G/T YouTubers (One Shots and More)

A Relic of the Past (Jack and Mark) (Part 1)

A/N Not formatted yet, apologies.

Mark's eyes practically glowed in the golden light of the sunset. His irises were rings of passionate copper, and in the light his skin shined with perspiration. Beside him, his more tired accomplice huffed for breath.

"Mark," he panted, "Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe-maybe we should just wait until tomorrow, y-ya know?" The skinny boy chuckled nervously.

"It's okay if you're scared, Ethan." Mark turned to his friend. "You didn't have to come, and you can still go back if you want," he offered, "I won't judge." Ethan puffed his chest out.

"What!? Hah, nah. You're-you're not getting rid of me that easily!" He panted. Mark laughed kindly.

"Well, all right then, if you insist." He shrugged his pack off and sat on a large rock. "But let's take a break first." Ethan was all too eager to sit down too.

"Oh," he sighed, "I can't believe you talked me into this though."

"Well, who knows what's in that cave?" Mark paused to chug half of a water bottle down, and then he added, "Besides, I bet nobody's ever been in them before. We only saw them because those trees burned down, remember?"

"Yeah." They let their hearts slow back to a normal pace before moving on. Soon, they stood at the mouth of the cave, checking their flashlights and making sure they had full batteries and supplies like fiber bars.

"You good?" Mark called quietly.

"Yeah." Ethan turned his flashlight on to combat the twilight sinking in. It cut through the darkening air, but they didn't see very far into the black mouth of the cavern. "Heh heh, l-ladies first!" Ethan offered. Mark snickered and agreed to go first. He held his modern torch ahead as he entered the entryway into the earth.

"Brr." Already, the temperature was beginning to drop, and the rock felt cool even beneath his shoes. Ethan shivered as well, following close behind Mark.

"Why's it so cold?" He complained.

"Because not much sunlight gets in here, and the sun is halfway down the horizon?" Mark pointed out. Ethan giggled nervously.

"No, I know, but still." They scoped the first cavern out. It was large and rounded, and the ceiling was high above their heads. But there was a large and twisted path that led deeper in. "Just like Minecraft... think Minecraft," Ethan mumbled to himself to keep a brave face on. They marked the wall with a reminder that they had come from this direction, so that they wouldn't get lost, before they went even deeper. The temperature continued to drop. The stone trail led deeper in still, and soon Mark and Ethan huddled together as they walked to keep warm.

"Is it still going down?" Ethan asked. They were now both making sure that the tunnel's walls didn't branch off into more tunnels.

"Yeah." Mark shined the light ahead. It still goes deeper? How long have we been walking? It feels like an hour. "Maybe we should have waited until daytime," He conceded, shivering.

"Nah it'll be fine. You were excited to check this place out, so that's what we're doing." Ethan smiled at his pal. "Come on, let's just keep going." Mark nodded gratefully and continued deeper. Interesting. The walls aren't thinning out, they've kept the tunnel at quite a fixed width. But where does it lead to? Why is this here? Is it just a cave, or...?

"Hey!" Ethan's voice suddenly boomed against the walls. "I think I feel a breeze!" And then the world began to rumble. Mark's eyes widened.

"Ethan!" He shouted, but then he regretted it. A stalagmite crumbled and fell from the ceiling, landing at Ethan's feet. Ethan yelped and careened into Mark. "Shit! Cave-in! Run!" They turned and bolted back the way they'd come. Rock grackled all around them. Dust unsettled and rose up as the cold stone crumbled and collapsed.