Maggie woke with a start the next morning, confused as to why she couldn't move. She looked down and as she tried to focus her sleep-filled eyes, she saw a great, muscular arm draped across her waist and trapping her. As she slowly started to become aware of her surroundings, she heard a soft snore behind her, and realised that the noise and the arm trapping her were from the same person. Suddenly remembering where she was, and more importantly who she was with, Maggie jumped up with surprising force, throwing Sam's arm as far away from her as she could. Sam woke with a yelp as he found himself flung off the edge of the bed and in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Ow!" he yelled, groaning as he picked himself up. "The hell was that for?"
"I had no choice, you were trapping me!" Maggie replied angrily as she through her covers off. "Keep your hands to yourself from now on, got it?!"
"Hey honey, I was asleep, alright? It wasn't exactly on purpose." Sam said with a wince, rubbing the lump that had formed on the back of his head. He groaned loudly as he sat down on the bed, while Maggie glared at him, her face flushed in embarrassment. Sam looked at her tall slender figure, wearing nothing but a thin shirt and underwear, and laughed brazenly. "Hey relax! We could have woken up in much worse positions" he winked. Maggie instantly tried to cover her modesty as she turned on her heel in disgust and marched into the tiny motel bathroom with her bag. She slammed the door shut, and Sam heard the lock sliding into place with as much force as it allowed. Sam chuckled to himself. "That girl is a serious piece of work," he thought as he began to pull his own clothes on.
Maggie stood leaning against the wall, close to hyperventilating. She couldn't decide if she was more mortified that she literally threw Sam out of the bed in shock, or that he then saw her wearing next to nothing and was obviously aroused by the situation. "Get yourself together Maggie," she thought angrily to herself, "It's just a job! This never happens to you!" It was true. If there was one thing Maggie was sure of, it was that she would never be phased by a job. She made sure she was prepared for anything that could happen. But the last thing she expected was to have to deal with someone like Sam Drake. Being the recluse that she was, meant she had very little experience with the opposite sex. She'd had boyfriends before, of course, but they'd always been shy, awkward Museum nerds, that she usually got bored with after just a few short weeks. She'd never met a man like Sam Drake before; so confident and sure of himself, intelligent, good looking and certainly not afraid to show his...eagerness. Maggie groaned as she buried her head in her hands, and desperately tried to forget the past few moments. She'd definitely overreacted when she'd woken up; Sam couldn't control what he did in his sleep after all. She'd have to apologise to him, if they were going to move on with the job in peace. The thought made Maggie groan again. "I've never had this much trouble before a job's even started before!" Maggie grumbled to herself.
Maggie emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, fully dressed in a cargo green shirt with a faded logo clinging to her slender frame, and her favourite pants for hiking; black and snug, but made from a strong elasticated fabric so they couldn't tear easily, and full of pockets. Her hair was swept up in her preferred messy bun style, save for a few strands which were too short to be tied back. She was silent as she walked past Sam, who was stood leaning against the small window with a cigarette hanging out his mouth, but the deep blush in her cheeks said enough. She kept her back towards Sam as much as possible as she tidied up the bedsheets that she'd cast aside in anger, and when she had nothing else to distract her, she took a deep breath and turned to face him. Maggie kept her eyes down as she coughed awkwardly.
"Look, Sam, I'm sorry for what happened before, I- I know it wasn't your fault." She breathed hurriedly. "I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did. Can we just forget it happened and move on?"
Sam said nothing, but closed his eyes as he took one long, last drag of his cigarette before flicking it outside and pulling the window to. He turned towards the door and began walking, but at the last moment he turned and grabbed Maggie's arm, spinning her round gently to face him. He took one step towards her as he tentatively tucked his hand under her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. Maggie's heart was pounding as he stared intently into her eyes, his own sparkling with mischief, and she felt the rush of colour fill her cheeks again. Suddenly, Sam cracked his usual dazzling grin and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, sweetheart. Sorry for what?" Then he was gone; back to opening the door where he stood, waiting for Maggie to collect her thoughts and her rucksack, ready for their journey ahead.
According to Sam's sources, the nearest temple to their location lay up in the mountainous landscape, approximately three hours away from their motel. Sam left Maggie loading the jeep whilst he checked their route with the lady that had greeted them the night before. As Maggie finished packing the last of their things and hoisted herself into the passenger seat, Sam returned with a smirk resting on his lips as he whistled an overly cheery tune. Maggie pulled her sunglasses down to avoid looking at him, still embarrassed by the morning's events.
