The Shadow Caves

The soft taps of their steps rung throughout the cave as they made their way inside. Pan put his sword in its hilt, keeping pressure on his wound as they ventured deeper. Bell looked around the cave curiously, watching as the lights on the cave walls softly flickered to their footsteps. She smiled softly as the calming sound of the water, crashing somewhere far away from them, softly echoed through the cave.

These caves were always a fun place to go when you needed to relax, you could hear the oceans from below, and the creatures from above. But either way, you were safe, like a magical barrier protected these caves. Pan shuffled through the things in his bag, looking for something he could wrap his shoulder with for now.

After a few minutes, he pulled out an old Aaslard flower, which is a white flower that looks like a star in the sky. It's fuzzy like cotton and the pollen in the middle is a good pain killer. He also took out a short piece of rope, using the flower to cover his wound. He tied the rope around the flower and his shoulder, keeping everything in place.

Bell looked towards him as he struggled to tie the rope. She smiled softly, walking up behind him and tightening the rope on his shoulder. He inhaled sharply as a shooting pain ran down his arm and then quickly subsided. He nodded and signed "Thank you" Bell smiled softly and nodded. Pan fixed his shirt and threw his bag back over his opposite shoulder.

He sighed softly as he looked towards Bell, who was back to watching the ceiling. He scoffed and shook his head, looking towards the ceiling as well. "You're one of the only people I've ever seen who's mesmerised by the glimmering cave lights..." She looked back towards him, a spirited look on her face.

He snickered and looked back up towards the ceiling. "It's kind of sad to think about what those creatures actually are though..." Bell looked towards her confused, tilting her head slightly. He shrugged slightly and looked to the side. "I get that they are happy, but they were just children, ever single one of them...There are probably thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Soultaurs down here"

He sighed and looked towards Bell, who nodded, looking down for a moment before looking back towards the ceiling. She stayed quiet for a few seconds before speaking, a tiny bell sound echoing through the cave. "That is why I admire them so, for their pain they never knew, forever happy." She smiled radiantly as she turned towards Pan, who had a shocked look on his face.

He laughed in amusement as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Glad you can always see the positive with all the negatives around us..." Bell met his gaze and then nodded before looking down the path in front of them. The soft cries of children's laughter started growing louder as they approached the center of the cave system.

They turned a sharp corner, watching as the Soultaur danced around, at least they were always happy. Soultaur were one of the only species who didn't have to adapt or change to whatever was happening with Hook. They never had to find out what was going on, though as a whole, the packed seemed a little dim, so maybe they did know what was going on up top.

Pan placed his hands on his hips as he looked towards the creatures, a content smile on Bell's face as she watched the 'dancing lights.' There were about four smaller tunnels that were lit up with colors of purple, blue, and soft yellows. Each tunnel connected to the main room of the cave. The main cave had a small water source that ran through it, some say it is some of the ocean water that you can hear throughout the cave.

Though it is always cool and never salty, no one was quite sure where the water came from. In the middle of the room is a circular platform where the Soultaur's seem to hang out and play with each other. There was a small cave that was dimly lit, it sounded like they were sleeping as tiny chirps echoed out of that cave.

The other caves seemed like travelling caves to get food and to just generally move throughout the complex cave system. Bell and Pan had to figure out which one was the right cave to go in, to find another exit.

Pan sighed softly, looking between the three potential cave systems they could venture down. He smiled softly and looked towards Bell. "You are down her the most, which cave system do you suggest we start in?" He crossed his arms in front of him as he waited for Bells answer. Bell looked towards him then looked between the three caves curiously. She knew the one to the left circled back to the Dark Wood, so it was the middle cave or the right cave.

She inhaled sharply then pointed towards the middle cave, marching towards it. Pan chuckled and shook his head as he followed behind her. The Soultaur's watched as they walked across the circular platform to the middle cave. Some of them, growing close out of curiosity, following next to them. Some of the Soultaur's playing with them, walking next to them, and then when either Pan or Bell looked at them they would dash off and a soft echo of children's laughter would bounce off the walls. Which made both Pan and Bell chuckle, Bells laugh sounding like a soft tinkling sound.

As they climbed up to the middle cave, some of the Soutaurs softly chirped, almost saddened that they were leaving so soon. When Bell stood up straight she turned around and stuck one of her hands up towards the ceiling, her pointer finger extended. "I will be back soon, but we have to go get my knight in shining armor back to the castle to recharge! I will be back to play with you all soon" She smiled brightly as her tinkling bell sounds echoed through the caves, the Soultaurs cheering up and prancing excitedly around the main platform.

She smiled brightly before patting Pan on the back and making her way down the path. Pan scoffed softly and shook his head. "You always surprise me, that's why they were so excited, you play with them! I thought you came down here to learn about them..." He shrugged and look to the side. Bell looked towards him, pouting softly before softly punching his arm.

He chuckled and rubbed his arm, looking towards her. "What? You always learn something new about them and then tell the lost boys about them...I listen and watch your stories sometimes you know" His cheeks faintly flushed pink as he crossed his arms and looked to the side. Bell smiled contently as they continued down their path.

After a good 30 minutes of walking, they finally made it out of the cave. Pan stretched slightly as they both looked onto the Hangman's tree, that sat in the distance. "It's great to finally be home..." Bell nodded and hopped up and down excitedly as she skipped towards the tree. Pan chuckled softly shaking his head as he chased after her.

He turned around, walking backwards in front of Bell. "Race ya home?" He smirked softly and started running. "HEY!!" A loud and sharp bell sound rang out as she spoke before she started running after Pan, both of them laughing kind of like they were children again.