Village

They made their way closer to the weather-torn arch made from what was once polished marble. But has now become a yellowy chalk-like material with vines wrapped around it. Glowing symbols that reassemble runes sat around it vibrating with a light hum.

On the sides were two statues covered with moss with large chunks missing. From what remained of them they seemed to be a sort of winged beast but this was hard to certify since only one of them had anything resembling wings remaining on its back. These two stood guard in front of the moss-covered stone wall that stretched out around the temple.

They made their way through the arch into what remained of what looked like a village. Broken down mounts of bricks lay together. Dome-like buildings seemed to still stand even without roofs or entire walls. The chalky smell in the air coupled up with that of moist dirt added a dreary feeling to the area. The songs of grasshoppers echoed out through the ruined village. Full-grown trees sat on top of houses with their roots wrapped around and going through the forsaken buildings. A faceless rusted statue stood in the middle of the village.

A small group of Morvers sat cuddled inside of its hollowed pedestal. Morvers are long foxlike creatures with small faces, single-toned eyes usually silver or white and a large thick mane that stretches from their necks down to form a tail made of fur resembling that of a peacock. These ones on the other hand had a thin layer of scales and long serpentine tails instead.

They made their way past a patch of sand with crumbling stairs arranged around it. Small circular rings stood on opposite sides of the field. A small fleet of creatures resembling lemming gathered in the middle of the field scurried away when they saw Anoki and Hilo. Lemmings are palm-sized furry creatures with sharp horns protruding from their little heads. These had rough navy blue scales instead of fur and were about the size of a toddler. Ignoring the creatures Hilo and Anoki made their way to a set of worn-out stairs with carvings and inscriptions that were now barely visible.

'Look I'm telling you. You don't get it.' Leon's voice could be heard from the top of the stairs.

'What doesn't he get?' Irene asked.

'It's a guy thing you wouldn't under- Oh look who it is. How was the picnic you two?' Leon said as Hilo and Anoki made it up the stairs.

'You're finally here.' Sky said.

'Sure took your damn time…What happened to your faces?' Irene said.

'Nothing.' Hilo said staring at the floor. He was both pissed and confused, was he really not that different from the people that destroyed this place. He remembered that Kalena also mentioned how corrupt and greedy mortals were. "Will I become like them too?" he wondered.

'Were you two fighting?' Sky asked walking closer to Anoki.

Whose eyes darted to the chalky stairs. He didn't like lying to her because she could always tell. Sky rubbed his hair before blowing gently on the swollen eye causing it to twitch. Anoki winced from the sudden piercing pain that followed. 'Better?' She said. Anoki's face turned into a frown as he pushed her hand off of his head. He didn't like it when tried to be 'motherly'. He didn't need that from her or anyone.

'I'm here now that's all that matters. Let's go.' Anoki said walking up the stairs.

'I'm sorry.' Sky said to Hilo.

They all followed Anoki up the stairs except for Hilo who stood there still staring at the cracked stairs. Oran gave him a nudge. 'Hey, you got something on your face. Particularly here' He said gesturing at Hilo's whole face. Hilo let out an exasperated chuckle. Stopping when his eye started to sting.

'Want me to take care of that?' Oran said.

'Please?' Hilo said.

Oran placed his hand over Hilo's eye and activated his tattoo. Causing a soft boom followed by a hissing sound as the swelling deflated.

'Thanks'

'Don't mention it.'

A scraping sound of earth grinding on earth coupled up with grunts came from the top of the stairs. The boys ran up to two pearly white doors that stood in the middle of two sets of spiral stairs that led to the top of the temple. Viper and Drizzle struggled to open the door even though they had activated their tattoos. This was made even worse with the relentless gust of wind that kept on pushing them back.

The pristine doors surprisingly had no signs of cracks or being worn down. The two griffin carvings could be seen clearly as they glistened from the sun's rays. Its perfect condition was the result of the runes that were plastered all around the door's edges. The ground trembled as the doors snapped in place. The sound of mechanical gears winding began creeping through the ground.

