Four Paws and A Tale

Chapter 34

Tertle and Glair stood on a familiar hillside, staring across the desert at the large structure which stood tall in the middle of it. The temple was plain, made of a yellowed stone it stood proud. It cast a long rectangular shadow cooling the desert sands in the afternoon sun. At the tip of the shadow was another shadow, much smaller than the first it formed a crescent moon in the sand.

Glair didn't notice but Tertle did, he frowned at the strange shape in the sand. Based off where the shadow was, the thing casting the shadow should be hovering a few meters above the temple. Tertle looked but it was impossible to see anything against the harsh light.

He shrugged it off.

"Come on, Glair."

Glair just nodded.

Tertle searched near the base while Glair looked higher up.

There was a pattern around the bottom, where Tertle was searching. Hippowdons had been carved into the stone, forming a square which went around the Temple. Two of the Hippowdons stood facing away from each other, the rest wrapped around the temple to the left or right and then around to the opposite side.

Tertle followed them around until the two separate lines joined again. As the Hippowdon drew nearer to each other their path changed. Slight at first, they moved at small angles until the two lines met and they were diving headfirst into the sand.

"Hm, interesting." Tertle studied them for a second before calling to Glair to join him.

"What's up Tert? You find something?" She asked.

"I thought I told you not to call me that."

Glair shrugged. "So, what did you find?"

"This." He gestured to the Hippowdon with a fin. Glair wasn't impressed.

"Hippowdon?"

"Yes, but, notice how they move in a straight line before burrowing downwards. The sands in a desert shift all the time, I think the entrance, is beneath us."

Glair's frowned. "It's no good when you explain it, you should have just shown me with some big dramatic reveal."

Tertle sighed; "You know Glair, nothing you do or say surprises me anymore."

She made a pouty face, "Aw, really? You mean? I'm? I'm boring?" Her eyes were wet with tears.

"Uh, no I... uhm."

Glair blinked away the tears and a determined look appeared on her face. "You think I'm boring? Well watch this!"

Tertle gulped.

Turning on her tail her Rapid Spin blew the sand and Tertle away. Soon she stopped and what had been the underground entrance was now the aboveground entrance.

Tertle was now lying on his back a few meters from where he previously had been. His mouth (Which looks like a bird beak) had been open, gravity closed it.

He wobbled on his back for a while before conceding defeat. "Glair, little help here please."

Glair giggled; "Silly Tert."

She flipped him upright and the pair entered the castle.

*****

"Tertle, this place is weird."

Tertle grunted, "Funny coming from you."

"Yeah..."

Tertle rolled his eyes. They had been walking up the stairs for a while now. Reaching the top of the stairs they exited into a square room. There was a single catwalk which lead to the other side of the room where there were more stairs.

The pathway twisted in odd directions, sometimes doubling back but never overlapping. Off the path was nothing, fall off and you'd find yourself back at the entrance. Large pipes sat in the walls, they faced onto the path.

Something wasn't quite right, Glair didn't notice. "Come on Tle! Let's go!"

She skipped along the walkway, eyes closed she didn't falter once on the winding path. Those pipes in the walls? Yeah, they started shooting giant sand-balls at her. She ducked and danced around all of them and safely made it to the other side. I'm starting to think she's not a Gligar, maybe a Mew in disguise? (... No, it's too dumb, the author would never... Would he?)

"Hurry up, come on, let's go!" Glair shouted.

Tertle looked at the obstacle before him and sighed.

"I'm getting too old for this." He muttered.

Using an Aqua Jet, he flew across the room in seconds, easily avoiding the sand-balls. Glair Frowned at him. "Your no fun."

Tertle ignored her and kept walking, up the stairs they went. The next obstacle was a maze. No cheating on this one, they struggled through it, coming across the occasional sand-ball into pit-fall trap. Coming upon yet another dead end they discovered a few blades of grass, every blade looked like a spring. There was a hole in the roof above the grass.

"Yay, grass!" Glair ran, jumped, landed on the grass and shot upwards through the hole in the ceiling. Tertle just rolled his eyes and jumped onto the grass, he rocketed upwards and landed next to Glair.

Glair looked confused, "What just happened?"

"That was Spring Grass, I'd heard of it but never seen it before."

"Spring Grass?"

"Grass that makes you bounce really high."

"Oh. Let's do it again!"

Glair jumped down the hole and reappeared again a second later, bouncing on the grass over and over. Tertle rolled his eyes and kept on walking. Another set of stairs, finally they reached the top floor. It was a small room with a hole in the middle. Nothing else, literally just a hole in the floor.

The pair walked to the edge, Tertle or as otherwise known, Captain Obvious, lived up to his name, "Long way down."

Glair, she just kept being Glair. "Okay, let's go!" She pushed Tertle off the edge and jumped down after him. The two fell a long way, it was impossible to know whereabouts in the Temple they were.

Tertle glared at Glair, she just giggled, he rolled his eyes and cracked a small smile.