Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

"You really like to kill my fun, don't you?" Solana said. Her voice rang through the dark passages ahead and behind them, while she glared at Areisha's back. "And I call you my best friend."

The brunette froze in her steps and turned around, flashing her light-crima at her. Solana did the same, and she could see her brows rising again. She puffed out her own cheeks in return to the action. Areisha smiled and shook her head, before resuming their walk through the mud-walled channel.

"I am your best friend," she said. "I'm just doing what I can to keep you out of trouble."

Solana followed after her, her lips and hand opening and closing in attempt to mockingly mimic what she said, as she made faces. Later on, she rolled her eyes and resolved to walk along side Areisha.

The dry dirt soon felt moist beneath her feet. She lost count how many times she almost slipped because of the moss covering the ground all the way to the ceiling. Occasionally, water dripped down from above them, and landed on their heads. She pulled her jacket close to herself when the cold got to her.

"If I had known, there was a potential chance for my hair to be ruined, I wouldn't have come down here," Solana said.

"That's it," Areisha said. "Keep regretting that so I won't end up getting dragged down here with you again." She could hear the smirk in her tone, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Keep gloating and I'll tell the whole academy that the Fearless Tigress of the East isn't actually fearless, and climbs like a squirrel instead," she said. "I got the last one from Alec by the way."

She was answered by silence, and she smiled, a smile of triumph. Areisha is just too quick-tempered, she thought. Her mood continued to improve as she skipped along the brunette who had a brooding air around her. Just when she thought it couldn't get any better, a grin flew to her face when she saw what was ahead.

"Well, looks like we're going to have to do a bit more exploring here after all," she said. Rubble blocked the path which was supposed to lead them above ground. It would seem the passage ahead had collapsed.

Contrary to Solana's mood, Areisha groaned and ran a hand through her brown locks. She tucked her light-crima under one arm, as she pulled out the map.

"I have a test tomorrow for Arithmetic, and I can't fail it," she said. She unfolded it on the damp ground, and fixed her eyes on the possible routes they could take next. Solana rolled her eyes, before flashing her light all around them.

"Pruf...."

"Did you hear that?" she said. But when she turned to Areisha, the girl still had her undivided attention on the map. She sighed, scolding herself for almost forgetting that she had powerful ears.

"Pruf...pruf." The sound came once more. She didn't put much effort on straining her ears for she could hear it well along with a few thumps. She turned around, and her light flashed another passageway leading away from their original route.

Without putting much thought into it, she took after the direction of the strange sound. A few moments later, she saw faint blue light coming from a corner at the end of the path. She hastened her pace, until she reached it. Her jaw dropped and her grey eyes widened at the sight of a glittering crystal pond of water. It was found inside a cavern with a high ceiling covered in stalactites and blue glowing gems.

"Drae's shit!" she yelled. She looked down at the hand on her arm which scared the living daylights out of her. She looked up to find Areisha's brows knit in worry, while trying to stop her lips from cracking into the grin. She jerked away from her while sending her a glare. "You do not sneak up on me like that!"

Areisha's efforts to stop herself from laughing went to waste when she bent over and let loose a cackle. She stayed there hunched, as she laughed for a few more moments. While wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes, she straightened her posture.

"You suddenly disappeared, and it's good thing I saw this passage or I would've left you," she said. "You were standing like a statue staring at...whoa."

Her blue eyes widened, and Solana could see how the light coming from the cave caused her eyes to glimmer like a pair of sapphires.

She left her friend to wallow in amazement at the sight, and turn her attention back to the pond. Looking closely, she could see a stone pathway leading to a small piece of land in the center. She looked down in front of her and found a set of steps carved onto the rocky slope leading down to the pond.

She placed a foot on the first step, testing if the ancient staircase would hold her weight. She used her other foot, and she soon found herself getting closer to the bottom. Once her foot landed on the ground, she turned off her light-crima.

