Precipice of Time

[myvalentina]

Two explorers are the first to come across never before discovered ruins in the middle of a thick jungle. A 'tomb raider' and a research assistant in too deep, they soon find out these ruins hide a secret they weren't prepared to find.


With @Smashu12

 

[myvalentina]

A loud shriek woke Lourdes up from a restless sleep. She was drenched in sweat, and the sun hadn't even risen from the looks of it. She slowly sat up, rubbing her face as she heard the inhuman sounds of the jungle surrounding her, and cursing them.


She was quite used to the strange sounds now, but it was the rudeness of it all. Looking at her watch, it seemed like she hadn't gotten but four hours of sleep this time. She sighed, but stretched out the sleep anyway as she pulled over the crate of supplies. She grabbed some granola and a water bottle, thinking it was best to just start a new day.


Grabbing her laptop she logged her first post of the day, copying it all into a notebook for safe keeping. It was her fifth day in paradise. Miles from civilization, it was her job to scout the area for a research team. Everything in a two-mile radius had to be logged and documented before they arrived.


She knew when she joined the expedition she would be getting a shit job, but isolation, heat that would kill a normal person, bugs the size of small mammals, and a task better suited for four people wasn't what she had been expecting. Worst of all, she was within sight of the ruins they would be exploring, but she was under strict orders not to set foot within the compound until the rest of the team arrived. It was like dangling a cold shower in front of her.


She emerged from her tent when the sun started brightening through the thick sky of tree leaves above her. Despite the heat, she covered most of her body with thick khaki, pants dug into her socks and tightly held by the laces of her hiker boots. She had learned pretty quickly to seal everything up tightly, lest you find something strange and unfriendly joining you on your adventure. And she made her way East, away from the ruins, to take pictures and survey the surrounding area. She had yet to find anything interesting besides the ruins. She was ecstatic.

 

[Smashu12]

Sunlight slowly filtered through the canopy of leaves above Rocco's tree set. He tried to ignore it at first as even though his position wasn't comfortable he wanted to sleep a little bit longer, but inevitably he was awoken by not only the pervasive light but the sounds of the creatures on the ground below. He sat up from his position high up on an old tree, where he had taken refuge for the night among several closely packed branches. It was a trick he had learned long ago to prevent predators from setting upon him while he slept unguarded. He cursed under his breath at the beings that laid below him as they took away his sleep. Roc then unhooked himself from the system of ropes he had set up on the slim chance that he fell from his spot while shifting in his sleep.


After retrieving his trusty leather knapsack which laid hanging on a strong branch he took a deep breath in and smiled. It was great luck for him to stumble upon these ancient ruins which had been yet to be explored by human eyes for sometime, He would likely be able to pilfer what he wanted and be on his way before anyone would be the wiser. Roc ate a quick breakfast of bread and cheese before taking a look out to the surrounding area to check for any ground creatures that might be lurking around to pose him any danger. His quick survey seemed to only reveal to him several colorful birds and the occasional lizard until he spotted a distinct figure not far from his position. Rocco slapped his forehead, cursing himself for not noticing that someone was already here.


He slowly made his descent down the towering tree, mulling over what he was to do about the person. Depending on whether there were more of them he might be able to scare the person off..it was unlikely though. Rocco didn't exactly have a very scary presence and he wasn't up to fighting someone right now, so he would have to settle for trickery unless something new presented itself..Perhaps the person could be bribed to keep their silence. He didn't know what he would do, but once he hit the ground he started trailing the person from a hundred yards back waiting for an opportunity to make an entrance.

 

[myvalentina]

Lourdes pulled the flaps of her hat tighter around her face, she was not going to swallow a bug this time, and struggled through the thick underbrush. She kept her eyes out for any dangerous animals, but most everything ran at her approach. Good.


As she marked off any significant rock structures or interesting looking trees on her makeshift map, she noticed something quite unnatural. Rounding a giant tree trunk she saw a stone structure sitting in a good sized clearing. It shot up to about ten feet, but the scattered stones around the base told her the building had originally stood a good thirty feet more then it's current state.


She found an outcrop of roots to sit down on, and started sketching everything she could see. She wanted to be detailed, doing her best to figure out from the outside what this structure could have been, and it's relationship to the ruins. An outlook, she thought switching between her sketch and her notes as she analyzed the structure.


She was engrossed in her job, the sounds of the surrounding forrest not even enough to break her concentration. She was untrained in that kind of way, and the research team had refused to hire locals to help her out, calling it a cost saving technique. Her guides had helped her with her equipment and went back to their homes. But she didn't care. This is exactly what she had always wanted. Maybe it was a little rougher then she had expected but within a couple of days the rest of the team would be here and she would be the first person in that ruin if it killed her.