To The Rescue?: Part Two

     ~*~*~*~

Knock, knock, knock!

     "Go away!"

     Knock, knock, knock!

     "I won't hesitate to fight you!"

     "Jet! It's me!"

     "Red?"

     "And Cat!"

     "Oh great! Why did you bring her along?"

     "Hey! That's not nice, we're BFFs!"

     "I'm not your BFF!"

     "How can you say that?"

     The door opened and Jet glared at us with unamused eyes. "Sky," he said curtly. His eyes shifted to Cat. "Ugh."

     "You're not a morning guy, are you?" Cat asked.

     "What was your first clue?" Jet asked sarcastically.

     "Hmm. I think it's how tired your voice is." Cat wasn't catching on to his sarcasm.

     He rolled his eyes. "What do you two want?"

     "We need to talk to you," I said. "Can we come in?"

     He ran a paw through his messy black fur. "My neohome... is... sort of a mess."

     I smiled. "No offense, but you don't strike me as the type of Neopian who runs a tight ship. I expect your place to be an utter and complete mess."

     Jet smirked. "Well, in that case, come on in."

     "Yay!" Cat cheered. We stepped inside his home and my suspicions were proved correct; his place looked like a war zone. Pizza boxes, Kelp takeout, clothes, swords, and almost everything that shouldn't be on a floor was on his floor. He barely had any furniture, a black chair here, a wooden table there. I also noticed a few holes inside his wall, but decided not to ask. I really don't want to know.

     "So," Jet said, unleashing a yawn. "What's up?"

     Before answering him, I sat down on one of his chairs (at least I think it's a chair). "Last night I went to Tyrannia's Plateau," I began.

     "See a concert?"

     "No, hush. Anyway, I went up past the foothills because I was looking for old caves that could be there." Jet gave me a knowing look. "Just let me finish," I said. "While I was searching through I found a cave and went inside to check it out. After nothing happened, I went out and decided to go home for the night. However, as I was walking away, I heard a very distinct cry saying, 'help me'! Then there was a robotic Pawkeet and--"

     Jet gave me a hard stare. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. He opened it again, but closed it yet again. Finally, he gave an exasperated sigh. "Red, are you sure you weren't hearing things?"

     "Positive." I nodded.

     "Right, well, I knew you'd say that. So I'm sure you were hearing things."

     "Oh, come on, BFF, don't tell me you don't believe her!" Cat cried.

     Jet glared at her. "Quiet, you."

     "Look," I told him, "it wouldn't hurt to check it out. I may have a lead, and the least we can do is check it out."

     "No, the least we could do is nothing. I could sit down and do nothing all day long." Jet crossed his arms stubbornly.

     I groaned. "What are you so afraid of?" I demanded. "You're Jet Black, the fearsome shadow Kacheek! You live for danger, danger is your best friend, you have lunch with danger time-to-time." He wouldn't budge. I sighed. "Cat, can you give us a minute?"

     She nodded. "Kay." She walked outside and started whistling.

     I turned back to Jet. "Please," I said softly, "Jet, I can't do this without you."

     He smirked. "You're so cute when you're desperate." He laughed and stood up. "Okay, Red, I'm game." Defiantly, I smacked him in the arm. "Ouch! What was that for?" he hissed.

     I stuck my tongue out at him. "That's for making me beg. And don't call me Red."

     ~*~*~*~

     This time I had a scarf around my neck and an adventuring backpack across my shoulders. In. Out. In. Out. Breath, Sky. In. Out. Breath. I looked to my left and saw Jet standing next to me, loading a sword into the sheath around his waist. He gave me a quick look and nodded. I took off my scarf and replaced it with a cerulean blue cloak, pulling the hood over to cover my face. Jet put on his black cloak hood as well.

     "Ready?" he asked.

     I took out my bow and arrows from my backpack, slinging the arrows over my shoulders to replace the backpack, and holding onto the quiver. "Ready," I confirmed.

     We descended into the cave of Tyrannia. The cave where hundreds of petpets were made into slaves six years ago, the same cave Gargrall ruled with his rubies, the same cave where Samuel saved everyone.

     The cave was dark as it was expected to be. Both of us remained silent and carefully walked inside. "There," I whispered to Jet, "that was where the robot Pawkeet was." He flashed the light where I pointed. Across the cave floor where electronic bits and pieces of what was left of the Pawkeet robot. "Believe me now?"

     He smirked. "Shut up." Jet started walked ahead of me, taking his sword out cautiously. He stepped past the robot pile and looked down into the deep path that lead into the undergrounds of the cave. "Ready?" Jet asked.

     The Pawkeet's warning rang throughout my mind:

     "Turn back now. Never come back. Or you'll be trapped forever!"

     "Red?" Jet asked again after a silence.

