"Uggh," Rodain said, rubbing his head. He felt cold water around his legs and damp sand clinging to the fur on his stomach. Slowly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, wearily blinking his bleary eyes.

The bright rays of the sun reflected off the lightly coloured sand, causing the Lupe to squint. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the glaring light, eventually allowing him to get a first good look at his surroundings. Rodain was on the beach of what looked like a tropical island. Along the shorelines he could make out pieces of wood and other materials from the shipwreck.

He shook his head to clear the thought away, but the memories only grew stronger. The yelling that had awoken him during the night; the smell of smoke, and the flames that followed. Rodain had only just gotten onto the deck when the fire had reached the ship's flammable cargo. He didn't remember much after that, but apparently he'd been thrown into the water by the explosion's force. The white Lupe shuddered at the memories, and hoped that others had also made it off the ship. However, looking at the broken bits of wood still drifting onto the shore, he doubted his hopes would prove true.

Once he had recovered enough to stand, Rodain began to make his way along the beach. He was still unsure what island he was on, but as soon as he found a dock he would be able to find out more, and possibly book passage off the island.

For hours the Lupe wandered along the shore, with no other sign of life to be found. The sun was beginning to drift down towards the horizon when he spotted something in the sand, causing his heart to leap... tracks! Someone had left footprints in the sand! Eager to find anyone else on the island, Rodain ran as quickly as he could to the tracks. However, upon getting closer, his face (and his heart) fell. Looking down at his own tracks in the sand before him, he felt tears brim over his eyes as the true horror of the situation struck him.

He was alone, and lost, on a deserted island...

"Why me?" Rodain rhetorically muttered, slowly turning and walking into the foliage that lay a few yards north of shore. Suddenly he cried out, as he felt something hit him heavily upon the head. He looked to his left, then saw the culprit--a green object on the sandy ground, and brightened when he realized that it was a husked coconut. Looking around, he saw several others that had fallen from the palm trees towering above the sandy beach.

As lucky as he'd been at finding food, getting the food out of its protective layers was another story. Rodain's first instinct was to try and break it on a sharp rock, or bite it. The sun had set completely, and the stars shone brightly in the sky by the time he was able to hit the green husk at such an angle that it finally broke open, allowing him to peel it off. The brown husk (while not as difficult as the green one) required more finesse, because breaking it too roughly would spill the precious milk inside.

Rodain sighed, setting it down beside the rock. He'd get it open in the morning; he needed sleep now. He curled up on the sand and closed his eyes. Worries flooded his mind, keeping him from unconsciousness.

Tomorrow I'll break open that coconut, Rodain thought, and then I'll find a way out of here... Eventually, exhaustion overpowered his worries, and he finally drifted off to sleep...

...Rodain opened his eyes groggily and slowly sat up. The crashing of the waves against the shore were what had woken him; at first, he was confused as to why he was sleeping on a beach. Then, it suddenly hit him like a coconut in the head. He remembered the accident, and the shipwreck, and being stranded on this forsaken island...

He shook his head quickly, clearing is mind. From now on, he was going to think logically and optimistically. No more breakdowns like yesterday! he told himself sternly. Otherwise, he wouldn't get anywhere... like, say, off this island.

THUMP! Rodain jumped, remembering the coconuts, then yelped when he heard another thump, which sounded like it had been right behind him! The Lupe scrabbled away from the coconut trees. He then remembered the one that had hit him in the head the previous night, and turned to look for it, but was quite surprised to see that it was gone.

"What?" he whispered to himself. Genuinely confused, he circled the small area, yet found nothing. It couldn't have rolled away, could it? No, the place where he'd fallen asleep was flat, and it couldn't have been washed away by the seawater, since the tide line didn't reach him.

Rodain was just about to give up, when he heard a tremendous noise and turned to see that a wooden crate had washed up onto shore. His heart leaped.

It's from the shipwreck! he thought to himself, and, it his excitement, forgot about the missing coconut. He ran to the abused wooden crate, sloshing about in the water, and picked it up. Laughing and breathless, he dropped the crate, then searched for something to break the box open. Grabbing the nearest stick, he gave the already abused crate a few good whacks before the top of it caved in. The Lupe got on his knees and pulled away the wooden pieces, then peered into the crate. He gasped at what was inside, as memories came flooding back to him...

