Coco huffed as she watched her brother dash away. Of course she always felt a small tinge of worry for his safety, as any sister would, but primarily she was frustrated. She could see the glimmer beneath the water, yet she hadn't the faintest idea how she was going to get down there. It looked far too deep for her to swim, and ancient obstructions barred the most direct route. Well, she supposed that she had to try before she could fail. She yanked out the elastic in her hair with a finger, and held it in her teeth as she brushed the tresses with her fingers. It seemed that during her run through the cave, her hair had begun to come loose. She didn't want anything to steal her concentration away from her task. When she had pulled her hair back tight, she reapplied her ponytail. Coco took a deep breath, and let it out slowly to calm herself. Then she flipped the straps of her overalls off her shoulders, and unbuckled the restraints on the sides. She shrugged out of the jeans until she was standing in nothing but her loose white T-shirt and underwear. A cool draft danced around her bare legs and she shivered. She hoped at least the water was a decent temperature.
She tossed her overalls aside, and stepped into the crystal water. She let out a tight squeal. The water was freezing! The short orange hair on her arms and legs stood on end as she waded through the shallow part of the lagoon. A few steps more and she would reach the end of the statue. From there, it was a sheer drop to the bottom. She stood at the drop off point, contemplating how much air she would need as she curled her toes around the edge absently. Eventually she realized she was stalling, and with a deep breath, she dove into the water.
--
Crash smashed a hollow rock with his shoulder, but it still refused to budge. Unfortunately, Crash had not really considered how he and his sister would get out of there, since they couldn't very well get out the same way they got in. So Crash spent a little while feeling around for hollow areas and listening for breezes. Now that he had found a spot, he had been trying very hard to break through. So far, he succeeded in only bruising his shoulder. He glared at the stone with a venomous expression, and then heaved into it again.
"Move…damn you."
He grunted as he thrust the stubborn stone as hard as possible, eyes shut tight. Suddenly, Crash heard the faintest sound of slate cracking, and an instant later he was flying through the air. The tumble over the side of the cliff and into a rocky alcove was not pleasant, but it only took Crash a few moments to stand up and dust the dirt off his pants. He had just righted himself when another loud explosion rattled the ground beneath him. These guys weren't fooling around. Quickly as he was able Crash scrambled up the slanted cliff, discarding fistfuls of tiny rocks as he did so. When he made it to the top, he sat motionless for a minute, thinking. The pirates were still on their ship, and were sending cannonball after cannonball to the wall of the temple. Crash shook his head slowly. How lazy of them. However, in such a circumstance, Crash's judgment was fairly hypocritical. Though Crash suspected that he could out-lazy these pirates in a moment, he didn't really find their method likely to benefit them at all. All they were likely to accomplish was completely decimate the Atlantian temple, and that was something Crash could not allow. Not while his sister was done there anyway.
Crash slid down the cliff, and dashed toward the jungle beyond. He had a plan in mind, and he needed only a nice big tree to make it work.
--
Coco pulled her hands through the water and kicked her feet consistently. Yet to her disappointment, the relic was not getting any closer. She thought she should head back to the surface to play it safe, but then all this water she covered would completely go to waste. As she propelled through the water, a small shaft in one of the capsized statues caught her attention. It wasn't likely to have produced any air supply, but she still had enough air in her lungs to give it a shot. She followed the shaft, swimming directly upward as she guided herself by following the stone with her hands. It was getting darker, but the shaft was thankfully getting wider. She was nearly out of breath, and she could feel her heart quicken as she wondered what she'd do if there happened to be nothing here. She thanked the stars when she broke through a surface and felt a sweet supply of air caress her. Coco gulped the air greedily as she treaded water on the spot, considering what she was going to do next. Truthfully, she'd rather stay in the oxygen for a while longer, but she thought that luxury would be denied her for the time being. The temple was shaking again, and she felt incredibly nervous as the shallow roof above her began to vibrate.
"Crash, you idiot. What are you doing out there?" Coco snarled through clenched teeth. "I'm doing my job."
The only answer to her complaints was another shaking vibration. She exhaled in irritation. Her brother had better not have stopped to take a nap, or she'd beat him to a pulp.
