Ominous Deadly Cave

Flen brought Scarlet back to shore, giving her the choice to stay. Since he did not want to make her leave, he waved goodbye, promising to see her tomorrow. He did not want to force her to leave if she did not want to. The next day, each student was given a slip of paper with a partner’s name for the cave trip. The students entered the cave one by one. The entrance way was narrow, and the long pathway was uneven. Pim tried to follow Scarlet, but the barrier blocked him. It was dome shaped with a crystallized structure. He fell backwards and whimpered, feeling sad he could not proceed forward.

“Pim, I will see you when I’m done here.” Scarlet gently said to him.

Pim looked on quietly as Scarlet entered the cave.

She moved deeper into the cave; she shivered from the cold; it was a damp area surrounded by roughly textured walls with uneven rocks.

Achoo Scarlet sniffled, as she hid her hands in her pockets.

Kina looked at her in disgust.
"Excuse you!" She scrunched her nose and folded her arms. "You better not get me sick." She moved her gaze over to Flen. He was trying to help pull his partner's leg out of the thick mud.

“I would rather partner up with him.” Kina tried to hide her feelings, but her face said it all. Her face began to flush a little red.

“But no! I’m stuck with you!” Kina frowned.

Scarlet did not say anything, so she could avoid any further trouble. She was indifferent toward her. She was used to people mistreating her and had yet to stand up to them.

She reminds me of my aunt who always says the meanest things.

Loose small rocks tumbled onto the ground. Professor West motioned for them to move forward. It did not help that Professor West was a large giant, and his steps caused the ground to shake even more.

Scarlet and Kina both had a lantern in their hands. Scarlet positioned the lantern so she could see her every step. Kina was holding the lantern incorrectly, she was holding it upwards, and she could not see anything at all. Scarlet’s light illuminated only a small portion of her pathway while she walked. The path ahead was both unfamiliar and disappeared into a sea of absolute darkness. Professor West followed them in the back and was carrying a large basket with a mesh screen cover on top. The inside was glowing tremendously. For each team-up partner, Professor West handed them a bright orb fairy with small transparent wings.

"Follow this fairy and it will take you to your test and then it will lead you back to me to end this trip."

Professor West wished everyone good luck.

"I don't need luck." Muttered Kina. She turned over to Scarlet, "You probably do."

Scarlet whispered, "We're on the same team."

They started following the orb fairy, but its erratic path suggested it was lost itself. Then, it stopped in front of an abandoned area.

"Hello?"

Squishy Squish

The black blob slithered around in liquid form while making a squishing sound as it moved.

Kina pushed Scarlet aside, "Move it, I can take them on by myself." Scarlet fell on her bottom.

“Hey, that hurt!” Scarlet was getting frustrated with Kina’s antics.

Kina stood before the moving black blob. It was starting to stretch out with multiple arms. She tore a piece of paper to being to light it on fire.

The black clone transformed into a woman.
Kina's eyes widened and stepped back.

Scarlet watched in confusion.

Why does Kina look so scared?

Scarlet looked at the black moving creature, in her eyes, it looked the same as before.

Kina's vision was different. She saw a woman in front of her with long blonde hair.

"Mother?" She was stricken with fear.

The mother started taunting her.

"You're a disgrace! You'll never live up to your sister."

Kina seemed traumatized. Her face was darkened, and she was hardly recognizable.

"Why don't you just die already."

Kina had a flashback to when she was younger. Her mom was frequently upset with her. Every time, she would come home, she would ignore her parents and went straight up to her room. She could hear her parents’ voices complaining about her.

“Ignoring us again, you ungrateful brat!”

Hina was her older sister, perfect in every way, intelligent, well-spoken and well-liked by the townspeople.

She was nothing, a fact that disappointed her parents. Her parents longed for her to be a certain way, but she was her own person and completely unlike her sister.

Scarlet gave Kina a perplexed look.

The usual Kina would be able to burn and destroy this monster quickly. What is she doing?
What is the delay? This should be easy for her...

The monster stretched its arm and struck hard at Kina. She fell backwards, landing into a large pile of rocks. Her head was bleeding and there were purple bruises on her body.

Scarlet watched in horror, wondering what to do.

Kina was thrown against the wall repeatedly.

Auuughhhh Kina moaned as she tried to move away.

Scarlet could not handle watching this unfold anymore. She found some courage to step in and fight it.

She picked a wooden long stick lying on the ground.

"What are you doing Kina? You always call other people weak."

Kina was lying motionless on the pile of rocks and was unresponsive.

Scarlet ran toward the monster and slashed it with the stick.
It shrieked in pain, "Augghhh"

Scarlet noticed one of the loose rocks from the jagged edges of the wall.

“Over here, you big monster!” She was provoking to lure the monster to that area.

She then pushed her stick with great force into the wall. The rocks slowly rolled down and then a lot more came afterwards, toppling the monster. It screamed in pain.

She then moved quickly over to Kina to check on her.

Kina's eyes were slightly opened a little, but the trickling blood covered her line of sight. She saw a blurry image of Scarlet and passed out.

“Kina, can you hear me? Kina? Kina!!”