|
Four Neopets and their owner, Bluey, were sailing. Their
boat, christened "The Darkmoon" by Bluey's green Gelert, was not a very big boat,
but was big enough to accommodate the five of them.
"This is the life, eh, guys?" Gatling, a green
Lupe, asked.
"It sure is," Spirit, a blue Zafara on the verge
of slumber, agreed.
Bluey rolled his eyes at the sight of all of
his companions falling asleep. "Sure, the possibility that I might need help
shouldn't bother you," he said sarcastically. "The fact that the boat might
sink isn't that big a problem."
"Sink!?" Darkmoon's ears perked up and he stood
alert at the sound of that fearsome word. He, of course, was a complete coward.
"Ah, don't mind me, Dark, I'm just being paranoid,"
Bluey replied.
"Don't worry, Bluey, I'm sure we can handle
anything," Dragoon, a green Shoyru stated. Just as Dragoon had finished speaking
those words, the normally calm waters started to get rough. Bluey and company's
boat got tossed around on the surface of the water. "Uh... we can handle this,
right?" Dragoon asked with uncertainty.
Gatling and Spirit were rudely awakened with
the arrival of the rough ride. "W-What's going on?" Gatling inquired.
Bluey tried desperately to pilot the boat back
to the beach. "I don't know why, but no wind seems to be hitting our sail."
"I can see why! There's a whole storm brewing!"
Spirit exclaimed. He was correct - a storm was appearing above the boat. Rain
fell, thunder boomed, and the occupants of The Darkmoon were getting scared.
"I d-don't know h-how much more I can t-take
of this!" Darkmoon said.
"Ugh... hang on, everyone!" Bluey commanded.
But Bluey's words had no effect! The force of
the winds and the movement of the boat threw all five sailors off. One by one
they fell into the sea. And then, almost as if it was sensing that its mission
was accomplished, the storm stopped and subsided. The waters returned to their
normal, calm state.
Darkmoon waved his arms around in a panic, trying
to get back to the surface the only way he knew how. His head came up above
the water, and he filled his lungs with air. "W-W-What the heck was that!?"
Bluey surfaced next. "Aw, I hate it when my
clothes get so wet! These boots will never protect me from fire again!"
Gatling, Spirit, and Dragoon appeared above
the water not long afterward. "Is everyone okay?" Gatling asked.
"A little wet, but I'm okay," Darkmoon said.
"My entire life flashed before my eyes!" Spirit
stated. His heart was beating fast.
Suddenly, Dragoon started breathing really hard.
Bluey said, "Whoa! Slow down, little buddy!"
Dragoon quit breathing so rapidly. "That...
that was weird... it was like the air was pulled from my lungs!"
"What's going on?" Gatling inquired. "First
that freak storm, then that near-suffocation that Dragoon had!"
Spirit's head was pulled under the water. He
panicked and tried to hang on to the side of the boat, but he lost his hold.
A few bubbles floated to the surface.
"Spirit!" Bluey yelled. Then, he too was forced
under the water. His claws disappeared into the bright blue abyss.
"This had better be a joke!" Darkmoon shouted.
As if he was a link in a chain, he was forced into the waters below.
Dragoon was dragged kicking and screaming into
the water. And then, the final sailor of the crew of five fell to the mysterious
powers of the deep.
***
Spirit awoke on a strange beach. He lifted his weary Zafara head off of the
sand. He shook his head both to wake himself up and to get the sand out of his
fur.
Spirit looked around. He spotted a very familiar
green Gelert. "Darkmoon!" He ran over to his unconscious brother. "Speak to
me!" Darkmoon said nothing. Spirit got down to a crouching position and placed
his paws on top of Darkmoon's chest. He exerted pressure on Darkmoon's body,
forcing some water to be expelled out of the Gelert's mouth. "This looks like
this calls for drastic measures. I know you're not going to like this, Dark,
but a Zafara's gotta do what a Zafara's gotta do..."
Spirit closed his eyes and placed his mouth
over Darkmoon's and attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Darkmoon's eyes
opened mid-breath. Then, suddenly, Darkmoon leaped to his feet and screamed,
"What do you think you're doing, Spirit!?"
"DARKMOON!! You're alive!" Spirit shouted happily.
"Hmph. Of course I'm alive. What, do you think
a mere ocean could get the best of me?" He looked down and noticed that the
tide had come in and he was standing knee deep in water. Darkmoon screamed like
a little girl and ran back to dry land.
Spirit chuckled. "Yeah, a mere ocean..."
Darkmoon said, "Um... shouldn't we be looking
for the others now?"
Spirit looked around. "Hey! There's Bluey!"
