The Flood that Brought Trouble:Part Three

     Team B took their positions on the roof of the Creep house and launched off to find signs of life and hopefully be able to help others. “We’ll split up and just fly around. Don’t touch the water because if you get too wet, you might not be able to fly. Everyone understand?” Ann asked.

     “Why can’t we just stay here and look from the top of the house? I don’t wanna fly!” Arenesia, the royal Elephante, complained.

     “If we have anyone has any VALID complaints, you can say them now,” Chris, the mutant Ruki, chimed in.

     Everyone hovered in the air in silence. “Good. Let’s split up. Go Team B!” Ann said before she took off.

     Ann flew off and knew where she was heading: Terror Mountain. She wanted to get an accurate measurement as to how high this flood was in other parts of Neopia. A few moments later, a blue Hissi with a Weewoo started to fly next to her. “Louis, what’re you and Peter doing? You should be investigating somewhere else?” Ann asked as she soared through the sky.

     “I don’t wanna be alone. It’s been a while since I have and this is important and I don’t wanna mess up,” Louis admitted.

     Ann smiled and said, “It’s ok but you have to know I’m going to Terror Mountain to make sure they’re okay. This flood is running really high and if it reaches the top of Terror Mountain, who knows what they consequences of this whole thing could actually be.”

     Louis nodded and smiled while his Weewoo tweeted along. They started to fly towards Terror Mountain and while they flew, they looked below and saw nothing but the ocean. “It’s like something you would read about in faerie tales but not something you would ever see,” Louis said.

     Before Ann could respond, she stopped. The temperature dropped over twenty degrees fahrenheit as they got closer to Terror Mountain. “My Fyora it’s freezing. I wish this flood at least made things warmer but Terror Mountain seems like it’s always gonna be cold,” Ann cursed.

     “Look!” Louis shouted. Ann looked up and saw a storm heading towards them. She cursed more and pressed on. Louis followed not because he wanted to but because he had no choice.

     “What’s the plan Ann?” Louis asked while Peter held on tight.

     “We keep going. We don’t have a choice if we want to make sure everyone’s ok,” Ann said.

     They both flew into the storm and tried to shield themselves from the blizzard. Louis, being smaller than Ann, was blown away and started to fall to the ocean. “Louis!” Ann screamed as she dive bombed after Louis.

     Louis was trying to flap towards Ann but the wind was too strong and in a short minute, Louis and Peter crashed into the ocean. Ann stopped right before she hit water, not being able to see Louis or Peter through the murky ocean. “Why does it look so colorful?” she asked in a slight panic.

     A few seconds later, a split Hissi shot straight out of the water with a white Weewoo. “Ann, did you see that dive?! That was amazing!” the hissi said as he held up the Weewoo while flying.

     Ann had to focus for a few moments but when the gears started to turn in her head, she realized who this was: “Louis, what happened to you?”

     Louis stopped celebrating and looked at himself: purple and orange. He looked to his Weewoo that was now the same shade of white that the Neopian Times Weewoos that delivered the paper had. He almost dropped Peter at this realization, but instead screamed, “WHY AREN’T I BLUE ANYMORE?!”

     ~~~

      Chris wanted to see what his hometown was like, considering it was now in the deep ocean. He carried his Lizark, Lark, on his back and buzzed to the mountains separating Altador from the Haunted Woods. When looking towards the distance, he saw branches peeking out of the water near where the Haunted Woods used to be. “Lark, let’s hope I’m still light,” Chris said to his petpet.

      Chris buzzed over to one of the trees and perched himself onto a heavier branch. He looked into the water and tried to see if he could find any remains of the Haunted Woods. The water’s too murky. I’ll never be able to find anything, Chris thought.

      Before he dipped his hand into the water to try and dissipate the murkiness, he noticed something coming straight towards him. Chris leaped from the tree in time before what looked like a purple fish grabbed and snapped the branch Chris was perched on. “A clampfish? But utility fish are retired…”

      Chris knew he had to report back to Hannah with this information but needed the proof to back up the claim. He didn’t want to put himself into any real danger but also didn’t want to go back empty handed. Sure, Hannah would still believe him, but since he was a mutant, no one would take him seriously without proper evidence. Chris looked around for a few moments until he looked over at Lark, who was sitting on his back, enjoying the sun.

