Chapter Text
“Are you even sure we’re going the right way??” Brandon asked.
“Positively.”
Ever since this morning, they have been trekking up this mountain in search for this cave that Saige has been dying to look for. Brandon himself, is missing a general sense of what they are doing. That’s saying a lot.
“Guys, were here!” He heard their masked friend call from higher up the mountain.
“Alright, can we rest now??” he asked.
“Oh, come on the trek wasn’t that hard, was it?” Rachelle asked.
“…Yeah, sure it’s so easy, with you and your wings, Rachelle.”
“Oh, don’t be such a scaredy cat, Brandon, I’m sure things will be worth it. Besides, you only came with us cuz Noah wants you to come.” Keila said, teasingly.
“Oh, shut up…”
At some point, they did rest briefly. Brandon turned his head towards Noah, of course, to see him bobbing his head to the music he was listening to. He walked towards him and looked to his phone in his hands. Noah was the one for music, and no one minded him and the songs he listened to.
After a few long minutes, though some even felt like only a few seconds, the five of them continued their trip by going further into the cave.
It was shaded in there, and it felt like one wrong move and the entire mountain would collapse. With the help of their flashlights, they continued making their way down the cave. Vines had dangled from the ceiling, getting in the way of some of the taller members. Behind a few dangling vines, they found themselves in the middle of the mountain. It was a hollow area, with a small pond in the middle and holes in its walls, leading into more of the cave. In the pond, plants were growing out of the water and lily pads floated atop of the water. Sunlight came spilling down from a big hole in the cave, leaving almost everything semi-lit.
“What in the world…?” They gasped.
“…Saige, I’ve heard you travel a lot through mountains, is this familiar to you?” Noah asked. Saige stepped from the back to take a closer look to the cave.
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m new to this place,” Saige said, still looking at the place, “Let’s check it out!”
“Wait, are we sure we can trust this place?” Brandon asked, reaching out for Saige’s hand.
“Oh, come on, Brandon…It’ll be fun, trust me!” Noah exclaimed, dragging him farther into the cave.
They stared at the scenery. The only light they had was the sun from above and the light from an opening they used to get inside. A big opening in the mountain, the mouth of the cave. It was bright enough that they did not need their flashlights to see anymore. It was practically broad daylight.mThe five of them sat down by the pond. Saige took off their backpack and brought out the snacks they had brought. “Eat up, I bet y’all are hungry.” They spoke, as they took off their mask.
As they ate the chips that had been packed, Brandon noticed Noah listening to music again. He crawled his way towards him and sat next to him. “What are you listening to?” He asked.
“Music. Wanna listen?” Noah asked back, taking out an earphone and handing it to Brandon. Brandon took the earphone and put it in one of his ears.
The two boys sat together to listen to Noah’s music via the same earphones. Rachelle, Keila and Saige noticed what was happening, and they could do nothing but smile. Finally, the ship has sailed.
“So, what’s so special about this place?” Keila asked. Rachelle, Keila and Saige all sat on the other side of the pond.
“Oh, I have heard that this is a very beautiful place. Not in the day, however, but I thought that the earlier we get here, the better.” Saige explained. “When night hits, fireflies ignite and come alive in this very cave, is what I’ve been told, and they are different than regular fireflies, mainly abiding the vibes of music!” they explained more.
“Did Saige get this place off of the black market or something?! Where did Saige hear about this place, Rachelle is curious!” Rachelle exclaimed.
“Well, you know me, I walk around the meadows and mountains. I actually have heard of this place through a flyer pinned to a tree, but had seen it long before. I just thought that it would be much more fun to explore with friends like you all,” Saige explained, hinting their gratitude.
“Wow, so this place is controlled by music?” Keila asked.
“Apparently, but it has been rumored that this place hasn’t heard music in years!” Saige exclaimed, “Well, until now, I hope. I called you guys to follow for two reasons. One, it would be less lonely, and two, Noah has awesome music taste the fireflies are bound to love it.”
The three of them looked towards the two boys listening to music in the other corner of the mountain.
