Exploring the Lost Temple [Episode]

Episode:

Boboddy Jim groaned in annoyance as he laid upon a raft, allowing it to drift. The annoyance was brought upon him by a flock of seagulls that flew above him. Their calls sounded close to a chorus of laughter and regularly, the giant enjoyed a good laugh and to hear laughter in the background, but not when he desired peace and quiet. He had recently encountered a small town on a small island. Though the amount of food he was able to purchase was a small amount for they could only provide so much, he was enjoying himself, but a fight breaking out had disturbed his meal. In his irritating, he had sent both brawling men flying to the edge of town, an action he had soon regretted.

To avoid conflict, the giant left town, but because the island was so small, it was easy to be pointed out by the locals, so he decided to sail out to sea using a the broken remains of a small ship he had found on the coast. Paddling with his large arms, Jim managed to get away from the island. He simply needed peace and quiet, at least for a day before he returned to the island where he will then take a scheduled boat off the island to travel to his next destination.

The sound of the water moving ever so slowly, the waves slowly rocking the raft was enough for Jim, but the seagulls above were a disturbance. But to his luck, it wouldn't be long before the damn birds were flying away, realizing the giant had no food on him... or so they thought. As soon as the birds were out of sight, Jim pulled out a piece of dried jerky, the size of a gangplank and took a bite out of it. "Finally some peace." Jim muttered in between chews. The blue sky cradled the blue of the sea off into the horizon, a mesmerizing sight to behold, the sight that drew the giant to the sea, a sight he would find difficulty in letting go of like a dedicated relationship.

Jim looked behind him, the sight of the island was distant, but still there. He kept track of the distance and the position of the sun. He intended to return before tomorrow morning, for he had scheduled passage on a large passenger ship that is scheduled to arrive at that time. He finished the piece of jerky and was going to lay upon his back but something caught his eye. A tall jutting rock had appeared in the distance ahead of him. At first he thought it was just that, a rock, but when close enough to spot trees, Jim thought it could be an island that bears fruit, and if it bore fruit, it may have animals, which means a potential meal for him. Jim began paddling faster towards the tiny island.

WC: 487

Eventually, Jim Boboddy had made his way to the rocky structure. At first it was difficult to navigate around; since it resembled a large stalagmite jutting itself from the surface of the water, it took the giant some time before finding a high ledge that ledge to vegetation from his point of view. Normally it would be impossible for your average drifter to reach such a high cliff ledge, but luckily for Jim, his height gave him an advantage. He reached up and just barely grasped onto the cliff ledge, then he climbed up and onto a patch of green.

Taking a look about, he witnessed grass, brush and trees that stretched far upon this platform of rock. After taking a single step, a flock of birds scattered and flew high above his head, decorating the sky as well as bringing his view to the top of the jutting rock formation of the island; like a miniature mountain that stretches possibly two or three hundred feet. On the outside of the rocky structure, it seemed like a irregular rock formation, but once upon the island, Jim could look up the inner side of it, which was flatter and covered with a massive amount of green vines that run high up the wall.

Jim wondered if it was possible to see the 'greener' side of this island from somewhere off at sea. He continued to walk through the foliage, looking about in awe of the scenery. After reaching the other side of the platform, where another cliff waited for him, he looked down and noticed he was on a higher elevation, possibly another forty or fifty feet, which to him isn't dangerous, save for the rocks at the bottom waiting for anyone crazy enough to jump.

Eventually Jim came to the conclusion that even though this island had an interesting beauty to itself, it didn't have any large animal in it's ecosystem that he could consider proper food, at least as far as he could see.

He suddenly stopped when he found himself within a thick cluster of trees. He was going to walk right through without notice, but something that caught his eye while he was in the middle of the passage. There was a darkness below him, an empty space where there should be large brush, as if it was possibly a path. Jim crouched so he could fit in this 'path' to inspect it. After a single step, he found what seems to be a cave opening. A second glance revealed to him that the formation of the mouth of the cave seemed man-made, which peaked his curiosity. And his curiosity got the best of him, so he decides to descend into said 'cave'.

WC: 456
TWC: 943