You follow the sound of rushing water and enter a huge, dark cavern. One wall appears to be made up entirely of water - cascades of droplets that sparkle in the gloom.
A shred of darkness detatches itself from the rest and glides over to you, revealing itself to be a young man in his late teens, shrouded in a black cloak. An intelligent-looking raven perches on his shoulder, and the two of them fix you with keen, dark-eyed gazes.
"So you've found me out," the young man says, smiling wryly. "Not many people come down here into the deeps. I am Andell, and this is my domain. Ripley and Chloe are... guests, as are all the inhabitants of these caves... but I am not the gregarious type, and I leave the public side of the project to the girls."
You look around. This place looks pretty blank, apart from a few miscellaneous animal-care bits and pieces scattered around - discarded chew toys, balls and brushes. Reading your face, Andell continues hurriedly, "I know it looks empty, but it isn't, I promise. I applied to DragonMoon for some Karoma to colonise our underground river. It's not exactly a typical habitat for them, but I think it suits them. The cold stream of the waterfall leads out onto the hillside, and on to a lake, while there are also channels connecting many of the caves, and in these channels the water is warmer. The creatures here are all abandoned or mistreated pets, so I think they benefit from our... seclusion."
He pauses, scanning the surface of the water. "I don't know where on the Sphere or under it thay can have got to though... normally as soon as they hear someone's in this part of the Caves they're up like a shot to see." He kneels by the waterfall basin and splashes the water three times with the flat of a hand. "They ought to hear that," he comments, and sure enough, seconds later a dark head appears. |