The two Neopets spotted a blue dragon lying
on his side in the sand. They ran over to him and tried to figure out how to
wake him up. "I don't know about you, but I am NOT doing that resuscitation
thing on Bluey," Darkmoon stated.
"I've got a really funny idea. Watch this,"
Spirit said. He walked over and grabbed Bluey's tail. He then pulled on it,
stretching it out cartoonishly, and then released it, allowing it to snap back.
"YAH!!!" Bluey screeched, awaking instantly.
He got up and danced around, making unintelligible, I'm-in-a-lot-of-pain-but-it's-still-a-funny-situation
noises.
"Wow, Spirit, you're right. That really did
work," Darkmoon observed.
"Oh... please, Spirit, don't ever do that again..."
Bluey said.
"Now I wonder where Gatling and Dragoon could
be?" Spirit thought out loud.
Darkmoon sniffed the air. "Hmm, that's weird.
I'm normally terrible at picking up scents, but I can detect a heavy odor of..."
Darkmoon sniffed again. "Gatling."
Darkmoon led Bluey and Spirit down the beach
until a green Lupe's body could be seen. Bluey and Spirit ran ahead, leaving
Darkmoon to continue following the scent and then say, "Hey, there he is!" to
no one in particular.
Spirit proceeded over to Gatling's body. Cracking
his knuckles, Spirit gave Gatling a firm smack across the face. "OWIE!!!" Gatling
whined.
"And there you go!" Spirit said triumphantly.
"Spirit, why does every technique you have to
wake people up involve pain?" Bluey asked, still wary of the tail-turned-rogue
incident.
"It's just what Zafaras do, I guess," Spirit
replied, grinning.
Gatling got his bearings. "Hey, where's Dragoon?"
"I'm up here!" a voice answered.
Bluey, Darkmoon, Spirit, and Gatling looked
up to see the little Shoyru hanging from a branch sticking out of a high rock
wall. Bluey, Darkmoon, and Spirit ran to where Dragoon was hanging while Gatling
sat there a little longer in order to ask, "Now how did THAT happen?"
Dragoon started to cry. "Guys, I'm getting really
scared!" "Don't you fret, little buddy! We're going to send over a real professional!"
Bluey said. He then turned to Spirit. "Spirit,
go get Dragoon."
"What? Why me? Darkmoon should do it!" Spirit
replied.
"Oh, no, I am not doing something as delicate
as this. Gatling's your man, er, Lupe," Darkmoon answered.
"But... but... oh, all right..." Gatling agreed.
And so it was settled. Bluey held Gatling's
back paws and lowered him down to the branch. Darkmoon held onto Bluey and Spirit
held onto Darkmoon in order to strengthen the chain. Bluey inched Gatling forward
and got closer to Dragoon. Dragoon held the branch with one paw and sent one
paw out to hold Gatling's outstretched paw.
Suddenly, the branch snapped and in a desperate
gambit, Dragoon grabbed Gatling's paw. But then the others lost their footing
and after a second the four Neopets and their owner were holding onto each other
for dear life. The only thing keeping them from slamming into the ground below
was Spirit's feet which were caught on a rock.
"Ow... this is the most uncomfortable position
ever!" Spirit whined.
"Please, Spirit, just keep your footing... literally!"
Dragoon said.
"Wait a minute... there's probably a..." Just
then, Spirit's feet gave out and the five of them plummeted to the ground.
"WAAAAAAHH!!!" the five screamed before they
landed with a crash into a crumpled heap.
"Ow... my back!" Darkmoon whined.
"This is just not a good day for my tail..."
Bluey said.
"Hey guys, will you please get off me?" Dragoon
asked. He was the unfortunate one to be the bottom of the pile.
Spirit and Darkmoon slid off the three under
them. Bluey dragged himself to his feet, freeing Gatling. Gatling then rolled
over to allow Dragoon to get up.
"Where are we, exactly?" Gatling asked.
"I don't know. This place looks like Mystery
Island, but I don't recognize any of the landscape. Mystery Island's volcano
isn't here," Bluey explained.
Spirit sat down in the sand. "This is strange.
First we're thrown off our boat, then we're pulled under the water, then we
find this crazy island!"
"For once, I agree with Spirit," Darkmoon said.
"Something's not right about all this."
"Well, I think the best thing to do now is explore.
Maybe we'll find some clues or something," Bluey suggested.
His companions agreed, and the five journeymen
ventured into the jungle. Spirit ran up ahead and decided to play a little trick
on his followers. He tugged on a branch, making it parallel to the beaten path.
The lucky one to be Spirit's victim was Bluey. But at the last second, Bluey
saw something on the ground and crouched down, making the branch miss him and
whack Dragoon, who crumpled to the ground. Spirit, witnessing his mistake, cringed
and started walking again as if he didn't notice it.
