In this new uncharted adventure, follow James Drake, son of Nathan and Elena Drake, as his dangerous adventures lead him to an undiscovered temple which sends him to Equestria.
Nathan Drake has finally retired from his crazy adventures of treasure hunting to live a normal life with his wife Elena. Having settled down they raised a daughter name Cassie and after some time, a son named James.
Having no surprise to their children's need for adventures, they are however caught off guard when James has the need to get in the most dangerous situations to hunt for ancient treasures and ruins much like his dad Nathan. Unlike his now older sister, Cassie prefers safer treasure hunting and always worries for her brother when he is on dangerous adventures.
During one of these adventures, James is lead to an old book that speaks of a ruined and ancient temple that has never been seen before and being the curious boy he is, he investigates. His investigation then leads him to stumble upon the temple and is somehow activated by magic and sends him to Equestria.
Now living in a new world, he makes it his goal to find temples with the same writings to hopefully send him home while also making his own life as a treasure hunter and book writer and keeping his presence a secret. Some say he is just an ordinary writer like A.K. Yearling. Others say he is a made up pony for Yearling's books. All except for a certain pegasus and unicorn whose beliefs and curiosity says otherwise.
(This story was inspired by Uncharted 4: A Theif's End which is rightfully owned by Naughty Dog. All characters belong to them except for James Drake who is my own made up character. MLP is also rightfully owned by Hasbro.)
WARNING: Rated M for strong language, gore, and maybe some sexy-like parts which may or may not be added. Enjoy ;)
It was a calm day as the wind blew through the trees. The birds were singing their songs as they settled on the branches. The many small critters foraged on the ground looking for food. All was quiet and peaceful. Until a strange sound came into the forest. The animals stopped their foraging and the birds became silent as they listened to this mysterious sound.
As it came closer, the animals scampered as quickly as they came in fear of what it may be. It was loud and deep. Almost like a rumble as it came close and came fast.
On a small dirt trail was a machine made of metal. It rumbled loudly as it's rider twisted the throttle to go faster which in turn the machine did. And this rider was a 22 year old well-fit boy, with tan skin and dirty brown hair.
This boy was also wearing muddy tan boots, dirty jeans along with a white shirt, a black and red leather jacket, and underneath this jacket was a brown shoulder gun holster with a M92FS and one magazine in it.
The boy ducked his head as he heard gunshots behind him and just in time as bullets came past him in the dirt which only encouraged him to go faster. The young lad winced as he heard gunshots directly behind him and turned his head to his passenger.
“If you wanted a damn gun why didn’t you ask for the one that wouldn't blow out my ear!” He shouted as he quickly turned his attention to the small trail. His passenger held on tight as he made a swerve around rocks and in turn fired more bullets to their chasers.
“Well I’m sorry, I didn't have enough time to when they just barged into that bar we were at!” The passenger with a feminine voice shouted sarcastically. She yelped when more bullets whizzed by their heads.
The young man shook his head as he quickly looked back to his friend. And she was no ordinary friend. She was a anthropomorphic pony with red fur and a long, messy, two-shaded blond mane. She was wearing tan cargo shorts, with a black tank-top. On her hip, was a tattoo of a map which was covered by her shorts.
In this pony's hand was a Wes-44 with only two bullets left in its chamber. She held on tight as the man turned the bike out of the small trail and into a much bigger dirt road with their pursuers not far behind.
The man twisted the throttle again in hope that the bike would go faster but for naught as the vehicles behind them began to catch up. As he kept driving he heard his friend sigh in annoyance.
“James, why in the whole world of Equestria did you teach that stallion about motor vehicles?! Because I can say right now that it wasn't the best of ideas!” She said as her gold eyes looked to him and then to the pursuers.
The boy grunted at the annoyance of the pursuers and at the question that he had heard a hundred times. Looking left and right, he quickly pulled out his gun and fired four shots at a vehicle that was coming to ram his bike. The three shots hit the metal but the fourth struck true as the vehicle's right front tire became flat making it turn out of control and hit a tree. The boy holstered his weapon as he continued on driving.
“Like I've said a hundred times before and like I'm going to say a hundred times more, I wasn't expecting him to turn on us! Besides,” before he finished he turned his bike towards a vehicle that got to close for comfort and kicked at its rim above the tire, which in turn made it fall apart and fall onto a poor excuse for a tire stopping it in its tracks. The boy named James turned away from the vehicle as it swerved to the left and flipped on its side, “these sorry excuse of cars are easy to fall apart!”
The mare huffed as she looked at the other four, vehicles, that pursued her and her friend. She took the revolver and put it in James's right leg holster and hung on tight as he drove on.
James felt his friend hang on tightly and continued on driving as fast as he could to get away. Eventually he heard a different engine and the sound of metal hitting metal. James smirked as he knew who was following behind him. True to his thoughts, a bigger and better built truck came to his side. The driver looked to the road and then to James with a smug grin of his own.
“You still like that bike of yours Jimmy?!” The driver said in an old, gruff voice. This guy however was not a pony, but a griffon. This griffon was wearing green cargo pants with an old red shirt. He had dark grey fur all over his body except his arms which were dark yellow talons while his head was covered in old grey feathers. He had a long, fat beak which had some hairs growing out that made it look like a gruff looking mustache. The griffons blue eyes traveled to the back of the truck which was covered by a tarp and then to his two friends.
James chuckled a little bit as he stayed close to the truck which was proven a threat to the other vehicles. “Not as much as you like those cigars Bugs!”
The old griffon chuckled with which was indeed a cigar in his beak. He the looked back again and opened a large window behind him. “Well I've got your friends here and they want to say a few things to you!”
Right on cue, a rainbow mane poked out of the window followed by cyan head which looked to him with angry magenta eyes. “What the heck James?! I thought you said we would be safe there!” The cyan pony said in a feminine yet raspy voice.
The boy looked to his other friend with narrowed eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “What the hell do you think I am?! A psychic?! I can't predict when they would show up!”
The cyan pony opened her mouth to say something else but was then pulled back into the truck and was replaced with a pink mane and a pink head that looked to James with baby blue eyes and a wide smile.
“Hi Jimmy!”
The boy rolled his eyes at this one but smiled nonetheless. “Hey there Pinkster, what's shaken?!”
The pink pony shrugged her shoulders that somewhat stood out of the window. “Milkshakes!”
Her answer cause James to laugh but was cut short by more shots that bounced off the large truck. The pink pony in the window then looked behind her and then back at the boy on the bike. “Hey, Twilight wants to know if you need any help?”
James looked at his friend and shook his head. “Who?! Me?! Nah, I've got this completely under control!”
The griffon named Bugs looked ahead of him then slowly turned his head. “You sure you got this?!”
James nodded his head. “Most definitely!”
Bugs shook his head. “Well I sure hope so because we seem to be running out of road kid!”
The man looked to Bugs who only gestured his head to the front of them and looked ahead to see that indeed, there was no more road. Instead there was a cliff drop. James whispered a swear word and looked around for another way out. Realization was shown in his green eyes as he looked to Bugs.
“Didn't you say there was a river at some of these cliffs?!” He shouted.
Bugs raised an eyebrow as he moved the cigar to the other side of his beak. “Yeeaah, why do you want to know?”
James throttled the bike to pick up speed and gestured his head to the left side of the dirt road. “There's a trail that will lead you to the bottom! Go there and we'll meet ya! Most of these guys are after me, so only a few will go after you!”
The griffon’s eyes then budged out as he used a talon to adjust the cigar that nearly fell out of his mouth. “Are you crazy kid?! You don't even know if there is a river at the bottom!”
The boy then gestured to the mare behind him. “Exactly why she is my passenger! Now get moving before you miss your turn!”
Bugs looked to James, obviously contemplating if he should turn or not. He bit down on his cigar and shook his head. “You better hope to hell you know what you're doing kid!” With that he turned down the road he was told with two cars going after him.
James narrowed his eyes as he made the bike go top speed towards the cliff. The mare behind him looked at the cliff with unsureness and looked towards James as her ears went down. “You do know what you're doing right?”
The boy sighed as he kept the bike going. “I hope so.” With that he kept course as the vehicles came closer. When they were a few feet away he looked to his passenger.
“Ready?”
She looked to him with uneasiness in her eyes but nodded her head. “Yeah, I'm ready.”
He nodded back as he looked to the cliff again and began to count down in his head.
Three
He kept full speed as it came closer.
Two
James saw the vehicles stop and felt his friend hold tight as she prepared for the drop that was coming.
One
Where there was once ground, there was now nothing as the bike went off the cliff, taking the two friends with it as they screamed the way down to the bottom.
======================================== ~4 years earlier~ ========================================
A boy with green eyes looked over a book he was reading and back to some notes that were right next to it. This boy wore a green t-shirt with dark blue jeans along with some tan work boots. The boy looked back and forth and then to the wall in front of him where a map was hung. After double checking the book, his notes, and the map, he nodded to himself and packed the things he had on his desk and into a large green duffle bag. The boy was then stopped by a feminine voice that came from down below.
“James! Are you done yet!”
“Yes Cassie! I'm just about there!”
James rubbed a hand threw his brown hair as he looked through all of his things to make sure he was packed and prepared for the trip he was going on. When all things were in order, he grabbed his duffle bag, book bag, and other things while heading for the stairs that led out of the attic.
Dropping them down the stairs, he climbed down himself and closed the entrance up. Before he could grab his things, he was stopped by the familiar site of his sister.
“Took you long enough pony boy.” She said with a hand on her hip.
Cassie stood at 5’5”, just four inches shorter than James who was 5’9”. She was wearing a red tank top, with black shorty-shorts, along with her signature glasses on and her long blond hair going over her shoulders.
“First, just because I'm going on a adventure after some kind of pony gods, doesn't make me a pony boy. Second, when it comes to what I do for a living, it does not hurt to make sure you're really prepared egghead.” James retorted as he grabbed his bags and hoisted them onto his shoulders.
