Pages of a Lost Past: Part Two

The door slammed shut while Sibertiger9 was in midsentence. She, LuckDragon, and Mysticat looked at TigerLily for an explanation.

     "What was that all about?" Sibertiger9 asked, looking at the others curiously. She immediately walked to the front door and opened it expecting to see Ruffle walking down the path, but she was nowhere to be seen. She hurried down the stairs and down the path a ways, but still she did not see Ruffle. She walked back to the house and looked at TigerLily. "She seemed fine when we left. What happened while we were gone?"

     "I don't know!" TigerLily shrugged. "She was fine a few minutes ago! We played cards for an hour and a half and then she took a nap. She seemed like she was having a bad dream though so I woke her up. She told me she was fine, then she said she was going to get something to eat. That was all that happened."

     "Then why did she look like she had packed for a trip? Are you sure she was okay?" Sibertiger9 asked.

     "I... I'm really not sure." TigerLily shrugged again. This answer did not suffice Sibertiger9. She gaped at TigerLily for a moment, trying to contemplate why Ruffle would leave so suddenly. Then she started to look panicked.

     "Well she has been acting odd lately," TigerLily suggested.

     Sibertiger9 thought for a moment and said, "Somebody, check her room. Maybe she left a note or some clue as to where she went!"

     "I'll do it," said Mysticat, and she ran down the hall.

     "Check the kitchen while you're at it," Sibertiger9 shouted after her.

     * * *

     I ran on swift feet down to the Harbour at the edge of Mystery Island. Luckily there was a ferry waiting when I got there. An Island Techo leaned on his oar as he watched me run up.

     "In a hurry," he asked me. I thrust 50np into his hand and jumped onto the raft.

     "Hey, this's twice what I charge. Do you want... "

     "It doesn't matter. Just go!" I shouted at him. He put the Neopoints in his pocket and stepped onto the raft, then he used the oar to push off from the dock.

     "So where are you headed?" he asked.

     "The Lost Desert. Can you please hurry?"

     "Don't worry I'll hurry, but mind you it'll take about half a day at the fastest to get there by ferry. What's the rush, if I might ask."

     "I'm just in a hurry to get somewhere. Is that okay with you?"

     "Fine by me. I'm just trying to make polite conversation."

     * * *

     Mysticat ran into the spa room where Sibertiger9 was busy flipping over furniture.

     "Some of her stuff is gone." She panted. "But there's no note, nothing."

     "There's nothing in here either," Sibertiger9 yelled as she threw a lawn chair into the wall. "Where did she go? Why did she go?"

     TigerLily and LuckDragon entered the room, both with distraught looks on their faces. "We couldn't find a thing," said LuckDragon. There was a short silence.

     "What do we do now?" Mysticat asked Sibertiger9. There was another silence as Sibertiger9 thought.

     "What do you think we're going to do?" she said finally. "We're going to go find her! ...All of you, go pack your bags. We'll probably be gone for a while. Ruffle's not one to waste time when she wants to get somewhere... what are you standing around for? Move!"

     The three of them hurried off to their own rooms to pack. Sibertiger9 went upstairs to her room and started packing as well. She packed half of her Neopoints, some clothes, some blankets and some healing potions for her pets. Then she went down to the kitchen where she packed as much food and bottles of water as she could. When she finally made her way to the front door, she saw the others waiting there for her. They looked at each other for a moment, then TigerLily spoke, "So where do we go from here?"

     "We ask around and try to get a lead," Sibertiger9 replied. "She could have gone anywhere. But there's a good chance someone on Mystery Island saw her, and knows where she went. Mysticat, you and LuckDragon take the Trading Post. TigerLily, check the beach and the Tiki Tours. I'll ask around the Training School and Arena. We'll meet back in the Harbour in an hour."

     * * *

     Something hit me hard in the back and I woke up suddenly.

     "Hey Kacheek, we're at your stop," said the Island Techo. I yawned and slowly sat up.

     "Oooh, I've must have fallen asleep," I said as I yawned again.

     "Yeah, you were out for a few hours," he said. "Well, have fun with whatever it is you're doing. Looks like it's going to be a hot day today."

     I stepped off of the raft onto the warm sand of the Lost Desert. It was probably only 8 am but the sun was already high in the sky, and it was a comfortable 80 degrees out. I set my bag down so I could stretch. When I bent down to pick my bag up, though, it started to move. It startled me until I remembered that Kachie was in it. I laughed at myself then opened the bag. The little Psimouse climbed out of the bag and scrambled up my arm to sit on my shoulder, and opened her umbrella against the sun. Funny little Psimouse, I thought. I pulled down my hood so I could get some sun then I picked up my bag and started walking.

