The Road Awaits
Less than an hour later Brain_stew and I were
back in Neopia Central, standing in his cosy NeoHome, he luckily had an extra
back pack that I could use for our journey, we filled them with all the essentials,
sleeping bags, food, water and all the money that he could spare for the journey.
He also equipped ReelBigKougraFish with all the weapons he owned, which wasn't
many, lest the worse should happen. About an hour later we were ready to set
out and start to look for my Neopets. We decided to check out all of Neopia
even if we had never been there before, who knows where they could be, and sometimes
you have no choice but to stray from the road you know.
We headed out the front door, ReelBigKougraFish
bounded forwards eager to set out on the adventure, I wish I could say I was
as enthusiastic about the road ahead as he was, but I couldn't bring myself
to smile. There was a good chance that we would never find my pets, they would
be lost in the huge world that is Neopia, for the rest of their lives and there
would be nothing more that I could do to try and keep them safe, warm and most
of all, by my side. I would live alone in my small and lonely NeoHome for the
rest of my days here in Neopia.
Brain_stew turned and closed the heavy door
behind him; it locked with a satisfying clink. He turned and smiled at me as
we headed down the garden path.
"So," he asked, "where are we heading?" It was
then that I realised that I had no idea where to look first! Neopia was so big
and even though I had already checked Mystery Island that still left all the
other worlds. I decided to try looking in the Lost Desert because we usually
went there for the Shrine and the Fruit Machine.
We headed for the Uni Meadows; it was a shortcut
to the Neopian airport that flew to the Lost Desert. I had often crossed the
Uni Meadows, but always on Zutore's back, I knew that it was going to take a
lot longer going everywhere by foot, but I was determined to find my pets. We
had walked for about an hour across the Uni Meadows when I heard a noise coming
from a little way away, it was a violin playing a happy tune, it seemed to soothe
my heart and wash all the worries from me, we made for the direction of the
music. We came over the horizon and saw that it was a little red Zafara playing
the uplifting music.
He finished his song and sighed, we clapped
our hands in awe and he leapt into the air in surprise.
"Oh my!" Gasped the little red Zafara, "I didn't
see you there!"
"Well, we did only just get here," said ReelBigKougraFish.
The Zafara seemed to relax at that fact.
"It's not that I don't like company," he said
hesitantly, "its just that I like my space, that's all." He looked down at his
violin and plucked its strings timidly. I looked sidelong at Brain_stew, who
smiled and crouched down next the Zafara.
"So what's your name little fella?" he asked
kindly. The Zafara looked shocked, as though he had never been asked the question
before.
"Urm…" he hesitated, "I…I don't think I have
one." I was only saddened by this, to think that such a sweet and talented little
Zafara was sat out here so far from anyone and with no one to care for him.
Brain_stew smiled at him and ruffled his hair.
"You haven't seen a blue Scorchio, a green Shoyru
or a fire Eyrie by any chance have you?" Brain_stew asked. At this the Zafara's
eyes sparkled.
"A green Shoyru you say? Well, I don't know
if he's yours or not, but I have seen one wandering around here for some time."
My eyes widened and I could feel the anticipation building up inside me waiting
to burst out. "You'll find him around that tree if you're gonna find him at
all," he said pointing to a tree about a mile away. "I have often wondered what
he was doing, he was always looking for something. Anyway I wish you luck on
your journey, and hope you find what you're looking for."
"I can't thank you enough!" I said bending down;
holding his two little paws in my hands, "You truly are a wonderful Neopian!"
he smiled and blushed slightly at this. I stood again and looked at Brain_stew
who nodded at me.
"Guess that's where we're heading then!" he
said happily hauling his bag further up his back. ReelBigKougraFish bounded
up to him and turned back to the Zafara.
"Thanks for your help, you keep practising at
that violin okay?" He said smiling. I smiled at the little Zafara, this was
my first steps to finding my pets again, and owed it all to this little lonely
creature.
"Promise me you'll take care of yourself won't
you?" I asked, as I was about to leave. The Zafara only smiled and nodded at
me. I really didn't want to leave him by himself, so I reached into my bag and
pulled out a plain faerie cake that I was saving for my reserves but it looked
like he needed it more than I did, and we could manage without it. "Here," I
said, the Zafara stared open-mouthed at the cake.
"Wow! I've never tried faerie foods before!"
he exclaimed, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I replied happily, and with
that I turned back to the path where Brain_stew and ReelBigKougraFish were waiting.
