The air felt dense and moist as Gunk took his first step into the long since abandoned cavern. The only thing looking back at him was the darkness and what was hidden deep within the walls and tunnels of the cave…well, other than… “WAIT UP! You gotta be prepared to go to these places, I'd know. I spelunk all day on the papers I write for work.” Fliwer grinned happily at Gunk, who turned around and raised one eyebrow at Fliwer. “I personally believe that's SPELLING, but honestly you were the only chow who was willing to go with me so I think I will pretend I didn't hear that.” Fluttering her wings a bit, Fliwer fixes the backpack full of supplies to fit a bit tighter to her and merrily skips behind Gunk as he shakes a flashlight on and starts walking. The sound of water dripping from the ceiling is surprising to Gunk, why would there be so much liquid in a dry area like this? This cavern is surrounded by a desert like area…unless there's some type of hidden oasis that would be creating all this condensation. It doesn't take long for the cave to glow a bit, seemingly from a natural light source that surrounds both the chows. Fliwer looks around, in absolute awe of the almost blue and purple lights around them, whike Gunk investigates the source of the light, a bioluminescent algae that's growing all over the walls, floor, and even the ceiling of the cavern. Gunk clears his throat and pulls out a small voice recorder, perfect for his experiments and explorations so he can listen back on his notes. “Log Number 1. The flora of the cave seem to thrive vicariously and have spread heavily to certain areas that have more water and…” He touches a rock carefully and rubs his pawpad. “Salt of some sort? I'll be taking some samples home with me, and making sure not to destroy the ecosystem. Fliwer? Ready two tubes, one for an algae sample, and one for a rock and sediment sample.” Fliwer nods and jumps into action, happily opening one tube and collecting some of the glowing plant, and then collecting some of the sediment and stone in another. While Gunk continues to slowly look around, trying to take in the sights and make notes of anything, Fliwer takes it upon herself to collect some fun things of her own! A funny shaped rock, a shell from some type of Hermit crab, one bottle cap and one can tab which makes her eyes shine as she promptly puts them in her wallet to spend later, and last but certainly not least, a stick about half the size of her. It's just so perfect, she just can't pass it up! “Gunk. Guunk. GUNK LOOK HERE LOOK!” He whips around and comes face to face with the giant stick, which Fliwer is happily holding up so he can see it. “That stick smells. It smells like…what? It smells like water. Freshwater, almost fragrant. Take the stick if you want, but we have to continue on.” She nods and walks alongside Gunk, secretly sniffing the stick and gagging. To her, it smells more like a fish market sitting in the sun for 10 days, but if it makes him excited and happy, then she'll hold onto it. The cave gets deeper, and odd sounds fill the cavern. From the squeaks of bats and the sounds of their wings flapping around, the eerie sounds of whatever is ahead, which almost sounds like people speaking, to the sound of beeping and booping…although that's probably the tamagotchi that Fliwer has on her backpack. The bats fly over Gunks’ head, who makes a voice note about how they're acting. “Log Number 2. The bats above us aren't hungry. They're not even scared or protecting their territory, they're moreso wanting to simply see what we are doing, as if they're curious to what we could be up to this deep in the cavern.” Fliwer is in love with the sights of the bats, flying happily around the cave as they continue to walk, their squeaking to eachother sounding like conversation between each bat in a secret language. Whimsical, she knows it, a sight she may have never seen if she had decided to not go into the cavern for an exploration. There's a large amount of the glowing algae leading them further in, the walls so bright that the path that they are both following is almost fully lit, with no need for a flashlight at all. Putting the light away in his own small knapsack, Gunk is silently in amazement by how far this cavern goes, realizing that he's lost track of time he quickly regains his composure and leads on. “Are we almost at the end yet…I left the stick about 20 minutes back…and my paws hurt and I'm hungry and I am SO thirsty and OH I gotta return a book to the library.” Gunk groans just quietly enough so he couldn't be heard over Fliwer's complaining, until he stops completely in his tracks and his jaw almost drops. Still going on and on, Fliwer bumps into Gunks’ back, wondering what on earth is going on until she peeks over his shoulder and stares at the sight in front of them. A beautiful naturally occurring pond sits calmly at the end of the cavern. The glowing algae surrounds the pond, small flowers sprouting from the plants sitting in the water, and the light making the water sparkle as the fish in the water swim around, their scales glistening beautifully. A few bats sit off to the side of the pond, eating some of the flower bulbs like they're candy. Fliwer pushes aside and throws her bag off her back and jumps into the air above the pond. “CANNONBALL!!” Expecting a perfect duve, she slams down onto her stomach and almost comically sinks down into the water, the fish curiously surrounding her as she laughs. Gunk, who begins to laugh, leaves his knapsack aside and places his voice recorder safely off to the side. He knew it was time to record his notes about this, but he couldn't help but barrel into the water, the bats staring at them from the sidelines with their mouths full of flowers. The adventure seemed to be a success, and the exploration went well with all the research and samples Gunk has…but for right now, all that matters is the fun they both have as Fliwer and Gunk splash around happily in the serene water.
