Chapter Text
“And it’s said that no one’s ever come back.” Sam explained in those early dawn hours.
An old, dusty picture book was tucked under his arm as he hiked up the steep hillside. Dean trailed behind him. He brandished an old tree branch as support as he clambered behind his brother with steep shadows trailing under his eyes.
Dean growled, “So, you take that information, add a picture book and now we’re climbing a mountain before the sun’s up?”
“We’ve jumped on smaller hunches than this. The strange thing is that I’ve never heard of this book before.”
“What’s so strange about that?”
“Well think, Dean. Most myths or stories or mysteries have many texts surrounding their origins. While our experiences have disproven many of those ideas…”
“Having only a kid’s book to go off of raises some alarms.”
Sam nodded as the ground finally levelled out beneath his feet. In comparison to some of the other great mountains of the country, Mount Ebott was relatively small and easy to climb. Even a small child could find their way up the hill with minimal difficulty.
Sam only walked a few steps forward before he came to a halt. Dean would’ve bumped into him had he not been paying attention.
“Hey Sammy, why’re we stopping?” Dean asked as he came up beside Sam.
It was then he noticed the massive pit in front of them. There was barely any space on top of the mountain before the ledge became darkness. In the dim light of the early morning, Dean’s sight could not pierce the maw of darkness that reached hungrily towards the two humans.
“Woah,” Dean gaped, “This like a volcano or something?”
Sam’s eyes were stuck on the hole like it was eating his soul, “I… don’t know. I mean, a volcano doesn’t really make sense…”
“Right.”
“…but I haven’t heard anything about this. It just seems strange that no one’s blocked it up or sealed it away.”
“Well it solves the mystery of where those kids went.” Dean shook his head as his brain painted pictures of heads bouncing off rocks and skulls cracking in two.
His spine shivered.
Sam glanced downward, “I wouldn’t mind taking a closer look…”
“Sammy,” Dean glared at his brother, “You have a death wish or something. I’d like it if we weren’t known as ‘The Hunters Done in by a Pit”. Look, kids fell down, heads cracked, the end.”
Sam’s foot was already stepping towards a root before Dean yanked him backward like a suburban mom tugging her kid in a Walmart.
“Damn it, Sammy! Be careful!”
“Dean!” Sam snapped, “What’s going on with you? It's not like we haven’t done stuff like this before.”
“Yeah, but we usually have more proof before we jump headfirst into a death hole!”
Dean stomped forward, the dirt under his foot shifted, but he didn’t notice.
“I’m just saying we should check it out.”
“And I’m sayin’ we should leave!”
A crack snapped the tension. Dean glanced down at his shoes and the ground beneath them. Suddenly his thick jacket felt a little heavier.
A voice in his head was telling him he was going to have a bad time.
“Dean, c’mon. We came all the way up here. We may as well check it out!”
“Forget it, Sammy. We’re headed-“
The moment Dean turned to leave, the ground gave way beneath him. The branch in his hand reached frantically for a hold in the soft dirt as he started tumbling downward.
“DEAN!”
Before he knew what was happening, Dean was tumbling into darkness. The light above his head grew smaller and smaller until it winked entirely out of existence. There was a brief moment, lasting only a few seconds, where he felt like he passed through a layer of water, and then the light was gone. He didn’t really have time to scream as he was processing before his consciousness started to flicker. Was this the end? Was a pit actually going to be his deathbed?
Those were his last thoughts before an extreme drowsiness overpowered the stress and the fear. A soft blanket of peace fell over him as his eyes fell shut and his body went numb.
Mid-fall, he passed out. Seconds later, a transformative light circled him. His heartbeat echoed through the pit.
And within that light, Dean Winchester started to shrink.
UNDER<3TALE