      Chris picked up Lark and asked, “How would you like to be a huge help today Lark?”

      Lark smiled but didn’t realize Chris’s true intentions. Chris flew to a different tree and set Lark down on a branch. “Lark, don’t move, no matter what happens.”

      Chris buzzed a few feet above Lark and watched the water. He knew what was about to happen and waited for it to happen. It took less than ten seconds for the fish to try and grab Lark and when the fish tried to strike, Chris grabbed Lark and then quickly grabbed the fish. The fish struggled for a couple of seconds before powering down. “This isn’t right; utility fish should be able to function outside of the water, considering that is their own purpose. What do you think Lark?”

      Lark looked over at Chris, shaking from almost being eaten by a mechanical fish. Chris put Lark back onto his back and said, “I might as well head back to Shenkuu.”

     ~~~

      Since Bonzi was Arenesia’s sister, Bonzi wanted to stay close to Aren while flying. “Isn’t this exciting?” Bonzi asked, “You and me having some girl time for once! We never get that.”

      “Gee, I wonder why,” Aren said in a sarcastic tone Bonzi never once was able to pick up.

      “So, where should we fly off to first?” Bonzi asked as she frantically flapped.

      “I really don’t care. In fact, I was going to go back home because even though I have wings, I hate flying,” Aren confessed.

      Bonzi frowned and got closer to Aren. “But who will protect me in case something bad happens?” Bonzi asked.

      “Not me. I am not meant for fighting, I’m meant for shopping!” Aren complained.

      “Why don’t we go to Altador and shop there?” Bonzi suggested.

      “It’s going to be a couple hundred feet underwater. I think at this point, there is no point to doing this and we should just go home,” Aren counter-suggested.

      Before Bonzi could make another suggestion, they both heard a noise. Down below, they both saw a ship that was trying to signal them. Bonzi flew down to see what was happening but did not notice Aren flying away. When Bonzi landed, she greeted the passengers of the ship, “Hello! Are you folks alright?”

      The passengers pulled out their swords and a green Aisha wearing a bandana said, “Tell us what’s happening or else!”

      Bonzi looked around, hoping her sister was still around but was nowhere to be found. “I’m sorry gentlemen but I have no idea! I think I should get going before my sister worries where I am.”

      “Don’t you know who we are, lassy?” a grey colored Krawk asked as he pointed his sword at Bonzi.

      “Not a clue sir. You can tell me if you want,” Bonzi said, ignorant of the situation.

      “Gentlemen, I do not think this lass knows what we are, much less who,” said a voice from above. The source of the voice swooped down and landed in front of Bonzi, making her step back a few steps.

      “You look just like my cousin, Louis,” Bonzi nervously said.

      The pirate Hissi looked himself up and down and asked, “Why do you say that, lassy?”

      “My cousin is a Hissi too!”

      The Hissi snarled at Bonzi and scolded, “Just because I am a Hissi does not mean I look like every Hissi you know!”

      “But he has such cool siblings. They’re like you guys,” Bonzi said, becoming more nervous of the situation.

      “And what is that supposed to mean?” the green Aisha asked.

      “They’re pirates, like you guys.” The Hissi waved his arm, signaling to the other pirates to lower their weapons.

      “Pirates, you say? What’re their names? Maybe we know them,” the Hissi asked, intrigued.

      “Oh, well there’s Lily. She’s like the leader of her family and, since she’s a Lutari, she’s a great swimmer. Keen’s her younger sister and she’s like a second mate and really loves being a pirate! You don’t see pirate Xweetoks very often and she really wants to be painted pirate one day--” The Pirate Hissi held up his arm to signal to Bonzi to stop talking.

      “Lads, I think this lass is related to the scallywags that have been stealing our supplies. Miss, do you think your family would rescue you?” the Hissi asked.

      “Of course, but why do you---” The green Aisha grabbed Bonzi by her legs so she couldn’t fly to safety.

      “Tie her up in the crow’s nest and make sure she squawks. Only release her when Keen and Lily are captured. We’re going on a pirate hunt, men.”

     To be continued…