The Legends Of Chima: Journey to the Lands Below

Chapter 4-Laval

When I had first woken up it was around 7AM, when I actually got to the market district the sun was starting to go down, how long have I spent in there, who were those statues of, who made those marble rooms, what the hell did I see on Cavora? I'm filled with questions and I don't think anyone can answer them, I'm tempted to just run back in there but that would only make things worse. I should find my friends, they were the only people besides me up there, they probably won't know anything more than me but it couldn't hurt.

In the center of the market was Razar and his goons, I tried to get close but there were at least a hundred people all huddled close around. He might not be the best "merchant" but if he's managed to draw crowds this big he must know something. I'll wait for the line to die down then I'll talk.

I found Cragger but he was to busy swimming. Since when did we have a pool? Lions hate water. Worriz was nowhere to be found but I didn't mind, we never were on the best of terms so I doubt he'd say anything.

Only lead I have left is Gorzan. He wasn't hard to find due to the scent of perfume and flowers also their stand stuck out like a sore thumb considering it's a giant flower.

I went inside the tent under the flower but he wasn't there. His grandpa, grumlo, was there though .

"Oh who's this? Skinnet we have a customer!" He called out in the tent

"Oh, I'm not a customer, I'm actually looking for Gorzan. I have to ask him something." I told hi

"We'll why not ask me? I've been on Chima longer than anyone else, I probably have a few answers." He replied.

"Hopefully. Well, when I went into Mt Cavora to, ya know, save Chima I woke up on top of it and I saw something. Beyond the outlands, like there were civilization below us." I told him.

"Oh you mean Chima? Yeah, there's tons of people down there. Well last I checked." He said casually.

I looked at him in bewilderment
"Wait you've actually been down there!"

"Yeah, I used to live down there too, til your pa had us all move up here to keep us safe." Once again, he said it like it was nothing.

"My dad used to live down there? How many of us moved here!? And why?!" I asked frantically. I was at a loss for words. I had so many questions but I couldn't ask any of them.

"Yeah, I did, your dad, lavertus, longtooth, most of the eagles, wakz, most of the other older people too. It's a big secret though cus your dad doesn't want any young people to find out and go down there, Says it's dangerous." He explained.

"What kind of dangerous? How does no one know about this?" I asked.

"Look kid, I can't really say and my memory doesn't serve me well, but I told Skinnit a bunch about down there awhile ago. If you meet him in the outlands later tonight he could tell ya more but that's all I got." He instructed me.

"Alright, and thank you. I'll meet him then." I said and walked off.

I left the tent feeling Like I had some bit of knowledge. But as my brain got fuller, my stomach got emptier, I felt like I haven't eaten in days.

I wandered the aisles of stands looking for something that would actually fill me up but couldn't find much for my more carnivorous diet. As much as I enjoyed the sweets the ravens made, I wasn't in the mood. The gorillas had some pretty good looking fruit, but they never fill me up. The eagles were selling bread and small potatoes, though neither looked fit for consumption. The crocs had some fish and that held me over for awhile, until I saw what the rhinos had; steak. Well the marketed it as steak but from the layers of chitin plates off to the side it was clear it was leftover bug meat from when they tried to siege the temple. I was wary about eating bug for the first time but the way it was grilled, seasoned, and paired with mashed potatoes and some kind of fruit made it look like it was prepared by master chefs, even if their favorite past time was breaking rocks.

I got in line behind a croc and accidentally stepped on his tail.

"Hey!" He turned around and exclaimed. My eyes met his and I immediately recognized him.

"Cragger?"

"*gasp* Laval!" He came in for a hug. "Where have you been, I was starting to get worried something happened!" He said while embracing me.

"Nope, I've been fine the whole time, just got a little lost finding my way down here, been awhile since I've taken the stairs" I explained.

He let go of the embrace he had me in. "How'd you get lost for over 12 hours!? Lion temple isn't that big."

"We'll curiosity got the better of me and I found this big fancy room that looked like no one's been in it for centuries and I kinda lost track of time. I'll explain the whole thing later, let's eat first, I'm starving." I told him.

When we got our food the sun had already set and the market was lit by torches and candles, made my dinner with Cragger a bit awkward since the lighting made it feel more like a date, not that I minded.

"So Laval, what we're you saying about that room you got lost in." Cragger said in between bites.

"Oh right! Well it was behind this cage for some reason, not like it did much because the key was right below it. Anyways when I got it the door to it was all decayed and rotted but the doorknob had this symbol that kinda looks like the lion insignia, but different."
I had stopped to take a bite and cragger took that opportunity to get a word in.

"I've seen old crumbling fort walls in the swamps with a different lion symbol. I don't know if it's like the one you're talking about but it was like, all angular and straight, not all curved like the ones on the temple here."
I finished chewing and he had just took a bite, it was like we developed a rhythm. He showed while I talked and vice versa, we went on awhile like that.

"Yeah it was kinda like that! I'd show you but my dad found me in there and kicked me out, he probably has guards posted there now. Anyways back to that room..."

I went on to describe it to him telling all that I knew about the room. Eventually we finished our meals and I fully raked about it, but we continued to talk. Time flew by and it was midnight before we even knew it.

"Oh Cragger by the way, did you see anything when we were on Cavora? Like land beneath Chima?" I asked him in a hushed tone

"Uhh yeah, why?" He replied.

"Well I'm going to meet Skinnet in the outlands in a bit so do you want to come with and get some more answers about what's down there?"

"Yeah sure, it'll give us more time to catch up on our way there." He said.

"I'd ask Eris if she wanted to come along but she'd rather tell La'Gravis. Besides, there's something... personal I wanted to talk about." I replied.

"Alright, fine by me."

"Well let's get going, don't want to keep him waiting around all night." I said as we walked towards the speedorz