The Two Teams

“It’s unmarked?” Marshall stopped his hand and looked down the dark tunnels. 

Head on a pivot and pencil in his mouth, River spoke up for her indecisive brother. “He won’t be able to choose a path, can we go down both?”

“You mean to split the group?” Barry sounded fit to object as he made a fist in the fur of his bat companion. Prince waited, used to forms of affection from the blue bean, he sat and tuned his ears forward. 

“Chi already did when we split up to look for the entrance.” Lesath pointed out.

River pointed at them. “Exactly!” She was excited again.

Charum darkened remembering earlier. “Is that really the best idea?”

“There’s practically two of everyone though.” Kiri singled out each of the beans in turn. “Mages: Chi, Lesath, and Stormfly.” The latter two looked unsure of their skills, but Chi folded her arms to listen. “Rogues: Hunter and River.” One cleared their throat and the other cackled. “Rangers: Barry and Marshall.” Neither was listening properly, so she flew over to be by Charum “And us as Warriors.”

“That’s only nine of us.” Barry protested.

“Ten. Or did you forget your bat?” Hunter stared down from under the mask. The hard brow line of it gave his words more edge than he intended.

“What is that supposed to mean?” The tamer nearly shouted, but quickly quelled his wrath as the ceiling above crumbled away. 

The small scatter of dust was enough for Chi to silence everyone with a single look. “Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. Charum, why don’t you take the bug trio down the small offshoot? I’ll go with, to make things even. Hunter, you explore down the main path a bit. If another branch opens up, come back to this mouth.”

“What about you?” Hunter was quick to counter. 

“With any luck it’s also a cave-in, or just a dead-end someone missed.”

“And if it’s not?” The dark bean flew closer to her, voice growing quiet. 

“Well, we won’t be going very far anyway, will we? You have the map.” She pointed to Marshall who slowly blinked himself back into the conversation. 

The two darklings hovered face to face with the trapper’s staff held behind him. With them both cast in ominous shadows, Hunter’s voice was just above a whisper. “No, I mean why do we keep splitting up?” 

This close, Chi could see the hurt in her brother’s eyes. “Oh, you…” The pink-accented bean couldn’t help but soften at his concern, “I need to make sure they don’t do anything dumb, you know that.” She gave him a small, apologetic smile and tapped on his mask affectionately between the eyes. “I know there’s a brain in there, bonehead. You know it makes the most sense. It’ll be alright. We’ll be together in no time. Keep them safe, Kiri.” Keep him safe.

With a small cough to clear his throat, Stormfly turned to his classmate: “Lesath, can I have my light back?” 

There was a moment of hesitation as the jar was offered, and even once Stormy had taken hold of it, Lesath nearly refused to let go. They relented after another moment and quickly sought the safety of the Witherling’s torch. Barry normally could have laughed at the sight of the two beans with equally glum looks together, but his stomach was in knots as they split from the group.

Charum headed into the small tunnel first alongside Stormfly. Barry followed with Prince, and Chi took up the rear, giving her brother one last wave before it was too dark to see the other party anymore.

Kiri called everyone's attention to her once the other beans had faded from sight, and the ocean twins were eager to get on. Hunter, with his mind elsewhere, put a hand on Lesath’s shoulder. The poor bean nearly jumped out of their wings; for Hunter, it was simply an act to drive himself away from the other tunnel. Kiri was upfront with River; their path being wider meant they could travel in a small cluster of three, with Hunter in the middle of Lesath and Marshall. 

The cartographer favored the light in order to keep up with his mapping, but Lesath followed much more closely to the glow. “Scared?” Hunter asked when he noticed Lesath eyeing the light.

“Uh--” Lesath was taken aback by the question. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yes,” Marshall didn’t look up as he studied his own map, so he missed the scowl the Witherling gave him.

“Everyone is,” Hunter countered, and glowered toward Marshall for a moment longer before he got an idea, “You know why my family wears masks?”

“Cause you’re all creepy!” River giggled, a full sense of satisfaction on her face.

A jab with a bone staff silenced her noise as he turned back to Lesath. “We don’t like people.”

“How come?” 

Hunter was genuinely surprised by Lesath’s question and fumbled with his mask a bit. “Different reasons. But the important thing is that the masks help keep them away. Everyone likes to bother everyone else around here, but no one messes with you if you look scary.” As he spoke, the mask slipped off him easily enough, and found its place instead over the beans face beside him. Lesath panicked momentarily with the sudden dark spell, but Hunter held his friend steady until they found the eyeholes. “There. You’re scary now. Nothing will wanna mess with you.”

