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  A new day; a new collection session with this same sunny-cave. Or rather, a second session. Indeed, this was their second venture this same day. Utilizing the wagoneer’s newfound tactic of…sniping the glow-spiders whilst they cannibalistically procreated, their first collection session happened remarkably quickly. By the time they had exited that cavern and rendezvoused with the wagoneer’s recursively parked wagon, it was merely the afternoon—plenty of time left.

  Thus, after a quick…lengthy break during which the wagoneer had to eat, drink, and attend to his myriad of many-many denizen needs, they decided—which was to say, she decided and consequently pushed the wagoneer to follow along—to venture back into that sunny-cavern.

  Although she was effectively finished with this double-quest, needing only to turn everything in, she wanted to…start early on the next one…s—plural—, since she was still there and there was still time in the day left.

  However, this time, she had decided to diverge considerably from her usual routes, primarily owing to that…peculiar and still…unexplainable discovery the day before: that completely and utterly empty chamber. Whatever the truth of the causes, it was nevertheless clear that these nesting grounds were not always occupied or with an active presence. And, indeed, throughout this day alone many of the previously ransacked nesting grounds that previously had a consistent population were…similarly empty, as if something…had seemingly cleared and cleaned them.

  Considering that she had perhaps searched through the same direction and paths too many times these past many sessions, she figured that deviating down to a different subsection would increase the odds of encountering a populated nesting ground with an active mating session. Albeit, truth be told, this decision had occurred perhaps more…spontaneously than preplanned, for she had simply noticed an alternative route before sharply pausing, snappily turning, and changing directions, the wagoneer nearly stumbling to redirect his follow.

  “Gods’ sacred toilet, I can’t see anything at all!” thus remarked that voice in his typical fashion, trailing somewhere rather close behind.

  Indeed, it was fairly dark—darker than it was usually was for an otherwise…luminant cavern. Bioluminescent life and even radiant crystalline rock were seemingly scarce, and only becoming scarcer the deeper they went; there was something alien about the bioluminescent plant and fungal life that was present, in fact… As if these were different species than earlier encountered. The cavern itself was seemingly shifting as well, no longer so straightforward to follow, but rather riddled with many turns and ends.

  Such were all indicators that…perhaps they were heading…into an entirely different area of this cavern system.

  “Truly, you’ve got some eyes on you, alright!” the wagoneer’s voice only continued on; “I still don’t get how in all the thousand realms you’re seeing in this darkness, let alone through that fancy mask of yours… Don’t those tinted lenses make shit even darker?”

  The foreigner so sighed, nearly tsking almost for…indeed, his voice was rather loud. “I already told you, keep your voice low, for grace, I ask.” she told him. “And also, as I said, I cannot see either. In truth, in this now, my eyes are worse than yours.”

  “Yeah, but you haven’t been wandering blind for the past two hours? Rightly?” the wagoneer remarked.

  “No. I can…know where I am going. The eyes may be useless for me, but the ears are not. I can follow the sounds—hopping sounds that tell me what and where and…how to see, if that has sense, without the eyes.” she explained.

  “So… You’ve been hearing your way through this?” The wagoneer bent his head, nodding as if processing… “Huh… Actually, I guess that makes sense… I’ve heard that those blinded folks can…get some weird ability that lets them see stuff by clicking their tongue and…using their ears—like them bats.” Though, he then stared right into her… “But last I saw, your eyes still work…”

  ? … ? The foreigner was slow to respond initially. “Let us just say, this is…the ‘skill’ to me, whenever my eyes are no longer able to see, my hearing become…better and more…sensitive, allowing me to…‘see with the ears’, like the…blind person, as you said.”

  Indeed, her mind or…brain rather, was quite the plastic and adaptive thing. While the human brain generally was already with rather the plasticity, hers and that of those like her…was significantly more so—her brain was capable of hyper-plasticity; hyper-adaptivity.

  With just some degree of direct higher order cognitive effort while in presence of sufficient influences and inputs from the immediate environment, her brain could readapt and reprioritize its sensory processing, and rather quickly at that. However, such readaption usually came at the expense of the neglected senses, as space once allocated for the neglected sensory processing was repurposed for the other sensory processing tasks.

