~Chapter 3- The Masked One~

Weeks passed by on Platt Mountain. Aero and Corri watched as Jirro carried Ruben along the track. He was rushing to get back to beat Aero's time. They'd been competing to see who could finish the track the fastest.

Corri tried running the track with Ruben but struggled to carry the boulder child the entire way. She was strong, but Aero and Jirro were considerably stronger.

At the corner of his eye, Aero spotted a silhouette further up the mountain. It moved fast, as if it were floating through the air, before vanishing from sight. He stood and headed towards the figure.

"What're you doing?" Corri asked.

"I saw... something. I'll be right back," Aero jogged up the mountain after the figure.

Jirro came charging through while carrying Ruben. He set him down promptly but carefully, "What's my time!?"

Corri's face turned red, "Oh sorry, I lost track. I think you won though."

Jirro's face was stricken with disappointment, as if a victory had been stolen from him.

Ruben looked around, "Where's Aero?"

Aero jumped around the mountain slopes, careful of his footing. He didn't want to slip and fall, but he knew he saw someone up here. He climbed to a high point and saw the figure again.

It looked like a young boy, around Aero's age, wearing ragged clothing with a leather hood over him. He had his back turned to him and was standing at the edge of a large crag in the mountain, staring down into it. The boy turned and saw Aero.

He wore a hardened white mask concealing his face, all except for his green eyes. The featureless mask was a little unnerving to look at.

The Masked One stared at Aero for a moment before turning his attention back to the pit. It looked like he was going to jump.

"Don't do it!" Aero shouted.

The boy jumped, but instead of falling, he slowly floated down into the crag until he was out of sight. Aero rushed to the edge of the pit and looked down into it. It led at least ten meters down into a cave, and there was no sign of the Masked Boy. The earth beneath his feet felt loose; he would have to be careful.

"What're you doing?" Jirro's voice came from behind Aero. Both he, Corri, and Ruben had followed him here.

"I was following some kid," Aero answered.

"A kid?" Jirro questioned.

"Yeah, he was wearing some weird mask," Aero watched as they drew nearer to him. The earth beneath them began to shift as Ruben's weight walked across it.

The ground started to crumble under their combined weight, and the four fell into the crag.

Aero grabbed his sister to protect her, clutching at whatever he could as they fell. He managed to grip part of the crag's wall for a second before slipping and falling further. Aero flipped Corri above him, and he struck the ground, taking most of the brunt force of the fall rather than her.

Jirro managed to cling close enough to the walls of the pit to reduce the impact he took when he hit the bottom.

Ruben simply fell feet first, and its stone feet cracked as they hit the ground. Jirro, Aero, and Corri stood, not terribly hurt by the fall. Their quick thinking helped mitigate the damage they took. If they were normal children, such a fall might've seriously hurt them.

"Ruben! Your feet!" Corri shrieked as she saw the Densius child's fractured feet.

Ruben smiled, "I'm okay," Ruben pulled off both of its stone feet and cast them off, "Help me find some new ones."

The children scrambled around the cavern they had fallen into, looking for a rock that had the approximate shape of a foot. Jirro found a broad one that looked good enough. It was a darker grey than the rest of Ruben's body, but the Densius wasn't picky. Ruben held it against its leg until it merged with the rest of its rocky body.

"I feel bad for you Ralosians sometimes. If you lost a hand or a foot, you couldn't replace it like us Densius," Ruben hopped around on one foot until he found another suitable foot stone and merged it onto its body.

Jirro looked up through the hole they fell through. If he could get out and find their dads, they would get them out. He jumped at a wall and pushed off it towards the parallel one, trying to gain height. But it was no good. Jirro couldn't climb out of the crag.

The cave they fell into split off into several paths from where they were. They were probably in one of the many tunnels that ran through Platt Mountain.

"We need to look around for a way out," Jirro said.

Ruben pointed down the largest of the pathways, "Maybe start by going this way?"

Jirro shook his head, "Nah, it'd be faster if we split up. We can come back here in like... fifteen minutes to see what we all found."

Corri and Aero both nodded. The three started down separate paths, and Ruben seemed to become anxious. "Can I go with one of you?" The red-eyed Densius blurted out.

Aero and Jirro looked at the young Densius with surprised looks. Was Ruben scared?

Corri smiled, "You can come with me."

Ruben rushed to Corri's side with a bit of a stilted step, it wasn't accustomed to its new feet yet. Each of them headed down a separate path.

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Once they were alone, Corri asked with care, "Do you not like being alone?"

"No. Densius don't need to eat, sleep, or drink. Dimon said that we rely a lot on social interaction, and a lot of Densius are afraid of being alone," Ruben explains, "I'm the same way, I guess."

Corri was fond of Ruben. It could relax and take it easy, not as unruly as Aero or Jirro. They always had an excess of energy and craved to be active.

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Aero continued down his path. Beams of light streamed in through small cracks in the roof of the cave. There was a faint yellow light further down the path. He rushed through, believing he'd found an exit.

He turned the corner and found a dead end with a small yellow orb floating in the air. Aero circled the orb, trying to understand how it was floating, and took it into his palm.

Above him was another opening in the cave, but it was far too high for him to get out through. Maybe, if he grabbed Corri and Jirro, one of them could climb out.

Aero heard footsteps behind him. He turned, expecting one of them. But it was the Masked Boy he saw earlier. They stood eye to eye with one another, and they were equal in height and stature. They had to be the same age.

The boy looked curiously at him. "You're Aero, aren't you?"

"Yeah... how did you know that?"

The boy drew nearer to him, "What is that?" He looked at his hand.

Aero opened them up and revealed the peculiar yellow orb. "It's just some weird orb, no idea what it is."

The Masked One levitated into the air and circled Aero, his eyes fixated on the orb.

"How're you flying like that?"

The Masked One didn't answer. He reached out for the orb, "Give it to me."

Aero pulled his hands away from the boy, "Why?"

"Just give it!" The Masked One shouted. He delivered a kick to Aero's chest, knocking him into the walls of the cavern. He dropped the orb to the ground.

"Why'd you do that!?" Aero shouted.

"I'll need it more than you ever will!" The Masked Boy picked up the orb, tucked it into his pocket, and began to walk away.

Aero was angry. He didn't want that boy to get away with hitting him. Aero took a fighting stance, "Why don't you try that again when I'm ready for you!"

The Masked One paid him no mind, continuing to float through the cavern. Aero punched the air, and a red burst of light erupted from his fist. The Masked Boy noticed it just in time to dodge it.

He pointed a single finger, and a thin purple beam of light burst from his finger. It struck Aero in the shoulder, stinging terribly. The Masked One pointed the other finger, and another beam of light struck him in the shin, forcing him to his knees.

The Masked One flew directly at Aero. But instead of attacking, he flew out of the opening of the cave above, disappearing from sight.

Aero picked himself off the ground and looked out where the Masked Boy had escaped... What a strange kid! How did he know his name?