What We Found

## Part One

Lisso's sobbing went up a pitch again. It was honestly impressive that he had that much vocal flexibility, but then again he *was* a Tarotta. But this was just... awful. Every time she didn't bury herself in thoughts of anything the soft cries seeped through her mind. It was hard enough coping before Lisso. And what was Lisso crying about? That he was wet. Of *course* he was afraid of water. They only lived in goddamn *Vanionko*.

Not for the first time Tressa wished that they could afford to live on top of the cliffs. Maybe then there wouldn't be a flood every week. But that was all it was, a wish. Unless the next Kasomething was her, this was her life forever. Of course, forever was a loose term. While Veidrekis could survive more than seven decades, the average life expectancy of workers like her was closer to two.

She laughed to herself at the hopelessness of her situation. "Utopia". Vonchivad had no end to the amount of praise it could give itself while quietly killing the workers like her. Lisso, the poor kid, would have no chance at any life. She didn't know why he was down here - she had enough respect not to pry - but he would almost certainly never get out. As it was often said, the only thing that ever went up around here was the floodwater.

The old saying played back in her head as she continued to sift through the dirt, hoping to find something.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Y'know," Tokio began. "I reckon it's time-"

"Don't. Lisso is asleep. If you wake him he'll be awake for hours."

Tressa's eyelids drooped. She was too tired for this. It had taken hours to convince Lisso to finally lie down and stop moving. Maybe there was some trick to it, but none of them would know how to raise a child even if they were in better conditions. Tokio just sighed and looked at Lisso's sleeping form, lying there on the fluffy blanket that she, Tokio, Taz, and Lime had pooled last year's wages to afford. "But tomorrow will mark three years since we found Lisso."

Taz exhaled. "The poor kid."

"I think, for his sake, we should do something."

"But what? We don't have a way to afford anything. As much as I'd love to do something for Lisso, the wages are doing less and less every day. We need everything just to avoid starving." Lime's voice had a rasp to it. Tressa thought back to last year. He’d had such a nice singing voice. It killed her more every day.

A silence fell across the room, only interrupted by Lisso’s soft snoring. Tressa stole another glance at the Tarotta and cleared her throat. "I- two tunnels over. You know Coconut, right?"

"Is that the one who lives with Canola?" Taz nodded.

"Yes yes, the saurium who lives with Canola. The one who brings the news every day. She told me that they discovered an entrance to The Tunnels on the outskirts of the city last week." Tressa paused, having second thoughts about what she was going to suggest.

"You don't mean..."

"I do. If we gather up all our savings we can afford a ticket to go up. From there we can go to that entrance. If we find something we can sell it, and possibly make enough money to give Lisso a future."

"But what if we don't find anything? We'll have given everything up. Life's not great here but we can make do. What happens if we end up with no money?" Taz, ever the worrier, looked pale.

"With how little we get paid it's like we have none anyways." Tressa gestured to the empty cavern they lived in. It was bare.

"Wait wait wait." Lime interrupted her thoughts. "I feel like you're forgetting something. It's ILLEGAL to enter The Tunnels! We'll be *killed*!" He paused, seemingly realising that he was being too loud. Lisso stirred but did not get up.

"We might as well be dead down here. This is the only way we can give the kid a chance."

Lime sighed. Taz looked at the floor. Tokio nodded. For the rest of the night a silence fell upon the cavern. Nobody wanted to be the first to break it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The wind was chilled on the morning that they finally set off. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and the city was silent but for the soft roar of the Ytelva river. Tokio carried Taz, while Tressa, being the biggest of the group, had taken the responsibility of carrying Lisso. The poor kid couldn't fly very well just yet, and so he was nestled between her shoulders. She was doing her best to fly level, but had already gotten a few complaints in the form of Lisso crying out when she dipped too far in any direction. It had been forever since she'd actually flown somewhere, let alone seen the sky for so long. Carrying a passenger was a small price to pay.

They touched down silently outside the city's walls, the ground wet with sparkling dew formed overnight. Sliding Lisso off her back for a moment, she took the opportunity to look around. It was such a fantastical setting, being surrounded by sparkling greenery lit by the fading starlight. Lime landed next, and the others followed. It was surreal to see their colours in natural light rather than the dull bulbs provided to the underground population of Vanionko. Lime was so much... greener. He was no longer that same lemony yellow hue. And Taz's eyes were a deep blue, while Tokio was a vibrant red.

A few dozen meters in front of them was a hole, discovered when the city's planning department had come to test how sturdy the land was and whether it could support an expansion to the city. Supposedly, anyway. Nobody knew exactly how Coconut got her news, or whether it was even reliable at all.

If the hole ahead of them didn't lead into The Tunnels, they were done for. But as Tressa examined it from a distance, she couldn't help but hope.

It took a few minutes to convince Lisso to stop playing in the grass. None of them had yet told the kid that this might be the last time they ever saw light. Dragons and humans alike often went missing in The Tunnels. Taz lit a torch and handed it to Lisso, before walking to the edge of the pit and looking in. Tressa followed, nudging Lisso to come with her. Nothing was visible in the depths of the pit, and it was far too narrow for any of them - maybe excepting Lime or Lisso - to spread their wings. This was it.

The Tunnels welcomed them into its depths.

## Part Two

It was dark. So dark. A cold wind blew past Tressa's wings, and a shiver ran through her body.

Some unwritten agreement had been made to stay silent. The only noise that echoed through the cavern was Taz's silent swearing as he tried to relight the torch. Even Lisso was just quietly trembling.

At last the flame flickered to life, casting a warm light through the tunnel. Soft earth flaked down from the hole far above, and a consistent rumbling echoed through her mind. The night sky seemed so much more distant somehow. Instinctively she knew that this was a different world. None of the rules applied to this place.

The torch did little to pierce the oppressive darkness. They seemed to be at an intersection of sorts, with passageways stretching in three directions. A heavy pressure fell upon them, as if something or someone was watching. Lime was the first to break the silence.

"So what now?"

There was a pause. Lisso hugged Tressa's leg tighter. "I'm scared..."

She picked him up, placing him back between her wings. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "It's gonna be okay. We're safe."

Lime just looked at her. He didn't say anything.

Tokio chose that moment to speak. "I say we go this way," She indicated a passage, "It's where the rumbling is coming from."

Taz sighed, nodding. "Yeah - I think we all want to know what that is. And, if you remember, we're here to find something expensive. And the rumbling is a good place to start."

Taz led the way through the darkness, while Tressa remained at the back just behind Lisso. She couldn't shake the feeling that somehow they were being watched.

**Coming soon**
0BirdMasta0 was here. (talk)