Crystal Diving

"Do you think we'll actually find something?" Thistle asked curiously, ducking into the small opening of the seaside caves. 

"If we're ever going to find them, it'll be here," Foxglove insisted. She was leading the small pack into the winding, musty tunnels of the cave, careful to avoid the patches of slippery algae that flourished here during high tide. The pink raptor was well aware of the tides, knowing they had limited time before they had to leave the caves, lest they be trapped overnight or worse. The allure of treasure was too great to ignore the caves completely, tales had been going around the islands about crystals forming in the transient caves and that this was an annual occurrence. Being less than a year old, Foxglove had never had a chance to find them before but she was seizing the opportunity now. Tiramisu and Thistle were coming along, not just because they were also curious about crystals, but because they were her best friends and they would follow her anywhere, like she would follow them anywhere. It made her heart warm to think about, going from an abandoned egg to being in a group of ride or die best friends that she knew would never leave her. She hoped she would be able to break off some of the crystals and give them as gifts to the other two, maybe an orange one for Misu and a purple one for Thistle, to match their eyes. The Shunosaurus that had told her about the multicoloured crystals had also told her that they came in every colour of the rainbow, so in theory she should be able to find what she was looking for.

Foxglove scrambled up the next set of eroded sandstone stairs and held her claw out to help the others up. Tiramisu ignored her offered hand and climbed up himself, but Thistle took hold gratefully and puffed loudly when she made it to the top.

"It'll be a long way back, we have to keep an eye on the sun," she noted, looking up at a hole in the roof of the caverns. Sun streamed through from straight above them, noon or slightly after, a good few hours to try and get out.

"I suppose if we can tread water for a while we could get out through that hole," Tiramisu remarked drily, looking up and tilting his head at the potential escape route.

"We won't need to," Foxglove said, reassuring them and herself, "We just have to hustle, no more hanging around!" Her claws clicked against the stone as she jogged through the short and winding tunnel that led further into the sandstone cliffs. At this point it was almost entirely dark, no more gaps worn into the ceiling to grant them daylight to navigate by. It didn't matter for long, as up ahead something was producing a faint white light. 

The raptor trio hurried around the corner to find a large growth of clear crystals, dotting the walls of the cave like stars. Thistle gasped and tapped one of them with her claw, making it ring out in a quiet clear note.

"It's beautiful!" she said in awe.

"It's not the right ones, but this must mean we're close," Foxglove said determinedly. "The tunnel keeps going." She gestured down the cave where their path continued to bend around sharp corners. Tiramisu and Thistle were hesitant, happy enough to have found these crystals but their pink friend wasn't about to be deterred from her original goal. Now unsure of the sun's position, the three decided to take the tunnels at speed, leading to them not being able to see the sharp drop-off that led further down into the caverns. Foxglove tried to stop but Thistle collided with her back and sent them both pitching over the edge and into the high-ceiling chamber that waited below. With no options left to him, Tiramisu followed them down by sliding down the drop instead of falling, using his claws to slow his descent along the stone.

"Are you two okay?" he asked into the dark.

"We're good!" Thistle chirped, "Come here, hold my tail so we don't lose you."

"Where do we even go from here?" he grouched, but obediently stumbled his way over to the girls and grabbed onto whoever's tail he encountered first.

"Find the wall, we can feel our way around from there," Thistle said confidently. Foxglove said nothing, stewing glumly in her shame that she had lead her friends into this. She followed them both along the walls, letting her claws run over the surprisingly warm stone until they found a break in the wall. The cavern opened up once more and the sun finally reached them again, but they were too enraptured by the sight before them to notice.

The crystals rose like a mountain from the centre of the cave, climbing the walls in spiderweb-like patterns. Each individual cluster seemed to be a brand new colour, shades of greens, blues, reds, pinks and oranges that the Utahraptors had never seen before, could barely even comprehend. The sun only intensified the colour, sending lights over every inch of the room like a cathedral made entirely of stained glass. Foxglove rushed to the nearest cluster of purple crystals, eyeing them critically before grabbing and tugging on one of their spires. It snapped easily, the structure was as fragile as it was beautiful. She moved to the orange ones, hurrying to snap it off too before whirling around to face the others. They were in the depths of the crystals too, arguing over a stick of pink crystal, gesturing aggressively at where Foxglove was standing. She beamed and ran to meet them, bringing the crystals together in a crushing hug.