Amazing, Breath-Taking, Beautiful. Only a few of the many, many words Kalius could think of to explain what he has seen in the Crystal Caves already. Gems of all colors line the walls. Magnificent, The young Druid even seen shades previously unknown to him in the wild. Light from the sun touched down where ever it was allowed, and then bounced from crystal-to-crystal, to light up almost the entire cave. Flowers, Vines and small shrubs (granted, they were not very big) grew in between cracks in rock and gem alike.

Stepping up close enough to touch a large chunk of red, Kal rubbed the palm of his hand across the shiny surface. Was it real? With no actual experience in mining and the like he had no way of telling a fortune from a fake. Shaking his head slowly, he backed up until he hit the opposite wall and sat down. It did not matter. Real or fake. Druids did not have a need for such aesthetic materials, nor did they live an extravagent life style.

Head resting against smooth stone, the only thing stopping him from falling asleep was his surroundings. While beautiful the caves were not his comfort zone.While quiet the caves were not his home. After many more sluggish moments against the back wall, Kal headed for the entrance to this particular tunnel. Many more minutes passed , stopping every ten feet to gaze at a particularly pretty formation is not the most efficient way to travel. Finally, and to his relief, he reached the caves opening and his make-shift camp on the outside.

After gathering some dead foliage to stoak the fire, and a sigh of relief when embers still burned bright, the young man picked a cozy spot near the fast-reviving fire. Glancing about the site and rustling his hand in the nearby grass, Kalius whislted loudly. After a few seconds with no answer he just shrugged and settled back comfortably. He of course was looking for his new companion, a young kitten whom he found a few nights back. Figuring she was out mousing, he could not help but chuckle.
Be gentle, Katiya. do not hunt what you will not eat.

Beautiful. That is what the rumors called the Crystal Caves. However Kenji would not believe such a one worded description until he himself had seen them with his own eyes. At lest this was his excuse to see the caves without anyone asking questions. Truth behind the matter was that Kenji was just curious. He did not attend on stealing anything from the caves as that was too much work.

Much to his dismay he did not quite make it into the caves. He had spotted a dim light and small smock which told of a fire. That only meant one thing. Someone else was here.

<i>How disappointing</i>

Perhaps he would just have to give this other being the same excuse as the others he had passed. In all luck the other being wouldn't even take note in him passing and if they did, hopefully the conversation would be short. But deep inside Kenji had a feeling he would have no such luck. After all, luck was rarely on his side.

His assumption had been right so far. He accidentally found himself in plain site of the small camp. Right away he had spotted the man and the small fire causing him to free in his spot. There was no doubt in his mind that the other man would have spotted him, if at not the very lest heard him coming. Now the only question left was if the other man would say anything to him. Kenji sure as well wasn’t about to say anything first.

Once more under the open sky, Nesstled between a soft, mossy log and his blazing fire, but still close enough to the caves to make out a faint sparkle as light from the flame got caught in the marvelous stone. This was a perfect night, carefree and quiet. Although, Best of all had to be that the druid had no goals he wished accomplished tonight. Nothing more than the easy jobs of keeping the fire ablaze and, of course, rolling within reach of his food supply. A slight breeze rolled over his relaxed form soothing him, attempting to persuade Kalius into a deep slumber.

He almost made it, into one of his warm, safe dreams. Could of easily stepped across the boundary between this world and one of imagination. That is, until he heard faint russtling coming up the path. Insinctively Kalius opened his eyes upon the sound, and instinctively he reattached his belt around his waist, which held his twin daggers. While he did equip his weapons, he barely felt a need for them. Since he himself did not want a fight and held little gold, hardly worth the effort for highwaymen, the druid thought himself quite safe.

Visually searching the camp, the possibility dawned of him that the noise could simply be his own kitten. Her returning from the hunt, perhaps with a mouse in tow would be a comical sight...Since Katiya, at her young age, could not possibly be much bigger than any local mouse. A quiet sigh to his right stopped his guessing on that subject, because beside the bag of food layed a fast asleep cat. Again giving a slight shrug, coupled with a chuckle aimed at Katiya, Kalius refocused on the path...just as a man came into view.

