Teoko's Kingdom

      "Ral," he whispered quietly, not wanting to wake his brother is he was asleep. "Ral, do you think Faerieland is up there? I've always wanted to visit a kingdom, Faerieland, Brightvale, Meridell, even Altador!"

      Ral just stared at Teoko. "Keep your voice down little brother, we don't want to attract tourists, and anyways, what would Melanie say if you just got on a boat and sailed off?"

      For a long moment Teoko thought. All his brother said was true; he couldn't just get on a boat and leave, but the island seemed so boring for him. Nothing much ever happened aside from the daily boatloads of tourists and Tombola players. How nice it would be to live in a kingdom, with brave kings and queens and knights. He sighed. How nice it would be to be a king. He would no longer be Ral's little brother (he was actually only a few hours younger, but Ral never let him forget it); he could be brave King Teoko, hero of Neopia. They could add him to King Skarl and King Kelpbeard!

      His thoughts were interrupted when a herd of tourists ran by, chasing an unfortunate coconut JubJub. The brothers looked in disgust at the path of uprooted plants and garbage that the tourists left behind. It was a wonder Mystery Island stayed so clean and beautiful with all the no0bs running about. Teoko looked sadly at a squished box thrown aside and some tin cans and neocrisp bags.

      "Ral," he said suddenly as the idea came to him. "Do you think we could make a kingdom?"

      His brother snorted. "Seriously, little brother, we only have one room in our Neohome; it only has a sofa and a table and three beds, one for me, one for you and one for Melanie. We aren't supposed to be inside anyways, remember; Melanie wants us to get 'fresh air.'"

      Teoko was silenced, but only for a moment. "We still have the boxes that the furniture came in, right?" he asked.

      "Yeah, it's behind the houses, but what do you want giant white boxes for?" But before Ral got his answer, Teoko was already running towards the Neohome to retrieve the boxes.

      For a good part of the day the youngest Kougra brother sat outside the island market with the boxes and a pair of Quiggle scissors. He cut the flaps on the bed boxes so that they interlocked when they lay side by side, then he cut the tops of them in half and pushed them to the sides to make nice high walls. He used the sofa box as a tower to one side of the main chamber and the box from the chair eventually became a draw bridge entrance. When he was done, it looked just like a small palace, perfect for him to rule from.

      Wondering where his brother went, Ral crept around the island eventually finding Teoko next to his finished masterpiece. His mouth dropped when he saw the structure that was as long as a normal Neohome room, though only half as wide, and had plenty of space to move around in. A sudden wave of jealousy swept over him.

      "Ha! Little Teoko, king of the cardboard boxes!" he jeered.

      Teoko now looked up from his work of making arrow slits (although he didn't have any arrows) and saw his twin brother glaring at him. Angrily, he walked to the other side of his palace where the door was and climbed inside to hide from his brother. To his delight, the inside of the palace was even more spacious then it looked like it would be from the outside. He could run in giant circles inside without even skimming the walls. He spent the rest of the evening in his kingdom, daydreaming about what a fine and regal king he could be. When nightfall came he carefully pushed his palace behind his Neohome, so no one would find it when there wasn't a brave king protecting it.

      Teoko woke at the first rays of sunlight the next morning and hurried outside to his castle. He decided that it was safer on the property so he pushed it to the furthest corner of the lot where Ral and Melanie never came. He didn't want to worry about intruders yet. Then he hurried back to the Neohome so Melanie wouldn't have to look for him before leaving for the day.

      To his great surprise, Melanie wasn't even starting to leave yet, but setting three large plates of Mynci waffles on the table. As they stood around the table and ate their breakfast, Teoko and Ral forgot everything in pure bliss. The light, fluffy waffles melted in their mouths and sweet sticky syrup oozed down their chins. They hadn't tasted anything so good after the long time they had spent only eating omelettes, yet they still had to wonder why they were being treated to waffles suddenly. Then, as if to answer their unspoken question, Melanie spoke.

      "I hope you all enjoyed breakfast," she said perkily. "I've been invited to go on a tour of Neopia with my friend; I'll be gone a couple of weeks, but I've left you loads of omelettes." She pointed to the deposit box in the corner which smelled strongly of eggs. "I'll send you a postcard, but I've got to go now so I don't miss the boat. Bye!"

      The twins stared after her. Both were thinking the same things. Why couldn't they go with her? She practically had seen all of Neopia already just from doing her so called 'dailies,' yet they had never even left the island.

      Teoko was first to complain once she left. "This isn't fair at all. I'd give anything to see all of Neopia, but we have to stay here and eat month old omelettes." He made a face that clearly showed his dislike of omelettes.

      Ral was still jealous of him and his kingdom, though, so he sniffly explained that she worked hard to take care of them and that she deserved a break, and then strode away. Teoko stared after him a moment, then shrugged and ran out the back door to where his palace was waiting. He imagined rows of pets lined up outside just to see him in all his glory, while inside servants ran back and forth bringing him more waffles, but after a while even the most creative Kougras get tired of imagining, and this was very much the case with Teoko. He also noticed that his palace was very empty, so he went out to search for some proper furniture.

