Submission (#1936) Approved

Quest: Resonance - Act 2
Act Type: Study
Word Count: 2,584
Adult Elnin Present: Nolatari [MYO-ELN247]
Other Elnin: Malis [MYO-ELN180]
Regional Affinity: Enmir
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Amirynth [MYO-ELN229]
[Noble] Rank Unlock Mini-Requirement: Include an adult elnin in at least two of your acts, Depict your Elnin in the company of two or more other Elnins.

     "I think it'd be a great idea! We might even be able t' find something t' help ya sib!" Malis crashed through the door after eavesdropping on Nolatari and Amirynth. A few days had passed and the pair was quietly eating breakfast outside while listening to the birds as they flitted from vine to vine. Disturbed by the loud bang of the door the flock of finches took off into the warm, muggy, air leaving the constant drone of the insects to fill the following silence. "I'd love t' see t' crystals you were talkin' about. The whole thing sounds fascinating!"

     Amirynth shook her head, "It would be too d-d-dangerous. We d-d-don't know what caused the d-d-dusk sickness. You c-c-could get affected." As an afterthought she added, "And I d-d-don't know if it would react with mine..." She unconsciously rubbed her shoulder, feeling the raised bumps under her caplet. While she was getting used to the aching, the tingles under her fur still bothered her, especially when the weather got cold. She was healing rapidly now but the odd dreams still plagued her and once in a while she would catch the odd voce speaking to her out of nowhere. "What do you think Nolatari?"

     The elder nin thought for a while. They were now back to full health but still worried about their sibling who's fever had not broken yet. "Its been a couple and the healers feel hopeful as they have been looking better but their fur may never be as it was. If I could find answers by going back there it would be worth it." Nolatari turned to the smaller kittom and smiled kindly, "You wouldn't have to come if you thought it would be too much, we wouldn't press you into it."

     "We?" Rynn looked between both blue elnin, one tall and delicate, her pale snowy-white hair floating around her like a cloud, the other short and stocky with a wild toothy grin, bright eyes, and way too much bravery for such a youngster. Rynn knew she was also young but had a moment when she felt older than the both of them. "Malis, you are g-g-going to look at the crystals?" They had only just mentioned it that morning and so the faenin was surprised that the larger kittom had made up her mind about it so fast. "Arn't you worried?"

     Malis shook her head, bright red dreads dancing as she answered. "Nah, we're not going too far into t' cavern an' we are probably gonna steer clear of t' spot that Aryn fell down. Mostly we're just gonna take a look at things an' then come back." She gestured towards the pale elnin before grinning, "And we have an adult with us so we'll be safe! Don't you worry too much, I did promise to show you around Enmir while we were here an' Nol here needs t' get some fresh air anyways." Malis took a look at Rynn's expression and chuckled, "An' if you want, you can come along t' keep us in check? I promise if ya think it's too dangerous, you let us know and we'll come right back."

     Rynn looked between the two of them again and with a resigned sigh she stood up carefully. "I g-g-guess if we are going we might want to start out soon so we are b-b-back before nightfall." She walked to the door to grab a small pouch of necessary items from a hook and informed the nurses they were heading out for a walk. She knew they were going close to the Shaedmoor but hopefully they would not be traveling too far in. For a flash she considered telling the nurses where they were going but didn't want to worry them. "Ready?"

     "Ready!" Nolatari stood up and nodded towards one of the closer pathways. "We'll be going towards the west to get there. It's not too far." The pale Elnin lead the two kittoms down the twisty wooden path, through a curtain of willow branches and towards the thicker areas of the marsh. The trees grew in closer as they crossed a few bridges and the path turned to dirt, larger rocks sticking out of the more muddy areas so that their feet stayed dry for the most part. The noise of the insects grew louder interspaces with a whooping of a whippoorwill and the caws of corvid familiar hidden up in the dark leaves of the forest. The water that glistened between the trunks of the trees was still with barely a ripple, large roots branching from the water dressed in slime and foliage and leading into branches that reached up into the sky. Nol moved a few of the vines that dangled in their pathway and uncovered an unused dirt path, partially overgrown with long grasses. "Just over here..." The elnin took the lead, letting the kittom pair follow them.

