DEVIMAYNA 2980 - Book 1 - Chapter 7

First draft :P

If you haven't read the previous chapters, this probably will make no sense haha

Enjoy! (Ignore the sloppy writing, I only ever get motivation when I'm half-asleep)

"Sir! Sir! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine... hurry up and get down here, you're gonna want t' see this..."

Clinging onto the rope, I turned to overlook the cave, jaw agape at the sight. It was like nothing I could have ever imagined; not even the fantastical made-up stories Josiak used to tell me could have prepared me for this.

Yes, it was a large cave, but not just merely that. Words can hardly articulate the beauty of the hollow, but I can sure try.

It must have been a good two miles high, from the floor to the jagged ceiling, adorned with stalagmites and stalactites and columns and all sorts of things the like. Clear water dripped down these spikes, giving life to the vast amounts of green vegetation that covered most of the walls, ceilings, and ground. Strange, unearthly vines, bushes, flowers, and even odd trees filled the spaces, with lush grasses acting as a blanket over the whole cave floor. Some of this greenery included large, vibrant pink blossoms that sprouted from above; tremendously luminescent white wall growth, resembling branch systems, providing light throughout the place; incredibly tall tuber-like plants that arched over into one another; small patches of flowers, their colors ranging from deep red to yellow to orange to purple; vines adorned with bright berries trailing down, concealing much of the ceiling; small shoots that popped out here and there; and much, much more. Looking beyond the dense flora, I could see the majestic crystal formations that shot out from almost every available space, glowing brightly, and the tiny pools that formed in the moss, containing strange plants and miniscule fishes and other waterlife. The waterlife in question was composed of species of creatures so small they would be nearly invisible to the regular human eye. I had only my robotic vision, which needed no focus, to thank for being able to detect those.

And on the subject of creatures, there was certainly no shortage of them: beasts I couldn't identify of beautifully strange appearances wandered about, peacefully grazing on the foliage. From small fowl that chased one another around in circles, to large lizard-like behemoths with great big teeth who only seemed to put them to use against the leaves, to mammals with sleek brown coats and plank-tails, to little slippery lizard-things that lazily drifted around the pools, to singing birds perched upon the walls, there was so much to look at. Additionally, a soft, hazy fog hung over the ceiling, acting like some sort of wispy cloud for the cave. It was a good question as to how the place was so well-lit-up - surely the glowing vines alone couldn't provide such visibility - but I was not concerned with this now.

Awe-struck silence had fallen upon us, and it lingered for quite some time. As usual, however, Josiak was the first one to take the initiative. Turning back to the rope, he began descending once more, ordering, "Come on, girls, and don't make too much noise. When we get to the ground I'm going to run a few tests to see if we even need these oxygen tanks anymore."

Nodding in unison, we soon followed after him. Within about twenty minutes, going at extra speeds, we were touching the ground again. It was a relief, to be sure. We slumped down against the wall behind the rope, panting and rather exhausted. I was going to need a recharge soon at this rate.

"What a place this is..." Josiak undid his leather pack from his shoulders, bringing it forward to shuffle through its contents. "No wonder the scientists didn't want Kartov to get their hands on it."

"Does this mean we get to name the place?" Rhiannon asked excitedly. "I want to name it. Oh! Maybe it could be, like, a combination of all our last names. How about... er... Mad... Lock... Madlocksalisland! Wait no. That sounds wrong. Uh... Marwhitdenland! No. Um--"

"Whitlock, we haven't even taken five steps in this place, let's wait a bit before naming it," I said with an out-of-breath laugh. Winoa looked somewhat disappointed.

"Aha!" Josiak pulled from his pack a strange-looking device, before standing up and waving it around. "This here's what's gonna tell us if we can take off the masks. Be patient."

The gadget's small beeping noise was heard, and he held his arm very still. Seconds later he was greeted with a polite ding, and the device's screen turned green.

"Excellent, the air is breathable. And good thing, my back is about to collapse in on itself, this thing is so dang heavy..."

Each of us hastily moved to undo the locks that kept our tanks on. The containers fell with muted thuds into the vegetation. Not wanting to lose them completely, however, we worked to hide them deep down under the greenery, marking the spot next to the rope with an X. I stood up next to the captain, stretching, needing to voice the thoughts swarming my mind.

"Truly fascinating. How on earth did all these creatures get down here? And how is it so well-lit? And why--" I pulled off my helmet-- "is the air at such a nice temperature? And speaking of air, how even is there any? We're miles underground! I have so many questions." Wincing in the brightness, I brushed a lock of hair back behind my ear, spinning a miniscule dial until my vision was properly readjusted. My default settings couldn't counter the luminance of the cave.

Josiak nodded. "Me too, Marsalis, me too. But we'll worry about that later. As much as I'd love to hang about, we have limited supplies, so we need to get a move on, quicklike. Right, you three ready?"

Winoa raised a good inquiry. "Where exactly are we going to?"