Hunter barely heard the thank you that came up from under the mask, but he could feel the eyes on him. Kiri and everyone else had been forced to stop and wait for their light source and had seen the Witherling’s gesture play out. He knew it was only a matter of time before River made another one of her comments, but before she got the chance they heard a whistle.

FWEET! THUNDER! CRASH! RUMBLE!

“Cave-in!” Marshall screamed.

“Chi!”

------------------

It was warm and tight in the offshoot tunnel. The wall was marked with holes and cracks where gems and ores might have been mined away, and it was impossible to distinguish what was new or old. The muddled markings overlapped too much to be able to tell if any were similar to the symbols they had been reading on the way down. 

They were already in no rush to see how far the tunnel led, and their reluctance only grew as time passed, because the further they went in, the stronger it began to stink. After a while, Stormfly pointed out, “Some of this rock looks scratched.”

“What else is new?” Charum wasn’t impressed.

“It’s in rows,” The storm bean pointed the light at the wall, casting the surrounding area in darkness. “See, it’s in three rows. Sorta like…”

He didn’t have to continue for Chi to get the point, and with a pang of apprehension she straightened. “Let’s turn back.” Her voice made it clear that she wasn’t leaving room for debate, but she was still relieved when everyone visibly agreed by turning to follow her... Except for Barry and his pet. The dark bean furrowed her brows in concern, “Come on, Barry. What’s the holdup?”

The bat was visibly tense and appeared twice his size with his fur standing on end. His yellow ears quivered up the tunnel they just came from. Barry’s eyes followed the bat’s attention, “Guys, would you believe something’s behind us?” 

Prince hissed, too tense to move as Charum rushed passed to see something indeed slither out of the wall. The large crack it emerged from had been big enough for a flowerling or, the beans now found, a large serpentine monster. There was no telling how long the crevice was, but either way the tail was hidden as the front of the creature was showing.

Stormfly held up the light, but the dark body of the beast seemed to blend with the shadows. The only indication there was something in the tunnels with them was the creature’s starkly glowing ports that ran laterally down its body. As it opened its mouth, it revealed the same eerie green glow that looked muted and sickly under the lamplight. The creature’s jagged white teeth jutted out like some carnivorous fish species, pointed at the angel bean and dripping with something that ate away at the floor below them.

“Get back!” Charum shouted. His sword sliced at the air in front of him in a bid to scare the monster off. Instead, it gave a sharp roar and lurched forward, snapping between swings at the air between them. Backed out of the way of the creature in time for his next swing, Charum felt his eyes water as the ground in front of him bubbled and smoked.

The monster swiped playfully at the bean and followed as they advanced down the cave. It seemed to be only a matter of time before everyone was in tears and coughing. “We got to make a run for it!” Stormy called.

“This thing will only follow!” Charum coughed; being closer to the creature he was having a harder time breathing. His words turned to a small fit, which in turn grew into a near vomit-inducing convulsion, and the creature roared.

Charum was floored as Prince lunged forward and crashed into the beast. Tiny claws meant for gripping fruit worthlessly tore at the leathery flesh, trying desperately to find some hold on this monster. The bat squeaked in pain as his digits found the openings on its body; He found similar treatment awaited as he clawed at the membrane of the mouth and eyes as well. The beast’s snapping teeth almost found fur but were deterred when a small bit of branch found its way wedged between the hard palate and floor of the creature’s mouth. 

Barry winced and drew back at seeing blood come from the monster, but he didn’t have time to linger. Prince scooped the bean up in his wing and made an attempt to crawl away. They didn’t get far with how badly burned the bat’s hands were, however, and he stumbled against the wall. 

Snap!

The creature’s jaws were meant for bones, and no twig would stop it. The monster made for the injured bat but was instead met with the sharp end of Charum’s sword. Having found the air cleaner on the ground, the angel was back just in time to save the two with a small second wind. 

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Chi asked, desperately looking at Stormfly.

“Me? All my stuff is with Barry! What about you?” The weatherling shot up the cave to his best friend. He tore frantically at the pack the two shared, not understanding half of what was coming from Barry’s mouth as he did.

“Storm! I SAID move!” Barry managed to wiggle out of his pack and shoved the amateur alchemist down the path. Prince was once again grappling with the beast; its head banged against the ceiling and caused rocks to fall as it attempted to go hand to hand with the bat. The beans only narrowly missed getting stepped on as the combatants stumbled into the wall. 

Charum took advantage of every opening Prince gave him. He sliced away at the black hide, using the green glowing areas and targets. After daring to stab down into one just above the beast’s collar, he was rewarded with a tail swipe that sent him soaring clear over the heads of the two beans and into the witherling further down.

