I suggest you shut the hell up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are not the only one to have a hard life and you will get no sympathy from me or anyone else.
Deepest Night. Chapter 10.
The Crystal Grotto
Trin woke the group up early the next day, informing them that if they got started right away they could reach the Crystal Grotto that day.
"Why do they call it the Crystal Grotto?" Ariadne wondered aloud as they all mounted up. The sleeper smiled mysteriously. The group was fast learning that everything he did was mysterious, even if he wasn't meaning for it to be.
"I believe I will let you see for yourself, good lady," he told her, "I would hate to ruin the surprise."
XXXXX
The day continued uneventfully. The only thing of interest was the steady decline of temperature from comfortable to chilly, and the quartz crystals appearing with increasing frequency. After finishing their dinner they didn't stop to rest for the night. Instead they continued onwards until they came to the entrance to a large tunnel. The fliers glided to the ground to deposit their passengers at a signal from Trinelaech.
"This tunnel gets much smaller about a hundred feet in, you will not be able to ride," he informed the group. "We have come to the only entrance to the Crystal Grotto, stay close to each other for if you become lost you may never find your way out."
With this warning they proceeded cautiously. Everyone was curious as to what they would find ahead; no outsiders had seen the Crystal Grotto for almost a generation. Gregor was expecting something similar to the tunnels the gnawers lived in; the sleepers seemed so similar to the gnawers that he assumed the places they lived were similar as well. Some of the group like Ripred and Luxa knew what to expect from descriptions in old books, but not a one of them was prepare for what loomed out of the shadows when the narrows tunnel emptied into an enormous cavern.
The Crystal Grotto. It had been the home of the sleepers for hundreds of centuries. An ethereal race, given to flights of fancy and appreciative of beauty, the sleepers had searched long and hard for a home that appealed to their sense of fantasy-like splendor. On the edge of the Uncharted Lands they found that place. An enormous cavern, filled with crystals of all shapes, colors, and sizes provided them the homeland they desired. They had been on friendly terms with the diggers at that time, and after multiple alliances, pacts, and trade agreements, they finally got the diggers to work for them. Decades passed and the diggers worked and toiled until the cave filled with crystals was transformed into a city. The buildings lacked the towering grandeur of Regalia, but they flowed with a simplistic beauty that the human city could never hope to accomplish. There was not a straight surface anywhere, and with the smooth crystal the buildings looked like they were made of water.
Trin smiled as they entered the Grotto, glad to be home at last. The shocked looks on everyone's faces may have contributed to his smile as well. "Welcome to the Crystal Grotto, my friends. It is a pleasure to present to you my home."
The first one to speak was Shadowshiv. "Damn." She drew the 'a' out in an expression of her wonder.
Ripred shrugged, attempting to look unimpressed, "It's pretty enough, I suppose. Must be cold as hell in those crystal buildings though."
"We are mostly used to is, however you are correct in assuming that the design is not very practical," Trin said, leading them toward the city. "The buildings are only one story, and they have extensive basements."
"So where are we going?" Gregor asked. "To the king right? I mean, we have to tell him about the war and stuff."
Trin chuckled softly, "You are very eager, Gregor the Warrior--"
"Could you please not call me Warrior? I've kind of tried to get rid of that title. I mean, I know you weren't there, but I…kind of killed the Warrior a long time ago." Gregor cut him off without meaning to, it just slipped out. He looked embarrassed afterward, and said he was sorry.
"Do not apologize, I would not want to call you something that made you uncomfortable, Gregor the Overlander. As I was saying, you are very eager, but I am afraid you must wait until the morrow," Trinelaech replied. He was leading them off to the side, toward the opening of what appeared to be another tunnel.
"Why not?" Luxa demanded abruptly. She stopped in the middle of the trail they were walking down, as if she had just realized they were not going to see the king and she refused to continue until she got an answer.
Trin turned and gazed at her with his wide blue eyes, "It is very late, Your Highness, and at this time the king refuses all visitors, even ones such as yourself. I can only lead you to your accommodations, and present you to him as early as possible tomorrow."
