Star Jasmine's eyes snapped open in the pitch-black cavern.
His last memories returned in fragments. He had no idea how long ago it had been, only that they came from before he lost consciousness.
He had dug until he was exhausted, eaten a few of the nuts and grass seeds he carried, and been about to doze off when he suddenly heard strange cries.
Layered one over another and distorted by heavy echoes, they were impossible to make out.
At first, he thought exhaustion was making him hear things. He covered his ears and tried to ignore the noise, but then the name "Honeysuckle" drifted through the cavern, jolting his entire body.
He listened carefully and finally confirmed that he was not imagining it. Someone in the distance, probably near the cave entrance, was calling for him.
Startled and overjoyed, he sprang up to run toward the entrance, but his exhausted body refused to obey. His legs buckled, and he collapsed back to the ground.
He tried to shout, but his parched throat could barely produce a sound. With no other choice, he pulled out the battered mining pick that had accompanied him for months and struck it against the rock beside him, hoping the sharp clinks would carry through the cave.
Before he had struck more than a few times, however, the entire cavern began to shake as violently as if an earthquake had hit.
The ground split and collapsed beneath his feet. As he fell, his head struck something, and he lost consciousness...
Now, at last, he was awake.
After taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Star Jasmine knew exactly what he had to do.
He had to get back to the cave entrance!
He did not know who had been shouting earlier, but they had spoken in a human language, even though no humans should have been on this island...
They had mentioned Honeysuckle, so they must know something about her. She might even be with them!
Star Jasmine's eyes lit up at the thought. After months of digging through the cave, he had long since begun to despair.
He climbed to his feet and looked around for a way back.
There it was!
His gaze settled on a slope nearby. He and the rocks scattered around him must have tumbled down it during the collapse.
If he climbed to the top, he should be able to find the passage he had fallen from.
Ignoring the scrapes and bruises from his fall, he dropped to all fours and scrambled toward the slope.
A boulder the size of a small hill blocked his path. Golden patterns gleamed across its surface, perhaps veins of gold ore or something similar. Whatever they were, only humans would care. He paid them no mind.
Too excited and anxious to examine the black stone threaded with gold, he saw that its many sharp protrusions would make it difficult to climb and limped around it instead.
Completely focused on retracing his path and returning to the surface, Star Jasmine failed to notice the pitch-black "boulder" moving behind him.
In the darkness, a pair of pale, pupil-less eyes opened.
—--
The Hunters forced their way through the winding passage.
In many places, they had to stoop or even crawl, dragging themselves forward on their elbows just to squeeze through.
The violent geological upheaval several months earlier had collapsed multiple sections of the cave beneath the valley. Caverns that had once been wide and open were now so narrow that the group could only edge through sideways, while other passages had been sealed entirely.
The only good news was that someone had excavated a way through those blocked sections.
There was no need to guess who had done the digging.
Aside from the advance team, the only person on Tidal Island who could have used tools to tunnel through a cave was the Uruki named Star Jasmine.
After squeezing sideways through yet another crevice that had clearly been hewn open, Isis clicked her tongue in amazement. "Isn't this place several dozen kilometers in a straight line from the cave where we found Honeysuckle? Is he trying to dig all the way through?"
Altaïr fell silent for a few seconds. "He'll never make it. He's digging in the wrong direction. The truth is, he doesn't know which way to go. He's just tunneling deeper underground at random.
"Honestly, if Honeysuckle hadn't escaped first and asked us to find him, he would have kept digging until he died without ever reaching her."
"He's even more persistent than the average Uruki, meow..." Sajji scratched one ear.
Ordinarily, the conversation would probably have ended there, with Sajji's observation serving as the final word.
This time, however, the party included Kagetsu, who was what one might politely call talkative. "How is that different from a normal Uruki? What are Uruki usually like? I never saw one back in Dundorma."
