[Gift] Light Spells chase the darkness away

As wary as Piers and Chiyo had been of the small chaser that had offered welcome respite from the blizzard to the three reoseans, as uneventful the ensuing hours theyd spend together would be.

Ferro had quickly fallen asleep, curled up on the hard rock floor, close to the campfire to warm her frozen bones on its comforting glow, as she had been quite exhausted by fighting against the strong winds.

Chiyo and Piers had taken shifts to quietly watch over the group and keep an eye on the stranger who had acted as normal as could be, yet Piers knew that something wasnt right about them- call it a hunch, but something just didnt put their mind at ease about this chaser.

As if on queue as Piers mustered Rivule once again who had been resting she raised her head and met his gaze with a barely noticeable smile on her face.

„Enjoying the fire?“ she asked which netted a nod in response from the dark coated puller who grumbled something under his bed about having rested on better things before than the rocksolid cavern floor of the cave they had sought shelter in.
“Im just wondering how much longer the snowstorm will still rage on for.“ added Chiyo, yet his intent with asking this question wasnt as much of an inquery for an actual answer rather than him voicing his anxiety to get going once again and part ways with this chaser.

„It doesnt look like its going to stop anytime soon.“ said Rivule without actually checking the weather outside which she would have needed to get up for.
"Right." responded Chino, glancing over at Ferro who stirred and moments later awoke from her slumber with a loud yawn. "That was refreshing." remarked the tyrian, though at that moment her stomach would growl making it known to the group that the Tyrian was hungry. Chiyo was about to chuckle- yet then the groups stomachs collectively chimed in with Rivule averting her gaze as bonding with these strangers over a meal wasnt really something she had planned to do.
After all her plan only involved to shelter these travellers from the blizzard and then to part ways with them once again, ensuring as little interaction as possible between them. Fewer interactions meant less opportunities to get attatched as the chaser preferred to fly solo.
She quietly cursed her stomach that had betrayed her and pushed herself off of the ground to stand on all fours.

"A hungry stomach shouldnt be ignored. Follow me." she said once again calling to memory the moment she had found the trio to guide them out of the blizzard- the three reoseans shared a glance and nodded, Ferro catching a quick glimpse of the still ongoing blizzard outside as she looked over her shoulder toward the cave entrance before she shuffled after the 3 vayrons.

The small chaser lead the group deeper into the cave that seemed to wind itself down to the base of the mountain itself. Chiyo felt a bit unnerved that he hadnt noticed that the cave continued on for such a long way into the mountain as they had been resting for a few hours near the entrance and the descening tunnel had hidden itself behind some loose rocks that obscured this tunnel from view from where they had been resting.

Piers followed making sure the group felt as comfortable as possible. Yet soon the four had walked so far down this tunnel that the darkness nearly blinded them. it was at this moment that Rivule concentrated and spoke a word that seemed like a echoing whisper, yet it was definitely magical in nature. Nothing happened for a moment before specks of light continously started to gently drift out of Rivules long mane vanishing into nothing as soon as they touched the ground, not unlike gentle snowfall. It was enough to barely illuminate the path ahead. The chaser turned around to glance at the group once again.

"I walked through this tunnel yesterday to ensure the cave was safe." she started- waiting a moment to see if questions would reach her ears yet there were none.
"I didnt explore it in its entirety as I didnt think it was necessary. After all nothing dangerous stood out to me, yet I heard something that piqued my interest. Waterdrops hitting water." Ferro seemed a bit confused by what the chaser had told the group yet Rivule did not give them time to ask questions.

"Cavedwelling fish could be down here." she remained silent afterwards leaving the rest up for imagination.
Piers eyes focused further down the tunnel where, with the added light, he now saw the tunnel open up into an underground cave and indeed when he held his breath and focused his attention ahead he could hear the dripping of water that Rivule had mentioned.

Ferro had been quite uneasy at the notion of heading underground as tyrians on the ground are a bit like a fish out of water. especially in tight and enclosed spaces where she simply couldnt fly up, it made her feel vulnerable, something she did not like- however that unease was forcefully pushed to the side in favor of focusing on the task at hand, which was securing fish.

„I guess we could try..“ offered Ferro, yet she knew they had little choice whilst the blizzard still raged on outside of the cave as finding food in that storm was an impossible task.

Chiyo had been waiting for an opportunity to speak up, choosing to adress Rivule directly. „So Valeria. That magic is handy but could you maybe…“ they paused looking for the right words „make the light just a tiny bit brighter so that we can better navigate this underground cave.“ Rivule raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

„No sorry, this is all I can do.“ a lie, but she wouldnt just pass up on the opportunity to see these strangers work a bit harder than theyd need to, after all the firewood used for the fire the strangers had warmed themself on had been collected by her ahead of time. How she saw her the travellers owed her. Now it was time for some entertainment in her mind.

Piers grumbled once again, questioning quietly if the chaser was telling the truth yet they decided to remain quiet.
“Alright lets get going then.“ they concluded looking over to Chiyo and Ferro for confirmation.

