"Whee!" says Tanalin.

Kiawen claps her hands. "How are we getting there? Walking or flying or teleporting or something else?"

"If he only just found it probably it is too far to walk," says Carinna.

"It would be too far to walk," agrees Kanim. "We can fly, though, if that would be more fun than teleporting; what do you think?"

"I wanna see the cave!" says Tanalin. "Let's teleport."

Carinna nods agreement.

Kanim snaps his fingers as a sort of signal that teleportation is about to happen, and - here they are, in a cave that looks more like an illustration than anything, covered in interesting lichens and populated by small creatures and bedecked across the ceiling with glowing crystals in all sorts of colors. A spring burbles from one wall, and another can be heard farther back around a corner.

Carinna gets on all fours to have a closer look at this creature. "Can I pick it up?" she asks.

"They're all completely harmless, go ahead," laughs Kanim.

Carinna scoops up the round thing in both hands.

It squeaks its tiny squeak again, rocks back and forth, rolls in a circle around her cupped hands, and then settles into the bottom of the hand-bowl and starts emitting a soft purple glow and a sound like 'whmmmmmm'.

Kiawen is charmed, and sets about looking for something equally cute to pick up.

There are a few black-and-white creatures with round ears, round bellies, and round little paws over there by the burbling spring. One of them is nibbling on what seems to be a tiny blue flower; the other two are cuddling.

Well, she'd hate to interrupt either activity. She goes and tastes the springs, first. "This one's blueberry and the other is sparkling cucumber," she announces, when this has been done, and she checks in on the black-and-whites to see if any of them could be less disruptively picked up at this time.

The one with the flower is sitting up and looking at her, with its little head tipped all the way back so it can see way up high.

Kiawen picks it up, and pets it gently, and then sits it on her shoulder so she can go look at all the crystals.

The little creature nestles up against her neck and licks her earlobe with its tiny tickly tongue. (It can't reach any higher.)

"Can we bring critters home?" asks Kiawen.

"I think Cricket would probably terrorize them, and also, the fact that none of them have left the cave on their own suggests that they need to be here," says Kanim. "But you can come here and visit them whenever you like."

"Me, too," says Carinna. "This is the best cave." She rubs her puffball-critter on her cheek.

Her puffball-critter whmmmms contentedly.

"What should we name it?" asks Kiawen, doubling back from an excursion into the crystal maze in the back. "The cave I mean."

"I don't know. The Cave of Small Fluffy Things seems like a silly name for a cave."

"But it's true," says Tanalin, giggling down at her lapful of small fluffy things.

"It i-i-is," allows Carinna. "Or the Caves of Blueberry and Cucumber?"

"The Cave of the Crystal Maze. The Cave of Pocket Creatures," says Kiawen, trying her black-and-white in her pocket and finding it a good fit.

"The Cave of Soft Fluffy Things," says Tanalin, when one of her puffballs rolls into her hand.

"They are very soft."

"And they make cute little noises."

"How about," says Tanalin, petting her puffballs, "the Gentle Cave?"

"I like that," says Carinna. "Most caves are nasty and just want to trap you in the dark or shut you up with monsters or something - this one is nice."

"Sounds good to me," giggles Kiawen.

A green puffball hops onto Kanim's foot and squeaks at him.

Kanim picks it up and pats it. "Gentle Cave it is. I'll write a paper on it."

Kanim's puffball glows brightly and whmmmmms.

"What should we name the creatures?"

"I'm not sure!" says Tanalin. "Round Fluffy Glowy Things With No Discernible Features is a bit of a mouthful. And it leaves out how warm and soft and nice they are. And the cute little sounds they make. What about yours, Kiawen? They almost look like round little bears."

"They do! Little black and white bears that don't bite and fit in my pocket. Hmmm. They are black and white. Piano bears?"

"Poofs," says Carinna of her purple poof.

"Poofs," giggles Tanalin. She gathers her lapful of poofs into her arms and hugs them all at once. They squeak a chorus of tiny squeaks and glow softly.

"What does it mean when they glow? Is glowing happy?" wonders Carinna.

"How would you tell?"

"It seems like they glow when you touch them," says Tanalin, setting her poofs down in her lap. They all cuddle up together, still glowing. "Kanim, what do you think?"

"I'm not really sure how to tell what the glowing means, but they don't seem to object to being handled; they can get around just fine and they come right up to us," he says.

"They do! It's adorable," says Tanalin.

"It is!"

"Are you sure Cricket would terrorize them," sighs Carinna.

"You'd have to get Bella to ask him, but they are pretty rodent-sized."

Whmmmm goes Carinna's poof.

"It would be nice to have one with me all the time, though."

"We can hang out here all the time," says Kiawen. "Sometime we should bring Val and Ike!"

