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Gaia

  Raioten woke up to the sunrise. As the light slowly dropped down, he began to stretch. Before the light reached Jugo's sleeping face, Raioten went to wake him up. Turning his head, Raioten caught sight of blood on a nearby patch of grass. Raioten became worried about Jugo and rushed to his side.

  Raioten: Hey Jugo! Are you alright? Wake up!

  Jugo: Aye Aye! 5 more minutes...

  Raioten: Thank goodness you're alright.

  Jugo: Hmm? Of course I'm fine. I took care of some monsters early in the morning while you were asleep. Can I go back to sleep?

  Raioten: No way! You said we had somewhere important to go.

  Jugo: But I don't wanna.

  Raioten: Ugh, I'll carry you if you want. Just tell me where we're going.

  Jugo: You're the best kiddo!

  Jugo happily hopped on Raioten's back and pointed out their path. Raioten jogged forward to the base of a massive mountain.

  Jugo: We need to get to the top!

  Raioten: No, I need to get to the top.

  Jugo: You can do it!

  Raioten kept up his speed as he ran towards the summit. Jugo was enjoying his relaxing time being carried while Raioten was getting a decent workout.

  Jugo: We need to get to the summit in less than thirty minutes.

  Raioten: . . .

  Raioten was able to get Jugo to the summit in time. At the top, Raioten looked around at the desolate peak.

  Raioten: Is this what you wanted to show me? This is kind of depressing.

  Jugo: We got here way too early! Now we wait.

  Raioten couldn't understand Jugo's point. They couldn't see the horizon due to the rocks and the inner section they were in was devoid of any life. Suddenly, Jugo sprang up from his seated position and ran towards an opening.

  Jugo: C'mon kiddo! Hurry! Hurry!

  Raioten followed behind Jugo with an intrigued mind. As he was pondering what Jugo was up to, Raioten was grabbed by his shirt. Jugo launched Raioten into the sky with his full strength.

  Raioten: WHHAAAA?!

  As Raioten began to descend, he landed on a soft plot of grass. He began to roll at an extremely fast pace until Jugo caught him.

  Jugo: *phew* We barely made it. Take a look.

  Raioten stood up and took a look around. The new area they were in was full of beautiful greenery. In the center was a stunning waterfall that was filling a lake. The lake had a few streams that branched off and flowed down off of the surface. Raioten couldn't believe how beautiful everything was out of nowhere.

  Raioten: What happened here. And why is it so windy now?

  Jugo: Turn around.

  When Raioten turned around, a small tear formed in his eye. Jugo had led him to one of the many floating islands that orbited the planet.

  Jugo: I did some research to find this place. It's the only Skyland that we could get to easily on foot. This one passes over that mountain a few times each day. Since it moves so fast, I didn't really have time to explain.

  Raioten: It's so beautiful.

  Jugo: I'm glad you like it. Take a good look Raioten, this is Gaia.

  Raioten stood still, just observing the entirety of the horizon before him.

  Jugo: Excuse me kiddo, can I see the WRITE I gave you?

  Raioten was too distracted by the stellar view before him to pay much attention to Jugo. He absent-mindedly handed Jugo the WRITE as his eyes scanned the horizon. Jugo set down the device with a cheeky grin. Walking back to Raioten mischievously, Jugo grabbed him and lifted him over his head.

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  Raioten: Wait! What are you doing?!

  Jugo: Swim time!

  Jugo tossed Raioten into the lake. Raioten hit the water with a massive splash before sinking like a rock. After a few seconds, Jugo hopped in after him. Not knowing that Raioten couldn't swim, Jugo rushed towards the bottom of the lake.

  Jugo very nearly laughed under the water when he saw Raioten. Raioten couldn't get back to the surface on his own, but his demeanor was far too calm for someone who was drowning. Jugo waved for Raioten's attention and began demonstrating how to move underwater. Raioten caught on fairly quickly given the circumstances.

  Once he got the hang of moving around, Raioten began swimming around while looking at the aquatic life and shiny rocks that lined the floor. Teaching Raioten how to swim made Jugo realize that he had never held his breath since being in the tower. The two stayed submerged for nearly half an hour while swimming around together. Once Jugo was ready to go, he swam on out.

  Jugo: Hey! Sun's not gonna be up forever you know. You'll catch a cold if you can't dry off!

  Raioten remained under the water for a few more minutes before getting out. When he got out of the water, he and Jugo got ready to leave.

  Jugo: I was afraid that I'd have to come down there to get you. We'll pass by that mountain in about an hour.

  Raioten: Cool, thanks for bringi- wait...

