Running through the empty Salyan desert with only a dagger in-hand and a pack full of food and excavating equipment, Hiro ran the fastest possible way to his destination: The Dragon Ruins.
"Hiro!" called Ruby, a pink, cat-like creature. She had fine feathers that resembled fur. A pair of wings came from her back. "Wait up! You're going too fast!"
Hiro didn't slow. "I don't want to give those sand sharks a chance to smell me! Sorry!"
Seeing a ledge to a higher cliff right in front of him, Hiro jumped and caught hold of it. He pulled himself up. Looking around, he saw in the distance the place he was looking for. Nodding to himself, he ran the rest of the way to the ruins.
The door was sealed shut.
"How're we going to get in?" Ruby asked.
Hiro looked up and grinned. "Go see what's up top, Ruby," he said.
Reluctantly, Ruby flew toward the top of the ruins. Investigating it, she called back, "Well, I don't really see any entrances. I can see some weak stone, but that's about it." She began to fly back down. "Maybe if we- Hiro?"
He wasn't there. She looked all around where she had left him moments before. "Hiro?!"
"Up here, Ruby!" Hiro said proudly from the top of the ruins, swinging a rope and grappling hook.
"How'd you get up there?" she asked.
"Footholds--makeshift or otherwise--on the walls. Great way to get up."
Ruby sighed and shook her head as Hiro began looking for a place to get in. With his grappling hook he banged parts of the roof to find the weakest spot.
After a bit, he stepped on a weak piece of the roof and it sank half a foot in. He jumped as the roof opened.
"Well I'll be damned," he said. Hooking the grappling hook to a solid piece of stone, and making sure it was securely attached, he slid down. "Look out below!"
The room he was in, from what he could see in the darkness, was beautiful. There were statues, mosaics, murals, paintings, every kind of art you could imagine cluttered around the whole chamber. They depicted the great Dragonmasters, the battles for Lunar...
"Ruby, do you have the lantern?" Hiro said.
His pink friend came into sight holding the lantern in her mouth. "Yup."
Hiro secured his feet to the rope and hung upside down. His prize was right under his nose: The Dragon's Eye Jewels. He grabbed his dagger and began pounding on the stone surrounding the right jewel.
Continuing for a while, Hiro said, "Gyah, I wish I had brought Grandpa's chisel! This is harder than I thought it would be!"
Stopping and wiping some sweat, he said, "Did you say something, Ruby?"
Coming into his view, she replied, "Oh, great! Don't tell me you're hearing things now."
"Well I sure heard something," he replied, going back to trying to get the jewel.
"Hurry up, Hiro! The time's almost run out on the trap!"
"Trap? What trap?!" Hiro gasped.
Fire surrounded them the instant he said that.
"Woah! Why didn't you tell me about that earlier?!"
"I did! But you were too wrapped up in getting the jewel to listen!"
"Oh, that's right! The jewel! Hold on, I've almost got it!"
He pounded some more on the jewel. It was finally free--
--free to the depths of the ruins, past their line of sight.
"Crap!" Hiro yelled, climbing the rope, hoping to get to the top.
"Hurry, Hiro! The exit's closing!" Ruby yelled.
Hiro finally got to the top--
Snap!
"Oh no!" Ruby screamed. "The rope broke!"
Hiro screamed as he fell in the same direction as the jewel. He curled into a fetal position and awaited the rough landing.
"Hiro!" Ruby shrieked, flying down to try to save him.
Wham!
By the time Ruby had caught up to him, he was on the ground, spread-eagle, motionless.
"Oh, Hiro! Don't die, you just can't die!" Ruby cried.
Groaning, and grinning, Hiro said, "I... I'm all right... Ruby. Heh heh, just a few... bruises..."
"All right, that's it!" Ruby said in a worried tone. "I can't do this anymore, Hiro. Every time we do this we-"
"Shh! Ruby! Listen!"
They heard something behind them. Ruby gasped as she saw two inferno ghouls coming at them. Hiro got up and ran, Ruby trailing behind him, flapping her wings desperately.
Before the story goes on, there are a few things that need to be explained. Hiro's grandfather, Gwyn, was an archaeologist and historian that settled in the Salyan desert. He knew everything about ancient history and lore of Lunar, or close to it. He had so many history books that, even in his old age, he had not even read half of them. Hiro read these books in his free time. The lad's favorite books of all were those about the greatest hero of all, Dragonmaster Alex.
When he was young, Hiro met Ruby. They had always been friends. Ruby had even gained somewhat of an intimate attraction to Hiro, but he never really returned it as much as she gave it. Ruby claimed she was actually a baby Red Dragon, but he wasn't sure he quite believed that.
The two adventurers ran as fast as they could through the labyrinth of traps, monsters, and more. As they spun around a corner, more inferno ghouls came at them. They quickly backtracked and went another way. As they charged down a certain corridor, the floor began to collapse in front of them. Hiro jumped over the collapsing stone and turned into a door--
--only to be flanked by a giant boulder.
They ran to an open exit, which white light flowed through. They dove through it once they got to it. The boulder, with a loud crash, got stuck in the entrance, while they lay sprawled on the sand of the desert.
"If it were up to me, I'd decide that we go on no more of these scavanger hunts, Hiro!" Ruby whined. He tended to one of her wings. "I think one of those inferno ghouls burned my wing..."
"Come on, Ruby, you know it's fun!" Hiro panted. "Anyway, let's get home. Grandpa would have a coronary if he knew how much danger we were in."