.^^ Iris/Fire-Breaker ^^

— Cassidy —

I examined the girl in front of me for a moment, before I hummed, and held out a hand. "Cassidy Skøll. You're Iris, then?" I asked, speaking the language of the land fluidly.

She blinked, and then grinned, grasping my forearm. "You speak our tongue! That's good! Grandmother will like you more if you speak our tongue." She nodded seriously, and then looked behind us. "Where's your stuff? I figured if you were riding in style on the AirShip, making me come all the way to the Caldera, you'd have some baggage at least! Don't tell me it got stolen!?!" She laughed.

"No, we're carrying all we need." I nodded, then pulled my plate-male boots off, burying my toes in the sand experimentally. "Ahh... very nice. Warm, too, which is unexpected."

Sandy laughed. "The sand is burning hot, my dear, if it's warm to you, a creature immune to fire, there's an issue."

"I disagree... no problems here." I sighed, laying down in the shade of one of the trees, and groaning in satisfaction at finally, after a month and a half, not feeling like I was floating, because of the Crystals on the ship.

Sandy shook her head at me. "You're adorable, but don't get in the Picker's way." She pointed at an older man who was climbing the tree with amazing swiftness, taking down bundles of berries, which I recognized as the berries that Tommy had bought for several hundred noble silvers.

I got out of his way, as he was coming down, and bowed my head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interfere."

He chuckled, and leapt nimbly from one tree to the next, not touching the ground with his bare feet.

"Impressive." I nodded, and shook myself off, following my happy tourist ass after the two local gals as they walked swiftly through the caldera, to the lake in the middle. I noticed several small archways, and blinked. "No way... you guys have an underground water system? Awesome." I grinned.

Sandy laughed. "Yes, my dear, how else did you think we got around without touching the sand?"

"... Magic?" I shrugged.

She paused. "Okay... fair point."

I nodded and stepped into the little dingy that they had both boarded, then dipped a hand in the water. Immediately, the warm water boiled, and I controlled my body heat, chuckling. "I mean, I knew I was hot, but damn!" I laughed.

Sandy shook her head. "This is going to be terrifying."

"Oh please, you'll be fine, parents love me! I'm a soldier, a Lady-Knight, a blacksmith, and many more trades besides! Not to mention, have you met me? I'm irresistibly adorable!" I protested jokingly.

Iris grinned. "She's funny. But you should hold on." She warned me, before the ship slipped into one of the archways, making me duck reflexively. Then the boat tilted slowly, and I grinned at the adrenaline rush that gripped me as I realized we had to go down to reach the rest of the tunnels.

The fall was short, however, a pathetic and gentle dip five feet down into a small pool with several different exits. It was dark for a moment, but then my skin naturally illuminated the tunnels around us. Iris chose one, and rowed into it, then put away the oars again.

I thought, for a moment, 'that's it?', before we slowly slid through another of the exits, and there was another gentle tilt... and suddenly we were whipping down a long, curving slide of water, which I immediately realized was curling around the volcano itself.

After a few crazy fun minutes, where I laughed and hollered the entire time, (much to Iris's disappointment, I think she'd hoped I'd be scared,) the slope leveled out, and we glided across the water, curving out of the continued river into a large inlet, with a series of docks.

As we approached, I gasped at the beautiful crystals lacing the ceiling, providing real sunlight everywhere we looked inside this massive cavern, which was apparently the center of their trade industry. There was no sand here, just stone and dust, but the people were a vibrant community, exchanging large shipments of cargo with a series of massive cranes that were attached to the walls and the roof, far above our heads.

Sandy tossed out a rope, catching one of the posts as we coasted by, and I grinned, forming a bosun's knot and doing the same. We pulled the ship in, and tied it off securely, then stepped onto the docks.

"So... this is Jerel, huh? Hidden under the oasis, I dig it." I grinned.

Sandy laughed. "No, Lover, not even close! This is still Tel-Mithras, the Lonely Caldera. It is one of the centers of our import and export businesses as a nation, however. Why we stopped is entirely a mystery to me." She looked at Iris curiously.

"Just getting something for mother, it'll be quick." She nodded, and flagged a small boy down, handing him some silver and a note, and he nodded, sprinting off.

"Hmm, child labor." I frowned.

"The children of the Caldera choose to make money for taking messages for people, is that reprehensible where you come from?" Sandy asked incredulously.

"A little. Children should play, not work. Learning a trade should be balanced with playing with friends, using your imagination, not more work." I shook my head.

She laughed. "Oh they get plenty of play, and they learn the mercantile trades by listening and watching the merchants who they deliver notes to. It's like a free apprenticeship." She shrugged.

"Hmph." I didn't argue with her, but I ended the conversation, looking away and examining the crystals on the walls. One came loose when I poked it, and I hummed, holding it close to my face to examine closer. It was common quartz, it seemed, but it had absorbed so much sunlight that it had converted it to Mana, and back again. "Intriguing." I slipped it into the vault for Tommy to study.

The boy came back, carrying a satchel, and handed it to Iris with a bow, before darting off and tackling one of his friends, prompting a wrestling match which he surprisingly won, despite his opponent being twice his size.

