FSE

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"For the last time - no, you can't come with me. How many times are you going to ask?"

Jerrett frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"As many as it takes for you to give me a good reason, I suppose."

As the fox stood leaning on the open door, Jasmine took one last look at her bag and sighed impatiently. She was used to having to cope with Jerrett - the problem being, she still didn't feel like it most of the time.

"Why do you want to come anyway?" she asked, trying to go for a different approach. "It's not like I'm doing much, other than... you know, exploring."

"So why don't you let me come, then?"

Jasmine groaned and rubbed her forehead with one of her paws.

"Well, for starters, I'd rather working alone, thanks," she said. "But if you have any silly notions that I am refusing your help because I consider you a troublesome, noisy burden... then, yeah, you might actually be right for one."

Jerrett scoffed.

"You're trying to make me angry so that I'll stop asking, aren't you?"

"If that makes you go away, then by all means think that's what I'm doing, please."

Jasmine picked her bag and walked to the door. Jerrett, who was standing in the middle, did little to move aside.

"I promise not to be a troublesome, noisy burden," he insisted.

Jasmine's ears perked up and a smile crept across her face.

"That's a bit better. I'm still not sure I want to let you come with me."

Jerrett chuckled softly.

"I mean, you don't have to. I can just follow you from a safe distance and see where you're going."

"You wouldn't!" Jasmine exclaimed, mortified.

Unfortunately, she knew Jerrett very much would.

"Wanna bet?" the fox asked.

Jasmine thought about it for a few seconds. She'd been ready to make sure no one was following her, but being cautious would be much harder if she had Jerrett trailing her. Keeping track of one person was easy, but if someone else decided to follow her - or follow Jerrett - that could quickly become a problem.

"Alright," she agreed, letting out another frustrated groan. "You win. I'll let you come with me. But please, don't get us into trouble."

"Jump straight into trouble. Got it."

Sometimes, Jasmine didn't even know why she bothered with Jerrett. It was like hitting her head repeatedly on the same wall.

The fox, on the other hand, had never looked happier. Perhaps it was because he'd been forbidden from doing much as of late, but Jerrett seemed ready to go to the end of the world if that meant getting out of the same four walls. Jasmine couldn't blame him, but she found his enthusiasm slightly tiresome.

As they moved through the woods silently, the vixen thought she'd done the right thing by letting Jerrett follow her. Even though the fox was definitely stealthier than the average ranger, he was still much noisier than Jasmine was herself. He had probably gotten better, that much was true - but that didn't mean they'd go unnoticed if someone with good hearing was nearby. At least, Jasmine thought, having him by her side and not following behind her meant that she would be able to know if somebody was going after them.

She didn't have to worry about that for too long, though. They soon reached their destination - one she hadn't even told Jerrett about.

"What's this?" the male fox asked as she looked at the derelict structure in front of him.

"Isn't it obvious? A temple," the vixen replied.

"I thought you were simply going to explore the lands around the Garden."

Jasmine shrugged.

"This temple is part of the lands, I suppose."

"Do you think we've been followed?"

The vixen turned to Jerrett and smiled.

"Well. What do you think?"

Jerrett held her gaze, as if he was about to complain, but then he closed his mouth and seemed to think for a moment.

"I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary," he ended up saying. "Your hearing is much better than mine, though, so I assume if we've arrived here and you still haven't mentioned hearing anybody, it must mean we're alone."

"That's a fair assumption. Well done," Jasmine congratulated him. "If somebody was following, they must be stealthier than a breeze."

"So are you planning to explore the temple now?"

Jasmine turned to look at the building. It was too small to be a proper temple, the vixen knew that much. The last time she'd been close to the structure, she had come to the conclusion that the inner temple must be underneath, and probably way better-preserved than the dusty walls covered with ivy and moss that stood in front of them.

"I was, yeah." She glanced at Jerrett. "Now, listen. This temple is probably full of traps destined to make the life of any trespasser more miserable. Will you be able to stay out of trouble for once?"

One of Jerrett's ears twitched.

"You seem to think I like getting into trouble. This must be the third time you mention it today."

"Second time," Jasmine corrected. "And yes, you seem to find yourself in all kinds of tricky situations. It's only natural to assume you like it."

Jerrett muttered something.

"What was that?" the vixen asked.

"I won't step into any traps," Jerret promised, slightly annoyed. "Happy?"

"I'll be happy when we both step out of the temple with all our limbs intact," Jasmine conceded. "Alright then. Let's break in, shall we?"