[Click-Click-Clock]

'Let's go.' Viper said.

They all rushed into the dim cave-like temple as the gears turning got louder. A piercing screech echoed out followed by the doors snapping back into place shutting the door and cutting off most of the room's light. The slamming boom ran across the empty temple sending chills down Hilo's spine.

The silence set in as they stood in the dim and dreary hallway of the temple with another door similar to the one they had come through standing in front of them. The green-colored cubes plastered on either side of the doors revealed two serpentine dragons carved into the door.

'You have to do that every time?' Leon said.

Viper smirked as his tattoos went back to normal. He turned over to Irene whose eyes were glued on the doors. She had seen something similar to them before but couldn't figure out where. "Damn it, If I got something to drink I'd probably figure this out." She thought to herself.

'This way.' Sky said walking over to the side where a set of stairs etched into the walls led down. The only lighting in the temple came from green-colored glowing cubes on the walls. The stairs seemed to be have been carved from the wall itself.

"What is this made of?" Oran thought as he ran his hand against it. It wasn't any stone he'd seen neither was it metal. Although rubbery it was definitely equal to steel when it came to density.

A gust of wind followed by the rushing beat of water blew through them as they made it to an opening brimming with light. A roaring stream of water erupted from the side of the wall crashing into a wooden construct that filtered it into a manufactured serpentine-like river. Flowing through the different dams that got smaller the further they were from the eruption. The stream flowed into a hole in the wall where it just disappeared.

A collection of dome-shaped buildings in small groups decorated the landscape. A large tree sat at the center illuminating a golden hue that covered the entire area. The outsiders stood there staring in awe. To think an entire group of people lived here and no one knew about them.

'Where the hell are we?' Oran asked.

'We're inside Alo.' Sky said stretching her hand out towards the sky.

The outsiders all froze at the sight of the sky. It was no longer there. A pearly white surface sat over them. Reflecting and enhancing the tree's light back down on them.

'This is so cool.' Hilo said staring at the tree. Unable to take his eyes off of it for some reason it reminded him of home.

Irene's breathing deepened as she clenched her chest. Sweat trickled down her face. "We're okay… it's okay. Calm down. It's just like the room on the ship. I'll be fine." Irene reassured herself. She turned around subtly trying not to give away her discomfort. "Damn it. Why didn't I carry a bottle?" she thought. Leon grabbed her hand and whispered in her ear.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, why?'

'If you say so but just make sure not to sink us.'

'Why the hell would I do that?'

Leon stared at her. He knew no matter what he said she wouldn't admit anything but if he didn't calm her down she would flip out. He turned to Clint who jumped onto her shoulder and hugged it tightly. "Damn monkey." For some reason whenever Clint would hug her she would feel safe and at ease. It was probably because he was a spirit she'd tell herself. Her breathing slowly stabilized. Clint would always work when Irene was nervous ever since they met whenever Irene would get nervous he'd use Clint to calm her down.

'No need to thank me.' Leon whispered.

'Shut up.' Irene said.

'This is crazy' Oran chuckled. "How the hell did these people even survive down here?" Oran wondered. They made their way down the stairs to a smooth rubbery road that led straight to the tree at the center of the village.

Two patches of land sat on either side of the road. On the left were fenced patches of land that stretched on over the river filled with animals. These ranged from Llamas to Alpaca and even turkeys. On the river, a raft of ducks paddled around. Exasperated grunts accompanied by metal slamming into the earth came from behind the animals. Patches of the earth with people tilling.

Laughter and the sound of squeaking feet came from the right side of the road. A large barren area with stone walls erected on the two opposing sides of the field with a ring on each side. A group of feathered kids ran around bouncing a rubber ball off of their bodies aiming at the rings. The kids all had their faces painted in different colors with most of them having the mark of Bennu on their bodies.

As soon as one of the kids noticed the group enter the village they shouted from the top of their lungs 'They're back' causing all the others to charge at them. In seconds they were surrounded by a legion of kids all hurling their own questions at them. 'How was it?' One asked. 'Did you see the guardians?' 'Was it raining?' 'Did you see the end trees?'

