Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!
Summery: An unfortunate misstep hurls Mulder into a strange universe that was only thought to exist in the words of legend & mythology. As always, please R&R.
"Mulder, where are you?" Scully's voice came over his digital two-way radio as they each combed a forest just south of the Canadian Rockies where there had been reports of Bigfoot sightings. "Err…" Mulder trailed off as he checked his compass, a useless effort since the magnetic properties of the mountains were interfering with his navigational equipment. "Would it worry you if I said that I don't know?" He replied. "It depends on how long you've ventured on without knowing." She replied. "Well… I don't really know how long it's been." On the other side of the forest, Scully let a sigh escape her as she put her hand exasperatedly to her forehead. 'What am I going to do with him?' She thought hopelessly. "Mulder, I'm going to send for help, stay…where…you…are." She said, speaking slowly & clearly, hoping her tone of voice would convince him to stay where he was. "Uh… sure." He replied as he cut their transmission, Scully shook her head as she dialed out on her satellite phone, he had no intention of staying put.
Scully's intuition had been right, Mulder didn't stay put, he continued to follow the trail of something very large through the forest, it was heading toward the foothills of the magnificent Canadian Rocky mountains. The massive footprints seemed to get older as he got closer to the foothills, but the trail itself was well-worn & was obviously used fairly often. His determination to uncover the truth lead him on & made him oblivious to the fact that it was going to be dark soon & the temperature was dropping. The forest yielded to the breathtaking sight of the foothills &, to Mulder's delight, a series of caves. Without Scully by his side, who so often served as his voice of reason & sensibility (fortunately for him, because he had very little himself) was not present, he plunged onward, not even bothering to entertain the fact that one of these caves might, in fact be home to bears or wolves.
Scully shielded her herself from the downdrafts as a rescue helicopter landed in a nearby clearing. "I'm sorry, Agent Scully, but it's getting dark, & I just can't risk sending my men out at this hour, not with the magnetic influence of this region. We're going to have to wait until first light to begin the search for your partner." The leader of the search & rescue team, a man by the name of Leonard Turner, a former naturalist & map charter said to her as he left her company to set up camp. Scully gave the tree line of the forest a final, worried look. The ancient peaks of the Rockies were just visible over the tops of the noble pines; standing tall & wise like gods & seeming to watch over all that moved beneath them. "Please, take care of him." Scully whispered to the forest. She quickly looked around, realizing she had uttered her thoughts out loud; thankfully, no one was around to hear.
Mulder sat up slowly & rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he mulled over the aches in his neck & back that sleeping on the cave's hard, uneven granite surface had rewarded him with. The sun was the next to wake, its first rays creeping in through the mouth of the cave, slowly illuminating the smooth granite walls in an unearthly orange hue. Mulder was surprised to discover that the interior of the cave was quite narrow & seemed to reach back pretty far, & so he did what no other sensible person would have done when they were lost in a vast Canadian forest; he sank to his hands & knees & began following the ever-narrowing tunnel.
"This is the location of our last transmission & that was around three in the afternoon, yesterday." Scully said to Turner. "It looks like he's started towards the foothills, no offense Agent Scully, but you're partner is an idiot." Turner said flatly. "I know it was a stupid thing for him to do, but when he gets his mind set on finding proof, nothing else matters, especially his personal safety." She replied, in Mulder's defense, but she knew that Turner was right. "Well, luckily for your partner, we've gotten a lot of rain in the few days before you arrived, so it should make tracking him a little easier."
After what seemed like an eternity of crawling on his hands & knees, the narrow tunnel of the cave finally opened enough for him to stand upright, a welcome change. He dug out his flashlight & looked around in awe; the walls of the cave were lined with quartz crystal that shimmered like diamonds when the beam of his flashlight passed over it. At the back of the cavern was an exquisite pool filled with a thick, shimmering silvery liquid. Perplexed, Mulder bent down to touch it, it was surprisingly thick & harder to permeate then he expected. "Scully's going to flip when she sees this." Mulder said to himself as he dug out a tube to take back a sample, to his surprise, the tube slid in easily. Suddenly, the world lurched & he was pitched forward, headlong into the pool.