"How?" Rodain cried, scrambling to the staircase, "Was there an accident?"

"We don't know," Tiyan responded, his voice hoarse from all the smoke, "We think it started with the sail. It's almost like somebody put a torch to it." Rodain felt his stomach turn with horror.

"You don't mean--?" but he wasn't able to finish his sentence. Right at that moment, he and Tiyan emerged onto the deck, an explosion ripped the ship board from board. Rodain saw his captain's face only for a moment, an expression of utter terror upon it, before he disappeared into the smoke. The Lupe let out an ear-splitting howl.

Rodain started himself out of the memory, the howl hurting his already dry and stinging throat. It took him a moment to realize he was still on the island-- the memory had been so intense.

Sabotage! That's what caused the fire. Had somebody wanted the ship's cargo?

Suddenly, Rodain froze. Had he just heard something? He waited, and a shiver passed through him when he heard the sound again.

Footsteps in the sand. The Lupe slowly turned and found...

...Tiyan, limping towards him from across the sand, and in terrible condition. He was burnt badly, his bandana was bloodied, and his shirt and pants tattered. He seemed to be almost delirious from the tropical heat. He must've survived the explosion, miraculously, and floated with the wooden crate to the deserted island.

"Rodain, you mutinous scum!" the Acara shouted, hoarsely. "I know... I know you were the one who did this to me... to my ship... to the crew..." He continued to approach Rodain, and was getting closer, but Rodain was backing away.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Captain!" Rodain said, shocked. "Please, let's just find some way to get off this island, or at least find some way to surv--"

Tiyan interrupted the Lupe. "No, you'll just betray me... like you did to the rest of our shipmates!"

"I have proof that you did, too!" the Acara declared, pulling forth a normal looking torch, and shoving it in Rodain's face.

At first Rodain didn't see anything special about the torch, except for being soaked and charred. Rodain replied, "I don't understand, Captain... maybe we should get in the shad--"

Tiyan interrupted again, furious with Rodain. "Look closer, you traitor! See these claw marks on the torch?"

Rodain saw them, and soon the horrible memories of the explosion were coming back. He tried to stop them, but the dam he was trying to build wouldn't hold back the mental flood. "No... I couldn't have done it... could I...?"

Tiyan reached towards Rodain...

"Captain Tiyan--no! I didn't do it!" Rodain yelped, struggling to free himself from the Acara's blue paws.

Captain Tiyan let go. Surprised, the Lupe stumbled backwards. Suddenly, with a mighty blow, Tiyan struck Rodain across the head with the torch.

Dizzily stumbling about, Rodain plunged into unconsciousness.

Rodain was on a mission. He quickly darted around a cabin, paw pads making no sound on the ship's floor. He paused, ears pricked, listening for any sound. There was none. Torch in his mouth, the white Lupe ran over to a sail on the mighty ship. Suddenly, Rodain's swift ears caught the sound of footsteps. He jumped behind the sail and crouched down, listening. It was just old Captain Tiyan, hobbling back to his cabin. Rodain grinned. The fool... he would never expect his true intentions tonight.

Rodain swiftly darted back to the sail. Setting the torch down, he quickly lit the match and set fire to the torch. With a swift swipe of his paw, Rodain launched the torch at the sail. The light fabric was quickly engulfed by flames. Rodain sprinted back to his cabin and laid down in his bunk, trying to suppress a grin. It was just then that Captain Tiyan burst into the room.

"Rodain, the ship's caught fire!" Captain Tiyan yelled.

Rodain awoke with a start. Trembling, he held out his shaking front paws and examined them closely. Under his nails, there was wood... the same type of wood the torch was made out of. "No," Rodain said weakly.

"Nooooooooooooo..."

...Tiyan advanced on Rodain.

"Why'd ye do it, lad?" the captain demanded. "What would ye have gotten out of it?"

Rodain looked at the sand, not having the courage to face Tiyan.

"I-I-I don't know. I didn't have any reason to harm the ship or the crew. I'm a g-good kid. I would n-never ever do anything like that! I don't understand."

