On The Trail We Blaze

Chapter 5 - The Handsome Thief And El Dorado

(A/N: Wow! I have never written this many words before. New winner of longest chapter that I've written. I have a feeling it may not be topped. Just...wow.)

...

All of them tumbled down the steep rock face, landing with little grace or any sort of cushioning before smacking into a tall stone structure, with tiny Bibo rolling past them.

Tulio managed to sit up, looking over worriedly when he noticed that Miguel was practically out cold while (Y/N) held her arm with a painful hiss. He wanted to see if she was not severely injured when the map drifted down from where they had once been standing and landed unceremoniously on his face.

With a sigh, he removed the map and looked over it before looking up towards the stone structure. It was just a giant stone block, depicting a woman on her knees and seemingly praising two other figures who floated in the sky, riding atop some kind of mythical creature.

According to the map, this was the last symbol, the last marker. But, as Tulio stood, glancing behind each side of it, he was more than annoyed when he all he saw was fog and nothing else.

"What's wrong?" (Y/N) asked as she also stood up, wondering why his expression suddenly changed to a scowl.

He turned to her and only replied with, "Are you all right?"

"I bumped my arm but I'm okay."

He nodded before kneeling next to Miguel, shaking the blond man from his unconscious state as he prodded, "Miguel. Miguel, wake up."

He slightly lifted his head, somewhat dazed and a little confused, but he too seemed unharmed. (Y/N) helped Altivo up, making sure to be gentle with the stallion but he didn't seem to struggle when rising either.

Tulio, with a sarcastic smile, stated to his friends, "Guys, we're there."

This immediately had Miguel alert and wide awake, gazing up at his friend as he asked, "We found it?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Really?" (Y/N) questioned.

"Yeah, we found it."

Miguel jumped to his feet, his excitement barely contained as he looked around, wondering where the beautiful city of gold was. (Y/N) glanced around too as she climbed onto Altivo, maybe hoping to get a better view, though something didn't feel right. Tulio was, after all, awfully calm for someone who had just found a city made entirely out of gold.

"Oh, fantastic! Where is it? How far?" Miguel questioned as he wildly looked around for any sight of the glorious city.

"Right here." Tulio answered.

"Where?!"

"Here." He stated, motioning towards the stone structure in front of them.

"Behind the rock?"

Though Miguel excitedly glanced behind it, (Y/N) gazed up at it in confusion before her gaze slowly drifted towards Tulio. Was this a joke? Had he hit his head on the way down?

In a rather calm manner he revealed, "No, no. This is it."

Miguel stared at his friend in confusion before glancing at the stone structure. He did this a couple of times, causing (Y/N) to grow concerned before he ripped the map out of Tulio's grasp.

"Give me that!"

"Tulio, what is going on?" (Y/N) asked, sending a small glare towards the rather smug looking man.

"Apparently, " He began as he shoved the map away from Miguel's focused gaze and stated, "'El Dorado' is native for 'great, big rock'!"

As his harsh words echoed through the foggy clearing, it was made obvious that he was royally enraged. Neither could really blame him, as this essentially meant they had traversed an entire jungle and all sorts of other challenges, just to be rewarded with a giant rock.