"Dragoon, are you okay?" Bluey asked.
"I... I think so..." Dragoon replied.
Darkmoon and Gatling looked at each other. They
seemed to know the real cause of Dragoon's injury. They made a mental note to
get back at Spirit.
***
Bluey pushed away some branches and spied a strange sight. Spirit caught up
with him and tried to get a look at what Bluey was looking at.
"What's going on, Bluey?" Darkmoon asked.
"That's weird, I heard some people talking over
here, but I don't see anyone," Bluey replied.
"Well, maybe your hearing's going..." Gatling
started, but he was silenced by Bluey's fist striking his snout. Gatling rubbed
his snout and made a note never to insult a dragon's hearing.
Dragoon looked to his side, and caught a glimpse
of an island Lupe whose eyes opened wide and hightailed it out of there. Dragoon
was startled by this, and immediately tapped on Bluey's leg (he wasn't tall
enough to reach Bluey's shoulder) and said, "Bluey? I just saw something strange..."
Bluey looked over and replied, "Hmm? Something
strange?"
"Yeah, I saw this island Lupe who ran away the
second I looked at him."
Gatling (whose snout still hurt) looked in the
direction Dragoon was gesturing toward. Then, suddenly, his nose twitched. He
caught the scent of something. Gatling, although very resistant, was compelled
to get down on the ground and was dragged toward the Lupe's former location
by his nose. His friends were taken aback by Gatling's departure, but followed
him anyway.
Gatling sniffed all the way to an intersection
in the trees. He took one of his paws and subconsciously pointed it to the right.
"There! That's where he went!"
"Good boy, Gatling. Maybe when we get home I'll
give you some table scraps," Bluey joked.
"Why, thank... hey!" Gatling replied. Darkmoon
and Spirit snickered.
***
The party went down a pathway until they came to an old bridge. "Hmm... it
looks like that bridge isn't going to support much weight..." Bluey stated.
Bluey's, Darkmoon's, Gatling's, and Spirit's
heads all turned toward Dragoon. "What? Why me?" he sputtered.
"Because you're the smallest one!" Gatling said.
"Oh... I've always hated that..." Dragoon whined.
Timidly, he climbed on the brittle bridge. It creaked a little, causing Dragoon
to close his eyes and clench his teeth. He got into sort of a crouching position
and advanced, holding onto the railing the whole time.
When Dragoon got to the middle of the bridge,
Darkmoon decided it would be okay if he went on it, then Gatling, then Spirit.
Finally, Bluey got onto the bridge. They were playing Krawk Island roulette
by taking a chance like this.
"Okay, everyone... steady... easy now..." Bluey
urged.
Then suddenly, the bridge snapped. The two halves
of the bridge separated, falling to the appropriate side of the canyon. Bluey
and company stood there in mid air. They looked down, realized what was happening,
then screamed as they plummeted to the ground.
SPLASH! The five adventurers fell into the water
of the river. They resurfaced and started shivering, as the water was extremely
cold.
"Brrr... t-t-this w-water is the c-c-coldest
I've ever f-found!" Darkmoon stated.
"W-When your f-f-f-frost dragon o-owner is shivering,
y-you know it's c-c-cold!" Spirit observed.
"I-I-I'm not s-shivering because I-I'm cold,
I'm s-shivering because you g-guys are shivering and I d-d-didn't want to b-b-be
left out!" Bluey lied.
They swam to the edge of the water and pulled
themselves out. What they didn't notice was that they were being watched.
Spirit looked around. "Hey! There's that island
Lupe!" He pointed at a Lupe who was behind a rock in front of them. The Lupe
made an inaudible noise and fled.
Bluey and company chased down the Lupe. The
Lupe took to all fours and galloped as fast as he could. The Lupe made a sharp
turn around a corner and his pursuers followed -- except they were stopped.
Bluey and his pets stopped dead in their tracks
because they were being looked down by two giant island Lupes. "Hey, Lankser,
who do you think these jokers think they are, chasing down our son?"
Lankser, the apparent father of the normal-sized
island Lupe, looked at the newcomers with contempt. "I don't know who these
guys are, Gretel, but I know what they will be... lunch!"
"Lunch?" Gatling squeaked. He, along with his
companions, were trembling from terror.
"Yeah! Even though you'd barely be a mouthful,
you're still invited to a very special dinner out with our tribe!"
***
Bluey, Darkmoon, Dragoon, Spirit, and Gatling were now tied to a long stick,
which was being carried by two giant island Lupes of the tribe. The captured
were scared for a variety of reasons, but the one that stuck out most was the
fact that the ground was so far away.