'Stop! One at a time.' Sky said interrupting all the kids. The kids stopped for a moment before staring at each other wondering who would ask the questions. Drizzle glanced over the lot looking for someone.

'How is it out there?' one of the taller kids said. He had purple feathers. Paint of the same color ran down his chest and neck. The kid's name was Taima son of the village's head shamaness Madam Night and the second most skilled farmer in the village. No one dared question him because they were craftsmen and mediocre farmers.

'It was amazing. We even found some outsiders.' Sky said.

'I noticed. I'm young, not stupid. And what does amazing even mean? Why can't you be specific? I'm asking about the sights. When I join the unit you'll actually have some competence.' Sky grit her teeth as she smiled trying not to start a fight with this child. Taima may be an annoying kid but he's still Madam Night's son. Hurting him would only cause unnecessary drama. Usually, she wouldn't care about that but since they have guests but it would ruin Anoki's day.

'The hell's with this brat? You think you're hot stuff huh?' Irene said poking Taima's forehead.

Taima grit his teeth. His eyebrow began twitching as anger began welling up inside of him. "Who the hell does this outsider think she is?" Taima thought to himself.

'What? You mad? What're you gonna do about it? Cry to your mom?' Irene said now poking Taima's head even harder.

"So she does know my mother. She still did this to me knowing that? Oh, I get it she's putting on a front. Mom did say grown-ups loved doing this. She's actually terrified inside. Yeah, that's it." Taima told himself as a smile crept onto his face.

'Wait don't tell me you're actually considering that?' Irene said before laughing hysterically.

'Taima, she didn't mean any of that.' Sky said.

'Like hell I did. I meant every word you gutless punk.'

"Gutless? What is she talking about? I'm one of the best Ulama players in the village and the son of the elders. This woman is clearly insane. I have guts" Taima thought.

'I have guts. No one's guts are bigger than mine!' Taima said.

Irene broke out laughing. 'What the hell are you talking about? You sound so stupid. 'No one has guts bigger than mine? Get out of here.' Irene said.

Snickering could be heard from some of the kids who stopped as soon as Taima turned around. He turned to the warriors. Anoki didn't care at all because he couldn't do anything to Irene even if he wanted to and in this case, he didn't want to. Drizzle didn't care enough as he was looking around. Viper and Sky were trying their hardest not to laugh at the kid.

Tears started welling up as Taima's mind raced. "How dare they. This woman, it's all her fault." He thought. Taima hurled his ball into the air before activating his tattoo and jumping up after it. Spinning his body he used his knee to smash the ball towards Irene.

Lifting her leg up Irene stopped the ball and flicked it back up in the air. Spinning around she kicked the ball back into Taima's face. It slammed into him causing him to become disorientated as he fell to the ground. Irene dashed over and caught him before he fell.

'You know. I knew a bunch of people like you as a kid. They always used to piss me off until the day I cracked and broke them.' She whispered to him before dropping him on the floor. Taima stumbled to his feet still a bit dizzy.

'Did you have to go that far?' Hilo said.

'What? The punk deserved it.' Irene said.

'I'll have to side with her on this one kid. Punks like that only learn by getting their asses handed to them.' Leon said.

'And it's not like I did anything wrong right?' Irene said turning to Sky.

'Taima kicked his ball at you and it just bounced back to him. Slamming into his face.' Sky said.

Taima glared at Irene. He definitely wasn't going to tell his mom about this. Not only did he challenge her but he lost at Ulama, his sport. Although it wasn't official it still counted as a loss.

'You. Me. Rematch later.'

'Oh, you're on kid.'

'Let's go.' Taima said to the other kids.

They all turn and follow him. Drizzle stopped Taima as he was leaving. They stood there staring at each other.

'He's not here. Your mother didn't let come.' Taima said.

Drizzle let go as a sullen frown crept onto his face. The kids went back to the patch and resumed their game.