The Tunnels of Yggdrasil

The Filth Eaters

The caves around me rippled, roared, and cracked with the quakes of the nigh-unstoppable predator behind me. My footing is poor due to the rolling rocks beneath me, yet I must run. Fiery hell courses through my chest as I take in a breath to continue my sprint. The sharp stones on the ground have ripped my shoes to shreds, yet I must run, or else the monster behind will crush me, break me down, then pull me back from the brink of death. She's done so three times already.

I see many lights on this run, many mushrooms, moss, lichen, and crystals glow as I pass them and glitter once Sura tears them to shreds. Prey and predator alike have been sprinting alongside each other, fleeing the giant that barrels towards me. She is going 'slow' for her, a speed she deemed barely enough for me to grow. I can and have run near these speeds before but never for such a distance or up sharp inclines... or with a giant cat chasing me, threatening me with near death if I fail.

My exhaustion has finally caught up to me. My foot catches on a rock, and I faceplant, skidding across the hard floor into a pool of water. As I try to lift my head, I feel Sura's massive paw on my back, pinning me under the water, and I panic. Just before I start flailing, she removes her paw, and I rocket my head out of the water, taking a sharp inhale. My lungs burn and ache in protest to the new air.

"You did well, child Jaune! You finally made it to the watering pool," Sura purred as she trotted into a patch of soft glowing moss, which she stretched over then plopped herself down onto it like a house cat.

The watering pool is a beautiful sight. It's the size of a lake, surrounded by large brightly glowing crystals and white stone on all sides. Waterfalls flow from caves on high, and a type of lily pad floats in the water. An incredibly tranquil place.

"Why did you pin me!?" It took me a few minutes of nothing except breathing to finally spit the question out. Sura didn't bat an eye at my accusatory tone; she simply looked at me, with her tail flopping back and forth.

"You may have made it here, but you still collapsed. If you were running from something trying to kill you, you'd have a bite taken out of you. That deserves some punishment," the glowing beast replied matter-of-factly. I glared at her and grumbled incoherent curses under my breath, unsatisfied but knowing she will not relent. To my antics, she paid no mind.

With a great sigh, I lay on my back to rest and stare at the bejeweled ceiling. I still don't know what the deal is with this cave system; Sura was adamant that I didn't come from the surface, as 'That is the realm of higher beings,' or something. I rested for a while before getting my fill of water from the lake, looking down at my reflection I see myself. My blonde hair dirty and matted, blue eyes puffy and bloodshot, and my torso has a massive red marking on it like a blackout(or redout) tattoo. The red goes from a few inches lower than my left armpit down in a diagonal almost all the way across my body and back; this is where I was bit in half, the thought of it still makes me sick. The remnants of my shirt hang around my neck like a cloak.

"Jaune, your rest is over; come to me!" Sura beckoned me, so I went. When I approached, she lifted a paw, and under it was a large loose milky white crystal. "We're going back to Zakiri; I want you to carry this back to get stronger." Zakiri is where she took me to heal; she claims it's the safest place this deep for a weak 'son of Adapa' such as myself.

"Oof!" The crystal weighed about one stone... du dun tss. No, it was maybe in the ballpark of a hundred pounds? Not too sure; I don't have anything for reference, but it's heavy, and I'm going to be carrying it pretty far. So now I have it, Sura and I begin to trek back to my temporary (hopefully) home. As we pass the parts of the cave Sura destroyed, I noticed a suspended glitter of sorts, resembling the northern lights.

"So what's that?" I ask, nodding my head towards the glowing dust.

Sura's gaze went up for a second then to me, and she said, "The tunnel is mending itself; those are shards of crystal like the one you carry now."