Luxa scowled openly, looking distracted she took her crown off her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "I suppose that will have to do," she muttered. It was obvious she was still frustrated. The young queen didn't replace her crown, but instead tucked it into her shirt.
XXXXX
They reached the tunnel after a few minutes of walking. The path they were on circled half the crystal city, and gave them the perfect opportunity to look at the crystal formations from all angles. There were a few crystals jutting naturally around the entrance, and within there was some kind of moss that glowed with a cold blue light.
"Welcome to the Crystal Grotto, esteemed visitors," a feminine voice drifted from the tunnel, and out strode a cream colored sleeper. She smiled at the group, her bright gold eyes sparkling happily as though there was nothing she wanted more than to be there at that moment.
"May I introduce Kischiel?" Trin gestured to the silky female sleeper. "She is the ambassador for the sleepers, and my wife." He added this proudly, and they shared a warm smile.
"Greetings, if you wish I will show you to your rooms," Kischiel gestured into the tunnel, which they soon learned wasn't a tunnel. She proudly explained that long ago when the sleepers frequently entertained emissaries they had a cave excavated with rooms that suited each species. The fliers quickly swooped into the bat room which was complete with a stone ledge they could hang from.
"Oh, this is very nice," Spica remarked as he settled down.
"Very nice indeed," Aurora agreed happily. Within moments all four fliers were sleeping contentedly, exhausted from the long flight.
The rest of the group ran into some trouble when it came to getting into their own rooms. Ripred demanded that he had a room to himself, of course the biggest and most luxurious, and the other rooms were only big enough for two people each.
"All right, pair off," he demanded. They all milled about for a little while in front of the remaining rooms. Gregor and Luxa immediately paired together, as did Erin and Flay. Shadowshiv was off to the side looking irritated, as if being paired up like this was beneath her. Howard was looking confused as he looked back and forth between the pairs trying to decide if he wanted to go with Luxa to keep her away from Gregor, or if he wanted to try and get in a room with Erin.
Ripred rolled his eyes prominently, "Alright, I can see this isn't going to work out smoothly. I guess I'll just have to pair you off myself."
"Like hell you are!" Flay protested angrily. Her ears were angled back on her head, and her tail twitched indignantly.
Howard finally made up his mind and said, "I am rooming with Erin." Flay unleashed a torrent of swears at him, and Erin sighed and leaned up against the wall. Luxa and Gregor were slowly edging toward their room, which had a curtain for privacy like the other rooms.
"Oh no, you two. That's the first group I'm splitting up, because I don't want babies on this trip. We managed to get here without the darling crawler princess, and I would really like to keep it this quiet," Ripred told them, cynicism rolled off his tongue with ease, "As if we need any more drama, with Flay along."
Luxa looked like she wanted to protest, but Howard nodded emphatically and she settled for glaring at him.
"Don't piss her off Howard, you're going to have to deal with her tonight," the grey rat laughed.
"Excuse me?" Howard objected, Luxa shot him a smug look. "Why can I not room with Erin?"
Ripred smirked, "We also don't want any deaths on this trip, and I'm sure Erin would appreciate your respect for her personal space."
"So, um," Gregor spoke up finally, he shifted uncomfortably as he asked, "Who'm I going with?"
"Let's see if we can clear this up. Luxa, Howard, you're in one room. Gregor, Erin you two are in the other. And our favorite little gnawers get to sleep in the gnawer's room." Immediately both of the females began to protest.
"I'm not sleeping with her!"
"I'm not little you arrogant son of a--"
"Yes, yes, I know you think you actually have some say in this, but let's cut to the chase," Ripred cut across their complaints coldly, "this is the only way no one gets killed. So stop arguing with me, because I'm going to win, and get your happy little asses in your rooms."
No one could think of anything to say to that, and they slowly paired off and went into their respective rooms. Kischiel smirked, an expression that looked odd on her sweet airy features, and Trin and Ripred shared a look as if to say, 'Kids these days.'
