Atlantis

Chapter 1

The sounds of a world slowly awakening from a long night floated through the air over the empty city like a cloud of mist. Chira monkeys called to each other as they swung through the tangled branches of giant trees filled with flowering vines. Tiny mechanical bugs clicked and whirred throughout the jungle forest as they scuttled in and out of the curious grasp of the monkeys who paused their constant movement for a quick sniff, throwing the inedible bugs down to the forest floor before cheekily swinging away.

On the outskirts of the overgrown jungle, sparse patches of long grass waved softly in the gentle breeze rustling over the sky island. Vines and tree roots hung off the island's edge like strips of braided hair, rustling every so often as the breeze played through each one. Near the bottom of the floating spectacle, a system of caves ran through the exposed rock where centuries of constant wind erosion had formed the large holes. Life thrived on top of the island in its abandoned jungle city but down in the cave system, the only sound consisted of the wind whistling and echoing through empty natural hallways of rock.

A tiny rustle on the eastern edge of the cave system interrupted the lonely sound of wind whistling through cracks before a loud yawn broke the quiet serenity completely. A thin girl, who had found sanctuary in a small cave from the jungle's mess of night noise, had unfolded herself from her woolen blanket and was sitting cross legged in the back of the cave, blinking bleary eyes against the bright sunlight spilling into her little hidey hole. She yawned again and her hands went up and out over her head, stretching toward the cave's ceiling before reaching back down to rub her eyes drooping with sleep. After a moment of grimacing at the sun's rude interruption of her rest, the girl picked herself up off the floor, gathering her blanket as she stood. She walked toward the entrance of the cave, peering out over the edge as she reached it. Thick clouds drifted lazily over the earth's surface thousands of miles below her, creating an incredible morning view. It had become her favorite part of the day, seeing as trekking through hot, humid jungle for hours on end wasn't terribly fun.

After sitting down with her legs dangling over the edge of the cave, the girl ate a small breakfast of tiny purple berries she'd scavenged the day before and another stick of military rations she'd been given at the beginning of her mission, along with the pack strapped onto her back at all times containing her most coveted items. Chira monkey's quick hands snatched away anything that wasn't strapped to her body as the girl had quickly learned the hard way when she had arrived a few days ago. Fortunately, the monkeys had only made off with a bag of sugar beans which the girl eventually got over and decided they hadn't really been necessarily essential after all.

After breakfast and a few more moments of admiring the vibrant orange streaks the sunrise had painted across the sky, the girl stuffed her blanket back into her leather pack and stood, glancing up to locate a sturdy vine.

Soon, she found herself scrambling up the rock face, clutching to a thick vine with one hand and her machete in the other. With a grunt of effort, she hauled herself upwards by way of the root and dug the machete into the rock face above her, the handle creating a makeshift handhold as she dug her feet into the small niche she had made with the weapon a few feet below. This process went on for well over an hour as she made her way back up to the jungle above. Sweat rolled down her forehead as the sun rose up above the field of clouds below as she prayed her fingerless leather gloves wouldn't get too sweaty to get a good hold on her machete handle. With a last bit of intense effort, the girl managed to stick the machete into the grassy plain of the sky island's top surface and drag herself up and over the top, her feet propelling her forward from a small ledge she'd located as she climbed.

As soon as she was topside, she collapsed in the long grass at the edge of the jungle, chest heaving up and down as she lay on her back. The sweat began to run down her temples and into her hair, dampening it with wet streaks. Every single day for the past week she had made that climb, wondering if it was worth it, but as soon as she noticed signs of some sort of large nocturnal predator again the next morning, she was grateful she'd managed to find some shelter down below in the caves for the night.