Ask Caves!

[Ines Panteer]

Her guess was good, it did seem like Alana did indeed know more about the water quality than her. Or at least what the farmers could be expected to do. "Neat" she exclaimed upon hearing that the water they had been walking along we still in a drinkable condition. "It isn't very big, but I'm glad we can drink from it" she said, looking down at the little stream whilst appreciating its purity.

***​

With her hand on the cave wall, Ines felt something special. Something which she couldn't recall having felt before. It was strange yet a rather curious sensation. Keeping her hand pressed against it, she only pulled it away as the vibrations started to fade. Was she going crazy? Was there some weird drug oozing inside the tunnels? Something had to be off, yet with her hand removed from there, everything seemed normal. Remaining somewhat absent-minded for a bit, the Alderaanian finally came to her senses "Right, the right path" she said, turning to follow Alana back into the previous chamber. "You got away easy this time, just having two paths to choose between" she said with her gaze set on Alana as she walked behind her. "And what made the path to the right look so good to you, oh great explorer?" she asked with a playful tone, curious to see what factors her friend had taken into consideration.

It did not take long until the two had made their way into the chamber and rounded the corner to enter Alana's chosen path. Allowing her friend to lead the way, Ines kept a keen eye on where the white haired woman stepped and tried to take the same path, doing her best to avoid unnecessary risks. The small stream was no longer with them as it was in the left path, but their route seemed pleasant enough on its own. Eventually, Ines could hear a faint sound from a bit farther ahead. Putting a hand on Alana's shoulder and leaning forth, she carefully asked "What's that? The sound"

Stealth ping

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana giggled to herself as Ines questioned her deduction on finding cave paths, enjoying how playful her companion was; Astra would just roll her eyes and sigh. "Dunno, maybe it's the hat. Or maybe it's a lucky guess. You be the judge." She grinned, tipping the brim of her hat towards Ines before skipping on down the path to her right. This path lacked the stream that Ines was so fond of, but it apparently held something else of interest for the woman as something caught Ines' ears. The noble called out hearing something in the distance, whatever that was, Alana couldn't tell, because being frank she heard nothing. The white haired woman paused, strained her ears to try and pick up on a sound, but heard nothing in particular.

Alana glanced back to her friend, her face a bit of a puzzle as she questioned the woman. "Sound? What sound?" Alana would turn back to the cave, drawing her pistol as she tip toed forth, and as she moved further into the cave, that was when she could hear it. It sounded like wind chimes, but not just one wind-chime, but hundreds, perhaps thousand of wind chimes bouncing off one another at the same time. It was a wonderful clash of chaos and harmony, echoing through the caverns. What made it even more peculiar, was that it started off so muted, almost unable to be heard to Alana's ears, but once she became aware of it, the noise amplified by a near a thousand fold, the sound becoming almost deafening to the young woman as she nearly dropped her blaster and stumbled away, gripping her ears with a look of disgust. "What in the hell was that?" She cried out, almost retreating behind Ines, but staying by her friends side as the noise dissipated once she pulled back. But to Ines, it would just remain as a low buzzing, a humming in the air. It was a beautiful melody that almost called to her, and if she dared to follow it, she would be rewarded with quite the sight. The noble only had to take a few paces more, before the light from her torch would illuminate the rest of the cavern, giving way to a sight that was truly a spectacular to behold. In a room no bigger than seven meters high and five meters wide, large crystalline formations jutted forth from the ground, some just barely peeking out of the ground, some reaching all the way into the ceiling, several smaller columns having been shattered and laid out on the floor.

Alana would follow behind her friend of course as the woman moved forward, though more cautionary as she expected the noise to assail her full force like it had before. But it didn't. There was only the low hum of the chamber, which she found a tad eerie, though not even she could deny that the sight was quite beautiful. "I...I've never seen anything like this." Alana muttered, looking about at the columns of crystals

@Pyrenees

 

[Ines Panteer]

"It is the hat!" her reply was made with a jokingly accusatory tone. Seeing as how difficult it could be to decide things at times, it was a highly unfair situation - Ines had three options to pick between, much more than Alana had. Her eyes followed the other woman, skipping along down the path. After a short jog, Ines caught up with her friend and put her right hand on the other's left shoulder. When the white haired woman started to turn, Ines angled her body sideways and brushed past her. "In the name of all that is just, I am confiscating that" she said and reached for the hat. If successful, the teen would take a couple of steps back and slowly backpedal and put the hat on her own head whilst watching the movements of its owner.