--
Crash was sleepy, and he considered taking a nap. Yet the thought of his tiny but ferocious sister beating him to a pulp kept his eyes open. He had a lot of practice climbing trees to gather his wamba fruit when he couldn't shake them down, although this exercise was not frequent. Crash would rather find fruit laying on the ground than climb up to get them, but nonetheless, the tree that he ascended now was done in record time. Crash carefully crawled across the long limb, and he was getting closer and closer to his target. Finally, he thought he was close enough to begin the performance, and sat back with his pile of ammunition. He hefted one round projectile, and then hurled it as hard as he could at the ship. The coconut bounced gracefully off a sail, and splashed into the ocean. Crash continued the attack, savoring the sound of the hard shells plunking against the planks. The pirates were flabbergasted. Crash smiled.
"That's right fellas. When coconuts start falling from the sky, it's time to start freaking out."
And indeed the pirates were getting anxious. Crash couldn't decipher their words, but they were yelling at one another angrily. They had all run to the rails to glimpse what was causing the ruckus. Crash wasn't particularly honored at having the miscreants' attention, but at least they stopped attacking the temple. Now, Crash did hear a voice.
"Who's out there? Show yourself or we'll blow you to smithereens!"
Crash scoffed. If he did show himself, it was unlikely they'd just give him a stern reprimand and politely request that he stop whacking their ship with coconuts. Crash didn't buy it.
"You have the count of three!" The man, who appeared to be the captain, bellowed. "One…two…th-"
He didn't finish. With the captain lined up in his sights, the urge was too tempting to pass up. The captain must have been right shocked when the coconut bounced off his forehead. Crash congratulated himself on an impeccable aim.
"Come and get me suckers!" Crash yelled boldly, a pleasant smile curling his lips.
The captain was yelling at his crew, and Crash nodded with satisfaction as a dinghy of pirates started toward him. He scurried over the branch, and dropped lightly to the jungle floor. Just as his shoes touched the ground, Crash was off again.
After a moment of patient waiting as the pirates rowed up to shore, Crash readied his plan. He had discovered some very convenient pits scattered around the shoreline, and after he covered them with old leaves and sticks, he was satisfied they'd be good pirate traps. Some old vines made sturdy rope, and therefore Crash was able to construct some of those snapping traps as well. He tested one already, and found that he could get out of it okay which probably meant the pirates could too. Slower of course, since they probably weren't blessed with such an athletic physique as Crash was. However, Crash didn't really care about this. The traps weren't meant to hold the pirates for long. Crash just needed a diversion. The pirates were on their way now, so Crash darted through his traps to stand triumphantly on the other side. He gave a loud whooping whistle, and the group of renegades instantly turned toward the sound. Crash offered a wave and a smirk.
"Look'n for me?"
It didn't take too long for the pirates to charge, and Crash waited good-naturedly as they passed through the first round of traps. A few of them disappeared from sight, swallowed by the earth, but their comrades continued to advance. Crash decided to high tail it when he became in range of their pistols, and chuckled to himself as he heard snapping noises and loud curses echo from behind him. He climbed up the cliff he had just descended moments ago, and watched triumphantly at his handiwork. Just as Crash was about to climb into the alcove and head back to the temple at a leisurely pace, he felt the ground quake again. His amused expression faded to instant nervousness. The ship was continuing to fire. Crash glanced with wide eyes at how much damage the temple was enduring, and he felt his breath catch in his throat. There was no way he'd have time to stop the firer now. He needed to get back into that temple now, and get his sister out of there.
--
After a substantial inhale to gather the most air she could, Coco submerged into the water and paddled herself downward. When she was in the open space of water again, she kicked ferociously. She went straight down, ignoring the popping in her ears as she descended past sea level. She swam as fast and as hard as she could, finding with excitement that she was getting closer and closer to the prize. Suddenly, she felt an explosion, and the water's reaction to it. She whirled around for a moment, caught in a vortex of tiny bubbles, but she righted herself immediately, and continued on. She kicked harder and harder, until she could make out the relic's shape. Only half of it was visible, poking up out of the sand, and as she got closer it began to glow brighter. Coco reached out for it, fingertips outstretched. As she wrapped her hand around the relic's shaft, she could feel an odd tingling in her hand.