Chi helped Charum up just in time to see Stormfly gather up every potion he had. She put her fingers to her lips and gave a sharp whistle, causing the bat’s ears to stand straight up. Prince turned quickly and glided down the tunnel, so eager to be away from the beast that he practically barreled into her and Charum.

“Now, Barry!” 

Everything they had was thrown: the bottles, the vials, the jars, and it all mixed with the noxious gas the creature continued to spill forth. The small tunnel quickly filled with a dense vapor, taking what little light still remained. In the dark, small flickers of lights went off in short flashes. The lights grew stronger and fell to the floor in small balls of spitting energy which danced wildly and chased the creature back up the tunnel, all while driving the beans further down. The energy built and built, and soon everyone could taste it, and fear wasn’t the only reason for the bat’s fur to stand on end. 

The pressure rose with a growing rumble that sounded like the mountain they were under was going to erupt, and that’s when the storm broke. A great flash of lightning ran up the tunnel, illuminating the creature to the fullest and letting the beans see its full form for the first time, if only through a dense fog. Just as quickly they were thrown back into darkness, unable to see their hands in front of their own faces. The rumbling had yet to subside though; The thunder continued to echo-- or maybe it continued to roll on? It was impossible to tell. No bean could be heard as balls of energy continued to pop up and race off or up to the ceiling. 

If they’d looked, the beans might have been able to notice the large cracks forming above their heads-- but by then it was already too late.

------------------

Hunter flew back up the tunnel and arrived just in time to eat a large cloud of dust. The entrance he had watched his sister disappear down had sealed itself with all manner of rock and debris. Near frantically, the dark bean tried to claw through the new barrier; however, any attempt he made at digging into the debris was just replaced with more until he threatened to bury himself.

Lesath picked up the staff to hold up the light as River and Kiri pulled the dark bean out of the dirt, despite his continued grasping toward the rubble. “We’ll find another way around.” The warrior promised, not letting go of Hunter.

“What if it’s a one-way tunnel?” Marshall pointed out and immediately regretted it. Hunter, like Chi, learned many of their father’s looks; without his mask on, the cartographer was bearing the full force of a Witherling’s glare.

“Then you better start digging.” Hunter hissed, his voice bordering on a threat. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but was cut off by the faint sound of a fading echo. His ears had only barely caught the sound, but he was certain it was her. 

“They’re alive!” He elbowed himself free from the other beans’ grips and flew off into the darkness. Lesath and Kiri followed as best they could, with River dragging Marshall behind.

It seemed forever until they came across a genuine split in the tunnel. Hunter’s eyes darted between both paths frantically, torn between choosing the left (as that was the way his sister had disappeared), or down the other path in hopes that there would be another way to reach her. Lesath appeared at his side, pointing the light each way for him. Hesitant to touch the bean, Lesath settled for gingerly placing his hand on Hunter’s elbow. “Can you see that?”

------------------

Chi could feel the body of the bat move against her in the dark. She grabbed at him for reassurance, and he chittered back. “Hush, it’s me,” She mumbled, glad to have one of her group accounted for. “Charum?” She called cautiously, trying not to move too quickly. She really didn’t want to be washed away by the water that now seemed to be flowing down the tunnel in a steady stream. 

“Over here... The bat has me.” Chi climbed around to the front of the bat where she could indeed see that Prince had the angel wrapped in one of his wings. He was trying to take turns soaking his paws in the cold water while he held onto the tired boy. “I think he thinks I’m Barry.”

“Where are they?”

“Over here!” Barry was the one who called. He sounded higher than them and like he was struggling, but it was hard to make out over the occasional boom of the lingering magic-induced stormcloud. “Stormy’s stuck!”

Chi rushed over, and she heard a small gasp as the dark bean resurfaced. “Something’s on my wish! I can’t budge it.” The water was pooling here enough that the weatherling was forced to sit up.

Barry continued to throw himself against the unknown mass trapping his friend until Charum added his weight against it. The two boys barely managed to get the obstacle to budge, but when Prince finally managed to haul himself over on two legs, his nudge was enough to let Chi drag their friend free.

“This water isn’t stopping here. It keeps going... And I think we should too.” Voice a bit softer than her usual orders, Chi spoke to the group as she eyed the stream. When she lifted her head again, still holding onto Stormy, the small bean reached out until she found everyone else. “Is everyone alright?”

“Prince is hurting, but I think we’re okay?” Barry found Stormy in the dark and found the dark bean trying to hold his hand as well. 

