Speech // thought

Ignita found her young son, Iskandor, practically absorbing his book like his life depended on it.
"Iska, my love, we have an important job to do." She urged him as she nuzzled his soft ear. Trying to distract him from his reading. It was a delight to see him so absorbed in the knowledge.

"Come, we have a new place to discover!" She bent and kissed his crown adoringly, then flicked her head over her shoulder for him to follow her. She had a feeling his strides would one day overcome hers.

She led him to the storage den and gestured to the shelves.
"Let's grab a lantern, a snack, and a rucksack, I don't know how dark it is down there!" She mused as she grabbed the rucksack and let him pack it with some jerky. She set off to lead him to their new territory, Caves of the Past.

As she approached the nearest cavern entrance she turned to her blue eyed son with a mischievous knowing smile,
"What kind of resources might we find in here you think?" She asked.

Iskandor’s ears twitched eagerly at his mother’s nuzzle, her touch pulling him out of his book with a reluctant but curious lift of his gaze. Huh? Ignita’s promise of a new discovery made his eyes gleam with excitement. “Okay!” Closing the book gently, as if sealing a precious thought between its pages, he rose, nearly matching her stride with a surprisingly determined pace to see what she had in store for him.

As they reached the storage den, Iskandor’s sharp blue eyes swept over the shelves, lingering on the lanterns and rucksacks. He picked up a lantern with careful jaws, handing it to Ignita before turning to the jerky with a small, thoughtful tilt of his head. With almost reverent concentration, he placed the snacks into the rucksack, making sure everything sat neatly, the way she had shown him before.

–

The cavern loomed ahead, its dark entrance like a gateway to a world brimming with mystery. At Ignita’s question, Iskandor’s brow furrowed in thought, his gaze growing intense as he considered the possibilities. The boy tilted his skull slowly, eyes moving high above his mother’s head as he wondered.

“Mmm… maybe gemstones?” he mused aloud, a spark of wonder in his young voice. “Or old bones… or, or herbs that only grow in the shadows. I read about plants that need no sun to grow. Some of them evolve properties that allow them to glow—biolumiii-nescence!” he added with a slight song in his voice, glancing up at her, his little chest puffing with pride over the tidbit he’d just shared.

He adjusted his grip on the rucksack with growing determination, nodding toward the cave as if already envisioning himself navigating its depths. “Shall we go find them, Mama?” he whispered, his voice a blend of anticipation and awe.

"Speech"

Speech // thought

A smile ever present as he trotted next to her. Ignita adored his eagerness, his delight, his anticipation.

"I love a good gemstone!" Ignita mused, They could always use more sources of the stones! She led him inside and immediately spied the strange markings on the walls. She let him finish his thought about the plants and nodded emphatically! If they could find something with luminescence they could have a resource to try and find a way to use it!

"Ohh! If we find old bones, I wonder if they'd be from the two-legs that made these marks! Look at this! You see this mark here? The round head, standing on two feet, not four? That's a two-leg. A human. Here it's holding a spear aaat..." Hm... she couldn't recall what type of creature it was, it had an extremely long neck and four legs, "Some kind of creature I don't know yet! A long time ago humans walked this planet. Nearly every trinket we have is originally made by them. They were like big monkeys that knew how to make and do everything! They wrote most of the books you're reading!" She said and nosed his cheek lovingly.

She didn't want to overwhelm him all at once. This wasn't why they were here! Though she loved finding these amazing ancient pictographs. She could tell him how old they probably were when he was taught a bit more about the concept of time.

"We shall find... Whatever we can! Collecting some bones, gems, or glowing plants! Which way should we go?" She asked with a swish of her tail as they came to a fork in the paths. She lifted her nose to scent for any danger down either path. They had cleared a bear out a while ago, but another could have easily tried to wiggle its way in. So far she could only smell dust and cavern pool waters.

Iskandor's ears pricked forward, hanging on every word as his mother shared her knowledge. Humans? The very thought thrilled him—creatures who walked like them, but different, intelligent enough to create tools and even books! His gaze darted between the strange, faded marks on the walls, eyes alight with wonder at the idea that they told a story from so long ago.

"Big monkeys that made everything… I wonder why they aren't here anymore." he murmured, more to himself. The concept was thrilling, and he imagined what it might’ve been like to watch these two-legs create and explore their world. As well as what had led to their downfall. The drawing of the spear-wielding figure was fascinating, and he leaned closer to examine the mark’s curves and lines, trying to picture the creature they had hunted. "Maybe we'll find a relic of theirs…" he whispered with a shiver of excitement, half-wishing to stumble upon something truly ancient.

At her question, he paused at the fork, his eyes scanning both paths thoughtfully. "Hmm… let's try the left," he suggested, his voice brimming with barely contained excitement. "I think that's where the glowing plants might hide—deeper, away from the light." he added, stepping forward and glancing back to see if Ignita agreed.

