[SweetDisaster]

Rilari stared blankly at the cave. "You're kidding. You can't seriously think I'm going in there," she said to the nonexistant Sweet. "It's tiny!" The young female Lucain shuddered. She felt a mounting claustrophobia choking at her, wincing. She'd better just go in, snare an Akail (as were her orders) and get back out. As soon as she could.

She groaned and entered the caverns. Her breath seemed loud in her ears, her heart thumping painfully against her ribs. Her head hurt. Oh, this was bad. This was really, really bad...okay, not so bad. It was bigger than Rilari had first anticipated, and the claustrophobia that nearly controlled her life was fading.

That was good. At least headaches and nervousness wouldn't rack at her all day, right? Rilari sighed and entered. The walls were carved with intricate designs. Depicting what, though? The Lucain felt as if she was in a trance. Mesmerized by the carvings, she ran one paw lightly along the wall, feeling fumblingly for each knot and mark. Was this a Lucain, carved there? And a Kuhna? How odd!

Who had carved these? Who--? Rilari pulled herself from the trance. She couldn't daydream around now. She had to find that stupid Akail. Why Sweet wanted one so badly she'd no idea, but...the Lucain sighed, and trotted deeper into the caverns. Every few minutes she spared a nervous look behind her. Her claustrophobia sprang up again, choking her. Rilari's breath came more quickly, and she nearly sat down. Dizzy, she was so dizzy...

She should probably rest. Until her claustrophobia went away, even a little. Rilari sat against a wall, keeping her Lucain form. This was mostly because she hadn't discovered an anthro form yet, but...her gaze slid in and out. She could feel a carving, rough against her cheek...her eyes closed once, twice...Rilari slipped to the ground and slept.

{1}

[SweetDisaster]

Rilari woke with a jolt. She was suddenly aware that something, uncomfortably hard, was poking into her back. She scrambled to her feet and swayed, blinking. Where was she?

Oh, yes, that was right--Craiss Cavern, wasn't it? And wasn't she looking for an Akail? Rilari sighed. Right, now...where would an Akail be? The carvings forgotten, the young Lucain wearily stumbled further into the Cavern.

The shadows swallowed her. She could barely see. Claustrophobia was extinguished by now; a new sense of excitement of adventure filled Rilari. She pulled herself up a steep incline and blinked behind her. The entrance was far out of sight. Good! She was alone. That heightened the apprehensive excitement further still.

A new passage stretched ahead of Rilari, who took it at once. Akail, Akail. She really knew nothing about them. How big were they? Sweet hadn't specified. Rilari scowled. Just like her owner to have forgotten that Rilari wasn't an encyclopedia. She sighed and glanced around.

Water dripped from the ceiling. The Splotched female shuddered uncomfortably as a few drops sprinkled themselves on her. And pushed forward...

{2}

[SweetDisaster]

A few moments ago, Rilari had been in 'adventure' mode. Now, she was in angry mode. Her shoulders were hunched as more and more droplets of water found their way through her wingblades and wet the nape of her neck and spine. She shuddered, trying to displace them. No luck.

She glared venemously at a stalagmite above her. Or was that a stalactite? She never did know the difference. Rilari's wisdom was yet to be discovered, but it definitely did not lay anywhere small and hard to squirm through.

The passage she had chosen narrowed, forcing her to crawl. Her head throbbed and she felt apprehension, no longer welcome, choking her. Claustrophobic! The nerve of Sweet, sending her there! KNOWING about her phobia! Rilari moaned, squeezing her eyes shut as she wriggled forward.

The cavern opened up again so suddenly, below and above and around her, that Rilari fell forward in surprise. She landed on her paws, twisting agilely mid-air. Of course, the fact that her paws were under her to begin with didn't hurt. Rilari glanced around.

She appeared to be in a huge cavern. The ceiling was dark and invisible; a pool of water lay a few centimeters in front of one paw. Imagine landing in that! Rilari shuddered at the very thought and skirted around it.

NOW where? She couldn't quite wiggle back into the passage she'd come through. Rilari's heart jumped into her throat again. Panic threatened to overcome her. Was she stuck here? Forever? Rilari moaned. There had to be more than one way out of here. There had to be.

The Lucain glanced around, in 'nervous' mode, now. She moved uncertainly towards the unknown that lay on the other side of the cavern...

{3}

[SweetDisaster]

"Ouch!" Rilari winced as her head throbbed with more intensity. Her head had hit a piece of protruding rock. She touched her head gingerly. It hurt, but it hadn't pierced skin. She sighed in relief, and stared angrily at the rock. The anger soon left the look, however.

How interesting it was...Rilari touched the knife-like rock, disbelievingly. The runes carved there were unfamiliar to her, and yet...vaguely, they seemed to know her. She gave a tiny, scornful laugh even as the thought touched her. That was impossible! And yet, her fingers found each intricate swirl and edge easily, moving surely.

Wonderful...Akail forgotten, claustrophobia gone, Rilari stared, fascinated, at the rock. Her eyes blurred, focused. They seemed to...reawaken something, inside of her...

Something fiery, something she never knew existed...Rilari felt shivers crawl the length of her body. It was incredible...absolutely, wonderfully, incredible...it was beyond describing. A thrill ran through her, warming her from the inside out. Rilari closed her eyes, and with a little gasp, there the knowledge was, waiting.

In her mind, like an ember...glowing and warm to get her attention. Rilari grasped it, tentatively embraced it--and she felt herself changing. Her wingblades, her tails, and her ears remained; the rest of her changed into something that vaguely resembled--Sweet. A human. An anthro.

Incredulously, Rilari inspected herself. Her own hands, her body, her legs. She had clothes on. That was a queer feeling, but comfortable at the same time...she smiled, pressed her lips (lips!) against the stone, felt its warmth, and moved forward carefully in her new form.

{4}

[SweetDisaster]

No longer looking for Akail, Rilari walked blindly, purposefully, waiting to whack her head or some other body part on another rock. Perhaps she might, just might, learn something else! The sense of claustrophobia that had so mortified her as a Lucain seemed to have diminished slightly in her new, anthro form.

Rilari did end up whacking something on a rock, but this time the force that she hit wasn't as hard. Even so, she staggered and groped blindly in the dark, which had grown steadily blacker as she moved forward. A corner of rock met one hand, and her fingers flew along it.

The runes, they were the key...one curving long one, one straight stiff one like a soldier marching. A few new embers, bigger and more powerful, radiating a larger light, lingered in front of her, hesitating, taunting. Rilari snatched in her breath, her fingers still flying along the rock, stroking each rune.

They developed meaning that had no meaning, elusively, the embers fluttered at her...darted away...Rilari gulped, amazed and terrified at the same time. And then they were in her. And she knew. Knew how to use the power in her, finally--the power that had shifted and evaded her grasp the past years. A smile flashed over Rilari's face; she knew what her power was.

Healing! What a beautiful word...a temperamental healer, Rilari thought with a flicker of amusement. Life surged inside of the young Lucain. And now, she could direct it into another being. Barely hesitating, Rilari drew one finger along a jagged stone. The stone sliced her finger. Sparks, green and silver, danced there. And the cut was gone. Erased.

This could get interesting...Rilari grinned and turned back. Akail--pfft. Who needed them? She had a lot of planning to do, and these damp caverns were no place to do it.

{5}