"Dundorma is densely populated, with almost no room for farming inside the city, so Uruki don't go there." Altaïr smiled as he ducked beneath a ridge of stone.
"There are a few Uruki in Loc Lac. When the Boss and I served in the Loc Lac Rangers, we ran into some of them, meow. How should I put it? They're free-spirited, laid-back, and not especially dependable, meow."
Sajji stroked his whiskers. "That may be a little unfair, meow, but if one of those 'traditional' Uruki ran into something like this, they'd probably mourn for a week or two, then cheerfully start a new life, meow."
"Well, that's not so strange, is it? Plenty of humans are the same. It just comes down to personality.
"Come to think of it, Honeysuckle doesn't seem lazy at all. She's certainly more diligent than my boss, Francesca...
"Please, whatever you do, don't tell Francesca I said that. I'm begging you." Kagetsu clasped her hands before Isis.
Isis thought of Francesca as family, but she was hardly going to take offense at a harmless joke on her behalf.
"Could Honeysuckle and Star Jasmine have left the flower fields to live among humans precisely because their personalities were unusual? By Uruki standards, I mean."
"It's possible." Altaïr raised a hand, signaling his companions to be quiet. "Can you hear that?"
Clawdia's ears twitched. She immediately dropped to the ground and pressed one ear against the stone. After listening for a moment, she said, "There's something down there, meow. Farther ahead, on a lower level. It sounds like a Large Monster roaring, meow."
The Hunters exchanged glances. Every one of them sensed that something was wrong.
"Let's move faster. Everyone, stay alert."
The Hunters quickened their pace, only to stop again before they had gone far.
They had not chosen to stop. The passage ahead had collapsed into an enormous sinkhole, and the roars of a Monster below rang clearly through the gaping opening.
Little White, Kagetsu's Bilbobrix Kinsect, flew from her arm and circled above the hole, pointing unmistakably downward.
Embarrassment crept across Kagetsu's face.
The collapse had happened shortly after she shouted into the cave, and she could all too easily imagine the sequence of events.
A Large Monster had been sleeping soundly deep underground when her racket woke it. Enraged, it smashed through the ceiling of its den, and poor Star Jasmine, crossing the level above, dropped straight through...
"I'll go down and bring him back." Feeling responsible for the trouble, Kagetsu quickly downed a bottle of Dash Juice.
She was not much of a fighter, but she had complete confidence in her ability to escape.
"I'll go with you." Altaïr adjusted his Slinger and loaded several Flash Pods. "Try not to provoke the Monster. If we have to fight, I'll cover our retreat. You take Star Jasmine and run."
"I'm going too!" Isis said quickly.
Altaïr raised a hand to stop her. "I wasn't finished. You stay up here and hold the rope. Wait for our signal. We'll need you to pull us back up quickly."
"...All right."
As they spoke, the Dash Juice Kagetsu had consumed took effect through the Wide-Range Talisman, transforming into a mist of water infused with strange energy that spread to everyone.
Immediately afterward, she drank a bottle of Psychoserum.
Psychoserum was a highly specialized potion that greatly amplified a Hunter's perception, sharpening sight, smell, and hearing alike.
Hunters ordinarily used it to help track Monsters, but Kagetsu's main purpose now was to sharpen her eyesight.
Under the Psychoserum's effects, the lightless cave took on a dim, bluish cast. It was nowhere near as clear as a well-lit area, but they could just make out their surroundings.
Altaïr gave her a mildly surprised nod and stowed the cumbersome lantern at his waist. He had never realized Psychoserum could be used this way.
Isis quickly fetched a rope, secured one end around a sturdy rock beside her, and tossed the other into the enormous opening.
Altaïr seized the rope with one hand and leaped into the hole.
P.S. Psychoserum is an item from the early Monster Hunter titles that marks Monsters on the map when consumed. Its use here to sharpen vision and improve sight in caves is an additional setting original to this story.
(Translated by yourtl.app)