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One early morning in Neopia, Jacob walked through the entrance
of the Haunted Woods. Those that knew him would recognize him on the spot, as
his physical appearance never changes day by day. He was still a bit chubby, had
light brown hair, and wore a full length black jacket over his shoulders. The
coat was so long in height, the coat tails almost dragged through the dirt he
walked on. And he was over 6 feet tall!
Not far behind Jacob was Metonot, his pet Korbat.
Unlike Jacob, who was somewhat famous to the world of faeries, Metonot was a
very average Korbat. Well, in terms of those that frequently go to the Battledome,
he was a below average Korbat. Even the Pant Devil could give him a beating!
Still, Metonot did not let this bother him…most of the time. What he lacked
in physical prowess, he made up for with a wonderful charm. And if he ever did
have to fight someone to get his way, Metonot could always tire out his opponent
by running away.
And the last to enter into the Haunted Woods
was Metonot’s petpet, Whooper, the dysfunctional Avabot. While both Jacob and
Metonot cared for Whooper, it became hard to show affection whenever it began
to zap random targets with its laser beams, dance around on any surface it could,
and perform other crazy antics. Still, they accepted Whooper the way it was:
an insane robot petpet that was sometimes good to have around and have a laugh
with.
Today was not a random stroll through the Haunted
Woods. Jacob came here for a purpose, yet Metonot felt that it was not going
to have a positive outcome. Putting on a burst of speed, Metonot flew up to
Jacob and asked, “Are you sure we should be doing this Jacob?”
“Of course I’m sure,” said Jacob, the confidence
evident in his voice. “We wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t want to. Besides,
it’s not like this is going to be an impossible task.”
“Jacob, you want to do a quest for the Brain
Tree. The last time you did a quest for the Brain Tree, you quit on the spot,
as the Esophagor asked you to give it chocolate covered peanuts, which were
250,000 Neopoints at the time. And now, after all this time, you finally want
to give it another shot?”
“The very fact that I have never completed a
quest for the Tree is the reason I want to do it now! I’m paying it back for
my past mistake by trying again. Besides, I’m sure the price on chocolate peanuts
has gone down since then, as have all the prices on spooky food. And don’t forget
that we have a huge stash of spooky food back in our deposit box. It just might
happen that the Esophagor will ask for food we already own. And even if we DO
have to go out and buy something, we have money in the bank.”
“That’s just what I mean!” said Metonot as he
flew in front of Jacob, thereby stopping him from walking any further. “When
was the last time you actually SPENT money on anything? Almost all the money
you make is sent to the bank, and you never take any out! And whenever you have
the chance to buy something expensive, you back out, as you don’t want to ‘waste
your money’. And you are usually talking about something that isn’t even over
1,000 Neopoints!”
“Metonot, will you just calm down,” said Jacob,
hardly taken aback by what his Korbat said. “If we do happen to spend a lot,
it is all for good. The more costly the quest, the greater the prize, correct?”
With that said, Jacob walked around Metonot,
and continued farther into the Haunted Woods. Whooper, who had finally caught
up with Metonot, looked back and forth from his master and Jacob, making an
assortment of beeps.
“I have no idea what you are saying with all
those beeps,” said Metonot, “but I can at least sense your concern. This is
going to be a hard day.”
After walking through the dark paths of the
Haunted Woods, Jacob and Metonot came upon the Brain Tree. Taking notice of
them, the Tree bellowed out, “You there! Come forward!”
Jacob laughed a little as he said, “There isn’t
much else in this part of the woods except you Brain Tree, so the very fact
that we are here must mean that we are coming to you already.”
The Brain Tree merely grunted, saying, “There’s
no need for sarcasm, Jacob. I merely desire you, Metonot, and Whooper to come
here quicker. I am in need of your assistance.”
Metonot yelped in surprise, and got a fearful
look upon his face. Weakly, he asked the Brain Tree, “How…how did you know our
names?”
The Brain Tree got a disgusted look upon its
face, and before it could answer, Jacob said, “Metonot, you’re talking about
the Brain Tree. It spends it’s time having others tell it things from all over
the world. Don’t you think it would now about us after all this time?”
Feeling embarrassed, Metonot said, “Oh. I forgot
about that. Sorry if I offended your intelligence Brain Tree!”
