A heavyset land-rover crashed through the undergrowth. Large insects flitted in front of the screen, a few of the unluckier ones getting smeared across the glass by the huge wipers that were pumping away to keep the screen clear of the heavy, tropical rain. Large droplets spattering the dark, cracked orange stone statues that crawled up along the side of the mountain. 

The driver swore under her breath as the front axel groaned under the weight of the large robot currently residing on their roof as well as the three other people who were all grasping the roof grips, trying not to slide off of the fake-leather seats and out of the windows. The front passenger, a petite chipmunk, nervously fiddled with a nut and bolt. Her small dextrous hands playing over the sharp edges of the screw, counting every twist. The driver's thick, purple, serpentine tail gripped her headrest and the metal began to buckle as her swearing became louder and more profuse until the front axel of the car tore itself in half and the vehicle rolled to a stop in a small, flat clearing. The metal holding in the front right tire was sheared and torn and the crew watched the tire roll and fall down the side of the mountain, crashing through bushes and plants, coming to rest against one of the small orange statues. 

The rain clouds cleared as they stepped out of the beleaguered vehicle, a small bird shot from underneath some foliage crawling across the mountain face. It's leavings spattering across the tan brown leather of the snake-woman's boots. Her large tail snapping out, catching the bird square between the wings and flicking it away, already dead, into the bushes. She scowled and glanced away as Ephemet, a slightly shorter, bovine girl stared darkly towards her. A few awkward seconds passed until Gomon, the tallest and Cassandra, the smallest, clambered out of the now collapsing remains of their car. Mere seconds after, it finally collapsed as a large humanoid robot unfolded off of the roof and planted its large digitigrade feet in the soft loamy soil. LEDs playing across its body slowly flashed on and off, beginning the start up sequence of their Free Roaming Ethical Defence robot.

Their motley crew now assembled, their apparent leader stood at the centre of the group. A tall, purple scaled viper with a medium bust, slender, scarred arms wearing only a pair of combat-shorts and a tight, sleeveless t-shirt. Her hands played across the small, hooked dagger belted to her waist. Her nails playing across the deep crimson and pure cream snake scales that formed the sheathe for her knife.

"OK. Where in the nine hells are we Em?" she addressed the smaller but thicker set bovine girl, who's tail uncontrollably flicked at the flies and beetles crawling over her boots.

"Well...I'm not entirely sure where we are right now...we were at this clearing about an hour ago..." Emephet replied, after unknotting a cord tied around a small grey map that had been tucked into a canister on her belt.  The wax coating across the back of the map was cracking and peeling away to reveal the soft grey parchment underneath, the map itself would far outlive the wax but a mindful father had sealed as much of the map as possible to save it from the destructive force of small, sticky, dirty children. The cow-girls fingers lovingly traced the thick, olive-green lines painstakingly drawn in. The ink was produced by Solomonian scribes, known for its high cost, almost lifelike and nigh on indestructible qualities, its worth outclassing the cost of the expedition itself.

All of them jumped as the deep, booming robotic voice of their F.R.E.D shook through the clearing:

"PRIMARY FUNCTIONS ACTIVE, CASSIE!! HELLO!!!". The eight foot giant crouched down to the floor and lowered its canine muzzle to the chipmunk's outstretched hand to snuffle at the Plocean fuel cells coated in oil. As the robot gulped down the small capsules the glow shimmering across his body created by his LEDs brightened.

Gomon, the tallest of the group barring the robot, turned to Cassandra. 

"Cass, I really wish you'd let me fiddle with Fred's voice box. His voice always cuts right through me when he turns on..." he left the sentence hanging, hoping that she'd finally give him access to the small control panel situated in the centre of his throat. Gomon was the youngest of the group and Emephet's smaller brother. He had a large pair of horns on his head, both a deep crimson but one twisted back around on itself, the sign of a birth defect and commonly mis-conceptualised by other bulls as a sign of weakness. He wore a thick brown overcoat, covered in extra pockets carefully sown on by his older sister. They all bulged at the seams, filled with small vials of oozing liquid and packages wrapped neatly in brown paper and tied tightly with packing wire.

"Nooooooo," the smaller girl squealed before wrapping her arms around F.R.E.D's jaws, "I love his big loud voice, yes I do! He's my favourite big puppy isn't he? Yes he is!" The robot's mouth lolled open and viscous liquid slopped out, covering Cassandra's overalls in a slimy yellow sheen. She was the smallest member of their group with a childlike body and a huge bushy brown and white speckled tail that lay pristinely across her shoulder. However, she was also the oldest of the team by at least fifteen years. Solomon chipmunks were an odd race, plagued by no diseases and illness and blessed with lifetimes easily out-spanning all other races of their planet. Giving even some of the oldest animals by normal standards the bodies of children. The chipmunks with adult bodies ranging from tens to hundreds of centuries in age.

"Emephet, really. Where are we going?" Septra asked again, clearly anxious to get away from the bugs climbing over her tail.

"I know it's here somewhere, we're definitely at the right place just give me a second, please!" her eyes frantically scanning the map for some clue of their destination. 

A sudden crack resounded through the clearing as Gomon suddenly snapped around, still as a tree, desperately trying to act like he hadn't been up to no good. Emephet scanned her sibling's face, following his eyes to a now very obvious wound like hole in the rock-face she had been leaning against.

"Okay...I'd tell you off but for once you've actually done something useful..." she smiled doggedly at her brother, trying to sound as stern as possible while suppressing the excitement of seeing runes covering the insides of the hole, clearly matching those that her father had penned in around the edges of the map.

"Oooh ooh, okay I have something for light too", Gomon spluttered whilst beginning to frantically search his pockets for some other concoction. Septra flicked on a flashlight that she'd pulled from one of the large bags of camping gear now squashed under the sorry remains of their land-rover.

"Hey genius boy, heard of a flashlight?" she said before flicking the beam across his eyes, causing him to drop a small bag into the mud at his feet. Grinning as she watched him moan and groan whilst trying to act nonchalantly, she stooped and turned to enter the cave. Her small band of friends following her. After a few seconds, Fred crouched down and pushed his way through, leaving only an already insect-infested pile of scrap metal in their wake.