Not So Far Away

by Cold Bolt

Discovery

"Whoa...!"

Yeah, this one was way more interesting than the last.

The sun was quite high in the sky at this point; it had taken another two hours of walking to reach the second island, but the effort had been well worth it. It was at least ten times the radius of the last one, featuring a greater variety of flora in the form of various shrubs and even small trees, but that wasn't the most noteworthy thing.

There were buildings.

Or the ruins thereof, at least. The skeletons of several small structures made of mud and stone, crumbling slowly under the ravages of time, stood in a neat row nearby. Pinkie trotted up to one and placed her hoof on it, the better to take it all in.

"Yipe!"

She yanked it back as the rock she had touched immediately came loose from the surrounding cement and fell to the dirt in front of her.

She tilted her head at the rest. The roof was long gone, leaving behind no visible seam where it would have met the walls - had it been made of something else that hadn't withstood the elements as well? Come to think of it, what would have weathered it away in the first place this high up? She shook her head - those were questions better tackled by Moondancer.

She peered over the crumbling wall. The interior was empty, save for a bit of debris. If she didn't find anything cooler on this island, she would totally come back for a picture; rationing them was still important. A brief glance at the other buildings revealed them to contain little else of note, so she shrugged and moved on.

The vegetation thinned out in front of the ruined buildings - the remains of what was once a road, likely. The trees and shrubs nearby actually thickened enough to block her view as the road curved away, so she followed it with a spring in her step.

The first thing that met her was a tiny grove of bushes covered in dark berries. They grew wild and unfettered, the only thing encroaching on the former road aside from the usual bland grass. Pinkie approached one, peering so closely at a berry that it nearly brushed against her nose. What did poisonous berries look like again? These looked almost exactly like blackberries, excepting that they were the wrong size, sported a slightly different color, and smelled like nothing at all. With a shrug, she munched one off its branch.

"Bleah!"

It also tasted like nothing at all. She pulled a face, sticking her tongue out so far she could see it - and scowl at the black stain it now featured.

Pinkie frowned. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm suddenly glad for those lame wafers."

She took a swig from her canteen, swishing the water around in her mouth in an effort to rinse the color from it. It worked only marginally well. With a sigh, she left the berry bushes behind as she rounded the bend.

A wide clearing came into view and caused her to gasp, halting in her tracks.

A pit had been dug out of the center of the island, sinking a couple dozen feet below the surrounding soil. At the bottom, an array of strange purple crystals jutted out of the ground at odd angles, glittering in the sunlight.

"Whoa..."

With a mighty leap, Pinkie landed in an empty patch of soil surrounded by crystals, kicking up a puff of dust in the process. As she coughed and waved it away, she noticed the remains of several decrepit mining tools nearby, most of which were beyond repair. She plucked a nearby shovel in her teeth, the one that looked the sturdiest, and glanced around.

"Aha!"

A small crystal poked out of the ground in front of a much larger formation. Maybe it was loose? Trotting over to it, she jammed the shovel blade into the dirt with a grunt, walked around to one side...

"Hiya!"

...and bucked the handle for all she was worth.

Snap! It broke instantly from the force of the blow.

Pinkie frowned at it. Once again standing behind the now ruined shovel, she placed her hooves at the end - careful to avoid splinters - and shoved down hard.

Crack! She lost her balance and fell flat as the shovel broke yet again, but not before dislodging the crystal from its earthen prison.

"Ha! Take that!" she crowed as she got back up and dusted herself off. "Pinkie, one; crystal, zero. Now let's - hey!"

In the time it had taken her to do this, the crystal had begun to levitate, wobbling slightly as it floated higher and higher into the air.

"Get back here, you!" Pinkie dashed forward and leaped into the air, but to no avail - the crystal was already beyond her reach, floating ever higher above the island. She watched it go with a frown, but it soon gave way for a smile... then a grin... then a fit of giggles, as the realization of what she was seeing finally struck her.

It was probably for the best, anyway. If these things were what was holding up the Atoll, it might be a bad idea to try to carry one around with her - a stiff breeze could blow her off the clouds!

Giggles subsiding, she climbed back out and fished for her camera, stepping back for a wide shot of the entirety of the pit. Four pictures remained.

There wasn't much else to see between the pit and the next stretch of the Path, so her mind wandered a bit along the way. If she didn't know better, it looked like someone was digging up those crystals, but she couldn't imagine why that would be. Surely if she had figured out their purpose in a matter of minutes, then they would have too, right? So then...

She shook her head. Another question better left to Moondancer.

Speaking of which...

Before long, she stood once again at the edge of the island where the clouds continued their upward spiral. At this distance, she could no longer pick out the camp on the mountaintop, even by following the Path with her eyes. Still, she waved at the ground far below regardless.

She plopped down in the grass, helping herself to a couple of wafers from her saddlebag. She needed to make it to the biggest island by sundown, but it wouldn't do to push herself too hard by climbing without rest. There was a good chance she would never get to come back up here once her journey was over, either, so she had to make the most of her time while she still had it.

The view, of course, was magnificent.

Comments

[Sun Sage]

I love the view this paints... so far there's too many questions to really comment and ask 'what's going on?' because we aren't there yet. But the view is fascinating. See ya in the next chapter.