Avatar Goldmine

     It was a rocky ride from across the sea, and the little paddleboat rocked up and downwards through the rocky waves. Rysony shivered as the thunder sounded out on the rainy and cold evening. But he was prepared to undertake any weather condition or whatever other challenges might stand in the way of finding Meggily.

     The waters started to rise as he got closer and closer to Maraqua. Rysony was practically drowning in the increasingly deep water when he was approached by a large Goldy that was guarding the Maraqua sign.

     The Goldy observed Rysony and his boat, "Hello there adventurer. How may I help?"

     Rysony responded, "I’m currently on a quest to find my lost sister and King Hagan of Brightvale suggested I check here, as I lost her not too far away in the Mystery Island kingdom."

     The Goldy listened to Rysony thoughtfully, "It is very brave of you to undertake this quest. Very well, you may come through. Since you’re not a water Neopet, I shall equip you with an oxygen mask. This will help you breathe underwater in Maraqua!"

     Rysony nodded and put on the mask Goldy had given him. At first, he could feel the mask steam up, but it faded away after a few seconds. Now Rysony was able to navigate around Maraqua!

     Ry nodded and gave Goldy a thumbs up to thank him. The Goldy waved Rysony goodbye, wishing him luck as Rysony continued to row above the waters of Maraqua. He docked his boat and dove down to the depths of Maraqua

      Rysony had never been here, so this was all very new to him. He floated eagerly through various of shops such as the Collectable Sea Shells, Maraquan Battledome Items and of course, the ever-known Kelp! How Rysony wished he could afford to buy something from any of these stores. As much Rysony was enjoying his adventure, he sighed deeply, as he knew he must continue on his adventure.

     Rysony decided to walk down to the Ye Olde Fishing Vortex as he remembered how some of his wealthier friends at Neo school had been on a fishing vacation down at Maraquan. Maybe he’ll be able to get some ideas there too.

     Rysony walked down this wooden plank, to observe a yellow Cybunny sporting a ‘bucket hat’ and a purple Krawk who also had just an impressive bucket hat. For the next 5 minutes, it was a constant "You got anything buddy" "Naw" dialogue between the 2 Neopets.

     Several minutes passed before Rysony was suddenly started by a flopping Chaosfish followed by several loud footsteps that came running on the plank, behind him. "Oi you! Come back here" Rysony gasped as he turned behind him to see a Neopian with brown hair and glasses running after the Chaosfish. Several seconds later, the Neopian jumped by Rysony as she attempted to grab the Chaosfish with both of her hands but the Chaosfish evaded her grasp. The Neopian sighed, "They don’t call them Chaosfish’ for nothing. But anyway, I’m Mandy. You can call me MandyPandy, or whatever works for you." "Ry" introduced himself politely. Mandy smiled and continued "Well if you ever want to know anything about fish, come to me. I’d be more than happy to help!"

     After a few seconds of hesitation, Rysony shouted for Mandy as she began to walk away. "Uh yeah actually, I’m on this quest for avatars and I hear you can get an avatar if you catch a Titanic Giant Squid here." Mandy turned to Rysony and whispered "Yes that’s correct, let’s see if my 2 friends here can help you", she whistled and the Cybunny and Krawk that were sitting next to Rysony swiftly turned to face them. Mandy explained how Rysony was looking to obtain the Fishing - Titanic Squid avatar. The Cybunny and Krawk nodded their heads and chattered excitedly among themselves. "Yes yes! Come sit here pal" Rysony took his place, sitting in between the Krawk and Cybunny. Ry looked at both Neopets, chuckling nervously. The Krawk handed over Rysony his best fishing rod and explained "This is the best fishing rod you can get in Neopia!" The Cybunny nodded like an excited child. "Let’s see what we can get."

     Rysony remembered how his Neo-friends had been talking about how to reel in a fish but, he had never been fishing himself. First time for everything he thought to himself.

     Ry put the bait on the end of his fish and plopped the line into the waters. Within a few seconds, he could feel something heavy tugging on the end of his fishing rod. "Ye got a catch buddy!!" The Cybunny exclaimed excitedly. The Krawk held onto Rysony from behind, with the Cybunny attempting to help Rysony reel in the catch. After what felt like a lifetime, he eventually managed to get it out of the waters. The Krawk and Cybunny huddled together to observe what it was. Quickly followed was a disappointed sigh from the Krawk "Aw drats. A rotten old boot!" "Tough luck buddy," The Cybunny said to Rysony sympathetically.

     Rysony sighed, maybe Uskuis aren’t made for fishing He thought to himself. Ry patted on the Krawk and Cybunny’s back to show his token of thanks before standing. They looked at Rysony for a second and continued to focus on the waters. Rysony started walking and was about 20 steps away when he heard a loud shout "HEY BUDDY!’ I GOT A CATCH!!" Rysony followed his gut instinct and rushed back to the Cybunny to sit in between the Cybunny and Krawk once more. He looked at the Cybunny who grunted as he huffed and puffed trying to reel in the catch. "Here take this. It’s heavy I tell you!" Rysony put all his weight into trying to reel the fish in, so much that Rysony almost fell in the water. After 2 or 3 minutes of struggling, he finally managed to pull the fish out. The effort caused Rysony to collapse onto the plank out of exhaustion. He was awoken a few seconds later by a very excited Cybunny shaking him. "Buddy. Buddy!" "Look!" He handed over the square icon. "That catch was a Titanic Giant Squid. Nice one!" The Krawk explained. Rysony looked at his new avatar in disbelief. How did he even manage this one? He couldn’t wait to show and tell his friends about this. Mandy had overheard and ran over to hug Rysony and congratulate him on his achievement. "Very well-done Ry! Very few manage to achieve this feat." Mandy's hug was followed by high fives from a very excited Cybunny and Krawk.

     Mandy stopped Rysony as he was about to depart, "By the way, there may not be much here so my best suggestion would be to head over east to Haunted Woods. You may see my friend Willy there. Word is he hasn’t left haunted woods since he’s gotten the Haunted Woods stamp avatar. He wears these bright colourful fuzzy socks without any shoes, so you can’t miss him. Good luck Ry!"

     Rysony decided to call for Harry to transport him over to Haunted Woods, his next destination.

     Harry, as per usual, came flapping by to sit on his footstep ready to teleport Rysony over. "Might be a rocky one tonight but let’s go!" He said as he lifted his wings, inviting Rysony on his back.

     It was another cold and wet evening. Rysony struggled to see through the thick mist, he couldn’t imagine how poor Harry was managing to navigate his way. Eventually, after a couple of hours, they suddenly felt a shake. "Uh I’m going to have to stop here and wait for the mist to pass away" Harry informed Rysony apologetically. "Yeah sure that’s fine" Rysony assured Harry. "I think we’re just above Altador so only an hour or so to go" Harry exclaimed.

     They landed to find Harry was right, they were in fact in Altador.

     Rysony laid on the ground, leaning his head on his hands in front of his backpack. He was about to fall asleep when suddenly the mist in front of Rysony grew darker. Rysony shivered as he felt cold air run through his body and saw a figure approaching Rysony and Harry through the mist. Harry alarmingly flapped his wings "It’s Dr Sloth, Rysony!! Run!"

     To be continued…