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"WHY ARE YOU DOING BUSINESS WITH CAPTAIN STINKBUG?"
"Would you quiet down, Haskol?" said Vex, "Since
you're going to be in that cell for a long, LONG time… I suppose I could tell
you.
"You see, we were really just exchanging favours…
His side of the deal was for an excuse for Bel to die. So we set him up to let
me out, and end out being thrown to death by Kalam."
"WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?"
"Kalam has ALWAYS hated Bel. He's been longing
for revenge ever since his childhood. So, as long as I get my side of the deal,
it's all good."
"YOUR SIDE?"
"The Yellow Knight, known as Prisoner 04, was
a spy. He said he had information on the Citadel that could lead Meridell to
victory."
"YOU BELIEVED HIM?"
"Of course, he's one of those Meridell goody-two-shoes."
"CHIAS DON'T HAVE SHOES."
"Of course they don't, dimwit. Anyway, with
the Citadel destroyed, I'll find a way down to Neopia. And then, I will be free,
as for I don't exactly fit the Draconian Mynci description. And my plan
was full proof; if Kalam's plan didn't work, and I never was caught, I would've
been free, anyway."
~
"Well, Bel," said Stacy, "how does your first
morning in Meridell feel?"
"Ah, excellent," he said, with a smile, glimsing
at the sun, out the window. "I haven't seen a sunrise in ages. And I lived above
the clouds. Such colour, you have here, in Meridell."
"And guess what," she said, with a smile, "We're
having Stone Soup for breakfast!" She laid down a bowl, in front of him on the
table, of water, with little stones bobbing in it.
"Okay, perhaps Meridell mornings aren't ALL
that great…"
"Oh, please," said Stacy, "Minerals are healthy
for your bones."
"I might try," he said, "If only I knew
how to. Really, will need something bigger then this fork. Got any hammers?"
Mya laughed.
"I don't mind your humour," she said, trying
to act strong, "Just don't get full of yourself."
"Then you wouldn't mind if I bring Mya to the
market today." Stacy gave him the eye for a moment.
"I said, keep safe," she said, glaring.
"You're worried about me," he said. "And I'm
a Knight? Really."
"And I'm worried about Mya," she replied. "And
the villagers aren't exactly going to find your armour appealing." Bel got up,
and dumped his Stone Soup out the window.
"Correct," he said. "So I need to buy something
to keep me warm, anyway. I'm sure you have a few rags in the closet for the
time being. I lived in the sky, and I even find it cold in Meridell. Plus, I
have a few spare Neopoints I can spend…"
"…On what?"
"Oh, say, instant dinners, freeze-dried dinners,
pre-cooked dinners…" Mya laughed again.
"Okay, haha, I get the point," said Stacy.
"You can go. But be back soon."
"Of course," he said, heading to the closet.
~
"You really weren't kidding when you said 'rags,'"
Mya said, "were you?" She started giggling. Bel was in a brown cloth robe, with
patches every hear and there.
"I suggest you be quiet," he said, glaring.
"Mya, I brought you to the market to get a bite to eat." They looked around
for quite a while, until they found one store painted orange and black, like
a tiger. "Mmm… I think I might've even forgotten what Tigersquash tastes like…"
"What would you like?" said the rather bored-looking
Grarrl, behind the counter.
"A Tigersquash corn-dog for me, and…" Bel paused
for a moment while thinking. "A bowl of Tigersquash ice cream for the little
Cybunny."
"Ice cream?" she asked, "For breakfast?"
"Consider it a wake up call."
"You're the COOLEST!"
Bel looked at his corn-dog, practically drooling.
"Oh, for how I've longed for another bite of
this great food…" Just as it came to his mouth, some creature pounced on him
to the ground. It appeared to be a giant Doglefox. It started licking the Tigersquash
corn-dog, constantly.
"Well, there goes my appetite…"
"Ruff!" said Mya, "He must have followed us
the whole way here. Bel, have you had the pleasure of meeting the acquaintance
of Ruff?"
"I'm afraid I just have," he said, pushing himself
up from the ground.
"You don't mind is he stays around," she said,
"Do you?"
"No," he said, "I guess not, as long as next
time I get food, it's MINE."
Walking around the market, Ruff seemed to sniff
around everything, everywhere. He even stole some food on occasion; living with
Mya will do things to a Doglefox.
"C'mon," said Mya, "There's something I have
to show you." She started running out through the crowds of the market place.
"Mya, wait!" called Bel, running after her.
Ruff could seem to run after her perfectly fine, but Bel wasn't used to such
crowded streets.
It seemed those scary thoughts were going through
Bel's head again, as for if he lost Mya, he'd half to face the worst of all:
Stacy.
"MYA!" he shouted, "GET BACK HERE!" He soon
got to the end of the market, where the common crowd started to vanish. We was
over hills of grass, and he could see a stand, and Mya and Ruff, as well.
"MYA!"
"Hurry-up, slowpoke." By Mia was Ruff, a dirty-looking
Techo, and a Turtum, beside him.
"This here is Ultimate Bullseye," said the Techo
in a strange enough accent, "Yur little Cybunny here comes here every darn day!"
"Easiest game on the planet," she said. She
grabbed one of his arrows, grabbed a bow, pulled the arrow back and shot it.
"Five points," she said. "Why don't you give it a try?"
"Mya," he said, "I've already told you about
my eyesight." Just then out of the market, came a very rough looking yellow
Chia.
