Submission (#5448) Approved

Oh I'm sorry !!! XDDDD
I changed it, following your first suggestion !
I'm sorry for the trouble XD

Thanks for your patience !



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I miss making drawn entries, but the artblock is still strong ; ;
I hope everything is fine !

Thanks for the hard work !

Well, discovering new places is always a must for young kittoms, and the MoonBerry caravan doesn't reach Zevija often.

This time, they made the trip for Bijou, a jeweler who wishes to join the merchants team, and needed to collect some gemstones in order to start his own business and buy his own wagon-workshop.

And if Isabelle, Akane and Milka were quite enthousiasts about the cities, the fashion and the night activities, most of the elnins of the caravan were not very found of this climate.
Nothing grows here, except plants that look like anything but plants and which would just challenge themselves in a toxicity contest that would be no use for the botanist. And all the hot springs around are definitely no fishing spots... Any fish would cook just by touching theses waters... Just as your own hands.

Still, after a bit of research, Ricqlès found a safe hike for the kittoms to spend an afternoon near some « not so dangerous » hotsprings, and it would allow them to spend a little bit of time outside.

And indeed, most of the kittoms seemed to enjoy the walk between the pools of warm water, limestone and sulphur giving some wonderfull colors on the rocks all around them. The air was really hot though and the nurse-nin was very cautious that every bean would stay hydrated and was wielding a very small trailer with some water jars, that allowed them to make several breaks to drink and to rest into the trailer's shadow.

Most kids were happy to play under the sun, except Yùle, the wintery kittom that stayed for a nap in the kid's trailer, and... Two watery beans that looked at the hot spring with sadness : Dune and Lagune.

Dune sighed, « it's no water. I mean it is but... »
Lagune noded. Theses two were usually the first to jump into the waves. They often followed Tendo's trail when he went fishing just to have some fun in the water with him.
But not this time. It was a bit of heart breaking to see all this lovely pools... And not being able to even go close of them.

 

Staying under the sun looking at others wouldn't help either. Lagune tilted her head and invited Dune to follow her in search of a bit of shadow. They found some, not very far from the trailer, they still heard clearly all the laughs and the joyful noises of the playground near them as they crawled under a massive rock, lying on a white soil that hasn't been burnt by the sun.
They sighed in relief, enjoying the sweet coolness of the ground, but the air was still so hot.

When their eyes grew accustomed to the shadow, Lagune noticed a sort of hole and crawled farther to reach it. It was a big enough cavity for them to pass and so they did, crawling even farther into a fresher darkness.

They finally emerged in a cave, dark, calm, cool and silent where the only lights were coming from some gigantic gemstones that seemed to have a sort of luminescent shimmering in them, and the only sounds they heard was the reverb droplets that felt on the crystals.
After all the arid and scorching hours... This place was like a sanctuary. And they soon noticed a small pool at the bottom of it !

Laughing at last, they ran and jumped into it.
The water was fresh here and the sight of the gemstones covering the roof felt just like a shimmering night sky. They floated and relax in the water, staying silent and listening at the soothing ambiance of the few waterdrops falling on the rocks and the echoes it created.
A delicious chill ran in their furr. They felt so good... So relaxed that they finally closed their eyes.

A bit later, another sound joined the atmosphere. It sounded like voices from very far.
Lagune tried to ignore it and stayed in her relaxed state when she noticed that the voices... Were calling their names.

She opened wide her eyes and stood in the pool to listen more carefully, without her ears in the water this time... And yay, it was their names. Realisation finally stroke, it was Ricqlès and probably the other adults ! They must have been searching for them !!!

Suddenly it felt like disappearing without a word must have been... A problem and that they were probably into trouble.

She woke up quick Dune that was asleep in the waters and they crawled back at the entrance of the cave to emerge at the surface... Under a clear starry night sky.
How did the night come so fast... ? Did she felt asleep too ??

The two kids ran to the voices that were calling them from afar, the adults of the caravan that were searching for them with lanterns, and in their luck, they met Milka and Bijou first.

Milka is far from being a severe adult, but he knew that something had to be done here and once he made sure that the kittoms were both fine he started to clumsilly scold them, just to be interrupted by Bijou who noticed a shimmering powder on the furr of the kids.

Dune and Lagune explained everything, the cave, the shimmering gemstones, the pool and the... nap and sparkles appeared in Bijou's eyes. Theses were some quite uncommon gemstones.

He congratulated the two to have found such a rare vein and brought them back at the caravan, praising them for their discovery that would help him greatly in his project.

His enthousiasm tempered a lot the storm that was still about to reach them... Later.