“Yeah, I think-” Stormfly felt himself grow warm, and everyone around him gasped. “What-?” He looked down at himself, finding the lowest portion of his abdomen was glowing with a light coming from... him? He had bloomed in the chaos. A globe thistle dangled below him, explaining why the water had tugged at him harder than it should have. He now had a small, bell-shaped wind chime with a thunderbolt shaped sail that extended from the new thistle. The glow that had started due to being slightly flustered now grew brighter with the flowerling’s excitement as the changes began to register in his mind. His wet hair clung to his cheeks and hung in his eyes, looking much longer than when they entered the cave, and he gave an incredulous “What?!”

Barry looked at awe at his friend, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He could feel himself getting dizzy as lights appeared before his eyes. He didn’t realize at first that for everyone else, fairy lights had started to appear in blue, red, and green around the bean. He just felt the smile on his face as Stormfly inched closer, casting him in a warm glow. 

As the glowing bean approached and the fairy lights helped illuminate the area, it became apparent that Barry’s bud had been replaced with a full bush that dragged in the water. The bush was decorated with white flowers at his base, and berries throughout the rest of the foliage, a mixture of blue and raspberries, similar to his dew. As the two new flowerlings took in the change, the water’s pull swept away a stray berry or two.

 “Well,” Chi couldn’t help but smile, “Looks like we found a new source of light.” She observed the two as Barry made a fuss with his new bangs and Stormfly nervously watched. Neither boys’ lights were very bright, but compared to the complete darkness, they were a welcomed sight. “Mind leading the way?”

Barry nodded, though he turned his head and squinted his eyes in the darkness to examine his bat. “Only if you look after him.”

“I could treat his paws if we had more light...” Chi offered, looking to Stormfly for help. The lightning bean shrugged in response, giving her an expression that made it clear that he wasn’t sure how to control the glow. With a small nod of understanding, Chi concluded, “Once we find the others.”

“Until then, he can lean on me.” Charum flew over to help the bat maintain his balance. “You guys just lead the way.”

Stormfly looked uncertain at their new roles, but Barry simply took his hand and led him down the tunnel.

------------------

“Water means them, right?” Lesath pointed at the faint shimmer that appeared on the rocks. The glint of water grew into a small stream as it trickled past them and headed down to the right path. “There was thunder.”

“Then there must be Stormfly. And my sister,” Hunter concluded for himself and instinctively made to grab his staff, not realizing the mage was still in possession of it. His hand closed around the other bean’s, and Lesath was dragged along in his mad dash. The others followed behind, missing the exchange by mere seconds.

The further the Witherling went, the more water seemed to flow; This couldn’t be a natural spring source or some underground lake being drained. The booms were growing softer but clearer the further they went; The storm would die out soon, and Hunter worried their trail would dry up with it. At least, he worried until something washed past him in the stream.

“Grab that!” Hunter called behind him, and was rewarded with River diving down like a duck into the steam. 

She resurfaced moments later with a tattered, brown, soaked mess. “It’s a backpack. I think it’s Barry’s?”

“Come on!” Hunter was determined. He flew off, needing no light, but the others would not let him venture far. Lesath, emboldened by necessity, grabbed his wrist and held on. Hot on his tail, it wasn’t long before Lesath urged him to stop.

“A sword!”

“It’s Charum’s!” Kiri picked it up, and upon closer examination she noted how the metal looked warped and dull. “Woah, what happened to it?”

“Let me tell you!” Barry called from the darkness, his voice overflowing with the joy of seeing the others again.

“Chi?” Hunter wheeled around to face the tunnel, greeted by the faint glow of his newly flowered party members. 

One by one they entered the warm sphere of light held by Lesath. The last to come into view was the smallest of the group, the littler Witherling who couldn’t help a relieved breath as she took in the reunion. “Everyone’s here,” Chi she mumbled softly, barely getting the words out before the siblings collided in an embrace.

“I thought- I was so worried, I-” Hunter didn’t want to let go, but at the same time, he couldn’t help it as he pulled himself away to look her over, worry turned to disbelief. “What the femur happened? Look at them!”

“I’m trying not to,” River giggled, as she watched the way Barry fiddled with his hair, and Stormfly struggled to adjust to his new height. 

“It’s a long story. We were ambushed by… something. I don’t know what exactly,” Chi squirmed under her brother's attention. As much as she appreciated it, she was not the one who needed help first. She directed Lesath over, and set about undoing the potions at her side and unraveling bandages. She gave a soft whistle, and Prince wobbled his way to the light obediently.

“It was some sort of long snake on legs! With acid for breath, like a dragon!” Charum offered; being closer to the beast, he got a better look at the monster. He accepted his sword back sadly, not sure if it was still usable, and his energy seemed to lower a bit along with his voice, “No eyes, even. Just glowing holes along its whole body. And lots of teeth. Teeth for days.”