"Ha," he said, "Ain't that a Draconian? Why,
he probably can't hit the wall of a barn!" Bel glared, then crouched down to
whisper to Mya.
"I think I recognize that ugly thing," he whispered,
then rose to a stand again. "Alright, I'll play. But this better be worth it."
Mya handed him the arrow and the bow. He pulled back, and let go. The arrow
went straight into the sky, and they never noticed it coming back down.
"Whoa!" said the lame Techo. "Yur supposed ta
hit dat dere bullseye, not the Crokabeks passin' by!" The Chia laughed.
The next shot was closer to the ground. It went
straight under the yellow Chia, which had to jump for it to miss.
"HAH!" he said. "I almost hit what I was aiming
for that time!"
"But you almost hit me!"
"I know."
"Hey," said the Chia, "dun't I recognize you?"
"Yeah…" he said, "I think I've seen you before…
Prisoner 04!"
"My name is the Yellow Knight," he said. "Draconian
Knight!" That instant the old Techo cowered behind his stand and put the "CLOSED"
sign up.
"You're supposed to be in the dungeon," said
Bel.
"And YOU'RE supposed to be DEAD," said the Yellow
Knight.
"How did you know about that?" said Bel, angrily.
"Oh, pa-lease," the Yellow Knight said with
a yawn. "You can't tell me yah didn't know it was all a set-up!"
"What?" he asked, with a confused look.
"You're not supposed to be here," said the Yellow
Knight, drawing his sword. "So I'll just have to dispose of you myself."
"I would never fight in an open market," said
Bel, holding Mya back. "Fool."
"You're a Draconian," he said. "You're ruthless.
You'd fight anywhere. But, if you choose not to fight back, so be it." He charged
with his sword directly at Bel. But out from behind him, jumped Ruff, who bit
the and which the Chia was holding the sword with. The sword went flying, and
went right through the center of the target at the stand.
"Bullseye," praised Mya, "Ruff!"
"Mya," called Bel, "We have no time. We need
to run." Mya picked up Ruff, as Bel grabbed Mya's hand, and ran as fast as he
could, while the Chia called after them.
"I'LL BE TELLIN' VEX THAT YOU'RE NOT DEAD!"
~
Vex was standing on the porch, staring at the
black clouds.
"Victory will finally be mine…" he said, "And
I'll finally be free." Just then, a Crokabek flew up to the evil Mynci, and
landed on his shoulder. In it's mouth, it had a paper, which on the backside
said, "Master Vex."
"Hah," he said, "so you Crokabeks ARE useful."
He grabbed the paper, and shooed the petpet away.
Dear Master Vex, It was to be my first day back at the castle, and I was
planning on revealing the weaknesses of Darigan. But, as he was making my
stop in the market, I ran into a certain particular Draik. A certain particular
DRACONIAN Draik. I think it would be best for you to know that the Knight
Kalam requested dead, indeed, isn't. He's living perfectly in Meridell, and
has actually ESCAPED the Citadel. Not much of a win for Captain Kalam, now
is it? I suggest you not let him hear of any of this. Sincerely, Prisoner
04, The Yellow Knight
"This is an outrage," said Vex. "I need to find
a way to Meridell NOW."
~
"Wow," said Stacy. "Back? Already? That was
rather… quick."
"Well, excuse us," said Bel, panting. "We sort
of had to rush home without picking up any decent food. Or, at least any that
Ruff didn't eat."
"Why, what happened?" Stacy asked, giving Bel,
'The Eye.'
"It was SO cool!" said Mya, bouncing up and
down. "There was this bad-guy, and he was about to slice Bel's head off, then
Ruff jumped up into the air, and his sword went FLYING. So cool, so cool, so
COOL!"
"I should've never fed her ice cream for breakfast."
"BEL!" shouted Stacy, now in a deep rage. "This
is the THIRD TIME I've had this conversation with you!!!"
"Heh, heh," he laughed, trying to act innocent,
"really. Mya is exaggerating. Just some crazy Chia."
"That's it," she said. "NEITHER of you are leaving
the house again today."
"But that's not fair!" screamed Mya. "I didn't
do anything!"
"Be quiet, Mya!" Stacy shouted back, "As for
you, Bel, if you can't even make a simple trip to the market, you'll be wearing
those rags for a LONG time." Bell, went slouched, to his new room, when the
doorbell rang.
"I'LL get it!" called Mya. She opened the door,
and there she saw the Yellow Knight. "Hey, it's big-fat-ugly-stupid-tempormental
guy at the-" Just then, Stacy covered Mya's mouth and pushed her behind.
"My friends and I have just started a search
for a certain…" he paused, "criminal."
"Well," she said, with a fast-pace, "nobody
here--goodbye!"
"Are you sure?" said the big Chia. "I would
swear-to-Adam that I recognize your little sibling there."
"What?" she said, starting to panic. "But I
could tell you for sure that my daughter hasn't been out today."
"I never said it was today," he replied, "Ma'am."
"Oh, well, I just assumed…"
"Fair lady," he said, bowing to her, "I am required
to search your house, anyway. So would you mind moving aside for my friends
and I?"
"Friends?" she asked. "Why, what friends?" Just
then, out from out of there side popped in a macho red Lupe and blue Kougra,
both holding torches in their hands. Under her white fur, Stacy's face turned
blue.
"Oh, w-w-well…" she mumbled.
"Thank you, Lady…?"
"Stacy. Don't mention it. Really don't."
Stacy then rushed to Bel's room.
"GET OUT! RIGHT NOW!"
To be continued…
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