Jerrett nodded.

They got closer to the walls of the temple and walked around the base, trying to find a way in. They came across two heavy stone doors, but Jasmine mentioned it was probably too dangerous to try to push them open. They ended up finding an opening at the back of the building and stepped in carefully. The dusty interior made Jerrett cough, which prompted an annoyed glance from Jasmine.

"It's darker than I thought," the fox whispered.

"What, are you afraid of the dark now?"

"I'm just saying we should have probably brought a torch."

No sooner had he spoken the last word than his eyes spotted a torch hanging from a wall nearby. His paw instinctively rose towards the object, but then froze.

"That has to be a trap," he reasoned.

"Well, obviously." Jasmine stepped closer and examined the suspicious torch. "Yup. I see a mechanism, hidden under the base of the torch. It's probably connected to something way less welcoming, waiting for us to pull."

"Like a lever?"

"Seems so."

"But this place is derelict," Jerrett mentioned. "Do you think those traps are still working?"

Jasmine chuckled.

"Well, the real question is, do you really want to find out?"

"I guess you're right."

The vixen felt the wall with one paw and frowned. Then, she moved her fingers, tracing something towards the opening they'd left at their back.

"Okay, I think I know what it does," she said after a few seconds. "You see that opening there? If I were to ask you, you'd say the wall naturally collapsed and that's how we got in, right?"

"Right."

"I don't think so. There seems to be a cable heading in that direction. I assume if we had pulled the torch, then the wall would have collapsed on itself, preventing us from getting out."

"So the opening isn't natural?" Jerrett asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Precisely. They did a good job concealing their work, though. Whoever did this must have been very keen on keeping visitors locked inside their temple..."

Jasmine seemed to get lost in her own thoughts again. Jerrett waited patiently until he couldn't stand it any longer.

"So how did you come across this place? I struggle to believe you simply found it during one of your strolls."

"Wouldn't that be a convenient lie?" Jasmine replied, smiling. She opened her bag and looked for something inside. "Here. A torch. A proper one that works with batteries."

"Doesn't that take the charm out of this expedition?"

"It also takes the fire hazard out of it, so I'll be fine."

Both foxes walked through the dark corridor, the blue-ish lights from their torches hitting the walls and revealing hundreds of dormant little insects. Jerrett wondered if Jasmine had told anybody they'd be exploring that place or if she'd decided to keep it a secret. If something happened and they ended up trapped in that temple, nobody would come looking for them. He tried to get rid of that anxiety-inducing thought and focused on the ground at his feet, just in case there were more traps hidden nearby.

The light of his torch revealed something at the other end of the corridor.

"There's a statue over there," he announced.

Jasmine's torch pointed in the same direction and she whistled.

"Gosh, you're right. And one of those creepy, real-size ones."

They approached the statue, examining it from every angle. Jerrett chuckled softly and glanced at the vixen, who seemed too worried about the sculpture's face to pay any attention to him.

"Jasmine, you're not scared of statues, are you?" he teased.

She shrugged in response.

"Not usually. But this one's awfully detailed." She knocked the statue's head with a fist. Its surface was clean and smooth. "See? All wood. Just like you!"

"Ha, ha."

It didn't take them long to locate a staircase behind the statue. It seemed to lead down into the depths of the temple, just like Jasmine had assumed. As both foxes descended down the staircase, the interior seemed to become much darker and dusty all of a sudden. A heavy smell of dry dirt filled Jerrett's nostrils as he carefully followed Jasmine's steps.

"There are more statues over there," the vixen pointed out. "I wonder what they're guarding."

"So you think there's something of value here?" Jerrett asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jasmine chuckled.

"Jerrett, sweetheart. If I didn't think there's something valuable here, then why would I have us avoiding traps, getting into derelict temples in the middle of the forest?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"I don't know what it is," Jasmine admitted, "but it must be pretty important if such a big temple was built around it."

"What if the temple was built to keep the statues inside?" Jerrett theorized.

Jasmine shook her head.

"I don't think so. You see, they're wood. That's not... well, valuable at all. Be careful now, there's a hidden trap just ahead. Make sure not to step on that tile."

Jerrett nodded, but his thoughts kept coming back to the statues. There was something that they were missing, he was sure, but he couldn't really put his finger on what it was exactly.

"There's something weird about these statues," he ended up saying.

