"Well, I think we should introduce each other first..." Don said.
"Why bother? I'm not going to talk with you once we get out of this place," Riley said as she leaned back.
"But we're gonna work together!" Crystal said.
Riley pointed to Don, "He's the idiot that can't keep his nose out of what doesn't concern him."
"Bit-" Don started to say but Daniel covered his mouth. "Now come on! Let's just talk!" Daniel yelled.
Ava stood up and patted Riley's head as she scolded her, "That's no way to talk to someone, Riles! Apologize!"
Riley let out a grunt as she plunked a blade of grass and flicked it out of her hand. Ava looked over at Don as she sat down. "I'm s-sorry for how s-she's acting. Riley i-isn't good with new p-people," Ava stuttered softly.
"Perfectly fine..." Don said.
"Well! Let's talk!" Destiny loudly said trying to change the subject.
Scarlett looked at everyone before she said, "I agree that we should introduce each other. I'll start us off. I'm Scarlett. Nice to meet you guys."
"I'm Daniel,"
"Don!" Don said right after Daniel. "If you couldn't tell, we're twins!" Daniel smiled.
Aiden looked around and picked a nearby flower. He held it out in front of him as he said in a charismatic manner, "My name's Aiden."
Madison pointed at the flower, "What's that for?"
Aiden brightly smiled. "To spice things up." He stood up and walked over to Crystal and held the flower out to her.
Crystal took the flower and looked at Aiden, "Is this like those things they do in groups. Is this the talking thing?"
Aiden shook his head, "It's just a flower. A pretty flower for an even prettier girl."
Crystal blushed, "O-oh. Thank you." She looked down. "My name is Crystal."
"It must be because you shine brighter than one," Aiden said with a small wink before he got a rock thrown at him by Madison.
Crystal blushed so bad she could feel her face getting hot. 'I don't know what to do!" she said in her mind.
Madison picked up another rock which made Aiden give a small laugh as he walked back to his previous spot.
Madison threw the rock in the air and it landed in her hand a few seconds later.
"Name's Madison," she said with slight disinterest as she placed the rock down.
"I'm Destiny!" Destiny said as she smiled and waved.
Matt flicked his cigarette and stomped on it. He then cleared his throat, "Matt. Marley's split personality."
Ava looked down at the ground as she spoke. "I-I'm Ava." She grabbed Riley's arm and continued, "This i-is Riley."
"And that's Marley," Matt said as he pointed to the knocked out Marley. Matt gasped and disapparated. A few seconds later, Marley gasped for air and started to cough like crazy.
Scarlett jumped up and ran over to him. She patted his back to try and help with his coughing.
"What?! What was that?!" Marley asked. "I-he was-I...ugh...did he hurt any of you?"
Scarlett shook her head, "No. He just talked and sat with us."
Aiden loudly added, "Madison also poked him with a stick."
"Oh, well...good job!" Marley shrugged. "Uh, what were you guys talking about?" He asked as he went to stand up.
"Just who we were," Daniel said and he looked at the sky. "it looks like it's getting dark here. It's morning though...I thought."
"Maybe the time is different here or maybe the hours just went by quickly," Scarlett suggested as she stood up and headed to the group.
Crystal was lost looking at the forest. "There's a cave. I can see it through the opening right her." She said as she pointed.
Aiden squinted but frowned when he couldn't see the opening. "Well, it's better than sleeping out here."
Don stood up and rushed everyone to follow. "Come on slow pokes!"
Madison grabbed her backpack as she stood up and started walking.
Crystal stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She grabbed her sweater off the tree and walked to Aiden to offer a hand up.
Aiden looked up at her as he took her hand and stood up. "Thanks," he said with a smile.
Madison thought out loud, "We should make a fire to warm us in case it gets really cold at night."
Daniel got up and caught up to his brother. They started to ramble about the new world.
Destiny stood up and brushed the dirt off before walking to Crystal.
Riley stood up along with Ava who held onto Riley's arm as they walked behind the others but close enough so they wouldn't get lost.
Marley followed. "Matt?," He said. "What?"
"What was that. I don't know what happened. I saw a glimpse of it but.."