     Letting Malis guard the rear, Amirynth felt a little dwarfed by the large trees that seemed to be even larger and more imposing that they were before. She spotted a glow that seemed to come from the ground just in front of them and peered around Nolatari. The adult nin raised up a paw before gesturing with the other one and Rynn paused in her steps. At the pale elnin's nod she crept forward, making sure the ground was sturdy before moving forward. As she was the lightest it made sense that she would be the better one to scout things out. There was a large crack before them, partially hidden by the bushes and woven grasses that obscured the ground below their feet. Large roots stretched across the open wound of the earth like crooked teeth revealing the cause of the hole. Rynn's gaze followed the roots to see one of the largest trees she had seen (other than the Eldertrees of course) laying on its side. Moving carefully over the dirt she lightly placed her paw on the trunk who's diameter towered above her, "I wonder what c-c-caused it to fall down? Maybe the c-c-crystals below?" The faenin peered toward the eerie blue glow that came from the underground cavern.

     Nolatari was the first to respond, "I would not be too surprised. I have heard similar things out in other areas. Large groups of mana crystals surrounded by even larger plants. Once a friend of mine had found some mushrooms in Silveil that were larger than her!" As she spoke, Nol looked down into the hole searching for a good place to enter it. "Watch out for the other side of the tree, that is where Aryn fell. I think if we climb down from this side we should be ok." The pale-haired elnin took a peek at the area below before adding, "There are no crystals over here so it should be safe... Just in case they were what affected us." They put out a paw to Rynn before taking a few steps down the other paw wrapped around a thinner root for stability. "Need some help or do you have it?"

     Rynn shook her head, "I should b-b-be fine, there are enough hand-holds here." She peeked over the side and momentarily wished they had brought a rope. "How about you Malis?" While she was still worried about what the crystals may be, especially after seeing the rampant growth of the flora around them, she had to admit curiosity was getting the best of her. Looking around at the dense trees where the marsh had turned to swampland Amirynth swatted some bugs away from her ear before spotting a close vine. "Oh! Would this help us g-g-get down there?"

     "Great idea Rynn!" Malis grinned toothily as she grasped the vine the faenin had singled out and pulled hard. It took a few tugs but the vine slowly slurped its way out of the swampy muck around them, almost causing Malis to lose her balance as the vine suddenly snapped when the tension got too much. "This is perfect!" She laughed, holding the loop of it up in the air. The blue kittom then wrapped the clean end tightly to the root of the huge tree and used it to swing herself down past Nolatari. "Beat ya down there!"

     One by one they made their way into the cavern. The spot where they stood was still pretty shallow but the expanse below them opened up into something much larger than they expected. Stalactites dripped from the ceiling where roots of trees wove between them while stalagmites reached up towards them, leaving the cavern floor filled with odd shapes that almost looked like people in the dull blueish green glow. Each in turn needed to take a moment to catch their breath, mouth gaping at the alien beauty they saw. Still, the eerie glow gave Rynn an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could see the larger mana crystals growing from the side of the walls on the other side of the immense root structure that had pulled open the ground when the tree fell. She raised a paw to her shoulder where her skin tingled, reacting to the crystals in the cavern.

     Nolatari broke the silence, "It feels the same was as it did before. Though..." They peered down into the shadow depths, "the space definitely seems a bit larger than when we were last here." Taking a momentary step back the elder nin looked up at the roots thoughtfully, "I feel we might want to let people know in case they can save this tree. It looks like it might still be alive." Pointing out where the roots still grew into the hard dirt and rock Nol ran a paw down the woody tangles. While they had seen trees like this fall before, this was a first to see something quite so huge. Nolatari turned back to the glowing crystals on the other side of the tangled roots and observed them for a long while, as much as they had wanted to come back to figure out a way to help their sibling, they realized they didn't know enough about the crystals to decipher any meaning from them.

