, you take the map and chart it," he instructed, handing over the map and the feather pen.

"Huh?" Caraway said confusingly as he hesitantly took the items. "Why me?"

"Because that pen smells like crap," he pointed out, and since Caraway couldn't smell it, he was the best for the job.

[Jaykobell]

Out of habit, Caraway brought the pen to the nose of the mask. Not that he could smell anything thanks to the herbs, spices and flowers that sat in the beak, but it was a subconscious reflex.

"We're almost there," the leader said as he turned around and got back on track, leading them towards the mountains. "It'll get colder from here on out, at least for a little bit. Are you both ready?"

"You already asked that before signing up with that stupid duck, Velius," Braith reminded him, scoffing. "The answer hasn't changed."

Caraway fondled with the map and the pen uncomfortably. "I mean..." he said quietly before pausing for a second, "... we don't have a choice."

Velius didn't answer right away, and the three walked in silence for a moment. "I guess we don't," his reply eventually came as they quickly approached the mountain range.

[Jaykobell]

There was a certain level of skill required to climb the mountains up to the designed point. If anything, getting to the entrance of the cave would be the hardest part of this mission. Velius was confident they could handle whatever they would find in the caves, but fighting back against nature was a difficult one. He only hoped that the biting cold weather didn't carry into the caves.

The climb went relatively well with almost no problems. A few slips here and there, which were to be expected; these were the harshest peaks in Evelon, and that definitely explained why those hikers had fallen to their deaths in discovering those caves. Fortunately for them, their deaths had exposed the entry points, forfeiting the need to potentially kill oneself to enter.

Soon enough, the mouth of the cave was within eyesight. With a wave of his arm, Velius motioned for Caraway and Braith to follow along. They hurried over; Velius stood by the opening of the cave and motioned for the two to hurry on in. Braith ran in first, followed by Caraway; and finally, Velius made it in once his partners had slipped in.

[Jaykobell]

The air was still crisp even as they entered the caves. The cold air bit them in the back as they hurried inside, partly to avoid this weather, and partly to get started on this exploration.

Soon enough, they had reached the deeper parts of the cave entrance. The cold air and the hissing winds were soon left behind, and a more humid atmosphere started settling in. They relaxed as the air got more manageable, eventually reaching an open space. The walls opened and revealed the first section of the cave.

The three stopped at the edge of the opening, looking onward. "Is that…" Caraway said as they took in the sights, "... a waterfall?" The hissing winds had been replaced with a thundering crash of water against stones.

[Jaykobell]

"Sure looks like it," Velius confirmed as he started making his way down the cave clearing. "It must be the snow and ice from the mountains that’s melted down inside," he assumed as he looked up towards the highest peak of the waterfall.

"Huh," Braith mused as she looked around, her eyes drawn to the shiny stony walls, some cracks having colorful minerals sticking out. "At least the place is pretty," she added as she followed suit after Velius, leaving Caraway behind.

Velius made his way to the waterfall to watch it from up close. If they ran out of water, this was good to know that they had a natural source of water available. Admittedly, the waterfall truly was a beautiful sight to behold. The colorful crystals around on the walls glistened from the water droplets. Besides that, something else caught his attention.

"Caraway," Velius called out, and he turned around to motion to the other man to hurry along. "Come see this."

[Jaykobell]

When he was asked to hurry on over, Caraway picked up the pace and ran up to Velius. "Yeah?" he said as he reached the other man. "What is it?"

Velius pointed to a bunch of rocks near the waterfall that glistened with moss. "Look over there," he said, pointing specifically to the moss. "Is that something you could use?"

It was hard to see what was happening behind that mask; underneath is, Caraway narrowed his eyes. "It depends what kind of moss it is," he said. "I'm not sure, but if you can get me a sample, I'll take a look once we're out of here." He didn't have his scientific setup, either, nor his books. Maybe from up close, he would be able to tell what kind of moss it was, but otherwise, it would be kept for later.

Velius looked up. "Hm," he mused, and stepped a little closer to the wall. "It's not too high up." He tensed and then headed for the wall. He held on to the stones and propelled himself up with nimble footwork up to the moss-covered rocks. He held onto the wall once he got close, and he drew up a small knife from his belt. He scraped a small strip off the rocks before making his way back down to Caraway.

[Jaykobell]

Caraway was always impressed by Velius's nimble abilities and quick footwork. He was a slow one, and a whole lot clumsier. Of course, Velius's abilities came with a cost, but it didn't stop Caraway from looking up to him.

"Here you go," Velius said as he got down and handed the strip of moss to Caraway. Once the sample was exchanged and safely put into Caraway's bag, Velius looked all around them. "Make sure you map down this first area, Caraway," he instructed as he looked for Braith, who seemed distracted by the shiny stones on the walls. "And then we're moving on." He didn't want them to get stuck in here forever. Pretty crystals and growing moss admittedly weren't what they were here for. The best parts were yet to come.

"Oh," Caraway mumbled as he shut his bag's flap shut. "Right." As Velius went on to pick up Braith, Caraway pulled out the map and the feather pen to chart down this area.

