"Are we almost there, Uncle Scrooge?" Dewey moaned as he dragged his feet across the dusty ground. The McDuck Mansion residents, barring Mrs. Beakley, had been walking through the mountains of Central Mexico for hours. Scrooge McDuck had found an ancient tome in his study, describing an old legend about the Topaz of Ahuizotl. The legend foretold of a mythical beast with a hand for a tail that guarded a special topaz. Holders of the topaz were imbued with the knowledge of the Great Beyond. But the journey to the Temple of the Ahuizotl was treacherous. Many had been drowned by the creature, but that wasn't enough to prevent the Greatest Adventurer in the World from pursuing it.
The old duck had Launchpad fly them to the edge of the small mountain range the previous morning, and they had been hiking ever since. "Not yet, lad. We probably have another 8 hours to go. We'll reach the bottom tonight." Scrooge checked their location on the map he was carrying.
Huey pulled out his trusty guidebook from underneath his hat. The section on "Myths and Legends of Mexico" was bookmarked, so all Huey had to do was open the book to find the right section. "It says in the Junior Woodchuck guidebook that the Ahuizotl is a mystical creature, similar to a dog fused with a monkey. It has a hand at the end of its tail, which it uses to drown fishermen in lakes and eat them." On the center of the page was a black and white drawing of a four-legged creature with a hand for a tail. Likely a theoretical depiction as there was no record of photos or videos of the creature.
Webby was vibrating with excitement. An adventure to find a treasure that was rooted in the culture of an extinct civilization? The young duckling had barely slept. She spent most of the night researching every aspect of the Ahuizotl that she could find. "Aztecs believed that being drowned meant you were either destined to enter the Water God Tlaloque's paradise, Tlolac, or that you were hoarding stones from the Gods." She interjected. Louie shuddered at the idea of being destined to be drowned. His brief moment of inattention caused him to stumble on a rock, but Launchpad steadied him with his wing.
Scrooge chuckled at the kids' enthusiasm. This would definitely be an interesting expedition. "The Temple of Ahuizotl is said to hold the rare Topaz of Ahuizotl, a local stone symbolizing the element of water. Now we have a little more ways to go before we are out of the mountains and in the marshes. After that, it shouldn't be too hard to find. And then, the Topaz will be ours by the end of tomorrow." Donald rolled his eyes as he held up the rear. If there was one thing that never changed, it was Scrooge's lack of awareness about the danger in every adventure. He had too many scars from saving his uncle and his sister from some stupid trap.
"Wouldn't that be neat if we encountered a real Ahuizotl?" Webby smushed her cheeks with her wings.
Louie fondly rolled his eyes. "Only you would think meeting a mythical creature that wants to drown and eat you would be cool."
The group devolved into quiet chatter amongst each other as they continued on their journey. Now that the path was fairly stable, Donald joined Scrooge at the front and had Launchpad stay with the kids. This way, he'd be able to scout out the path from the front of the group. The sailor listened quietly as his Uncle rambled on about some adventure he went on before taking him and his sister under his wings. Between his job searching and his uncle's adventures, Donald didn't spend much time around the old miser. Time passed by quickly and they finally reached the top of the mountain.
"Wow! This view is beautiful!" Webby exclaimed.
Huey pulled out his camera and snapped a couple of photos. "This will be great for my mountain climbing and viewpoint photography badges!"
Meanwhile, Dewey pulled out his phone. "I need a selfie!"
Their great uncle shook his head at their antics. He pointed the tip of his cane at a building in the distance. "Now wee ones, you can see the temple from here. It's been scoured before, but no one has ever found the Topaz. Everyone who has visited this temple claims they can feel something watching them and many have also disappeared in the marshes, most likely from the surrounding quicksand." Scrooge dug through his pack, pulling out a worn piece of parchment. It depicted a small yet detailed drawing of the temple. "The map of the temple's interior is limited because of the marshland. The tunnels that extend further than a mile from the temple's center are generally too unstable to explore. I think we have a good chance of finding the Topaz, though, as long as we're careful." He rolled the map back up and tucked it away in his pack. "We still have a way to go, but once we approach the marshes, we must be very careful to stay on the path. Most of the area is tall grass, which can hide both quicksand and pluff mud, which is like quicksand but more unstable." Scrooge narrowed his eyes at the kids. He hoped they took his warning seriously, but if something did happen, he could count on Donald to help. He'd rather nothing happen at all, though.
"That's why I made sure you all have a coil of rope in your bags." Donald piped up. "If one of us gets stuck, we can just pull out the rope and haul them to safer ground." His nephews slumped over in exasperation.
"Yeah, and the whistles in case we get stuck while separated. You already lectured us on this, Uncle Donald." Louie groaned while holding up the whistle that hung around his neck.
"It's always good to be cautious." Launchpad reminded him as he held up his own.
The sailor shot Launchpad a grateful look. "Well, I'm just making sure. It's dangerous, and I don't want you kids getting hurt." Donald stepped slightly off to the left and worriedly looked back, "Now steer clear of this side of the path, it's really steep, and the rocks look a little loose. We're gonna detour that way." Donald pointed to a path that faced the marshes. Their detour led back inside the mountain range and would take longer to reach the bottom, but Donald wasn't taking any chances. He stood in front of the steep path to make sure no one got too close. When he stepped back to let everyone walk past, he didn't notice how unstable the ground was beneath him. It was bad luck that part of the rock under his right foot suddenly crumbled away.
"Waaak!" Donald threw his left hand out as he slid backward.
"Donald!" "Donny!" "Uncle Donald!"
Scrooge lunged forward, barely managing to grab ahold of Donald's outstretched hand. He tried to pull him back, but the path under Scrooge's feet crumbled under their weight, and both went sliding down the mountain.
"Mr. McDee!" "Uncle Scrooge!"
It took a second for Donald to realize that he had dragged Scrooge down with him. He quickly pulled Scrooge close by hugging him around the straps on his backpack. Their slide quickly morphed into tumbling. The backpacks both ducks were wearing, unfortunately, did very little to slow down their momentum. Rocks dug into Donald's sides and arms as he shielded his uncle as best he could. Finally, after hitting multiple ledges, they stopped rolling on the edge of the ridge, about halfway down the mountain. Donald's eyes were tightly clenched from the pain, wincing as he slowly unwrapped himself from Scrooge. He would be feeling that for a while...
When his uncle realized they were no longer rolling, he pushed himself to his feet. "Donald, lad, are you alright?" Scrooge pulled his pack off, shuffling the items inside around as he searched for his first aid kit. When he found it, he quickly pulled out the materials he'd need to treat his nephew.
Donald winced as he sat up. The cuts he got were stinging, and he was sure some of them were bleeding. It was definitely going to hurt when he walked. "I've been worse. Are you fine, Uncle Scrooge?"
The older duck tsked as he poured a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a cotton pad. "Since you decided to be the shield, all I've got are a couple of scratches." Scrooge looked up and noted the blobs of color many yards above them. He gave a little wave and was satisfied when the blobs disappeared behind the ridge. "It looks like Launchpad and the kids are going to continue heading down the mountain. It shouldn't be too hard to meet up again afterward since we should be able to see each other pretty well." Scrooge went back to attending to Donald's cuts.
Donald sighed in frustration but let his uncle patch him up. Although he was glad the kids were safe, it wasn't going to help his nerves, not knowing how they were doing. After a couple of minutes, the worst of his cuts were bandaged, and the two were off again. Even though the drop saved them a couple of hours of walking, the sun was setting when they reached the bottom.