On The Road For Precious Gems

“Are you sure that this is the right place?” Mutters Calhoun as he peers into the sloping cavern. Vineview peeks over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. Calhoun snorts, bumping his hip against her flank. She grumbles backing up and turning back towards Sono. 

Sono was picking at his tattered cape, not very interested in their confused conversation. He knew where they were, after all. He had followed the map while the two were goofing off. He hums to himself silently, releasing his satiny cape. Sono lifts his head, startling when he notices that Vinevier was not so subtly staring at him. Sono gaze, even going as far as to stand up and turn to face her. 

Vinevier just blinks, gesturing to the cave with a head tilt. Sono sighs tiredly, brushing past her and Calhoun into the cave. He can hear Vineview sputtering behind him, her silent paws trotting after him. Calhoun seems to hesitate for a few moments longer before he too follows. 

They follow the path for a long while, Calhoun occasionally stopping to dip some crystals into his pouch. Vinevier rolls her eyes every time he stops, never slowing down to wait for him. She instead keeps up with Sono, humming a song that she had learned while in captive. It was a little haunting, especially in a dark cave with no magic keeping it lit, though she thought it made the mood more fitting. 

Sono suddenly stops when they come into contact with a narrow ledge that crossed over a canyon. Vinevier freezes when she notices it, slowly looking over and shuddering when the darkness looms in front of her like a promise for pain should one of them fall in. Calhoun bounds up behind them, blinking owlishly when he sees Sono and Vinevier stopped at the edge. 

“What’s going on?” He asks in confusion, tilting his head as he sits beside Vinevier, looking down. He startles when he realizes how far down it seems to go, scrambling back with a yelp. Vinevier hisses at the sound, looking around warily for any falling stalligmites. “Be quiet!” Sono bumps her hip, glancing back at her before he’s moving forward along the narrow ledge. Vinevier takes a moment to breathe. Pulling Calhoun forward by the scruff before releasing him at the edge and following Sono. Calhoun whines quietly, shuffling forward after her with a small step after the other. 

Vinevier exhales shakily when she reaches Sono, who was already beginning to delve deeper into the dark cave, the evening light beginning to fade from sight the further they went.  “What are you looking for, Sono?” Vinevier inquires, tilting her head as she trots up beside him. He eyes her for a moment, his steps slow and full of purpose. He hums, looking forward again. Vinevier pouts at the silence, glancing at the walls of the cave in slight awe as it gradually brightens. “Are they… glowing?” 

“I’m searching for an ‘alien gem’, as villages call it. Born from the beginning days when magic was plentiful and life was–well, alive.” Sono murmurs suddenly, startling Vinevier into staring back at Sono. The taller Vayron was still walking, seemingly unbothered by her surprise. “Alien gem…?” Vinevier coaxes, interested now that Sono was speaking. In the time that they’ve traveled together from the main city, she has only heard little murmurs and has only seen little smiles towards the pup of the city. 

“It aids with healing–the magic of old, we’ll call it.” Sono glances back again, narrowing his eyes. Vinevier smiles sheepishly, lowering her head. She wants to hear him talk more, wants to converse with someone that doesn’t make her want to rip her pelt off her muscles. Sono sighs, looking forward again as light continues to grow as they follow the path. “The magic of old is lost, as villages say. I’ve read books that have mentioned that fossils and gems still hold that power because they’re from a time so long ago.” 

Sono seems to hesitate, his thought out steps faltering as he slows to a stop. Vinevier stops beside him worriedly, frowning as she places a gentle paw on his shoulder. Sono flinches violently from the contact, growling lowly as he nips at her paw. She takes it back, wincing when she puts it on the uneven ground. Sono freezes when he sees her pain, long ears folding back.  

“Oh, I’m–” Sono starts, beginning to rifle through his pack before Vinevier shakes her head, smiling.  

“Save it. We can take care of it later where we can see clearly. While it is gradually becoming brighter, you need to be able to see clearly. I’ve learned that from Calhoun, who happened to mess up on my snout because he couldn’t see clearly while working on it. The perks of doing it in an underground fighting ring, I suppose.” Vinevier rambles, eventually sitting down as she explains. Sono smiles awkwardly, nodding when she mentions a fighting ring. 

“I suppose that would make it hard to properly take care of a wound… At least let me wrap it?” 

Vinevier hesitates, lifting her injured paw before sighing and giving him her paw. “Alright, you can wrap it.” 

Sono relaxes, sighing in relief as he rifles through his medic bag to pull out bandages. He wraps it around her paw, exhaling heavily. He turns towards the pathway, his tail audibly dragging against the ground. 

Vinevier turns as well, humming quietly. Calhoun appears behind them, his pack filled with gems and crystals. He looks between the two, eyes narrowing for a moment before he shrugs and brushes past them towards the light. Vinevier sputters, gently nudging Sono forward before following Calhoun with a huff. Sono snorts in amusement, looking back towards the entrance before following Vinevier and Calhoun. 

"What took you so long?" Demands Vinevier, nipping Calhoun's flank after she catches up. Calhoun yelps, nearly kicking her throat before grumbling and shuffling his pack. 

