All Is Fair In Love And War

Chapter 29

Carter hated this. He was sweaty, tired, covered in the most irritating dust ever, and his ankle throbbed from when he landed on it after falling down that hole. Oh, and he was stuck with a chatterbox. There was that too.

"How do we know we're going in the right direction?" Steve asked.

Carter huffed, shining his flashlight beam on the stalactites above them. "Call it a gut instinct."

"How long do you think this will take?" He asked, clutching his weapon close to his chest.

"I don't know." Carter grit his teeth, stifling a hiss of pain, his ankle throbbing. It definitely wasn't a break, but he might have sprained it.

"Are you limping?"

"I'll be fine, Steve." He paused for a moment, squinting at the holes in the walls. They looked vaguely familiar.

"What is it?" Steve whispered.

"Not sure," Carter whispered back, suddenly uneasy.

Through the echo of the cavern, he heard a buzz; not unlike that of an insects wings. It was far away, (maybe, it was hard to tell with hearing aids), but big. Definitely big.

"Shit," Carter muttered. Steve lifted an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Bone fairies."

Steve stared at him. "W-what?"

"Bone fairies." Carter said again, hand not so subtly going to his blade hilt.

"Like..." Steve looked around uneasily. "T-tooth fairies?"

"No." Carter shone his flashlight on the cave wall, brows furrowing. "Tooth fairies are different because they don't exist. Bone fairies are nasty pieces of work. They'll attack you and steal your bones to make their nest. Let's go." He started pushing Steve further into the cave.

"They what?"

"Exactly what I said, now move it, Palchuk."

*~*

"So, can I ask you a question?" Toby said with a grunt, hoisting himself onto a ledge.

"Apparently you can." Aanya said, scaling the wall effortlessly.

Krel and Aja were several feet above everyone else, chatting casually about something Toby didn't have the energy to pay attention to. Curse the Akiridions and their four arms.

"Why do you hate Carter so much?"

That nearly made her slip, but she quickly caught herself. She leveled a glare down at him. "Nosy much?"

Toby frowned. "Seriously. He's a good guy! He wants to help people. How could you not like him?"

Aanya huffed and tried to focus on not falling. "Carter and I have a long history of not liking eachother, okay?"

"Not okay," Toby grumbled, but decided not to push her on it. He looked down, catching Jim's eye. "You good there, Jimbo?"

Jim had paused on a ledge three feet below where Toby was. He gave a thumbs up. "I'm good! Just catching my breath."

Before Toby could say anything, Douxie had backtracked and joined Jim on the ledge. The two engaged in a hushed conversation, leaving everyone else to keep going. Toby sighed to himself, mind wandering to whether or not Carter and Steve were okay.

--

Douxie didn't exactly feel safe sitting on this ledge with the ground so far away, but Aarrrgghh had taken up the rear to catch anyone in case they fell. So he knew he'd inevitably be fine if he did end up losing his grip.