A seemingly young man emerged from the forest, walking swiftly towards his makeshift camp. Walking swiftly, that is, until he caught sight of the druid. From the distance between the two Kalius could not make out details of the man, He could only tell that he seemed to have become quite still. To the druid, that fact alone told him he was probably not a thief. This location for the camp was a rather ideal spot for a surprise attack, since open forest surrounded him. So the fact that the man was surprised to see a camp did not scream out Bandit.

Giving his third shrug in less than five minutes, Kalius straightened against the log and greeted the stranger.
"Greetings, good sir. I do not see many up here, this time of night. Do you seek the warmth of a fire?" Kalius ended the question with an inviting wave of his hand across the camp.

Greetings and do you seek warmth from a fire. Disgusting. Why anyone would seek the warmth of a fire was a mystery to Kenji. The chill of the night, and cool breezes were then enough to comfort anyone. A fire only burned the skin and brought discomfort. That what Kenji experiences anyway. But the man did speak which meant Ken would have to respond.

He let out a small sigh before finely taking a few more steps. Enough that he was close enough to the other man to see his features but far enough away to avoid the fires heat.

"No, I do not seek the warmth of a fire." Kenji replied smugly. He then perked his large black wings and lifted his head a bit to gain the illusion that he was better then the other man. Indeed Kenji believed he was better. After all, he was a demon and this man was a... a... something that not a demon.

"I came to see if the caves here are as beautiful as the rumors say," He lifted his dark blue eyes to the sparkling stones behind the other man, "Is there more then just sparkling rocks." The rocks were pretty he supposed, but nothing grand. Perhaps inside there were many shinny rocks that sparkled like snow! Now that he would consider beautiful.

His dark eyes looked back down at the man, a slight frown upon his face.

"I'M Kenji." He didn't know why he gave his name. This man would not remember by the next day anyways. But then perhaps if was a bit friendly with the man he could use him to show him around the cave. After all some people actually do things out of the kindness of there hearts. Another thing Kenji didn't understand about other races.

((Sorry, my post wasn't great. I had a blank moment))

Kalius Aldura was among the most open minded people you could hope to find through out Imythess, but even he instinctively stiffened as his new guest walked into the light. Another person with wings! Although the druid did not have a lot of first hand experience on the subject of wings, he had met a 'winged man' before. In those previous encounters, simply being in the mans presence inspired the feelings of warmth, courage and even security. On this day, the situation and the feelings were different.While the presence of his friend, Gregory Faust, filled Kalius with warm and goodly thoughts, the man before him now did not. Nor did he particularly fill the druid with dread, more of a Cold, uncertainty.

Doing his best to visually relax, Kalius undid the buckle on his belt to allow his daggers to slump to the mossy ground. Placing a joyful smile on his young face, Kalius abolished all thoughts of fear and hostility from his mind. Not because he did not respect his guest's abilitys, the druid believed the man to be powerful indeed, but because the emotion fear forces you to cast judgment. Something he could not give yet. Upon leaving his village he vowed never to judge one based on there heritage or by anothers word, but solely on actions done unto him personally.

Listening to his guest speak, Oblivious to the fact the man denied his invitation to the fire, Kalius could not stop watching his brilliant, black wings. Another distinct difference between his friend and the man in front of him was the complete contrast in wing color, both amazing in its own way. Realizing the 'winged man', Kenji, finished his words Kalius remembered his manners enough to introduce himself.
" My friend, it is good to meet you. Many people whom i know call me Kalius Aldura, the forest calls me Brother...But mostly people just refer to me as eccentric." Laughing aloud, the druid started to extend his hand for a handshake, but reconsidered and merely gave a more traditional seated bow.
" I assure you, Kenji my friend, the caves were well worth your travel." While doing his best to keep negative thoughts off his mind, the druid could not stop his hands from moving protectively close to his loose weapons.

(( I apologize for my slow response, been a busy day followed by two powere outages as i neared the end of this post <_< lol))

((That’s Ok!!))