Apparently, Alana didn't hear the sound. She didn't hear it until she did. Worried, Ines bent down, just enough to place her eyes at the same level as her friend's. Taking a step closer and putting an arm on the upper back she asked "What is it?" The arm fell flat at her side as Alana moved about - like a bee assessing the quality of a flower, the Alderaanian followed the local's movements closely until she stopped. "What in the hell was that?" "I don't know. Are you alright?" she asked with a concerned voice, once again putting her hand on Alana's back whilst looking at her intently. "We can go back. Back up. I could take you to a hospital" she offered, not knowing what conditions her new friend might have.

Before the white haired woman had a real chance to reply, Ines had already glanced back at the direction they were heading in, apparently still hearing the low hum. "You go on ahead, I'll be with you in just a minute" she said before quickly making her way into the following chamber. "Wow" the noble said, lacking words to describe the wonderful place they had found. Noticing Alana enter, she threw a glance at her - at least she seemed to be alright for the time being. "Look at this" she said, as if mesmerized by the incredible decor. "Me neither" the reply was short as the noble took a few steps towards the side of the room. Kneeling down, she looked at a piece of a crystal sticking up from the ground and examined it more closely. "It is beautiful"

Heretic

 

[Alana Calloway]

Ines' response got a giggle from Alana, who was rather enjoying the exchange the two were having. "Well, if only you had a hat, maybe you'd be a master exploring like yours truly." Alana flashed a grin at her companion, before trudging on into the caves. It wasn't long before Alana felt Ines' lay a hand on her shoulder, and as was expected, she turned around to see what the woman wanted; only for Ines to slip by and snatch the hat off Alana's head! "Hey!" Alana cried out, a pout forming on her lips as she narrowed her eyes at Ines, as her friend put the hat on and seemed to be watching for how Alana would react. Alana merely pouted for a moment, looking at her friend with a bit of a grumpy expression, but it was all in good nature. "Alright, but I want the hat back. Or else." Alana's voice was full of humor, as she found the actions of her friend rather amusing. Alana didn't have anything sinister in mind for the 'or else' portion of her statement, but she wasn't too concerned about it. She trusted Ines to take care of her beloved hat, after all, wasn't like they were going anywhere. She went to move forward, but threw one back look to Ines, and snickered once more. The hat looked pretty good on her; not as good as it looked on Alana of course, but that was to be expected.

When Ines asked what had happened, Alana only shook her head, unsure what was happening. "The noise, it damn near deafened me. Can you not hear it?" Alana asked, looking to Ines for confirmation. Ines was trying to comfort her it seemed, which helped with the initial concern that assailed her over the loud noise, Alana was still weirded out by the experience. "No, I'm fine just, it was so loud, thought my ear drums were gonna burst." Alana shook her head, hearing a small ringing in her ears now. It was slightly annoying, but she'd live. Ines seemed to be distracted by something else though. Alana followed not long after, stowing the pistol away, though she was apprehensive of this place. Alana was impressed by the cavern, as she froze in her tracks upon first glance of the crystal cavern. Alana's gaze met Ines, and it was rather apparent that they both had the same thoughts about this place. "Yea, it is." Alana said plainly, as she slowly approached her friend. She didn't know what to make of this place. There was just something about this place that...felt off to her, that distant echo she had come to associate force sensitivity with seemed to radiate all over this place, but Ines seemed to be thoroughly taken by the site; and she couldn't lie, so was Alana.

As Ines knelled by the crystal, that humming sensation from before would return. The crystal she knelled before began to glow as she approached, only faintly, perhaps from the light she cared on her person. It was an emerald colored segment of crystal, and it was out of the ground by a good foot and a half. If Ines made an effort to reach out and touch the crystal, a small section, about the size of her thumb would break off and 'tink' against the cavern floor.