"If Cricket promises to leave them alone, and your moms say you may, and we can figure out why none of these animals have left the cave and spread through the forest when they could just roll right out the exit if they so chose, then you can take critters home. Till then, just play with them here."

"That sounds reasonable," says Tanalin.

"How many kinds of creatures are there here?" asks Carinna, reaching down to inspect the fur texture of this unpoof.

"I didn't count them," says Kanim, "mostly because I'm not sure how the different colors of poofs count towards their species membership."

The unpoof's fur is slightly shorter and denser than a poof's, but similarly soft and pettable. This one is bright blue. It whiffles when she pets it.

"Piano bears, poofs, and - pawlings?" suggests Kiawen, approaching and inspecting the unpoof. "Because it has little paws."

"That kind only has two little paws, though," says Tanalin. "I think I saw one with four a minute ago - I've lost it now."

"What color was it?" asks Carinna, looking around.

"Maybe blue or green," she says. "It was playing with some poofs and they were glowing on it."

Kiawen begins a systematic hunt for a four-pawling.

There are two of them splashing in the spring around the corner. Their fur seems to shed water pretty well. One is sort of turquoise, the other orange-pink.

Kiawen picks up the turquoise one. "Found it. So these could be pawlings - or - no, we might find ones with six legs or something - all the ones that are poofs with paws are pawlings and we should come up with names for the kinds with different numbers of paws."

The turquoise four-pawling whiffles and nibbles gently on her finger.

"Two-pawlings and four-pawlings?" shrugs Tanalin.

"Unless we think of something better, sure," says Carinna, picking up the two-pawling that investigated her and holding it close to her poof.

The two fluffy creatures cuddle up to each other, making their respective happy sounds. The poof glows; pawlings don't seem to do that.

"I guess it's just as well we can't bring them home, how would we pick?" asks Kiawen, clearing a space of creatures and lying down and putting the ones she's picked up on her tummy.

The turquoise four-pawling meeps at the piano bear. The piano bear squeaks back. They bat at each other with their little paws; the piano bear has an advantage because its arms are longer. Then they cuddle.

Kiawen giggles and beams at them.

"Do you think we should get Ike and Val today or save it for another time?"

"Ooh, I didn't see any of those when I was looking around in the back," says Kiawen. "It's like a stubby fox!"

"A round, stripey, stubby fox," giggles Tanalin. "A foxball?"

"Foxball! Poofs and pawlings and piano bears and foxballs."

"Are you going to write your paper on the critters with our names for them, Kanim?"

"I don't see why not," he laughs. "You'd better make sure you find all the kinds, or I'll wind up discovering something you didn't get to name and I'll call it something boring."

"Well, do you know about any more kinds we haven't seen yet?"

"It's not a big cave," says Kanim airily, "I'm sure you can find them all if you look."

"I wonder if there are any more with tails. Do piano bears have tails, Kiawen?"

Kiawen checks. "Itty bitty ones."

The piano bear whose tail she just inspected crawls around in little circles, as though trying to catch said tail.

Kiawen is charmed.

"I think I like the poofs best," says Carinna.

Whmmmmmmmm goes Carinna's poof, as though it can tell.

Carinna nuzzles her poof.

"I like them all, but the piano bears are cutest, I think - and the foxball would probably not get terrorized by Cricket, it's big enough."

"I'm going to look in the maze for more creatures," Tanalin declares, and she gently evicts her lapful of poofs and heads off into the back of the cave.

Kiawen removes her pawling, puts her piano bear back on her shoulder, and follows her untwin.

"Hummingbird!" exclaims Kiawen, and she holds out a hand to see if it will land on her finger.

It lands, gripping her finger with its tiny feet.

"Awwwwwww," says Tanalin.

Kiawen pets it gently. "Hummingbirds already have a name, but this particular kind might not."

The tiny bird opens its tiny beak and cheeps.

"Cheeper?" suggests Kiawen.

"Maybe," says Tanalin. "Aren't hummingbirds supposed to hum?"

"I'm not sure. Do you hum?" she asks the cheeper.

The cheeper cheeps twice.

"I guess not. Maybe it's not a hummingbird."

"It's a cheepingbird," says Tanalin.

"Hello little cheepingbird," coos Kiawen, and she sets it on her shoulder opposite the piano bear and continues into the cave.

"Eee!" giggles Kiawen. "It's a pink bat thing. Probably they come in other colors, most of the things here do. Do you make a sound, bat-thing?"

The bat-thing chitters.

"There is a fluffy bat-thing on my head," Tanalin observes.

"Yes. With its wings flopped over your ears, chittering. What should we call it?"

"I like rabbat!"

