Chapter 1: Explorations and Remembrances
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Dee whistled in appreciation of the size of this cavern, noting the
incredibly high walls and fanglike rock formations. Jutting basalt
projections resembling massive teeth, as well as boulders the size of
houses, filled the area, yet enough room remained for almost a small
army to make its way through unhindered in the slightest. After a
moment, the echo of her whistle returned, adding even more to her
estimate of the size of the cavern.

<Must be, oh, several thousand feet long for that kind of echo, and
looks like at least three hundred to the ceiling. Wow.>

Dee also noticed an odd luminescense permeating the air, one she
could not trace to a mineral formation or fungi, the usual source of
such lighting. She had originally planned to make limited forays, and
return before her lantern ran out of oil, but with the unusual
visibility it began to appear that that would not be a problem.
Oddly enough, it didn't even seem to be a property of the air, it
just seemed to *be* there.

<I'll ask Gau about it when he returns.> Then she spoke aloud.

"Until then, I guess *I'll* just have to take advantage of things."

With that, she continued walking, repeating a litany that would have
caused any observers to wonder about her sanity.

"Can't, won't, don't, couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't. Can't, won't,
don't..." she softly murmured to herself. <Time to change your ways,
girl, dump the stuffy speech. You taught Gau to talk like a normal
person, maybe you should do the same yourself.>

For Dee had realized it was probably a good time to try and make a
change, at least in some ways. Without her family, she was no longer
tied to the life of a scholar, and some old habits just had to go.
No contractions was a start, and thus she recited dialogue, trying to
make these common words fit on her tongue. <Besides, mother dear, it
was your idea anyway that we talk like this. You were a great mother
in some ways, but this definitely *wasn't* one of them.> Dee
remembered constant childhood scolding of her and her brothers, that
even extended to when they had grown up. "We are NOT common people,
we are scholars. Do you want them to think that we are like them?"
Her mother's words echoed in her ears even now. <Even after Kyle and
Edward married, you kept after them, mother. Just like you kept after
me to get married. Always criticizing my eating, making me think I
was fat, always disparaging the few suitors that dared to even come
close to me. Not good, mother. Not good at all.> For Dee's mother had
driven off most of the young men that had caught Dee's fancy, with
scathing remarks about their intelligence, or dress, or any one of a
million things she could find to criticize.

"*Don't* get me wrong, mother, I love you and I miss you, but *I'm*
not going to gloss over anything, either." Then Dee caught herself,
and realized she would sound even odder emphasizing the words. <Geez,
if it is... it's not one thing, *it's* another. Ok, ok, enough of the
memories for now. I keep this up, and I'll be blubbering my head off
again.> With that, Dee turned her attention back to the path she was
taking. The Dee stopped, her attention drawn by something that set her
heart pounding and andrenaline flooding through her body as fear
suddenly took hold.

A Behemoth track.

Looking at it, quivering, Dee backed away towards the closest boulder
as she listened intently for any sign of the creature. <No no no no
no no... not another one. By the Goddesses, please, not another one!>

After a long and fearful minute, Dee realized that tracks were old,
and that a creature that size would have easily been heard had it
been around. Stepping out from the shelter of the boulders, Dee took
several deep breaths, as she willed herself to calm down. At last her
breathing slowed, as did her heart, and except for a slight tightness
in her stomach, all was as it had been.

"Whew! Let's hope we don't find anymore such surprises, eh?"

Again, an observer would have wondered who Dee was talking to, and
the explanation would have probably confirmed said observer's first
impression that they were watching a madwoman. For Dee was talking to
her family, present in memory and spirit, if not in person. She had
discovered it helped take away some of the pain, and kept her
memories of her family fresh, to address them as if they were around
when she was otherwise alone.

Dee studied the tracks, and realized they were larger than the beast
that had... <No. I will not drag up that memory.> Dee slammed a
mental door, and tried to find a diversion. At last, her recollection
of a story Gau had told her of finding Shadow here soon after he was
re-united with the others after the devastation of the world, came
to mind.

