I stood against the wall of lighthall, fingering the intricate wooden charm around my neck. I slowly recited the coding, watching Smalls’ face tighten in concentration.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Nothing.” Smalls said, face relaxing into an exasperated look. “Try repeating it slowly.”

“side, no key, rubble, cave-in, starsword.” I read. “Fay and flint, book, lantern. Dragon, cave, green ember.” I read.

“Nothing!” Smalls exclaimed, pulling hard on his ears.

“It’s all gibberish.” I said, frowning. “Except one sentence.”

“What?” Smalls asked, bounding to my side, dropping the piece of red glass he was holding. It shattered on the floor.

“Write to Spacy Clean.” I read.

“Sounds like what Winslow used to say whenever I spilled something.” Smalls frowned, kicking over a basket of glass shards into a bucket.

I was frustrated too, but I had better things to do than to harm innocent bucketry.

“Spacy Clean.” I said, racking my brains. “As in Stacy Cean from Mother Saramack’s group.”

“If that’s true, how are we supposed to write to her?” Smalls asked, kicking the broken bucket once more.

“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.” With that I gathered my satchel, stored the wooden crest inside, and bolted from lighthall, squinting through my injured eye.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

An hour later……

I left the kings gardens and went straight down to the bottommost tunnels., walking aimlessly down the hall. The torches cast a dim light on the hall, almost eerily. Few had ventured this deep into Cloud Mountain before, but here I was, one eye in perfect condition and a thousand doubts plaguing my mind.

Had Bastiile been lying when she said something was down here? Was it a clue to the origen of Cloud Mountain? I grabbed the last torch, using it to light the path ahead of me. The brackets in the walls stopped having lights, then stopped appearing.

It felt like I was going back in time. The walls were heavy stone, and some contained crude scribbling. The floor was gravel, though some places had worn out and were dirt. A wooden plank lay across the floor, rotting.

I carefully attempted to leap over the plank. I tripped halfway across, landing on the old plank. I rubbed my nose.

“It’s alright Fleck.” I said, to myself.

“Just step lightly and carefully- Gak!” I yelled. Flailing my arms and legs as the plank fell apart and threw me below the floor.

I landed in a heap of rubble. Sighing, I rubbed my forehead in contemplation. As I was about to stand, the floor gave way once more.

I fell through layers of dirt, smashed through thick gravel all while shouting ‘gak’. But just as I was hitting the k, I landed on something hard, wooden, and solid.

The wood gave way and I found myself in a box. A box filled with maps, books, and singed papers, all of which I couldn’t make out.

“Ouch.” I said, rubbing a free bleeding wound on my head.

“Noosay alilk fengere nog?” I heard. I quickly sat, papers and books falling off my head and onto the floor.

“What?” I asked.

“Who are you?” An intimidating voice asked.

“Fleck Cove.” I said, eyeing all around me while keeping cool.

“Cove? Brindle Cove?” It asked.

“N-no sir.” I stammered.

“Ah, the ancestor of him, no doubt.”

“Adopted, sir.” Again, I stuttered.

“Hmm. Of course.” The voice stated. I heard the movements of others as the place began to fill with rabbits.

“S-Spacy Clean?” I asked.

“No. But others have lived her legacy.” The cavern filled with bright light as the caves under Cloud Mountain filled with unexplicable light. I saw faces of many bucks and does.

“Her legacy?” I asked, clutching my satchel.

“Aye. Her legacy.”

sorry for the length.

anyway, the bucket part and 'gak' are from Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, what i've been reading, so i just happened to write this... who knows, things might take a crazy turn and we'll all find out about Cloud Mountain.... any feedback is welcome!

and i was inspired by an old plank at my nanas, my mom and them looked under it a hundred times but this summer i'm going to see whats down there... ah well...

-Fleck