She was beginning to desire oxygen, so she yanked the relic from the sand and pushed off the ground, her destination was now the surface. She was progressing at a fast pace, and she calculated that she would have just enough breath to make it. Then another explosion disturbed the water. Now pieces of the large underwater structures surrounding her were beginning to break off. Her eyes widened as she saw a chunk of rock descend toward her. She was able to maneuver out of the way, but just as that slab of rock disappeared beneath her, another appeared. She dodged that one too, but not as gracefully, and she felt the rock scrape into her leg. Coco ignored the blood that emerged like red smoke from the wound, and used the falling rock as a ground to push off of. She kicked her feet franticly, feeling the air leave her lungs. More rocks were falling, and each time she needed to get out of the way. Her lungs were screaming now, and her consciousness was beginning to wane.
Soon enough, she became too slow to dodge the next falling rock. It struck her hard across the face, but thankfully it was only a medium chunk. Unfortunately Coco was unable to escape the blackness any longer. Her eyes began to close slowly as she drifted farther from her destination. She was only two feet from the surface, and yet she could not summon her feet to move. She continued to hold the relic, but her grip loosened as she fell more and more into unconsciousness. Then Coco focused upward, and saw an orange blot at the surface. She tried to focus on it, but to no avail, and continued to drift down. Then she saw a hand plunge into the water and grasp her by the scruff of her shirt. The hand pulled her up quickly, and an instant later she was gasping in desperation from the air that surrounded her. It took a few moments for her head and vision to clear, and when she turned she could see the worried face of her brother, eyebrows drawn in concern. Coco should have been thankful for his rescue, but instead she just glared at him as her chest heaved.
"What…took you so long?" She spoke between deep inhales.
Crash smiled, and she noticed that he let out a breath she hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Just had to go bang up some pirates is all."
Coco scoffed. "Little good it did me."
"Are you okay?" Crash seemed to just notice the cut on her face now.
Coco nodded, however painfully, and sat up to get out of Crash's support. Then he asked the next question.
"Did you get it?"
Coco felt herself panic for a second, when she realized it was not in her hand anymore. Then she saw it sitting in the water next to her, and she picked it up. Out of the water, the shine was not nearly as impressive, but the sapphire gleamed beautifully despite its lack of brightness. Crash stared at it for a couple moments.
"It's nice."
Coco had to agree, but soon the shaking of the temple brought them both out of their thoughts. Crash grinned tentatively.
"Oh right, the temple is imploding. We'd better get out of here."
The two of them sloshed through the shallow water and onto dry land. Coco took a quick moment to shake out her ponytail and step into her overalls. The dry fabric felt sticky against her wet skin, but she had more important things to worry about then mere discomfort. The two of them sprinted through the rock passage, and Coco felt her pace quicken when she saw streams of water blast from the walls. This place was going to be gone very shortly. She didn't know how Crash was planning to get them out, but then she saw with relief that he had made an exit.
"After you Milady." Crash offered as the temple began to crumble above them.
"We don't have time for your stupidity." Coco barked as she shouldered past her brother and crawled through the hole.
Crash was right behind her, and soon enough the two of them were stumbling down the rocky cliff. Coco was still feeling slightly lightheaded, but her vision was getting less shaky as she progressed. Unfortunately, the shaking ground didn't help her pounding headache. She pressed her palm against her forehead, and wondered how they were going to escape. From how fast the ancient structure was crumbling, she expected that in order to survive they would need to get off the land entirely. She was about to speak, when she started to make out loud shouts of profanity and sounds of shuffling feet over dirt. Crash had a guilty look on his face.
"I think we should refrain from going that way, if we can help it."
Coco didn't have to ask why. Crash was adept at being annoying and hard to squish, which was no doubt very frustrating for a large group of angry pirates. Coco looked back at the temple, and then she felt some strange vibrations that weren't synchronized with the explosions. Coco gripped the relic to her chest, and some calculations zipped through her head in quick mental flashes. If this truly was a piece of the lost continent of Atlantis, then it was very probable that this land was due to submerge at any time. After all, if these pirates were here, they must have known about a legend or something. When a ship was the only means of transportation, it was unlikely that they'd have run into it by accident. Also, this was the past, and in the future Coco never heard of a lost Atlantis fragment. She felt her spine stiffen. This spit of land was going to sink, Coco was sure of it.