"I saw shiny," he admits sheepishly, ears folding back as he looks back at her apologetically. Vinevier groans, shaking her head while Sono halts in front of a divergence. Vinevier slows to a stop when she notices Sono, flinching at the echo of water dripping onto cold stone. 

"Sono?" 

Sono turns to her, his eyes glimmering with light and awe. "I found it." He murmurs, turning his head back towards the narrow opening.  

Vinevier blinks in surprise, trotting over before gasping in surprise at seeing a large crystal sitting in the middle of the opened cave room. Calhoun shoves his way between them, ignoring Vinevier's startled yelp and Sono's annoyed grumble before gasping in surprise before he's quickly removing his pack and squeezing through the crack.  

Sono shakes his head when Calhoun gets stuck, huffing. "If you had noticed, someone small can only go through." He grabs Calhoun’s tail with his maw, yanking him back sharply.  Calhoun snarls in response, whipping around and snapping at Sono's snout warningly. "Don't pull my tail." 

"Then don't get stuck," Sono responds simply, looking at Vinevier. "You're the smallest in the group—do you think you could go in and somehow deconstruct the crystal without losing too much of it?" 

Vinevier looks at the crevice, humming in thought. "I can certainly try, but I can't promise to be able to save all of it." 

"That's alright, get what you can, yeah?"  

Vinevier nods, crouching low to the ground before dragging herself through the crevice. Sono lowers to his belly, watching as she stands up and faces the crystal. 

Vinevier gasps as she stands in front of the crystal, staring at it in awe. She could feel the magic emanating from the geode, could see the light that shifted and flowed within it. "Beautiful…" 

"Please hurry, Vinevier." Sono calls from the other side, snapping Vinevier from her reverence. She shakes her head, stepping forward and pressing a paw against the geode. It shudders before shrinking before her eyes, taking all the light with it. She yelps when there's only the amount of light that a candle emits in a large room, leaving her staring at the now miniature crystal. 

"Uhm, it shrank when I touched it—" 

"WHAT?!" 

Vinevier's ears flatten against her head at Sono's screech, Calhoun’s growl following not long behind.  

"Oi, tone down the volume, we're in a cave dumbass." Calhoun comments, shuffling signifying him pulling his pack back on. "Come back out, Love. Bring the crystal out with you." Vinevier huffs, picking the geode up with her maw before shuffling through the crevice with grunts and huffs. She slides out, putting the geode in her pack before turning to Sono. "Ok, so we've got the Geode. Do we just… leave?" 

Sono nods mutely, turning around and heaving back up towards the way they came. Calhoun just sighs, licking Vinevier once before following after him. Vinevier just stands there in silence for a few moments, watching them leave. She looks back at the geode, humming to herself quietly. I may take you for myself and Calhoun…  

"Love, come on, we need to go before others arrive!" 

Vinevier startles, jumping up and rushing after them. She gives Calhoun a sheepish smile when she catches up, exhaling in relief when she's not left behind. The three cross the chasm carefully, once again using the narrow ledge. Vinevier looks down briefly, shuddering before slumping against the widened path. "This cave will forever haunt me." 

Sono glances back, shaking his head with a huff before continuing forward without pause. Calhoun nudges Vinevier up, smiling warmly when she nuzzles him in return. Thank you, she mouths, licking his snout before following after Sono eagerly. The sooner they got out of the cave, the better. She had a feeling that should they try to traverse after night, they'd get horribly lost and would end up dying before they found a safe way out. 

Vinevier shivers, conjuring warm wind to surround the trio, noticing that it had begun to cool down. It must nearly be night. She bites back a whimper, shuffling along faster so that she could get out of the cave. She speeds past Sono, breaking out into the wilderness with a cry of victory. "We're free!" She exclaimed excitedly, setting her pack down before rolling around in the grass, staining her white fur. 

Calhoun watches in amusement as he takes his last steps out of the cave, shaking his head. He looks up briefly as the warm wind disperses, humming. The sun was setting in the distance, animals going to sleep while the nocturnal came out to hunt. He closes his eyes as the breeze runs its fingers through his fur, exhaling deeply. "Are you ready to return home, love?" He asks Vinevier, opening his after a moment to look at her as she rolls onto her side and lifts her head in attention. 

"Yeah, let me just split the geode and we'll be ready to go!" Sono freezes, his snout curling back silently as Vinevier summons gentle winds to pull out the geode, setting it down onto the grass before its sharpening and lowering to the geode. Calhoun steps in front of Sono before he can lunge, his own teeth bared in warning. 

"We are both healers, yes? We will take half while you take the other half. That way it is fair as we all came here in search of the geode." Calhoun tells him, eyes narrowed. 

Not given much of a choice, Sono backs down. Immediately after, he's pinned down by rapid wind currents, an annoyed Vinevier walking up to Calhoun and stuffing their half into his pack with a grumble. "You know, if you were nice at the end, I wouldn't have had to hold you down with the wind currents." She mentions simply, turning her attention to Sono. She drops his half of the geode in front of him, the cut clean and precise. "We're leaving now. The wind'll fade the further away we get. I'm sure we'll see you later, Sono."