“How’d you get away?” Marshall asked in an attempt to link the two parts of his map together.

“We threw everything in my pack at it!” Barry beamed, proud at his part. 

Stormfly nodded along, thinking over the events. After a pause, he looked over to where Chi was sitting with Prince, and awkwardly made his way to her. “Um...”

“Yes?” Chi didn’t look up as she poured the healing salve onto her gauze. Her movements were precise and exact, methodical to the point of bordering on mechanical, and her eyes never left her work. 

Stormy didn’t like how tense she was holding herself. “I’m, er... Well, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I didn’t mean how it came out. I just-”

“You don’t need to be.” She finished wrapping the bat’s paws into tiny mummy mittens. Prince gave her a nuzzle, the relief being instant and appreciated. The small bean’s expression didn’t change from the distant, calculating look she’d had while working, though she patted the creature’s head gently in acknowledgment. “I understand. The whole thing was tense.”

“I was sorta frozen in fear back there,” Stormy looked down at his hands, then past them at the flower and chime that was now a part of him. Everything about him was new and he was still scared. “Barry was doing something, but I just sat there. And I… I-I really think I needed that push, ya know?” He looked up at her as he attempted to stumble his way to the right words, only to find the usually confident bean’s strangled look of stoicism meeting him. 

His heart ached to say more, but Barry broke through everyone’s thoughts as he asked: “Why is Lesath dressed like Hunter?”

Chi and Stormfly looked over and indeed, the bean in question was wearing the mask of the Witherling; Not only that, Lesath seemed to be trying to mimic the other bean entirely as he still stood with Hunter’s bone staff in hand. 

“You going to say something?” Hunter’s eyes narrowed despite having to look up at the flowerling, clearly not used to the change in height between them but not about to let that stop him.

“Just that he looks all spooky,” Barry smiled wider even as he saw the antlered bean’s dark angel wings bristle. “I didn’t mean anything! It’s just that he looks like he belongs with you.”

The Witherling’s snarl was cut off as Chi broke in, voice sharp. “Really? Try saying that with a straight face next time, Barnaby.” 

The blue bean recoiled back but held his tongue, not wanting to argue with the bean who helped his bat. Kiri took the opportunity to ask what was on everybody’s mind: “Now what?”

Marshall held up his map for all to see, “It’s just a quick jot down this tunnel, and straight up the big one to the surface,” He gestured along the path as he spoke, “Or we could see where the water goes.”

Kiri glanced at Chi instinctively, but found the bean refused to meet her eyes. With a small frown, she instead looked back to their mapmaker. “What do you want to do then, Marshall?”

“What do you think?” He rolled up the map with a glance toward the water, as if he’d just realized that the dampness could ruin all his hard work.

“Down the other path!” River tossed the animal tamer his bag and threw her hand up in favor. Barry caught it with a squelch and flew over to Prince. He reached inside and found a rather bruised piece of fruit, and offered it to his pet as they shared a quick fit of squeaking. River looked at the berry flowerling with confusion. “What are you even doing?”

“Prince says he’s fine to continue,” The bat grabbed Barry and held him until more fruit could be produced. The best that Barry could give was a shrug, and he to Stormfly for help. “After Chi fixed his paws, I only need twice the amount of food to pay him off.” 

“If you’re sure, Barry, then I’m going to.” The weatherling grabbed the blue hand extended to him, only to be engulfed in bat’s the other wing. “Ba- Prince!”

Kiri looked to Lesath who shrugged, not feeling very helpful in their neutral stance. Finding no help there, she turned her gaze to the next bean. “Hunter?”

Antlers tilted as Hunter hovered by his sister. “Do you want to keep going?” He asked in a hushed voice, doing his best to keep the question between the two siblings. His expression spoke perfectly clear to Chi that he would understand whatever she decided.

“Yeah,” Chi nodded numbly. “Let’s finish this.”

“Lesath, my staff please?” Hunter called over his shoulder. He met the bean halfway and untied the jar from its place. “Here, you hold this.” There was a small exchange in which the dark bean found it difficult to process what his hands were doing and nearly dropped the last source of light. Quickly taking hold of his bone, he turned so only Chi could see the color in his face as he tried to disregard the fumble. “I might need this.”

Hunter, Kiri, and Charum made up a front line going down the tunnel, now headed back along the main wider path. Positioned in the center, Lesath held the light for the group as  Chi and Marshall filled in the second line of beans on either side of them. Scattered in the back in a much less organized bunch were Stormfly, River, Barry, and Prince. They had all agreed that the bat would cover their backs to ensure that the creature of the cave would not sneak up on them again.