"Scrappy little thing, isn't he?" I chuckled.

Iris nodded. "Most of them are, for boys at least. I've got what I need, so let's get to Jerel, and have Mother take a look at you." She hummed, leading us back to the boat.

"I wonder, though... are all the volcanoes little towns?" I hummed.

Sandy grinned. "No... most are mines or farms."

I blinked, thinking of the number of volcanoes we'd passed, almost 10,000, and the number beyond us, probably another 30-40,000, given the size of this continent, almost the size of the entire northern portion of Africa, and all desert, even the coastal regions. "Awesome!" I grinned.

She laughed. "You're right, you are adorable. But still, off we go." She nodded to Iris, who shoved the boat off, and started rowing back into the spiral river.

The faster current pulled us down maybe another twenty feet, before leveling off. We continued in what was supposed to be a random direction, I supposed, to conceal the location of the other cities. About a mile down the river, the way lit by more of those sunlight crystals every few feet, we reached a crossroads, Four giant tunnels, leading in Four cardinal directions.

My internal compass informed me we were heading toward from the rising sun, and therefore we had headed east. Iris chose the path that led South, back towards the coast, and I hummed, making a note of it.

"It'll be about a four hour ride. Get comfy." Iris sighed, and sat in a meditative stance with her back to the bow.

I nodded and looked at Sandy. "The slide was fun. I'll have to have dad and Tommy do that one. They're suckers for a good thrill ride."

She raised an eyebrow. "It's not really meant for a thrill. It's a transportation method."

"And to disguise the direction and heading of the other cities, yeah. And the sunstones are a way to sense the time of day and also the direction the cavern is facing, as they dim and brighten when the surface is hit with sunlight. Makes sense, very slick craftsmanship." I nodded.

She sighed. "Damn... Just don't let anyone know that you figured that out, alright? You're not supposed to know any of that."

I shrugged. "I can't help what I notice, Lover."

She shook her head slowly. "I know... just focus on something inane."

I cleared my throat. "Oh... okay. Uhm... do you have any memory magic?"

She rubbed her temples. "Just guard your mind, Lover, and we'll figure it out later. For now, let's just rest. It's a long way to Jerel."

"We could've just disembarked once we reached the Coast, and not needed to double back." I muttered, and trailed my fingers in the water.

Iris glanced at me, opening her eyes, then hummed. "Your Lover is pretty smart, Aunty."

"Too smart for her own good." Sandy muttered.

I smiled and hugged her to my chest, resting and watching the ceiling, doing my best to ignore the number of crossroads we passed, taking four left turns and then four right, then two left and two right, then straight two, then a left again, back on the main path.

"It's a waste of time and effort to throw me off, my dear; even when I'm trying not to pay attention, I recognize the use of Grid Movements." I sighed at Iris.

She nodded, and the boat continued in a single straight line for three more hours, a deep quiet filling the tunnels. Every once in a while, we'd see people, and they'd wave, going about their ways. Everyone we saw was some sort of wood-elf or Genaasi or tiefling, even a collection of Light Genaasi, who eyed me curiously, but nodded when I waved.

After a few hours, the water started smelling more like salt. "Ahh, saltwater. We're close." I nodded.

Iris raised an eyebrow. "I don't smell anything."

"My nose is better than most people's. Benefit of being born of a Trollkin and a High-Elf with Truesight, my nose can smell anything, from magic to perfume, up to a couple hundred feet away, in a city. In these tunnels? I'm probably smelling trace amounts and the saltwater doesn't start for another mile or so." I grinned, and then sniffed the water. "Maybe, Yeah. Though there's enough magic here to make my nose a little less sensitive."

She chuckled. "That's a pretty useful ability. You're a big Magical Bloodhound!"

I shrugged. "Better than nothing."

Exactly as I'd predicted, about a mile down the tunnel the water turned brackish, and I noticed both of them smell it, then Iris turned the boat into a wall, making me brace myself.

The wall parted as we came near it, and then closed behind us, letting us into a tiny room, where my skin illuminated and showed us the room, as well as the thirty people surrounding us and pointing bows at us.

Iris waved casually. "Hello ladies, I returned with Sand Dancer and her woman, as I said I would."

They immediately relaxed the bowstrings, and sat down on the ledges, apparently returning to their daily duties of guarding the entrance. The water level then slowly began to lower, and I grinned. "No way... water elevator? Sweet!!!" I laughed as Iris waved to the guards, and we quickly drifted down... and down... and down... almost 600 feet, from my rough estimate, to about the base of the cliffs, if I remembered correctly.

The boat was pushed forward by Iris, through the open stone gate and into a small canal. The gate shut behind us, and I heard it slowly filling with water again. We docked again, and Sandy grinned, nudging me. "This is where the Golden Sand starts."

I looked where she was pointing, and grinned at the sight of the sand as we stepped onto the dock, colored a deep, burnished gold. "Pretty." I commented, and tied the little boat off with a quick clove knot.

