The Fire Inside

17. Splitting Paths

Jimin took a long drink of water from the canteen she had. She passed some to Isadora who hurriedly lapped it up, too scared to lose a single drop to the rock. The rest of them were also pulling out water. The small cave (or passage) they were in was extremely muggy and hot. It was as if someone had taken all the heat from inside and packed it in that one space. All of a sudden, Jimin heard whimpering. She turned to see Isadora vigorously panting. As a puppy, it must've been hard to take the heat. Whereas, in human form, she probably would've been a lot more comfortable. The only one even mildly calm about their situation was Casper. He hadn't moved a muscle and simply sat in the corner mumbling something under his breath.

"Is anyone else feeling hot right now?" Varun complained.

"Shut up you wuss. How about you man up?" Maria retorted.

"That was NOT necessary."

"You're not necessary!"

"AcTuAlLy... I AM ESSENTIAL TO THIS MISSION SO FIGHT ME GIRL!"

"Ok! You wanna go? SQUARE UP!"

"Can you guys shut up! I'm trying to think!" Casper shouted.

Everyone was pin-drop silent. Even Isadora somehow managed to quiet down her panting. Casper, realizing what he'd done, quickly apologized before turning away again.

"Well, that was unexpected..." Maria shrugged.

"For once I agree," Varun nodded.

Jimin shook her head at the two and walked over to the three doors.

"Hey Casper. Casper? Yo! Old man!" Jimin called.

"What! I'm not old!" He complained.

"You're older than us, therefore you're old."

"Get to the point, kid."

"Which door do we go through?"

"I don't know. We should probably split up though. How many of us are there?"

Jimin counted up all the people, including Casper and herself.

"9 people."

Casper counted again.

"9 people? There's only 8 of us."

"Oh, I counted Isadora as a person. Oops!"

Casper chuckled before continuing.

"Ok then, let's make groups. You guys ready to move?"

Everyone had a determined look. The group quickly made smaller groups of three. Heiwa, Riley, and Casper quickly became a group. Maria and Varun ended up being stuck together with Emmalynn on Varun's leg. That girl seriously loved Varun. Julien has decided he'd go with Jimin before they had broken up and successfully got with her and Isadora. They quickly stood in front of the doors and made their way through the tunnels.

~~~~~

Julien and Jimin hoped that they picked the path with the least obstacles. Julien had his boomerang out and ready, but Jimin was still too shaky to properly use her flames. With the narrow passages, she thought she'd burn someone. Isadora has finally turned into her human form. She had shed her fluffy jacket and was walking in a simple yellow t-shirt. The minute they had gone through the passage, Jimin had urged Isadora to turn into her human form. It was way too hot for Isadora to stay as a puppy.

"So, what do you think of Casper?" Julien asked the girls.

"I like him...but he's also kinda mysterious," Jimin replied.