Cassie gave a small glare to her little brother as she playfully punched his arm while he walked towards the stairs. As they walked together, James saw two other people standing in the kitchen, one a large man and the other a small women.
The large man who stood at 5’11” was wearing a dark green, button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tan cargo pants and black boots along with short, messy grayish-brown hair. The women standing at 5’4” wore a green tank top with brown shorts and brown flip flops with her blond hair tied in a ponytail that had some small gray lines in it.
The large man looked to James with a proud smile. “Well there's the little Drake. Could've sworn you were having second thoughts.”
James looked to the fifty-seven year old man with a smirk. “And miss out on the biggest opportunity given to me? Nah, I'd like to keep going till I know I can't go any farther.”
The man chuckled in response as the smaller women came up to James and looked him over. She then moved her lips to one side as she looked at his face.
“You...really need to shave.”
The boy put his tongue against his cheek as he rolled his eyes and looked at the women. “Mom, I'm going on a crazy and possibly dangerous adventure. I think shaving is the last thing I'm gonna think about.”
The boy's mother looked at him with narrowed eyes and grabbed his chin as she moved it side to side. “I know, but you just really need to shave it. At the very least, you could make it look good.”
The boy grabbed his mother’s hand and smiled to her. “Well as Dad says, when you go on adventures looking clean and shiny, you can guarantee that you won't come out the same way.”
The women smiled at her boy’s antics but it was soon replaced with worry. “I'm just, worried about you every single time you go on these little hunts and especially now that you're going somewhere I don't even know about. And alone at that”
The boy’s eyes grew soft as he hugged his mother tightly and she the same. “Aw don't worry Mom, I'll be safe. I always am.”
“You know he's right Elena,” his father pitched in, “the boy as proven that he can keep himself safe and out of trouble.”
Elena looked to her husband as she still held on to James. “I know that he can take care of himself Nathan. It's just that this time he's not going with anyone, and he's only eighteen years old.”
The treasure hunter known as Nathan Drake shrugged his shoulders. “And I was only fifteen when I did this stuff and he's already proven to be more reliable on himself when he was fourteen.”
When James heard that he couldn't help but smile in proudness of himself, but he also smiled in the one detail that his father forgot.
“Yes, you did do those things at fifteen Dad. But you also forgot the part where you almost got shot at fifteen.” James said with a mischievous smirk.
Nathan rolled his eyes as he looked to his son while putting his hands out in a shrugging gesture. “Ok I did not almost get shot alright, I was simply distracting the man so Sully could get to him.”
James raised an eyebrow at his father’s excuse to make himself look good. “Oh, even when you closed your eyes?”
The ‘oh crap’ guy walked towards the door of the house and opened it. “That was to give him a false sense of hope that I was not going to shoot.”
James grabbed his bags and walked out the door with his father while he had a shit-eating grin on his face. “So it was all planned out even though Sully said that you looked like you were going to shit yourself.”
The two girls of the house followed their boys out onto the beach of their island while shaking their heads as Nathan retorted. “Well Sully was in his younger years so he might have been tipsy on beers or something.”
James shook his head with a smile as he walked away from their house and toward the dock where a sail boat was waiting. “Whatever you say Dad.”
The Drake family continued walking until they reached the dock and made their way to the boat. When they reached it, James sat his bags down and knocked twice on the side of it.
In response to the knocks, large footsteps made their way outside of the boat’s hull and what came with them was a man who stood at 6’3” with grayish-brown hair, a blue buttoned up shirt with dark blue jeans and tan work boots.
“Ah, I see my little nephew is all ready to go on his first lone adventure.” The large man said as he grabbed the bags and put them on the deck of the sail boat.
James smiled in excitement. “I'm sure as hell am. Double checked everything so I come prepared.”
The man chuckled as he pointed a finger at his nephew. “See what happens little nephew when you listen to Uncle Sam, you get all the stuff right.”
James laughed as he crossed his arms. “Says the man who doesn't double check a door he props.”
Sam looked to his nephew with a smirk and a raised eyebrow as his brother put a hand to his mouth to stop laughing. He then raised his finger again. “Ok first off, I always did check the door that I propped and second, need I remind you whose sailing you into mainland.”
James laughed as he put his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright Uncle, you can take it easy right there. What I meant to say was that you are very efficient when it comes to propping doors.”
San smiled as he nodded in agreement. “That's much better little nephew.” He then directed his gaze to the other people standing at the dock and clapped his hands together. “So! Are we already to get on this expedition or do you guys need some more time.”
“I think a few more goodbyes shouldn't hurt anyone here Sam.” Elena said as she came to give her son a final goodbye.
Sam walked to the steps that led down to the hull of the boat while nodding his head. “Well I won't rush ya. Take all the time you need.”
The family nodded as Sam disappeared inside the water vessel and directed their gaze to the son of the family and prepared to say their goodbyes. Which Elena was already set on doing.
“Make sure you only talk to those you trust, don't go anywhere without being properly prepared, go to bed at a good schedule so you're energized, eat well, and lastly, shoot anybody who tries to kill you.”
Rolling his eyes at the many things his mom told him while trying to squeeze the life out of him, James replied in a way a son would to a worried mother.
“Yes mom, I know. Stay energized, take things that I might not use then need it and not have it, don't trust anyone unless proven otherwise, and shoot the bad guys. I got it all under control.”
Elena not really feeling comforted by her sons words only squeezed him harder. “Please be safe my little boy, and update me on anything that will happen.”
As if sensing the stress from his mother he put his arms around her hugged her warmly which she responded in hugging him as if he'd leave forever. Which he kinda would but only for a few months.
“Mom,” he started, “I promise I'll keep you updated on what I'm doing daily, and I will be safe. It may not be guaranteed but I'll try my damn hardest.”
He felt her shake a little which indicated she was crying. He gave her some time while his sibling and dad looked with sympathy. They always knew how it was for the journalist when her only son went on these things alone. Especially when how he looked when he came back from his first one. To say the least, the only things that made him look fine, was the smile of accomplishment on his face.
After a minute of calming down his mother stepped away from him and wiped her tears from her eyes. “Just…...please be safe…..I don't want to lose you.”
James gave his best smile to his mother which she couldn't help but smile back. “And I will, I promise.”
Elena narrowed her eyes at her son. “You better, or I'll have to come there and bring you back from the dead just so I can beat you from giving me a heart attack.”
Having a nervous smile and a bit of sweat on his forehead, James nodded rapidly. “Yes ma'am.” God knows if she had the power to do that she wouldn't hesitate to do so.
The journalist nodded as her husband came up to the boy and patted his shoulder and gave him a firm hug. “You've done me proud. Although I would have much rather you do something else like your sister, and much safer at that, I'm proud for the lengths you go just to come back with that smile on your face.”
The boy hugged his father as he replied. “Thanks Dad, I would have never been this kinda person if it weren't for you and the stories you told me, I probably would've been someone else right now.”
Nathan shrugged as he replied nonchalantly. “Well I had to give someone some sense of adventure, and all those temples I left for you still need some exploring.”
James chuckled as he stepped back to look at his dad. “And leave them in one peace.”
The older Drake rolled his eyes as he held up three fingers. “Ok, I only destroyed three places when I left them.”
“Four actually,” corrected Elena, “not counting the other things you destroyed along the way.”
Nathan looked back to his wife with a hand on his chest. “In my defense those buildings were old anyways.”
“But that didn't stop us from destroying them.” Sam’s muffled voice added from inside the boat.
Nate glared at the boat as if it insulted him. “Shut up Sam!”
His response was only a chuckle. Nate glared at the boat a little longer and softened his gaze as he looked to his son and smiled.
“Well, I guess all I can say is don't go destroying anything.”
The boy nodded in response. “Yup, wouldn't have it any other way.”
His dad nodded and then reached behind him to grab a bag that was hooked to his belt. “Well, since you're basically carrying the legacy of treasure hunting, I thought I could give you a few tools.”
Grabbing the bag with a raised eyebrow and peaked interest, James opened it and stared with surprise with the contents it had.
“Dad, isn't this-”
Nodding to his son's question, Nathan gestured to the bag. “Yup, the stuff in there is the stuff that accompanied me on my last adventure.”
With much more interest and excitement, the young Drake pulled out the first thing that caught his eye. What he brought out was his dad's shoulder gun holster with not even a scratch in any of it. James would give one thing to his dad, he knew how to keep his shit clean.
Putting the holster down he looked into the bag to find a large looking nail for climbing, and a grapple hook in a loop to keep the rope from going everywhere, and lastly a journal pouch.
“Thanks dad. For a second there, I thought I was going to have to buy this stuff from somewhere else.” He said as he put the holster back in the bag and tied it up.
“Well taking into consideration of the story you told when you bought tools from someplace else, I'd figure you'd need something that actually will stay intact and plus you'll need them now more than me.”
Looking to his dad, James smile gratefully with gratitude in his eyes. “Thanks Dad, I'll be sure to use them to the best of my ability.”
The large man nodded. “I know you will.”
James nodded once to the man and looked to the final Drake who stepped forward to say her goodbyes. Cassie, his sister, looked to her little brother as if she wanted to say something to him.
Already knowing what she was going to say, James looked to his sister with a calm but firm expression. “You're not going to change my mind Cassie.”
The older sibling pouted with a small glare to her little brother. “Why shouldn't I try James?! You're going to a place that none of us know about, a place none of us have ever seen, and you're going alone!”
A bit taken back by his sister's outburst, James tried to speak to her but she beat him to the punch. “Why can't you just do something safer like Dad and Mom or like me? Why are you so persistent on getting yourself hurt, or worse, killed because of some temple or treasure that’s probably not there?!”
Before she could continue on James brought her in for a hug which she tried to resist at first but gave up and relaxed in his embrace. As he was hugging her, he could still hear the faint question she always asked.
“Why?”
The young boy sighed as he grabbed Cassie’s arms and brought her to look at him. “Cassie I do this because I chose this life. If I were to do what Dad and Mom do I would go nuts, because I would be confined into a small space of doing papers and having to find forms or permits just to do a simple little traveling to some wreck, no offense to you guys.”