XXXXX
"He really pisses me off sometimes!" Gregor seethed to Erin. She just shrugged and heaved her bag onto her bed. Then the girl grabbed Gregor by his collar and shoved him face first into a corner, "What the hell, Erin?"
"Stay. If you turn around before I tell you to I'll feed you to…something with sharp teeth…" She drifted off, and he heard her rummaging around in her bag for a few moments. Curious, he slowly turned, eyes straining to get a glimpse of what she was doing that was so private. When he saw he flushed hotly and turned around quickly before she noticed. "All right, I'm done."
He turned around, a trace of blush still lingering around his ears. She was dressed in a loose shirt and some simple shorts. Very high shorts. Her eyebrow raised slightly, and he tried to cover himself, "So, you're not mad at Ripred for splitting us up?"
"Not really, I'm just glad I have a bed," she grinned and collapsed onto said bed with a joyful squeal. Erin scrambled under the covers and smirked at Gregor, "Did you enjoy the peep show?"
Gregor turned bright scarlet and muttered something about accidents.
"Oh get over it, Gregor, I know you looked," she rolled her eyes, then murmured in awe, "You're really embarrassed aren't you?" He nodded and stared at the ground.
The black haired girl laughed, "Geez, Gregor, you live with three women, haven't you seen a girl's back before? Prude," she accused, teasing him.
"Go to sleep, Erin," he told her, tossing a pillow at her head.
"Ok, fine, I will," she replied, looking offended. She rolled toward the wall and called over her shoulder, "You can't go to sleep until I do."
Gregor looked at her quizzically, her instructions made no sense at all and he told her so. Erin laughed again, "You snore, stupid, and I'll never fall asleep listening to you. You're worse than Ripred."
With that declaration she launched the pillow at his head, rolled over, and closed her eyes to sleep.
XXXXX
Erin's giggles could be heard through the wall, along with muffled speech. "They sound as though they are enjoying themselves," Howard observed coldly. Both he and Luxa had prepared themselves for bed, and try as he might he couldn't block out the sounds of Erin's mirth.
"Why do you worry so much about the two of them?" Luxa asked curiously, lying on her stomach with her chin in her cupped hands, "Do you still have feelings for her?"
Howard scowled and drew his knees up to his chest. He and Luxa had become very close in the past year or so, and Howard had come to see the young queen as another sister. At times like this he knew he could confide in her and not be judged.
"I…I do not know, Luxa. It is difficult for me to decide," he admitted, "I cannot have a relationship with her because she will expect marriage, and I cannot give that to her. I could not have an Overland wife as the Lord of the Fount. I still want her to be my friend, though, and she cares nothing for me."
Luxa smiled at her cousin, he was older than her by a little over two years, but sometimes he was not as knowledgeable as he liked to appear. "She does not expect marriage, Howard, and she never did," before he could protest she continued, "and she still cares for you. Erin is just hurt, but soon she will realize that she still wants your friendship and will tell you so."
Howard ran a hand through his soft silver hair and gave his cousin a tentative smile, "Thanks, Lu," he told her gratefully.
The thirteen year old girl nodded, "Of course, Howard, what are friends for?" She felt a quick surge of relief that he didn't bring up her relationship with Gregor.
"Now then," Howard said crossing over to Luxa's bed. "Let me hear about you and the Overlander."
Luxa groaned and buried her face in her hands.
XXXXX
"I don't know why you're acting like this is the end of the world," Shadowshiv drawled from the well made nest in one corner of the gnawer's room, "we're in comfortable rooms in the Crystal Grotto, one of the most beautiful places in the world, and tomorrow we will speak with King Nysamar, something that no one alive has ever done before."
Shadowshiv paused here, to see if she would get a reaction from Flay. There was no sign to show that the young white gnawer had even heard her words, let alone had something to say about them. Flay was pacing back and forth like a caged animal from one side of the room to the other. The room had a single lamp, unlike the well lit rooms of the humans. The edges of the room were shrouded in shadows that shifted and swayed whenever Flay passed, almost like they were trying to cling to her but lacked the strength to do so.
The older female sighed, "Yet here you are acting as though we have been imprisoned and face execution. What is wrong with you, child?"