"Okay, so I know which is the most direct route to get to the temple," Sam said as he climbed into the driver's seat next to her, "but the road has been destroyed by the volcano. So we can either take the longer route which is easier but will take us an extra couple of hours, or we can take the most direct route, but we'll have to walk part of the way. What do you say?" "Let's go the direct route" Maggie replied after a moment, "I'm not afraid of a challenge, and I'm keen to see if your sources prove worthy." Sam nodded with a cocky smile and started the engine. As he began the drive, Maggie rummaged through her rucksack for her notebook. She always liked to document each part of her journey, in case she ever needed it, but right now she was using it as an excuse not to talk to Sam.
The car was mostly silent as they drove to the temple, save for the occasional moment when Sam would point something out to Maggie as they drove. The day was already heating up, despite the sun only being risen for a few hours. Maggie wiped her brow as small beads of sweat started to form, and removed her jacket in a hopeless attempt to cool herself down. The route to the temple was quite easy to begin with. It followed the natural path of the mountain; steadily rising and twisting occasionally. They passed a few old buildings as they drove, some still fairly intact, and others completely destroyed by the natural disasters that had hit the island over the years, but as they began to climb higher, the buildings became very few and far between. They drove past one, and Maggie noticed two make-shift graves sticking out of the ground. She asked Sam to pull over, and hopped out to examine them more closely. Maggie checked her notebook was still in her jean pocket, as she made her way carefully to the graves. As she got closer, she noticed a stone on each grave, carefully painted with a symbol Maggie had never seen before, and a wooden marker which lay in between them, decorated with the same symbol in each corner, and strange letters etched into the surface. Maggie sat cross-legged as she pulled her notebook out and began to sketch the scene at her feet, when she heard Sam come walking up behind her.
"This is a mother and child," Sam said as he stopped beside her. "The marker calls on the family's Aumakua to help protect them in the afterlife."
"How do you know that?" Maggie's question was almost accusing as she looked up at Sam, her sunglasses protecting her from the glare of the sun.
"Because it's here," Sam replied, crouching beside her as he pulled a tattered looking book from his own jacket pocket. He flicked through the pages until he found the right one, and passed it to Maggie to read. It was full of strange Polynesian symbols and marks, along with a translation and brief explanation of what each one meant. Maggie flicked through the pages, copying the symbols that were scratched into the wood, and their meaning into her own notebook. Sam continued, "The people that used to live on this island were nomadic, mainly because they had to be. The volcano was a lot more active a long time ago, and so the people used to have to relocate to where it was safe. Looks as though this family weren't so lucky. Families would call upon their Aumakua, their family God, to protect and guide their loved ones into the afterlife. Each God's representation was unique to its family, but they were mostly appeared as animals. Here look." Sam grasped the book from Maggie's hands, and pointed to one symbol in particular. Maggie studied the picture, and realised it was exactly the same as the one on the stones.
"Mo'o. Meaning Dragon." Maggie read quietly. She quickly scribbled some notes next to her own, pale comparison of the strange symbol, and handed the book back to Sam. "Where did you get that book?" She asked, suddenly curious.
"Oh, it was my mom's," Sam said, offering his hand to Maggie as he stood. "She gave it to me before she died."
"O-Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Sam." Maggie's voice came out slightly raised, as she attempted to hide the surprise in her voice. She didn't expect Sam's interest in History to run so deep, she'd just assumed he was in it for the money. Maybe they were more similar than she thought.
Sam shrugged his shoulders as he pulled her gently to her feet, and smiled weakly. "Hey, don't worry about it. It was a long time ago." He turned away as he spoke, not quite meeting Maggie's eye.
Maggie didn't know what to say. She turned to look at the graves one last time as she stashed her notebook back in her pocket, and then sighed as she turned back to the jeep. "Shall we?" She asked awkwardly.
"Ladies first." Sam smiled as he gestured to the car. The pair continued on with their journey as the day grew hotter, and after a couple of hours, the track they were following began to show large cracks in the surface. They became bigger, and more frequent, as they carried on, and Sam had to slow the jeep right down to keep them from getting stuck. "I think we're going to have to start walking soon." Sam muttered anxiously, rubbing the sweat out of his eyes as he tried to steer them safely. Sure enough, just as he spoke, the path ahead of them disappeared completely, and Sam had to brake suddenly to stop them from driving straight off the edge. Maggie was flung forward and cried out, her seatbelt digging into her neck as it stopped her from flying into the windscreen. She groaned as she was thrown back into her seat, catching her ear on the hard, uncomfortable headrest and sending a throbbing pain through her head. Beside her, Sam was also rubbing his forehead and groaning. "Jesus!" He complained, "That's two head injuries in one day!"
"Hey," Maggie groaned in protest, gathering her notebook and a few essential bottles of water into her rucksack. "I thought we'd agreed that this morning never happened?"