A small boy appeared seemingly out of nowhere, maybe seven years old, and leapt into Sandy's arms. "Sandy!!! You're home!!! Look, I lost some tooths!!!" He grinned widely, displaying three missing teeth beside his left canine.

She laughed. "Yes I see that, very nice! Where's your mother, sweetling?"

"Trying to keep up with a child, and failing." A tall woman sighed, approaching and hugging Sandy, then grabbing the child by his scruff and setting him on the ground. "Off with you, scamp, go find some trouble to get into!" She laughed, and he sprinted off, swift as the wind.

I blinked. "Wow. That's a pair of legs, isn't it?"

Sandy smiled. "Cassidy, this is my niece, Faya, and that was her little terror, Tyran. Faya, meet Cassidy, my partner."

The woman bowed her head respectfully. "Greetings and welcome to our City, Friend; we of the Jerel Daisha's open our hearths to you... Cassidy?" She raised an eyebrows

"She is Lady Cassidy Skøll, Lady-Knight of the Golden Coast, Ex-Commander and Guardian of the Golden Coast's Southern Naval Routes!" Sandy smiled proudly.

I laughed softly. "You make me sound so stiff and formal! Just Caz, or Cassidy, my dear; if you're family to Sandy, you're family to me." I gave the woman a quick hug, which she returned as she recovered from her shock at Sandy's retelling of my titles, which she'd decided on during the trip.

Sandy blushed. "I like letting people know that you're important..."

"And it's adorable." I kissed her cheek.

Faya nodded. "It really is. Come on, then, we'll get you situated! You're a week early, which is always nice, but I heard that you came on an AirShip? Was the Waterway blocked?" She asked, drawing us forward, out of the canal.

I gasped softly, as we entered the city proper. All around us, Stone has been used with the greatest of artistic license, craved and etched and even melted purposefully in certain places, bricks and slabs mixing with geometric mosaics and intricate murals made from differently-colored pieces of stone and crystal.

And rising above it all, above the hundreds of buildings in this massive cavern, soaring over the living tapestry of the city, was a set of crystalline ribs, forming a structure for the cavern, a skeleton to keep it strong, but also used for security, as guards walked inside of it, and there were portions where they sat overlooking the city from above.

The whole city smelled of crystals, of minerals and metals and different materials of the ground, as well as a continuous Brine that I immediately fell in love with. "This... this is amazing." I breathed softly.

Sandy nodded. "I'm happy you like my Home."

"I love it... I need to live here. It's perfect." I shook my head, and grinned, looking at a small ruined building. "I don't suppose this lot is for sale?"

She laughed. "Easy, Tiger, I already have a house, here. The Family Estate is this way. I'm pleased you appreciate my Home, though." She kissed my cheek again, pulling me along through the sand-filled streets.

We past small homes and different businesses spread out in a distinct spiral pattern, each type you would need in a fully-functioning City, from brothels to inns, and the size of the cavern became more and more clear. The roof was 600ft above us, and the city spread about 12miles from one end to the other in a circle, with Crystal columns every hundred meters or so, for support and strength, as well as guard towers.

Three main streets spread in concentric spirals, meeting in the center, where the space opened up, and a fairway bazaar was created, plus the three centers of the spirals, which were curling around small lakes, full of fresh water. These were filled with either businesses or warehouses, and one of them was entirely devoted to training yards and development centers, which I was itching to check out.

Between the second and third spirals, in the residential areas that were located in the open spaces of the cave, we came to one of the several walled estates that dotted the city, each apparently home to one of the many Noble Families of this, the de facto Capital of this region, and the biggest city in the continent.

The gates opened, and I hummed as the interior was revealed. A silk tapestry adorned every section of every wall in the courtyard, and I could smell the metal and poison behind them, the same as Sandy's house. I glanced at her. "You make these as well?"

Before she could answer, a woman came out of the house. Had her skin been a few shades lighter, she could've passed as Sandy's twin... (at least in the face.) She embraced Sandy tightly, and sighed. "My girl... I'm so happy to see you! And you've brought a friend?" She glanced at me, and back at Sandy.

"A partner, Mama. This is Cassidy, she's been with me for five and a half months, now." She sighed.

"A partner? She's twice your size!" She chuckled.

"And I like her that way." Sandy frowned stubbornly.

The woman hummed, then looked at me, speaking common, suddenly, which no one else had. "Your name is Cassidy, then? I am known as Storm Chaser, formally, and Kaza to my friends."

I nodded, and spoke in her language, ignoring the Common. "I am happy to meet you finally, Matriarch of the Daisha Family. I have heard many stories about you. My family also sends their greetings, though they are in transit, still."

She blinked. "And she's taught you our tongue, it seems... Hmm. We'll have to speak about that, Sand Dancer." She raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"I've known this language for years longer than I've known Sandy, actually. Moving on, would you like to meet my family? We aren't many, but that's never stopped us." I chuckled.

She nodded slowly. "Well... yes? You said they were in transit?"

"They are." I placed the silver disk down, and twisted it, then pulled the trapdoor that it created in the sand open. "Hey there, Y'all come round here often?" I grinned.