Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You are quite welcome," Earendil smiled. He turned to Amalirahc. "Made up your mind yet?"

Amalirahc shook his head. "You choose something," he told him.

Earendil looked thoughtful, but then he nodded and held his hands just above the boy's head. Light snaked out from his hands, circling the boy's head, and when it grew still he was wearing a glowing circlet around his head.

Amalirahc went cross eyed trying to look at it. "What is it?" he asked, reaching up and poking it with one finger.

"What's a circlet?" Amalirahc questioned, confused. "Is it called that because it's a circle on my head?"

Earendil chuckled. "It's like a small crown, it designates royalty," he explained. "Now you look just like the little prince you are."

He grinned, then turned to Lin. "And would you like something to light your way?" he asked her, his eyes teasing.

Earendil chuckled and wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling her close for a hug. Wherever they were in contact, Lin also began to glow.

"Works for me," he grinned. He squeezed her tightly, then linked arms with her.

"I guess we're set, Haldia," he told her.

Haldia laughed and motioned for them to follow her. "Come on then, this way." She led them into the cave.

The floor of the cave was sand, soft sand, and the rock walls were mostly bare, though there was moss growing along small ledges.

Amalirahc was looking around, fascinated by absolutely everything. He had never been in a cave before, despite how much traveling he had done with his parents.

"It all looks so funny in blue," he giggled, holding Haldia's hand tightly. He was a bit nervous - it being his first time underground and all.

Haldia smiled at him reassuringly. "It is not deep," she told him. "We are already very nearly to the end of it."

"Well, a few things," Haldia replied. The end came into sight, a wall of moss. In the pale light of the magical glows, every few seconds something could be seen dropping from the ceiling, a very slight shimmer, barely visible until it was noticed.

"Here," she murmured, kneeling down. "Here, the water runs through the rock, and in here is the only place on the entire island where these grow."

She reached down and picked something up, then held it up in the light to show everyone else. It was a mushroom: a white mushroom, though it appeared blue in the magical light.

Haldia grinned. "Yes. They make quite a good dish as well, especially when they are prepared with certain other things. I like to add them to my meals sometimes. But even raw, they are good, as long as they are clean."

Amalirahc stared at the mushroom, then looked up at the ceiling again. "Where does the water come from?" he asked curiously. "It's like the cave is bleeding."

Haldia tilted her head slightly. "Shall we pick some mushrooms for dinner tonight and then go see?" she suggested.

Haldia smiled. "Yes, they will be cooked," she assured Miyuki. She moved to the side. "Why don't you pick some yourselves?" she suggested to the children. "The biggest ones are the best."

"Like this?" Amalirahc asked, picking one up and holding it up in the light of his circlet for inspection.

Haldia nodded. "Yes, that is a good one."

"Oh, will you hold mine, too, Lin?" Amalirahc asked, darting over to her. "I can't hold very many of them."

"We do not need very many of them," Haldia warned the children, "so do not pick too many, all right? Ten or twelves will be plenty."

Earendil knelt next to Lin and held out his hands. "I'll help hold them," he told the children.