Heroes of Neopia: Green Scale by bluescorchio104 |  |
HEROES OF NEOPIA- As I trudged up yet another mountain trail, I wondered to myself
why I was doing this. Bluefire104, my blue Scorchio, handily reminded me that
this was all my idea in the first place. That idea being, or course, to interview
Green Scale, the Scorchio famed throughout Neopia for his dedicated protection
of his village. Unfortunately for me, that village happened to be on the peak
of an extremely high mountain. My other Neopet, Chaotic_Paradox, chose to stay
at home and twiddle his thumbs, so Bluefire104 got the job of accompanying me
on my quest for knowledge. For some reason I couldn't possibly fathom, Bluefire104
called it 'baby-sitting'. Finally, after two hours, complete loss of hope, and
two million, five hundred and twenty-two thousand, one hundred and ninety four
"Are we there yet?"s, we came to a huge crevasse, smack bang right in the middle
of our path. It stretched out on ether side till it curved away from our vision,
and was at least a good Turmaculus length wide. Too wide to jump, in fact. Bluefire104
just flapped his wings and flew across, while I was marooned on the other side.
"Oh, well," I said, trying not to pant too heavily from my exhausting trek.
"Impassable crevasse in the way. We'll have to go back."
Bluefire104, however, didn't seem to hear my words too clearly, and gave me
the thumbs up. When I asked him later, he told me that he had thought that I'd
said "Doe dell. Infrabbable crescent bin per play. She'll mav poo do pack."
And when I asked why he had given he the thumbs up, he merely said, "I'd thought
you'd finally lost it. I read somewhere that you should always reassure psychopaths,
maniacs and insane Neopian Times reporters, not to mention-" He would have completed
that sentence, but somehow, a rotten Tomato magically stuffed itself into his
mouth. Which basically translates to that I shoved it there to shut him up.
And I hope that was a Tomato, and not a Tomato Chia. Oh well, too late now.
Bluefire104 threw it in the bin later. So anyone missing a Tomato Chia, uh,
well, don't come looking for me. But back to the story at hand. I was stuck
on the wrong side of a ravine, Bluefire104 thought I had gone loony, and I had
run out of lollypops. It was a grave and dangerous situation indeed. Especially
the bit about the shortage of lollypops.
Finally, Bluefire104, realising I was stuck, pointed out a rickety, old, ancient,
not-in-very-good-condition bridge, made of planks roughly secured into position
with rope. Typical Indiana Jones danger-climax material. I squinted, and found
that the bridge was quite far away, somewhere to my left. I fought my way through
the thick plant growth, probably smashing as few endangered species of flora
in the process, until I came to the bridge. It was even worse than it looked
from a distance. And that's saying something. I gingerly stepped onto a plank,
and when it didn't break, put my full weight on it. The plank promptly broke,
sending me plummeting to my doom. Just kidding. The plank actually took my weight
pretty well, albeit with much groaning and creaking. I walked cautiously along
the bridge, almost more than once finding myself in a near-death situation.
The only thing that kept me going was the thought that if I died, I would be
doing Neopians a huge favor. And the thought of actually benefiting somebody
was horrible. You get the idea. I eventually made it across, with my pants fortunately
still dry. I congratulated myself on completing a dangerous task, and then realized
that Bluefire104 could have just flown me across. That did take a bit of steam
out of my jubilation. Or more like deflated my joy completely.
I met up with Bluefire104 where he had been waiting, and we trekked along
the trail. We eventually came within sight of a small village, with a flimsy
wooden fence crudely fashioned of sticks surrounding it. We had just started
walking faster, when we ambushed. This ambush came in the form of a very large
green Scorchio jumping out of a tree, and landing heavily on me. He quickly
got me onto a headlock, and threatened, "Don't move, or you've just eaten your
last Cheeseburger." I was about to make some wisecrack about being vegetarian,
but then realized what a bad situation I was in. Here I was, on the peak of
a mountain, with some kind of vicious rogue threatening my life. The Scorchio
addressed Bluefire104, "Put your paws up, or your friend gets it. And your tail
too." Bluefire104 slowly did as he was told. The Scorchio led us to the village,
where he pushed us along to we reached a sturdy-looking stone building, with
an ironbound door and thick steel bars criss-crossing the windows. Somehow I
didn't think it was a holiday house. Bluefire104 and I were roughly shoved in,
and laid sprawled on the ground as we heard the unmistakable sound of a lock,
well, locking. I shook my head as I realized the full extent of my troubles.
Not only was I on the peak of a mountain, with some kind of vicious rogue threatening
my life, but no doubt he had somehow forced the poor villagers to build a prison.
Probably for holding hostages for ransom, I thought grimly. I wondered about
what had happened to the villagers, and found that I didn't want to think about
it.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I yelled, gripping the bars of my prison.
"I'm getting rid of scum like you," said the Scorchio calmly, staring me right
in the eye on the other side of the bars.
"We're not scum!" said Bluefire104 angrily, walking over to stand next to
me. "We're just trying to get an interview!"
"With who?" said the Scorchio, obviously not buying our story. "I bet you
just came here to loot this village, didn't you?"
"Oh, no," I said. "We wouldn't dream of it. This village is completely yours.
