Deep within the earth a hidden cave held a hidden treasure. A deep underground lake sloshed gently against its banks. High above the water, stalactites send drops of water into the lake with a musical sound. A brand new entity slowly awoke to the sound of water. Tiger colored eyes blink into the darkness. The female lifted her head. Ears swiveled at the sounds and wings folded up along her flanks. She inhaled the damp air; something called to her out there.
“Hello?” She murmured softly into the darkness. There was something here within the cave with her. It felt similar to her. Like there was a connection between whatever it was and her. She strained to see or feel whatever it was. Something tingled under her paw and she moved it. Looking down she saw something embedded in the dirt.
She prodded it out with her toe. A crystal pushed out of the dirt. Scooping it up into her paw she then dipped her paw gently into the water. The point sparkled a rich purple to her eyes. It was dark, but she could see in the darkness. She hugged the crystal to herself and then realized there was more growing out of her body; blues, greens, black, and purple crystals covered her. They were beautiful.
This cave was nice, but now that she was awake she didn’t feel like staying. Further away, like a faint call through the dark, she could sense more. The dirt crunched softly as she rose to her feet. She sniffed trying to find fresh air. There! A draft came down and ruffled the feathers of her wings. Raising her wings high she pushed hard off the ground. One wing beat, two; she was in free air.
Angling upward the fresh air blew faintly across her face. She circled among the stalactites searching for the opening that would lead her to the surface. A firmer gust told her where to turn and fly up. The tunnel leveled out and eventually she had to fold her wings to start walking. It seemed to take forever as she followed the twists and turns. Coming around a curve there was suddenly a light at the end of tunnel.
She squinted her eyes as she hesitated. It was so bright out there! Paw step by paw step she went toward the entrance of the cave. The entity ducked her head a bit and blinked furiously as she stood at the mouth of the cave. It was so much bigger out here than she’d thought possible. Stepping out into the open she flared her wings to sparkle in the sun light. The brown and cream creature turned slowly to look at herself; there was so many different and pretty crystals emerging from her body.
Satisfied she glanced back to the cave entrance she’d emerged from. Nothing was holding her here. She wanted to find more things like herself and explore the wide world. Turning toward the strongest call she set off; the gravel crunched under her feet and dust rose to tickle her nose. She sneezed several times. With a roar of exuberance the large female bounded forward. It felt good to run. To feel the dirt hard beneath her paws and the wind firm against her face.
It was some time before she realized that it would be faster to fly. She gave her wings several test flaps. Somehow it felt different than it had in the cave. She sprang upward again and beat her wings. Several looping circles and she was ready to set off toward the direction she felt. The landscape passing by under her made her crane her neck to see this way and that; resulting in a bit of an erratic flight path.
There was just so much for her to see. Mountains of various colors made her long to see them up closer; to discover what treasure they held. The plains stretched out before her eyes. All the life that was playing out down below her made her desire to see more of it. A bright flash of light of light hit her eyes. What was that? A turn and she spotted a wide river snaking its way across the plains. That’s what had flashed sunlight into her eyes way up here.
Though the life was fascinating, it wasn’t what really drew her. She was getting closer to her target now and dropped further down. The ground came up awfully fast all of a sudden; which was when she remembered she’d only landed once back at the cave. Her paws stumbled as they hit the ground and she flipped over onto her back. Breath was knocked from her body. She lay stunned for several moments. Stiffly she moved her legs and rolled over onto her belly.
Ouch, that was a rough landing. She would need to work on that part. Later, she’d work on that later. Now it was time to find the thing that had attracted her so. She rose slowly to her feet, feeling the bruises she’d earned. The female weaved back and forth across the ground. A sense within her told her to head more to the left and she obeyed. She was much closer.
There below her feet now. She made the dirt fly as she dug down. Her paws quickly were coated in dirt. It was lovely. A grin spread across her muzzle, then she felt something with a claw. Careful digging exposed a blue-ish crystal. Just like back at the cave when she’d found the purple one under her paw. She pried it carefully from the ground and brushed as much dirt off of it as she could.
Sitting down she pondered how the crystal made her felt. It was like she felt a connection to the crystals, or maybe they were connected to her. She gazed fondly down at her prize. Yes, there was a connection there. She breathed a word, “Gems.” She was the Goddess of Gems.