“Hey, watch this,” Keila said. She got up on her knees and blasted a small ball of wind towards the two boys, blowing their hair around, startling them.
“What the heck!?” Noah exclaimed, immediately taking out his earphone. Brandon did the same in silence. They saw the three laughing at them. Noah stood up and started chasing Keila. Brandon continued sitting down where Noah used to be, still in confusion.
“Well, that escalated quickly.”
In the blink of an eye, the bright and warm light of the sun shining through the hole atop of the roof became the cooler, darker light from the moon, including the cold wind blowing in through all the holes in the mountain. The sound of the wind soothed them all.
“It’s time to unleash the fireflies!” Saige stood from the ground, holding in their excitement. “Noah, hand me the music.” Noah, still clueless about what was supposed to happen, handed Saige his phone.
Scrolling through the songs, “You have immaculate music taste, my friend. These are bops.” Said Saige. Saige laid their eyes upon this one song. Welcome Home, by Radical Face. A perfect song for the occasion. The song started playing.
The sounds of humming, singing and the guitar echoed through-out the cave. The lyrics were incoherent by how much the music was echoing. They sat at the edge of the pond, as if something was bound to jump out, and they let the music call them to life. The wind picked up and blew into the cave, blowing their hair around their faces.
They waited for the songs chorus to play.
As soon as the beat drop at the chorus, fireflies came flying out of their homes, glowing the cave with their colors. The bright colors bounced from the stone walls. The fireflies swayed through the cave, swirling through the cave as if trapped in a whirlwind. They flew all around the five of them. It was like they were being taught to dance with these fireflies.
At some point, they all started singing with the song, singing with the fireflies as if they could speak with them. No matter how they sung, they still sung. And their voices echoed throughout the cave, probably being able to be heard from outside the cave. But it matters not, they still were in awe by the beauty tonight.
As the song died down, many of the fireflies had all retreated back into their homes.
Blue ghost fireflies stayed, continuing to enjoy the ambiance of the cave. Saige played a random instrumental they saw in Noah’s phone. Blue Ghost’s flew around them, illuminating parts of the cave. They flew around Rachelle’s hair, as if they were following the braids. They pushed around Brandon’s over-grown mane he calls hair.
“Woah…” Noah awed, “I’m amazed. This is so cool…”
“Oh…I underestimated how beautiful this place can be.” Brandon said, turning to Noah, who was still staring at the fireflies around him. Clearly, Brandon meant to call Noah ‘beautiful’.
Keila elbowed Brandon’s arm.
“This is relaxing… Rachelle approves of this!” Rachelle said, calmly. “Saige choose the best music, Saige.” she turned to them.
“Oh, thanks. I mean, Noah has the best music taste.” Saige said.
Noah was still in his own world, enjoying the nature and his music. Brandon continued to stare at this boy, filled with emotions even I don’t know how to describe.
Keila crawled over to Brandon and whispered something into his ear.
“C’mon, this is your chance to do your thing, Brandon.”
“Are you kidding me!? No! Not now, I’m not ready” Brandon whisper-shouted to Keila.
“Don’t be a wuss. You gotta do it at some point, why not now??” Keila asked.
“…Alright fine. Tonight, but not now. Deal?” Brandon asked.
“Deal.”
The sounds of crickets and sounds of the night had become louder than before. The wind had calmed down, and there were barely any fireflies left. Only fireflies that only glowed so bright were still around. Some violet, some blue, some a warm yellow and some yellow-green had flew around the place.
The calming sounds of the leaves from the trees rustling from outside of the cave. The warm feeling when you sit down on the stones. The hollow sounds of the cave as you try to fall asleep. And then finally, the sounds of music still playing from Noah’s phone. No doubt, he did have a taste for music, and a good one at that.
It felt like everything was perfect.
“Hey, Noah I have to tell you something.” Brandon whisper called to Noah, waking him up. Noah hummed in response, looking into Brandon’s eyes. The phantom exhaled his dread.
“So, you have been my friend for a bit, and during that time, I may have developed…” he halted for a few seconds, heat rising up to his face, “Feelings for you…Y-You’re just the coolest, prettiest, kindest, most amazing person I’ve ever met, a-and I just wanted to say that… I really, really, really like you.” he spat out, finally. Noah’s face grew a deep red.