Kanim goes to tell Bella about the cave. "In addition to being extremely cute, it's got this anti-injury field that I figured out after a bit of looking; I don't know how robust it is, but even if a piano bear decided to bite you you wouldn't get bit."

"Interesting. I wonder if that's duplicable - did you find a source?"

"We were wandering all up and down the crystal maze and we didn't find anything that said 'Look at me! I'm a mystical artifact!'," says Tanalin. "But maybe Kanim saw something. Did you?"

"Nothing screamed it. The cave is very self-contained - none of the animals or plants in it have ventured out - could be related, or not, I'll make another trip a while later and see if I can pin it down with more data points at different times of day."

"Can I go with you?" says Tanalin. "I want to see the fluffbats again."

"Sure, all three of you can come when I go back."

"Thank you," trills Carinna.

"Yay! Fluffbats," beams Tanalin.

"And we can figure out why they don't leave, and talk to Cricket, and bring home animals, right?"

"I suppose so. I don't think Cricket would hurt your pets if you acquired them, although he might find it irresistible to scare them."

"They don't seem to scare very easily," says Tanalin. "I guess living in the Gentle Cave will do that."

"If they never encounter anything scary, I suppose so. But you probably weren't batting them with your paws and hissing menacingly."

"True."

"I hope you figure it out, I'd like to have a piano bear."

"I want a poof."

"I am definitely a fluffbat person," says Tanalin. "They're so fluffy and flappy and they make that little 'wheep' sound when you pet them!"

"Poofs glow. None of the other kinds glow."

"They're all cute, I just like the black and white on the piano bears. Everything else in all those bright colors would be weird to keep with you all the time, it wouldn't match everything you might wear."

"I think I am okay with having a fluffbat that clashes with my outfit sometimes."

"Well, I guess we won't argue about who gets a particular critter."

"Assuming we can figure out how to remove them comfortably from the cave."

"I hope we can," Tanalin says wistfully. "They're so little and fluffy."

"I'm going to need to set aside a few minutes and pastwatch all this, aren't I," snorts Bella.

"Yes," says Tanalin. "Yes you are."

Bella laughs, and hugs her.

Hugs!

Meanwhile, Kiawen brainphones their friends from Toure-en-Marsh. [Kanim found us a cave that even Carinna likes!]

[Ooh,] says Icarin. [Sign me up!]

[Is it boring? I bet it's boring,] says Valeria.

[It's not boring, it's just safe and cute. There are lots of little, harmless friendly animals in it.]

[Boring,] Val announces.

[There are little black and white bears that fit in the palm of your hand, and two flavored springs, and glowing crystal formations, and a maze.]

[Slightly less boring.]

[I want to see the tiny bears! When can I see the tiny bears?]

[Kanim's going to make another trip soon and you can come! He wants to figure out its magical properties. If he figures out why the animals haven't left the cave by themselves, we can see if we can take them out safely and have pets from it. If Cricket promises not to scare them, anyway. I want one of the bears, and Carinna wants a glowing rolling furball called a poof, and Tanalin wants a fluffbat which is what it sounds like, and there are also little hovering birds and things like poofs only with faces and round foxes and tiny hamsters with bumblebee and tiger stripes, and in the pool around the cucumber fountain were itty-bitty ducks in all colors and even smaller ducklings, and some things we thought were rocks but turned out to be very slow turtles that change color and have flowers growing on their shells.]

[This is the most adorable cave in the universe,] says Ike.

[It is! Tanalin named it the Gentle Cave.]

[I want to go there,] he says. [Possibly forever.]

[Well, you can go there, but I don't know about forever,] laughs Kiawen.

[How about soon, can I go there soon?]

[I think Kanim plans to go back in the next few days.]

[Please include me in this expedition!]

[We will, promise!]

[Hooray!]

Indeed, a few days later, Kanim notifies the Duchess and Duke that he's ready to pick up Ike, and Val if she'd like to join them, for the expedition if that's all right.

Ike would like to join them! His sister would not.

Then she may stay behind. Off they all go!

Carinna seeks out the nearest poofs.

Icarin seeks out the tiny ducks.

Tanalin seeks out the fluffbats!

Kiawen makes for the piano bears.

Kanim starts inspecting the rocks around the blueberry spring in minute detail.

Tanalin, with a pink fluffbat on her head - it might even be the same one - emerges from the maze and watches him.

Eventually he determines the spring is not what he is looking for. He starts peering at the turtle-rocks, occasionally picking them up and moving them to other parts of the cave.

On one such occasion, Tanalin's fluffbat swoops down and gobbles up a flower off the in-transit turtle-rock's back.

Kanim laughs; this won't affect what he's looking at. Eventually he decides the turtlerocks aren't what he's looking for either. He goes farther back and checks out the sparkling cucumber spring. "Enjoying the ducks?" he asks Ike.