Looking overhead, she saw how high the cave ceiling really was. She closed her eyes, feeling the strange warmth coming from the blue gems. Even when she heard Areisha fall into step next to her, she continued to bask in the serenity of the surroundings. But her concentration shattered when she heard it again.

"Pruf."

Her eyes opened, only to find Areisha with her eyes trained on something on the island. She followed her gaze, before deciding to cross the stone bridge. She weaved her way around the stalagmites, until she reached the stone pathway running over the pond.

Along the way, she eyed the crystal water which seemed to be the source of the "pruf" sound. She paused in the middle of the stone path, eyes narrowing in attempt to see what was in the water.

After a few moments of standing there she shook her head, and continued walking over the stone. Once her feet connected with dirt, she noticed a sparkle coming from on top of a square rock located on the center of the tiny island. Her legs soon brought her to it, and she looked on with wide eyes at a glass object.

A small translucent sphere lay nestled in a hole on the rock. It seemed to glow both in white and blue, but rather faint to be noticeable.

"Lana, I think we should leave," Areisha called out. Instead of taking heed of her words, Solana raised a hand and swung it to her front, indicating the brunette to come forward.

"You have to see this," Solana said. She heard quick but light patter of feet on the stone and dirt, before it stopped next to her. With the silence that followed, she assumed Areisha had fallen into the same trance of amazement as well.

Solana reached for the sphere, until her fingers grazed over its smooth surface. Feeling bold, she locked her hand over it, and pulled it out from its position. It shrunk just enough to fit the size of her hand. The surprising change caused her to let go, and drop it to the ground. As it rolled, it grew back to its original size; a size close to Dia's head.

Areisha dove for it, and picked it up. Just like what happened with Solana, it shrunk to fit her hand, but it didn't faze her. Turning it over her hand, her eyes fixed on it, trying to spot if the fall caused cracks to appear. She sighed when she saw nothing.

"You have to be careful," she scolded. "We don't know what this is. And if it's hidden down here, it must be something of utmost value!" She turned back to her to place it back, but her jaw dropped when found the hole, missing from the rock. She rounded the tall square slab, before placing the sphere back. Before she could do so, the rock crumbled into sand.

"Holy Baby Kosmos!" Solana yelled. She jumped back at the same time Areisha did. "What's going on?"

"This is why I told you we should leave," Areisha yelled. She soon started breathing deeply as her face turned red from anger. Solana ran to her, and placed her hands on either side of her shoulders.

"Hey calm down," she said. "Nothing's happened, alright? No booby traps, or any form of danger that you're probably thinking." She took the crystal from her hand as she spoke.

But right after she said that, she froze when she heard the sound once again.

"Pruf, pruf, pruf...."

This time, it seemed loud enough for Areisha to hear, since her eyes darted around in search of something. She shrugged her hands off her shoulders, and walked closer to the edge of the island, closer to the water. Solana ran after her, and with widened eyes, stared at the bubbles rising to the surface water.

With every second passing, the bubbles kept rising rapidly. With every minute they took a step back. Time seemed to slow when water sprayed into the air. Being far enough, the droplets barely reached them. From their spot, they managed to make out movement from something small and round.

They glanced at each other before nodding. Together, they took careful measured steps toward―whatever it was that was there. When they were a few feet away, Solana could make out a white ball of fur, almost the size of the sphere. The lighting made it appear big from a certain distance. But it didn't explain the large shower of water that flew into the air.

The creature shook its wet fur, and water droplets scattered around it. "Pruf, pruf, pruf." Solana heard the same sound once more coming from it. She took steps closer, until she was looking down at it from a mere one-foot distance. She saw two oval feet moving as the creature waddled around to face her. Her jaw dropped as she bent down, clutching her knees to her chest as she leaned closer.

"Pruf," the sound came from a tiny beak.

"Aww," she said. Big round eyes with pale blue irises looked up at her with the most sorrowful expression she had ever seen. She heard Areisha's gasp from behind her, but later on heard her shaking voice.