  Thus, while her auditory processing was readapting, becoming sharper and more sensitive, her vision was becoming proportionately hazier and blurrier; indeed, she was becoming progressively more blind, her brain no longer processing visual stimuli as efficiently and productively. However, the present already blinding darkness rendered such consequences redundant, and this swift adaptiveness was bidirectional—easy to reverse the other way.

  “Hmm… Yeah, that sounds about right, I guess… You adventurer sorts are always wonky like, aren’t ya?” the wagoneer thus remarked; “Some power you’ve got, though…”

  “Yes. Now, for grace, I ask that you be quiet… I need to focus.” She was blunt.

  The wagoneer promptly ahemed himself into silence, making sure to keep himself as close to her as possible so that he did not end up lost.

  As the two continued making their way, the foreigner concentrated more and more on her hearing, so much so that it felt that every other sense had gone numb and mute. Indeed, she closed her mask-obscured ignited eyes and took in all the those bouncing little sounds and murmurs running about within the cavern around; there were so many sounds, indeed, from all distances and directions, both close and so deep beyond…

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  Yet none of them were arachnids, and their noises were distinctest of them all…

  This was the case ever since she diverted course down this direction; she was expecting to pick up more of those arachnid sounds, but they had disappeared entirely… But she nevertheless continued to persist down this path, hoping that all she needed to do was head deeper and farther, and eventually…the fruits of victory would be discovered.

  Yet all she heard were empty echoes and creaking crevices.

  She knew deep down within…that she was…probably…heading an entirely wrong way. And, indeed, she began to recall…there was perhaps some kind of sign or marker of symbols carved into the corner of the…turnway into which she had so…abruptly turned; in retrospect, such were…probably indicators denoting…a route that led to a completely different zone of this cavern system. But they could have also been completely random for all she knew…

  Nevertheless, she continued to guide way down a path of nowhere, hoping that it led somewhere…relevant to their task. Yet after some time, hearing the wagoneers’ fatigued breaths of his…already suboptimal lungs, she finally paused…quite abruptly.

  “Woaha! Hey ouch! Watch it, careful!” the wagoneer blurted out immediately, having nearly walked right into her; “I mean, sorry… Ahem…”

  “I give apologies…” the foreigner began to speak, “I suppose that I did not know where I was going, for there are no glow-spiders this way; the sounds are barren. It was…the mistake to follow this way, and…it is necessary that we return back. We should try again tomorrow.” she stated…almost in genuine lamenting regret yet her voice remained hollow.

  Without another word, she sharply turned herself around and walked right past the wagoneer, moving quickly down the opposite way.

  “W-w-wait, wait, wait, now! Hold on now!” The wagoneer began to hail, quickly catching up; “…we’ve been walking down this way for…hours, two…three, I don’t even know! And you’re telling me… There’s absolutely nothing this way at all?”

  “Yes. This was a waste of the time. And I give apologies.” The foreigner was blunt.

  “But… I mean, we didn’t even really search or anything… How do you even know? We can keep searching a bit longer, you know? Not…not let this time go to complete waste…” he thus said.

  “I just know.” the foreigner replied, “I am certain that there is nothing… or, it is better to say, it is very likely to be so.”

  “Everything’s ‘likely’ or ‘maybe’ with you… Do you ever have any certainty, you little goblin?” he was a little frustrated though tried to remain friendly.

  “Hm…” She had no answer to that question; “It is as I said, though. It is better to return, as I do not want to risk becoming lost, and you have done enough today… It is clear to me that you are tired.” She was not necessarily worried about him, she just felt obligated to ensure this collaborating denizen’s conditions were best, optimal, and not recklessly risk him.

  “Yeah. That’s true, ain’t it… Though, just to say, I don’t need you looking out for—” Abruptly, the wagoneer so walked right into the foreigner who had so abruptly froze in place, her figure so stiff and solid that this tumbling bump had more effect on him than her. “Youch! Woaha! W-what now?! Gods, you gotta warn me before you halt like that!”