     "Ya know, I could probably swing over there an' take a sample of t' crystal." Malis was examining the space between them filled with fibrous roots, "Shouldn't be too hard, I can see a few smaller crystals over there I can probably chunk of of t' ground." She could feel the unease of the other two and felt protective all of a sudden. If she grabbed some crystal to take home then maybe their journey could be still useful but they could leave quickly before someone important got hurt. "I think ya right, if t' tree can be saved we need t' be leavin' pronto."

     She could feel her heart beat in her chest but Rynn knew this was her task. "I'll d-d-do it." She already had mana-sickness, she was already healing from it. She didn't think the crystals could do much more to her than what had already happened. The faenin turned to Malis, "I am much lighter than you, and..." She flexed her wings a few times, though she hadn't tried to fly since the attack thinking they were too weak, "If I did s-s-slip I can at least c-c-catch myself." Rynn could hardly believe she was saying such things but she did not want Malis hurting herself or getting affected like Nolatari's sibling. She raised a paw as soon as Malis started protesting. "It's ok, I will b-b-be fine." She felt like she was lying to all around including herself but took a deep breath to center herself and then looked towards the small cluster of crystals that Malis had pointed out.

     Slowly at first, Amirynth pulled herself up on top of a larger root with Malis' help. She grasped a thinner vine to steady herself before inching her way down the root carefully. Glancing over to the next root she realized it was further than she thought. Tensing she jumped, hoping her feet would land true. Thud! She could feel the foot squarely below her paws and let out the breath she had been holding. The small cluster of crystals were almost within her reach. Continuing forward, the faenin focused on placing one foot in front of the other, testing each step as she went. Within a few more steps the large glowing crystals loomed, she could feel her own mana responding to the wild magic within the crystals, her shoulder tingling once more. She stopped for a moment to rub her bad eye as an odd sensation came over it before taking a few quick breaths to steady herself and then reaching out to the crystals.

     Rynn expected to feel a jolt, or a sudden rush of something but when her paw touched the glowing surface it felt glassy, smooth, like warm ice. Nothing more than just the general tingle in her shoulder and thrum in her head. She whispered a small thanks to the spirits before reaching into her pack for something to dislodge a smaller crystal from the large set now arching over head. It was almost anti-climactic when the crystal shards fell away into her paws and she gently wrapped them up in a cloth and stowed them away in her pouches. With a turn towards her companions she gave them a nod and a weak thumbs up as her legs felt like noodles with how much tension she didn't realize she had been holding. The faenin looked towards her path back before realizing she had no way of climbing back up to the higher root she had used to get over there. Panic rose in her mind before she quickly stomped it back down. I can fly... Rynn took a deep breath to steady her nerves, I used to be able to fly, I should be able to now. She stretched out her wings and closed her eyes, manifesting the energy used for flight. She imagined her wings growing and felt them flutter a few times. It was now or never! Rynn launched herself off the branch and flapped her wings, hoping her direction would be up and not down into the gloom below. Feeling time slow she felt her heart slip down into her stomach as she dropped like a stone, seeing Malis' eyes grow wide above her as the blue kittom almost jumped in after her. She flailed, reaching out for anything to catch her fall, her paw wrapping around a vine, halting her descent. Breathing heavily, Rynn fluttered her wings again, this time adrenaline flooding through her system. She steeled her nerves and pushed herself up, using handholds in the roots and vines to help guide her.

     She felt hands grabbing for her, pulling her up to safety and suddenly her body was shaking. "Hey! Ya flew! Rynn! Look at ya flyin'!" She could hear Malis speak excitedly through the haze of energies spent. Rynn sat on the ground where she had been pulled up and caught her breath. She pulled her bag to her front and looked inside where the carefully wrapped crystal lay innocently. "Thank you... Lets g-g-get home yes?" She felt the excitement drain what little energy she had left and was ready to rest and recover but also felt her heart beat with the excitement of being in the air once more.

     She flew!