Far over the twisting ocean shoals

To dungeons deep with corrupted souls

We must away, in divine we pray

To guard our hearts against the toll

The sharks were roaring, against the blight

The whales were soaring, ready to fight

The crabs were red, their pincers spread

Their claws like torches, blazed with light

From: “The Twisting Shoals,” by Pinniped, Bard and High Priest of Toriana, Goddess of Charisma. AC 1741.

As we enter the hole, my stalks begin scanning the surrounding area. There is not much to see down here. The walls are smooth and featureless, most likely a result of the passage of the worm we met outside. For a minute I contemplate the mechanics of the creature. Giant rotating jaws ingested the rock and dirt, the abrasive exterior skin smoothing the passage through the ground. Though the worm was terrifying, there was a certain beauty in its specialized abilities. I reflect on the seeming paradox, it seems as though even in horror there is beauty.

I refocus on the task at hand as we progress downward into the hillside. After a few uneventful minutes, the route evens out and we reach a level depth. We’re moving on a flat plane now and I can see a dim light ahead. I lift a claw to call for the formation to stop as Luna and I creep forward to investigate.

Oddly, the light doesn't seem to grow as we get closer, just remaining a dim glow in the deep. We hunch low to the ground, creeping ahead and peak into the area in front of us.

A medium sized natural cavern is revealed to our sight, stalactites and stalagmites growing from the ground and reaching from above. The light is revealed to be small plant life, a thin layer of glowing blue moss that reaches throughout the cave. I call back on comms to Sergeant Smith,

"Cave up ahead. The light is coming from some kind of glowing moss."

He replies,

"That's normal. When this initial area was surveyed and cleared before, the glow-moss was deposited. It's mundane but grows quickly, providing light to future exploratory efforts."

Neat.

Not even a day on the job and I'm already learning all sorts of new things. As I gaze out across the cave, I wonder what other secrets might lurk in the depths. Luna and I take a few minutes to survey the area. After no signs of movement we call the other's forward. When they join us, the squad sets off together, taking a cursory route through the open area. We step lightly, winding around the natural stone formations and ensure the room is empty. Upon completion, Sergeant Smith plops down onto the ground and says,

"Alright. We're going to take a fifteen-minute break. Look after your equipment, rest, eat some food if you'd like. Priority is to continue pulling security. We don't want anything to sneak up on us."

After we acknowledge him, I ask Luna how she's doing. She says,

"Well... to be honest, I'm doing pretty good Crabby." She taps my shell encouragingly. "In fact, I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would. To be honest, now that I'm out here, doing this once more.... it kind of feels like coming home. I think I might have just been psyching myself up earlier."

I reply,

"Well, make sure you take care of yourself. If you need anything let me know."

A murmured acknowledgement and I go over to make sure the others are okay. Wilhelm is staring off into the distance as he does. He responds to my inquiry with a gruff, "Good. Good water, good smashing. Good."

I think that's really all I'm going to get out of him, so I go to check on Bill and Billy. They're huddled up and appear to have opened the panels on the new metal shell that one of them has. The other is reaching inside, and I can hear sounds of tinkering. I never did get a chance to talk to them about it, so I ask. Bill replies,

"Well, after the events in the Kelp Forest, we pooled our resources and managed to get this manufactured." He taps his brother's shell. "The metal exterior provides superior defensive capabilities and enables a higher spring load within the limited confines. Tolerances have increased across the board, and after this mission I'm going to try to get one myself."

I nod along, trying to seem supportive though my eyes glaze over at the mention of tolerances. Seeing they're well I go to check on Mina. She's a bit quiet, floating off to the side and looking a bit lost. I walk over to her and sit down on the cave floor. We sit in companiable silence for a minute before she blurts out,

"This is easy for you, isn't it?"

I'm not sure what she's getting at, so I say,

"What do you mean?"

She replies,

"This whole adventuring thing? Being in the military, fighting, all of that? It just looks so easy for you." As she gets to the end of her question, she seems a little bitter. I haven't really talked to Mina that much lately and I wonder what's wrong. I take a moment to order my thoughts and reply,

"No, no it's not easy. Every time I'm in the front, in combat, I'm scared out of my shell."

She looks at me almost plaintively,

"Then how do you do it? I have a hard enough time behind the front lines..." her voice drops to almost a whisper, "...in the rear where I can escape."

I look at her closely and she won't meet my eyes. A tinge of shame is in her voice and I think I know what the problem is. I gently reach out and give her a comforting pat.

"If you feel you're too weak, then you have to get stronger. And sometimes... well sometimes it's hard to get strong for your own sake. But look around. I don't know about you, but it's easy to work hard when others rely on you. Those who has a why to live for can bear almost any how, you know?"

As I talk, it’s almost as if a cloud passes over her face before clearing away. She looks in the distance and mutters,

"A good enough why..."

She gives a slight "humph" before meeting my gaze. Her face softens and she quietly says, "Thanks crabby. I’ll think on what you said." I nod, and then go to see what Sergeant Smith is doing. He's laying flat out on the ground, not moving at all, and with closer inspection I can see more cracks in the light armor he's wearing. I stand there for an awkward moment in front of him, neither of us saying a word. Finally, I clear my throat and say,

"Err... you doin’ alright Sergeant?"

"Wha... where's the threat? What's happening?"

Sergeant Smith lurches and glances around. I almost want to slap myself in the face with my claw. I didn't even realize he was sleeping. I let him know the coast is still clear and then repeat my inquiry. He tiredly mutters,

"Check down not up, Private."

Message received, I turn to walk away when a quiet "Wait," grabs my attention. I turn around and Sergeant Smith is looking at me. He quietly says, "I'm just tired Private. It's been 72 hours non-stop for me before this mission even started. You're doing well there, checking on your team." He seems to think for a moment, and then a flash of mana occurs. He's holding a strange box, one that I haven't seen before. On each side is a series of dials and buttons. He starts explaining,

"This is a geo-locator. It will give you accurate coordinate positions for anywhere on the planet. It also has a back-up communication suite." He presses a series of buttons in sequence and shows me how it works. I do my best to commit the information to memory. He continues,

"Go ahead and hold onto it. This is a secondary device from the one that is already installed into my armor." I nod, placing it in my spatial storage. Before I turn to leave my curiosity gets the better of me and I ask why he has given it. He chuckles and says,

"Just think of it as training. You're now signed and responsible for a serious piece of equipment. Any damages to it will be taken out of your pay."

*gulp*

His light tone fades and he says,

"But seriously, you're next in command if anything should happen to me. You would have been issued one if this was normal circumstances."

I nod and realize that it's about time for us to move. Sergeant Smith does the same and he gets wearily to his feet. He calls out,

"Alright, get ready to roll out."

Luna and I take point and orient ourselves to the right direction. Away from our current position is an entrance leading downwards, towards the uncharted depths. A quick recall, and I note that it is the same route outlined in the map that was briefed earlier. As Luna and I take point, I go over the steps to use the geo-locator, trying to cement them in my mind.

Just in case.