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Untitled Document
Grarrls could run pretty quickly, I noted. We neared
the border of the desert and Haunted Woods, and--just my luck--there were some
mutant Grundos there, standing guard.
"Halt!" one shouted.
"I can talk to them," Dontu said to me. He turned
to a mutant Grundo. There were only three, but they had dangerous-looking weapons.
"We need to pass through," he said.
"We're under orders by Dr. Sloth to not let anyone
pass," the Grundo grunted, like it was hard for him to speak Neopian.
I sighed. "I'll take care of this, Dontu," I
whispered. He stepped back, and I looked the Grundo straight in the eye. I needed
all my experience to pull this one off. "Listen, Dr. Sloth has this huge craving
for crown roast beef, as if you don't know, and his supply's all out. They're
only sold in Virtupets Space Station, and our ship broke down. Lame engines,
if you ask me. We're really mutant Grundos--ugh, Sloth turned us into these
stupid desert pets. Anyway, we need to get back to some other undercover Slothians
so we can get some crown roast beef and come back--Sloth will be in a really
bad mood if he doesn't get any--"
Without a word, all three nodded and stood to
the side. I jumped up on to Dontu's back and he charged on through the Haunted
Woods.
"How'd you do that?" he asked, knocking over
a tree.
"Simple," I said. "Act like one of them."
He didn't seem to understand, but I didn't understand
why he kept knocking over trees instead of stepping a bit to the left or to
the right to avoid them, so we were pretty much on the same level.
I estimated that it had taken Brucey, Capara,
and Princess Ferneypoo a few hours to get through the Haunted Woods, but in
about twenty minutes we passed familiar places to me, like the Esophagor--but
some things that should've been there, like Kauvara's Potion game or Korbat's
Lab--weren't, since I was back in time.
We spotted the rainbow that led to Neopia Central
and ran in. It caused quite a commotion; we were the first desert Aisha and
the first desert Grarrl ever in Neopia. A group of reporters surrounded us.
"The Lost Desert's been invaded by Sloth!" I
exclaimed.
"We know... we had a camera crew tracking Brucey,"
a Chia reporter said.
"But--but--"
"They're reporters," two passerbys muttered.
I didn't see who they were, but they looked like a dark-haired boy and a blue
Shoyru.
Well, that was easy enough to understand. "We
need Neopians down there--the best Battledome champions--to go and help fight!"
"There's already Battledomers down there," another
reporter said.
By now, Dontu seemed a bit confused. He had just
been through two strange lands, so I couldn't blame him. "We didn't see any
of you in Sahkmet," he said.
"They crossed via ferry from Mystery Island,"
the first Chia reporter said.
"Ok, then, excuse us." I climbed onto Dontu's
back and he started running again through the trail of ripped-down trees. Some
of the Chias started to chase us and blurt questions, and Dontu threw some trees
at them to keep them at bay.
"Waste of time," Dontu muttered.
"But we had the right idea."
"The right idea, but the wrong place. That and
a war going on was risky. We were lucky, Li."
"Luck is my middle name," I laughed.
"Really?"
"No... it's sort of this thing in my owner's
world to say that something's your middle name--it says that it's a quality
of yours--oh, nevermind."
Since Dontu was hungry, we stopped at a food
shop in the Haunted Woods. I lost my appetite when I saw all of the gross foods,
but Dontu ordered eagerly. And since Dontu didn't have any Neopoints (he only
had shells with carvings on them, which I understood to be Lost Desert currency),
I had to pay the bill. I had about 200np in my pocket, so he picked out what
he wanted to eat, I paid, and we were back on our way.
Fitting that I'd come all the way back in
time to see the Lost Desert plot unfold, and then miss it all, I thought.
I was especially worried since we had to stay overnight, but we couldn't do
much after dark. I worriedly slept for a few hours before awakening.
But in the morning, we soon saw the familiar
golden-tan sand, and we headed back to Dontu's tent.
"MY SHOP!" Dontu exclaimed.