Flay finally reacted, but not in an answer to Shadow's question, "Don't call me that," she snapped angrily, "I'm not a child."
"Oh?" Shadowshiv's eyebrows raised, "You certainly look like a child to me, small, slender, and juvenile. You probably won't grow very much more, but hopefully you'll actually mature a bit. If not, we're all in trouble."
The cold grey eyes glared daggers at the shadowmelder, "I haven't been a child since my mother died," she snarled furiously, she stopped her restless pacing but her tail thrashed in agitation, "which, if you remember, was your fault. Perhaps that is the reason I do not fully appreciate the situation. I do not like you. I thought I made that clear enough."
In a moment Shadowshiv was up off of her nest and in Flay's face, lips twisted into a snarl, "And I thought I had made it clear that we're in this together. If you want to survive you're going to have to put away your silly little grudge. In case you don't remember, pup, I didn't kill your mother. Your mother and my mate killed each other. Neither of us had anything to do with their deaths, so I suggest you shut the hell up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are not the only one to have a hard life and you will get no sympathy from me or anyone else."
Flay scowled at her, "Leave me alone," she demanded and turned away.
Then Shadowshiv struck her with her tail, not hard, but enough to get her attention. "Listen to me, and you listen good. You're smart and you have the makings of a good gnawer if you stop throwing around your feelings like a banner. Because let me tell you something, girl, no one cares. This is the Underland, my dear, and no one is looking to make you happy or comfortable. You need to toughen up and do whatever it takes to keep going. Survival is the name of the game, and if you can suck up your false pride and listen to someone who knows what they're talking about you may learn something that will help you out."
The smoke colored gnawer gave her a scathing glance and strode toward her nest. She curled up comfortably and said, "If you figure that out, love, you might just turn out alright."
XXXXX
The sleepers have a very distinct idea of beauty. They are a people very disconnected from traditional values and ideals. They sleep early and long, their dreams woven from the past, the future, and the magic that binds imagination. In their minds beauty is what can compare closely to the visions they see in their mind. Shifting colors, shining stars, and sparkling lights all flowing and shifting together with the effortless grace of water. That is beauty to a sleeper, and they spent decades making their surroundings reflect this.
The relationship between royalty and subjects was akin to parent and child. The sleepers felt loving awe for their rulers, and as such wanted them to have the best of everything. So when it came to the making of the Citadel, as it was called, there were no reservations.
The Citadel was a perfect dome, with four graceful spires leaping into the air in a square around it. Tiny bridges, light as gossamer, linked the four spires, looking so light that they could be blown away by a single breath. The entrance of the Citadel was a double door, fashioned to look like a pair of stylized eyes. Every bit of it was built from sparkling crystals that caught the light and reflected it in tiny shimmering rainbows. It was a sight that left one breathless, and it did just that with the group.
They had actually managed to get some sleep the night before, although Gregor found himself sleeping in the hallway at one point, and Ripred claimed he was on the verge of killing both Flay and Shadowshiv to stop the noise they were making with their quarrels. Trin related to them the proud history of the Crystal Grotto as they walked through the city.
Gregor was a bit surprised that they didn't attract more attention than they did. A few times they caught sleeper kits following the group, but the older sleepers seemed not to be troubled by the outsiders walking through their city. They spare a few glances and a couple smiles, but for the most part the group was ignored. Gregor recalled the time he had walked through Regalia prey to gawks, stares, and pointed fingers. This was much different, and it underlined the every day difference between the sleepers and the other races.
When they entered the Citadel Trinelaech left them in a large hall, claiming that he had served his purpose and could no longer be of any use to the outsiders. "Don't be fooled," Ripred remarked, "he's just trying to get away from us, we're far too noisy for him. Now that he's done his job he's going to back to dreaming himself mad."
"I don't blame him," Gregor said to the general amazement of his companions, "I mean, we show up out of nowhere, and even if he was expecting us, we weren't exactly knights in shining armor to come and 'vanquish the darkness.' All we did was show up and say, hey there's a war, take us to your leader."
