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Finding the Lost
Pianto and Tetra pulled into the small Tyrannian village
about a day and a half later. They immediately set off and asked everyone they
saw if they had seen Aryll (which turned out to be a real challenge, considering
none of the inhabitants spoke English).
By noontime, the two were at the docks, looking
for the pier-manager. Pianto soon found him and showed the green Koi the picture
of their missing Gelert.
"Yeah, I saw her. She came by about two days
ago and rented a boat from me."
Pianto was overjoyed at this revelation. "You
mean you saw her? Where did she go?"
The Koi scratched his beard for a second before
answering. "Umm… I don't remember off the top of my head. Come inside and I'll
show you."
Inside the boat renter's shop, it smelled like
fish, rotting fish. Fish that had been rotting since before Pianto had even
been born. Pianto decided not to say anything to the Koi on the off-chance he
might be offended. Too bad his partner didn't have the same idea.
"Man, it smells like something died in here.
I say something because whatever it was, it wasn't natural."
Pianto clasped the Pteri's beak shut before
he could ruin their opportunity. Pianto wanted desperately to find that Gelert.
The Koi unrolled a giant map onto a table and
pointed to an island on it. It appeared to be about thirty or forty miles off
the main coastline.
"She went there, to Onzent Island; probably
to be with her own kind."
Pianto looked up. "What do you mean, 'her own
kind'?"
The Koi seemed surprised at Pianto's question.
"Why, that's the island of the Gelerts of course."
"How much does it cost to rent a boat?"
"What? Why would you want to know that, Pianto?"
Tetra asked. "We're not going sailing, are we?"
"Five-hundred a day."
Pianto slapped a bag of Neopoints on the table.
"We'll take it."
* * *
"But I don't understand why we have to leave tonight?" Tetra complained. "Why
not tomorrow? Or never?"
Pianto turned to his hydrophobic partner. "What's
wrong, are you scared of water, too?"
Tetra again hung his head in shame.
"Pianto sighed and rolled his eyes. "Is there
anything you're not afraid of?"
Tetra looked up. "Flowers… no wait. Those big
red ones scare me too."
Pianto gave another deep sigh in response. This
was going to be one fun trip.
* * *
Pianto lay on his back, staring up at the starry night sky above. The small
red sail-powered boat he and Tetra had rented rocked gently, soothingly, beneath
him. A gentle breeze ruffled his fur as he stared dreaming at the picture of
Aryll, his angel.
Tetra hung limply over the side of the boat
(this troubled Pianto, given the fact that their boat was not very sturdy as
it was and displaced weight was the last thing they needed). Staring out at
the blue-black water, the green Pteri asked, "How far do you think it is to
the horizon?"
Pianto shrugged. "I don't think you can actually
get to the horizon. It's not like there's a pot of gold there or anything."
Tetra was mesmerised by the ocean water. "Wow,
this ocean thing is really beautiful," (Tetra had never seen the ocean before).
Pianto got up and looked over the edge. Tetra was, for once, right. It really
was beautiful, the ocean spreading out in every direction, flat like a glass
sculpture. This comparison was even more influenced by the way the ocean reflected
the tiny diamonds of the sky, those things people call stars, off it's surface.
Of course, it didn't compare with the beauty of the Gelert in the photo.
Something continued to trouble Pianto. They
didn't seem to be moving across the water. Pianto looked up at the sail. It
was catching the full blast of wind. Yet the craft still continued to remain
still. Something was definitely wrong.
Pianto looked down into the sea's depths. Nothing.
He went around to the back. This time, Pianto saw something, a large shadow
or something. It appeared attached to the boat.
SPLASH!!!
Pianto was then knocked back by the force of
the object shooting out of the water. The fire Gelert looked up to see a sight
no fisherman's imagination could create. A giant squid was clinging to the back
of the boat!
It let out an ear-piercing screech, a siren
showing its dominance. Pianto turned to see the Pteri huddled in a corner of
the boat, shivering.
Pianto had to act fast. He reached up and grabbed
the mast, which held up the sail, snapping it in half. The half he had snapped
off from the rest had a point on it. Pianto hurled the mast at the squid.
His aim was true. The point went into the monster,
resulting in it giving out a screeching cry. The squid withered and fell back
into the water.
Pianto turned to his partner. "It's okay, little
scardy. The big monster's gone. You can stop shivering now."
"I'm not shivering from being scared," Tetra
replied coolly, regaining his posture. "I was just cold. I got a lot of water
on me when the monster popped up."
* * *
The boat was pretty much intact, considering what a tiny weak thing it appeared
to be. They had no sail, so Pianto and Tetra had to paddle the rest of the way.
By evening the next day, they hit land. The two had arrived at Onzet Island.
The shore was bare, not a creature in sight.
Pianto was eager to get moving and find Aryll, but Tetra seemed less enthusiastic.
"So do you really need me to come with you?
I mean, someone should stay here and watch the boat, right?"
Pianto gave his friend a baffled look. "What
for? You're not afraid of Gelerts too, are you?"
"It's not that," Tetra denied. "I'm just not
comfortable being on an island with so many others that are different than me.
It makes me uneasy."
"Fine," Pianto answered. "Do what you want.
I don't care." In truth, Pianto didn't care. But he knew that the Pteri would
follow him anyway.
Pianto was only twenty feet from the boat when
he heard, on schedule, "Wait! Wait for me!"
Going was easy through the jungle. Paths had
been carved out by the Gelerts who allegedly lived on the island.
After about ten minutes, Pianto could smell
the scent of burning firewood. Peering through the bushes, Pianto and Tetra
could see an odd sight occurring. In the clearing was a village entirely made
of Gelerts. A large bonfire was lit in the middle of the village and Gelerts
were all seated in front of it, their backs to the explorers.
Past the bonfire, a large stage of some sort
had been set up. A large pot sat in the middle of the stage. A Gelert, not much
older than Pianto, climbed the steps to the stage platform. An elderly Gelert,
probably the village chief, already stood on the platform as the younger one
approached. The young Gelert seemed to be red, though it was difficult to tell
in the lighting. He was very nervous.
Pianto knew he had to get a better look at the
ceremony. He silently moved in, blending in with crowd. Tetra held back, as
he would not have blended in with the other Gelerts like Pianto.
The tribal leader raised some strange object
in the air, dipped it into the pot full of a strange unknown substance, and
pulled it out. It was now that Pianto could see what the elder was holding;
a paintbrush! The substance had been paint and he was going to paint the younger
one a color, it appeared to be green (but a different shade of green, not the
green you would normally see a pet painted).
The elder drew a stripe down the young Gelert's
back, he turned green (of course), and all the audience cheered.
Pianto looked across the crowd as it began to
disperse to get some food to eat from the nearby refreshment tables. As he did
so, he saw a familiar face. He didn't recognize her right off, as she had been
repainted the shade of green like the Gelert who was just on stage, but her
eyes…they seemed so deep so beautiful -- like pools of water deeper than the
deepest sea. Brown like hazelnuts in autumn.
But was it her? Pianto ran to catch up with
the Gelert quickly. As he caught up to he called out "Aryll." The Gelert turned
to face him.
"Yes?" she asked inquisitively, wondering what
this strange Gelert was doing.
Pianto breathed a sigh of relief. "My names
Pianto," he said "I'm here to rescue you." The adventurer had finally found
the lost.
To be continued...
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