An Encounter in the Caves

Damn, how long is this thing?

 

Lyra trudged down the tunnel she had heard a noise coming from. Her paws hurt. At first, she was worried that she would be walking straight into a dangerous situation, but now she was more concerned about whether this tunnel would end and if she had just been hearing things.

 

Maybe she had. There hasn’t been any follow-up to what she heard before; it has been silent ever since. Maybe her brain was just inventing the idea of someone being down there to trick her into thinking she wasn’t alone…

 

Lyra shook her head. She needed to stop thinking like this. There had to be someone. She wasn’t stuck alone on an abandoned planet with no way to contact the outside world. That wasn’t happening. She’ll be out of here soon. She had to keep going no matter how tired and battered she felt.

 

A noise then echoed through the caves. It was much clearer than before, but still muffled. Even so, Lyra heard something clear as day.

 

“...hey…”

 

Her ears perked up and her eyes sparkled. Someone was here! Thank the stars! Maybe they could help.

 

“Um, hello?” She called out, hearing her voice echo through the cave, slowly fading away. Silence followed afterwards. Lyra waited for a response. 

 

And waited.

 

But there was no response.

 

Her ears drooped slightly. She didn’t just imagine that, did she? They had to have heard that… right?

 

Maybe she should try again. Lyra took a breath in to call out again.

 

ROAAAARRRR!!!

 

A deep and loud rumble shook through the tunnel. It felt like it shook the walls. Lyra’s claws dug into the stone below her and her fur prickled. 

 

What was that!? 

 

Lyra felt a knot in her throat. Whatever that was, she wasn’t going to stick around to find out!

 

A blur rushed out of the darkness of the tunnel at lightning speed, moving so fast she couldn’t register it. It came straight at her! Before she could even react, a weight crashed into her, knocking her off her legs and throwing her to the ground.

 

“Urgk!” she grunted as she hit the stone.

 

The unknown entity reacted similarly, letting out a small “Oof!” before getting off the ground. “Sorry, are you-” they cut themself off with a gasp before finishing their sentence.

 

Lyra looked over at what, or who in this case had just run into her. It couldn’t be a Cirrocanuis, these caves seem way too small for one, and when they collided, it felt like something swept her legs. A Cirrocanius would topple her over, not trip her. When she saw it, she gasped as well.

 

They were tiny, like half the size of her. They kind of looked like a Cirrocanuis, but at the same time, different. Their paws had uniquely shaped claws, two in the front and two in the back. Their eyes were closed, but it felt like they were staring into her soul. Their fur was brown and split in half down their face. Mushrooms grew from their rump. The most interesting part about them was their body and tail. It looked like… it was made of clay. Parts of it were cracked and said cracks were filled with gold that shimmered in the light of the mushrooms.

 

“You’re-” They started again.

 

“Who are you?” Lyra began, “And what-”

 

Thundering footsteps could be heard approaching. Both Lyra and the stranger turned to look in the direction of its source, with the little fox’s large ears falling.

 

“There’s no time! Run!”

They took off at lightning speed, Lyra just watching in shock and bewilderment at the person she had just found, not having a clue what they were.

 

“Hey, wait! What even-”

 

That’s when she heard growling. Slowly turning her head, she saw two glowing orbs stalking in the dark, staring at her. Her jaw dropped. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

 

The thing stalked toward her. Coming more into the light, it revealed itself to be some sort of bear. It was massive in size. Its fur was covered in moss and mushrooms, and its claws scraped against the floor. Its blank glowing eyes were still locked on her. It was preying on her.

 

She had to run. 

 

RUN!

 

But, she couldn’t move. Her legs didn’t respond to her brain’s desperate pleas. Staring into the bear’s eyes froze her to her core. That’s it. She was going to die right here…

 

“Come on!” She felt something pull at her legs. Snapping out of her trance, she looked around, then down. The little fox had come back and was trying their best to get her to move. She could see the desperation in their face.

 

“R-Right!” Lyra stammered, turning quickly and dashing away. The bear roared angrily and started to give chase. Lyra whimpered and looked back to watch the beast tail them.

 

“Don’t look, just follow me!” The fox called. Lyra twisted her head back to them, not looking back anymore. They wanted to save her. She had to trust them.

 

The two kept running and running until they made it back to the big cave where Lyra was originally. She felt slightly relieved for a second until she remembered the bear.

 

“Now what?” She choked out, breathless. She watched as the fox felt the ground, rubbing various plants that stuck out of the cracks of the rock, furrowing their brow. They felt around for a second, they spoke up.

 

“This way!” The fox then bolted down a tunnel. Lyra quickly followed, not questioning their method or decision.

 

However, it didn’t take long for them to hit a dead end. The two were face-to-face to a solid dark wall. There weren’t even any mushrooms down this cave, adding to the fear of the spacecat.

 

“Shit! We have to try something else! Quick” Lyra blurted out a curse, frantically running in place.

 

“No, we don’t! Give me a second!”

 

With that, the fox started digging at the wall, and a hole started to form. 

 

The wall wasn’t made of stone, it was made of dirt.

 

“Just stay behind me! I’ll make the tunnel big enough for you, too!”

Then they started digging faster. They were cutting through the dirt like it was nothing.  Soon enough, there was a sizable tunnel in the wall, just big enough for her to crawl through.

 

Lyra hesitated for a moment. She’s had enough of tunnels, but it was her best bet. It was better than the bear at least, and it wouldn’t fit through the tunnel. Plus, there was a chance they knew about why she was down here and who took her stuff. The final reason was she just wanted to be with someone after being alone for so long.

 

With one last sigh, she climbed into the tunnel to follow the little fox.