His parents both waved a hand in the air. “None taken.”
James nodded and continued while looking into his sister's teary eyes. “If I were to do what you do, I would probably be sent to prison for doing something illegal. Now don't act like it's that bad because I know how long it can take for you and your team to just get the green to go exploring somewhere that was probably already explored.”
He could see that his sister was going to shed a few more tears and proceeded to wipe them away with a thumb. “I chose this life because it's what I love doing and even though this might sound depressing, I would rather die doing what I love to do then doing what I wouldn't. Like the crocodile man”
The siblings turned their heads to the boat when they heard footsteps on the dock, only to see Sam standing with his arms crossed.
“He's right Cassie, this life was made for him just as it was made for me, my brother, and Sully. Now I might not go on them anymore and neither does Sully, but it's still a life I wouldn't trade for anything else. We're born adventurers, seeking the thrill and glory at the end of a rainbow even if we can't see it.”
James nodded in agreement when he turned back to Cassie who still looked like she wanted him to stay and stop doing things that have proven to kill him much quicker than his dad’s adventures. It made his heart break for her, but it's the life he chose.
“I know damn well what I'm getting into Cass and I'm well prepared for what's to come. Just because I'm going on these trips that have proven dangerous doesn't mean I'm gonna go looking for it.”
His sister looked pleadingly into the boy's eyes as if it would get him to stay and just try something else. But no matter how hard she tried he would not budge. Cassie sighed deeply as she put her head into his chest which he responded by rubbing her hair.
“Just because you stay safe and that you always prepare for the worse doesn't make me all the more worried.”
“I know,” the younger brother stated as he continued to stroke her hair, “but I always promise that I will come back safe in sound with nothing but a few bruises and scratches, and that's a promise I'm always going to keep.”
James stopped petting her hair when she put her head up to look at him. He couldn't do anything else but give a warm smile to his older sister which she slowly returned. With a big hug and soft voice she gave her final goodbye.
“Stay safe pony boy.”
James returned the gesture in kind. “I will egghead, promise.”
James proceeded to say goodbye to the rest of his family with hugs and kisses, especially to his mom. When their final goodbyes were said, James boarded the boat and helped his uncle to set sail.
When all was done the boat was already away from the deck heading out to sea.
“Next stop, mainland.” Sam exclaimed as he steered the boat.
“Stay safe James!” His mother shouted while waving to the leaving sailboat.
“Come back in one piece please!” Cassie added while giving her own wave.
His father cupped his hands around his mouth to give his son some few last tips. “Stay safe Jimbo and shoot anyone that I would shoot!”
James who was waving to his folks and sibling, stopped and cupped his hands on his mouth to reply. “You mean the guys that would shoot me first?!”
Nathan chuckled. “That's my boy!”
The family continued to wave until the boat was almost nothing but a small white boat on the blue ocean. The parents stared at it for some time and eventually headed back inside to most likely play Crash Bandicoot. The older sibling however stayed looking at the vessel that was now a small speck in the distance and sighed.
“Please stay safe.”
======================================== ~3 hours later at sea~ ========================================
“🎶Heave a pawl, O heave away! Way hey, roll and go!🎶” Sam sang as he steered the boat straight on course for mainland. He paused his singing for a while to take a drink from a beer he had in his hand and then continued singing the shanty when he was done.
James went through all of his stuff and even the bag his dad gave him to just make sure everything was in there. He knew how dangerous these trips were so he always made sure to be prepared -even if it was too much- just to keep his life.
After having enough of preparing he came out from inside the hull of the water vessel and sat on one of the seats to the side. Eventually his Uncle Sam continued to hum the shanty for not remember most of the words. His humming was then cut short by a question.
“So tell me little nephew, what is this little adventure that the young James Drake will be exploring on?” Sam asked as he took a glance to his nephew.
James sat in silence for awhile listening to the small waves hit the boat and shrugged. “Just something that this old guy gave me when me and Cassie got in a pickle a year ago. Now after months of locating it, I'm finally gonna find this temple.”
Sam quirked and eyebrow as his interest for an ancient temple came to him. “Just what kind of temple are we talking about here? Aztec, Egyptians, Pirates?”
James shook his head as he went back into the hull and grabbed his green duffel bag. He proceed to open it up and rummaged around for what he was looking for until he found an old, light brown leather book that barely looked like it could hold together and had pages showing out of it. James had fortunately found a tiny brown string just to tie around the book to keep it from falling apart. On the cover were 2 strange heads and two symbols behind said heads.
The boy walked out with the book in hand and handed it to his Uncle who put down his beer to hold it and looked at it with confusion but interest.
“Now this…..is one old book.”
James nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I had to find something to tie around the damn thing just to keep it from falling apart. When I brought it from the place the old man gave me, I had to hold it myself so it wouldn't be destroyed.”
Sam nodded as he turned the object a few times looking over the torn leather. He then took his hand off the wheel of the sailboat to untie the string to see its contents. Before he did he looked to his nephew with a questioning glance who only gestured for him to proceed.
Having permission he untied the string and looked through its old pages that looked barely eligible.
“Huh, this is definitely something old. These pages barely look like they can be read.”
James only nodded as his Uncle continued to look through the pages with conflict. Eventually he gave up and closed the book and retired the string to it. Before he gave it back he grabbed the wheel with one hand while holding the book in the other and studied the cover.
“Well this is definitely something that has never been seen before. I don't remember seeing, hearing, or looking at something that had two unicorn heads with a sun and moon on the cover.”
James grabbed the book as it was handed back to him and studied it himself. “Yeah I was a bit thrown off about it too. At first I thought it was a just a child's book or some joke but apparently this things is very real.”
Sam nodded as he continued to steer the vessel. Silence followed until the old Drake asked another question.
“How did you get that book? You never really told us the story behind it.”
James narrowed his eyes as his lips hugged his teeth, thinking of the best way to tell the story. He nodded to himself when he knew what to say and began.
“Well I'll keep it short by skipping the chasing and shooting part.”
======================================== ~1 year ago~ ~Cartagena, Columbia~ ========================================
A young woman looked out a nearby window while keeping most of her body hidden. She quickly pulled her head back with a gasp when a few men carrying intimidating guns walked by and stopped at the window. She held her breath as they stayed there and talked quickly in spanish looking around and pointing in directions. She sighed in relief when they continued to walk away from the shop.
The girl took her time to catch her breath after running through the town from police, those men, and the gunshots that followed with them. When she got her breath back, her relaxed expression became angry as she marched to the door of the small shop she was in to see a young boy with a pistol in hand looking out the door that he held ajar just enough for him to see but not get spotted.
When she reached him she punched his arm hard causing him to flinch and look at her with a ‘what the hell’ expression which she gladly answered to.
“What the flying fuck James,” The women said as she glared hard at him, “why the fuck did you think what any of that was a good idea.” She whispered quietly.
The boy glared at his sister who was covered in sweat and dirt with a simple t-shirt, shorts and running shoes while her glasses seemed to be missing. He of course was wearing a navy blue shirt with tan shorts and a gun holster on his right leg. He too was covered in sweat and dirt from running.
“Now don't you start that shit with me Cass. I told you damn well what we were going to do and yet you still came with me.” He whispered back as he looked out the crack of the door again and closed it all the way when he was sure they were in the clear.
Cassie did not drop her glare from her brother and hissed quietly at him. “You could have fucking told me that they were that fucking dangerous.”
The boy put his gun in the holster as he looked to his sister with narrowed eyes. “Cass you need to chill the fuck out. I've told you, Mom, and Dad what I get into and what kind of people I usually meet when I do this shit. So don't be going on my ass when you should have known that they were dangerous when I said, ‘these men just might shoot us’.”
The girl rolled her eyes as her mood didn't change one bit. If anything she only got madder at what her brother brought her into and what he's been going through all these times.
“James that was not fucking ‘they might just shoot us’, that was a fucking ‘I'm gonna hunt you down until I see you body full of bullet holes’. I mean they chased us from one part of the city to here. Not to mention I can't believe you put yourself inside there little base of operations just to get one damn device.” Cassie finished with a huff.
James shook his head as he pulled out the device and waved it around like a prize. “This device Cassie, is what's going to open that temple to ancient gold put into storage by a long lost tribe. Plus I told you what the fuck I was going to do when we arrived there.”
Cassie angrily point a finger at her little brother. “If I had know just how dangerous that was I would have stopped you. As a matter of fact, I knew what kind of danger you were getting into and told you that we should play it safe but noooo, you had to go and do the shit you did. And something like this is way beyond what you tell us at home.”
The young Drake threw his hands in the air as he gave a glare of his own at his sister. “Well if it's not your league to do this with me then you can just take your ass home.”
The older sibling flinched a bit at that but put her hands on hips as she replied. “Fine! Maybe I will go home and maybe I'll just try to have mom keep your ass there!”
“Go ahead and try!” James said with a raised voice.
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
“Ahem.”
The two siblings jumped at the voice and quickly turned to see an old, dark skinned man with a grey beard and short grey hair. He was wearing a blue and red flannel with plain black pants and flip flops as he stared at the two with an unamused expression. The man cleared his throat as he gestured to the trinkets of the shop.
“Hermanos, if you two are done making a hassle in my shop, I would gladly like it if you took a look around and buy something. If not then I would kindly ask you to leave so my shop doesn't become a rango de disparo.” He said in a gruff spanish accent.
The two siblings awkwardly stared at each other and then to the old man as they gave sheepish smiles.
“Uh sorry, just having some family troubles. I'll be sure to look at your trinkets, could be something worth buying.” James said while rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.
“Yeah,” Cassie added, “after that we'll be out of your shop sir.”
The man shook his head as he walked elsewhere. “Dios mío, don't break anything in my shop amigos.”
The siblings watched as the man walked away. When he was out of site James proceeded to walk elsewhere to see what was good for buying. Before he could get anywhere, a hand grabbed the color of his shirt and pulled him down to see a very angry big sister.