"Solana we should...go," she whispered yelled.

"You should see this! It has the same eyes as Alec," Solana said. "It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen―"

"Solana Munstone!"

"What!" Solana yelled. She whirled her head around to find Areisha's eyes darting around them with her brows forming a crease. Her own brows knit together and she stood. She soon took a step back when she saw what her friend was so worried about.

Hundreds of the same creature with fluffy fur in hues of red, blue, yellow, and many more, stared at them with big eyes. When looking at only one, she found it adorable, but being stared at by so many caused a chill to crawl up her spine. Some floated on the water, some on the stayed on edges of the island. She looked up, and found a couple more clinging to the stalactites.

She looked down when the creature from earlier waddled toward her. Her brows knit when she noticed that its white fur looked out of place among the other colors present. It kept advancing toward her until it stood in the same distance from her as earlier.

Being so light on her feet, she barely made a sound as she took steps back. She felt Areisha's back connect with hers, and they both took a deep breath.

"Isha?" she said.

"Yeah?

"Run!"

Together, they bolted to the stone bridge, paying no heed to the balls of fur floating close to it.

"PRUFFFF!"

The menacing screech which came from behind them fell into deaf ears as they focused on reaching the rock staircase. The creatures from the cave ceiling fell and landed in front of them. Their big eyes narrowed as they hissed out the same sound that brought the pair into the situation. Even so, they kept running, ramming into the wall of fluff the creatures formed together. She stumbled and fell to the floor. Areisha helped her up, and took the crystal sphere which rolled a few inches away from them.

Solana looked over her shoulder. Her eyes grew big when she saw the creatures had merged into a 20-foot giant close to a human form. It moved surprisingly swift for its size and reached a hand out.

She jumped to the side, losing her balance. She stumbled once more and rolled on the ground. A stalagmite stopped her momentum―rather painfully at that.

She heard a scream, and found the creatures clutching Areisha in their hands. Grey eyes locked with blue, before understanding flashed in their depths.

The brunette nodded at her, before raising her hands. Green fire erupted from her palms, before covering her entire body. She twisted in the creatures' hold. The flames caught the creatures, and pained prufs escaped their beaks.

As the flames continued to spread, small vines replaced the heat, and constricted around each live ball of fur. Squeaky prufs escaped the creatures, before they vanished into streaks of light. Solana smiled when Areisha landed crouched on the rocky ground.

Not a moment too late, she raised her own hands overhead. White flames combusted before they took the form of balls. She clasped her hands together and they merged to form a large sphere of swirling white flames. She spun. With one loud yell, she released it in the process. With surprising speed, the white ball hurtled through the cave. Bright light filled their vision when it connected with the moving group of fur balls.

When it cleared, Solana found herself half-way up the stone staircase with Areisha dragging her up. Only then did she realize she was panting and inhaling large amounts of air. Along with the loud prufs coming from the scattered tiny creatures, she heard a scolding voice.

"You so reckless Lana," Areisha said. "You know you're not supposed to use your powers. Your body can't―"

"I know. You don't have to remind me!"

She reached for her bracelet, and closed her eyes. The pale pink Sentiral Stone soon lost its color and turned into crystal glass. She heaved a sigh when her ears weren't as sensitive as before. Thank Kosmos for creating these stones, she thought.

Green light illuminated her form and the little creatures, forcing her to look up. Her jaw dropped when she found Areisha's flames spreading around stalactites above the furry creatures. Just as she expected, the flames morphed into thorny vines, wrapping around each spike. She heard cracks, and soon saw rocks falling and crushing the "pruff-ing" creatures into streaks of light.

"We are never going back here ever!" Areisha said. When they reached the opening they came from, Solana spoke.

"You're so drae-freaking-tastic, Isha!"

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Couldn't help myself...hehehe...I had extra chapters.

I'm picking up the pace people! Let's get this story rolling! Whooo!