"Shit, sorry," Sam laughed, "Anyway, let's go. We've got a long walk to do yet." Maggie's eye's narrowed as she climbed out of the jeep, and slung her rucksack onto her shoulders. Sam walked around from the driver's side to meet her and pulled out a map, resting it on the bonnet. "Okay, so we're here, and we need to get to roughly here." He said, pointing to the hand drawn marker on the map. "According to the woman at the motel, this crack is approximately 20 miles long, and 5 miles across. She said some parts are more narrow than others, and you can get across it, but it can be really dangerous."
"You failed to mention this when you were telling me this morning." Maggie huffed in annoyance.
Sam laughed. "Well, you can always take the jeep and go the long way round, if you'd like? I'll wait for you at the temple."
"Absolutely not," Maggie snapped, snatching the map off the bonnet and stuffing it into her backpack. "I'm not leaving you alone for one second while we're here."
"Is that a promise?" Sam's eyes gleamed with mischief, and he chuckled to himself as Maggie marched ahead of him. They left the jeep and began the long, slow climb East. As the sun reached its peak in the sky, Maggie and Sam walked along the treacherous edge of the crack, looking for anything that could help them across. At one point, Maggie caught her foot on a loose rock and stumbled; she cried out as Sam wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards his chest as they both fell back. They landed with a thud on the volcanic surface, and Maggie caught the back of her head on Sam's shoulder.
"Jesus!" She groaned, laying her arm over her face to block the sun from her eyes, and realised her sunglasses had gone flying when they fell. "Ah, crap!" she muttered to herself. Maggie sat up and looked around, hoping they hadn't gone flying in the wrong direction.
"Did you lose something?" Sam asked from behind her, smiling as he held Maggie's sunglasses up to her.
"You got them!" Maggie beamed as he passed them back, "Thanks, Sam... I'd be lost without these!" Maggie cleaned the lenses on her shirt, then slid them back into position. Sam grinned as he stood, and offered his hand to Maggie. She accepted, secretly thankful that her large, aviator lenses helped conceal the blush that seemed to appear whenever he touched her. She was trying to avoid contact with him as much as possible so he wouldn't notice, but she couldn't exactly reject his kindness right after he saved her.
They walked another five miles before Sam caught Maggie's attention. "Hey, Maggie, look!" he called, leaning over the edge carefully and pointed down into the vast tear in the rock. Maggie tentatively stepped closer to the edge, and turned to where Sam was pointing. A few feet below them, tucked into the wall of the crack, was a naturally carved ledge, large enough to hold both of them comfortably. "Maybe we can get down there, and see if there's a way over to the other side." Sam suggested.
"Okay but first, I need a drink." Maggie slipped her rucksack from her shoulders, and removed two bottles of water. She handed one to Sam, who raised his eyebrows in surprise as he thanked her and accepted the offering. They both took long swigs of water, Sam pausing for a moment to catch his breath, casting his eyes over to Maggie, who was still gulping her own water furiously. Sam couldn't help but stare as she drank, watching the movements of her throat as she swallowed, and how her chest heaved in perfect time. His eyes followed the line of her neck, down to the delicate curve of her shoulders, and the taught fabric which subtly accentuated her breasts, and gulped. He could imagine running his fingers along her skin as he lifted the shirt over her head, revealing the tenderness underneath as Maggie moaned at his touch, and he almost choked as his illicit thoughts threatened to expose themselves.
Sam quickly turned away, trying to clear his head of all thoughts as he slipped his bottle into his own rucksack. Once he was sure it was safe again, he turned back to face Maggie and moved to sit on the edge of the rock. Once seated comfortably, he looked down to try and figure out the easiest way to the ledge. He glanced up at Maggie, who'd moved to stand beside him, and smiled. "You ready?" Maggie simply nodded in reply. Sam shifted his position so he was facing the edge of the rock, as he carefully lifted himself over the edge. Using the natural protrusions in the rock to place his hands and feet, Sam made his way down a few feet, before calling up to Maggie, "Okay, it seems to be pretty solid! Start climbing down!"
Maggie gently lowered herself down, moving nimbly down the same path as Sam, down a few feet and then to the right and down again, where the foot holdings were slightly wider. The ledge was further away than Maggie had originally thought, and her arm muscles began to burn with the tension of keeping her entire body weight upright and moving. Eventually they made it down to the ledge; Sam landed first and watched Maggie intently as she easily climbed her way down to land beside him. As her feet found the floor, Maggie looked up at her efforts and her face broke into a wide, dazzling grin, which stunned Sam into silence for a moment, before taking a well deserved drink of water and examining the way across. The other side of the crack looked a lot further away once you were sat inside it. Maggie swallowed nervously and looked at Sam.
"Are you sure we can get across this thing?" She asked with obvious uncertainty.