Looking somewhat appeased, the Brain Tree said,
“That is alright Metonot. Not many in Neopia realize the amount of knowledge
I have collected over the years. Now, come forward, the three of you. I am in
need of you.”
“Again, that is why we are here Tree,” said
Jacob, finally standing in front of it.
“Very well. I want you to find out when and
where Chris Tonu died. I will reward you if you are successful. Now go!”
Jacob quickly turned around from the Brain Tree
and went running off. Seeing that he had left behind the surprised Metonot,
he yelled back, “Come on, Metonot! We don’t have that much time on our hands
to gather the information for the Brain Tree! Let’s get it as fast as possible!”
Metonot sighed and flew over to the hopping
Whooper, and said, “Come on, Whooper. I don’t think you can keep up with Jacob’s
running or my flying, so I’m going to have to carry you”
On Metonot’s first attempt, Whooper zapped him
with a laser beam. Metonot yelped in pain, and quickly made a second grab for
his Avabot, and was able to get it by the head.
“Come on Whooper! This is no time to play around!
I’m going to lose track of Jacob if we don’t catch up!”
With Whooper secured in his feet’s grasp, Metonot
flew off after Jacob to gather the information the Brain Tree desired.
Ahead of Metonot loomed the pit of the Esophagor.
For some unknown reason, the Esophagor was the only one that knew the correct
answers to all of the Brain Tree’s questions. How it knew what the Brain Tree
didn’t was a mystery, and would probably never be solved. This was because the
Brain Tree was too busy asking questions, and the Esophagor was to busy answering
them…and eating of course.
And that’s what the Esophagor was doing while
Jacob and Metonot stood in front of it. It was eating a strawberry flavored
rat that was given to it by a Zafara. After the Esophagor belched a few times,
it said, “I thank you. I was soo huunnngry.”
A view seconds passed, and it didn’t seem like
the Esophagor was going to say anything else. Feeling rather impatient, the
Zafara cleared his throat, and the Esophagor shook to attention after realizing
he had something more to say.
“Oh yes, of course,” stammered the Esophagor,
“Nick Chompy died in 71 BN.”
Having heard its response, the Zafara quickly
hopped away, leaving Jacob and Metonot behind. The Esophagor finally took notice
of them, and said, “You there! I’m huuungry! I want you to feed me!”
Jacob smiled and walked in front of the large
creature, and said, “We will feed you, on condition that you tell us when and
where Chris Tonu died.”
The Esophagor made a little laugh, and said,
“Ah. Another one seeking answers for the Brain Tree. Let’s see then. What shall
I have you bring me?”
For a few minutes, Jacob waited patiently for
the Esophagor to decide what it wanted to eat. Whooper began to dance around
the nervous Metonot, oblivious that they were in front of one of the more fearsome
creatures of Neopia. Finally, the Esophagor snapped its fingers and said, “Bring
me a vanilla ghost cake, a chocolate ice lolly, and a squishy brain wrap!”
Hearing exactly what it wanted, Jacob again
ran off, this time with Metonot beside him instead of behind. He prepared for
the moment that Jacob would leave, so that he wouldn’t have to follow after
him from such a long distance. And a few minutes flying, Metonot said to Jacob,
“You realize the squishy brain wrap is the only spooky food we have right? We
have to buy the other two items.”
Jacob merely laughed and said, “That’s alright
Metonot. I got some money in my pocket. We’ll be able to pay for them.”
When Jacob got to the Shop Wizard however, his
jaw almost hit the floor.
“6,500 Neopoints?” cried Jacob. “For a vanilla
ghost cake? You got to be kidding me!”
“Nope,” said the Jub Jub. “That is the lowest
price that exists for the vanilla ghost cake at the moment.”
Jacob put his hand to his forehead and sighed
in frustration. Metonot wasn’t really surprised, as he was sure this would happen.
Almost all the shops sold rare spooky foods at high prices, as they knew that
people would buy them if it was needed. Jacob took his hand off his forehead
and said, “How much for the chocolate ice lolly?”
“One moment please,” said the Shop Wizard, who
began cast a few incantations. After a few seconds, the Wizard said, “the lowest
price is 17,000 Neopoints.”
Jacob merely put his hand to his head and groaned.
Metonot, hoping to say something positive, said, “Well, at least we don’t have
to buy the squishy brain wrap.”
