A World Below Us (Ark Aberration/Final Fantasy 14)

An Underground World

"Jackie! Jackie!" Someone was shouting my name. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked. Alphinaud was kneeling over me. "You've been out for a while. Of course you were the one who hit your head on a rock..." he said. I sat up, but immediately got dizzy. "Ow!" I exclaimed as I laid back down. Alphinaud looked worried. "Take it easy, that fall did some massive damage. And not just to you." He looked down at his arm, covered in bruises. I tried to sit back up. Ignoring my dizziness, I crawled over to where Alphinaud was sitting. "That looks bad..." I said. "It's not broken, I can still move it." He flexed his arm, flinching a little. But it looked like he was right. Alphinaud looked up. "Where..... where are we?" He asked. I had been so focused on the fall that I hadn't taken in our surroundings! But now that we were here, I took a wide berth at the lot of it. There was a wide metal path, leading to who knows where. Large metal rings built around the path and a giant metal propeller thing made the entire structure look like a failed attempt at building a portal of some sort. On the sides of the path were plants and mushrooms of kinds I've never seen before. I looked up to see holes in what should be the surface's ground. "Alphi... are we in an underground biome?" I asked my friend. He nodded. "It sure seems that way." I stood up and swayed a bit, but I eventually found my balance. I helped Alphinaud up. "So what now?" I asked him. "I don't know... I honestly thought the fall would kill us." He replied. I looked down the metal path. "Oh no, you aren't seriously thinking-" "Yup." I cut him off. I started to walk, leaving Alphinaud a few steps behind me. I turned back around. "You coming or what?" I beckoned. I could see him sigh, but he trotted up to me anyways. As we took the metal path, walking to wherever it might lead us, we saw some of the strangest things. Chicken sized birds that could only be classified as a dodo. A Large giraffe like creature with no spots and skin like an elephant. Lizard things the size of dogs. And the weirdest thing was the way they glowed... they all had streaks of glowing skin somewhere on their bodies. I got a sudden urge to adventure, to run off and get lost, to survive in the most dangerous of situations. I took off down the path, startling Alphinaud and causing him to start running after me. "Hey! Slow down! Haven't we had enough running for today?" He called out. The urge to adventure surged through me. I couldn't stop. Alphinaud grabbed the back of my shirt as I dangled on the edge of a cliff. "Woah! Thanks for that!" I snapped back to reality. The metal path had a hole in it, and I would have fallen right through it. "Be more careful!" Alphinaud scolded. I didn't reply. "Jackie? What are you staring at?" He asked. But then he froze too. Before us was not just a biome or an underground fort. It was an entirely new world. "Did... did you know any of this was here?" He asked. I shook my head in awe. The hole in the metal bridge lead to a drop into what looked like a swamp. The drop wasn't even close to what we fell getting down here. There was a dead end to the right of the swamp. A wall blocking any possible paths, but it did have a nice pool of water below it. There was a growl from behind us. I spun around, panic spreading through my body. "Um... Alphi?" He turned around and saw our stalker. It was a dire bear, stepping toward us and bearing its teeth. It had the same glowing streaks as the other creatures. Another feeling of power came upon me. "Jump!" I called out. "What?! Are you crazy?!" Alphinaud yelled. The bear charged. "It's the only way!" I said. Alphinaud looked toward the broken bridge, then back at the bear. "Trust me!" I pleaded. He nodded and we shot towards the drop.  I grabbed his hand and we jumped, just barley getting away from the angry dire.