Chapter 155

The boggart pointed the way through the forest, remaining in Saber's iron grip as it pointed out when she went the wrong way, waving its hand in the correct direction when this happened. Though there didn't seem to be any marks or signs that indicated she was going the right way, the boggart seemed to be confident in its sense of direction, and she couldn't tell either way.

With no choice but to trust the creature, she let it lead the way, though she was vigilant from it escaping her grasp. Twice, it tried to twist its way out of her hands, one time while her head accidentally smacked against a low-hanging branch, loosening her grip, and the other time she had stepped into a puddle, her foot sinking in as she almost lost her balance, but the boggart failed to get away both times, with Saber catching him immediately after it managed to tear away its arm from her hand. It now had two bruises on its head, and several spot smarting on its arm, her iron claws pressing dead tight on the flesh.

After several more twists and turns, she and the boggart finally arrived at a small grove in the middle of the forest, with a cave in the middle of it. Shirou trailed behind the two, still doing his best to not stare at the young Saber's naked rear, even after all this time at her side.

"So this is the place?"

The boggart, giving no more directions, nodded its head. It jutted its stubble covered round chin at the dark hole, the mouth of the cave filled with darkness that hid any hint of its contents. If she wanted to get her clothes back, she would have to go into the cave and get them herself. Dragging the boggart behind her, she walked into the cave, wary of any traps that the boggart could have prepared to deal with intruders. The boggart squirmed in her hand, but it was unable to free itself as it was dragged on the dirt into its own home.

The gloom of the cave enveloped her as she stepped in, the moonlight and stars failing to penetrate the darkness wrapping the insides of the cave. After waiting for a few moments for her eyesight to adjust for the lack of illumination, keeping an extra firm grip on her captive, she could just barely see the walls, the outlines of the uneven earth and roots stretching on the ground appearing as thin lines that she could tell apart from the darkness, though it was still difficult to see if there was anything else.

Treading carefully, she walked deeper into the cave, stepping over the roots that could easily trip her if she wasn't careful, keeping one hand on a wall so she could walk along it, and another tightly secure on the boggarts arm, though the boggart was now only making a token effort to struggle.

The time spent walking in the darkness seemed to stretch on and on, her vision deprived of all but the slightest information as she watched her step, making slow and careful moves to advance into the cave. Her ears could hear the beating of her own heart in the enclosed space as she left the open forest behind, the sounds of the leaves and wind leaving her, and she could smell the deep, rich earthiness of the dirt all around her. The rough earthen walls beneath her hand continued as she kept walking, her fingers brushing across the occasional root stretching across it.

Time stretched on in the darkness as her sense of time grew fainter and fainter, her legs carrying her on as she continued to walk deeper and deeper into the cave.

Strange, how deep is this cave?

She had thought it was only a normal forest cave, barely deep enough for a bear to hibernate in, but it seemed to continue on, and on, and on until her feet grew tired, the wooden sword growing heavier and heavier in her hands as she pressed it against the wall with her hands to keep her from running into the walls.

The boggart in her other hand had become strangely docile, simply plodding along with her, its breathing and footsteps filling her ears along with her own in the soundless cave. She could barely see it in the darkness even though it was right next to her, but when she took a look at it, it seemed like it was simply staring ahead, it's pure black eyes focused on something far ahead.

Behind them, Shirou frowned. His eyes could actually see quite well, though his vision only extended to three or four meters in front of him, with anything beyond shrouded in darkness. At first he had thought that it was a small cave, just like Saber, but now that they had walked or some time, he knew something was wrong. No cave was this big. He had also noticed there was a slight incline on the floor, with them continuously walking downwards, though it wasn't very noticeable, and for Saber whose sight was impaired by the darkness, she couldn't tell at all.

Saber didn't know when, but the surroundings started to brighten. The walls and floors started standing out in sharper relief as they walked, color bleeding into the roots and dirt as more and more light became available. The air itself changed too, turning warmer and warmer as the continued.

At this point, she was smart enough to know that she had probably messed up.