  Jugo: What's up?

  Raioten: This island is moving really freaking fast, how are we supposed to land? Won't that hurt?

  Jugo: You know, you're bringing up a lot of good points.

  Raioten: You didn't think of that!?

  Jugo: Nope! We'll be fine.

  Raioten waited nervously for their landing zone to come into view. As their window to jump closed in, Raioten tried to muster up the courage to take the leap. Just when it was time to jump, Raioten's doubt made him take a step back. He leaned back onto Jugo's hands.

  Jugo: No you don't!

  Jugo forcefully shoved Raioten forward and off of the Skyland. Raioten plummeted down and rolled on the rough terrain. As he got up, he was furious with Jugo. He turned to see Jugo jumping off of the Skyland, but completely missing the mountaintop.

  Raioten: No!!

  Raioten raced down the mountainside as quickly as he could. He blitzed his way down, searching for any sign of Jugo. When he finally caught sight of a massive crater, Raioten ran straight towards it. Inside the crater, Raioten found Jugo.

  Jugo: About time you got here, carry me back home please!

  Raioten: Ju- I thought you were dead!

  Jugo: What? No, of course not.

  Raioten: But how did you-

  Jugo: The same way you held your breath for over an hour.

  Raioten: There's no way it was that long. . . Right?

  Jugo: Yep! Living a normal life probably started to change how you see yourself. I could've tossed you off that Skyland three years ago and you would've been fine. Pissed, but fine.

  Raioten glanced at his hands and his mind was taken back to the past.

  Raioten: I guess I have been trying to forget everything that happened back then. Even all the ways I'm different because of it.

  Jugo: I don't think you should. I say hold on to what happened because that's what makes you who you are. All of your experiences being mashed together is what makes you special. Plus, you need to learn to live a little! Loosen up! And speaking of special, let me see that WRITE real quick.

  Raioten: If you throw me again-

  Jugo: Oh hush and hand it over.

  Jugo went through the files and found nothing. He immediately became upset.

  Jugo: What the heck kid? You're telling me you didn't take one picture that whole time?

  Raioten: No, I didn't. Is that a problem?

  Jugo: How could you?! This was supposed to be a special memory for you!

  Raioten: It was it was! I grabbed this from the bottom of the lake.

  Raioten removed a sparkling rainbow rock from his pocket. It's brilliant colors nearly put Jugo in a trance.

  Jugo: You grabbed a rock but didn't take a single picture?

  Raioten: I thought it looked cool. It's like something I can have with me to remember today. I think souvenirs are better than pictures.

  Jugo: Yeah yeah.

  Raioten: We can take a few pictures together if you want.

  Jugo was over the moon at Raioten's proposition. He made sure that the two of them took plenty of photos during their journey back home. Once they got back to the apartment, Raioten insisted that Jugo take his shower first.

  Resting as he cleaned himself, Jugo wondered what had Raioten so worked up. After getting clean, Jugo switched to a bath and decided to soak his tired joints.

  Jugo: I don't see how he's still standing. He carried me most of the way and I'm still exhausted.

  Enjoying his bath a bit too much, Jugo nearly fell asleep. He was able to stay awake because of a peculiar smell entering the bathroom. Jugo got a good stretch and hopped out of the tub to dry off. As he exited the bathroom, Raioten had just finished setting the table.

  Jugo: What is all of this?

  Raioten had made plates of food for them to enjoy together.

  Raioten: I wasn't able to make any of the sides you make, so we have plates full of entrées. I tried to use up all of the extra beef we had.

  Raioten made burgers, soft tacos, and beef Alfredo.

  Jugo: Ki- Raioten, this is wonderful, thank you.

  The two sat and enjoyed dinner together before heading off to bed.

  Early in the morning, Jugo went off to work. He worked in a massive warehouse moving around large shipments. Jugo had the strength to move the large crates by hand, but kept his might a secret and used a forklift. During his lunch break, Jugo went back to the apartment to eat the leftovers from the meal Raioten made.

  When he went to check on Raioten, he was nowhere to be found. In the fridge Jugo found a note.

  -Raioten- Hey Jugo, thank you for the trip we took, I had fun. I'm headed back to school today. PS: I took a burger and two tacos.

  Jugo smiled at Raioten's note. He was glad that Raioten felt well enough to head back to school. As Jugo ate his lunch, he spotted Raioten's WRITE on the living room coffee table. Jugo opened it up to see all of the pictures he took with Raioten.

  As he finished scrolling through them with a giant smile on his face, Jugo noticed a file on the home screen labeled, "Jugo Dossier".

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