@Pyrenees

 

[Ines Panteer]

Playfully, Ines watched her friend as she continuously walked in reverse, allowing her to see the reactions without the two having to stop. While the hat did feel rather good to ear, the red-headed girl could feel that it didn't sit just right, at least not in the same way that it would on Alana. Still, she enjoyed seeing her friend's reaction but was surprise as the local allowed it to keep it. She was always going to give the hat back, in fact she didn't even expect to be allowed to keep it for more than a minute. For a moment, the girl considered continuing the jest by mockingly challenging the white haired one. Ultimately, however, she decided not to try her luck "You'll have it back, don't you worry!" she said before turning 180 degrees to walk forward instead of reversing.

For some reason, the humming sound seemed to grow more profound the further in they got. There were times when people considered if their own 'red' was actually the same colour as everybody else's 'red'. This time, it seemed like what they perceived from hearing was indeed rather different. While glad that her own hum was peaceful and and pleasant, it worried the Alderaanian that Alana's sound was so much more violent and aggressive.

It was clear that the sound grew more profound, not only the deeper into the cave she got, but also the closer to the crystal she got. Only wanting to get closer to it, the teen drifted towards it, slowly but surely. Not only did she lean closer from the knelled position, but her hand floated closer to the crystal too. Finally, her index finger touched it. It was magical, wondrous images and sensations flashed through her mind, for a moment, something even felt uniquely like home, like how she had always imagined Alderaan feeling. If it was a drug, Ines would probably grow addicted fast. But soon after the sudden spike in pleasant sensations, they started to wane but still left a rather warm residual feeling which the girl enjoyed thoroughly.

Without warning, a piece of the crystal started coming off. Horrified that she might have destroyed it, the teen quickly dropped the torch and sent her second hand to the rescue. Despite her best efforts, the slippery little thing managed to escape her grasp and fall to the ground. Quickly, she picked it up, allowing it to rest in the palm of her left hand. For several moments, her eyes watched the sparkling object "Do..." she begun, a little ashamed to ask it "Do you think I can keep it?" she asked, looking up at Alana.

Her eyes soon went out to the shattered and smaller pieces of crystal laying spread across the room "I wonder they they are just laying there. Shouldn't they too have people who broke them off?" she asked, standing back up.

Garus

 

[Alana Calloway]

It was rather fun to be hanging with Ines, Alana would admit that. The girl certainly kept things interesting, that was for sure. If Alana told Ines the story about her hat, the girl would have probably crumbled under guilt and handed it back right away, so there was no need for that. Alana merely watched the red haired beauty before her, snickering at the woman's reassurances. "Maybe I'll by you a hat of your own. That way you don't have to steal mine!" Alana replied back, trudging on along until they had reached that seemingly haunted section of the cave.

There was this feeling of something bad happening, like getting the sense something horrible was afoot, and it just hadn't smacked into you just yet. Least that was how Alana felt, as she clenched and unclenched her fists, waiting for the cave to explode around her, or for some crystal monster to show up and ruin the trip for everyone. Yet nothing happened, and all Alana was left with was this unnerving echoing around the cave, the humming of the crystals practically serving as white noise that threatened to destroy her sanity. Ines was clearly under the spell of this place, as her movements caught Alana's attention, the huntress watching her noble friend moving to inspect a crystal, and noticed a small bit of panic overtook the young noble, which drew Alana to her side. Ines was cradling a small section of crystal, her gaze looking up to Alana for answers that frankly, the white haired woman didn't have.

"I mean...sure?" Alana replied, looking back to her friend and giving her a warm smile. "Mean, only other choice is to leave it on the ground, and a pretty thing like that deserves better. Maybe we can make it into a necklace." Alana said, kneeling down to her friends side, as she tried to offer comfort to the red haired girl. "I'll be honest, I don't know." Alana muttered, taking a gander of the rest of the crystals in the cavern. "Those whole places feels strange, can you feel it as well?" Alana asked, inspecting the small crystal Ines had placed in her hand. Alana felt something similar coming from the small crystal in Ines' palm, and with an almost dazed expression on her face, the white haired woman reached out and touched the gem in Ines' palm. Alana hadn't yet made contact, when the crystal split itself in two, neat and equal slivers of crystal that now rested in Ines' palm, causing Alana to retract her hand. "What in the hells, I didn't even touch it!" Alana said, inspecting the two crystals, taking not how they hadn't splintered nor chipped in Ines' palm; it was perfectly cut, not a flaw to be found. "This is the damnedest thing I've ever seen." Alana muttered, putting her arm on Ines' shoulder, the two a bit baffled by the display they were currently witnessing. "Well, if nothing else we can take back some mementos of this cavern. Never seen anything like it before." Alana commented, as she cast a gaze upwards, seeing a rather large column of crystal stretching down towards them.

