[Sarah]

Ska stopped next to Feuta, his body contorting into different shapes. He would be with her while she gained control over her emotions, while this happened though he would need something to occupy himself with. He twisted into a triangle, his wings fluttering in the silent cave. His eyes scanning the air around them, still no sign of the figure he had seen. He flipped around, making a shape similar to a flower he had seen once; its broad petals swirling around and around. He lost himself in memories of his travels. “Ehhem.” Feuta Whispered. He flipped back around, looking at her with a tilt to his head. “Ready to go?” she asked, in Ska’s opinion she looked a lot better, her fur was down, and her tail wasn’t between her legs.

[Sarah]

Feuta took the lead, though they weren’t going very fast. She wanted to take her time; mostly because she would not be able to hobble any faster than she was at the moment. If someone shaved her she would bet a large sum of keystones that her skin would match her fur color, black and purple. The walked in silence for the most part, Ska would click every once in a while, and the sound of his fluttering wings filled the rest of the silence. The path seemed infinitely long, it was annoying to Feuta. There was no clear sign that the pathway was getting wider, or that it would spit them out anywhere, it just spiraled down into nothingness.

[Sarah]

With each step she felt a little stronger, her pain subsided and she could focus on different things. Like the fact that the tunnel had widened and was still widening as she padded on. Ska hung around her neck again, content to look around. To her all she could see was blank grey stone that circled them loosely. There was no loose rock under her feet and the tunnel walls where relatively dry. Unlike when they had stepped into the caves, this path they took was rather warm not overbearing but it was a nice contrast to the cool colors of the stone.

[Sarah]

Visibly Feuta looked worn, mentally however she felt energized. She was fed up with not finding anything. She wanted to find whatever it was her master wanted and leave the caves immediately. Ska dangled from her neck, its wings folded to look like a black pendant of some gem. The path was growing steadily wider. They had walked for miles upon miles without rest until their surroundings changed; finally. It was hard to tell at first, only small things changed, the way the stone was cut, and then small gems began to appear. Feuta sped her walk to a soft trot, her ear bouncing with each paw strike. The tunnel closed, only a small crack split the face of the end of the long corridor. Feuta stepped though, no thought was taken for this action. She just went through the opening, her nose raised as she sniffed the air. She could hear nothing but the drip of water. There was something more that her ears could catch, the scuttling of creature across the shadows of the cave. Chills froze her blood, and she stood stiff in one place.

[Sarah]

“How could I forget.” She mumbled the weight of her herb pouch suddenly made itself apparent. Her muscles loosened, she would be safe as long as she had her herbs. Calm warmth thrilled though her veins. Ska hanging around her neck freed himself; he didn’t even glance at her. He knew how she was One moment she would be angry, the next moment shy, and the next happy. He fluttered around the cavern searching intently for a life force. He came back to her heartbeats later shaking his head sadly. She just shrugged and moved on. “I know I heard something, and these caves are big.” She said trying to fill the eerie noises of the dark caves.

[Sarah]

Pulling out a dried flower from around her neck he chomped on it thoughtfully, knowing that the properties of the flower would help her magic if she had a need to use it. The flower was sweet and had a soft crunch, which was good considering a wilted flower would not possess the results she was looking for. Padding forward away from the tunnel she came from she peered around a large stone column that hid the tunnel from the rest of the cave. Others like it where strewn around randomly. Stalagmites and stalactite grew from the cave sparsely. Honestly she could not see any other tunnels, but her point of view was limited to the awkward spot she was in. “Can you see another way?” she asked her partner, sending hi away in search of another cave to travel through.

[Sarah]

He came back after a long time, he flitted around her excitedly. “Good, good.” She said motioning for him to lead her to the next tunnel. Her eyes scanned the cave in search for moss or other herbal plants. She always needed more, assuming she didn’t waste them on mixtures she created from scratch. That was the whole reason for her search actually. Her latest obsession was alchemy, and so far she sucked. She had always been natural with magic, born with the gift. Now she was struggling with something all herbalists should know. Trotting behind Ska keeping one eye on him she was sad to see that there were no visible plants around the rock. “To dry down here.” she grumbled to Ska who nodded in agreement.