It looked like the same tattered mess as before,
but I guess Dontu was hoping Brucey would fix it or something. Brucey only came
running out to greet us.
"Hi!" Brucey said, with a little wave of his
fin. "C'mon inside."
"Is Osiri okay?" I asked cautiously, stepping
over a pile of rubble at the doorway. Dontu followed us in.
"Oh, she's fine," Brucey assured me. I looked
at the corner of the shop Osiri was last at when I left, and she was giggling
as Capara the Wadjet was hissing playfully at her.
"At least they're all right," I said. "Neopians
are already coming. How's the War Tent going?"
"Great!" he exclaimed. "I issued a statement
to everyone. Let's get to the battle--a lot of Neopians are already there."
While Dontu stayed and worried about his shop,
Brucey, Capara the Wadjet, Mutant Princess Ferneypoo, Osiri, and I headed back
to the city.
A lot of Neopians--not just Lost Desert villagers--were
fighting now, and it looked like they were winning against the mutant Grundos,
except for the fact that the huge Rock Beast was knocking down and wounding
many of the fighters.
"We've got to stop him!" I exclaimed. We started
running, and each of us grabbed swords that had been dropped or abandoned in
battle.
"We have only one chance," Brucey said. "If we
destroy one of the Rock Beasts' legs, it'll crumble!"
"Ok," Osiri said weakly. Mutant Princess Ferneypoo
moaned, and Capara the Wadjet hissed. I just nodded.
We ran over, behind the Rock Beast. Brucey took
the first stab.
"This is for whoever took my lucky coin!" he
exclaimed. Some pebbles and dust crumbled off.
He struck again. "This is for Princess Ferneypoo
being turned mutant!"
Princess Ferneypoo grunted.
Once more, he jammed his sword into the rock
leg. "And this is for Sloth turning Capara into a Wadjet!" Some larger rocks
crumbled off now, and the Rock Beast started to notice.
It crouched down and knocked Brucey over. Osiri
bravely poised her sword and shouted, "This is for my parents!" One more hit,
and the Rock Beast was through. He lunged over and tried to whack Brucey.
"All right, that's it!" I shouted. I ran over
to the front of it. Brucey was all right, just dazed, but I could distract the
Beast so he could get away. "Come and get me!"
It swung, but I ducked just in time. I was on
all fours now, with my sword in my right hand. I sprung up and was on two legs,
ready for the right moment. Suddenly, the Rock Beast kicked his non-damaged
foot, and it whacked right against my left hand.
"Oww!" I shrieked, more in surprise than pain.
The impact didn't hurt much, but my watch was
shattered. Time seemed to freeze. I was stuck, and nothing would move. Then
everything went blank.
"Li, are you all right?"
I glanced at my wrist. My watch was fixed, but
it wasn't ticking. But that voice... it was Coltzan. "I don't know."
"Well, you will be. Hold on."
"I can't, Coltzan. And--and you need to get out
of here, you're going to be murdered! You have to get out of here!"
"You don't even know where here is," he said.
I looked around. It was misty, like there were
things outside, but I couldn't make them out. Suddenly it started to clear,
and I saw that we were at the Shrine. And Coltzan was standing by it, looking
solid, not like a ghost.
"Neither of us is safe, now," he said. "But you'll
be all right."
"What about you?" I asked.
"Me?" He laughed. "Well, Usurper... yes, I know
it will happen. And I could stop it. But who am I to ruin the plot of the Lost
Desert? All of those fighters willing to prove themselves in battle. There will
be many injuries, but no casualties on our side."
I stared at him. Later I would think I was dreaming,
but I couldn't really tell. It was so real.
"You have to hang on so you can go back," he
said. "Do your part. I'll do mine."
"Ok," I said slowly. "When will I be home?"
"Soon, soon, Li. Patience..."
"But Coltzan, this Shrine isn't even built yet.
Am I back in my time? But you're...you're alive."
"Time works in strange ways, Li. We'll never
fully understand it. But do what you must for now. You must go. Go." The mist
started to darken and deepen. "Go." I saw...
To be continued....
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