Chapter 2352 Tunnel for Four

--- Kat ---

It wasn’t too hard to organise a path to the portal once they were all back together. Lily had been suggesting several more complicated things... until Kat had pointed out that Appoline and herself were perfectly capable of just ’climbing’ along the wall without damaging their hands. Wiggles would need help sure... but he was also tiny enough that Kat could carry him, and so could Lily.

So once that was all established they drunk some more potions and dove into the water with Lily leading the way. The fish Lily had been annoyed at was, shockingly, still there in the water. It did turn slightly when so many people approached the entrance... but didn’t do anything else. Kat was expecting it from Lily’s stories but it was kind of weird to see. The green roots blocking the area had also entirely healed, and needed to be cut open again.

Kat found herself as the one to do so, just in case it did something... and nothing happened. Once again. Even as everyone filed inside. What the heck was the fish watching for? It sounded like a real fish when she focused her hearing on it... but that was partially a guess. It wasn’t like Kat was intimately familiar with the soundscape of fish internals. So they just sort of had to accept it as it was.

Floating through the cave was a bit harder when you were person sized. There wasn’t much space at all to turn and Kat couldn’t use her wings for better speed and control. On the other hand, Wiggles could ’swim’ by bouncing from wall to wall, flipping around all over the place as he did so. Something that allowed him to move fast and apparently wasn’t disorientating.

Appoline would also, of course, stop to pick up some bits from the crab. This was mostly its eyes and some of the organs but when that came up later Appoline would reveal that the eyes were the only thing worth anything, and even then, not much. Perhaps if the claw was intact or she’d been willing to waste the space harvesting it that would’ve been viable as an ingredient... but Appoline didn’t know much about this monster and she chose to leave the larger bits and pieces in the end.

Getting everyone sorted once they got to the underwater rapids was a bit harder, but ultimately not too bad. Lily ended up taking the back spot so that she could catch anyone that needed it with her shadows. It wasn’t as if they could get lost at this point, and Lily hadn’t been attacked while in the current either so they weren’t too worried about that.

So Appoline went first, climbing along the wall with Kat right behind her. Wings folded up against her back, and ready to try and intercept Appoline just in case. Wiggles was once again being wrapped up in Kat’s tail though this time he could leave if he wanted. As Lily had explained the sheer drop at the other end, he had no desire to escape though, so it was an easy ride.

Lily was in the back, moving mostly along the bottom of the cavern so that her extra shadow hands were above her and in the centre of the tunnel. It meant that as soon as anyone got caught she could grab them. It was proven to be somewhat necessary. Appoline slipped a few times. The slick rocks and their odd shapes, along with the current meant that she didn’t always have the best grip.

Kat caught her most of the time, she was far closer after all, but at one particular corner where Appoline was further away Lily had needed to grab onto her before the elf got washed away down the stream. At least that was the only problems they dealt with before getting to the portal. Everyone was in one piece even if they were all soaking wet. Wiggles sent a rush of air through his fur to dry it while Lily just transformed. It wasn’t permanent but it helped for now. Kat of course, just had to stand still for a bit to be mostly done with it.

Which really just left Appoline suffering, but she seemed to be ignoring it. Head held high, clothes dripping water onto the ground, and starring at the portal. "So that’s where we’re going next is it?" asked Appoline.

Lily nodded, "I’m assuming so... we don’t really know if it’s higher or not as nobody has gone through yet... should we test that?"

Kat shrugged, "Maybe? Just need to delay one of the two of us going through a little bit then that should give us all the info we need." Lily nodded along. "Question is though, what exactly is that line? Do we need to be worried about it?"

"It looks a bit like a tower," commented Appoline.

"Not enough though," countered Lily. "It’s far too thin... but you are correct in that I sense nothing wrong with the portal..."

"It’s not like the portal is small though," offered Kat. "There’s plenty of space on either side and just to be safe we can all jump through the same half. That way even if something weird is going on and it might have separated us... it shouldn’t."

That got a round of nods as everyone prepared. Appoline shook out her clothing a bit but it didn’t really help to get rid of much of the water. Lily transformed again, accepting that she’d need to be a bit wet to be better ready for combat. Then the group moved forward. Kat first, Wiggles and Appoline second, and Lily last. There was that brief moment where Lily could feel Kat far away... but not too much higher. Just far of into the distance.

As they landed on the soft grass, Kat looked around and confirmed that the line they were seeing WAS a tower. Off in the distance, surrounded by what looked to be gardening plots, was a tower with a giant observatory on the top. Or did the entire thing count as an observatory? At the top was a big dome with a building sized telescope sticking out of it. The whole thing acted as a rather obvious landmark for them to travel too... and the island didn’t seem all that big elsewise.

There was another portal they could see off to the left, but that certainly didn’t feel as important as the investigating the tower and the surrounding gardens. The group just had to share a look and a nod before heading off. There wasn’t even a real reason to talk about this one. The answer was just that obvious to them all. It didn’t take long for them to notice that, aside from the garden plots, there also seemed to be a little pond... or perhaps stream was more accurate? It was hard to tell, hidden as it was between the rest of the plots but it was likely part of what kept the plants around the tower healthy. Did that mean it was inhabited?

[Do you think this is why the fish was watching? It’s like a trained watcher for whoever owns the tower. Or maybe enchanted or something?]

*That... hmm... I want to say it’s a stretch but it’s quite possible. Could even be a familiar. Though there wasn’t a good way into the portal from the water right? Sure it was close but the angle was all wrong for the fish to jump through. Plus, there’s no water on this side. Though I guess if the tower owner had a fish bowl and was waiting... hmm... yeah not my first guess but certainly possible.*

The group studied the area as they approached, looking out for anything really... but it just seemed like a normal garden if you excused just how high up it was. Though actually... that gave Kat an idea. "Appoline, how easy is it for you to breathe at the moment?"

"Very, I’ve still got plenty of time on my water breath potion, remember?" stated Appoline.

"Oh... right," mumbled Kat. "Well we know this is a bit higher but I feel like it might be easier to breathe? But I wasn’t having much issue before and obviously yeah... the potions."

Appoline shrugged. "I’m not so skilled I can guess how easy it will be for me to breathe simply by looking at the sky around or us feeling it on my skin or something. This sort of thing really isn’t my area of expertise. Why did you want to know?"

"Well I was just wondering if the island might have been enchanted, give us a better idea of who might own the tower you know?" mused Kat.

By the way, are we just planning to knock? I mean there IS a door. How long do we wait for a response though? Assuming someone lives at the top of the tower, even if they hear us it’s gonna take them a while to get to the door.

[A while at least I suppose. Maybe however long it takes Appoline to be sick of the garden?]