"So these are the tracks of the Behemoth they fought. Gau said it
was so fierce it somehow came back from the dead. Hmm. So the tracks
must lead to where they found Shadow, and the sight of the battle... Eh? "

Dee was so engrossed in following the tracks that she was unaware of
the pendant at her breast growing slightly warmer than before. It's
effect, however, immediately registered in her mind.

"Who's there? Gau, is that you?" <Strange, for a moment, I could have
sworn I heard his voice calling out...>

After a moment, she dismissed it as wishful thinking, and continued
her search for the battle site, until at last she stood before a
massive skeleton, with shattered rock and deep holes from the
Behemoth's death throes very evident.

"Impressive. I see Gau wasn't bragging when he said it was bigger
than any he had seen to that point. I would be interested in
comparing his rendition to the others, in time."

As Dee spoke, she could easily envision the battle, so vividly had
Gau spoken of it, one of his first attempts after she had begun his
education. As she thought back to his words, Dee began to absent-
mindedly fondle the pendant, again unaware of its warmth or of the
faint throb it gave once more as her fingers traced the runes. A
vision began to form in her mind, as though from the viewpoint of
the rocks in the area, affording her a bird's eye view of the events
that had gone before...

                               *  *  *

Gau, Cyan, and Celes stood around the still form of Shadow, as Sabin
kneeled to check for signs of life. After a tense moment, soft whines
from Interceptor the only sound to be heard, Sabin looked up, a smile
on his lips.

"He's alive. Pretty bashed up, but he's breathing. Someone get a
potion, would they?" Relieved sighs echoed through the cavern, and
even Interceptor appeared to understand, as the sleek black canine
gently licked his master's face and whuffed softly in relief. Cyan
began to reach for his pouch.

"Here, Sir Sabin, I have what thou needest." As he began to hand the
potion to Sabin, Celes stopped him. Bending over Shadow, she laid a
hand on his chest, then looked up at the others.

"No need to waste a potion, when I still have the means to do it
myself." With that, Celes' brow furrowed in concentration, and
verdant green motes of light drifted down her arm and sank into
Shadow's chest. For a moment, a soft aura was visible around the
black-clad form, then it faded. With a visible rise and fall, Shadow
began to breath much deeper, and his face lost the rictus of pain it
had worn before.

Gau nudged Cyan, relief apparent on his thin features.

"Uwaooh, Gau afraid Shadow gone, Mr. Thou! Glad he alive, can go
now? Me not like cave much."

Cyan tensed visibly, but at a glance from Sabin and Celes, he nodded
and spoke with much more control than he had been planning to.

"Sir Gau, please. I have asked thee a hundred times now, to not call
me that. My name is Cyan Garamonde, retainer to Kingdom of Doma. I
am NOT Mr. Thou!"

"Gau sorry. Gau not good with names, Mr. Thou."

For Gau still remembered Sabin's words, spoken long ago when the
three had first met.

"He's Mr. Thou!"

And it had stuck to this day, causing no end of consternation to the
proud warrior.

Sabin closed his eyes, anticipating an immediate outburst, but heard
a noise, one that set his spine to crawling, one that had a similar
effect on the others, judging from their expressions.

Interceptor was growling at something behind them.

As the companions wheeled around, they saw the corpse of the Super
Behemoth begin to stir, a putrid grayish-green light dancing across
the gargantuan form. With a low moan that reverbated through the
cavern, it slowly rose to it's feet, and turn a feral gaze on them.
Then it charged, footsteps shaking the entire cavern.

As the companions scattered before the Behemoth, Sabin hoisted Shadow
over his shoulder and sprinted for a boulder with an overhang. As
Celes' voice rang out and Gau shouted in excitement, the massive
blackbelt gently deposited Shadow out of harm's way. Strapping on his
Dragon Claw, bejeweled talons glinting faintly in the cavern's dim
light, Sabin turned to join the battle now underway.

"Cyan, see if you can cripple it! Gau, distract the Behemoth from
Cyan's approach. I'll hold down it's magic! Go!" Celes brandished
her blade, and took a deep breath as she opened herself to the flow
of magic in the cavern.

Gau leapt into the air, a gleam of reddish light in his eyes as he
was outlined by the ghostly reptilian shape of a Pterodon. Clapping
his wings once, the shimmering apparition flew around the Behemoth's
head, dodging the ponderous swipe it made and climbed above the
massive creature. Soft starry lights detached themselves from the
Gau/Pterodon's wings and streamed at the Behemoth, expanding into
fireballs that detonated as they struck the hulking form. The
Behemoth screamed, more in anger at this insult than in any pain,
and pawed futilely at the tiny attacker dodging and darting around
it, hissing in challenge. The monster then made a gesture, and the
glow of a spell began to form and stream towards this annoying foe,
only to divert and form a fiery golden aura around Celes as she stood
with her blade held high.

Celes felt the rush of power as her Runic ability siphoned off
whatever attack the creature had made, and she decided to put the
magic to good use. As Cyan prepared to make his attack, she thrust a
hand towards the valiant warrior and spat the words of a spell.

Cyan concentrated as he summoned the technique his family had taught
him not two days before, the vision of Elayne and Owain waving to
him filling his heart with determination and love. Then the spell
Celes had cast took hold, and Cyan lunged for the Behemoth at a
supernaturally fast pace as the spell of Haste manifested. As he
leaped at the distracted beast, he shouted one word.

"CLEAVE!"

Cyan's blade tore into the Behemoth just as the argent fury of an
Aura Bolt from Sabin lanced across the cavern and slammed into the
hulking beast, causing it to roar in real pain at last. The SwordTech
tore at the creature's form, slicing through it much deeper than the
blade alone would have managed, until at last the knight was standing
on the other side of the beast. As he turned, Cyan sheathed the sword
and smiled, confident that the technique had worked.

It had, for as the companions watched, the Behemoth simply fell apart
into flaming pieces, unable to withstand the spiritual and physical
onslaught inherent in the Aura Bolt and Cleave attacks, as well as
the fireballs from earlier that had been consuming it slowly.

Sabin was the first to speak, baritone voice echoing through the cave
and breaking the tension.

"Well. That's that, I suppose. What say we get Shadow and get out of
here, before any more surprises show up?"

"Uwaoo ooh! Gau agree with Sabin! We go now!"

"Um, Sabin, where's Shadow?" Celes looked around, not having seen
Sabin's earlier actions. A barking from across the cavern drew her
eye, and the heroes walked over to a joyous Interceptor, tail wagging
in joy that his master was safe now. Hoisting Shadow once more, Sabin
and the others began to make their way back to the surface.

                               *  *  *

Dee staggered, then realized she had been so caught up in the
recollection of Gau's story that she had almost lapsed into a
daydream. <Hmm, that was an unusually intense remembrance, more of a
vision than a recollection of someone else's tale. But what brought
that on?>

Then Dee realized she was holding the pendant tightly, and for the
first time Dee noticed the unusual warmth it possessed, as well as
the fact that the Tiger's-Eye in the center appeared to be shifting
as though it were a sandstorm trapped in a crystal.

"What is this? I have never heard of an item of this nature before."

Peering more intently at the pendant, she tried to command it, to
see if maybe it was something that she could control, or at least
activate whatever else it may cause. As she did so, the pendant grew
cold, and the shifting in the centerpiece slowed, then died.

"Oh, fine, be that way, then!" Dee snapped in mock exasperation. Then
she realized she had had enough "adventure" for the day, and decided
to return to the main cavern. Adjusting her pack and tucking the
pendant back in her vest, Dee took a deep breath and started on her
long walk back.

                               *  *  *

Two hours later, Dee finally strode into the settled part of the
Veldt cave, a light sweat evident on her face. <Whew! I think I'll
pack a meal next time, I'm STARVING!> As she made her way to the
mouth of the cavern, she noticed the sounds of a thunderstorm echoing
through the basalt tunnels, growing in ferocity as she approached the
entrance. At last, Dee stood in the "reception hall"(as she liked to
call it) of the cave, and she watched the storm outside through the
distant cavern mouth as she prepared a fire to begin fixing a meal.
Reaching for a flint to start the blaze, her peripheral vision kicked
in and Dee stood up, all senses on full alert. Dee could have sworn
she had glimpsed a shadow at the cave mouth. <Which means...>

Someone or something had just entered the cave...