Honeysuckle packed her few belongings.
She had very little to her name, only a few small tools such as homemade spades and a little fishing rod, all of them easy to carry.
She slung the fishing rod over her back and hung the tools from the side of her flower basket, making it look like a miner's pack. As she walked, the tools clinked and clattered against one another, repeatedly prompting the little one inside to poke her head over the rim.
"I don't think that's very safe. How about I carry her for you? She can stay inside the collar of my armor."
A rare mischievous impulse had come over Isis...
Honeysuckle did not understand the appeal an Uruki cub held for humans who loved furry creatures and simply took the offer as an act of kindness.
In her innocence, she genuinely believed that Isis, clad in heavy armor and wielding a Large Shield, could protect her child better. After a brief hesitation, she cupped the tiny cub in both hands, lifted her from the flower basket, and offered her to Isis.
Isis had made the suggestion casually, without expecting Honeysuckle to agree, and now she froze. For a moment, she did not know whether to take the cub.
She was afraid that the slightest pressure might accidentally hurt the little one. Besides, as the heavily armored vanguard, she was supposed to charge into battle first. Yet when she looked into the round, shining eyes of the Uruki mother and child, she could not bring herself to refuse.
Finally, inspiration struck. Instead of taking the cub, Isis lifted Honeysuckle herself and settled her on one shoulder.
This way, she could protect them both while still allowing Honeysuckle to leap away with her child at a moment's notice if anything went wrong. It also let the curious little one stretch out, lean close to Isis's cheek, and sniff her gently.
At the feather-soft touch, a blissful smile spread across Isis's face.
Behind Isis, Clawdia ground her teeth. That spot had once belonged exclusively to her.
Sajji let out a strange, gurgling chuckle. "Humans naturally adore furry little cubs, meow. Have a few kittens of your own and you'll see. Isis will treat them the same way, meow."
Clawdia shot him an icy glare and flashed her steel claws. Sajji promptly shut his mouth and darted behind Altaïr.
Altaïr sighed helplessly. "You two, stay alert. This cave isn't safe."
The group finally fell quiet.
With Honeysuckle leading the way, they came to a collapsed passage.
"Honeysuckle came from... over there. It originally led to a very, very spacious tunnel, but a few days later, the entire tunnel collapsed along with many of the surrounding caves."
Melancholy crossed Honeysuckle's face. "Honeysuckle had hoped to follow the tunnel back... and find her way to the canyon she came from."
Ms. Meow-It-All looked equally somber.
With a collapse of that magnitude, there was virtually no hope of finding any clues. A caved-in passage like this was also extremely dangerous, since another collapse could occur at any moment. The group had no choice but to withdraw, return to their original route, and continue tracking the severely injured Pariapuria.
As they ventured deeper underground, the Hunters discovered that although the limestone caves were desolate, they were by no means lifeless.
Narrow streams less than a meter wide and shallow pools that did not reach their knees were everywhere. Schools of fish swam through some of the larger pools.
From this, Ms. Meow-It-All concluded that the area had abundant groundwater and that some of the bodies of water might even be interconnected.
A type of small salamander no bigger than the palm of a hand preyed on the small fish. It was the first carnivorous animal they had found since entering the underground caverns.
Various insects, small reptiles, bats, and other cave-dwelling creatures were also quite common.
Together with the moss and fungi, they formed the foundation of the underground cave network's ecosystem.
Ms. Meow-It-All's expression grew increasingly somber, while the Hunters remained completely perplexed.
"So what's the problem?" Isis whispered.
Altaïr frowned and remained silent for a few seconds before explaining, "Pariapuria are unequivocally apex predators. They simply can't survive on plants, fungi, fish, and small reptiles.
"They need larger prey, at least something on the level of a Kelbi or a Mosswine.
"But since we entered these underground caverns, aside from a few larger fish in some of the bodies of water, we haven't seen a single animal longer than a meter.
"This relatively closed ecosystem seems to be missing a critical intermediate consumer."
"So we're still tracking the Pariapuria just to figure that out?" Theo asked, running his fingers through his hair. "Since we know most of the underground Pariapuria have already escaped, is there still any point in pursuing this investigation?"
Every Hunter had wondered the same thing, including Altaïr.
The invasion of several Pariapuria had driven the Monsters in the Mangrove Forest into abnormal activity. The Pariapuria had invaded because the underground rivers had vanished and passages to the surface had opened. In turn, the underground rivers had disappeared because of the violent geological upheaval, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, that had struck the previous year.
The entire chain of cause and effect appeared complete. By rights, they had fulfilled the investigation quest's objective. All they needed to do was return and report their findings, then let the Guild decide how many Pariapuria to eliminate to help restore the local ecological balance.
Why were they still wandering around underground?
"We absolutely need to, meow!" Ms. Meow-It-All stopped, her expression stern. "Don't assume we're doing this merely to satisfy our curiosity. You don't understand just how abnormal this is, meow.
"Let me give you an example. There was once a parasite that drained blood and nutrients from other creatures to meet its host's energy needs, allowing the host to survive without preying on intermediate consumers.
"What if something similar is happening here, meow? Then the spread of the Pariapuria wouldn't mark the end of the disaster, but its beginning, meow."
That example finally made the younger Hunters take the matter seriously again.
Although they had yet to find anything that looked like a parasite, even the slightest possibility of a similar situation meant they could not afford to let their guard down.
Otherwise, by the time the danger surfaced, it would already be too late.
As she listened to the exchange between Ms. Meow-It-All and the Hunters, Honeysuckle suddenly spoke up. "Actually... Honeysuckle has seen something. Maybe it's what you're looking for.
"Honeysuckle was... fishing at the time. It lunged out of the water and attacked. Honeysuckle barely managed to get away."
Ms. Meow-It-All immediately turned around. "What did it look like, meow? How big was it, meow?"
"It... wasn't very big. Including its tail, it was less than two meters long. It looked a little like a frog and a little like a salamander," Honeysuckle answered softly. "It didn't seem to have hind legs, so it couldn't move very fast on land... That's how Honeysuckle managed to escape."
"Like a salamander and a frog? With no hind legs, meow?" Ms. Meow-It-All's confusion deepened.
"Doesn't that sound a little like a Zamite, meow? But there's no way a Zamtrios would live in a place like this, meow."
"Not necessarily. It could be some kind of Subspecies. Tigerstripe Zamtrios are a Subspecies that live in the Desert, after all. This cave can't be any more extreme than the Great Desert."
Altaïr rubbed his chin. "If a large creature like a Zamtrios really does live in these caverns, it might just fill the upper tier of the intermediate-consumer niche."
"Never mind that for now, meow. Let's keep tracking it, meow." Ms. Meow-It-All shook her head as if trying to dislodge the questions she could not yet answer.
"When a Monster is severely injured, it has only two priorities: first, find a safe place to hibernate; second, replenish its nutrients, meow.
"The first is essentially taken care of. This is the Pariapuria's original habitat, so it couldn't find a safer place down here, meow.
"As for food... it vomited up nearly everything in its stomach while trying to escape us on the way here, meow.
"Given how voracious Pariapuria are, I believe we'll soon discover exactly what this one has been feeding on, meow."