Chiyo and Piers would cautiously map out the underground cave with Ferro walking behind them whilst Rivule made sure to keep her distance to the group yet stay juuuuust close enough that her light spell would give the group just enough light to not just aimlessly wander about.

Once the trio had located the underground body of water that was surprisingly pleasantly warm enough that staying for more than 5 minutes in the water wouldnt chill you to the bone they watched the waters surface and managed to indeed spot a few fish swimming about in this body of water. Chiyo who hadnt heard of cavedwelling fish was a bit perplexed at this discovery, but now knowing that fish was indeed on the menu for today he seemed more motivated than ever to dive into the dark body of water and chase after the fish.

“This darkness is a problem.“ remarked Piers not finding the dim light provided by the chaser good enough to work with effectively so he suggested the following after a moment of contemplation.

„Lets all dive into the water at the same time but at different points. Underground fish are adapted to low light settings. We arent, so they have an advantage over us.“ Piers looked at Ferro.

„We should make sure that we are far enough apart to not injure one another, yet close enough that the chaos that us jumping into the water will create amongst the fish will allow us to more easily catch some before they disperse.“ what Piers wasnt aware of with his plan was that these fish werent exactly the traditional fish youd think of but rather blind cavedwelling eels which would further make catching them difficult due to their slimy scaled body.

Ferro threw a glance at Rivule- gauging if the chaser would help them but as Ferro observed Rivule settle down next to the waters edge she knew that help besides the light spell wasnt something the chaser was willing to contribute. Catching her gaze Rivule smiled back at Ferro and gestured toward the water nonchalantly with one paw.

After the three had talked in great lengths about their pending plan they plunged into the dark waters, hoping to catch anything in this dimly lit environment.

Ferro flailed wildly in the water, disliking how unagile she felt with her large wings slowing her down in the water, yet her long neck allowed her to make up for any disadvantage her wings might have imposed on her. She quickly accustomed to the water and rather than fighting against the water with her wings she started to glide through the water like a manta ray would, using the shore of the lake, the ground or even just pillars of rock that were sticking out of the water to push off from with her hind legs. This quick thinking allowed her despite a few first failed attempts to secure an eel in her maw. As soon as she raised her head above the waters surface again the eel started to fight with her vigorously and if she hadnt closed her eyes the eel might have even managed to smack her in the eye with its tail. Ferro quickly tossed the eel ashore, hitting Rivule on accident with it right on her head which caused her light spell to briefly flicker before it stabilized again. Not really noticing what had happened she dove under the water again, in hopes to perhaps secure another one.

Piers and Chiyo did indeed have an easier time swimming in the water than Ferro did but they lacked her intuitive approach to swimming which had her see great results as Chiyo glanced over at Piers he had to stifle a laughter, all that fluffy coat on Piers now lay slick against his body making the duveteux puller look alien to Chiyo which he found hilarious. Distracted by that sight Chiyo actually didnt execute the plan as planned and only Piers was the one besides Ferro to dive for the eels.

It didnt take long for the dark coated puller to drag something up from the waters, flinging the eel onto shore in much the same fashion as Ferro had, yet this eel did not hit Rivule, yet from the corner of his eye he noticed the chasers sour expression. His gaze lingered for just a moment longer on them before he went back under the waters surface to continue his hunt.

Remembering their previous strategy that they discussed Chiyo was now finally diving below the waters surface too and started chasing after an eel. This one was quick and winding itself through the water with such ease that it was hard for Chiyo to keep up, however his competitive spirit felt challenged by this eel and he silently swore that he would catch it, he knew he would.

Piers resurfaced once again leaving Ferro and Chiyo underwater. Chiyo only had eyes for the eel in front of them as they strained their body to swim faster in this dark body of water. Just a little faster! He could almost bite its tail and once its teeth would close around the eel he would not let go again!

The moment he felt the eel within range he bit down, digging his teeth into the spindly fish yet he had been so hyperfocused on retrieving the eel that he hadnt noticed that Ferro had started to dive for this same eel too, as Chiyo secured his grip on the eel he tried his best to move out of the way yet all his maneuvering had done was allow the tyrian to crash into the puller ribcage instead of his hip.

The moment Ferro and Chiyo collided the puller could hear something snap and a sharp pain rung through his body, originating from his ribcage. the impact knocked the wind out of him and he had almost let go of the eel if it hadnt been for his stubbornness that begged him to hold on as if his life depended on it.

Ferros eyes opened in shock as she realised what had happened and seeing the pullers movements slowed underwater she knew she had to drag him to the surface. She placed her head under his chest and pushed up, allowing chiyo to break the waters surface as he winced and slowly walked onto shore again. Ferro followed concern coloring her face. „Are you alright?“

Whilst the trio had all caught eels which would have been something to celebrate Chiyos injury was something that took all attention and immediately all eyes were on the white and red puller as they laid down to catch their bearings, face contorted into a grimmace of pain.