Treasure Hunting

A/N: A little ficlet about treasure hunting I came up with for my creative writing class. I liked it so I thought I'd spread the love.

Thump.

"Ow, ow, ow! Godsdammit!" He clutched the back of his head tightly, hoping to high heavens he wasn't bleeding. He had a bath that morning for the first time in four days, so he didn't want to get his finally clean hair dirty again so quickly.

Locke looked back at the tree branch that he pushed out of the way a few seconds ago, that just smacked his skull. It acted all innocent, gently waving its leaves in the slow breeze. His shorter companion laughed into her hand, trying to muffle herself, though in vain.

"You could have just ducked ya know?" She said, calming down, face still blushing a little because she always blushes when she laughs.

"Yeah, yeah Terra. Not everybody's a midget like you."

"That was uncalled for! Meanie!" The mint haired girl huffed, stomping ahead through the undergrowth, her curls bouncing cutely.

"Aw, come back. You know I was just kidding!" Locke called after her, trying to catch up. He had been noticing all day how even though she was kinda clumsy, she was pretty nimble in forests. Must be the Esper in her, if that makes any sense.

"Let's just find your stupid cave, then I'm going back to Kohlingen." She snapped, her cerulean eyes glowing brighter than normal, taking on the look of fairy spring water with a bit of algae floating deep within the pool.

The thief led on through the forest, thinking that he should definitely watch his mouth today. Terra had been in a foul mood all day ever since his lech best friend King Edgar hit on her in the most embarrassing of ways. He told the thief that he merely forgot she was alone in their room in the Inn. That he just thought he could take advantage of the situation and ask the lady to go to dinner with him later that evening. The detail the king strategically left out was that he had just returned from his bath, and was naked except for a towel around his waist, not leaving much to the imagination.

Of course she got red faced, took on that dewy eyed look, and kept squeaking "No," at his advances. Edgar thought the girl was just being her usual shy self when in reality she hadn't been around men who liked to sleep in their boxers, let alone walk around with only towels in over a year, so of course she would act like that. A half naked Edgar was furthest from her mind when she was tending her children. The fall of Kefka makes a girl forget things like that ya know?

But of course the king thought she thought of him frequently, despite the kids.

Locke pondered all of this, loosing track of his place on the map, so when he returned to the present he found that he didn't recognize the area they were in now. According to his watch, they should have found the vine covered cave by now, but it looked like they passed it up entirely.

"Hey Terra?" He asked, folding his map up, and tucking in into his pants.

"Yeah?" She said, glancing back at him with calmer eyes than before.

"By any chance, do you know where we are?"

"Uh no. I haven't explored around here before much," Terra replied before leaning down to whisper something to a flower off the path. It was purple and had long, curling, healthy looking leaves, and seemed to let more of its scent loose after she finished whispering, as if it were happier.

"Well I kinda lost track of where we are exactly," Locke started scratching the back of his neck.

The mint haired girl straightened up slowly, and thought about that sentiment for a moment before just turning back to the path. He took two long legged steps before he caught up, and asked what she thought they should do.

"It looks like we continue looking for your cave since we made it out this far."

The thief's eye twitched a little, not expecting that answer at all. He expected her to be totally ticked off at him, but no. She seemed fine with it.

"What the hell..." He said to himself.

"Mmm?" She inquired, face complacent.

"Nothing."

Locke kept walking along the beaten path of dirt and grasses, thinking about how quickly a woman's mood can change, especially after the end of the world. His dear friend had gone from being a confused little girl who knew nothing of emotions to a slightly feisty woman who was still very gentle with those she loved. Basically, she's grown so much in over a year. They went along at a comfortable pace, her stopping here and there to whisper something kind to a flower, or to the grass, or to a tree. He decided to enjoy the fresh air of the ever spring/summer season of the Kohlingen area. The trees rustled with the wind, scattering pollen particles into the streaming down sunlight, giving the forest a magical glow. It made everything seem to pulse and throb with life, invigorating.

This was a good time and place for Terra to have her little holiday, or rather, vacation from Mobliz. She hated having to leave her children, especially Joanie who had started tying her shoes and had stopped sucking her thumb. But she had agreed that she needed time away from all of that for awhile, to visit with all her friends. Said lady was just now lifting her skirt so it wouldn't snag on a thorn bush. It was still odd to see Terra wearing a knee length skirt, but it worked for her.

The mint haired woman looked up and met Locke's gaze, and smiled. She took another step and suddenly the ground broke out from underneath her.

"AHHHH!" She disappeared with a cloud of dust and a thud sound. The thief stood frozen in pace for a few seconds, mind reeling at what had just happened, then he rushed over to the hole.

"Terra!" He shouted down, then listened for any signs of life. A string of curses sounded from the hole, some really creative ones too, but now was not the time to compliment the creativity and innovation of obscenities.

"Don't worry! I'll be down in a sec!" And started tying a rope to a nearby tree before hopping down the hole himself.

Light came down from the opening, but the cave was still dark and Locke had to squint to see anything beyond the treasure chest on the-

"HEY! Terra you found it!"

Terra was on her bottom, rubbing the back of her thighs wanting to ease the pain of the fall.

"Ouch...great." She said, reaching up to grab his pack to get a tonic out.

Locke, who landed like a cat on his feet, was huddled over a little box made of wood with a padlock keeping it shut. He started pulling out pins and various tools for picking locks as Terra drank the light green fluid slowly, feeling the effects ripple through her. One thing she really missed about her magic was not being able to cure herself when the need arose, but at least her hair remained that mint green color. Even though people stared, she liked it. It was different, and it reminded her of her heritage. Locke and Edgar told her the day before that her eyes still seemed to glow, despite the lack of magical power. It must be the lighting...

Click...

Her thief friend had the lock picked, and the rusty thing was then tossed across the cave.

"What's in it?" She asked, standing with a little shaking in her legs from the tonic.

"I'm about to find out." He replied, giddy as a school boy.

Terra leaned over his shoulder to look too. He opened the box slowly, and his face fell when he saw the contents.

"EMPTY?" What the hell man! Who does that? Putting a lock on an empty box! We came all the way out here for this? I lost all my cookie crumbs over this and everything!" Locke carried on, face turning pink with anger, and waving his hands around as he ranted.

Terra went a little ways away and started giggling. Even though there wasn't a treasure, she still loved going out treasure hunting with her friends.

This was a lot of fun to write. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Should I continue? Let me know!