“I'm staying here to make sure the coast is clear while you go and look around, when we're done we are going to our hotel, grabbing our shit, and going home.”
James brushed his sister's hand away as he calmly replied. “No, we will be going to the hotel and you will be going home. I'm staying here to finish what I'm doing.”
James could tell that she was getting even more peeved at him but could also see some pleading her eyes. “James please, let's just go back to the hotel and go home. I don't want you to be here anymore than I do.”
The older brother continued to look at his older sister as her angry expression became scared and pleading. He sighed as he replied to negotiate with his worried sibling.
“I'll tell you what Cassie, we'll go to our hotel and take out stuff and move somewhere else in the town. When that's done I'm going to the temple to see if there's anything that can tell me if it's worth exploring and if it isn't, I'll come back to the hotel and we'll go home.”
Cassie wanted to interject but was interrupted by her tall brothers hand. “But if there is, I'll tell you and I'll proceed while you can either stay or go home.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes in determination as she said in a firm voice. “I'm not leaving this damn place until, you come with me.”
James rolled his eyes as he waved a hand in the air. “Then you can stay at the new hotel until we're done.”
His little sister grabbed his arm as her eyes became just that more desperate. “James please-”
“Cassie,” he interrupted, “I'm going to finish what I started here, I did not spend a lot of money just to turn around and leave it be. I promise I'll look around to see if anything is there or if it's too dangerous to go near. If that's the case I'll come back and we'll leave, if not I'll continue and keep you updated on what's happening.”
The older sibling looked at her brother to see if he would cave in and just come with her but he stayed strong with no change in his expression. She sighed sadly as tears threatened to spill from her eyes and put her head on his chest.
“Please….I don't want you to die.”
The younger sibling grew a soft expression as he hugged his older sister close. “I promise I won't, I'll play it safe and make sure none of those men are around and if there's anything worth finding. I promise if that's the case then I'll come back and we'll go home.”
Cassie quietly cried on her brother as the fear of losing him struck her and played in her mind. She stayed like that as her brother comforted her which eventually calmed her down. When she was calm she lifted her head and wiped her tears.
“You better come back or I swear to god James.”
“I will,” he quickly said as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, “I promise.”
Cassie nodded as she grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. James then proceeded to walk into the shop but stopped when he turned back to his sister.
“You want anything?”
Having seated herself, Cassie just stared at the door and stayed silent. Thinking she wasn't in the mood he turned and continued. Before he got far he heard her reply.
James walked up to the counter with a few trinkets in his hand. In one hand was a small statue of a woman in a rainbow dress with a basket of fruit on her head and in the other was a gold necklace with a small green jewel on the end.
He looked around for awhile until he heard a whistle coming from his left. He turned to see the old man at a counter waving him over. He walked over with trinkets in hand and put them on the counter. The man looked at them and to James who proceeded to pull out his wallet. The man nodded as he opened a cash register to get the boys cash in exchange for his trinkets.
“Problemas con la familia huh.” The man said as he added the price on the cash register.
James looked at the amount and took it out of his wallet and gave it to the man. As he did he looked to him with confusion. “Trouble what?”
The man gestured his head towards the area of the door. “Your sister amigo, trouble?”
James made a silent ‘ah’ as he shook his head. “No it wasn't exactly trouble, just an argument about the things I do. She just worries for me is all.”
The man looked to James with a calm expression. “No dan por sentado las cosas que familia le da.”
James, while knowing some languages and even a bit of Spanish didn't pick up on that. “I'm sorry.”
The man looked to him with that serious expression. “Don't take for granted the things that family gives.”
The young boy nodded. “Trust me I don't, it's just that I don't like doing anything other than what I love doing.”
The old man nodded as he pursed his lips and looked to James with a raised eyebrow. “Your an explorador?”
James nodded with a proud smile. “Yes sir, been doing it since I was seventeen and not wanting to quit anytime soon.”
Again the old man nodded and held up a finger as he bent under the desk and rummaged around a few things in its shelves. Eventually he came back up with an old, torn, and barely holding leather book with two unicorn looking heads with a sun behind one and a moon behind the other.
With interest peaked, James looked to the book with a fascinated look. “What in blue hell is that old thing?”
The man chuckled as he gently set down the book. “tranquilízate hijo, this old thing is a book I found many years ago when I was a young muchacho. This book is something that has never been seen before nor is it in any other museum, website, or book that you will ever come across.”
He then took his hand and opened the book to a specific page with a language that James has never seen before but for some reason looks like latin in a way. On the other page was a picture of the same two ponies but drawn like anthro ponies. One was facing the left and holding the sun in its hand. And the other that was a shade darker, faced the left while holding the moon in its hand.
James brought the book a little closer as he looked at the strange symbols and languages on its pages. When he couldn't decipher anything, he gently turned the right page to see what it told but it was the same thing. Confusing languages and symbols. Of course right next to it was a fresher page that was unattached that showed someone trying to decipher it themself.
“What is all of this?” The young boy asked as he gestured to the book.
The man chuckled as he gestured to it himself. “Something you've never seen before muchacho.”
James shook his head in disbelief and looked to the other part of the shop.
“Cassie! Come over here real quick!”
He turned back to the book as he heard footsteps approaching and soon he felt his sister next to him.
“What?”
Judging by her tone, she didn't want to to stay here any longer but that would change when she finds out about the book. “Look at this old book here, what does it look like to you?”
Cassie sighed in annoyance as she glanced at it quickly and waved a hand. “It's just some old book with latin written in it along with two pony looking people, so what?”
James shook his head as he gently lifted the book and showed it to his sister. “You’re pretty good at latin sis, does this look like latin to you?”
Cassie huffed and looked closer at the book, her expression slowly became conflicted as she read the book but didn't know what it was saying.
“No….it doesn't.”
The young Drake’s enthusiasm and excitement was rising by the second. “Do you know what that means?!”
Cassie raised an eyebrow at her brothers excitement. “It means we found some old language?”
“Not just that,” he said with a raised finger, “one that has never been found in any historical book or by any adventure until this man right here came along.”
Cassie’s demeanor began to change as realization of an unknown language with unknown people came rolling through her head. “So basically this man found something that has never been seen, recorded, or even told of ever?”
With a nod of his head James looked back to the book and gestured to some pages peeking out. “And by looking at this I'd say you arrived at a dead end with this because it's never been found before right?”
The man chuckled with a nod. “Por dios, I ran in many of them. I may have been a good explore or decipher when comes to things like this but it's all dead ends with this when you don't have a guide to help you along the way. Also I've grown to old for it.”
James grew even more excited as he looked at the two ponies on the page they were first on. “I'm guessing these were some kind of spirits to the people who made them?”
The guy shook his head as he scratched his beard. “From what I can tell, I believe they are their gods. One for the sun and day, the other for the moon and night. After many years I've deemed their names from the white one to the black one, Celestia and Luna.”
James became even more excited at the thought of exploring something ancient and never before seen by anyone or anything. Which stopped him in his tracks and grew an expression that made the old man smile.
“How much for this book?”
“Oh my god James,” Cassie said while pinching the bridge of her nose, “don't tell me you're going to go after this?”
His only response. “Eeeyup.”
Cassie grew frustrated and looked at the two items on the counter and pointed to the necklace. “Is that for me?”
“Eeeyup.”
“Did you pay for it?”
“Eeeyup.”
Just as fast as she came, she grabbed the necklace and walked back to the door growing even more frustrated. “I'll wait for you at the damn door.”
James payed no attention to his sister as his gaze was solely set on the man infringed of him. “How much?”
The man ran a hand threw his beard as he looked to the book and then the boy and shrugged with a smile. “Lo daré de forma gratuita.”
James stared blankly at the old man as he pretty much just heard the spanish word ‘free’ in that sentence. “What?”
Again the man chuckled. “Amigo, I'll give you the book for free if you stop staring at me like I cheated to you at chess.”
James stood to full height as he stared at the book then to the man. “Are you shitting me?”
He shook his head. “I shit you not, I'll give you this book for free to find whatever the hell it leads to amigo.” Just as the man said that he closed the book and slid it closer to the boy.
The treasure hunter looked at the book then to the man with a raised eyebrow. “Why?”
“He envejecido,” the man said with a smile on his face, “even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to find any clues as where to go before I die and even if I did my body is to aged to go after it.”
“So I can have it?” The boy said as he picked the book and his trinket up.
The man nodded. “As long as you don't take all the credit.”
James smiled the biggest he has had all day. “Gracias amigo.”
He nodded as the boy walked away. “Hoy por ti, mañana por mí. Your welcome amigo.”
Sam whistled in fascination. “That's one hell of a story little nephew, I can see why you studied that book for months.”
The boy nodded to his Uncle's question. “Yup, now that I know where it's leading to, I can find out what it's all about.”
Sam continued driving as he raised an eyebrow at the boy. “What happened to the temple in Cartagena?”
James shrugged. “I deemed it worthy of my attention and went inside. All I found were some traps, those men, and nothing but an empty room at the end of it.”
Sam nodded but looked to James with a serious expression. “I have to warn you about this though Jim, going somewhere where there's bad guys that you at least know about is dangerous. Going somewhere that you know nothing of to solve puzzles, pass tests, and everything else even without the bad guys is a wish for death. Entre ladrones James, I hope that you know what you're doing so you can come back in one piece.”
James looked to his Uncle with determination and a firm tone. “I know that Uncle Sam, I promised them many times before I go on these trips even if this one is different, I'll go in with an open mind and a scenario for everything so that I'm ready to act to save my life. I promised them that I would use my tools and smarts to the best of my ability so I can come back alive to see them. I promised them that.”
As James finished he looked to the miles of ocean they had to cross to get to the main destination they had in mind and narrowed his eyes.
======================================== ~3 Days Later at Sea~ ~Somewhere at A Port~ =======================================
The sound of light snoring echoed around the hull of the ship. A large form shifted on the bed as it turned to get more comfortable. As the form continued to rest on it’s bed, a larger form entered the door of the hull with large footsteps.
