Unlimited Atmos - Chapter 01

“You know…something tells me, you forgot your climbing gear on purpose” Finn spoke through the radio to Xena’s earpiece as he chewed through the gloopy-fruit he had in his hand. With his feet put up on the table he kicked her gear to the side.
“Oh really? Whatever gave you that impression?” Xena replied as she scaled the wall on Terra Bolviian; climbing with little caution, shimmying to the right along the rock side and leaping to the ledge above. Pulling herself up, she stood straight and tightened the straps on her gloves. The look of purpose covered her face as she began to trek the path towards the ruins she was hoping to find. Surrounding her were scaling dusty walls of rock with little greenery showing, water could be heard running from afar and an unforgivable heat could be felt as the sun beamed down. This was a crumbling, deserted terra, and Xena was determined to explore its hidden secrets before it disappeared completely into the wastelands.
“Well, have fun sweet cheeks” Finn teased “I’m off to do uh…some hard work, try not to miss me too much”
“You’re a bad liar; and a horrible flirt” She mocked in return. “Don’t let Piper catch you skipping chore duty”.
Grinning at his success of playful flirting over the previous months, Finn signed off the radio and left her alone so he could escape the prospect of hard work.

As Xena explored the deserted, crumbling Terra she revised her current mission in her mind.  She was searching for the second half of a broken relic, which had been split into two during ancient times to stop its magical powers from being abused. Legend tells that before the relic had been divided, it could open the eyes of the beholder to visit the beginning of time when Atmos was created, and control the world as if a God. Xena found the concept of power, riches and fame unappealing, and often reminded people who requested her tomb raiding and relic retrieval skills that she only played for sport.

She had already recovered the first half of the relic which had been hidden deep into the wastelands, surprisingly with little difficulty and no competition from her rival and personal enemy Domiwick. He was a man known famously throughout Atmos for his daring adventures and explorations in ancient ruins; he was rich, famous, and had several best selling books for his many fans. However, not a single one of Domiwick’s fans could have loved him more than he loved himself. He was egotistical, arrogant and exceedingly vain. Unfortunately Xena and Domiwick had a history of nasty disagreements and had a strong difference in views. Domiwick felt that relics should be sold to the highest bidder to fatten his wallet, whereas Xena believed that anything dangerous should be kept away from evil hands, and anything of historical value be viewed by all who wished to see it in a museum. His lack of appearance when searching for the first half of the relic in the wastelands was worrying to Xena, but she remained positive as she was in possession of the first piece, and not him.

Walking along the track to the ancient temple ruins Xena came across her first obstacle, a wall too high to jump up and climb, and the stairway that was originally carved in the stone leading up the side had been crushed and worn away over the years. Looking around she noticed a ledge she could jump up and reach, doing so she caught the ledge and shimmied across until she could climb a few further ledges in the rock. She was now able to jump across and land safely; she smiled to herself as if it were too easy.

She proceeded onward, when she heard the static in her radio ear piece which kept her in constant contact with the condor.
“Hey, sorry to bug you on your big mission but is Finn with you?” It was Piper, and from her tone she sounded frustrated.
“As if he could keep up, sorry Piper he’s not here”
Piper groaned through the radio. “Thanks anyways…how’s the hunt going?”
“Really rather well, so far” Xena replied as she continued to climb through rocky terrain to meet her desired destination. She carried on climbing, jumping and swinging her way to the ruins that were getting ever closer. Soon she reached a rocky ledge that looked down onto where the ancient temple had sunken into the crumbling ground, kneeling down and pulling out some binoculars Xena took a closer look.
“Oh my…she’s absolutely beautiful” Xena exclaimed, dreamy eyed with a smile in her voice.
“At the ruins then huh?” Piper asked after giving up the search for Finn.
“I think I’ve fallen in love…” Xena said with a romantic sigh.
“You say that to all the ruins” Piper mused. “Speaking of, how long are you going to avoid dealing with he who won’t do his chores?”
Xena rolled her eyes and sighed. “Finn and I aren’t-” Xena stopped abruptly, zooming in on her binoculars. Domiwick’s skimmer could be seen near the temple, but he was no where to be found. “There’s always one person who comes to spoil everything” Xena frowned as she stood up.

“Sorry Piper, I’ll check in when I’m finished here, I get the feeling I’m about to find trouble”.