[Sarah]

Ska gave a small chirp to his master, circling a small hole in the rock. She would have to crouch down to get though it but once she was in it would open up. Feuta looked at Ska expectantly, her eyes still casting about the cave. She trotted in, her head still turned to where they came. He followed her inside and began to lead the way down another short corridor. He could see light at the end of this tunnel; she would be able to find some crystal at least. This brightened his spirit and so he wished she would go faster to see what he had bought her to.

[Sarah]

Feuta crept behind Ska, who would zoom ahead of her, then zoom back. She only saw him do that when he was excited to be somewhere or was extremely pleased with himself. She assumed it was both this time. This path was a short one compared to the others they had taken. It was easy walking; as they walked she could feel her magical energies getting excited. Her mind became sharper; something special was in this next room. She was overwhelmed now; her paw pads thrummed loudly down the path her ears pricked up. Her tail wagged ferociously.

[Sarah]

Bursting from the short corridor, her breath was taken from her. She stood before a massive Crystal lined cavern. “Quarts, Copper, Chrysocolla, Topaz.” She was stunned at the diverse amount of crystals placed before her. She thought it was impossible for all of these to be so large and compact. Some she could not name, but she always carried a crystal book with her so she didn’t worry too much about that. She forced herself to breath. The air was sparking with magical energies.  Ska was overwhelmed by the amount of power in the room; He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. He zoomed though the rocks faster than her eyes could keep up with. Her concern was not with Ska, she was worried as to how she was supposed to figure out which she needed, and then how to get them home.

[Sarah]

Feuta padded around on clump of Blue Quarts. “This is in perfect condition!" she said, her mind in total awe. “Ska!” she called her helper. “Get me a few Crystals of these, they are something I need.” She turned towards another clump of Quarts inspecting its shape. She could hear Ska behind her cutting at the stone. “Rose Quarts.” She had no use for this crystal, it was also known as the ‘love crystal’ and she did not have the time for love. Ska was still chiseling the Blue Quarts so Feuta took her time, she was looking for only a few crystals in particular.

[Sarah]

“What else, what else.” She thought for a moment running down a list of crystals she had been wanting for a long time. “Ah!” she smiled widely. “Citrine, Chrysocolla, and Chrysoprase,” She rolled her eyes. “All Beginning with C.” she padded back to where she was in the beginning. “I saw Copper and Chrysocolla from over here, so it should be around her somewhere. She padded around the rock, passing Ska who had collected a few pendants worth of Blue Quarts.  “That’s enough, come over here.” she said turning her attention back to the ground and lower walls. “There you are.” She trotted up to a small sunken piece of the cave. “Be gentle with the Chrysocolla.” She warned Ska before turning to gather the Blue Quarts he had cut.

[Sarah]

She gingerly picked up the Blue quarts with her mouth, placing them gently in her empty herb pouch. The crystals where cut so perfectly she doubted she would have to do much other than shape them. They were light at least so her neck wouldn’t cramp up. She padded around again, “Let’s see, Citrine should be around some Quarts if I am not mistaken." She glanced around; her eyes caught something resembling Citrine. The muddy yellow of the stone was beautiful, unmatched she thought by any other crystal. Though Citrine had always been her favorite, she had never been able to find the perfect color of it. Now it seemed that she had. She would have to wait until Ska was finished with the Chrysocolla first before she would be able to get any of the precious crystals.

[Sarah]

Citrine was definitely a rare find. She seldom saw real citrine in shops. Usually they were just dyed glass. She would have to make sure Ska got as much as she would be able to carry before they left these magical caves. She could still hear him carefully cutting out the Chrysocolla. She could not stop gawking at the crystals around her. All of them would be beneficial to her, but at this point in time she could only take what she really needed. She realized then as well that she probably would not find Chrysoprase in this tunnel. Chrysoprase was found near silica, not Quarts or copper.

[Sarah]

The light she had seen when she had entered the tunnel was finally upon her, it refracted off of the crystal pillars, leading her farther back into the cave. Ska had set the chrysocolla in her bag and was now grinding away at the citrine. She padded down the length of the cave slowly. She didn’t want to rush into a situation she might not be able to handle. Noticing more and more that the pillars where extremely uniform spread out in the cave. –Someone must have carved this- she thought in awe and fear. Whatever had done this, it could not have done it alone.