Fluttershy

Quinn

It was about an hour later when Nathan and I heard a loud shriek just ahead of us.

"Did you hear that?" Nathan asked me.

"Yeah, we must be getting close." I said. I had just started flying by myself, and I already felt tired. I had never flown this far for so long.

"Let's go. Quiverer's Cave is just ahead." Nathan said, sprinting farther away. I pushed myself harder, but I was still slower than Nathan. Nathan was a guard fairy. That meant that he could fly for as long as he wanted, and he didn't tire easily. I was almost the complete opposite. I could only imagine Zoe, the newest flyer in our group, tiring easily.

Nathan came back and grabbed my hand, helping me to push forward, until I couldn't fly anymore. He carried me by both of my hands, while I took a rest underneath him. My shoulders hurt from dangling from Nathan's hands all night long, but nothing compared to the fatigue that I felt if I even unfolded my wings.

Finally, Nathan and I reached the entrance to Quiverer's Cave.

"Why do they call it Quiverer's Cave anyway? It looks like a normal, natural cave." I said.

"Okay, well, one, how many caves have you seen in your lifetime?" Nathan asked. I didn't answer that, since I knew that he was only going to make fun of me. "Second, it's called Quiverer's Cave because whoever enters could freeze to death if they don't have the proper equipment."

"Then why are we going in there?" I asked, stepping back a few feet.

"Quinn, stop!" Nathan said, grabbing my arm. He caught me just as my foot went over the edge of the cliff in front of the cave. He pulled me back towards himself so I didn't fall. "We're going because that's where Zoe is."

"How do we know that she's in there?" I asked.

Suddenly, another scream echoed through my ears as it bounced off the cave walls. I covered my ears and bent down in pain. Then, it stopped.

"Need further proof?" Nathan asked.

"Well, we don't know if it's Zoe," I suggested. Nathan rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the cave.

"What if we freeze?" I whispered as we walked further into the cave.

"It's a myth, we don't know if it's real." Nathan whispered back. He started to crouch down as the cave became darker, and I did too.

We didn't say anything for a long time, while the cave became darker and darker, before I could barely even see my own hand, let alone Nathan. 

"Do we even know where we're going?" I asked. "I fell like we're going in circles."

"Shh." Nathan said. "You see that?" He took my hand and pointed it through the darkness. "There's a light a few meters away. Come on."

I followed Nathan through the dark by grabbing onto the white t-shirt I gave him and following his movements. Finally, I saw what he was talking about. A light started to form over Nathan and I, and we found ourselves hiding behind large containers in the room we saw in the pearl.

"Where's Zoe and Gideon?" I whispered. Nathan silently shushed me and looked over the containers.

"There's no one here, why would we not see them here?" Nathan asked.

"Come here girl!" I heard someone say. It had to be Gideon.

"Stop! You're hurting me!" Another person said. That had to be Zoe. I tried to look over the containers, but Nathan shoved me back down and came down himself. He looked at me with assurance and sat down with me.