"Hahahaha," Jazz was laughing, but everyone could hear the edge to it. "Okay so this next critter is exactly like the BooYar, but twenty times bigger?"

Guzzi nodded reluctantly.

"What did you name this one? A BigYar?"

"Hmmph. That's quite good. No I called them FooBars. But BigYar? Knowing this place we'll probably find a mountain-sized one of these things. BigYar. I like it..." Guzzi kicked the coals to put out the fire. "'Course we'll all be too dead to tell anyone."

"You're kidding, right?" asked Jazz. "About the, what'd you call it? The YarBoo?"

Guzzi was about to respond when a three-dimensional image of Sapphire appeared in the middle of the group. "He ain't kidding, kid," she said.

Guzzi took a step back. "Wow. Cool suit, sis!" said Guzzi.

"Ye-ah! You like it? Schmeep's Garship rocks." Suddenly she was laughing. "Ha. Rocks, get it? Hahahaha".

And then Schmeep Gar began grinding in its own special way, showing appreciation for the joke. "Rocks!" it eventually managed to say through the interpreter, then continued grinding.

Jazz and Guzzi exchanged looks, and shook heads in sync.

"Nah. This thing really exists. Fluffy, nearly Gar size. With huge blue eyes. Cutest thing ever. 'Til it opens its mouth."

"Always alone? Like the BooYars?" asked Sapphire.

"S'far as I know," said Guzzi.

"Okay then, you survived. How?"

"They hate explosions. And I was lucky enough, last time I was here, to have gathered up a few entombed artifacts. One of which explodes a lot."

What? Thought Jazz.

What the? Thought Sapphire.

Guzzi opened his pack and took something out.

"Hey, does that mean I rock too?" asked Schmeep, and began grinding again.

Jazz looked the Gar up and down. "Sure Schmeep. You rock hard," she said, and had to laugh.

Suddenly the grinding halted, and everyone looked at Schmeep. Then the avalanche of rocks and boulders crashed down the mountain that was Schmeep Gar laughing and they returned their attention to Guzzi.

"See this?" he asked, holding out a strange rustic brown sphere.

They nodded.

"Well, you ain't gonna believe it."

✨ 👽 ✨

From here on in the cavern had an artificial look about it. The walls and floors were straight and smooth, with an eerie green glow emanating from within.

And they seemed to go forever.

"It's... incredible!" said Sapphire.

"There must have been a transport system back in the day?" asked Jazz.

"Still is," said Guzzi. "Never figured out how to summon it..."

A slight bend saw the tunnel widen gradually into a vast room. Guzzi motioned for silence, then pointed at a huge pile of fur against the far wall.

"And there we have it," he said. "The BigYar."

✨ 👽 ✨

To be continued...

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....Continued from: