Story
Chapter 8: Wondering Passages
Our heroes find themselves trudging through the Haunted Woods late at night, searching for a shortcut through the mountains, but it promises to be more difficult than anticipated.
Baelia
Tavi, oh thank goodness! I’m so glad we made it back to you!
Nyx
*cough* *cough*
Baelia
I’m, of course, happy we made it back to you and Juni as well!
Baelia
Wait, have you just been waiting where we left you this whole time?
Tavi
Of course! One of the biggest rules in spelunking is if you get separated from the group, stay where they last saw you!
Tavi
And it’s not like we could have gotten far in the pitch-black darkness you left us in…
Luxinia
I’m so sorry…I shouldn’t have run off like that.
Tavi
I suppose there’s not much to be said about it now.
Tavi
*sigh* I am happy you’re okay though. I was really scared something was wrong.
Baelia
Speaking of wrong! Why didn’t you tell us about monsters living in these tunnels?!
Tavi
I mean I suppose it’s always a possibility, but since the song never mentioned any I didn’t think to say anything about it.
Tavi
And with how hidden the entrance was I figured we wouldn't encounter anything bigger than a Batterfly.
Baelia
Whatever we saw were no petpets! We didn’t get a good look at them, but there are some sort of creatures in here with us, and they are big!
Tavi
Okay, no need to worry. Most things are more scared of us than we are of them. If we just stay together and have ample light we should be able to get out of here without any trouble.
Tavi
The lantern is definitely done for, but now that Lux is back, she can just make us up some more light and we-
Baelia
I can fix the lantern!
Tavi
But she can just– and you said–
Baelia
It’s fine. It won’t take long, and Luxinia should conserve her energy as much as she can.
Tavi
Okay, thanks B! It’s nice to see you so undaunted about crafting again.
Baelia
...yeah.
Luxinia
How do you plan on fixing it Baelia?
Baelia
It doesn’t seem like I can repair it, but I could craft the remains of the lantern into something new. If you’re okay with it, I should be able to make it run off of the low-light magic you naturally give off.
Baelia
You’d still conserve energy, and if I do this right, the lantern should be just as bright if not brighter than before.
Luxinia
That would be incredible! How do you know how to do such a thing?
Baelia
This sort of used to be my job…I learned it as an apprentice under the Crafting Faerie, Delina.
Luxinia
Really?! Delina's is considered one of the best crafters of Neopia! How did you end up working with her?
Baelia
Oh, um…I was assigned to work under her before I lost my wings.