A/N Hello again! Shout out to all my readers in Idaho! Let me know if you've ever visited the 17 mile cave. I haven't been there in years! lol. Also, please ignore my poor accent writing skills, and unsuccessful attempts at humor. A pro writer I am not. Anyway, enjoy the chapter guys!
This is probably the worst decision that I've ever made in my entire life. I can already feel myself starting to regret it, but I'm urged on by the fact that we need to start the search somewhere. After telling everyone about my weird dream, North suggested that we start looking in places where the sun doesn't shine. It got a little hard being around these guys for awhile when we all started arguing about where to go first. To be honest I blocked a lot of it out, but I just wanted to start looking. They were not helping! So I finally closed my eyes and just pointed to a random spot on the map. Which ended up leading us to the 17 mile cave in Idaho.
That's why I'm currently standing in front of a small opening to the underground cavern. All around our tiny group is a bunch of sage brush and sandy looking terrain. The ground is broken up by dips and hills that go on in every direction. Bugs buzz around us insistently, making us slap ourselves every now and then. There's a few cars parked by the road a short distance away. I guess some people are already here, which isn't too surprising. I've heard that this becomes a very popular teenage hangout during the summer.
"So, any volunteers to go first?" Tooth asks. None of us even pretend to think about going in first.
"Why not have Aster do it. He's had plenty of practice running into holes." I say sarcastically, but nobody laughs. Instead I'm treated to a first rate glare from the pooka.
"Someone please tell me why she's here?" Aster asks impatiently. "Besides, this was your idea. You should go first." Bunny says and I sigh. He does have somewhat of a point... North and Tooth exchange looks between each other. They are, no doubt, trying to figure out if Aster and I will start bickering again.
"Anyway, do you want to go first?" Tooth asks, directing the question towards me. I sigh.
"Fine. I'll go first, but you guys had better be right behind me!" I say, holding a single finger towards them. Everyone nods in response. As I look around the group, I can't help the small chuckle that finds its way out of my chest. We must all look like preteens who've stolen our first beer and are daring each other to take the first sip. My mind wanders when I'm under stress! Nobody bothers asking me what I'm laughing at and I'd rather not explain. Instead, I take three steps towards the cave and crouch down. I groan as soft, throbbing pain winds up from my knees. They're still pretty sore from my concrete escapade the other day.
The entrance is really tiny and well blended into the landscape. If we hadn't been actively looking for the thing, I'm pretty sure that we would have missed it. I'm going to have to slide in feet first. I'm sure that you can imagine how excited I am about that... Hopefully I won't slip and tumble down into the unknown. With my track record, that's an actual possibility. I brush off my thoughts and sit down on the ground. I scoot closer to the opening and put my feet into the cave, feeling for a sturdy foundation. I find it without too much effort, and breath deeply before sliding myself into the hole. The smell of damp earth hits me like a ton of rocks. I can hear laughter coming from deeper within the cave.
At first I'm unable to fully stand up because of the narrow passage. I take a few more steps in the forward direction, however, and I'm able to fully stand upright. I look behind me at the cave opening. Light's spilling inside, illuminating the sharp rocks scattered throughout the first few feet of the cave. I see two feet sliding in the same way mine had just minutes before, blocking some of the light. Then Tooth is climbing down the steep incline. She nearly bumps into me before she stops and turns around to wait for the others.
Aster gets into the cave rather quickly, easily climbing down past the rocks. I knew he should have gone first! I think about making a snarky comment, but decide against it. I've been scolded enough for right now. Aster stands beside Tooth, but he doesn't look at the entrance to the cave. Rather, he looks into the darkness. His eyes squint as he tries to find a source of light inside the cavern. Part of me begins to wonder if anyone thought of how we're going to be able to see down here. I'm not able to ponder on that for very long, however, when I notice that North is having some trouble getting inside the cave.
He's able to get up to half of his calves inside, but it doesn't look like he'll be able to squeeze through. He readjusts himself a few times to see if different angles will allow him to gain access. They don't. I debate on weather or not to try and pull him in, but decide against it. Better not take the chance on him getting stuck with nobody on the other side to pull him back out. I begin to feel my nerves picking at me as I think about being stuck in this cave forever, but I shake it off. Not even my luck is that bad. Besides, we would find a way to work around it.
"North, why don't you go check in on Jack and Sandy? We can handle this down here." I say. North stops struggling and gives a grunt in agreement. Before I know it he's gone, leaving the three of us to find our way through the cavern. I turn back around to look at my fellow cave buddies. Tooth is still standing beside me and I can just barely make out Asters silhouette in the distance. Tooth looks rather nervous, and I wonder if she has a problem with the dark or small spaces. Aster is looking all around him, ears twitching as he hears different sounds. He makes his way back towards us after a few minutes of searching.
"We're not gonna be able to see anythin' in here. It also sounds like some kids are havin' a party further in. " Aster announces. I knew that no one bothered to grab a light before we came. Aster clears his throat after a second of silence. "I do have one idea though. River can use her fire to light our way." He says gruffly. I blink a few times. That's.. Actually a pretty good idea. I have to give him credit for thinking of it before I did, not that I'd actually say that out loud. I do have my pride to think about here.
"Why do I get the feeling that I'm just the flashlight to you?" I ask, holding up my hand. A small flame jumps from my skin and hovers in the air before growing in size. I will it to grow until the flame completely engulfs my left hand. A faint light casts shadows around the cave. I'm not sure if it makes it creepier in here or not.. "That should be good enough, right?" I ask, looking at Tooth. She's not paying me too much attention as she looks around the cavern, but she gives me a nod anyway. I sigh and take a few steps deeper into the darkness. Tooth stays pretty close to me while Aster dares to venture farther ahead of us. I don't complain. The more space we have between the two of us is probably for the better.
The three of us start a steady pace towards the end of the cave. We all keep an eye out for anything suspicious. It's actually harder than I thought it would be. How can you find something when you don't really know what you're looking for? The only thing we do manage to find is some old beer bottles, a few abandoned campfire spots, and a small group of rowdy teens. Nothing's down here. This whole thing was a bust, but at least we know where not to look, right? When we finally reach the end of the cave we all have the same exasperated look on our faces. Without saying anything to one another, we turn around and make our way back to the cave's opening. By the time we emerge the sun has almost set, and North is waiting for us.
"Ah, did you find anything?" North asks. Tooth and Aster shake their heads as I extinguish the flame that's still clinging to my skin. North sighs in response to our bad luck. "Neither has Jack or Sandy." He informs us. Great, we're officially where we started. Some great detectives we are..
"So what now?" I ask after a moment.
"I don't know. There has to be a clue somewhere that we're just not seeing!" Tooth exclaims.
"I think we should regroup. We need to look closer at each of the spirits disappearance. There has to be a connection between them." I think out loud. North strokes his beard and nods.
"Is good idea." North agrees. "Let's go back to Warren and start looking for more clues." I hold back a groan. I don't really want to spend any more of my time in the Warren. Not after what happened the other day. However, I don't have time to object as, without warning, Aster opens up a large tunnel that swallows all of us in one gulp. As I slide along the way with the others I wonder how I let myself get roped into helping these guys...
A/N There you have it. I'm sorry if this chapter was a little more boring than normal. I was going to go somewhere else with this, but the chapter ended up doing it's own thing.. It was written at three in the morning and I hadn't slept in almost 24 hours, so leave me alone! lol. ;) Also, I'm really struggling with North's accent. I can't write without making him sound like a caveman... I need sleep. Stay awesome!