[XOTM] Aristotle’s Expedition

Aristotle’s Expedition

It was a beautiful day in the forest, the sun was shining brightly on the trees, and the gentle noises of a nearby stream going into a nearby cave system made the environment feel nice and welcoming. A warm breeze gently fluttered through the cave, bringing some warmth inside of its immaculate halls. Aristotle was navigating through the caves with a little flashlight as he calmly and carefully descended further below. This particular cave was well known in the region for a beautiful, massive crystal formation at the cave's depths and the unique cave flora which resided near the cave's streams of water as you ventured further down.

Aristotle had been making his way down for a couple hours now, making sure to have his spelunking equipment in perfect condition and carefully marking the path along the way with some bioluminescent pulp from some Lantern Fruit. He had brought some with him from his greenhouse at home, as it grew not too long ago from the bountiful harvest in the previous months, and it made for a surprisingly good marking tool for exploring such a deep cavern.

Along he went, slowly marking and making his way through the cave. The sounds of water were stronger now, and you could catch a whiff of the fresh water passing through the rocks. Aristotle now knew he was starting to head in the right direction now. He started to follow the direction of the stream, being extra careful as bigger sudden drops were starting to become more common, as the stream slowly started to become faster and faster as the terrain became more sloped. As he got closer, he noticed that there was a massive drop, and the current that was once a simple stream, became a beautiful waterfall dotted with plenty of rare lichen, bioluminescent mushrooms, and some very rare flowers were growing at the basin of the waterfall.

Eventually there was a wider path on the way down, and Aristotle took it to avoid slipping into the stream and ending up in the waterfall! He made his way down near the basin and, along with the flora, there was a massive structure of crystals all around. As Aristotle took out a light to see them, the light would shimmer off the crystals, filling the room with an explosion of dazzling colors. There were plentiful amounts of crystals embedded into the earth, and the minerals and gemstones inside of them were nothing short of awe-inspiring. Even though it took a lot of preparation to come down this far, it was absolutely worth it for Aristotle as he was filled with even more inspiration after such an amazing sight. On the way back, right as he was about to put away his light to protect the fauna, Aristotle thought of the destroyed planet of Owai-8. Could something just like this or something even more beautiful have existed there? Just how much of that planet’s beauty would never be known to himself or any other Xero? Thoughts similar to these raced through his head as he followed the track he made and safely made his way back home, eager to learn more about the secrets of the Owai system.