The fox finally broke through the ground, emerging from the dirt. They crawled out from the hole they made and shook their fur, flinging all the dirt off their pelt. Lyra emerged soon after, doing much of the same the fox did. Finally, she had time to catch her breath, and she took a few moments to inhale and exhale deeply. 

 

“That was close… I can’t believe that just happened…” The fox was the first to speak, also taking in deep breaths.

 

“Yeah… Thanks for all that, by the way.” Lyra followed.

 

The two just sat there in silence, taking the chance to calm down fully. Once all the adrenaline wore off, Lyra looked back at the fox and regained her composure. Finally, she could have her questions answered.

 

“Now that that’s all over, tell me…” She took a step forward towards the stranger. “What the hell is all this!? Who are you? What are you? Why was I in that cave? Why did you take my stuff?”

Each question got louder and edged with more of an accusatory tone than the previous one. She also took steps forward toward the fox, whose ears fell with their face shifting as Lyra approached. It was the look of fear, guilt and sorrow. They took a step back.

 

“Hold on!” Their voice was full of surprise. “Just… stay calm and I’ll explain, okay?”

 

With one last narrowed glare, Lyra sat down a few paces away and gestured with her paws for them to continue. 

 

“Alright, good…” A small pause, and then they continued. “My name is Almond. I’m a Clayfox.”

 

“Clayfox?” Lyra tilted her head in confusion. “I’ve never heard of them… I thought only Cirrocanius lived on Awan.

 

“You know about the Cirrocanius?” Almond’s head mirrored Lyra’s.

 

“Yeah, we found out about them when Moonbeam crashed on here a while back. All of them got evacuated from the planet onto the Port.” 

 

“Evacuated…” Almond repeated. “So… Wait, they’re not here anymore?”

“No, at least there shouldn’t be… They were all miserable living here, suffering from sickness. So we saved them. Well, I didn’t… That wasn’t my job at the time…”

 

Almond looked down at their paws. They seemed to be contemplating something in silence. They broke the silence with a question of their own.

 

“You keep saying ‘we’. Who’s ‘we’?”

 

“Oh, I’m mostly talking about the staff at Port Borealis, but I guess I also mean all the Spacecats, Sodacats, and Guppymanders. A lot of us worked together.” Lyra answered.

 

Almond scratched their chin. “Never heard of any of those…”

 

“I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised… If you’ve been here this whole time, you wouldn’t have a clue. Not even the Cirrocanius mentioned you.”

Almond’s face fell, and their gaze shifted again. “I’m… not surprised.”

 

Lyra perked up. “Huh? Why not? They knew about you?”

 

Their face shifted into a pained and uncomfortable expression. “...Let’s just say us Clayfoxes and Cirrocanuis have… messy history…”

 

“Oh… I’m sorry…” Lyra felt both awkwardness and pity, feeling bad for unknowingly bringing up a sensitive topic. She wondered what exactly happened between the two species, but she knew it wasn’t her place to ask.

 

“It’s alright…” Almond reassured her. “That’s the reason you were put in those caves, too.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Most Clayfoxes don’t trust any outsiders, Cirrocanius or not. However, not all of us agree with that way of thinking. You were put there to keep you safe. Someone heard a scream, then they found you buried in the dirt. They didn’t want you to get crushed or suffocate, but they couldn’t bring you back to all the others. They thought the cave was best because it's hard to find it in the first place and that you wouldn’t risk getting lost in the tunnels so you’d stay put.”

 

Lyra just stared. It was all for her safety? Looking right at Almond, their face showed no signs of them lying. It seemed like that was the full truth. Plus, if they had malicious intent, they wouldn’t have run back to save her from the bear or dug a tunnel big enough for her.

 

“So… it wasn’t you that found me, I assume.”

 

Almond shook their head. “No, but I know who did. It was Truffles, Sweetie, and Brick. I was only around because I was looking at plants.”

“...And I’m assuming they’re the ones who took my stuff.”

 

The Clayfox nodded. “As much as they don’t immediately distrust you, they had no clue what that electronic device did. They took it as a precaution.”

 

Lyra’s ears drooped defeatedly. I guess that makes sense… But..

 

“...why’d they take the bracelet? It was just plastic beads… it doesn’t do anything.”

Almond couldn’t answer. “...I don’t know… maybe one of the twins thought it looked pretty… or something… sorry.”

 

Lyra sighed. “Listen… I don’t want to be on this planet. That watch is just an emergency device. It has a map and a tracker. I only came here because I got a distress signal that was located here. Do you know anything about that?”

 

“No, nothing unusual’s happened around here…”

 

“Then, if you just take me to those three others you mentioned so I can get my stuff back and lead me back to the surface, I’ll leave right away. I won’t even mention that I found you or anything about Clayfoxes if you guys want to be left alone. I just need my stuff back… especially that bracelet… it’s irreplaceable…”

Almond looked at Lyra, contemplating the request. They seemed unsure. They spoke up after a brief pause.

 

“I’m not sure I can promise anything… but I can try.”

 

“I would appreciate it if you could.” Lyra flashed a genuine smile.

 

“I think you should come with me. If you explain yourself, they’ll probably be more understanding.

 

“Alright.” Lyra stood up. “Thank you, Almond. I’m sorry for getting angry before…”

 

“It’s alright, I could tell you were just afraid and confused.” They sat up and began walking. “Just follow me… err… what’s your name?”

 

“Oh!” All that talk, and she hadn’t even introduced herself. “I’m Lyra. I’m a Spacecat.”

 

Almond smiled. “That’s a nice name. Let’s go and try to get you home, ok?”

“I don’t think I want anything more in the whole universe right now…” 

 

The two creatures went off, Lyra following Almond at a close distance. She was happy to make a companion who agreed to help her. She was one step closer to getting home, and she finally felt some sense of joy for the first time since landing. 

 

Soon, this would all be over.