Sam snorted in amusement as he saw his nephew resting on his bed soundly, fully clothed in black cargo pants with a red shirt and just his socks. As he approached, he took out a bottle that was full of freezing sea water. Sam looked back and forth between the Drake and the water bottle. He shrugged as he sat the bottle down and gave a light kick to James's foot. The boy jerked a bit as he was awaken from the sudden hit to his shoeless foot.
Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he turned to the open door to see his uncle standing at the foot of his small bed with his arms crossed and a smirk across his face. James lightly groaned a bit as he sat up and rubbed his face with the palm of his hand.
“Sam….what’s the news?”
The older drake chuckled a bit as he grabbed the bottle and turned his back to exit the hull.
“Land ho’ little nephew, we’re here.”
James seemed to become a little more awake as his uncle's words graced his ears. Rubbing the last bit of sleep out of his eyes, he put on his tan boots and his black and red leather jacket and made his way outside of the boat's hull.
Putting a hand to his forehead, James squinted in the burning sun light that threatened to blind him. Blinking a bit to adjust to the bright light, James looked around the area to see that in fact, they had arrived to a dock that was connected to a long strip of concrete that went in a curve type of shape. Other ships were docked as well, allowing its drivers and passengers to disembark with their cargo or getting ready to set sail. A bit of ways away, were a lot of small brick buildings of different sizes, shapes, and colors. In front of those buildings were small tents that looked to be selling trinkets.
Nodding to himself, he went back down the hull of the ship to retrieve his belongings. When all was in hand, he walked back out and made his way onto the dock near the boat. His Uncle Sam leaned on one of the posts of the docks with a lighter in his hand, waiting patiently for his nephew.
James raised an eyebrow, putting his things on the concrete that connected to the dock as he eyed his uncle. Sam seemed to notice his stare and shook his head with a roll of his eyes.
“Don't worry, I quit doing it a long time ago, it's just there for….comfort so to speak.”
James was going to reply but a gruff voice had beat him to it making the young man smirked to himself.
“You keep saying that, but one of these days that won't be the case Samuel.”
Turning around, James smirk grew as he saw an old friend of his. Leaning against some wooden boxes with a cane in hand and a grin of his own was the Drake’s good friend and former grandfather, Victor Sullivan.
Sully was wearing grey work boots with tan cargo pants on. He was also wearing his signature red button up shirt. Although the old man looked pretty old with his wrinkled skin and grey hair and mustache, he looked like he could still kick your ass.
“As if you could say the same old timer.” Sam playfully retorted while flicking his wrist, closing the zip lighter.
Sully chuckled as he limped closer to the two, his cane making clicking sounds against the pavement. “Actually I could say the same since I quit smoking before the day this kid was born.”
Sam pursed his lips as he nodded. “Touche.”
Sully chuckled to the older Drake before directing his gaze to the littlest of them, who was watching the two with amusement.
“How you doing there kid.”
James gave a small shrug as he went to shake Sully’s hand in greeting. “Could be better, the good news is that I haven't been shot yet.”
After shaking the old man’s hand, Sully shrugged himself. “What can you do, it practically runs in your family.”
James nodded as silence fell between the three. For a while, the only sound there was, was the sound of the locals going about with cars honking and the occasional click from Sam’s zippo lighter. The silence was cleared from Sully clearing his throat.
“So, what kind of adventures is the famous James Drake going onto today hm? Treasure? Abandon shit? Pirates?”
“Temple actually, and one that you haven't heard of before.”
Sully made a silent ‘ah’. “So you've finally figured that book out huh.”
James nodded as he pulled out said book and studied the cover. “Yup, finally figured out where the temple is and I'm going to go find it.”
Sully looked at the boy before he started chuckling to himself, causing James to raise an eyebrow, silently asking why he was laughing. Sully gave a small laugh as if he could read the Drake's mind.
“Just don't go destroying this one, I'd like to see pictures of it in tact.”
James chuckled himself as he saw where Sully was going with that statement. “Just because I'm the son of Nathan Drake, doesn't mean I'm gonna go toppling ancient temples.”
“Tell that to that one Aztec tomb you went to.” Sam scoffed, causing James to deadpan.
The little Drake slowly turned around to eye his uncle who was busy playing with the lighter again. Slowly, he raised a pointed finger at his uncle.
“That one was an accident and because pirates.”
Same scoffed again at his nephew. “Yeah, sure.”
James continued to eye his uncle before he shook his head and turned her gaze back to Sully as he crossed his arms.
“So how have ya been Sully?”
Sully tsked as he leaned on his wooden cane. “Well, my back has stopped killing me so that's a start, but now my legs are starting to get to me if I stand around too long.”
James chuckled as he eyed the cane. “Starting to get a little old for it, eh Sully.”
Sully chuckled as he narrowed his eyes at the boy. “Don't go pushing your luck kid, I could still kick ass if I needed to.”
James laughed in amusement as he nodded in agreement. “I wouldn't put it pass you to do so Sully.”
Sully nodded in agreement himself as he stopped leaning on his cane. James then picked up his bags and questionably stared at Sully.
“So, did you get what I asked for?”
Nodding again, Sully made a quick u-turn and limped towards a few buildings on the docks.
“Sure did, and it’s waiting right over her for ya.”
The two drakes followed the old limping man towards the buildings. As they drew closer, James smirked as he saw the exact transportation he asked for.
“Sully I don't know how you do it, but you never cease to amaze me.”
Sully raised an eyebrow as he stood in front of a motorcycle that happened to be a Triumph Scrambler. It was a regular model with nothing much to it, except it had a red paint job with some scratches here and there.
“What you talking about, it's just a motorcycle that I rented for ya. Nothing special really.”
James nodded as he got to work in strapping his bags to the Scrambler. “I know, but this motorcycle is just perfect for where I'm going, it's like you know what kind of things I'm thinking about when I ask you for them.”
Sully chuckled with a shake of his head. “If that's the case, don't go asking me for women. Cause I can't guarantee she won't stab you in the back or just plain shoot you.”
James gave a laugh as he strapped his last pack to the motorcycle, fitting it nice and secure on the back. When he was done he turned to the other two.
“Welp, guess I'm off for adventure.”
“Now without giving your uncle one last goodbye you're not.” Sam said as he opened his arms. James didn't hesitate as he hugged the large man who did the same. With a few pats on the back, the two separated as Sam kept a hand on the smaller Drake’s shoulder.
“Now you take care little nephew, and don't go killing yourself now. I vouched for you on this one so your mother will try to kill me first if you don't come home.”
James chuckled as he could imagine his raging mother trying to fill Sam full of bullet holes. Shaking his head, he nodded not wanting to seal his uncle to such a fate.
“I'll be sure to come back in one piece Uncle Sam.”
The older Drake nodded as he stepped to the side. Sully came up to the boy with a smile on his face as looked the Drake up and down. Sully tsked to himself as his gaze met with James.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like your dad?”
James nodded as he could recall that happening a few times. “Sometimes, yeah.”
Sully gave a laugh as he pulled the little Drake In a small hug. “Well I hope those looks don't attract the dangerous ones.”
James laughed at Sully’s joke as the hug ended. The young Drake then climbed on top of the motorcycle and went to start it up. Before he did, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Sully.
“Now just wait a minute, I want to give you something.”
The young boy raised an eyebrow as Victor pulled out a bag from behind him and handed it to the Drake. His eyebrow raised even higher as he felt the weight it carried and proceeded to open it. His eyes widened as he took out a hip holster with a gun in it.
Taking out the gun, James eyes became amazed as he saw it was Victor’s signature weapon, a Wes-44 Revolver. He turned and twisted the gun, studying the old weapon that had scratchers in its metal and brown handle.
“Sully ain't this your-”
Sullivan nodded as he shifted his weight on his cane again. “Yup, that there is the same gun thats been to hell and back with me. Saw the old thing was just collecting dust and since you're going on these adventures more than any of us, I decided to just let you have it.”
James smiled as he re-holstered the gun and strapped it to his right leg. He twisted his leg to see if the gun fit snugly on his hip, which it did. When that was done, he started up the motorcycle and looked to the two people who were still with him.
James nodded to the two, giving them a small, two finger salute. “I'll see you guys later.”
With his last few words said, the boy revved the engine slowly making his way out of the port and onto a road. When he was on a clear path, he twisted the throttle shooting the vehicle and himself into the thick path of buildings.
Sully and Sam watched the young Drake go off with slight smirks on their faces, a bit pleased with the legacy of treasure hunting still continuing. Sam flicked his lighter open for a few moments before flicking it closed. The older Drake frowned as he looked at the path his nephew disappeared to.
“You think he'll be alright Victor?”
The old man shifted his weight, as he eyed Sam from the corners of his eyes and back to the path James went down. “He's a smart kid Sam, he knows damn well how to take care of himself. Most of the trouble he gets into is either something he didn't know or something that just happened on accident. I'd be surprised if bad became worse.”
Sam nonchalantly kicked a pebble as he nodded at Sullivan's words. “So he'll be alright?”
Victor nodded as he gripped his cane. “I'm sure of it.”
Same nodded to the old man as he turned heel and walked back to the boat.
‘I hope your right Victor.’
======================================== ~2 Weeks Later~ ~Somewhere in The Dense Jungle~ ========================================
James hummed in satisfaction as he eyed the broken rubble of pillars and walls in front of him. Two weeks had passed, most of the days spent driving to his destination and the rest of them getting sleep and studying more about the mysterious temple in the area.
After the twelfth day, he had finally reached a destination that put him a few miles away from the temple by a dirt and rugged trail with some steep hills on it. Booking a hotel, he spent the rest of his days studying, sleeping, and preparing for the temple that would make history. That is if it was there in the first place.
