The Caves

Article written by Jude

The Flood that came in Year 2 was incredibly destructive to what we had already built on this planet. Not that we had built much more than a handful of shacks, but losing even those was hard. Luckily, there were mountains near where we had settled. First we found one set of caves where we thought we would be safe from the rising waters, and then when those were in danger of flooding as well, we found a second set higher up. I will cover both sets of caves here.

Mina: Would it kill you to be slightly more dramatic here?

Jay: I think the tone he's taking makes perfect sense.

Mina: Of course you would. I'm just saying, the Flood was pretty damn dramatic!

Jude: Mina, this isn't about the Flood. This about the caves.

The first set of caves were rather shallow. They had a small river running through them when you ventured deep enough, which was a wonderful source of fresh water. The creatures that occupied the cave seemed to be harmless, or, at the very least, completely uninterested in us. They were also never any larger than a cat. We did, on several occasions, have to stop Ember from attempting to eat some of the bugs found in the cave. I am unsure if this was because she was a baby and that's just what babies do, or if this had something to do with her natural as a partly alien creature. Either way, she didn't seem to suffer from not eating the bugs.

Nico: I'm pretty sure it's just because babies like trying to eat bugs and sand and stuff.

Mina: What? Babies eat sand?

Nico: Do Human babies not eat sand? Oltu babies sometimes eat sand.

Angel: No, Human babies absolutely do sometimes eat sand. Apparently, I used to eat sand by the fistful whenever my caretakers weren't watching me.

The second set of caves were much less habitable, but we managed. There was a river half a day's walk from those caves, so we had to be careful about our water use and gathering. Food was harder to come by for a time as well, until Angel discovered how to trap some of the rabbit-sized creatures that spent their time near the caves. They were, thankfully, edible. The time spent in these caves was not what I, or I think any of us, would call pleasant, but it kept us safe from the flood below us.

Crystal: Eh, it could have been worse.

Jude: Yes. We could have been stuck in the floodwaters.

Mina: I was stuck in the floodwaters for a bit. I do not recommend the experience.

Jude: Yes, thank you for reminding us all of the most terrifying moment of my life.

Mina: Even more terrifying than the crash? Babe, our lifepod literally split in half on the way down!

Jude: I know what I said.

Mina: Aww. So sweet.

Jay: This is still not the place for you flirting.