Silverladon

Xoee slowly opened her eyes. Around her was an endlessly vast black expanse. She could feel herself floating weightlessly in the dark space, which ebbed and flowed gently, like a calm ocean. What surrounded her wasn't water however but what seemed like an endless pool of white speckles. Looking up she saw one of the stars above her, larger than the others, and illuminating her with a pleasant purple light. She was back in the void, but for some reason, she felt perfectly calm. With naive curiosity, Xoee reached her hand to the star. Curiously, it seemed much smaller and closer than it appeared, as the noaideia's claws managed to make contact with its surface causing it to momentarily flicker more brightly. Seeing this, Xoee gently pulled it into her palm. The star's light grew, But before the deer creature could fully admire it, she noticed another star light up in the space around her. Then another. And another. Slowly at first, then faster and faster the mostly empty space was lit

Xoee was on her merry way by the time she parted with Yaxa. The crevice's walls were different: the crystals here were all red and arranged in columns parallel to the path. None were embedded into the wall itself. It was as though the road ahead was paved for her. She couldn't help but feel relieved, and for the first time since leaving the yacht, she was genuinely optimistic. No death monsters, no meddling by untrustworthy magical cats, and most importantly, no one to threaten her. As long as the totem was on her palm (and it wasn't going anywhere), Xoee was confident about her survival. While passing by more red crystals, the deer creature noticed something peculiar hanging off of one of them. She approached and inspected the object. A piece of fabric. A plain, yet oddly out of place find. Someone must've come through here and accidentally ripped their clothing. The crystals certainly did seem sharp. Another competitor probably got here before her, meaning she was probably on the

The sun shone down from the sky as the two continued navigating the ravine. The trip somehow felt longer than it was to Xoee. In her mind, it was because she had to care for a behemoth like Yaxa not causing more trouble. Since leaving the cavern, they had to move through spaces less than two feet. Not hard for Xoee, but for Yaxa, its girth hindered them from sunrise to midday. Yaxa often dashed ahead and often fell victim to the crystal magnets. Xoee was more careful of course, but she tripped a few times running after Yaxa and attracted some pebbles. Pro: Now Xoee knew embedded crystal clusters could magnetize by the first contact, but isolated fragments couldn't. Con: Xoee was the guinea pig in the egg-dropping experiment. And then there were the crystals -- every time they came to a clearing, Xoee had to look for opposites nearby. But then she would always hear Yaxa hissing upon the presence of crystals it hated for no reason. It went as far as crushing these stones; and in the

"North is blue, South is red, eh?" Xoee remarked as she squatted down to the rubble. Shortly after they left the clearing, Xoee and Yaxa made it to a mile down the rocky ravine. The beginning was straightforward since the opposites were mostly on the walls. As the crystals didn't seem to be making any sound Xoee had to use her good eye to look, though. For Yaxa, all she had to do was tell it to avoid them. It was by the first stretch that she started seeing more rocks. She had decided to stop and check them out. Picking up a small pebble, Xoee touched it to the red polar opposite, as Derek did in his demonstration. The pebble became glazed in a red aura as it touched the crystal. She then let go of the rock, and before she could blink, it zoomed to the blue crystal with a swish and stuck there. She tugged at the rock again and found she could not free it from the blue crystal's grip. "Hmm… this is curi-" Grooooaaaaaarrr! A loud grumble came from the distance. The noaideia's ears

"God, this sucks worse than being a hobo." Xoee was leaning on the edge of Derek's yacht, watching the waves of the ocean pass below. Onboard, many passengers were walking around conversing, gazing, and doing their own thing. They were treating the trip as though it were a vacation. The deer creature couldn't help but envy their peace of mind. Right now she was not interested in anyone else. These people may have appeared optimistic, but she remained uneasy. She didn't HATE the yacht, per se, but nothing about the expedition so far had been positive. The first night was not easy. Ever since what happened in Derek's office she feared letting go of her cursed trinket, but trying to sleep and hold onto it at the same time was causing her trouble. The monster connected to it — Yaxa — was another issue. It sat on its bed alert next to her the entire night. She tried to make it leave her, but that would mean it had to wander around the ship and cause more trouble with other passengers. In

In the amount of time Xoee blacked out, it seemed like eternity passed. Wherever she was, Xoee saw nothing but darkness. When she tried to move, she only kept floating in the abyss, as though she were fighting against the ocean current. Xoee could not even open her mouth to breathe And yet, the suspending motion was strangely comforting. Like snow on a winter morning. The void was welcoming her, like a dearly departed relative embracing her once more. There was nothing she could do. Nothing, except to succumb to the gentle void. Yet, before Xoee felt the calm embrace of the dead space, a light shone above her. Xoee looked up, and floating over were two blue stars blazing like the sun. Curious, Xoee reached her arm to them, and as she presented her reach, the stars suddenly flared at her in light; they were then engulfed in bright flames, like twin supernovae. Xoee was somehow not bothered by the reaction; the only thing coming to mind was she thought she was seeing things, as she

“This is too easy!” Carnival was giddy with excitement. He watched Yaxa enter the ship manic, like a rampaging rhinoceros knocking aside boulders and smaller animals. For every passing personnel, a large white blur ran down the halls, running into startled staff and guests. But like an exotic animal in a strange environment, Yaxa was bewildered and confused inside the ship. The ivory beast preferred wide, open space and tranquility to roam around. Inside this massive vessel were none of those things, which increased its panic. All it wanted was an exit out of this alien place. No matter where it turned, all it saw were bright lights. When it extruded its head upward, it caught a whiff of the stale ambience saturated with salt water, and noises of strangers echoing through the hallways. By instinct, all Yaxa could do was keep running around looking for a safe route. It had to get out of the ship -- no, it needed to get out, to return to the docks or it would disobey it’s master’s