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 Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:17 pm
Amaranth:  Fallen Star:  Location: Crystal Caverns Final Word Count: 837
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Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:48 pm
As she made her way deeper into the Redwoods, Amaranth found herself wishing she'd somehow get used to the overpowering smell of decay. She had encountered her fair share of deceased creatures, though, and assumed that there were more to be stumbled upon as she continued her journey. She was not to be deterred from the goal she had set for herself, no matter how disgusting the path to success may be.
Fallen Star had been her only source of companionship for a long time now, but her travels had been sprinkled with chatty wolves now and then, and with them came grand stories of a cavern deep in the Redwoods that housed beautiful, magical stones that had the power to light up even the darkest of nights. She was sure that there were some creative liberties taken in these tales, but she had the belief that there had to be some truth in such commonly spread stories.
Suddenly, the fur on the back of her neck began to part as Fallen Star started to wake. The raven lifted her head, blinking rapidly in an attempt to quickly acclimate to the light.
"About time you woke up. I have a feeling we're nearly there."
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Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:08 pm
"Oh, did I miss something exciting? A particularly interesting corpse, perhaps, silly girl?" The raven teased, hopping onto Amaranth's head before settling in. "How can you be so sure that it is close when it is not even known to exist?"
The wolf snorted, gently nudging her head towards the ground. The motion was careful, not wanting to disturb the bird. "Look at the ground as the light falls. There are glowing specks, though they're very small. Like magic sand.
She was right. Nightfall was quickly approaching, and the ground began to have intermittent, tiny glowing spots. It made the area seem even creepier somehow. A weaker wolf would probably tuck their tail and run at this point, but Amaranth was determined, and her discovery only fueled that.
The two fell silent, interrupted only by occasional coughs from Amaranth as the air seemed to get thicker with rot. Night came, shrouding them in darkness aside from the faint glow that dusted then ground.
"Look, silly girl, over there!" The raven called out, flicking Amaranth's left ear with her wing. Behind fallen foliage littering the ground, a pale glow emitted, illuminating a hole large enough for a wolf to enter.
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Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:57 pm
Without a word, Amaranth made her way to the glow, slashing at the half-decayed plants with her long purple claws. This had to be it. There were small pieces of crushed crystal faintly glowing around the entrance of the cavern with an even softer glow further on. She flicked her ears, making sure she had the attention of the raven perched on her head. "Are you coming with me, or would you be more comfortable outside? I'm not sure how long this'll take."
"Silly girl, you have not learned much still. I will of course be joining you. No safety outside." The raven slid down so that she was back at the nape of Amaranth's neck. She knew there was a good chance that the cavern would be narrow, and she didn't want to end up squished between the wolf's skull and a rock.
"Let's get on with it, then." With that, Amaranth entered the cavern.
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Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:46 pm
Amaranth's coughing intensified as she made her way into the cavern. She took a moment to catch her breath, noticing small clusters of crystals in various colors, but nothing large enough or the right color.
She eventually continued her descent, narrowly avoiding bumping her head along the way. Nothing was catching her eye, though, and she was becoming irritated. She was here for something specific, and while she knew she might never find it, she wouldn't give up until she knew for sure.
"Silly girl, perhaps it does not exist? The air feels wrong here, is it worth the risk?"
Amaranth scowled. The bird was right, the air did feel... off, even for the desolate place she had been in for probably far too long. Hopefully this didn't mean she'd be succumbing to whatever was killing everything around.
Stubborn as ever, she continued. She coughed harder, having to stop every once in a while before going on.
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Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 6:40 pm
But then... there it was. Her eyes caught a large crystal, a bit bigger than the size of her paw, gently glowing a glorious purple. Her breath caught in her throat, though this time from excitement instead of the terrible cough that was taking hold of her.
She pawed at the treasure, her long nails scraping against the side as she desperately tried to free it. She pushed as hard as she could, putting all her strength into it, and it released. She stumbled, but quickly regained her footing before grabbing the crystal in her maw.
Fallen Star gave a quiet "hmph" as the wolf quickly turned tail to leave, but Amaranth ignored it. She was successful, that's all that mattered.
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