"Crash, we have to get off this island now."
Crash nodded. "I figured as much. I know just where to go."
Coco was confused, but she learned never to question her brother's methods of survival. They seemed to always come through, no matter how crazy or unorthodox the idea seemed. Coco relented as Crash grasped her wrist and guided her. Within a couple minutes at a light pace, Crash and Coco stood in front of a bobbing dinghy, and Coco's brow furrowed.
"What is this?"
"It's a little boat." Crash informed with a silly smile.
Coco grimaced, but followed Crash into the tiny boat. As they started floating out in the open ocean, Coco decided to voice her concern.
"Are you confident that it the land disappears, and we end up floating for days, that this thing won't capsize?"
"I'd be more worried about starving to death." Crash said with a surprising lack of concern.
Coco was about to say more, when they rounded the corner and she saw the giant ship floating just off shore. Crash leaned back and forth, rowing consistently.
"You didn't rowing about in this little thing was my plan did you? Really, dear sister, you should know me better than that."
"I know you more for flying by the seat of your pants. Don't pretend you planned this out."
Crash shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying."
Crash rowed the dinghy along side the pirate ship, and quite nimbly the two anthropoids scaled the port wall and swung over the railing. Coco glanced around and noted with suspicion that there were about a dozen coconuts rolling across the deck. She looked at her brother, who returned her look with a wily smile. Coco sighed. All of a sudden, Coco heard something from behind her, and by the way Crash stiffened he heard the same thing. They both turned around simultaneously to meet the gaze of a wide-eyed pirate. He had a pistol in his hand, but it was lowered for the time being as he processed his shock.
"What…what are you?" The pirate asked, obviously indicating their pointed ears and fuzzy orange hair.
Crash smiled in friendliness. "We are two mutated bandicoots. And yourself? You appear to be some kind of pirate, I'm guessing by your eye patch and funny hat. Where are all your buddies?"
The pirate's mouth hung open as he stumbled for words, flustered. Coco kept her eye on the pistol, and as suspected just as the pirate began to recover from his shock he lifted it. Crash was quick, and knocked the gun out of his hand. As it whirled through the air, Coco caught it, much to her surprise. She fumbled a bit with it, but when it was safely in her grasp she turned back to the exchange. Crash was still smiling.
"Dirty pool." He said slyly.
Just before Coco could ask what they were going to do about the lone pirate, the latter spun away from the bandicoots and heaved on a rope. A very loud, very attention-grabbing bell began to ring, sending an echoing message over the water to the other pirates. Instantly, Coco clubbed the pirate across the face with his own pistol. The pirate collapsed to the ground, and Coco tossed the gun away. She ignored Crash's expression, which looked somewhat disturbed at what she had just done, and then he grinned hesitantly.
"That's one way of doing it."
Coco pulled the relic out of her pocket and pointed past her brother. Crash turned about to gather what she saw. The pirates, boat-less, were beginning to swim back to the ship. Crash took his bottom lip between his teeth to think. From what Coco could derive from his face, he wasn't getting anywhere. Coco looked at the relic.
"Aku said this thing was a key to time traveling. Maybe we could use it to get out of here."
Crash walked up to her and looked at the relic, expression doubtful.
"And how would we do that? We don't know anything about these things."
"We just have to try something obvious first."
Crash cast a hesitant look at the swimming pirates. "Be my guest."
Coco furrowed her brow in concentration, and noticed that the tickling feeling scratching across her palm was curling up her arms as well. The sapphire relic began to glow slightly, and Coco gently closed her eyelids. All of a sudden, the words whispered to her like a song over a breeze.
"Time dimensional split initiate."
The words that left her lips seemed so natural, that only when she thought about what she just said did she feel confused. After the phrase was spoken, the relic began to shine, sending bright rays in every direction. Crash was looking at her, wide eyed. A slight smile came an instant later as he wrapped his hand around the relic as well, just under Coco's.
"Lucky guess."
The air continued to spiral around the pair, laced with tingling sensations that accompanied powerful magic. Coco closed her eyes as the world started to spin, and after withstanding a bright flash of light the two bandicoots were gone.