All of the loot in it is yours. No, no, we only wanted an interview."
"Loot?" asked the Scorchio, scratching his head. "Why would I want loot?"
"To carry out your evil schemes?" guessed Bluefire104.
"Why would I have evil schemes?" asked the Scorchio, looking even more confused.
"You're the one with evil schemes."
Suddenly, it all clicked. Big green Scorchio, sees two potential threats,
(namely Bluefire104 and I) thinks they're evil, captures them in order to protect
village. Of course! Our Scorchio captor was none other than Green Scale himself!
I asked hesitantly, "You wouldn't be the protector of this village, would
you?"
"Yes."
"Is your name Green Scale by any chance?"
"Yes." By this time, Green Scale was becomingly increasingly suspicious of
us.
"You're the guy we were going to interview!" blurted out Bluefire104.
"Really? Is that so?"
"Yep," I said happily.
"I know!" Green Scale said cheerily, with a huge smile plastered on his face.
"I'll let you out and give you a free interview!"
"Great!" I said.
Green Scale stuck his face close to the bars and sneered, the smile gone in
an instant. "And then I suppose we'll dance around with leprechauns around a
magic patch of grass?"
My hope withered as I detected the unmistakably sarcastic tone. Bluefire,
however, was not about to give up so easily. "How about we conduct the interview
from here?" he suggested.
Green Scale pondered the suggestion before coming to a decision. "Can't see
any harm in that."
"Okay then. Let's begin," I said, taking out my Scorchy Notebook and my favorite,
even if a bit worn, Bendy Yellow Pencil.
Bluescorchio104: So how did you become protector of this humble little village?
Green Scale: Well, I was on a voyage from Krawk Island when I-
Bluescorchio104: You were a sailor?
Green Scale: Well, yes, kind of, but you see-
Bluescorchio104: You were attacked by pirates, right? Is that it?
Green Scale: *looks annoyed* Will you stop interrupting? As I was saying,
I was sailing the high seas, when my ship, the Dark Saber, encountered a merchant
ship. And-
Bluescorchio104: The ship turned out to be full of bloodthirsty pirates, right?
Is that it?
Green Scale: *looks angry* Will you stop interrupting? Or I'll leave you in
this prison to rot for the rest of eternity and a day.
Bluescorchio104: *nods feverishly*
Green Scale: As I was saying, the Dark Saber encountered a merchant ship.
We boarded the craft, expecting little resistance and great riches, but we were
sadly mistaken-
Bluescorchio104: *looks sheepish* I know you told me not to interrupt and
all, but there must be some mistake. The stuff you're describing sounds like
something a pirate would do. *chuckles nervously*
Green Scale: *hangs head in shame* I was a pirate. Back then, I was painted
pirate, and acted like one too. Indeed, it was my profession.
Bluescorchio104: *Gasps in surprise* You were a pirate?!?!
Green Scale: Yes. But back to my story. We encountered a humble merchant ship,
and boarded her, expecting an easy victory. But we were sadly mistaken. The
crew was surprisingly brave, and put up quite a fight. We retreated, but I was
the last to leave. The rest of my crew sailed away, leaving me to fend for myself.
I was forced to jump overboard, and managed to cling to a scrap of driftwood.
I don't know how long I drifted- I blacked out soon after, suffering as I was
from a nasty head wound. The next thing I knew when I woke up, I was washed
up on a beach, being tended to by some peasant villagers. I learnt later that
they had come upon me by chance, on one of their half-yearly fishing expeditions.
They carried me far into the mountains, to their village. I painted myself green,
and have stayed here ever since.
Bluescorchio104: Wow. Do you ever regret leaving the pirate life?
Green Scale: No. I learnt my lesson, and admire the merchant ship's crew for
putting up a fight, and consequently helping turn my life around.
Bluescorchio104: Do you know what happened to the Dark Saber?
Green Scale: No.
Bluescorchio104: What about your former crewmates?
Green Scale: No. I have had no contact with them, and good riddance I say.
Bluescorchio104: Do the villagers know of your, um, colorful, past?
Green Scale: They know nothing of my past deeds. And I'd like to keep it that
way, thank you very much.
Bluescorchio104: Okay then. But, I'd like to know- why did you tell Bluefire
and I all of this?
Green Scale: *looks me in the eye* I didn't just want to tell you, I wanted
to tell all of Neopia. When ordinary Neopians read this interview, then they
will know the true story of Green Scale.
And there you have it folks. A classic story of a former pirate turned to
revered hero. A true hero, one with a troubled, previously unknown past. A success
story I'd say, of how even evil pirates can turn good, provided that their little
spark of goodness is nurtured by others.
Author's note: In case you're wondering, Bluefire and I did in fact get
out of that prison eventually. And by the time we got back to our NeoHome, Chaotic_Paradox
had twiddled his thumbs for so long he had worn down his claws to tiny blunt
nubs.
Second author's note: Don't worry about Chaotic_Paradox's claws. We had
a steel set made for him while his natural ones grew back.
Third author's note: In case you're wondering, not all pets painted pirate
are evil. I have nothing against pirate pets at all. In fact, I even like the
steel hooks some of them use instead of paws. I wonder where I can buy one….
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