[treasure] Rumoured Rainbow Caves

✧ Rumoured RAINBOW CAVES ✧

▸ Featuring Lorem Ipsum ◂

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A lone Symprite wrapped tightly in cloaks and furs trudged through fresh snow, scaled legs sinking deep up to his knees and shielding his face with a heavy hood against the flurry of falling snow trying to barrage him as he forged on. To one side lay the frozen lake of thick ice and to the other were fields of buried frost flowers giving way to rocky outcroppings and higher cliff faces.

Lorem was hunting for a nearby cave that he knew to lay beneath the bustling city of Elysium built into the rock above him, and although he had a detailed map to follow from the heavy tome he had found on one of his last trips to Byssys, it was a difficult journey when faced with the fickle weather and shifting landscapes of ice and snow. Even now the city lights from high above were among the only guiding lights on his trek, along with the gentle glow from the jar moonbugs tied to his waist, as during this season was when the suns set earlier in the evenings. The growing night was a cloudy one, thick with the snowstorm that blotted out any light that the fluffy Sym would have received from the setting sun or rising moons.

Claws trailed along the rocky cliff wall as he continued on, both to keep the arctic Sym straight on his path in the low visibility and to see if he can find the entrance markers through touch easier than sight. Finally, the rock turned into ice under his touch and the Sym paused, taking a step back and holding the jar of moonbugs up to study his find.

What had once been a free flowing waterfall stood before him, though now it lay frozen in time and encased in thick sheets of ice with razor sharp icicles threatening to drop at a moment's notice. There was a thin gap in between two sheets of the ice wall, just barely wide enough for him to squeeze through. A smile broke across the cloaked Symprite's face as he tugged his scarf down and huffed a sigh of relief at finally having reached his destination. Veeerrryyyyy carefully, the fluffy arctic Sym slipped in between the shards and shook the loose snow from his frame.

Pushing the fabric fully from his head the soft glow from the moonbugs illuminated Lorem's face and the narrow corridor of cave he stood in. Bright blue eyes shone with delight as he retrieved the heavy tome from his pack and consulted the worn pages of text before continuing onwards. According to the scriptures, there was supposed to be an area of hollowed rock within this naturally formed cave that held a beautiful wall of rainbow ice that was only accessible around this time of year due to the shifting ice formations. If he continued along this narrow corridor sandwiched between walls of thick ice, he should reach it in no time. The excited Sym carefully returned the tome to its protective case and raised the jar of moonbugs before him once more.

His progress was slow as both the ground and walls were made of pure ice, giving Lorem the sense of having stepped inside of a frozen aquarium. Sounds from outside were muted yet held a slight echo at the same time, also giving the space a mystical feeling. As the curious Sym neared the end of the corridor he noticed he had no need for his moonbugs anymore as a faint glimmer of light gradually grew brighter in front of him.

Peering around the last sheet of frosted rock, a gasp escaped as eyes widened in awe at the sight before him. A large waterfall poured in from a gap in the roof of the cave, except it was encased in ice in what looked like naturally intricate and flowing shapes that looked almost carved. It was wide across and upon closer inspection one could see a running river in the heart of the icefall. From the gap above came light that danced all around the cave in rainbow colors and prisms due to the combination of the flowing water inside and the intricate shaped ice formations.

It was breathtaking.

Lorem spent a good while just sitting in awe and watching the shifting colors and lights dance along the cave walls. He also spent some time studying the icefall itself, sketching some of the unique shapes into his book and taking some etchings of the finer details. He planned to stay for a few days just to admire the place and explore every nook and cranny until he was satisfied.

It was absolutely worth every minute enduring the multiple days of difficult hiking through the storm.