"I wish you all the luck in the world!" he cried
as we started walking, "Your pets are lucky to have an owner like you!"
We carried on across the meadows heading for
the distant tree, it stood tall and proud, a sign of hope, we must have been
walking for a long while, the tree seemed further away than we initially thought,
maybe it was just me and my eagerness to get there. ReelBigKougraFish was ahead
as usual bounding in the long grass, occasionally he would chase a butterfly
that he had startled, but apart from that our journey was somewhat dull.
The sky was begging to darken, but we pressed
on until we reached the giant tree. It stood towering above us as we gazed up
at it, it's branches spread wide and reached high into the sky, I could see
why Taba would want to stay around something like this, he would always be climbing
to the highest branch then launching himself off the top. I smiled at the though
of my pets. Then let my bag drop to the floor and turned to Brain_stew.
"This is where we stop for tonight, I'll have
a bit off a look around to see if he's been here" Brain_stew nodded and flung
his bag against the tree, pulling the tent from it. I sighed and looked up in
the tall branches, there was nothing there. I decided to look amongst the tall
grass that surrounded the tree to see if he had left any traces of him being
there, I pulled back the grass and peered at the ground, searching for any sign
at all. After a while I retired to the tent that was now standing tall.
"There's enough space in this old tent for an
army!" Brain_stew said grinning, it looked like it too! ReelBigKougraFish was
already shuffling about inside, knocking over the posts and generally causing
havoc; we laughed at his antics and set up the sleeping bags for the night.
It was a long while after sunset and we had
made a small fire, we were cooking some sardines that Brain_stew had bought
from the market, it was so quiet out in the Uni meadows after dark. All we could
hear was the sound of the leaves rustling in the tree above us, and the far
off hooting of an owl. We weren't worried of any dangers though, at least I
wasn't and Brain_stew didn't show much sign of any. ReelBigKougraFish was sat
huddled up to his owner and the fire. I watched as ReelBigKougraFish's eyes
scanned the fire, his eyes were fixed on the dancing flames, and Brain_stew
was stroking his back slowly unaware of me looking at the two of them. I watched
at ReelBigKougraFish smiled at the affection of his owner. I thought again of
my own pets, they were so far away; I just wanted to reach out and pull them
back to the safety of my arms. I stared up at the sky and felt my heart pull
me towards them. Just sitting here was frustrating and painful.
Once again my eyes began to swell with tears.
How was I going to go on without my pets with me? I would never stop thinking
about them, it was impossible. A small tear fell from my eye and I wiped my
cheek. Brain_stew looked up and saw my despair.
"Oh Amerock," he said comfortingly, "Don't
worry we'll find them." I managed a small smile, but I didn't mean it, "Do you
want some more food?" he said trying to take my mind off things.
"Urm, no thanks," I said rising, "I think I'll
just…get some sleep." I headed for the tent and unzipped the front. "Good night
Brain_stew, night ReelBigKougraFish," I said and started to turn round.
"Things will look better in the morning Amerock,
you'll see. Tomorrow we'll find those pets of yours," said ReelBigKougraFish.
I turned and smiled briefly, then zipped up the tent and lay my head down on
the hard pillow. I closed my eyes tightly and a tear squeezed from my eye, it
rolled down my cold cheek. I buried my face in the pillow, trying to block out
the guilt screaming in my ears. I cried until I fell asleep, which felt like
an eternity.
I woke with a start, ReelBigKougraFish's paw
covered my mouth, it must have been the early morning, the sky outside was still
dark. He removed his paw and gestured to the entrance to the tent. Brain_stew
was crouched down listening intently to the noises outside.
"What's going on?" I asked still half asleep.
"There's something outside, I can hear it,"
said ReelBigKougraFish. I sat slowly up and peered into the darkness. I strained
my ears to see if I could her anything, but everything was so quiet, the silence
was almost deafening.
"I don't hear anything," I whispered to ReelBigKougraFish.
"Trust me, there's something out there,"
he replied, if I didn't know any better I might have said there was a slight
tint of fear in his voice. I started to think, what if there was something dangerous
out there, we would most likely be hurt or… my train of thought flickered back
to my pets again, and the danger that they would be facing out there by themselves.
I plucked up the courage to join Brain_stew by his side, he looked side on at
me asking silently if I were ready, I nodded in return….
To be continued... | 