"Braith," Velius called out as he got a little closer to the girl, "we're moving on. Come on," he said, motioning for her to pick up the pace. She stood in place for a moment, but she eventually complied, catching up to the two of them.

[Jaykobell]

Caraway made a rough drawing of the area. He put notes down to include the waterfall, the moss, and a few other noteworthy details for those who would come after them. They were in this to help Sibyl, who was only after the riches or the creatures that could ultimately help her in her goal, but that didn't prevent Caraway from caring about other things.

It took a few minutes, but he was satisfied with the end result. Velius and Braith were ready to move on, too, as they caught up to him. "All done?" Velius asked, and Caraway nodded.

"All done," he said as he rolled up the map and put it in his bag, pen included.

The group moved on. As they neared the edge of the waterfall clearing, it soon became clear that two branching paths were available for them to take. Considering Velius was the leader, Braith and Caraway waited for him to decide which path to take. It was a shot in the dark regardless; they had no idea where either path lead. "Right," he ultimately said, and the group ventured onward down that path.

[Jaykobell]

As they travelled onward, the lights seemed to get dimmer. It wasn't dark enough that they couldn't see ahead with the naked eye, but there was definitely a difference from the previous room.

Caraway started charting the area from the get-go as a result, even though he didn't quite fancy the possibility of being handicapped if something jumped them from the shadows. All three of them could fight, but he had no desire to become a liability.

They eventually noticed a slightly more opened area with massive pillars that sprung from the ground all the way up to the ceiling. Otherwise, there didn't seem to be anything else in this room.

But as the two men continued, Braith stopped in her tracks. "I hear something," she told the other two, and they stopped, too. "High up, on the ceiling."

[Jaykobell]

Perhaps it was the sound of their footsteps, or the sound of Braith's voice; but something stirred whatever was up there. Sounds of flapping wings echoed high up above, along with small, high-pitched cries.

Caraway tightened his grip on the map and pen, and although he couldn't see anything due to the darkness, Velius focused his attention to the ceiling. "Battis," he whispered after the sounds had mostly subdued. "There's a whole group up there on the ceiling, in the dark."

"Could..." Caraway hesitated to continue. "Could they attack us?" he asked with worry, whispering his question to Velius for fear that the Battis would swoop down on them if they didn't.

Velius squinted. "If we move quickly and quietly," he whispered back, "I think we'll be fine."

Caraway wasn't all that convinced, but being quiet was their best option. As they continued moving onward, he made sure to make clear, eye-catching notes about the fact a whole hoard of Battis lived in this section of the caves.

[Jaykobell]

As they walked, Braith's attention was drawn to the Battis up above. Their small wings flapping about, their little cries echoing in the dark, the presence of them moving around. It was a wonderful thing, this little hoard of bats; but she frowned. "They'll get hurt," she whispered behind Velius and Caraway, "when more humans come down here."

The two looked over their shoulder to look at her. "They might not disturb the creatures down here," Velius said in reply, and his words only made Braith more upset. She glared at him, orange eyes piercing right through the darkness.

"We're disturbing them right now," she hissed as a reminder. "We're here to find treasure for Sibyl — and that includes any creatures living down here."

Velius knew both Caraway and Braith, but the other two didn't quite know each other very well yet. Caraway was surprised to hear so much venom in Braith's voice, but Velius couldn't disagree. "You're right," he admitted.

[Jaykobell]

Velius admitting she was right was enough to satisfy Braith, but who still went on to grimace. "This form itches," she groaned, bringing up a hand to scratch her head.

"You can shift once we leave this area," Velius promised. "Just in case it could startle the Battis up there," he justified, and he heard Braith huff, with no words to follow. "For now, let's hurry," he said, growing anxious that these caves weren't proving to be very plentiful so far. They needed to find something in here; even though he assumed they still had a lot of ground to cover, if he could at least get proof that they wouldn't be leaving this place empty-handed. "There's still a lot of ground to cover, I'm sure."

Braith moved up to be walking just slightly ahead of the two. Caraway continued to map down the area as best he could, but it was a little difficult in this darkness. He hoped the other areas would be a bit lighter; it was just comforting in general to have more light.

[Jaykobell]

The large pillars made movement a little inconvenient. They often had to step aside and walk around them to keep moving, and it was a little disorienting. The silver lining was that the more pillars they past, the closer they got to escaping the dormant hoard of Battis overhead. At least, that was their hope.

Caraway diligently continued to chart the map, and he gasped when they eventually reached an opportunity to move onward to somewhere else. "There," he told the other two, pointing forward. "More narrow paths." Despite the discovery, he soon realized this was a little different from the other room.

"There's at least three of them here," Braith said, stealing Caraway's thunder. "Where to?"

Both of them turned to Velius, who glanced from one possibility to the other. With little hesitation, he said, "Let's go right. Let's keep to our right if we can." Going one way would hopefully prevent them from getting lost. If they got lost, they would only need to go left. Once they reached a dead end going right, they would move in a different direction.

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