  ? Zt. Tacé. ? yet the foreigner sharply shushed. “Be quiet.” she effectively commanded, standing stiff and still… Her hyper-sensitive ears sharpened, her mind focusing and processing…

  Sounds… Unnoticed or unpresent until now, yet…she was starting to pick up amidst the background’s noise. These vague and obtuse sounds, bouncing like a wave through the cavern around from deep beyond… Her eyes closed even tighter; she focused and took it all in… Listening, processing, hearing, her breaths…tensing.

  Tremors… Not even sound, but tremors…impacts… Miniscule yet still noticeable shakes and vibrations in the very rock, so hard to make out but they were there; this wave…of sound and tremors…

  Forward, left, forward, right, forward, forward, right, left, right, left, right, forward…

  Denizens. People, distress… Pleas, cries, noises… Shouts, desperation… Someone, no, many someones. Fighting. Large… Something…large… In an open space—had to be an open space, one large and wide and…

  Panic. They were struggling; no, beyond struggling… Worse, far worse… She could tell; something much deeper within her could tell…

  They were going to die, and they knew it; such were those sounds; such were those bouncing shouts, so quiet and vague within the misty noise reaching her ears, yet so loud wherever fromwhere such was emanating.

  She remained frozen and stunned, analyzing more and more of what she could from such far away barely present sounds alone; those sounds became more and more unmistakable… It was as if hidden instincts and long forgotten wills entered her being, regardless of consciousness awareness…

  However… Local affairs were local affairs, and protocols were clear: she was to refrain from needless intervention, even if it meant permitting the locals to...kill themselves in their absurdities or…become victims to the natural ecosystem; it was their world, not hers to bother…

  Yet… By coming here, they had bothered them… And, in this moment, was she not supposed to be one of them? Even if a mocking parrot… And if she were a denizen, what would she do? Though, of course, she was not a denizen…even if she so pretended to be one…

  But, even then, being what she was, once upon a time long ago… Had they not sworn a certain pledge? That certain point for everything, even though they had failed; even though everything had been rendered meaningless…all those eons ago…

  And, indeed, being what she was… Being what they had been… There existed no sounds she hated most than these most despicable of noises; those sounds she forever wished never had to be so…

  And, indeed, having heard them… She could not simply walk away and pretend she had heard nothing; she already had enough abandoned echoes chasing her still.

  As if a switch had so flipped within her mind, she so suddenly and swiftly began to move, effectively lancing way in a cyanic wisp-thrusting stride. Whatever her present priorities had been were completely overridden by a more…personal and ancient prerogative.

  “Woaha! Gods’ sacred! Where are you going?!” the wagoneer so shouted as he stumbled back, unable to process what was even going on before trying to move himself to catch u to that wisp-lancing foreigner. “SLOW DOWN! WHAT’S GOING ON?! LITTLE MENACE! SLOW DOWN! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” his ripping lungs shouted as he stumbled his run.

  The foreigner glanced, slowing herself down before barely pausing. “Big fight. Bad one. People are dying and are with need for immediate helping. No time to explain.” she spoke, her voice straight and swift. “Follow, stay, or return back. It does not matter.” Without any further words, she recontinued her striding lance, moving faster and faster…

  The panting wagoneer halted and caught his breaths; he was unable to keep up with the foreigner normally, but this was just…pointless. “Oh, Gods’ sacred toilet, you… You really are…a little menace… Super ears, now super speed too? That even skills or magic? Can’t even tell…” his breaths so mumbled…

  He dropped his empty sack, the foreigner having already dropped hers. He prepared his strapped firearm, readying it in hand… His answer need not be said; he could not simply leave her behind knowing that she was charging into…what was probably big trouble.

  “Adventurers, I tell you…” With these words, he began to make his own way…at his own pace. Thankfully, that little menace’s magical strides had left behind a sparkly dusty trail, one quite faint but discernable within this darkness; easy to follow, even if fading.

  Truly, you and your bunch have not changed at all…

  Still those same condemned souls as you were then as you are now…

  Slaves to time.

  Yet in the end, your motivations were always the same…

  That one single will; that one single want.

  Such would be so very enduring, indeed

  Amidst this endless decay, that such remained the same…

  Had it won you anything more besides endless regret.

  After all, you all lost in the end.

  And something tells me…

  You are chasing something else.