"Of course we can, don't worry about it." Sam replied with false confidence. He looked around, and noticed a large, jagged chockstone, sticking out of a downward crack on the far side. It had obviously fallen and was wedged into the rockface on the other side. The chockstone was fairly narrow, with a pointed end, and looked about 2 meters in length to Sam's eye. It was sticking out approximately 10 foot above them, high enough to be able to rope it easily enough from where they were. Sam grinned in relief. He pulled his trusted rope out of his bag, and made a loop in one end, which he hoped would be big enough to sit comfortably on his target and hold his weight. Standing precariously close to the edge, Sam began swinging the rope around, hoping to gather enough momentum to carry it the distance. Once he was satisfied the rope would reach, Sam flung his arm with all his might, releasing the rope and letting it fly across the vast, gaping hole in the surface to land on the chockstone neatly. Sam huffed in disbelief at his own actions, then turned to Maggie and smirked. "See, what'd I tell ya? Piece of cake."
Maggie rolled her eyes and smirked back at him. "Great, now all you gotta do is jump." She gestured for Sam to proceed, who could suddenly hear his heart thumping in his ears. Sam took a deep breath and grasped the rope with all the strength and courage he could muster.
"Well, here goes nothin'" he muttered to himself. Sam walked forwards, and his heart seemed to jump out of his chest as the floor disappeared beneath him and he swung across the enormous crack to the other side. The wind whipped through his hair and burned his eyes as he soared, and he yelled out in delight as felt the rope pull. Sam brought his knees up to his chest as he prepared for the impact, and he used his feet to stop him from crashing into the rockface, clinging to the rope with all his might. He waited a few moments until the rope had stopped swinging him around manically, and he was able use it to climb up the other side. Once he reached the chockstone that he'd used to hook the rope, he heaved himself up onto the large protruding piece of rock in order to examine the route above him. "Okay, I can see a way up!" he called across to Maggie, who was stood on the opposite side with bated breath. "You gonna be okay?!"
Maggie swallowed nervously. "I'll be fine!" she shouted back, hoping Sam couldn't hear the cracks in her confident tone. She waited for Sam to untie his rope and continue with his own climb, before Maggie pulled her own rope out of her bag and followed Sam's lead. It took a couple of attempts for Maggie to hook her own rope onto the chockstone, and once she succeeded, Maggie took a long, deep breath before taking the plunge and jumping off the ledge. As she flew through the air, Maggie let out a brief scream before remembering she had to brace for impact, and forcing her eyes open against the burning wind. Maggie copied Sam, pulling her knees up to her chest as she approached the far side, but she didn't land quite as smoothly as him, catching her shoulder on the rockface after her feet took the full impact. The shock of the hit caused Maggie to lose her hold slightly, and she felt the rope slipping through her hands. She desperately tightened her grip, and felt the rope burning her fingers as she stopped herself. Maggie began to climb without hesitation, not wanting to stop until she was able to place her feet back on solid ground. When she finally reached the chockstone, Maggie heaved herself up until she had a leg straddling either side, and used the opportunity to catch her breath and allow her heart rate return to a more normal speed.
"You okay?" Sam called to her from above.
"I'm good, just catching my breath." Maggie sighed as she pulled herself to her feet, and turned to face the rock above her. Maggie made her way back up the other side in good time, using the natural rock handles to pull herself up back up to the surface. As she neared the top, she heard Sam above her, and looked up to see him extending his hand for hers.
"Here, I got you." He reached down and grasped Maggie's arm, heaving her over the edge. They both sat for a moment, taking in the scenery and admiring their own efforts. Maggie had another sip of her water and gasped in relief as she felt the cool liquid running down her throat. She closed her eyes and smiled contently to herself; this was one her favourite things about exploring, entering into the unknown and being able to achieve things she never thought possible.
A sudden, uncomfortable thought broke Maggie's reverie, and she sat up, casting her eyes back to where they had come from. "Hey, Sam?" she called.
"Hmm?" he responded lazily beside her, enjoying the Sun beating down on him as he recuperated.
"What are we gonna do about the jeep? We've just kind of left it there."
Sam chuckled and opened one eye to look at Maggie. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."
Maggie pulled the map out of her bag, to see how far they were from their destination. "We should get going," she said, getting to her feet as she stuffed the map away. "We're not too far away now." Sam obliged, and together they continued the journey on foot, slowly making their way back down the slope until they were more or less following the same path they'd been on before they were forced to abandon the jeep. After walking for another hour or so, Maggie noticed the ground was steadily rising again, and as she glanced up, she saw what looked like natural stairs making their way up to an old, decrepit looking building, nestled away within the rocks. "Sam, look!" Maggie squealed in delight, and began to run towards the stone steps. "We've found it!"