DAY 01: Adventure Begins
I arrived in the Mystic Ruins the next morning, Quartz snuggly half-sleeping in my jacket's hood. I stepped down the wooden stairs of the train station, wondering once again why it had to be built so high. Not that I minded the height. It just didn't make sense to me, and it certainly wasn't accessible.
I peered at the new island, frowning at the mountains in my way. Foxes weren't really climbers in any sense. I'd have to find another way. A helicopter or small plane could get there easily but I hadn't access to either of those or the funds to acquire one. My only mode of transportation was on foot.
I made my way to the mine cart that went to the jungle. Perhaps there was a way to reach the island from there since it was past these mountains as well. Arriving at the end of the cart ride, I looked out over the trees. It was always an amazing sight to behold but I couldn't get caught up in its beauty. I was on a mission.
"What lost treasures could be hiding on that island?" I mused to myself. "Wait…" I peered over the treetops to see a tall tower and a bridge leading to the ruins. "When did that get there? Guess I'll have to check that out later. Can't get distracted."
I descended the ladder and set foot on the jungle floor. I could hear the local wildlife: birds, monkeys, frogs. It was quite the lively place, but the true danger lied beyond the ruins, beyond the cliff, deeper in the jungle. Past there were giant snakes, giant frogs that could control the rain with a croak, and giant crocodiles. Most people thought they were only myths, but I knew otherwise. It was truly a mystic place.
I started down one of the paths worn by the foot traffic of explorers, mostly archeologists. I had a more personal reason for exploring the area. I wore that reason on my wrist. It was an artifact, a golden ring with a vermillion gemstone embedded in it, that I found here when I was a kit. It gave me the ability to conjure flames and it was what fueled my interest in the ruins.
I was keeping on the path next to the mountainside to find a way over or through or under. I came upon the opening of a cave, walking up to it to check it out.
"Oh, yeah. This cave leads to the desert on the other side of the mountain. It has to get me to the island." I was hoping, anyway.
I backed up and then took off running into the cave. I jumped sideways, landing on the wall of the cave, then jumped off it, landing on an overhang that was above a stone door. Quartz complained, babbling her objections to my parkour from my hood. On the overhang was an artifact, a statuette that was shaped like an echidna, a species thought to be completely extinct. It was also a key that would fit in the square slot in the floor just in front of the door. The artifact in tow, I jumped down, setting it in place. The stone creaked and the door opened. I scurried through the door, which shut behind me. The key would return to its place on the overhang where I always found it no matter how many times I visited this desert, which wasn't very often considering how much I hated sand, not to mention how much water I had to pack. Hopefully, I wouldn't be here for long as I had certainly not packed enough.
I surveyed the desert's ruins. It wasn't quite as splendiferous as the jungle ruins, being all the same sandy color, but they were still beautiful in their own right. There were mostly echidna statues out here, built by the Knuckles Clan, but there were some others. Artifacts from a fennec clan could be found in Sand Hill. It was this clan that my mother descended from, giving me another reason to be interested in the area.
I didn't know how long the walk was, but I was certain it felt much longer than it really was, and it felt like a very long walk. Being part fennec, I was able to drink less water than most of the archeologists who came he would have. The bright sun and searing heat beating down on me didn't have quite the same effect either, thanks to my resistance to the heat. That was one of my own special abilities, not the ring's. I could also absorb it, even against the natural flow of heat. It was a perfect pair to the power of the ring as I could use the extra heat to supercharge my flames. Sometimes I wonder if it was fate.
I eventually made it to my main destination. I could tell by the landmarks that I had set foot on a landmass that hadn't been here before. Strangely enough, it fit, like a puzzle, for I was still traversing a desert. This one had more in the way of buildings. It also had plenty of traps, which were not easy to evade. Robots also infested the area, which was certainly unexpected. Was the technology of the island's inhabitants comparable to our own?
