What's this? This wasn't here a second ago. It looks like a present... OH! This must be my Secret Santa present! Hey everybody, LOOK! Look at my amazing present!
The View from Within
The rain poured down, reminding Emil of the day they'd found Kitty in the sodden pool in the sodden school. Neither Lalli nor the sheep clustering so insistently around them seemed to care, or even to notice, for that matter, but Emil decidedly minded getting soaked to the skin on what was supposed to be a pleasant hike to a nice view.
This is not to say that the view from their current vantage point was less than what Emil had expected in any way, but appreciating a lovely vista is always easier when you don't have water trickling down the back of your neck in that extremely unpleasant but inevitable way it always does when you're out in the rain without an umbrella.
Well, enough of that was far too much, Emil decided, and began scanning the slopes around him for any potential shelter. A long moment went by while he looked, but finally he spotted what might be the entrance to a cave a few rocks down. Not checking to see whether or not Lalli was following him, Emil picked his way across the slope until he reached the putative opening.
Caves are not generally known for the quality of light within them, especially when there's a rainstorm going on outside, but a red, warm, almost welcoming light was spilling out from the mouth of this cave. Emil shook off a weird feeling of deja vu and walked into the cave, wondering hopefully if he'd find a fire waiting for him.
Lalli was always quiet, but he'd noticed that when it was safe, you very nearly couldn't shut Emil up; certainly he'd expected Emil to let loose with a flood of maledictions exceeding the steady stream of rain coming down on them, but the Swede hadn't, for once. Lalli glanced around idly and saw why: Emil wasn't where Lalli had last seen him.
Fortunately, Emil hadn't wandered so far that Lalli couldn't track him; the trail of sheep ambling curiously along in Emil's wake also helped. It was weird how every time Lalli looked there seemed to be more of them.
All these sheep were starting to make Lalli just the least bit nervous, as their behavior reminded him rather strongly of the dusklings he and Emil had just barely escaped once he'd managed to get out of Emil's mind. Now, the sheep were herbivores, after all, but at least one of them had shown a decided taste for Emil's hair already, and that was enough to get Lalli suspicious. It was this suspicion that made Lalli try to shoo the sheep off once he had reached the mouth of the cave Emil had entered, but they paid him about as much heed as a flock of pigeons might. On second thought, even the pigeons would have paid Lalli more heed, since they could tell he was a cat and they feared cats. These sheep were just too dumb to be afraid of anything besides the stupid, weird dogs their masters used to herd them.
After a few futile attempts to shoo away the sheep, Lalli shrugged and went into the cave after Emil. He must be pretty deep inside; Lalli couldn't hear a word of Swedish babble--
Lalli almost ran into Emil, who had stopped dead and was standing as still and staying as silent as though they were next to a Giant. Bemused, Lalli turned to see what Emil was gawping at--and froze in astonished wonderment. Part of the cave must have been translucent or even open to the sky, because the entire chamber was practically glowing with illumination, and what magnificence did it illuminate! The incredible display of the ever-shifting light skittering across thousands upon thousands of crystalline structures of nearly every shape and color imaginable in the cavern before them kept both boys utterly silent in wonder--
--until the reverent silence was broken by a loud "BAAAAAAA", because of course the sheep had blithely followed them into the cave; it would seem that even these sheep had sense enough to come in out of the rain, if they were following someone. Emil and Lalli looked at each other, sighed, and turned back towards the sheep...
