The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#118 Echo for Help

[The Twins]

The Twins hurried back through the rest of the tunnel as quickly as they could, hoping to meet Sophia somewhere along the way before they returned to the surface. But by the time they made it out to the main cavern, Sophia wasn't anywhere to be found. They gave her the benefit of the doubt and waited for a moment for her to appear. 
"Do you think she made it out?" Flyboy wondered.
"Maybe the tunnel is just really long. It might take her a while to get through it." Fleetfoot replied.
"What if it doesn't go anywhere? Maybe it just goes into a dead end, we have a few of those."
"Hmm... probably. But we should wait a little more just in case. She's strong, she'll make it out."
"I believe you, but what if she doesn't? Should we go back for her and try to get her out?"
Fleetfoot paused, "If that tunnel doesn't lead out anywhere else, then we'll go back for her. Apollo and Teri will most likely come for us when they realize we're not back. Let's give Sophia a chance though."
"...Okay, fine."
They sat on the edge and continued to wait. Any sound that was different than silence. Or the occasional breeze of passing wind. They waited for some time and as they sensed nothing, their worry began to grow. If Sophia had reappeared in a different tunnel that was in a further part of the cavern, it would take them much longer to find her. Just before they decided to go back, there was a sudden loud echo that reverberated throughout the cavern. A high-pitched shout. But they didn't understand what it was saying. It wasn't a sound, but a voice. The reverb making it difficult to pinpoint whose it was. They glanced at each other, wondering who else was here. Of course, their first thought was that it might be Teri and Apollo looking for them. Without another thought, they followed the echo back to the entrance tunnel where a thin shadow was leaning over the edge. But before it turned away to leave, the Twins flew up and landed on the edge, startling the figure. They were relieved to know it was Teri who was calling out to them.
"Oh, it's you two! Are you alright? Where's Sophie?" Teri asked.
"She's trapped."
"What?"
"We were on our way out until we found a hidden tunnel." Fleetfoot started.
"But while we were exploring, it suddenly collapsed and Sophia got separated from us." Flyboy finished.
"We were gonna wait and see if the tunnel led somewhere else where we could meet up with her. But we haven't seen her yet until we heard you."
"Then we have to go find her! It's almost sundown, she has to be somewhere." Teri's water wings behind her rippled with worry until Teri stopped her from taking another step.
"Wait, isn't Apollo with you?"
"I'm over here!" Apollo called out from the spotlight of the hole. The Twins peaked behind Teri to see her sitting far away and waving at them.
"Is something wrong with her?" they asked.
"Well, we decided to wait for you at the surface, but I accidentally fell on top of Apollo and may have... damaged his wing. I can't take him back up myself so we waited here instead."
"Is he okay? Can he walk?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Apollo called out to them and stood up, adjusting the wings behind his back and walking towards them by the edge of the cavern cliff. His left wing stuck out in an awkward position, but Apollo assured that it didn't feel sprained or broken.
"So, what happened with Sophie?" Apollo asked.
"She's stuck in a tunnel. She said she was gonna follow it until she found a way out, but we haven't seen her yet. We thought either the tunnel leads out somewhere else that's further in or she's stuck in a dead end." the Twins explained.
"Okay so... should we split up and go look for her or...?"
"We're not too sure about that. We don't wanna lose anyone else, but you might have a point..."
"Okay, then how about this? You two can show us the tunnel she went into and we'll see if we can go get her out. You two know this place better than us so you can go look and see if she found another way out. Does that work?" explained Teri. Everyone looked around at each other and silently agreed.
"Do you think we'll find her in time before sundown?" Apollo asked. The Twins shook their heads.
"Most likely not, but it's okay. As long as we can find her, that's all that matters."
"Yeah, okay. Where's the tunnel that you took?" Apollo asked.
The Twins pointed in the direction of where they came from.
"This way."

The Twins led them to the other side of the cavern, helping Apollo glide along safely until they all landed within the mouth of the tunnel.
"Keep going this way until you reach a hole in the wall. It's blocked, but that's where she got trapped."
"Okay. But you said she was gonna follow the tunnel to the other end? What if she's not there?" Teri asked.
"If she didn't turn back, then try and see if you can shift some of the rocks safely so you can get through and look for her. We're gonna keep looking in case she made it out somewhere else. We'll come back if we don't find her."
"Got it. But one more question. There isn't anything... dangerous in here, right?" Teri asked.
"We... hope not. But we haven't run into anything yet. Let's hope it stays that way."
Teri looked nervously on into the darkness.
"Yeah... hopefully."
"We'll get her out. She has to be here." Apollo said confidently.
"Good luck you two." Teri signed off to the Twins.
"We'll be okay."
And with that, the Twins went off to another part of the cavern. Apollo and Teri looked on, breathing deeply and calmly.
"Teri, I'm gonna let you go ahead of me because I'm totally blind in here. Like, seriously, I actually can't see anything."
"You really can't see?"
"Nope. Not a thing."
Teri waved a hand in front of Apollo's face.
"Can you see that?"
"See what?"
"Ah... okay, that's okay. Just stay close behind me and I'll lead you through."
Teri took slow, careful steps as Apollo followed closely behind. He put a hand on top of Teri's shoulder to help guide him. They descended into darkness to find their lost friend.