Ines would soon realize, upon coming into contact with the crystal, that it felt almost like it was alive, seeming to shake or vibrate in her hands, though visually there was no sign that anything of note was occurring. In fact, it felt almost identical to when she had come into contact with the wall from just a little bit before this. Whatever was going on in this cavern, even Alana seemed perplexed about all of this.

@Pyrenees

 

[Ines Panteer]

A victorious smile spread across the noble's face as she heard Alana's response. It was far from the most convinced affirmative she had ever heard, but it was enough - which other Dantooinian authority could she turn to down here? Looking back down at the crystal, the Alderaanian listened as her white-haired friend suggested making it into a necklace. It was a far better option than having it become floor ornamentation like the ones in here had. Looking back up at her, she nodded "A necklace sounds good. If we get the time, maybe we could make it before I return home" she said, already having ideas of what lace to use.

It soon became apparent that Alana wanted to touch the crystal too. She seemed a little dazed but with the torch directed away from her and the possibility of her facial expression simply being a reflection of awe from the beauty of the crystal, Ines didn't think too much of it. With a smile, she maintained an open palm and expectantly watched as Alana's hand neared. Suddenly, what had just happened a few moments ago happened again. A barely noticeable tingling feeling could be felt on the spot where the crystal had split into two. Round-eyed, Ines stared onto the two pieces which now laid upon her open palm. It was beyond her comprehension why the crystal would keep splitting like it did. But, seeing how it first split upon her own approach and then upon Alana's, it felt like one of the halves should belong to the huntress.

Already, it seemed like the white-haired woman had turned her attention elsewhere. Maybe it was only momentary as the large column pointing down at them was hard to ignore. Whilst Alana was looking upwards, Ines poked at her with the palm that carried the two crystals. Upon gaining her friend's attention, Ines nodded "Take one" she said. The noble would then look up at the column and back at Alana "We've already got these two. Do you want a piece from that one too?" she asked, her voice not judgmental, but curious.

 

[Alana Calloway]

Ines' enthusiasm was having an effect on the white haired huntress, as she nodded at her friends suggestion of making the necklace before she headed back home. "I could try and help, but never made no crystal necklace before." In fact Alana wasn't one for jewelry, after all, she typically only wore her hat for a show of accessory. Still, the idea of her friend carrying a little memento of their time together made her feel all fuzzy inside; which was a nice change for how she typically felt. The shattering of the crystal was a mere lucky coincidence, as Alana was perturbed by the occurrence and the 'humming' felt so familiar yet alien to her.

Alana blinked at the outstretched hand, before she glanced back to Ines, a small smile stretching across her face at her friends prodding. Alana carefully collected one of the two shards, pausing as she felt something resonate within her, a sensation she hadn't felt in a long time; and she didn't like it one bit. Was this...a force crystal? It certainly felt that way, the small gem gave her a feeling that felt almost identical to the sensations she felt during her initial jedi training. To Ines, Alana seemed to be preoccupied with thought, gazing down at the gem for an unusual bit of time, before pocketing the gem; unless Ines attempted to garner her friends attention. "Oh, um, nah. Rather not risk is. That thing starts to shatter and this whole cave might come on down." Alana mused with a bit of concern behind her voice. The longer they lingered in this part of the cave, the less she was liking it. She focused herself back on Ines, not wanting to push the issue, but hoping her friend had gotten her fill of the cavern. "They have any place like this on Ryloth? Judging by your earlier statements that sounds like a no." Alana slid her hands into her pockets, her eyes leveling on the black hat of hers that Ines was still wearing, a look of contemplation crossing the white hair woman's face. Yea, she'd have to get Ines a hat of her own, she could totally handle that look.

@Pyrenees

 

[Ines Panteer]

"Deal!" she exclaimed without giving her friend a chance to withdraw her offer to help "It should be easy enough if we can get the right tools. We could make something more organic, to represent the planet on which we found them." she said as her mind filled up with ideas. "And if we want to stay true to our source, perhaps covered in chemicals" she added jokingly with two cheesy winks.