"I don't know but I had my own body, I loved it! You need to do that more often," Matt and Marley said back and forth. Marley was quiet for the rest of the walk after that conversation.
Aiden hurried to catch up to Scarlett and walked with her. "You look familiar," Scarlett stated when she saw him from the corner of her eye. Aiden pointed to himself, "I do?"
Scarlett nodded and started a conversation with Aiden as they walked.
Once they made it to the cave, Don and Daniel stopped in front of it. "Well...That doesn't look scary," Daniel said. "Or big," Don added.
Madison walked over to the mouth of the cave and peered inside. "If only we had a light," she mumbled as she looked around at the ground. She couldn't see that far into the cave and thus, desired a light.
"Riley has a lighter," Destiny said.
Madison looked over at Riley and then down at the ground to pick up a stick. She tossed it to Riley who effortlessly caught it mid-air.
Destiny looked in, "Hello?" She called out. It echoed. She decided to walk in a little bit.
"Oh my god! Destiny!" Daniel called out. Destiny looked at him, "What?"
"Look at your body!" Don screamed. Destiny looked down and gasped. She ran out, "What the hell?! I was on fire!"
Madison let out a small sigh in slight exhaustion, "That's what I was trying to tell you earlier."
Madison walked closer to Destiny and asked with a small tilt of her head, "Can you do it again? On your own will to summon the fire?"
"Why are you so into stuff?" Destiny asked.
Madison held up a finger, "One, it could be extremely useful for our survival. Two, it could help us get out of here. Three, it shouldn't be possible for you to do that which makes it all the more fascinating."
Destiny held her hand out and thought about making the fire appear. She waited, but nothing happened. She put her hand down, "I don't know how I did it!"
"Let's focus on the cave!" Don said.
Madison let out a huff in disappointment before she looked over at Riley who begrudgingly pulled out her lighter to set fire to the stick so it would work as a temporary torch.
Scarlett walked over to Riley and grabbed a hold of the bottom of the stick and held it away from her so she wouldn't accidentally burn herself. She cautiously walked over to Madison who grabbed it and walked over to the mouth of the cave.
The inside grew just the slightly bit lighter due to the fire but it was still a pretty dark cavern. The outside of the cave was covered by a blanket of green moss while leaves littered the ground here and there. Trees sprouted around the cave while a few flowers and herbs grew on the top of the looming cave.
Madison gave herself a small nod as she dropped her backpack and hoodie to the ground before she walked inside. She swung the makeshift torch around which left a faint trail of smoke and fire before it quickly disappeared.
A small glow of red and orange hugged the fire along with Madison's hand giving that of close proximity some warmth while the cave provided a cold draft that occasionally appeared.
The ground and edges, where the walls met the ground, were splattered with patches of green moss that decreased the deeper you went while stalactites increased until they came to a stop at the end of the cave, which Madison had yet to see. Small loose rocks littered the floor while a sea of dirt covered the front ground of the cave.
Madison looked up to see a bundle of bats hanging from the ceiling which caused a sudden small wave of panic to wash over her. She quickly jerked her left hand down so she wouldn't accidentally wake them up with the light from the fire.
But, of course, it wouldn't be that easy. She stepped on an uneven rock causing her to lose her balance in the moment of panic. She fell as her hand loosened around the burning stick, letting it fly in the air and land some feet away, with a faint thud, where it's flame was extinguished.
Madison let out a curse word under her breath when she heard the high-pitched squeaks from the waking bags above her.
She cautiously looked up and muttered in confusion as her magenta eyes landed on the abnormal sized bats some seeming to have human-like features.
She shook her head, not quite believing what she saw in the dark. She placed her hands on the steady ground and started to lift herself up but realized it was a mistake a second too late.
The bundle of bats let out a chorus of squeaks and shrinks as they started to fly deeper into the cave, waving around Madison who stayed quiet.
Once the coast was clear, she stood up once more and let out a sigh as the cave darken, making her sense of sight useless.
"Maybe," she muttered to herself as a thought popped into her head. "People have done it before."
Madison closed her eyes and clicked her tongue, hoping that it would work. The cave was deathly quiet as Madison let out another small click. Her eyes widened in surprise when clear images of the cave appeared in her mind.