“Feelings mutual.” He stammered, his smile beaming in the night. Brandon’s face grew the same, his lips peering up a smile.
“Hug?” Noah asked, spreading his arms, waiting for a similar embrace. For a few seconds, Brandon’s grazed Noah’s lips. Noah was met with sudden shock, but then his slightly open mouth was replaced with a warm smile.
“Love you too.” Was all he responded with.
Saige was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of quiet talking. Their eyes shot open to see Brandon talking to Noah.
You got this, Brandon. Get yo’ man. Saige thought, then a quiet laugh. The minute they turn their head back to the two boys, they could come to deduce that the two were hugging (or kissing, it was dark.)
Damn, I knew they would do something like that at some point. Saige thought to themselves as they slowly fell back asleep against the stone wall.
It was only by morning when they realized they had slept in that mountain. The rising sun shone over the horizon. It reflected from the mouth of the cave and onto the pond. A bright smudge of light caught Keila’s eye, who was the first to wake up.
She got up onto her feet and to the mouth of the cave. The breeze was warm, it whipped at her cheeks. Birds were chirping and flying through the sky, it felt like a natural alarm clock. Keila noticed a small town in the middle of the valley, awakening at the rising sun.
The sky was painted with the colors of orange, yellow and light blue with the smudge of light blue clouds flying here and there. Keila, against the odds, sat down at the edge of the cliff, her feet dangling from the ledge. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly.
Despite being the chaotic one, she likes some comfort and time to herself once in a while, and against all odds, she wouldn’t have gone on this trip without her friends. She turned to see Rachelle step beside her. She stood there and looked upon the small town in the valley.
“We could drop a visit over there.” Rachelle said, stretching out her big light brown wings. They unfolded from her back, as if she was about to jump off of the cliff with no worry.
Keila gave a nod as a response. She adjusted where she sat so that she wouldn’t be swat in the face by Rachelle’s wings. They were pretty big and she did not want to fall off this cliff.
Keila and Rachelle were doing nothing but stare into the valley, and watch the sun rise into the sky to stare the new day, when they heard the sudden sound of someone screaming, which then escalated into hearing no more than three people screaming within the cave. Rachelle took off into the sky while Keila sat up.
They both ran or flew into the cave to see something… unexpected, to say the least. Noah was awoken by Brandon sleeping right next to him, which ended up scaring Brandon, so he screamed, then Saige was woken up by Brandon, and so they screamed… All out of shock.
But Saige didn’t scream for long. As soon as they saw Brandon and Noah, they grinned.
“…You scream because of that?” Keila asked, laughing.
“Shut up.”
In the end, five of them ended up trekking down the mountain and through the valley to visit the town nearby. Occasionally, they would look up to see Rachelle flying up in the air, waving at them and leading them to the right way. Back down on earth, Keila and Saige would sometimes turn around, to see flustered Brandon and Noah talking to each other. So sweet.
The food offered by the people in the town was nothing but delicious, and the people welcomed them with open arms, excluding the fact that most of them aren’t humans.
“Wow, this place is so cool!” Noah exclaimed.
“Indeed. They were very sweet for letting us in, disregarding our species.” Brandon said, as he took another bite out of the sandwich he was given to when they entered the town.
The day went on normally. They spent their time in the town, as the people welcomed them with open arms. Rachelle had become something like a tourist attraction, showing off her wings as the Elytrian she is. Noah and Saige were walking through the town, looking through the place.
They were minding their own businesses when a dash of wind flew past them, followed by the distant noises, ‘Get back here, Keila,’ and ‘Slow-Ghost’. Keila managed to get on Brandon’s nerve again, expectedly.
Brandon had fallen into the water, basically humiliated. Noah and Saige started laughing.
“I hate you.” Brandon said, half-heartedly towards Keila, standing above him.
“I love you too, mate.” Was Keila’s only response. Against all odds, Brandon could not hold his smile and started laughing with them. You can’t blame them. It was pretty funny.