     The market at the Lost Desert was noisy and bustling with Neopets and their owners trying to find good deals on pottery and ancient weapons. At one of the booths I happened to pass by, an electric Wocky and his owner were arguing with a green Bruce who was trying to sell them a cloud Anubis at an atrocious price. Kachie snickered delightfully at them. I continued walking, enjoying the smells of fresh baked food and the warmth of the sun...

     "Hey! Ruffle! Is that you? Ruffle!"

     My heart stopped. 'They've found me,' I thought. Without looking behind me I quickly pulled my hood over my head and walked a little faster trying to lose myself in the crowd.

     "Ruffle, it's me!"

     The voice was closer this time. I started running now. I could hear heavy footsteps close behind me. Something grabbed hold of my shoulder and spun me around... I was face to face with a blue Zafara.

     "I thought it was you!" said the Zafara cheerfully.

     "Oh, Safaraze, it's just you," I panted. I pulled my hood down and smiled, glad that it wasn't Sibertiger9 or the others.

     "Yep, just me. Why were you running?"

     "Oh, sorry about that. I just thought you were someone else. So what are you up to?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Safaraze looked concerned for a minute before smiling at me once more.

     "Just shopping around with Kasey and Amaranthela," she said. Just then a girl with long curly brown hair and a yellow Shoyru appeared. "Oh, here they are now."

     "Hi Ruffle, how are you?" said Kasey.

     "Oh I'm fine. Just... traveling."

     "Where's Sibertiger9 and the others?"

     "Um... I'm just by myself. They're back at home. Probably at the trading post."

     "Oh. Well tell them I said hi when you see them."

     "Well, actually, I'm kind of, um... going to see an old friend. So I'll be gone for a while."

     "Well have fun, then. Maybe I'll go over to see them later. See you later, Ruffle."

     "Bye..." and I walked off as quickly as I could. "That was a close one," I said to Kachie. She growled in reply.

     * * *

     "Hey! You're not allowed to sleep on my dock, you know," said an Island Techo as he pulled his ferry up to the dock. When the lumps on his dock didn't move he smacked part of it with the end of his oar.

     "Ow! Hey that was my face!" screamed Sibertiger9.

     "Well that should help you learn not to sleep on my dock now, shouldn't it."

     The lumps that were Sibertiger9, Mysticat, TigerLily, and LuckDragon, untangled themselves and stood up, stretching. "Ooh, I think I slept on a rock, my back hurts," moaned Mysticat.

     "No, that was my foot," said a groggy LuckDragon. The Island Techo looked at the lot, starting to feel very ticked off. "Don't you people have some place better to sleep than on my dock?"

     "Sorry," replied TigerLily. "But we heard that a little yellow Kacheek came down to the Harbour in a hurry, possibly took a ferry somewhere. Do you know anything about it?"

     "Oh sure. A yellow Kacheek came running down to my dock around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. She was in a hurry to get to the Lost Desert. Why? Were you the reason she was running?" the Island Techo inquired, eyeing the lot suspiciously.

     "No, nothing like that," Sibertiger9 explained. "She just ran off all of a sudden without an explanation, that's all. We have absolutely no clue why she left. If you could help us in anyway we'd be incredibly grateful."

     "Well... okay, " he said finally, though he was still slightly suspicious. "Get on the ferry, I'll take you to the Lost Desert."

     The group filed on to the ferry one by one. Sibertiger9 was about to get on when the Island Techo threw out an arm to stop her. She looked at him confused. The Techo casually looked up at the sky as he held out his hand toward the girl, "He-hem!" Sibertiger9 sighed, dug in her pocket for some Neopoints and then placed them in his hand. "Happy doing business with you!" the Techo said smiling cheerfully. Sibertiger9 rolled her eyes and joined her pets on the ferry.

     * * *

     I had been walking for several hours now and was well out of the Lost Desert. Just like in my dream, the environment was starting to get rocky, and the river was still there on my right.

     "We should be getting to the canyon soon," I told Kachie. She squeaked in reply. But no sooner had I said this than the canyon appeared not far off. 'We're well on our way,' I thought. "When we get to the canyon, Kachie, we'll stop and make camp. Then maybe I'll have another dream that will tell us where to go next." I smiled at Kachie. She smiled back... or at least I think that was a smile. Her evil grins look so much like her smiles... then again it's all the same really. We traveled on, and today was the first day in a long time that I actually felt like I had accomplished something...

To be continued...

Questions? Comments? Feel free to neomail me. ~Sibertiger9