Part 11 - Caved in

"Wait," Vysna removed her blindfold.

" How are we planning to do this, exactly? What are you planning Aaden?"

" Use our strengths, it's obvious Vy," Aaden said trying not to touch his blindfold.

" We are not supposed to help each other remember?" Tashvin chimed in.

" We are not supposed to physically help each other, but we can plan together, right? He didn't specify anything on that," Vysna said grinning at how funny they looked talking to each other blindfolded.

"Aye, you right," Tash said and immediately sent a small wave.

" Tash, was that you?" Aaden asked.

" Hey, I felt that too," Vysna said.

"Yep," Tashvin was happy.

Vysna sent a wave." Did anyone feel that?"

" No," both replied.

Vysna sat down defeated.

An idea struck Aaden. He put his hands on the ground and sent a wave. He got a faint map of the cave. It was not a clear picture but at least he had something to start with. " Use your strength fellas." He said out loud.

He sent one more and started walking right ahead till he reached a narrow entrance. He placed his hands on the wall of the cave and sent another wave and saw that the narrow opening led to a dead end. He kept moving in different directions and placed his hand on the wall, each time sending small frequencies and navigated towards a much larger entrance. Then he placed both his hands on the floor of the entrance and sent a large wave. This helped him see the entire way through the entrance. He saw that the opening bifurcated after a certain distance. And each bifurcation led in different directions.

He decided to go to the right first then to the left. He started doing the same drill he had followed sending small frequencies every time to know whether he was on the right track. When he reached the bifurcation he entered the right side and started walking steadily and carefully. He was enjoying this weird task. The idea of being blindfolded but being able to see through his powers gave him a different sense of pride.

Tashvin sent a wave and found two openings at his right. And he kept on doing it till he reached the entrance of one of them. This seemed to be too easy for him. Having air as his element was an advantage for him. 'Air is everywhere' is the line he remembered from his grade one textbook.

Echolocation, that's what he was doing. Every wave he sent he received it back, which bounced on the surfaces it hit. He was easily able to navigate through the cave, one diversion at a time. He was the first to reach a flag at one of the dead ends. He took off his blindfold and checked for the colour, and luckily it was orange. He grabbed the small flag and put it in his pocket, put his blindfold back on and started to move in another direction. The only problem he faced was remembering which way he had already looked, resulting in him getting lost several times.

There was no light as he walked deeper into the cave. He wondered what the point of having a blindfold, was if they had to find the flags solely by using their powers. But shrugged at the thought and kept on with the task at hand.

Vysna called out for her brothers but it seemed that they had started with their tasks and they didn't answer. She put on her blindfold and tried sending waves but none of them were good enough for her to get a picture of the cave or even a faint map. She pondered on how easily she was able to do this when she was underwater. How she could become one with the environment under it. She was disheartened. She sat there in silence.

All she could hear was a low hum of wind and the dripping of water droplets from the roof of the cave. Then it struck her that the cave was dripping wet due to the rains. She had water all around her, even if the quantity was scarce she could at least try. She got up and concentrated on the dripping sounds that she heard. She was familiarised with its rhythm. When she was sure that she understood she sent a wave good enough to extend to the ends of the tunnels ahead of her. It was a very faint picture that she got. But at least it was a start. She did it again but increased the intensity of the wave, the picture was not clear but the wave travelled much farther than she expected.

" What was that?" she heard someone say. Whoever it was, had walked much deeper into the cave and was farther from her. She remembered how Aaden used his powers by placing his hand on the surrounding surfaces. So she thought of doing the same. She placed her hand on the ground and felt for moisture. Concentrating on the water that surrounded her, she tried very hard only to sense the water and where it was in the cave and not at rocks and mud. In the beginning, it was difficult for her because the water was very little and spread unevenly. But the air around her was humid.

She finally started moving to another opening where she could feel that she would find something. This time she sent a stronger wave which rumbled through the opening of one of the tunnels she was facing. And it permeated through the walls and the ground. She gathered the tiny information that the reflected waves gave her and started moving through the cave. The air grew even more musty the more she went deep. When she reached a certain spot she could feel a cool Breeze on her skin. She placed her hands again on the wall that was near her. But something slimy slithered under her hand, startled, she moved back and was about to take off her blindfold but remembered the rule. So she sent a small wave and found out that a small snake was dangling from the ceiling to one of the crevices of the wall. She moved further back slowly trying not to draw the creature's attention towards her. But she heard a hiss and couldn't help but take off the blindfold. She saw that the tunnel was lit by a small hole in the roof. The creature had its attention on her and was trying to gauge her movements. In a panic, she sent a small pulse towards the creature and to her surprise it was distracted and crawled into the gap of the rocks.