She looked over to her right and took a few steps forward. Sure enough, the burned stick was there.
Surpassing a smug look, Madison grabbed the stick and closed her eyes. She made small clicks as she calmly walked through the cave, occasionally having to pause and try multiple times.
She kept her eyes closed through the whole trip, only opening them when she neared the entrance of the cave.
"What's taking her so long?" Daniel asked. Don shrugged his shoulders," Hey Destiny, go in and light yourself up."
"What?! No! I don't want to do that again!" Destiny said as she walked away from the cave.
"Hello?" Crystal hollered into the cave.
'What did I do...how was he...I only saw a glimpse but Matt was in his own body. What did I say?' Marley asked himself in his mind.
"Well, someone should go in after her," Don suggested. "Yeah, why don't you do it," Daniel smiled.
"Er-well, uh, cause!"
"Cause you're scared," Daniel muttered. "What??," Don glared at Daniel.
"Oh nothing."
Madison walked out of the cave with a small sigh as she pushed her questioning thoughts to the back of her mind, hoping no one noticed the small conflict she was having with herself.
"I'm back," she stated as she dropped the stick onto the ground which when landing created a small thud upon its impact with the ground.
"Is it safe?" Destiny asked as she walked closer. She had been dying to sit down and talk with the others about trying to find out what was going on.
Madison shrugged her shoulders as she gave a half-hearted response due to her mind being elsewhere. "It should be. Just don't wake the weird bats."
"Okay!" Destiny sighed. She walked into the cave and sat down near the entrance. She looked over at the others, "Come on!"
Daniel looked at Don before he said, "Don't we need some more light?"
"Come on Daniel, don't be so afraid of the dark." Don joked as he patted his brother's shoulder and walked in. Daniel had a look of frustration as he followed his brother. Don sat on the opposite side of Destiny as Daniel sat on his left.
Scarlett walked with Aiden in silence for a while before Scarlett's stomach loudly grumbled as a sheepish look appeared on her face.
Crystal walked in and sat next to Destiny. Marley looked around at the others he followed. He sat rather far from the rest and curled himself into a ball.
Riley had walked in with Ava clinging onto her, since Ava had an uneasy and uncomfortable feeling as they walked into the cave.
Madison walked in once again and wondered if she should mention what happened. After a good second of thought, she shrugged it off seeing it as pure luck and a one time thing. It wasn't as important or impressive as bursting into flames, at least to her it wasn't.
Scarlett sat down and let out a sigh as she asked, "What are we going to do for food?"
She looked around before quickly adding, "I'm hungry and I'm pretty sure everyone is going to start after a while."
"Yeah, Don and I had to skip breakfast because we woke up late...and I'm starting to get hungry too, " Daniel stated.
Aiden picked up a random rock and rolled it around in his palm as he spoke, "Did anyone see anything we could eat that won't kill us?"
"We could try and find a rabbit or something," Scarlett suggested as she looked out to the wild. "A sharp stick might work."
Ava frowned and cautiously opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind in fear. Riley nudged her forward in encouragement. Ava worryingly looked over at Riley as if she was asking if she was doing the right thing to which Riley gave a small nod.
"W-wouldn't it be e-easier to find e-edible plants?," she stuttered as she twiddled her thumbs in embarrassment.
"Do you see any around here that looks edible?" Destiny asked her.
Madison pointed to the darkness behind her. "There's bats, if you're desperate," she nonchalantly stated.
"Uh..." Don looked around. "We could, uh...I'm sure we'll find something."
"Has anyone seen any animals," Scarlett questioned. "Besides the bats," she quickly added so Madison wouldn't mention the bats again.
"We could eat each other..." Matt suggested through Marley. "Ew, Matt, you're disgusting!"
"Hey, it was just an idea."
Aiden scooted a few inches away from Marley/Matt in discomfort as he started to talk, "Let's stay away from cannibalism." He looked over at Madison and added, "I don't think bats are a good food option, either."
'Thanks, Matt!" Marley yelled in his mind. 'Anytime!' Matt joked.
Crystal sighed as she looked out the cave entrance, "It looks like a sunset." She got up and made her way around the group of sitting people and out the cave. She looked at the sky, which was now a light shade of pink that faded into blue.
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