Light shone through the caves, reaching every nearby wall as it lit the dark space. Water reflected its rays, which gave it a gentle glow. Mirrors set up intricately captured the light from water and sunlight, directing it around handcrafted pillars from floor to ceiling. When the light reached a giant mural in the center of the cavern, it spilled across the underground city.
        Unfortunately, it was a very rude awakening for Myrtle. Her eyes burned from the unnatural light of the city, angled through her windows and straight onto her face. Grumbling, Myrtle sat up shielding her eyes as she pulled the moss curtain over the window. Myrtle haphazardly tumbled to the floor before sitting up. Her brother was asleep comfortably on the ledge below hers, without a painful eye-stinging window.
        Myrtle poked Turtle in the eye. "Get up you lazy sloth of a brother." Myrtle sat there for another two minutes before pulling him off the bed with his leg.
        "It's too early for sloths" he mumbled, dragging himself back to the ledge with his front claws.
"Get up before I wake up Hummingbird, then." Myrtle teased, stepping dramatically backwards towards the doorway.
        The threat worked perfectly. "I'm up! I'm up!" He said, basically screeching, moments before he realized he probably woke up the entirety of Luthel with how loud it was. "Please tell me she's still asleep," Turtle added.
        "Not with that screech. You could probably wake up a deaf old dragon with your squeaky voice." Myrtle grinned.
        Turtle stood to his feet. "I am not that loud." He insisted, peeking outside the room before turning the corner. Myrtle glanced at the floor and at all the wooden dragons and amphipteres surrounded by a moss blanket covered in a plethora of carved serpents and fish. I'll clean it when I'm home, Myrtle thought as she barreled down the ladder after Turtle and landed on the family room floor.
        Her older sister Monstera crashed onto the floor from the ceiling where there was a giant hole draped in moss, holding a pot of succulents she had been trying to grow. "Who decided it would be funny to remove the ladder from the bunks?" Monstera set down the pot and stood to her feet, shaking off the dirt from her back.
A very suspicious snicker came from below the floorboards. "I know it was you, Gerbil!" Monstera called out, and hushed whispers followed. "And Shrew." she sighed.
        "WHO'S STILL ASLEEP?" A Quilphyne demanded as they crawled cautiously down from the same place Monstera fell.
        Myrtle winced. Their dad was usually deaf in the morning, but everyone else could hear him just fine. "Well Shrew, Gerbil, Turtle, Myrtle and I are all awake, and seeing as you're awake, mom probably is too. That leaves Hummingbird, Tulsi, and Gecko." Monstera counted.
        Looking around while Monstera repeated herself, Myrtle caught Turtle inching off to the side towards the exit. She gestured at her brother to get back over here, and he stopped holding his breath with an exaggerated gasp. "We gotta wait for everyone else to wake up before we lose our light hours. Including Hummingbird." She whispered.
        Maybe if I can get done with schooling quickly today I can go take a look at the edge of the cavern with enough light to spare, Myrtle thought as a pile of Quilphynes fell out of the ceiling, dragging down blankets with them.
        A little Quilphyne dropped onto the pile with a triumphant look on her face. "Everyone's awake let's go we go!" she screamed.
        "Darn you and your attitude. Darn you all." Gecko grumbled as he pulled himself free from the blanket, trudging over to the reading corner, draped with soft things and silk pillows. It was elevated enough that only a significant climber could reach it without using the railing, also known as "Hummingbird-proof" to the rest of Myrtle's family.
        Tulsi just sat there with a blank expression as though the gears in her brain had broken, and only reacted when Hummingbird jumped on her head. "Quit with the violence, Hummingbird." Myrtle looked up as their mom was dangling from the moss which lined the tunnel, landing on Tulsi's tail.
      "Ow." Tulsi said through clenched teeth as she stood up. "If a headblow wasn't enough I'm sure up now."
        "As long as we leave now you'll all get to school before lightout. Monstera, fix the ladder and get Gerbil and Shrew out of the floorboards." The snickering and whispering stopped immediately and one of them whined as Monstera dug her claws under the hatch they had used.
         "Turtle, you need to grab your art supplies before you run out the door." Turtle whipped around and snatched them off the table before rushing out the door and sliding down the rope to the ground of the cavern.
        "Gecko get down here!" In response, Gecko backed against the wall of the reading corner with the book he was measuring for a leather bookbag. "Now or I'll take away your books, please!"
      "Fine." He mumbled, lazily rolling off the reading corner and using the railing to slide the rest of the way down.

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