Friend? Why was this man calling him friend? He was not his friend. They had but just met and no offence to this man, Kenji didn't really like making friends with strangers. Ah well, he could let it slide. Perhaps it was just the way this man spoke.

The man had begun to laugh when he made a small joke. A joke Kenji didn't seem to catch for he did not laugh. Instead he gave Kalius a half forced smile a smug of confusion in his expression before replying.

"Yes well... I assume that you have seen them already then?" He asked, taking a few quick strides towards the caves while at the same time making sure he kept away from the fire. For a moment or two he peeked into the caves before turning back to Kalius.

He wanted to demand that the man show him around the cave but stopped himself. If he wanted this man to do something for free he would have to nice. He couldn't demand that man show him around, he had to ask.

"Show me around the caves... please." Yes that was about the nicest way to ask. He even said please! How could the man refuse such a nice request? Well ok, Kenji would probably say no to such a request, but this man seemed too nice to say no. That was always the weakness of nice people.

Kalius shifted into a crouched position as Kenji approached the caves a few more steps, Once again attaching his twin daggers onto his waist. So his guest wanted a guide, a tour around the magnificent tunnels. Of course the druid would agree, even though he was preparing for an easy night under thousands of fiery stars in a deep slumber. While his camp was perfectly comfortable, Fire low enough to just give off a comforting heat, Kalius would happily walk through the caves once more. Simply because we was asked to do a favor.

Rising to his feet he brushed off any dust and grass that desperately clung to his smooth, black clothes. Slinging TigerLily, his double-bladed sword, over his bare, right shoulder and straightening his cloak as to only hang over his left side, the druid scanned the camp, making sure he was not leaving anything of value.

"Yes, i have indeed seen the caves. Truly breathtaking, as you will soon notice for your self."
Moving to come up beside Kenji, Kalius changed his direction suddenly towards his sleeping companion. Crouching down low he whispered a request to watch over the camp to the stirring kitten. Reorganizing his thoughts he stepped before the caves doorway, and motioned for his guest to go first.
"Of course i will show you the caves, anything special you are interested in?" Drawing a boyish smile across his face, Kalius waited for him to make a move.

Kenji gave a slight grin as the man told him that the caves breath taking and watched as he kneeled over to talk quietly to the cat. It was slightly annoying to have to wait for a reply. However Kenji would be patient for now. The man had not agreed to show him around the cave yet.

Just wait a little longer. He will reply after speaking to the cat. Wait for it…Haha! He was a master at getting what he wanted from kind people! If he had parents he could remember he was sure they would be proud of him. What parent wouldn’t be proud of a child who could use others so well?

“Mostly I’m interested in not getting lost.” Kenji replied a grin growing on his own face as he slowly turned from the man and entered the tunnel. Instantly his eyes gazed around him looking at the different coloured stones that lined the cave. Already he was becoming amazed by the pretty site. So amazed that he had forgotten to watch where he was going and within moments was tripping over a stone. Luckily for himself he caught himself before hitting the ground. That did not save him from becoming embarrassed though.

Quickly Kenji turned to look at Kalius his cheeks turning a slight red. Would the young man laugh at him? Or maybe he didn’t notice… He hoped that Kalius hadn’t noticed. He liked to give the impression that he was mysterious and forbidding like most demons, not comical. Of course, he usually ended up giving the impression of a pest.

Following Kenji through the upper level of the caves, the druid had do muster all the will power available not to move at his own pace and lose himself in the deep, multicolored rock. Well, of course, just because he took care not to get too involved that did not mean he could not stop to look once in a while. Although it was not a lush meadow which was more to Kal's liking, being surrounded by unforgiving stone had it's own unexpected rush.

Glancing toward Kenji, who was a few feet ahead, the druid grinned at how even his guest seemed to be enjoying himself at least a little. A guide was what he was looking for, and the role of guide was what Kalius was peforming. He could easily take lead and direct the man onto a preset course, but that would detract from ones first experience here.

Instead he choosed to follow, of course he would offer a route that would lead to a particularly neat formation now and again, but ultimately allow Kenji to lead. As for the problem of finding a way out, Kalius was sure he had explored enough over the past few days to find a direct path when need be. To be honest, he had not searched all the tunnels... but he was sure he knew enough, the thought provoked a slight chuckle under his breath.

After a few more moments Kenji almost tripped, yes the druid picked up on the slight movement, then looked toward Kalius. he knew he was trying to discern whether or not the young man seen the trip up, and to Kal's thinking he did not have to know he had. Not being a cruel man, he did not see reason to strip one of his dignity. Taking his guest looking his way as a cue, he decided to give some traveling advice.

" My friend, although the few mere rocks we have seen so far are quite... nice" Reslinging his sword over his shoulder as he spoke and nodding down a corridor he continued " I am sure you would like to see more intricate designs. In but a few moments we will come to a fork, to the left we will find a rather steep trail leading farther down." Then Motioning with his right, unsleeved arm he finsihed " While our right will require us to cross an underground stream, it is generally a longer route to the same destination. I leave the choice to you when the time comes"

((Sorry it took so long. Got distracted by the new Harry Potter book.))

A quiet sigh or relief escaped Kenji’s mouth when Kalius began talking about the different routs they could take once they made it to the fork in the tunnel. Hopefully that meant he had not seen Kenji trip or else he was pretending he hadn’t. Either way it made Kenji feel happier and once again he stood up straight.

A fork in tunnel, eh? One way was short, one way had an underground stream, and both lead to the same place. But then… the man had staid a fork in the tunnel hadn’t he? Did that mean there was a third way to go? After all, most forks had three or more points to them, so wouldn’t the tunnel? Or maybe when talking about tunnels it just meant there was more then one way to go. Or maybe the fork didn’t have a handle and the passage way they were taking now was actually one of the three points. Maybe he could just ask Kal… No he couldn’t ask Kalius. He didn’t want to make himself sound stupid or anything.

It was just… well he was still learning the English langue. When he had woken up about a month ago he couldn’t remember anything. He couldn’t remember having a path life. He couldn’t remember who or what other creatures were. He couldn’t even remember how to speak. He knew a few words in another langue that he soon learned was called the demonic tongue and a voice deep down inside him had whispered something like, ‘You, my son, are a demon named Kenji Swekoon.’. That was it. That was all he knew and could remember. Luckliy he had picked up quickly on English langue by listening to others speak. He learned just as fast as a child would when learning its first words. But he still did not know all of the English langue. He only knew that a fork in the road meant there where other tunnels because of what Kalius had said afterwards.

Perhaps his question would be answered when the came to fork in the path.

“It would be interesting to see the underground stream.” Kenji replied after appearing to think about it for a moment, “I’ve never seen an underground stream before.” He was enjoying his time here with this man, whatever the man was. It was peaceful and comforting. Not to mention that the place was beyond beautiful. He had to admit, he was actually glade he had come here.

Ah yes, Kenji had chosen the path he had hoped. Kalius always had loved the underground stream, ever since he first stumbled upon it weeks earlier. Or to be more correct, stumbled into it. Shaking his head the druid thought back on his long, cold hike back to his camp upon the surface he faced that long ago night. Not all bad came from that one clumsy act of falling into the water, because of his frantic search for the exit was when he mentally mapped this side of the caves.


"Kenji my friend, because of your choice you have a spectacular sight ahead of you." Chuckling despite himself he added. "Just be sure to watch your step...the water is said to be cold." Finding them approach the path towards the stream closer than Kalius expected had him hoping he knew the caves as well as he hoped.

Stopping briefly standing before the turn off he merely shrugged and continued right, after all if they do get lost, they will get to have the fun off finding there way out. Glancing over his shoulder to Kenji he figured to restart the conversation.

" Well believe me when i say we have a while to travel yet, so let us fill up the silence with friendly words. If you do not mind me asking, where do you hail from? I Myself can not quite remember where i was birthed, but hope to find out eventually."