Ripred stared at him blankly for a few moments before observing, "That was probably the most intelligent thing I've heard you say this entire trip. Did someone hit him on the head or something?" Everybody shook their heads, and Gregor glared at the rat until Luxa swatted him playfully in the back of the head to general amusement.
"Salutations, good travelers," a dark grey sleeper had emerged from an antechamber, "The King and Queen will see you now."
Everyone stood and filed into an enormous thrown room, at the end sat two sleepers. The thrown was a single large crystal that looked almost like a pair of hands. The sleeper on the left, a large male with silver fur spoke in a low strong voice, "Welcome, friends, I am King Nysamar, and I greet you in the name of the Crystal Grotto." Unlike the sleepers they had met so far, Nysamar had a sharp glint of cleverness in his eyes instead of the vacant distant look they had come to expect.
Beside him his made, a lovely gold-furred female, also spoke, "I hope you have enjoyed your stay so far, we are overjoyed to have you. I am Queen Zhaladhra." She added her name and title as an after thought. Unlike her mate, she had that dazed wide eyed look about her.
The pleasantries continued for sometime, and then silence fell. Luxa shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to proceed. Technically Ripred should have been the one to inform the sleepers of the coming war, since the gnawers were the sleeper's allies, and it had been at his insistence they had made this journey. Finally Ripred spoke before the silence became uncomfortable, but after hearing what he said, Gregor thought it would have been better if he hadn't said anything at all.
"Please, tell me why you were not able to see us last night," Ripred began, then as thought he realized it wasn't exactly the best thing to say, he shifted the blame to Luxa, "Our young queen was quite put out about that."
The grey rat found himself victim to a number of glares, but he shrugged and waited for an answer. Nysamar smiled indulgently and replied softly, "Do you have any children, Ripred, Ambassador of the Gnawers?" Ripred gave a stiff nod, uncomfortable with the inadvertent reminder of his dead family. Nysamar continued, "Then you will understand that as a parent, your children come before any other duty that you may have."
Ripred shrugged and then nodded, accepting the answer. Luxa finally spoke, "Good king, we have come on an urgent matter, our intelligence reports that the darters have been allying with the enemies of both the gnawers and the humans. Knowing that the darters are your enemy, we traveled here to warn you."
"And thus gain my aid in your own battle, is that right young queen Luxa of Regalia?" Nysamar countered smoothly, "I know that you humans have no love for the sleepers, and would not do this merely out of the good of your own hearts. You came to our aid in hopes of remuneration, and because your new allies the gnawers would forsake you if you did not come. I knew why you were here before you came before me, and so I must ask you to hold your political business for a moment longer, young queen."
Luxa looked deeply offended, but had the sense to stay silent and smooth her affronted look. Gregor brushed the small of her back, silently telling her she had done the right thing.
"There are very pressing matters to attend to, Ripred the Peacemaker," Nysamar was speaking to the large gnawer once more, "matters that will decide with whom the sleepers fight in this coming war. And have no doubts that it will come to war, for it shall. Our seers have already confirmed this. What I wish to know now, is why one of my scouting teams was mercilessly slaughtered by a group of gnawers five months ago."
Nysamar looked accusingly at the three gnawers in the group, his expression grave and serious. Ripred look at a loss of what to say, and a tight silence grew like the uneasy calm before the storm until…
"Oops…?"
XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX
Ripred: Oh god...what did you do?
Aria: What did who do? I haven't specified yet!
Erin: -snickers- I think Gregor's gay...
Flay: Well duh...
Gregor: Nuh-uh!
Luxa: -scowl- I can't believe you did that Gregor...
Gregor: Well...I was scared! I thought she was coming at me with a knife or something!
Spica: I hate to interrupt, but Callisto edited this chapter.
Aria:...oh ya!
Ariadne (the bat): And I am owned by Dead Chick Walking NOT that one person.
Ripred: Ya...screw them.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mk, guys, I know I said it in Heaven and Hell, but I seriously mean it. I have 9 people voted in my poll and there is a three way tie . I can only write one of those! Come on people!