When the third week had started, James clothed himself in tan boots, blue jeans along with a white shirt, and his signature black and red contrast futuristic slim leather jacket. God he loved that thing. When he was clothed for his adventure, he grabbed a M92FS with a few magazines and put them in the shoulder holster that was underneath his jacket. Grabbing his second weapon which was the revolver, he loaded it with 6 bullets in its chamber and the rest in his pockets. Closing the chamber he put it in the hip holster that was strapped on his right leg.
Having his weapons secured, he had put a few things such as a satellite gps, food, water, and the trinkets that his dad gave him into a small one strap bag and put it over his shoulder.
When he was all set he left the small hotel he stayed in and set out on the trail riding the Scrambler. After hours of riding and keeping an eye on the steep hills, James had finally made it to what must have been the temple.
The boy had gotten off his bike and walked it the rest of the way until he could go no further with it. James had set the bike not far from where he stood, covering it in shrubs and ferns to hide it from any unwelcome guests.
Standing before him now was clearly some old ruins. The thick canopy of jungle was to his back while in front of him was a clearing of shrubs, tall grass, and ferns. In this clearing was old, dirty tan stones that lined the earth with vines and grass growing over them. Nothing even looked like a temple even existed with the amount of shrubbery that covered it. He could make out a few pillars and stone walls in front of him but it was sort of hard to make out.
He did know however, that the temple was sitting a few feet away from him. To the ordinary eye, it probably would have looked like a hill of grass and rock, but James could tell that that was the temple he was after. All he had to do now was get over to it and find the entrance.
Nodding to himself with his goal in mind, he took his first few steps to discovery. James carefully navigated the field of large stones and rocks, a few times he almost hit some on his feet, legs, and even his groin but was able to dodge them before he got a painful experience from them. Avoiding the ankle and groin smashers that were in his path, he could see a flat platform of rock that must have acted as a pavement or walkway of sorts ahead of him. As he approached closer, he could just imagine the pathway leading all the way to the temple and possibly the entrance when it was first built and in prime condition.
Smirking to himself, James jogged up the path that would lead him to his destination. He did come to slow walk as he stepped onto the platform. It was in good intentions too as ahead of the young lad, between him and the temple, was a large ravine that led to a rocky demise at the bottom. Although, while it wasn't deep enough to kill instantly, it was deep enough to give serious injury and possibly a slow death.
James peered over the ravine that separated him from his goal. He read about certain steep cliffs, ravines, and edges around the jungle, one even being near the temple. He hoped that they wouldn't be problem and would be somewhere that he wouldn't bother going but apparently that wasn't the case.
James looked around to try and spot a way over but couldn't see anything as of yet. His gaze continued to scan around the face of the large gorge on his side and the other until landed on a large tree. The tree was on his side and looked to be leaning over the open space of the gorge. James puckered his lips to the side in thought. Shrugging his shoulders he approached the large tree.
When he had approached the base of the giant plant, he studied its sturdiness and used a critical eye on its long appendages that hung over the large drop. James narrowed his eyes at the tree.
It looked as if it could hold him, it was extremely large and its giant roots seemed to have anchored it into the ground quite nicely. It also had on branch that seemed to stretch far enough for him to swing over on the other side of the coulior.
James smirked as he thought about that. ‘Swing me to the other side.’
Taking off his pack, he dug around the many things that he had on him. Scooping out a bag filled with two apples, a banana, and orange, he found what he was looking for. There, sitting nice and snug in his one strap backpack, were the tools his dad gave him.
Setting down the bag of fruits, he reached in the pack and took out the grapple hook, the spike, and the journal pouch. James sat the tools next to him and put the fruit back into the pack, zipping it up.
The boy then looked at the tools laid before him with a smile. Reaching for the pouch first, he took a fresh notebook along with a pencil and set them inside the leather pouch. Taking off his belt a little, he settled the pouch near his back pocket and looped the belt through it and back around his jeans. Clipping the belt back together he turned his head to see the pouch nice and snug.
Not wasting any more time, he grabbed the grapple and spike and hooked them on his pants for future use.
‘Thank you dad!’
Taking one last look at the large branch that connected to the larger tree, he put his pack back on and took out the grapple. Swinging it around, he stuck his tongue out in concentration as his other hand held loosely on the rope. When he was sure his aim was spot on, he gave one mighty swing and let the grapple fly. James gave a disappointed sigh when the grapple struck the back and fell into the ravine. Pulling the rope he watched as the grapple came back to him and grabbed it again.
He started the process of swinging the hook around and again let it fly. The Drake cheered to himself when he got the grapple to latch on to the limb of the tree and held on tight. Giving it a few shakes, James took in deep breaths as he eyed where we was going to swing.
When he saw a destination in mind, he gave a running start and swung over the cliff and to the other side. When he felt himself float in the air he let the rope loose a little, allowing his momentum to carry him to the the other side. Giving a small cry of surprise, James stretched his arms out to grab hold of the many edges that jutted out from the cliff face in front of him. The boy gave a grunt as he grabbed of a ledge on the side of the cliff that ended up being a few meters down from solid ground.
“Wooh! So that's what doing that feels like.”
Shaking his head he got a better grip as he stared at the edge above him, grunting a bit he began climbing the edge of it. It wasn't long before he pulled himself on solid ground and began to dust himself of dirt. The young Drake then brought his gaze to the rope that connected to the grapple that still hung on the tree limb.
Grabbing the rope, he gave a mighty tug on it, hoping it would come loose. Of course, it didn't. Giving a few more tugs with a grunt of annoyance, James stared at the grapple with an annoyed glare.
‘How the hell did Dad do this?’ Was his only thought as he kept tugging the rope. Eventually he got tired of it and gave one big jerk with all his body weight. He was surprised when the ground met him instantly, hitting his shoulder. With a raised eyebrow, his surprised gaze went to the tree limb that was vacant of a grapple hook. Looking at the rope, he could see that it was being tugged on by a weight that hung over the ravine.
James rolled his eyes with a sigh and began winding the rope up. When the grapple returned to him, he looped it back on his belt and stood up. He didn't bother to wipe the dirt of his pants as he stared at the temple behind him.
The temple wasn't how he imagined it. It was large, maybe the size of a six story building. Its structure closely resembled the Pyramid of Kukulkan, except on the top, where a small looking building would be on the Pyramid of Kukulkan, it looked like an open space where pillars stood on the four corners. James guessed it was for maybe a throne or something but he couldn't know since it was hard to see from where he was standing and the top of the temple was mostly gone from age.
A toothy smile graced his face as he walked towards the grassy and viney temple. Stopping at the base of the old, ancient building, he looked up slightly to see if there was anything that stood out on it. Not finding anything he turned around to the, surprisingly, clear path of stone that he stood on, and the clearing he was in moments ago. Not knowing what to do yet, he took out the blank journal and pencil and began writing down some notes along with some pictures on what he had been doing for the past two weeks and what he has seen so far.
When he was finished, he put the notebook and pencil back in the pouch and began to circle the temple to hopefully find an entrance, a passage, or something.
What felt like hours that were actually a few minute, James wiped some sweat from his forehead after navigating the back of the temple through thick trees and fallen rocks. He sighed loudly in frustration when he saw he was back at the front of the temple with nothing found.
He put his hands on his hips and bit his lip in thought. Walking over to the path, he looked around it hoping to spot something. He raised his eyebrow when his eyes landed on a particular spot at the base of the temple that was covered in vines. Walking over, he scraped the vines away with his foot to reveal a strange symbol. The symbol consisted of six small images. Five of them formed a bit of a star pattern of some kind while the sixth was in the middle of them. It also looked like there were four pointed crosses forming a star as well, or at least that's what it looked like.
James couldn't really tell what the image was because of the years that had worn it down. It was nothing but lumps of images on the ground, heck, if he wasn't actually looking he would have passed it as part of the old ruins.
Not really finding anything in his mind about the unclear image, he reached into his right back pocket and took out the old leather book with the two pony heads on them. Opening the cover, he scanned through the many old pages in it until coming to a stop on one in particular.
A foreign language was also under the six looking gems which took James a while to crack but eventually figured it out. The five gems had taken the names Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, and Kindness, while the sixth had taken the name Magic.
‘Strange names but that's what it seemed like they were called. Perhaps it was a tribal thing or something.’
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, James looked back down at the age worn image at his feet. Kneeling down, he touched one of the gems at the bottom left of the worn symbol which happened to be Laughter.
The boy felt around the bump in the ground and noticed that it almost looked like it could be pushed in. Shrugging his shoulders he pressed down on the bump but got no result. With a sigh and grunt, he pushed down harder.
“Heh….come on Laughter.”
Just as he said those words, a small click reached his ears and the bump easily went into the ground. James blinked a few times before casting glances at the other images. Slowly taking his hand off Laughter, he touched the image above it which was Generosity.
“Uh….Generosity?”
He said it like it was more of a question but it seemed to work as a click sounded again. He took that as his que to push on the image which allowed it to go into the ground easily. James looked back and forth between the images on the ground and the ones in the book. A smirk began to grace his face as he touched the next one which was Loyalty.
“Loyalty.”
The same click happened again and James pushed down. The image went into the ground without any resistance which James eagerly went on to the other ones. He repeated this process by saying the names of each gem and pushing down on them. Eventually he got to Magic and did the same thing.
When all gems were pressed into the ground, a rumble shook the temple, forcing the young Drake to take a step back. His eyes opened wide when he saw a path slowly open, tearing away the grass and fines that over grew it. What was once a regular looking pile of rocks, was now an open space that led down into the ancient structure. James walked closer to the door and peered inside of it. He could see from the light that the sun offered that there were steps leading down to the dark abyss.
Looking behind himself to see the beautiful nature that claimed this old structure one last time, James took out an angle-head flashlight and turned it on. Taking a few breaths, the treasure hunter begun to walk down the dark descent of the ancient temple.
When the young Drake left into the dark abyss, all was silent in the area. The only sound echoing through the clearing was the sound of wildlife and the sound of a stone door closing at the base of the temple.