Curious, Ines watched as Alana, considered whether they should take a piece from the column or not. It seemed as if the white-haired woman was quite torn since she looked to be preoccupied with thought whilst gazing down at the gem she already had. The answer was ultimately a wise one, seeing as the crystals seemed to have a rather unpredictable nature. "Sounds good to me" she said. Standing back up, Ines started to slowly make her way around the open area, soaking in what details she could, only stopping to consider the question which had just been asked. "Hmm, well, not that I know of, at least. But you should know that I haven't explored any caves on there either. Who knows, maybe all caves on Ryloth are crystal filled treasure troves, just that nobody told me yet?" she joked.

Determining that it was a dead-end, the noble turned to walk towards the exit "Shall we?" she asked, fully prepared to leave. The observant could note that she still held her crustal in her hand. Not only was it a rather nice and smooth stone to hold in one's palm, but Ines also thoroughly enjoyed the sensations it brought - something so unique and exotic, yet also somehow familiar.

Cave explorer 1

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana let out a giggle at Ines' comment about dousing the crystals in chemicals, seemed her words from earlier were coming back to haunt her already. "Well, hopefully not, don't want any of my beautiful hair falling out now would ya?" Alana grinned, as she gave a cheesy wink of her own. "But I think I might have some tools back at the house that might help with that sorta thing." She could feel that their time in the caves was coming to an end, and despite her dislike of the crystals here, she found herself wanting to stay out with Ines a bit longer.

It seemed that Ines had had enough of digging around in the caves, which set Alana at ease as the constant humming was starting to eat at her sanity. "Well, maybe if I ever end up on Ryloth with you, we can check out the caves there." The idea was an appealing one, just her and Ines, and a cave full of hopefully not humming crystals to explore. It sounded rather nice to Alana at least. Alana's eyes set upon Ines for a moment, and she found herself smiling for no real reason. "Oh, um, yea, sure." She muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head as she realized Ines had just walked on by her and towards the exit of the cave. There was a strange tingly sensation coming from Alana's pocket where she had stored the crystal, it was like an annoying tingly sensation, but it soon stopped once they had left the crystal cavern. "I just hoped you enjoyed yourself, I mean, for a first time cave explorer you did pretty well for yourself." Alana commented, as they reached into the central chamber they had entered only moments before. Once again, Alana was trying to think of some way she could stay in Ines' company a tad longer, but they hadn't exactly thought about bringing camping supplies out with them now did they. "So...any plans for the rest of today?" Alana asked sheepishly, watching her hat stealing friend continue on with her beloved black hat, curious what adventures Ines had sorted out for the rest of the day.

@Pyrenees

 

[Ines Panteer]

"Chances are that the cave we would find ourselves exploring on Ryloth is an abandoned mine. But there are plenty of other interesting things to do there! We will see. Just have to make the arrangements" she said whilst still walking around the opening with all the crystals.

Upon arriving by the central chamber, Ines turned and replied "I did! The beauty in these caves is astounding! Who would have thought that crystals were buried down here? We must have been rather lucky. And thank you, I had a good teacher" she said and soon added "And a very flat cave. I thought there would be more climbing." her gaze went to the cave ceiling as the Alderaanian thought about how the only climbing they had to do was the initial few meters in order to get down to the cave itself.

The two kept walking, although at a noticeably slow pace, apparently neither of them overly eager to leave and thereby end the day's adventure. "Oh, I don't know" she said, shrugging deeply with her hands clasped at her belly. "Hey, if you have the time, maybe we could work on the necklaces. I would like to gather some flowers from the valley, they looked so pretty from above. Perhaps we could gather some of that dry-looking wheat-like stuff too, for the necklaces. Do you think it would work or would it just rot?" she asked, genuinely unaware of the Dantooinian plant at hand. Perhaps she was just making a fool out of herself. Letting a chuckle escape her, Ines added "Maybe you could find some chemicals we could top it all off in while we are at it"

Making it out by the small little stream of water proved to be no challenge and the short cliff wall was not a problem either. Ines took a deep breath upon getting to the top and looking out over the valley. While the air quality's change had been gradual, it still felt good to do it upon reaching the top. Then, the noble took a few happy steps and plucked a flower which was promptly tucked into her hair. Turning back, she looked at Alana with a smile, obviously enjoying herself "Just a moment, I'll get one for you too!"

End Thread

Algarus