Giving out a sigh of relief she leaned forward keeping her hands on her thighs. The Blindfold in her hand was beeping now and she realised that she had to put it back on.

Aaden had collected one flag and wondered how many flags his siblings had gathered or if had they finished with their task. He sent two consecutive waves in one single direction impulsively. He hated losing. He could see a small flag near the left end of an open space a few feet away from him. He walked towards it and took off his blindfold. He saw that it was a yellow flag. He threw his head back and sighed in frustration. For a moment his mind faltered and he wanted to misplace the flag or hide it somewhere. But then he shook the thought away covered his eyes and started walking in the other direction.

After a few turns he found another violet flag and put it in his pocket. He could feel a faint wave near him, guessing it was Tash, he moved in his direction.

" Hello," he heard Tash.

" Hey," Aaden said. " How many did you find?" He asked.

"I found three." Tash said," I am getting out of here. The cave's giving me creeps. I don't want to find any more flags. How many do you have?"

"Okay, I found two, I'll just look for one more and leave. Don't want to stay here any longer." Aaden said. He felt odd talking blindfolded to his brother. The habit of talking to someone by looking at them was something so natural but now he felt how important eye contact was to convey the message you want to give or even understand the person's feelings who is in front of you.

They parted ways and Aaden started searching for the last flag. After a few trials, he found one at last and started to search for the exit route of the cave.

When he reached the exit. He heard Tash and Markand talking.

" Good you made it on time," Markand said." Any idea where your sister is?" He asked.

" No clue," he replied, taking off his blindfold." I didn't find her anywhere in the cave." He said and stood beside Tash.

Vysna had found only one flag and she was getting anxious. She was claustrophobic and wanted to get out of that place. She followed the same drill a few more times and finally found another flag. Growing impatient she sent a huge wave from the place she was standing and felt the rumble come back to her from all directions. With that, she had found the precise location of at least four flags and a faint idea of two more. She followed the same and got two more yellow flags. She again sent a large wave to find out whether her brothers were still in the cave with her but didn't find them. So, she decided to exit the cave. Upon reaching the exit she saw her brothers and Markand standing far from the exit away from her. She walked towards them confused.

" What did you do?" Tash asked her, he looked shocked and scared.

" What did I do?" She asked.

" You sent two powerful waves causing the side of the cave to collapse," Markand said pointing behind her. " At first it was the bats that flew out but then the rocks at the entrance and plants poking out the sides, all came down rapidly. One fell near Aaden missing him by inches."

Aaden looked exasperated," have you done this before?" He asked.

"Done what before?" she didn't know what he was so shocked about.

" Such strong waves, have you done them before?" He asked her.

She could only nod in negation.

" Okay... We will discuss this afterwards, are you hurt?" Markand said changing the topic and asking Vysna.

She nodded still not having any words to describe her condition.

Markand took a deep breath, " well, all three of you have failed the task." He said.

They were shocked.

"What"

" No"

"Not fair, what did we do wrong?" Tashvin asked," you told us to bring the flags, we got them." he threw up his hands.

Markand smiled, " the task was of communication... I told you all not to help each other, but I didn't mention whether you could do it using your powers. That is why I told you all to wait and plan out before you start. Communication was necessary. You all had been given different colour flags and if you found out about someone else's flag you should have only communicated through wave signals. That's why I had given you the blindfold. The powers that you all have are of no use if they are not used to help one another."

They all looked at each other.

" But as you all have completed the task given. We will be moving to the next lesson. I will inform you all when and where the same way I called for this task. So now home and get rest. And be prepared for the next one." He said.

Navil had come to pick them up.

" So, how was today?" He asked as they sat in the car.

" We failed today." Aaden replied, he was dissappinoted.

" It's a part of the process, don't worry. I am sure you all will excel next time. If you know why you failed today then you won't be making the same mistake tomorrow. Right? Come on cheer up. Shall we get ice cream? I won't tell mom..." he said wiggling his eyebrows.

" No, not in the mood." Vysna said.

" Oh, you don't need mood for icecream. Come on... " he said, grinning. Then they agreed.

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