[Survey] The lost temple

“Almost there” 

Fenrir rolled up the map he was holding and put it in his bag. He was looking for a lost temple hidden in the jungle. It had taken him a while to even get here, first he had to get a lift on a freight ship that dropped him on the nearest planet and then he convinced someone there to take him to the planet Kiah. Sadly the pilot couldn’t land anywhere near his planned location because of the dense rainforest so Fenrir still had to walk a few days before he would reach the place where, according to his research, the temple was located. 

He took a deep breath and started walking. The jungle was dense in some places while in others you could still see the damage the blight had caused. Most creatures ran from him but for some curiosity forced them to take a look at the Xero walking around the jungle. Fenrir took pictures of them, something he knew the arc lab would appreciate to map out the flora and fauna on Kiah. While walking he kept an eye on his compass to make sure he was still going in the right direction. 

“It should be around here somewhere” 

He looked around but the trees prevented him from seeing anything. 

“Time to start climbing”

The heavy bag made a dull sound when it hit the ground and Fenrir grabbed his climbing gear. The tree he was climbing was thick and would easily hold his wait while he used his four strong legs to climb up as high as he could. Nearing the top of the big tree he thought he spotted something.

“That must be it, finally!”

After spotting what must have been the lost temple he rushed down and started walking again although it was getting pretty late and he would have to set up camp soon he hoped to reach the temple before it became too dark to see. 

He had a small tent just big enough for him to lay down and stand on all fours. He could barely sleep, he was so excited to go and explore but he knew it was dangerous to be out at night so he waited patiently for the sun to rise. 

“Goodmorning Kiah” 

The Xero said when he walked out of his tent and stretched his back. He quickly ate something and packed his tent. 

“Time to discover the secrets of this temple”

Fenrir loved the thrill of exploring and finding treasures, even though he donated most of them to a museum or the arc lab. Carefully maneuvering the hallways and rooms looking out for traps and switching between walking on two legs and four to fit in small spaces or prevent triggering a trap. He loved being a Xero, it was so easy to just switch the way he got around to what best fitted the circumstances. He mapped out the entire area and checked every room for secret passages. A stone moved while he pushed it with his paw, his eyes got bigger and he moved his ears around to hear for any traps activating. A clicking sound echoed in the room and a small hole in the wall next to him opened. He stretched again, got on all fours and walked through the hole. Again the sound of stone moving followed by a loud slam. Fenrir quickly pulled back his tail. 

“Damn I fell for it, it was a trap!”

He blinked his eyes and looked around, a small dark hallway lay in front of him. Carefully he started walking, looking out to not trigger any other traps. He stopped a few times to get something that felt like spider webs from his face. The tunnel was long but after a few turns he saw a light and the ceiling raised again. There was a big room with four exits and a hole in the roof partially covered by vines and branches. 

“I must be in the outside ring of the temple again” 

He looked at his compass. 

“If I’m correct then the eastern passage should be the most likely one to bring me to the treasure room from here”

He put his compass back in his bag and walked towards the eastern doorway. The hallway sloped down pretty steep and Fenrir had to hold on to the wall to make sure he didn’t slip but when the floor straightened he noticed something shining in the distance. 

“A gold coin!”

He bit it to be sure and shoved it in his pouch. Now his recklessness took over and he started running until the room opened up again. Light filled the room and he noticed that they must have used some sort of mirror system to get the sunlight all the way down. CLICK. Fenrir's eyes widened as he felt one of his legs lower a little bit. 

“Why am I this stupid” 

He looked to his left and saw a bunch of small openings in the wall, arrow holes… He got on all four of his legs and ran while he heard the arrows flying through the room. One scraped over his back but he managed to reach the treasure room. He quickly wrapped the scratch on his back and started collecting treasures and taking pictures. “Another successful expedition” he said while proudly shoving a few paws full of coins and gems into his pouch.