Spelunk.

The last time you were down in these caves, you were ambushed by an elemental creature made from stone, perhaps attracted to the area due to the sheer amount of magical energy radiating from the door to Feli's domain. So you keep your eyes peeled as you, Fang, Snow, Lalarin, and Eva make your way cautiously down. It doesn't take long to reach the chamber in question. It's deathly quiet, apart from the slow drip of water from one of the stalactites above. The rocky ground glistens under the dim flickering light of a torch held in Snow's hand. Still, there's an eery feeling, whether that's the presence of somebody so ancient and mighty, or things more sinister lurking in the dark recesses of the world.

"I assumed the pathway would be more... I don't know. Divine?" Fang comments as she walks close beside you, perhaps because she's more defenseless without her regular gear, or because she feels the same sense of discomfort as you do.

"Appearances can be deceiving," says Snow. "And I don't believe she wishes to be found."

"I'm surprised she hadn't been before."

"It isn't too hard to guess why," Eva speaks up. "Hardly anybody ventures out this far out into the Pecho Peaks, and there are thousands of caves. Not only that, even if someone did, and creatures as mighty as that elemental are lured here, I doubt they could easily get past. There was also that encryption on the door. It may only open to catfolk to begin with."

"Cave-ins happen as well. Perhaps it was only exposed in recent years, from some disturbance that caused the stone to collapse open," Snow adds.

Your attention flicks to one one of the small, dark tunnels to the side. "Something's coming--!"

Darting from the shadows like a tiny cannon ball, an unknown creature flies by Fang, though because of your warning and her own cat-like reflexes, she narrowly dodges the surprise attack. Though after a brief pause, the right strap of her pure white dress snips off as if it were cut by a blade.

"... Bastard!" Fang snaps. Suddenly, she leaps across the cavern, and drives her knee straight into the face of the culprit. In her grasp you can briefly see something you've seen before--a gremlin, a creature of pitch-black skin with glowing white eyes and blade-like claws. However, the strike dissolves the creature into a cloud of black smoke. Panting, she looks around for more. "Y-You son of a bitches ruined my dress!"

With a snap, RF's bo extends out to its full length. Eva then draws her wand, and Snow her blade while the torch remains in her other hand.

Lauo hums as you slowly draw it from its scabbard--eyes peering around in the darkness. The blade has only a faint tint of pink, though it's mighty enough even at its base power, and so are you. The last time you ran into gremlins, they followed Mistress Dajy, and were sent to pester Eva. You turn to her, and give her a look of concern.

Eva looks back--pink coming to her nose, perhaps as she begins to recall the memory.

Your sword glows a tiny bit brighter.

"Gremlins!" Rabbit's Foot shouts as she spins her bo before clobbering one leaping demon, and then another, causing two in quick succession to perish into plumes of putrid gas. When a third tries to cut her midsection, she's caught briefly off her footing, whether it's the sheer numbers or the damp cave floor.

"Bastard, bastard!" Fang catches that one straight out of the air like a football, slamming it down to the ground by its head.

"Over here!" Snow calls out.

Fang whips the gremlin, again like a quarterback, allowing Snow to slice it in two.

You glance over to the sheen of a spark in your peripheral vision. It seems electrical waves have began to dance down to the wrists of Eva Beela, coalescing into a spell above the tip of her brown and pink wand. She doesn't look left or right, but instead snaps her gaze upwards. Her voice echoes loudly off the cavern walls as she shouts, "Chain Lightning!", before a booming, crashing storm of electrical discharge hits not one, nor two, but four more gremlins clinging to stalactites above. Each vanishes as the lightning arcs between them. Though upon such an impact, one of the spikes of stone comes crashing down, narrowly missing you as you swiftly leap to the side.

Everything goes silent after that.

Finally, Lalarin speaks up. "I don't hear anymore--"

"I'm so sorry!" Eva hurries over to you and grabs your arm to squish it tight. "I hope I didn't hurt you, Kyle."

"It's all good, Eva. You killed so many, and before they could make their surprise attack," you reply as you place your opposite hand on top of her head, between her long, fluffy ears. "Don't sweat it."

Snow perks up. "And ah, I believe I struck one down quite effectively too."

You laugh and beckon her over. After she approaches, you move your hand to pat her next. "Good job."

The ninja smiles wide with pink in her cheeks--tail wagging slowly left and right.

"Good job, team," Lalarin says with a chuckle. "You've all come a long way."

It's true. A pack of gremlins, apart from how sneaky they can be, are easy for us now. Nobody even got cut. Granted, gremlins do tend to be more mischievous. Back when they were attacking Eva a long time ago, they were targeting her clothes. I doubt all gremlins are that way, especially given they have fucking daggers for fingers. We did a good job.

Though beyond those three, Fang is still silent. She stands alone with a frown.

You pop your arm free from Eva's grasp and walk over. "Hey. You all right?"

She places her hand on her bare shoulder. "I guess."

You take a gentle hold of the broken strap, and tug up on the thin, delicate fabric of a dress not meant to be worn while spelunking, that's for sure. Then as you touch the sliced parts together again, you whisper gently, "Mend". Such a small, clean break is easy for the magic to fix. It looks as if it never happened to begin with. After that, as she stares up at you without words, you straighten a tuft of hair on the side of her head which became messy during the conflict.

"Better?" you ask.

She continues to stare up for a moment. Then she smiles as wide as ever. "Y-Yes... Thank you."

"Then let's keep going."