Turning to Metonot, Jacob said, “Be quiet Metonot,”
and left the Shop Wizard’s Tent.
The Shop Wizard, looked the departing Jacob,
and asked Metonot, “Is he always like that?”
“Only when he has to spend some money,” said
Metonot, who flew after him with Whooper clasped in his talons.
Catching up with Jacob, Metonot asked, “Where
are you going Jacob? Aren’t we going to have the Shop Wizard teleport us to
the shop with the lowest prices?”
Growling, Jacob said, “No. We need to go to
the bank first. I don’t have that much money on hand.”
After they went to the Bank, Jacob and Metonot
went to the shops that had the vanilla ghost cake and chocolate ice lolly in
stock. After each purchase, instead of bidding the shopkeepers a good day, Jacob
merely threw the correct amount of Neopoints onto the counter and left with
his purchase. Metonot stayed behind to thank them instead, but that didn’t really
help, as Whooper would either zap them or dance on their heads while Metonot
did so.
Needless to say, Metonot was not feeling too
good. Not only was he worried that Jacob would release his anger on some unwitting
Neopian, but he was getting tired holding his spontaneous Avabot as he flew.
Thankfully, he was able to rest for a bit, as they had just made it back to
the Esophagor.
Walking up to the monstrosity, Jacob said in
an angry tone, “I got your food. One vanilla ghost cake, one chocolate ice lolly,
and one squishy brain wrap. Enjoy.”
Jacob then threw the food at the Esophagor. It
caught the food in the air, and stuffed all three food items in its giant mouth
at once. After a few moments of noisy chewing and swallowing, the Esophagor
said, “Thank you. I was so hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” whispered Jacob angrily.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Now tell us when and were Chris Tonu
died.”
“Of course,” laughed the Esophagor. “Chris Tonu
died in Virtopia. And as to when? To get that, you must get me more food.”
“Very well then. What do you want?”
The Esophagor pondered a bit, and said, “Bring
me a vanilla ghost cake!”
“What!” screamed Jacob. “I just brought you a
vanilla ghost cake! And now you want another one?”
“Yes! Now go get it!”
Realizing that he would have to spend more money
on expensive food, Jacob cried out in anger and ran off, leaving Metonot behind
again. Metonot, breathing and panting, caught up to Jacob after a few minutes
and asked, “Are we going to get the cake for the Esophagor?”
“Of course we are!” said Jacob, still furious.
“I intend to get the Brain Tree its answers. But now we have to go to the bank
again, as I don’t have that much money on hand after buying what the Esophagor
inhaled!”
Metonot felt bad that Jacob was still angry,
and he knew it was only going to get worse, as he needed to spend more to complete
this quest. Hoping to cheer him up, Metonot said, “You don’t need to feel so
bad Jacob. Think of it like this. Instead of having to buy 3 foods, you only
need to buy 1 now!”
“Be quiet Metonot,” scowled Jacob.
After going to the bank for the second time and
going to the Shop Wizard, Jacob found out the current cheapest price of vanilla
ghost cake was now 7,550 Neopoints, 1,050 more than the previous cake. After
Jacob stomped his foot a few times in anger, he had the Wizard teleport him
to the shop. The Zafara shopkeeper was pleasant and courteous, but Jacob took
no notice of this as he barked out what he wanted from the store. The shopkeeper
got a vanilla ice cake and handed it to Jacob, still having a somewhat smile
on his face, as he hoped Jacob’s attitude would change to happiness if he continued
to smile.
No such luck, as Jacob tore the cake from the
Zafara’s hands and pushed a bag of Neopoints into its chest. As Jacob slammed
the store doors behind him as he left, Metonot began to apologize to the now
sad Zafara. This time his apology worked, as he made sure Whooper was pinned
down beneath him so that the Avabot wouldn’t shoot the shopkeeper with its laser
beams.
As Metonot left the store with Whooper in his
claws, he could not see Jacob anywhere in site. Jacob had completely abandoned
Metonot behind. He didn’t take it so badly though. He knew where Jacob was going,
and now that he didn’t have to follow Jacob step by step, he would slowly fly
and have his body rest from the constant moving. Also, it would be great to
not have to calm down Jacob the entire trip.
And so Metonot flew to where he knew Jacob would
be heading: The Brain Tree.
To be continued...
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