"They are so tiny," says Ike. "Look how tiny they are! They are teeny tiny!"

"Extremely tiny!" Kanim agrees. Hmmm, spring, pool, rocks - nope. He goes to check out the maze section.

Eventually, Kanim notices that! It helps that in the maze, they're eye-level. "Ah-ha."

A sky-blue poof rolls up to his feet and squeaks.

Whmmmmm goes the poof, and it glows happily, and the anti-injury field strengthens just a tiny tiny bit in the immediate vicinity.

"Aren't you magically fascinating. Now I just have to figure out why you don't roll out into the surrounding forest."

Whmmmmm.

Kanim puts the poof down again and decides to track its behavior until the children want to leave.

It rolls against his foot for a while, then rolls away into the maze for a bit of exploring, and then it rolls up to the cucumber spring and nudges a duckling aside and has a drink.

"Hi again. Having fun?" He continues observing the poof.

Kanim follows it.

"The anti-injury field comes from the crystals, and also the poofs, especially when they glow."

"Ooh," says Tanalin. "That is interesting."

"Yep. If Carinna adopts one she'll have a little portable ward."

"Certainly does." If she's going to be occupying that poof for a while he can't really study its natural behavior, can he. Instead he goes to sit by the cave exit and watch animals failing to leave it.

A piano bear galumphs up to him and tries to hug his ankle, but its wee arms won't go all the way around.

Kanim laughs. He pets the piano bear.

It cuddles his hand. That works much better!

It does!

Thirsty things, aren't they.

Yes. Well, there's not much to do in this cave other than drink from the springs, cuddle, and eat interesting lichens and turtle-rock flowers.

No wonder they are so affectionate with their visitors!

Speaking of which, another poof rolls up to him and squeaks for pettings.

Pet pet pet.

Glow glow whmmmmmmm.

He drinks some blueberry water thoughtfully.

It tastes like blueberry! It is pleasant and refreshing.

He puts a dish of blueberry water in the middle of the cave, away from the spring's usual location, and also a dish of ordinary, unflavored water.

A few creatures drink from those, but not very much - they seem to enjoy the flavour, but need water from the local springs to properly quench their thirst.

After about an hour, a foxball with a glowing, whmmming poof sitting on its head trundles out of the cave. The foxball drinks from the bowl. The poof drops off its head and has some too. Then the foxball fishes the poof out of the bowl and trundles back into the cave.

A troop of three poofs ventures past the edge of the cave, bumping into each other as they navigate the unfamiliar terrain. They have to use each other as stepping-stones to hop into the bowl and drink, but when the first two have had enough, they roll out and let the last one hop up onto them to get in.

Kanim keeps the bowl full, and keeps moving it farther and farther away from the cave entrance.

The next time that foxball comes out, it has two more poofs riding on its back. All four creatures drink from the bowl.

It is welcome to stay there till Kanim has to make refills.

It naps for a little while, then wakes up and attempts to snuggle his shoe.

His shoe isn't very snuggly.

It is not! The foxball gives up and snuggles its poofy friend instead.

With this and further informed observations, Kanim concludes that the water is the only special cave thing the Gentle Creatures require, and determines that it will be quite possible for the girls to keep Gentle Pets if they routinely fetch both kinds of water or just produce it at home. A divided spring which will do each kind costs a pentagon.

Tanalin would like to go and get a fluffbat immediately!

Carinna wants her poof!

Kiawen is unwavering in her desire for a piano bear!

And so off they go!

A pink fluffbat settles onto Tanalin's head. She feeds it a wildlflower she picked earlier, which it noms up happily.

Kiawen picks up the first piano bear to approach her and claims it as her own and names it Keys.

They are! Pink ones and purple ones and blue ones and green ones and yellow ones and orange ones. And various shades in between. And they all love her very much. She may be accumulating a pile.

"I don't know how to pick one!" exclaims Carinna.

Her poofpile cuddles up and whmmms soothingly.

"...Is there a reason you can't just take all of them?" says Tanalin. "Then they'll have company!"

"One poof to start with, I think," says Kanim.

"Ohhhhh," says Carinna unhappily.

"Hmm," says Tanalin. "You could get up and go somewhere and see which ones follow you, and keep doing that until there's only one left, and say that's probably the one that likes you the most?"

"I guess that works, if they don't just all follow me," says Carinna. She brushes poofs out of her lap, and gets up, and heads out of the cave.

A blue one and a green one and an orange one all roll after her, squeaking.

She continues away from the cave.

"Okay!" says Carinna, and she picks up the green poof and snuggles it up against her cheek.

It whmmmmmmms and glows brightly.

Carinna decides to call it Mossy.

Mossy goes whmmm.