"Aw, I bet the girls are at home playing and
eating pizza!" Darkmoon whined.
"They most likely are..." Spirit agreed.
"What about Legionnaire and Sykes?" Gatling
asked.
"They're probably working out a plan to assume
control of the household once Bluey's eaten by the Lupes..." Darkmoon said.
Bluey's eyes opened wide.
"Guys, can we please not talk about things like
this?" Dragoon said.
"Well, what should we talk about during the
last few minutes of our lives?" Gatling inquired.
"I was gonna play that new game I got today..."
Darkmoon stated.
"Really? What new game?" Spirit asked.
"Dungeon Sack."
"Aw, that's an awesome game," Bluey said. Even
in a situation like this, the five were still talking about a common interest:
video games.
"Quiet, you!" One of the Lupes yelled. "Stop
talking, you're making yourselves stringy!"
The five would-be-meals gulped.
"Okay, we're here!" the other Lupe reported.
The two Lupes chucked the stick onto a table, causing the five connected to
the stick to yelp. The Lupes seated at the table licked their lips at the sight
of the bite-size Bluey, the diminutive Darkmoon, the dwarf Dragoon, the non-gigantic
Gatling, and the small-fry Spirit.
"What is this?" a voice boomed.
The Lupes looked over to the source of the voice.
It was another giant island Lupe, wearing a sort of headdress and carrying a
walking stick. The Lupes bowed.
"Who's that, some kind of governor?" Spirit
inquired.
"I read an article about island tribal Lupes.
I think that guy's called a shaman or something," Bluey whispered.
"What is this paltry offering?" the shaman shouted.
"This is dinner for the night, shaman," Lankser
said.
"Bah! This is nothing! Nothing! Do you expect
the entire tribe of Banalaku Lupes to feast upon this group of trivial adventurers?"
"Hey! I'm big for my age!" Darkmoon yelled.
The tribe of Lupes gasped. "You dare to interrupt
the Shaman?" they asked.
"Do you realize how far you have crossed the
line!?" the shaman screeched.
"I do now!" Darkmoon squeaked quickly.
"Argh!" The shaman grabbed Bluey and company
in one paw. The five of them shouted for mercy. "You have angered me! I will
eat you myself!"
"No! Please, no!" Bluey yelled.
"Yai! Don't do it!" Spirit hollered.
"I can't believe this is happening!" Dragoon
screamed.
Gatling got an idea. When the shaman lowered
them enough, Gatling chomped on the shaman's nose. The shaman screamed and waved
his paw around in an effort to get the tiny rogue Lupe off his nose. He succeeded,
but he also threw the five of them back onto the table. The other Lupes, angry
at the five for angering and harming their shaman, advanced on them.
What would Bluey and company do in a situation
like this? That's right. Run.
The five adventurers took over, leaped off the
table, and landed onto the ground with a crash. They were all moderately hurt,
as the table was a lot higher than a usual table.
They ran as fast as they could through the trees,
the giant Lupes pursuing them the entire way. After a couple minutes of frantic
running, they reached the beach. And a very familiar sight graced their eyes.
"Our boat! There's our boat!" Dragoon shouted.
"Quickly, let's get on it and get the heck out
of here!" Bluey commanded. The five of them leaped onto the boat. "Uh oh..."
Bluey groaned.
"What's the matter?" Gatling asked.
"This is a sailboat! How are we going to get
it started?" Bluey stated.
"Um... uh..." Spirit moaned. "Oh!" He jumped
up onto Bluey's shoulders, startling Bluey, and then started blowing at the
sail.
"Spirit, that's not going to work!" Darkmoon
shouted.
"Do you have a better idea!?" Spirit inquired.
"Uh, guys?" Dragoon squeaked, trembling with
fright. "They're catching up!"
"Blast!" Bluey groaned. "Hey! We have paddles
on this boat, don't we?"
Darkmoon pulled a couple paddles out of a compartment.
"Here you go! Paddle away, dragon master!"
Bluey got Spirit off his shoulders and gave
him a paddle. The two started paddling like mad. The boat started moving, and
then they were off.
"Ha ha! So long, freak Lupes!" Darkmoon taunted.
The pursuing Lupes ran up to the beach and jumped
up in down in frustration, shaking the ground.
"Well, guys, it looks like we're off sailing
again..." Gatling said.
"I hope we get home soon..." Darkmoon whined.
The End
Author's Note: Well, I hope you enjoyed my story. So... if you liked it,
drop me a Neomail. But please, no hatemail... or I'll have to feed you to angry
giant island Lupes. All right? Support the technocratic intellectualism and
thanks for reading!
| 