     "Yes." I nodded. Jet extended a paw and I took his paw in mine, stepping with him into the deep undergrounds of the cave. What lies beneath-- who knows? Rubies? maybe. Gargrall? Possibly. Petpets? Hopefully.

     ~*~*~*~

     I remember when Meridell had a heat wave when I was twelve and I thought, 'It can't get much worse than this.' Well, I was wrong. It could get worse; I could be inside an underground cave tunnel, with boiling lava that could scorch the fur off my skin! Kacheeks aren't built for hot weather (at least Samuel is a Scorchio; he's made for this).

     To take our mind off the heat, Jet and I decided to play 'would you rather'. Childish? Yes. Fun? You bet!

     "Would you rather kiss a mortog or get painted invisible?"

     Jet laughed. "I'd rather get painted invisible."

     "Figures. You'd prank so many people you'd be a bigger threat than the Pant Devil."

     "Sounds about right. Your turn, would you rather be Dr. Sloth's personal servant for a day or get beaten up by Punchbag Bob?"

     "Oooh. Punchbag Bob can't beat anyone up."

     Jet smirked. "That's the point."

     "Well, I guess I'd rather be Dr. Sloth's servant. Okay, would you rather become a mutant Usul, or-- DUCK!"

     "Duck what?"

     "No!" I cried. I pushed Jet out of the way right before a falling stalactite came between us! The stalactite slammed into the ground and shattered, making the ground shake like an earthquake. Jet's eyes were wide and he stared in shock that it almost got him. "Jet," I panted, my voice shaky, "are you alright?"

     He grabbed his sword again and nodded, slowly standing to his feet. "We need to be more careful," he said solemnly. He pulled me into a reassuring hug (and that's saying something for Jet). "You okay?" he mumbled.

     "Uh-huh."

     "Come on, Sky. Let's be careful, alright?"

     "Uh-huh." I pulled out of his embrace and tightened my grip on my quiver. "This is our mission. We can do this."

     He nodded. "Of course." Once again he led the way as we traveled farther down into the cave.

     Soon, there was a rushing noise, except we knew better than to think it was a rushing river. We had come to our first lava river. The bubbling red lava flowed easily, the bubbles that came up popping and spewing like popcorn, so we couldn't get too close.

     There were no stone boats, the only thing sturdy enough to get across. It looks like we need to get inventive. "No matter what happens, don't get close to that magma; it's deadly," Jet told me.

     "Trust me, I don't plan on taking a lava bath anytime soon."

     I tried my very best to ignore the scalding heat. We couldn't remain here for long; we either had to get across or go back. Both Jet and I didn't want to turn back.

     An idea struck me! I took out my arrows and selected a special one, one that had a rope attached to the end of it. I set the arrow up on my bow, strung it back, and shot it off!

     Wham!

     The arrow hit the cave wall on the opposite side of the magma. I tugged the rope to check it was taut. Smiling, I turned to Jet, "We can climb the rope across."

     He raised a brow. "You shot it to the other side?"

     "Yup."

     "Is it taut?"

     "As taut as ever."

     Jet grumbled. "How do you know it's safe?"

     "I don't, but it's all I've got." I jumped up onto the rope above me. "Come on." Suddenly I was pulled back to the ground. "Hey!"

     He shook his head. "I go first."

     "Why?"

     "Because I said so. If I get across safely, you go next. Got it?" Before I could object, Jet used his amazing upper arm strength and started to climb his way across the rope. When he was directly over the magma I held my breath. Please don't fall, please don't fall! "Check it out, Red, one hand!"

     "DON'T YOU DARE, JET BLACK!"

     "Kidding! Sheesh." He scurried along the rope and jumped down on the ground on the other side of the lava. "It's safe to come on," he confirmed.

     I took a deep breath. This was just like the monkey bars at the school playgrounds. I can do this. My grip was tight when I jumped up, a strong firm grip needed to make it across. Slowly I swung forward with my right paw, and then my left, and after a few swings I was no longer under the hard cave floor, but directly above the boiling magma.

     Don't. Let. Go.

     Quickly I swung again, closing my eyes, trying to imagine soft lush grass beneath me instead of fatal lava. Another swing. Another, and another, and another.

     I opened my eyes and I saw I had a third of a way to go. Before I started to swing again I could feel my paws become sweaty because of the intense heat of the room. No. They can't be sweaty. This can't be good.

     Now I was in desperation. Faster, faster, hurry! With the combination of my sweaty paws and the momentum of my swings, I suddenly lost grip on the rope!

     Everything happened so fast.

     "SKY! NO!" I heard Jet holler.

     I felt myself beginning to fall and the heat from the lava get closer--

     Then suddenly there was a flash of pink, a hard jerk on my cloak, and a loud thump as I fell onto the cave floor of the other side!

     What? I opened my eyes, looked up, and both Jet and I couldn't believe our eyes. "Ello?"

To be continued...