      Having lived on the island all his life, Teoko knew just where to go to find various knickknacks: the tiki tack man's rubbish dump. He remembered when he and Ral were young and went there to get the extra plushies and acorn toys. He almost considered asking his brother if he wanted to help, but remembering Ral's bad mood he decided not to.

      The rubbish dump seemed especially full today. The Kougra found many hularoos and Kougra plushies that would make great citizens and servants; he also found a great amount of pots, vases, and bowls, and even a coconut mask, an authentic grass skirt, a mini coconut god statue, and two sets of island drums.

      Teoko took many trips to carry all of his treasures to the castle, but he was very satisfied once he did, yet he hadn't seen Ral at all since he left. Not too concerned, he started to set up his finds. He placed the vases in small arrangements throughout his domain, then he took the last vase and turned it upside down like a table. He placed this at the bottom of the tower and put the coconut god statue on it, a perfect altar to the coconut god. After setting up the drums and lining the citizens up against the wall he put the skirt on his head as a headdress and tied the mask around his face. He danced around his palace chanting gibberish as a ceremony of luck before his quest to Geraptiku for weapons. He lost track of time and soon the sky darkened and the moon rose, so Teoko decided his quest would have to wait until tomorrow.

      Inside the Neohome Teoko quietly went to his bed so he wouldn't wake his brother if he were asleep, but Ral was nowhere to be found. When morning came, Ral was still gone. Teoko shrugged it off, grabbed an omelette, and went to Geraptiku. The city was dark and a harsh wind sent shivers up the young Kougra's spine. He had only been in Geraptiku once, and Ral had been there. How he wished his brother weren't mad at him. He pushed on further into the deserted city. He heard a scuttling sound behind him, but turned around to see nothing. Once at the base of the deserted tomb he started to climb. Inside the tomb was dark and musty. He grabbed a torch off the wall; how he wished Ral were here.

      For the longest of times Teoko continued on, not knowing how he would find his way back out. Suddenly he bumped into a large box. He excitedly lifted the lid and grabbed his treasure. Inside was an obsidian dagger, a codestone and 3,000 coins. He gladly grabbed them and then sat down to eat his omelette. He danced all the way out of the tomb and back out of Geraptiku (he couldn't remember how he found his way out afterwards). He hurried to the trading post where a friendly Cybunny traded him a scarab slingshot and desert robe for his codestone and coins.

      While he was walking back to the Neohome, he thought he heard something moving around in a small grove of trees. What he saw surprised him.

      "Brother!" he exclaimed. "I've been wondering where you were! Have you been here all along?"

      Ral nodded his head but did not stop looking at his feet which he was splashing in a puddle.

      Noticing something was wrong, Teoko spoke again. "Are you okay?" he asked.

      The Kougra looked up at him. "Teoko, why does Melanie always leave us? Does she not care for us? I know it doesn't matter to you; all you do is sit around in your little palace all day."

      Teoko started to reply, but Ral suddenly flashed his eyes, a look of anger on his face, so the youngest brother just backed away. In his castle, Teoko tried out his slingshot, which worked very well. He also tried on his robe, which looked quite nice and regal.

      That night he was pleased to notice that Ral was asleep in his bed. He got up early in the morning before Ral even woke up to make sure he didn't make him angrier in any way. Teoko spent the day in his palace. Because he had no arrows, he enlarged the arrow slits so that he could shoot scarab stones out. He was working on making a place to hang his dagger when he heard paw steps outside. He peered through the slingshot hole and saw a green Kougra passing by. Ral!

      Ral heard a noise coming from within his little twin's creation. He stopped to listen. Suddenly something came whizzing out a hole in the side. He ducked, the projectile barely missing his head. Angry, he went to retrieve it so he could throw it at his brother. It was a scarab stone with a piece of paper taped to it, but when he picked it up he noticed the paper said something.

      Dear Ral,

      You have been invited to a party at the palace, please come.

      From,

      King Teoko

      Teoko eagerly opened the door for his brother. He quickly gave the robe to Ral to wear while he put on the grass skirt headdress and coconut mask. The twins took turns playing the drums and dancing around. They laughed and danced until late at night, then fell asleep right on the palace floor.

      A few days later and the brothers still ruled the castle together. Then a postcard came in the mail. On the front there was a picture of the Tyrannian Plateau with Tyrannian pets running around. On the back it said

      Dear Teoko and Ral,

      My trip has just taken me to Tyrannia. You won't believe what happened. I have been hired as Jazzmosis' stage manager; I'll be traveling with them the rest of the year. I love you both!

      Melanie

      When the Kougra brothers read this they both had a sparkle in their eyes, then got right to work with their shared, yet unspoken plans. In only a month their small cardboard palace had been reinforced with island stone walls around it and even a small moat. A new chamber was added on where the blankets off of the beds made cozy sleeping areas. Ral's pride, though, was a large grove of fruit trees which he had planted from seeds off of the rotting fruit behind the island food shop. Teoko soon learned his way around the Geraptiku tombs and they were able to buy more weapons and robes. Melanie never returned, but why should Teoko and Ral care? They spent many years of happiness in the kingdom they came to know as Arthen, and Teoko never wanted to leave again.

The End