"If you say so," Jasmine said. "They all look like normal statues to me, although someone must have spent a long time carving them out of tree trunks or something."

"They're all different species, too," Jerrett mentioned. "The one over there is an eagle. And this one, the one closest to us - I think that's a leopard?"

"Could be, yeah." Jasmine scratched the back of her head. "Maybe this temple was part of some weird cult or something."

"A cult?"

"Yeah, you know. Seeing that all the statues are different species, I thought - maybe they're trying to make a point. That whatever they're warning us against applies to all species, no matter what?"

"Spooky."

"Yeah. I'm starting to like the idea of having you around," Jasmine conceded. "Not the best place to wander on my own. Plus, if there's a curse going around perhaps it'll choose you and leave me alone."

"That's more like the Jasmine I know."

A few meters ahead, the corridor forked and Jasmine stopped in her tracks, considering their options. The light of her torch danced on the walls as she tried to decide which path would be safer to follow.

"That option seems to be swarming with statues," Jasmine said as she pointed at the path that went left. Then she pointed her torched to the right. "That one, however, is more likely to be full of traps. Which probably means it leads to whatever they're hiding down here."

"How can you be so sure?"

Jasmine shrugged.

"Someone's placed statues all over the temple. We can assume they don't want them destroyed, right? If there's statues in one corridor, we can assume it's relatively safe. And if it's relatively safe, we can assume it doesn't lead to the inner sanctum."

"That's a hell of a list of assumptions, but I think the reasoning's good."

Jasmine scoffed.

"Maybe. So that's why we're going to do things this way - you're going to stay _here_while I explore the rest of the temple. Understood?"

"What? I've come this far. Why don't you let me go with you?" Jerrett asked, annoyed.

"Listen. If there's traps in that corridor, one person has a lower chance to trigger them than two. Plus, I told you - I don't want you ruining my expedition."

Jerrett crossed his arms on his chest and muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" Jasmine asked.

"I suppose you're right," the fox ended up saying. "Just don't keep me waiting for long."

"Hah. I prefer not to rush, honestly. One doesn't imagine her last expedition coming to an end because the rookie she was exploring with began feeling impatient."

"Rookie?" Jerrett repeated, eyes squinting.

"Oh, come on. I'll be right back," Jasmine promised, as she started walking down the seemingly empty corridor. "Be a good boy and wait for me here."

Begrudgingly, Jerrett let out a sigh and nodded. It wasn't long before she disappeared around a corner.

Waiting there in the dark, the fox took a time to consider the reasons why Jasmine had always treated him like a child. Whenever she was about to do something, she'd always insist on having him watch from a distance, lest he intervened somehow and ruined her efforts to succeed. At least children were treated with some respect, Jerrett thought. Jasmine seemed to enjoy demeaning him.

One of his ears twitched. He could have sworn Jasmine had said something in the distance.

"What?" he asked, raising his voice.

"Sorry?" Jasmine's voice came from the deep. She had disappeared a few minutes ago, but she seemed to be close enough. Perhaps it was simply how echo worked in those chambers.

"I thought you'd said something!" the fox clarified.

Jerrett could perfectly hear the way Jasmine snorted.

He waited patiently, trying not to overthink the fact that he was standing in a temple underneath the surface, full of traps - and that the only person nearby who could help him seemed to consider more of a human shield than actual company.

And then he heard the whisper again.

"Jasmine?" Jerrett asked.

This time he got no answer. Either the vixen had walked too deep into the temple and couldn't hear him or she had decided not to grant him with a response.

He could still hear soft words being spoken in the distance, though. Slowly turning, Jerrett tried to find the source of the sound until he stood facing the corridor full of statues. A frightening idea went through his mind as he imagined the statues suddenly coming to life, whispering awful threats and extending their wooden fingers towards him. Fortunately, that scenario seemed to be possible only in his imagination. The statues remained as motionless as they had been when they had arrived at the temple.

Jerrett decided it wouldn't hurt to take a look. Jasmine had said the corridor with the statues would probably not have many traps on it, so she didn't have any good reasons to complain in case he decided to go exploring on his own.

He started walking down the corridor, glancing nervously at the statues. They had been placed on both sides of the corridor, facing each other, although most of the time their gazes didn't meet. Just like the species, their poses seemed to vary highly from statue to statue. Some of them seemed to be smiling, others seemed to be screaming. One of them was sitting on the ground. What had the sculptor had in mind when he'd done that one?

