A Cryptic Dream

As the group continued on their way, Kantuta remarked, "Y'know, it's strange how aggressive that jela was. They're not usually harmless."

Yuchauzh shrugged, "Maybe that merchant was just carrying something that the jela didn't like."

Kantuta replied, "No, that can't be right. Jelas couldn't care less about what others have on them; that's more of a roblin thing. There must've been some other reason for the attack…" she shook her head, "But we don't have time to worry about that now." she looked back at her Samanian friend, "How are you faring, Siquioce?"

Siquioce, who was still hopping along, huffed, "I'm…managing."

Kantuta smiled, "Well, you're doing great. Look at you now, you're almost about to reach our pace! At this rate, I expect you to be accustomed to land-walking in no time."

Feeling exalted by his companion's words, Siquioce took a moment to draw water from the air for moisture before picking up the pace, spurred by his desire to impress.

After a while of traveling through the grassy area, the adventurers finally exited the uneventful Gib's Valley. Looking forward at a cave opening in the distance, Kantuta said, "There it goes, the Ancient Quarry! Oh, just imagine what treasures we'll find there…" she excitedly jogged in place and giggled, "Ooh, I can hardly wait!"

Siquioce, who had already ran out of steam a few miles back, retorted, "I know you are, but can't we take a rest here?" he pointed up at the darkening sky, "It's getting late."

Taking notice of the lowering sun, Kantuta gasped, "Holy father of Peron, how long have we been travelling for?! Yeah, you're right, we should settle down for the night. But first thing tomorrow, we're headed straight for that cave! Well, only if you say so, of course."

Siquioce replied, "Yeah, we can do that."

Kantuta nodded, "Great! Well, I'll just get myself situated…"

So, in the absence of camping materials, the trio picked out spots on the ground to rest on; Kantuta cast a variant of her Barrier spell, setting down a horizontal screen for her to lay on, Yuchauzh simply laid on the grassy floor, using his trunk as a pillow, and Siquioce dug out a hole that he poured some water into, creating a small hole for him to rest in. Once everyone got to where they wanted to be, Kantuta said in a friendly tone, "Good night, Siquioce, I hope that you rest well!" she then glanced at Yuchauzh with a less-than-friendly expression, "Don't get bitten by nitemites, you."

Ignoring Kantuta's disdainful tone of voice, Yuchauzh turned more in the opposite direction, and the three individuals soon fell asleep.

As the night passed on, Siquioce found himself in a dark, underwater cave, with the only illumination present being provided by tiny, plankton-like, bioluminescent creatures. Floating wordlessly in the middle of the crevice, Siquioce started to feel uneasy; the silence of the area was deafening. To make matters worse, he was unable to speak. This must be one of those dreams. he thought.

Seeking to take his mind off the unsettling habitat, Siquioce swam his way around the place, searching for anything noteworthy to discover. Unfortunately for him, this was a difficult task; the darkness of the cave made it so that his vision was very limited. Just when he was about to call it quits, he took another look at the bioluminescent critters, seeing that some of them were starting to group together and swim along the walls and floor of the cave. Taking this information into account, Siquioce decided to make things easier for himself and follow the light-producing organisms. Admiring his own cleverness, the Samanian kicked his way towards one of the bright clouds, feeling slightly better about his situation.

So, with the assistance of the rice-sized animals, Siquioce explored the wide area, taking note of various rocks, etchings, and bits of shriveled plants. Although some of these aspects were at least somewhat interesting, most of them were insignificant and boring. Siquioce almost considered simply laying on the floor and sleeping until he noticed a new object just ahead of him. With his interest piqued, Siquioce waited for the light-producing creatures to travel to the attention-grabbing object. Once Siquioce had a clear enough view of the entity, he swam over to it and looked down. What he saw next made his heart sink.

Standing before Siquioce was a medium ball-sized skull with wide eye sockets, an ovular shape, and small, sharp teeth. A Samanian skull. To make matters worse, Siquioce could spot a small amethyst necklace right in front of the skull; one of Ulaka's most valued possessions. Seeing what he knew to be his sister's corpse, all of Siquioce's suppressed memories came back to him like a tidal wave, with his psyche being the first thing to take the hit. Just like a dilapidated ship in the midst of a storm, Siquioce was utterly devastated, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight that he was presented with. Even if Siquioce were able to speak, no words would be able to describe what he was facing.

As Siquioce floated there in horrified shock, he heard something move through the water nearby. Judging by the loud swishing sound, whatever was present, it was something large. Barely managing to move his body, Siquioce slowly turned around to see who or what had appeared, and his eyes widened with shock; swimming right in front of him was a massive megafin, which was looking down at him with a cruel, toothy grin. In the face of this boulder sized, intimidating threat, Siquioce found himself completely paralyzed, overcome with absolute fear as he stood there helpless.

Just when he thought that he was done for, Siquioce noticed an unexpected development happening in the area above him. As if the cave itself has opened to the sky, a ring of light appeared in the ceiling above, and from it descended a long, thick, three-pronged spear. Although Siquioce had seen his fair share of spears, none had looked as divine as this one; with its brilliant gold and silver colors and its iridescent sheen, the weapon looked as if it were forged by Tomanil himself.

As the spear fell into Siquioce's hands, he noticed that the megafin looked much less sure of itself. In fact, it looked almost frightened. Furthermore, as he was holding the object that was granted to him, Siquioce felt an indescribable power flow through his body, one that quelled all the fearful thoughts in his mind until they became mere murmurs. Filled with this newfound sense of might, Siquioce felt the urge to hurl his weapon at the shark, which he did. Upon doing that, Siquioce watched as the spear detonated on impact, creating a magnificent, yellow explosion. After withstanding such a powerful attack, the fish immediately flipped over on its side and floated motionless with its eyes glazed over. In just one maneuver, the mighty megafin had been defeated.

As Siquioce basked in the feeling of victory, his vision began to get blurry as his surroundings began to warp and dissipate; his dream was beginning to end. Unable to do anything to halt the process, Siquioce was forced to snap back to reality.

Siquioce's eyes flew open as he looked at the still-dark sky. Raising his head, he noticed that Kantuta and Yuchauzh were still fast asleep, with the former member snoring in a rather unladylike manner. He looked down at the water he was sitting in and thought, Wow, what a dream that was. I don't even know what to make of it! he twiddled his fingers, That megafin, that spear…Ulaka. I don't know exactly what it all means, but there's a meaning somewhere, I just know it. Although Siquioce wanted to think over this situation some more, for his own health, he decided to join his friends and fall back asleep. "I'll just have to talk about this with the others tomorrow." he said to himself as he submerged himself more into the water.