[Gift] Journey Through The Ancient Caves

The Ancient Caves are a labyrinth of treacherous and ancient caves. The only light is that of some crystals. The only warmth is the magma. The plants are exotic and ancient, poisonous and tempting. Some stories say there are extinct animals kept alive by magic down there. Some go in and never come out… 

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“Sister, come now, we need to get going, Father will be mad if we fail,” Ayuno says to his twin Akari. They are known as “the evil twins” in their area. They aren’t evil, Father is strict and has high expectations for them. He tells them to never interact with other draks and restricts everything they can do. 

“Alright, coming, have you done your research on The Ancient Caves? You better hope you did or you might eat the wrong thing in there,” Akari has always thought ahead of time before doing anything, she has such anxiety and tries really hard not to fail otherwise Father will be mad.

“No, I have you to tell me what is wrong and write, you’re the genius as Father always says,” Ayuno is always put second, he feels as though Father doesn’t value him, like he is any less than Akari and feels that Akari is praised way too much. Although he knows it isn’t Akari’s fault. Father is just like that.

“Hopefully we don’t run into anyone down there, as Father always says ‘only trust your twin,’ I wonder if that is totally true, do you brother?” They have never had any social interaction with another drak other than Father. She is always wondering if his words are true. Is every other drak really a threat to them? Should they do everything Father says?

“Akari, you need not wonder if it is true, we have been kept safe due to our rules, time to go,” Ayuno says and it ends the conversation there as they look out towards The Ancient Caves. Looking out there sends shivers down both their spines. 

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“LOOK AT THE SUN MOM!!! I’m so ready to take my journey and prove myself to you,” Sprinkles says to Mom, with a great big smile on his face. Today is THE day. He is gonna go out and prove that he can be on his own. Everyone doubts he can do it, but he believes in himself and so does his mom! His favorite drak ever. 

“Okay, let me make sure you have all your stuff and you can go on your way,” Mom replies with a slight smile. She then starts to check his journey pack. He has his book, some tools and food. He is ready to make it through The Ancient Caves. Mom is really worried about him going alone. Sprinks always had another drak with him everywhere he went. 

“Mom, I can tell you’re worrying, you’ve got that look! I’ll be fine, I’m gonna prove it to you, I love you so much! I can’t wait to get back and tell you all about it!!” Sprinks says with an almost serious tone. He has been waiting for so long. 

“Did you read about The Ancient Caves? Honey, are you really sure you can do this?” Mom always worries about Sprinks. She believes in him but she is also still scared. He might’ve read the book but he probably forgot about it. He can never remember what he reads. He always gets so distracted.

“Mom, I will be fine, I promise, I’ll be okay, I did read about it and I won’t forget it,” Sprinks has NEVER remembered anything. He is gonna try really hard to not forget what he read. Don’t eat plants… ancient animals live there… the shimmering pool… he repeats the words from the book over and over. He then walks out of his home area and towards The Ancient Caves. He has a bounce in his walk… He is SO excited that he doesn’t notice how scary it looks… 

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The Ancient Caves from the distance looks like a loomy cave that has a slight glow… some think it looks magical… some think it looks ancient… some think it looks scary… this journey is going to be the journey of Akari, Ayuno, and Sprinks.

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“Brother… remember, don’t eat anything down here, we can come in and go out but you can’t eat anything… just follow me, don’t touch anything either and be careful because there are animals down here,” Akari told her twin Ayuno with a wariness in her voice. She can’t help but be scared in the presence of The Ancient Caves… the only light they have is the crystals and glowy bugs.

“I know sister, you have told me this since last week when we started preparing, I am not going to forget, and for the animals, as long as we have each other we can get through it, remember, we were raised with magic and fighting, Father would never let us go without training,” Ayuno hates Father so much. Father never taught them what they wanted, only what he wanted to teach. 

“Brother, what was that? I think…” Akari says then turns toward the entrance, she hears something…

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Sprinks sees two draks walking together. I wonder who they are– his curious brain. He runs up to them. “Hey you! Are you on this journey too! Oh please tell me your name! Can I tag along?” Sprinks to these two other Kainu’s. He would love to be with other draks! He loves being with others, but no one ever really likes him…

“Brother… what, what do we do?” Akari whispers so only Ayuno can hear. She doesn’t know what to say to another drak. He asked for their names but… is it safe to give them? Will he harm us?

“Sister, maybe we should try to make friends… I know we never had one but this Kainu seems… friendly,” Ayuno actually wants to go against Father’s words… I mean that’s normal but it isn’t normal for Akari.

“Hey! Why are you two whispering!” Sprinks says while bouncing with excitement. Why are they so mysterious. He just wants to make a friend. He really hopes they will accept him.

“Hey, I’m Ayuno, this is my twin, Akari, if you would like to join us… then you can,” Akari has never heard Ayuno ever sound so scared, he sounds terrified. What if Father is watching us… There is no way he could be, we are in a huge labyrinth of caves.

“Welllll hello! Ayuno, Akari, I’m Sprinkles, just call me Sprinks! I’m so glad we can be friends! We’ll have so much fun together!” Sprinks are just bouncing around with so much joy! He just made two new friends. They are going to be best friends forever.

“Okay, Sprinks, be careful and just stay close, you don’t want to get lost in here,” Akari thinks she might actually care about another drak. Maybe even a possibility of being … friends.

“Sprinks, do you know how to fight?” Ayuno worries maybe Sprinks won’t be useful and just drag them down. Although, maybe Sprinks will be useful, since he can fly. Ayuno is glad though, maybe Sprinks can be their friend.

“Yes, I can fight, and I have read about The Ancient Caves… don’t eat plants, ancient animals, blah blah, so why were you two whispering earlier?” Sprinks asks, too curious for his own good…

“Father says other draks can’t and shouldn’t be trusted,” Akari is still scared Sprinks might not be trustworthy, too many stories from Father. “We have never had a friend,” Sprinks might just leave now, maybe he doesn’t want friends, just protection, just using us.

“Oh, well, now you have a friend, ME! I’m so happy we can be… Akari, what, what was that… did, did you hear that…” Sprinks heard something, he doesn’t know what but he heard something and it is scaring him.

“Ayuno, Sprinks, behind me… there is an ancient animal ahead… let's keep walking but keep your guard up,” Akari knows there is an ancient animal, she can smell it, but she does not know where. Then… there is a splash. It is in the shimmering pool.

“AKARI!! Watch out!” Sprinks sees it before they do. He lunges at it before it hits Akari. Sprinks flies right into it and it falls to the ground and crawls back to the shimmering pool. “They are in the shimmering pool, we should stand a bit away from it!” He says a little too loudly and it echoes through the entire labyrinth.

“Keep walking, don’t talk,” Akari says with her stern voice. Ayuno knows when to listen and right now… that is the time. They continue walking through the labyrinth following Akari and listening to what she says. Soon they start to see light… They haven’t eaten anything since they left. “We are out of distance from the shimmering pool and close to the exit, I see you have a bag, does it have food? We are starving.”

“Yes, I sure do! Here!,” Sprinks then flings some rolls at them. They sit down at the exit and start to eat. Looking back on the day they had and all the excitement.

“Friends… forever?” Akari asks Sprinks.

“Yes, Friends forever,” Sprinks answers.

“Forever,” Ayuno repeats.

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