As he progressed through the corridor, the whispers seemed to intensify. Jerrett tried to make out the words that being spoken, and the first one he managed to understand sent a shiver down his spine.

«Become...»

By then, he was already halfway down the hall. The statues were neatly positioned even if their distribution seemed to be slightly chaotic, in the sense that those that were seating weren't placed near those that were standing. There didn't seem to be any thematic link between them, other than they were, well, statues made out of wood.

«Stand...»

Just as that word made its way to his mind, the light of Jerrett's torch hit a dead end. It seemed the corridor ended a few meters ahead, much to the fox's dismay. Now that he was actually enjoying the exploration, it seemed he wouldn't be able to progress any further. He wondered if he should go back.

And then he lowered the torch and noticed there was a pedestal right where the corridor ended.

«Become...»

There were more words being said, that for sure, but Jerrett felt like the more he tried to think about them, the blurrier they seem to get in his mind. He had already gotten to the end of the corridor by then. The whispers were a lot more audible now, like a dozen different voices trying to chant their secrets to him. Perhaps that was the key to the temple's treasure, Jerrett thought. Perhaps he'd found something that had gone unnoticed for Jasmine.

«Stand...»

And what would her face be if he told him he'd found something she hadn't? That he had succeeded where she had failed? Jerrett could only imagine that, but it filled him with satisfaction. A dumb smile crept across his face as he approached the pedestal and placed a paw on its smooth, dusty surface. Given the circumstances, it seemed weirdly... new.

«Become...»

Of course, there might still be traps nearby, right? Jerrett knew that much. He felt the pedestal with his paws, trying to make sure it wasn't part of some kind of hidden mechanism. The stone seemed solid, at least for now. He pushed with some of his weight, and the pedestal remained there, unmoving. Yes, it was firm. Motionless.

Welcoming.

«Stand...»

He looked back to the other end of the corridor, the one he came from. All the statues were neatly lined up until they reached that point, their smooth surface reflecting the light beaming from his torch. What was the secret behind them? Perhaps he had to see all of them at the same time, and then something would happen? He could feel something psychic going on, that for sure, but he had no idea what it was.

Perhaps all he needed to do was to become ? figuratively speaking, of course - one of them just to find the right way to go deeper into the temple.

He stepped onto the pedestal and tried to stand up on it. By then, the whispers were so intense they seemed to mingle with his own thoughts. Jerrett tilted his head, slightly confused at that. Perhaps that was the point where the psychic energies emanating from those statues converged. He could feel it swirling in his head.

What had he been doing before he stepped onto the pedestal? Why had he done that for? It felt like that had happened ages ago.

Jerrett's head remained tilted to one side, puzzled expression on his face, as he watched the other statues without really seeing them, letting all those whispers fill his mind with words and promises and commands and realities. And then, he remained there for a bit longer.

And then, a while longer.

And then, when those whispers became so noisy that they began feeling a lot like perfect, irresistible silence...

... he just stopped caring about it.

Jasmine groaned as she finally made it to the end of her corridor.

There was nothing there! Not even an old-fashioned crate or chest filled with traditional treasure. No magic artifact she could claim as her own. It was pretty disappointing, really.

The vixen stretched, trying to get rid of the tension that made her body numb. Walking down that corridor had been a more demanding exercise that she had initially thought. It was a good thing that she'd left Jerrett behind, or the fox would have slowed her down. He had good intuition sometimes, but he was definitely clumsier than her. And noisier, too.

Her gaze fell on another wooden statue. This one seemed different than the others, for some reason. It took her a few seconds to understand why, but when it did, it was as if light had been shone on her mind. Moss covered the uneven features, time being more evident on its surface than it had been on the other statues. And the carving seemed more imprecise, stylized, like it should be. As if it had been made by actual hands instead of...

Jasmine gasped. Of course! That was what was odd about all those statues. In a temple so old and derelict, they were the only thing that actually felt new!

They must have been brought to the temple not so long ago. Or perhaps... converted.

Jasmine felt a shiver go down her spine, his eyes fixed on the only actually carved wooden statue on the temple. She had mentioned they were too detailed, hadn't she? God, I've never liked statues, she thought.

She looked back to the corridor he'd left behind, considering going back to warn Jerrett. Hopefully, the fox would still be there, waiting for her to return. It would take some time, taking into account the excessive number of traps she'd had to avoid while going down that otherwise empty corridor. She sighed.

Oh well, the vixen thought. I really hope he hasn't got us into any trouble... Now I really want to go home.