======================================== ~Inside The Temple~ ========================================
James ducked his head, passing under a fallen pillar of stone as he walked through the passageway of the temple. As he exited from under the debris, he stood to his full height and waved the flashlight around nonchalantly, not really expecting to find anything in the worn out tunnel.
Finding nothing of interest, the young Drake continued his journey through the dark passage. It startled him a bit when the door closed behind him but some part of him expected that after visiting other temples. The good news is that this wasn't his first time, he could clearly remember the first time he got locked in a temple with his sister. She had to slap him in the face hard when he wouldn't calm down.
James chuckled at the memory that played in his head, if was frightening at first but now it was something to laugh about. After hearing the door to this temple closed, he had continued his descent down the stairs. Eventually he reached a single passage at the bottom and continued on his way with nothing else in mind. It had been a few minutes of walking down the path that had some open rooms on the sides with nothing in them, and some that had collapsed.
During his boring walk, he would sometimes enter an open room where the main path would turn or go down somewhere else which lead him to where he is now.
James sighed tiredly as he took a sip of water from the bottle he had in his pack. He had been walking for what felt like hours with nothing new but a few side rooms and some other passageways that had collapsed.
As he continued to walk, he came to a wall that split the path in two ways. One going to the left and the other going to the right.
Flashing his flashlight each way, the boy took out the leather book and began reading its pages with the flashlight. Not finding anything that could be helpful yet, he looked around himself to find anything that would give him a clue. He couldn't find anything leading down the paths, but he did see some strange writing on the wall in front of him. Walking up to the wall, he studied the writing and looked back down at the book. Turning a few pages, he arrived to some new ones that he made. One these pages were some notes and useful messages to anything that he would need to remember.
On one page was a long line of the many symbols and writings that were on the older pages and under them were letters and small writings that told him what they meant according to his knowledge.
James checked the book up and down before looking back at the writing on the wall. As he looked at the writing, he took out the notebook and pencil from his pouch and wrote down the words that were on the wall and began deciphering them.
After some hard thinking, James put a hand on his hip as he held the books with the deciphered words on it. He casted a few glances back and forth until he read the saying out loud.
“A path, chosen correctly, shall lead to Harmony.”
The young boy raised an eyebrow at the sentence and looked back and forth between the left and right path. Not really having any clue as what to do, he looked back down at the rest of the sentence.
“Do not stray away, for the aid of Harmony, shall lead your way.”
James seemed to become more confused and worried. He would have to choose this correctly or one of the wrong paths could lead him to a terrible demise.
With nothing coming to mind, he took his freed hand and leaned against the wall. He became surprised when he felt a gentle hum from the wall and quickly pulled away from it. He stared at it a bit and then at his hand.
Eyeing the wall again, he slowly reached out and touched it, immediately feeling that hum again. James took this as a way to find the path and looked back and forth again. In his mind, he could feel something telling him to go left. Turning to the left path, he pursued his lips in thought before giving a slight shake of his head and took his first step in that direction.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks before his hand could even leave the wall. He could feel the hum on the wall become more noticeable as if it was telling him that that was the wrong choice. Turning around he looked down the right path and sighed. The hum seem to become more gentle as he looked down the right path.
Shaking his head, he put the books and the pencils in their respectable places before flashing his light down the right path.
“God help me if I made the wrong choice.”
Taking a tentative step forward, he began a slowly walk down the path that may or may not lead him to his death. As he began to walk slowly down the path, he carefully looked around the walls, ceiling, and floors, looking for anything that stuck out. He stopped his flashlight in front of him when he saw the the path seemed to go down like a stair case. Raising an eyebrow, he walked the rest of the way until his thoughts were confirmed that it was indeed a stair case.
Quickly looking behind him for anything that might have jumped out, he directed his gaze back to the stairs before taking a deep breath.
“Down we go.”
With some speed in his step, James began his descent down the steps into god knows where. Silently, he asked himself if he took the right path and if he did, where it would lead him.
He didn't have to ask for long as he saw a faint, orange glow at, what looked like, the end of the stair case. Picking up his pace slightly, James went down the rest of the stairs until his eyes widened at what he had entered.
Before him was a large room. Nothing was special since most of its walls were nothing but dirt with some stones or bricks in it, indicating that this room was covered in them once before age wore it down. Some torches however, lit the large room casting it in a glow, but not enough for James to see clearly so he still had to keep his flashlight on.
However, that's not what made his eyes become wide in amazement. What made them widen was the large double doors on the other side of the room that were entirely made of pristine oak wood, with gold outlines on them. One of the large doors was closed while the other was open just enough for James to see that it was blocked off by debris but from where he was standing he couldn't really know for sure so he shrugged it off for now as his eyes took in the rest of the room.
On the sides of the two doors, were two, very large anthropomorphic pony statues. The one on the right had its top half gone, only leaving the bottom portion. The left still had its body, but its arms and what looked like a horn on its head were missing.
James stared with amazement and awe at the two ten foot statues that stood almost to the ceiling before him. Casting his glance down slightly, he saw the floor between him and the doors was divided by a drop. Walking forward while taking in the sites of the room, he arrived at the sudden and drop and looked down to see nothing but black darkness. Not even his flashlight could fight it away, it was like a black hole that just sucked it in.
The adventurer looked at the other side and knew that he couldn't jump that, but he did see in the middle of the long drop, was some stone jutting out of the side which probably acted like a bridge. Walking over to it, he studied it with a critical eye while using one foot to test its sturdiness. The small path didn't reach to the other side, only leaving a few feet of space that dropped down below, but it was long enough for James to get a running start to jump the rest of the way.
Having that in mind, James put some more weight on the rock and waited for anything to shift or jerk. When nothing happened he took a step forward, and another, and another.
He soon saw himself in the middle of the stretch of stone and gave a satisfied hum. Said satisfaction was short lived when the path jerked with a rumble forcing him to run back to the side he came from.
When he turned back towards the path, he just caught a glance of it dropping into the darkness with a few bangs and booms. After hearing it hit the walls a few times, everything in the room went silent, indicating that it was still falling or it stopped.
A disappointed, yet relieved sigh escaped the Drake who looked around for another way over. His eyes caught the sight of cracks and small ledges on the wall that led to the giant statue that was still intact. Not feeling patient whatsoever, he went over to the ledges and began to shimmy across them.
As he continued, he made sure that he went up slightly so he could climb the statue. The doors -from what he could see now- were definitely blocked off by large debris on the other side, so there was no way through them. However, there was a small hole above the doors that he could fit through but it was about eight feet off the ground. So the ten foot statue was the only thing that could probably get him through it and onto the other side of the doors.
As the boy continued to climb, he didn't pay attention to where his hands were going and grabbed a false ledge. Cracks reached his ears as the ledge gave out causing him to fall with a startled yell. He was able to save himself when he quickly grabbed the spike at his belt and jammed it into the dirt, immediately stopping his long fall into the darkness.
James gave a few shaky breaths through his nose as he chuckled a bit and looked down into the darkness. “Eh-heh, now wasn't that just exciting.”
With a few more breaths, James looked around until he spotted another ledge he could continue climbing with. With a few swings back and forth, he launched his body while quickly jerking the spike out of the wall and grabbing on to the ledge.
With a shout of accomplishment, he continued his ascent up the wall and up to the statue. When he reached the waste line of the statue, he used cracks and anything that stood out, allowing him to climb its large stone body. James was so focused on climbing that he didn't notice where his left hand was until he felt it hit something round.
Looking at his right hand he saw that he was grabbing a stoney breast which cause his gaze to look at the face that was looking slightly down. James would call his eyes playing tricks on him but the statue almost look like it was glaring at him.
Slowly staring at the statue for a while, James used its stoney breasts to hoist himself up until he arrived at its neck. Still looking at the statue, he gave a small nod of his head.
“Sorry uh,” taking a pause he looked at a stone necklace around the statue’s neck that looked like a sun, “Celestia, just needed to use your bosom to hoist myself up.”
After saying his unseeded apology to a statue that wasn't even alive, James climbed the rest of the way up until he was on its left shoulder, which was closest to the hole near the double doors.
The hole only reach the chest level of the statues which would make it difficult for him to climb to it. Looking above it, he could just make out a ledge for him to put his grapple hook into and swing over to the hole. With that in mind, he took out his grapple and began swinging it around until he had the right momentum.
When the amount of momentum was met, he let it soar to the small ledge and watched it anchor itself in place. Making sure it would hold, he swung away from the statue and to the hole. With a grunt, he latched on to the opening and hoisted himself up and situated himself into a comfortable position. Letting his grapple come loose, the treasure hunter began to reel it back to him.
Turning around to face the other side of the hole with his grapple back on his belt, James eyes widen as he gave a whistle of awe. Letting himself down, he used the crackers and debris against the doors to let himself down to the ground safely. When his feet were on solid rock, he put his hands on his hips and gave another whistle.
“Well ain't this just something else.”
Before him was another open room but a whole lot bigger. From what James could tell, the roof reached up to maybe thirteen feet while the room itself was big enough to fit 10 cars, front to back, going from the left side to the other.
The room fared much better than the previous ones as not much of it was destroy. Large stone pillars that were still intact lined a single path going up to what looked like an altar of some kind. James counted about eight of them on either with large torches of fire in between them that lit the room fairly well. Switching his flashlight off and setting it in his pocket, the room was indeed well lit enough for him to see.
Studying the room a little more, James saw behind the large pillars, small fountains with no water in them, along with statues of anthro ponies beside them that were surprisingly still intact.
As the Drake looked around the room, he brought a hand to his chin as thoughts began to cloud his head.
‘Ok, this is pretty cool but I have a few questions. One is how are these torches still lit? This temple has been here for god knows how long and yet they look like someone just lit them or something. Hmm, maybe they were self activated or something when I entered the temple.’
Dropping his hand, the young man approached one of the torches and studied it with a critical gaze. His eyes narrowed as he continued to study it yet, didn't really know what he was looking for.
With a shrug he looked at the statues that seemed to still be intact. As a matter of fact, they didn't even look like the years have even touched them. The only indication that they were old, was the worn down stone and few cracks that adorned them.
