The Water Beneath

Beneath Infinity's home the waters of the Woodthorn River run deep and she is often drawn by it's current. The current pulls hard, and the murky green depths reveal a opening lined with sharp, jagged stone. An abundance of coloured fish of varying sizes swim calmly by as if not to notice the arrival of this new creature. Infinity pauses at the threshold, before becoming one with its heavy, rhythmic breathing.

The cold water numbs her face slightly as she blends with the current, kicking hard to clear the jagged threshold of the cavern mouth. As soon as she passes the opening, the violent pulling of the river abruptly dies away. Finding herself in an eerie, dead-calm pool she suddenly realises she is the water. The rock walls here aren't rough or natural. They are perfectly smooth, carved with deep, geometric grooves that spiral upward.

Breaking the surface, and transforming to human form once again, she finds the air is heavy, smelling of old stone and ancient, stagnant moisture. Above you, the cavern ceiling arches into a massive dome, completely untouched by the river outside. Stepping out of the dark water, her feet feel the smooth stone of a pathway. The iridescent moss casts a soft, ethereal blue-green glow across the cavern walls, making the damp rocks shimmer like distant stars caught in a subterranean sky.

Infinity hadn't been this deep before and she was amazed at the beauty she saw within this gigantic cavern and the waters that had strangely changed from fresh to salt.

She wrings out the hem of her tunic, watching the water drip back into the depths. It shouldn't be salt water. The river that carved through the valley above was pure, crisp mountain runoff. Yet here, deep within the roots of the earth, the taste on her lips is undeniably oceanic. It is as if she has stumbled into a secret vein of the world, a forgotten highway connecting the heart of the continent straight to the deep sea.

The stone path beneath her feet is remarkably even, worn smooth by time or intentional crafting rather than the chaotic rush of the river. It winds upward, curving along the edge of the massive dome before vanishing into a narrow, shadowy fissure where the moss grows thickest. The silence here is absolute, broken only by the rhythmic plip-plop of condensation falling from the high ceiling into the saltwater below.

Taking a deep, steadying breath of the heavy air, Infinity takes her first steps forward. The glowing moss ripples slightly as she passes, its light pulsing faintly as if reacting to her presence, drawing her deeper into the waiting darkness where she will remain waiting for the others to arrive.