Sunny grinned up at the stranger, took the proffered hand and hopped to her feet. [color=yellow]"Thanks! I'm Sunny, by the way. Up there are Laphicet and Nyte. We're a vagrant coterie -- currently without a name, but we'll decide on one soon. Are you all right?"[/color] Sunny peered through the gloom at Aro's face, which to her seemed twisted in pain and misery. The vagrant offered a comforting smile. [color=yellow]"Sorry for dropping in on you. The woods don't seem to like visitors much. Hopefully we're not about to be eaten or something."[/color] She laughed, and finally let go of Aro's hand to explore the perimeter of their grassy island while they waited for Laphi and Nyte to rescue them.

After a few moments, Sunny dropped to her knees and craned her head over the edge to peer down into the deep, deep dark. When nothing revealed itself, she sat down, unhooked an oil lantern from her backpack (both of which she'd brought from the walking-house) and lit it with a flint spark. Firelight soon cast a flickering illumination on Sunny's and Aro's faces. Sunny grinned up at Aro and brought the lantern to the edge again.

She looked up, and gasped.

The lantern-light cast a bright starry sky of reflections in the cavern ceiling -- like diamonds gleaming in the rock above.

The nearest wall only barely caught the light of the flame, but Sunny could make out very old finger-paintings of human figures ... and what appeared to be enormous animal-gods towering over them, with lines of sunlight streaming from above, marked by ancient orange paint.

Sunny's foot caught on the edge of something; she looked down to see a weathered stone staircase spiraling down from the grassy island.

[color=yellow]"Guys?"[/color] she called up to her friends -- to Laphi, who she knew would hear her. [color=yellow]"Change of plan. You might want to come down here! This place is [i]really old![/i] I think this is where we're supposed to go!"[/color] She spun around, raising the light to Aro's face, and grinned. [color=yellow]"There's something we're looking for that might be in this cave -- something with runes, we think. Hope you don't mind waiting a little for that rescue -- why don't you come exploring with us?"[/color]