With each step, he felt the cool, quiet embrace of the cavern walls. He took in the smell of damp stone and still water, the sounds of their breathing and paws filling the echoing silence. He kept his lantern held high, casting soft beams across the walls, hoping each shadow might reveal some hidden artifact, a gemstone glinting in the dark, or the pale shape of bones etched against the stone.


"Speech"

Speech // thought

She heard her son muse quietly to himself, wondering what had happened to the humans long ago.

"Despite all my studies, I haven't figured that out yet." She admitted. Ignita always wanted her children to believe that they could learn something new, no matter how old or knowledgeable they were. She wanted to instill a thirst for endless knowledge that drives them to understand the world around them. To help them shift perspectives and see the world through another's eyes. Empathy and forethought were pillars of her teachings.

She smiled at his whispered voice about finding a relic, yes that could be a wonderful result to their adventure here! They were here to scout out the tunnels and search for a resource.

She watched his brilliant shining blue eyes consider the options. A bright smile stretched her lips as he gave a solid answer and a solid reason! She nodded and allowed him to take the lead, the lantern was about to come in handy while she carried the rucksack. The flickering light cast shadows over the cavern walls. Something caught her eye that made her pause.

"Iska! Come with the lantern, my Love, look!" She had stopped over a strange image on the wall. If the lantern was closer to the left of the image the legs of a wolf would be outstretched. If the lantern was on the right, the image would show the wolf's legs together. If the lantern was swung back and forth over the painting, it looked like the wolf was running!

She put the lantern down, her own tail swinging back and forth! "Iska! It's a moving picture! Fascinating! I've never seen this before!" Her excitement bubbled forth like a wellspring of awe. But this wasn't what they were looking for!

"Let's keep this in mind, maybe is a good landmark to navigate with. Have you found anything yourself, little Love?" She asked, returning to him the lantern.

Yes, it would be hard to know what happened to the humans since none seemed to exist anymore. What secrets had they taken with them? How many books and stories were left unwritten, forever lost? It gnawed at him, the thought of knowledge slipping through his grasp—entire histories and ideas that would never be known. But he caught himself drifting off as his mother’s voice pulled him back.

When he saw the animated wolf on the wall, his eyes widened, and he moved closer, letting the lantern’s light reveal the effect. “This is… incredible,” he murmured, captivated. “They wanted us to see what they saw.” It was a record of time, of vision.

Returning the lantern to his mother with a bright, eager grin, he scanned the walls ahead, his mind already piecing together the possibilities. “A landmark… Yes. And if they made something this clever, there must be more,” he mused, his voice threaded with excitement. “Other pictures, or even artifacts.” His gaze roved over the cavern with insatiable intensity, his mind running through fragments of incomplete thoughts, theories, and what might still lie undiscovered in these tunnels.

He turned back to his mother, brows furrowing in determination. “Shall we keep going?” His voice held a quiet, almost reverent thrill, but he waited, searching her expression with respect, unwilling to demand it of his mother.


"Speech"

Speech // thought

His captivated answer delighted her! He was just as enthralled as she was. She mused to herself at how his mind was a treasure, seeking wonders all the time. She noted how his gaze would drift and wander over the walls. The animated wolf would be a fine landmark for their trek, and easy to find for others to navigate with.

He asked if they should keep going and she nodded with an eager smile, lifting the lantern to carry it in her maw. The light flickered with the flame as it swung again. She would let him wander up ahead and around her and use his curious eyes to find his own discovery. She wondered what his focus would be in the future. She always had a penchant for the two legs and their strange contraptions, crazy inventions, and sordid histories. Histories that didn't seem so different from their own. The caves grew darker still as they walked. Pools of water scattered about and the stalactites met their stalagmites in sturdy pillars.

She looked up at the looming calcite teeth hanging above them. In some places, the stalagmites looked like melted candle wax over the walls.

What else might they find?

Iskandor padded a few paces ahead, eyes alight with curiosity. He could hardly keep from leaving his much smaller mother in the dust! He glanced back over his shoulder, catching his mother's delight as she carried the lantern behind him.

Iskandor reeled himself back in, steadying his mind as he committed to finding something more. He ran a paw gently over a portion of the wall where faint carvings were obscured by time and mineral buildup. He envisioned the creators at work, chiseling their world into permanence only to have nature swallow it back up again.

He stopped at one particularly grand column, its surface streaked with faint lines of mineral that reminded him of the beachy part of the lake. “Do you see this?” he called softly, motioning her over. Like how waves pushed and pulled sand back and forth on a beach, each ebb and flow leaving a new shore line.

He stared deeper at the rings, until he noticed something gleaming, just barely poking out from the wall. “There’s something here…” He drew closer to it, brows furrowing as he carefully began to scratch at the area around the mystery object with a claw.

"Speech"