‘Which brings another question, how are these things looking like they are about ten to fifteen years old when the other two looked they were centuries old?’
A finger scratched the boy’s head as he tried to figure out how this was possible. From what he had seen outside of this room, this temple could very well be a millennia old or probably more than that. Yet in this very room, everything looked like it wasn't any more than ten years of age.
The boy huffed loudly as he shook his head. ‘I won't worry about it for now, this room still has some things to show me.’
Clearing anymore thoughts from his head, he walked away from the torch and towards the very end of the room that seems to have a bit more, interesting things to look at.
The walk wasn't very long as approached the end of the room. James couldn't help but quickly fumble the notebook and pencil out and right down notes and pictures as to what he was seeing.
The platform he now stood on was flat. In the middle, there looked to be some very large runes in the middle with writing around them. On the far wall in front of him, was a image of a very large tree with the same image of the six gems. However, instead of them being stone images, they were actual gems, yet they seemed to be dim and have no type of color. Almost like they were lifeless.
James kept walking towards the runes with a frozen look of wonder on his face. He stopped directly in the middle of the runes as he looked at the large tree with the six gems on it. As he continued to study it, he could see writing at the bottom of the tree and squinted his eyes to see what it said.
“The…..re-.....Free- no wait….The Tree of…..Harmony.”
His eyes opened up a little more, as he looked back at the tree with newfound excitement. “Tree of Harmony huh, well ain't that just a beaut.”
Looking back down at his notebook, he wrote down the name of the tree under the image he drew. Putting the bundle of pages away, he took the time to study the runes. They weren't anything special except for the fact that they were huge. Looking down at his feet he could clearly see small writing going in a circle. Kind of reminded him of Lord of The Rings for some reason.
Still mesmerizing the runes below, he took out the leather book and flipped a few pages until he came to an old drawing of what closely resembled the room he was in. As his eyes scanned the pages, he quickly looked back around the room with wonder.
“So this room was some sort of….ritual of some kind, but what kind of ritual?” The boy asked himself as his voice echoed in the large room. Looking down at his feet, he studied the writing and flipped to his, deciphering page and began to line up the letters.
“To whom that has seeked the new path to harmony….bring about these six tasks to find it…..”
As James continued to read the small rhyme of words on the ground, unknown to him, was that the tree on the wall began to glow a small white hue that reached out to the six gems.
“To bring the smiles of Laughter….”
As those words echoed around the large space, a blue glow went around the respectable gem as the others waited patiently.
“To give Generosity…..” Then a green gem.
“To bring acts of great Kindness and undoubtable Loyalty….” Then a pink and red gem.
“To always tell the truth and bring Honesty…..” An orange gem.
“And to spread the Magic of….FriendshipandHarmony?”
Lastly, a purple gem glowed as did the tree which brought bright light to the wall that James was mindlessly ignoring as he confusingly eyed the last words of the sentence. Just the way those last words were said made it seem like it was written by a little girl or something.
‘These were some strange people.’
Putting the leather book back in his pouch he turned back to the tree and reeled back in surprise when he saw them all glowing. James breathed in sharply as he took in the beautiful sight before him. It was truly magnificent to see something that looked lifeless, now looked full of life and color. With a big goofy and dumb smile on his face, James reached into his pocket and took out his phone.
“Well, Sully did say he wanted pictures.”
Turning around he held the phone in front of him and smiled to the camera as he flipped it to a selfie. Adjusting it so the tree was perfectly behind him he took the picture and flipped the camera back around to take more.
However, James didn't get that the chance as a loud boom echoed around the room along with a gentle hum, startling the young Drake. Looking around quickly with alert eyes, James put his phone away and took out the revolver, expecting thugs to come out of the walls.
That didn't happen however as he felt a slight hum around hum. It was the same gentle hum that he had felt before he took the right path in the passageways. Instead of it going through his arm, he could feel it flowing through his body causing him to turn back to the tree. Vape like appendages came off the tree as it seemed to radiate power and glow brightly.
A flash of light cause his gaze to quickly look down at the runes with his weapon raised. He slowly lowered it when he noticed the lines of the runes glowing a soft rainbow color. The lines gradually started to become brighter forcing the Treasure hunter to look away.
A rumble sounded around the temple forcing the young Drake to look around with frightened eyes while the hum coming from the tree seemed to become louder.
“Ok, I think it's high time I leave now!”
With that in mind he quickly left the center of the runes and began to quickly make his way towards the doors. He didn't get far when his face was struck with pain, forcing him to stumble back. With confusion and slight fear in his eyes, he pressed his hand forward and became surprised when a purple like wall showed itself when his hand neared it. Panic struck him as he put both hands on the purple wall that had locked him inside and started to hit it with all his strength.
"The hell is this magic shit?!"
His results weren't satisfying as the wall didn't even break or even show cracks from his hits forcing the young Drake to look for a way out. Finding nothing, he quickly raised the revolver again and took aim at the invisible purple wall. Not waiting for a second, he felt the kick back of the weapon as he fired it at the magical cage. Dread clearly showed on his face when the bullet bounced off the wall into a bent heap of metal.
Cursing loudly, he looked back at the tree with fear stricken eyes as he tried to take deep breathes.
“Alright, alright James, just calm down, everything is going to be fine, just calm- AHH!”
His effort to calm himself was short lived when he saw a huge chunk of the ceiling fall towards him. He quickly covered his head with his arms and hands and waited for the large rocky chunk to crush him under its weight. James started to become confused as he quickly looked up to see that the chunk was stopped by the purple wall, being nothing but large rocks now.
His attention didn't linger for long as the hum got louder and the gems began to form a rainbow like ball in front of them. His eyes widen as it continued to grow bigger and hang right above the runes, causing the temple to rumble more.
“I am one, dead, mother fuc-” His words were quickly drowned out as the rainbow ball shot a beam directly into the runes, encasing his entire body in a bright light.
Outside, the top of the temple glowed with the same light as it sent a rainbow shockwave, scaring the shit out of the nearby wildlife. Eventually the glow stopped and all became quiet again.
Inside the temple, the light show began to die down as the tree and six gems dimmed down to their lifeless look again. In the middle of the runes, smoke emitted from the lines as the hum dyed down. As the smoke cleared, it was clear that something was missing from the middle of these runes.
In the middle of a dark and very dense forest, lied a temple. Said temple started to form light at its tip as it made a rainbow like shockwave. Just as quickly as the shockwave came, it disappeared into thin air.
Inside the temple in a large open room, a form groaned as it began to come back to the world of the living. The large formed picked itself up as it brought a hand to its head to rub out the headache it was getting.
James groaned again as his head throbbed with pain. At first, he thought he was gonna die to a freakin light show inside an ancient temple that no one had ever seen before. Instead of pain though, he felt a warm feeling as his body seemed to get lifted up from the ground and shot off in different directions. James wouldn't be able to explain it further as he passed out during the little field trip and now was awake with a painful migraine.
“Fuck...that hurts.” Were the first words that left his mouth as he stood up. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw that he was still in the room. Looking back at the tree, he could see that the gems and tree were back into their lifeless state like he first saw them.
Shaking his head he slowly began to walk away from the runes. Before he fully left, he reached a hand out and waved it around, checking to see if the purple wall was still their. When nothing stopped his advance, he fully stepped out of the runes and made his way to the doors.
“Ok...first, I need to get some damn pills for my head and then a nice bed for me to sleep in. That shit was too weird for me.”
Coming to the doors, he pushed on one of them, slowly opening it.
James immediately stopped in his tracks as he looked at the doors that were missing the tall tale signs of debris blocking it. Call him crazy, but he could have sworn that these doors were blocked off by huge chunks of rock. Looking up, his eyebrows raised in confusion as he saw no hole at the top of the doors.
“What the what?”
Slowly, he opened the door as he eyed them with a critical gaze. Poking his head out, his eyes opened wide to the point that they threatened to fall out of his head.
“Mother of christ….”
Before him was not the same room that he had first entered before going into the ritual room as he was going to call it. Instead of there being one entrance that he came through, there were multiple entrances that lead different ways with lit torches leading down to god knows where. With his mouth open in complete bafflement, the boy looked at his right to see the Celestia statue. Completely intact.
With an audible gulp, his gaze turned to the left seeing something that caused him to freeze.
There on the right side of the doors, was the statue of Luna. But it wasn't just the bottom portion. It was EVERYTHING. The top half was completely there with arms, wings, horn, and all.
Looking back and forth between the statues, he started to wobble a bit as his body threatened to faint from all the shock he was receiving from this new room.
“Where the hell…”
His words died in his throat as he heard echoes of other voices. His confusion and bafflement soon became realization and anger.
“Mother fucker!”
Taking out his revolver again, he began to make his way across the bridge which he eyed confusingly as it was completely intact but shook it off as he followed the voices. Entering through the hallway that the echoes seemed to be coming from, his thoughts began to make scenarios as to what happened.
‘Ok, magical shit happens and I get blinded by that light. While I'm blinded, something or someone starts throwing me around so that I'm disoriented and drugs me to knock me unconscious, either that or they hit me which would explain the migraine. Anyway, after that they dragged me to some other temple or did something and now I'm here.’
Stopping in his tracks, he backtracked towards the voices as he took a wrong turn. ‘Either way, if this is some stupid cult or something and I'm some sort of sacrifice then I'm gonna blow some heads off.’
After taking another turn down the maze of hallways, he could hear the voices more clearly as an open space started to approach. When he exited the narrow passage, he could see from the top of a staircase, a large room that echoed of the two mysterious voices and some growls.
The two voices consisted that of a male and a female arguing with each other as the growls sounded like animals.
Shaking his head, he went to the edge of the stairs and glared at the people who probably brought him here. His glare quickly turned to shock and disbelief as to what he saw. What he saw just wasn't possible and just couldn't be real as he looked at the two arguing figures below.
As he continued to stare, only one thought came to his head that he formed in words.
