Author's Note: So here's the end of season 1. Anyways as always tell me what y'all think. Apologies for it being s short, I've been rather busy of late.
XOXO
~Alex/Eliza/Lisa
The air was muggy, insects buzzed, and the party was equal parts drenched in both rain and sweat. It'd rained most of their trip to their current location. But it'd thankfully finally stopped, and Eliza couldn't have been any happier. She might have liked the outdoors, but there was just so much rain one could take before they got sick of it, and after nearly three days of straight rain, she was nearing her limit. Even if it was the Kantack, three days with barely any break in the rainfall was pushing it. Whatever the case though, it was over, and they were finally here.
The cave's entrance was an unremarkable thing. It was the sort of thing one wouldn't notice unless it was pointed out, especially with all the dense foliage covering it. How McKayle and his bumbling group managed to find it, was something else. As it was though, it didn't matter. They were here and she for one was beyond giddy. They'd not delved in ages, and she for one was going to enjoy it. Though as excited as she was, there was still one question on her mind.
"So, how did you get the map anyway??
Looking up from her pack," McKayle owed me," Lisa answered, shrugging.
"Did you..."
Snorting," as if. Nah, I covered his tab back in Dover's."
"Oh."
"Yeah," Lisa added, once more shouldering her pack, a lantern in hand now," so everyone ready?" She asked, turning to find Alex crouched down and picking at another leaf.
The woman was like a child in a candy store since they left Dawnspoint, and from the way she was prodding at her latest leaf it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
Eliza shrugged, her lantern already in hand.
Clearing her throat," Alex," Lisa said, causing the petite woman to startle.
"Oh," Alex said," sorry, I'll get ready, but this is just so..." She beamed, rifling through her pack," but that's a covetous plant," she added, quickly looking up from her rummaging to look at a leaf, that to the pair was just another large if not unremarkable leaf," or at least a subspecies of it."
Lisa quirked an eyebrow, watching as Alex once more returned to her things," they aren't exactly rare, but the only one in the Collegium required so many resources to even get it to take in the botanical garden, that even professor Hedge-weed even. Oh sorry, I'm rambling again..."
"It's fine," Lisa said," we're not in a hurry."
"Speak for yourself," Eliza retorted, turning to face them.
"Whatever," Lisa said," we have a week, so there's no hurry."
"Doesn't mean I want to spend anymore time out in the rain," Eliza pouted.
"Sorry," Alex whispered," I was..."
"It's fine," Eliza sighed," and before you ask, just go ahead."
"Huh?"
Eliza looked incredulous," your book thing, aren't you going to press the leaf or something?"
A blush," oh. Sorry," Alex added, pulling out a book, that was more latches, cloth, and small planks of wood, than an actual book. She also produced a small washcloth from her things and set to work.
Between finding an appropriate leaf, cleaning it, and placing it into the book, it had taken them an extra half hour or so to get ready. At which point it'd started raining.
Eliza scowled.
Alex cringed and Lisa just looked amused.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
With their lanterns lit, the party stepped into the darkened maw of the cave. The air was stale and heavy with clinging humidity. It was rather par the course when it came to delving and from how smooth the walls of the rather wide tunnel was, it had once been used regularly. For what exactly, Eliza didn't know. All she knew and what Lisa had gathered was that it had once been some sort of prison years ago before it was abandoned for whatever reason. Whatever the case was though, they had a semblance of a map and Eliza was itching to explore.
~Alex/Eliza/Lisa
It'd taken about three days, if Eliza's stomach had anything to say about it, but they'd finally reached one of the large caverns indicated on their map. As always delving was equal parts patients and optimism. And this particular one was more had required more patience than Eliza was loathed to admit. Despite it though, she was still happy. They'd reached the spot they intended to explore for the delve before they returned. Though she wanted to dive deeper into the expansive and mostly unexplored cave system, they still had more or less a job on the outside and delving was no longer their primary job.
The cavern the found themselves in was massive with a ceiling so high she couldn't see it among the clinging shadows, not that the fact they were underground was helping it any. The air billowing through the space was cool and an indication of an entrance to the outside, that was different from the one they'd journeyed through. Besides their breathing and plodding feet, the space was filled with the sound of trickling water.
Moving their lanterns about, Eliza caught glimpses of finished, faintly glowing mosses in the distance, the edge of what appeared to be an underground lake, and a plethora of stalactites and stalagmites.
"Wow," Alex said, gawking at their surroundings.
"No shit," Eliza added, taking in the glittering specks of crystals peppering the various rock formations.
"Think we can set up camp here for tonight and explore before we leave tomorrow," Lisa said.
"Yeah," Eliza replied absently, entirely engrossed by the damp rock formations ang the way with which the crystals caught the light of her lantern. She wasn't much of a geologist or some rock fanatic, but even she could appreciate the magnitude of the place they stood in. No wonder McKayle didn't want to part with the place's location, she thought, noticing what appeared to be seams of some sort of metal veining the rocks. A dwarf could get rich off a find like this, she added, shaking her head before turning to her companions.
"So?"
"Yeah," Eliza said," I hate it," she added, smiling.
"Whatever," Lisa said, rolling her eyes," then we can leave."
"Uh," Alex stammered, looking over her shoulder from her crouch next to some of the moss," I thought..."
Lisa shook her head," Eliza is just being an ass."
"And Lisa is just being a dick," Eliza retorted.