Twice, she tried to go back towards the entrance of the cave, only to find that no matter how long she walked, she didn't seem to advance. On the second try, after drawing a mark on the wall with her wooden sword, she walked back towards the entrance. In what seemed like a few minutes, her hands brushed past the mark again.

With no choice left to her, she continued forward. All the while, the boggart didn't do a thing, merely following next to her all the time, though it did make what seemed like a clicking noise when she tried to turn back both times. Her caution against it slipped, her grip growing looser as she went. After all, it wasn't like a boggart like it could do any harm to her right? They mostly just played pranks and the like, a mischievous folk.

Saber stopped when she finally left the long tunnel, stepping into a proper cave. Her mouth was slightly ajar as she stared at the scenery in front of her, blinking as she took in the sight. Her hand slipped from the boggarts arm, hanging loosely by her side. Behind her, Shirou was similarly taken in the scenery, mesmerized by something straight out of a fairytale.

Instead of a cave, it was much larger than that, though it wasn't big enough to be called a cavern. One could park several trucks in it and still have some room to spare, and the ceiling was quite tall as well, high enough that a grown-up Saber would have to expend some effort to jump all the way to that height.

Crystals grew on the ceiling, completely covering it like the sky, a multitude of refracting surfaces glowing with their own light, rainbow varieties standing out in clusters between the most common cloudy white stones. The sharp edges and smooth surfaces released the light held within the crystals, reflecting and mixing with each other until it was a riot of rainbows released from above, a symphony of colors that somehow clicked together despite its inherent chaos, with no rhyme or reason to its patterns or positions.

Below the crystals, masses of plants grew, will o'wisps hanging in the air just above the ground, their green glow and flickering form moving about in a ghostly manner, bobbing and dipping slowly above a carpet of green. A strange assortment of vines grew from the ground, thick and strong vines twisting and entwining together to reach the ceiling, yet stopping short, ending up as strangely formed trees without branches or leaves. In the air, motes of viridescent light floated, akin to fireflies at night, but Shirou and Saber couldn't tell if there were actually insects within them. A soothing trickle of water indicated a stream somewhere nearby, but they couldn't see it from where they were standing. In addition, there was a musky smell mixed with the scent of the plants, the stench of pelts and fur that was barely covered by plants and earth that should have been dominating the place.

And strewn all around the place, like a stain on its ethereal, natural beauty, were human clothes, food, tools and more lying all over the vine-trees, plant floor and walls, a garbage dump of random objects. In the middle of the large cave though, was a concentrated pile of these items, and on the very top of it Saber could see what looked like her clothes.

"Ah!"

Finally, she spotted the things she had come in search of, the chance to walk around fully clothed once more in front of her eyes. Though the place was magical, she didn't plan to stay long, knowing well the dangers of being in a place such as this. Although it was already a blunder on her part when she entered the cave willingly.

With a start, she noticed that the boggart was no longer next to her, with only the disturbed dirt next to her left of its presence. Keeping herself vigilan in case it came back to assault her, she made her way towards the pile to retrieve her clothes, her wooden sword held in both hands as her eyes darted from the left to right. The best she could hope for was that it left her alone and hid until she grabbed the clothes and left this place. She would deal with the problem of leaving the cave when it happened.

The boggart never showed up even after she reached the pile, and after standing there in front of the pile for a few minutes, waiting for the boggart to show up, she lowered her sword and quickly grabbed her clothes, slipping them on as fast as she could. Though it was a bit sloppy, she got dressed in record time, and was back with her sword in hand, fully clothed now.

For Shirou, it was a relief that he could finally look directly at her, though he wouldn't be able to look at Saber in real life without blushing after this. He could only hope that his memory was wiped clean of that particular detail when he woke up.

With one last look around her, she walked towards the tunnel, intent on leaving the place as soon as possible. Once she got out, she could climb a tree and check where she was, then get out of the forest and apologize to her father and Kay, then have some warm food and a nice bed to sleep after getting chewed out inside out, but it would be worth it, and she would sleep the day away until...

She stopped in her tracks.

Standing in front of her, its head just a half a meter away from the ceiling and its leg blocking the cave entrance, was a monstrous beast.

"Shit."