He stroked his chin thoughtfully before motioning to the ground. "Well, first... let's see if we can find any hint as to where the missing scientists went. Any tracks, or unnaturally disturbed plants, or manmade objects lyin' about, that's a good start."

"Should we not send out some Nanoprobes?" I offered.

He raised an eyebrow with a laugh. "Is that what they taught you in training?" He motioned around. "Do you wanna control 'em while we're walkin'? I'd rather explore myself." I thought this was a very stupid idea, but okay. He was obviously very excited.

And thus, the search for clues began. Being right next to the entrance, I hoped it would not take long before we found something. Surely enough, it was only about a minute later when Winoa came across what we were looking for.

"Guys, come over here!" she hissed. "I think I've got tracks!"

She was right. A few faint lines of footprints could be seen heading in one general direction, though they were barely visible thanks to the rich, fluffy grass that coated the ground.

"Great job, Madden," the captain remarked, leaning down to inspect the prints. "Judgin' by this I'd say they were going right that way. But try and keep an eye on this trail as you walk."

He pointed to his right, towards the northwest section of the cave that seemed to go much deeper.

"How long will we be following them for?" Rhiannon inquired. "Are we going to walk until we find them?"

"I don't know," came the reply, "it all depends on the journey. We still don't know what's hostile and what's not, nor do we have infinite food... I won't keep us down here for too long. Speaking of hostility, why don't you three get your rifles ready."

While I complied, inwardly I wasn't very sure that we would need them. The creatures around all came off as very peaceful, though I would surely still do my best to not antagonize them in any way. That might bring out a negative reaction that could end very badly for both parties.

As we walked along, Josiak was the only one really paying close attention to the tracks; we other three were too preoccupied with gazing around at the scenery, and honestly it would be hard to blame us, I thought. We stuck to the cover offered by the plants, hoping to go unseen, but there was one point where we had to cross directly in front of one of the reptilian behemoths. We had attempted to keep ourselves hidden by crawling through the grass, but our dark armor had stuck out from the green surroundings, and we were spotted almost immediately. Unsure whether to run or to continue attempting to blend in, we blundered about for a moment before we recognized it was too late.

The large beast lowered its incredibly long neck to get a better view of us, letting out a loud baying noise. Josiak warily began to bring up his weapon, ready to take aim, but Rhiannon stepped ahead, whispering, "Why, don't try and shoot it! Can't you tell he's nice?"

"Madden, no, back u--"

She reached out her hand, very confident about her statement, and was greeted by the creature's massive smooth head reaching in so that her palm lay on top of its snout. It snorted and closed its eyes, evidently a sign of peace. The captain shrugged, lowering his rifle again. "Never know, could have just tried to eat you..."

Nevertheless, he, along with Winoa and I, stepped forward to pet the creature, smiling at its great form. Rhiannon pulled away for a moment to snap away a few big leaves, which she presented to it. It graciously accepted this offering, turning away to munch on the snack. We looked on in awe for just a few moments longer before picking up our pace once more, shuffling around a bit to rediscover the footprints.

Time passed by slowly, and yet it was certainly a good slowly. We would go on to have a few more animal encounters, during which Josiak would train his gun on the creatures up until the blonde would scold him and step forward. There was not one unpleasant experience with the wildlife: all remained peaceful throughout the trip. It would be some time before any action would ensue. I scarcely even noticed the tight, uncomfortable feeling in my chest begin to subside.

--

Nearly an hour had now passed. It would be disingenuous to say that we found nothing interesting; everything around us was definitively interesting. However, speaking in terms of our job, there wasn't anything we had come across that could be considered to be important to the mission. A few Nanoprobes had eventually been sent out in different directions, all reporting back the same lack of findings. One thing was made very clear: this new underground world was certainly far bigger than any of us had been anticipating.

Impatience written all over his face, Josiak glanced down at his watch, brows furrowing. "Well, it's been quite some time, and I haven't seen any tracks in a good fifteen minutes. I don't even know if we're still going in the right direction. Let's take a lunch break, maybe scout around a bit one last time, then we'll start to head ba--"

"Wait, look!"

We turned to see where Winoa was pointing to. She had begun to take off towards a large waterfall. Josiak spun around to dash after her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to a harsh halt. "Where on earth are you going to?" he shouted. "You need to wait for orders!"

"Look, don't you see it? There's a house behind the falls there!"

Sure enough, Winoa was right. When I looked hard enough I was able to see a faint, dark shadow of a building peering out from the water that rushed down in front of it. The captain marveled for just a moment, confusion clear on his face -- then let go of her arm, replying in an urgent tone, "All the more reason to stay with the team. Let's go, and tread quietly."

"Do you think the scientists are in there, sir?" I asked. The unpleasant feeling was back.

Josiak pursed his lips, gazing cautiously ahead at the structure. "I don't know," he murmured back, "but one thing's for sure, they didn't have the time nor the materials needed to build that place. Someone else is down here... someone not of Kartov."