The Lupe shook his head and slumped down into the sand, staring at the evidence in his own paws. That's when Rodain remembered... the coconut! He had tried to rip it open! It was the brown skin from the coconut under his claws, not the wood. He then remembered that he had never solved the case of the stolen coconut. Rodain looked closely at at the captain's fur, especially around his mouth... a-ha! His fur had coconut milk spilled on it! That meant that the captain had been on the island before the crate!

"Captain, how could you..."

"The coconut!" Rodain declared, refusing to be scared into silence. "You knew that I scratched at the coconut skin to try and open it, so you knew my paws would be covered with brown debris. It's a set up! How could you frame me?!"

Tiyan jumped up, a hidden coconut flying from behind his back and hitting Rodain square in the head. Everything began to spin around him as he took one last, accusatory look at his former captain before slipping into unconsciousness. "You shouldn't have made me mad, my boy..." were the last words he heard.

When Rodain awoke, it was to an accompanyment of the gentle and familiar sounds of the sea. He tried to sit up, but his head was still spinning, and he was tied securely to... something. The Lupe began to panic, thrashing against his bonds, and when he found that all he was doing was making it worse, Rodain forced himself to relax. "What am I going to do now?" He thought, his mind in total disarray. The heat, hunger, and repeated loss of consciousness was leaving him confused. No wonder it had been so easy for the captain to convince him, and make his mind imagine that he'd been the one who sabotaged the ship! The Lupe growled, while desperately looking around. Speaking of the captain...

...He was off in the distance on the shoreline, busily loading a rowboat with various crates from the ship's wreckage. The Lupe also noticed that he wasn't limping anymore. In fact, he looked to be in perfect health.

As Rodain's senses gradually returned to him, he was finally able to make sense of all the events that had led up to this point. The sabotage, the deserted island, the seemingly unharmed cargo, the mysterious rowboat... yes, it all came together now in Rodain's mind, which was also being assaulted with great concern, since his former captain looked to be almost finished loading all the cargo onto the boat, which was now thoroughly weighed down by all the crates. The Lupe feared being left stranded here, forever...

With time being of the essence, Rodain quickly inspected his predicament. He was tied rather tightly, with his paws on the other side of a thick palm tree's base. Luckily for him, however, the palm tree (like all other palm trees) had rough ridges all along the length of its trunk. With enough time, he could use the ridges to cut through the thick ropes that bound him. All he needed now was a diversion, and he knew just what to do.

Carefully, as he started to cut the ropes that restrained him, Rodain asked, "Captain, just tell me one thing... why did you do it?"

Tiyan's ear twitched, and he turned to the Lupe, a smirk spreading across his face. "Alright, my boy... since you were my first mate, I guess you deserve an explanation. The truth is this: I'm a pirate, and I've been one for many years. I work for the smugglers of the Smuggler's Cove, and this day was many months in the making. As you well know, our cargo was made up of some very rare and exotic weapons--weapons that we knew would greatly benefit those of us from the Smuggler's Cove. Thus, after calculating the location of this island, and ensuring that the cargo was safeguarded from any possible explosions, I sabotaged the ship. The plan? To rendezvous all cargo here, which I would then transport back to the Smuggler's Cove on my rowboat here. Best of all, since the ship sunk beneath the ocean, everyone will simply dismiss it as a tragedy that was caused by a storm, and the weapons would thus be assumed lost. It was the perfect plan, really..."

Rodain listened intently, all the while working vigorously at his bonds, which were just starting to tear against the jagged, wooden blades of the palm tree. "You would sacrifice the lives of your crew, and your ship, just to satisfy your personal greed?!?" he asked.

Tiyan laughed heartily. "You have so much to learn about the pirate's way of life, my boy... now, if you'll excuse me..."

Just then Rodain's bonds broke, and he quickly searched around with his freed paws for some sort of weapon; his eyes never leaving the Acara's gaze. "Wait!" he cried.

"Forget it, boy... there is nothing left to say!" Tiyan replied.

Rodain's heart leapt as his left paw suddenly rested on a rough, circular object. A coconut! He tightly gripped it in his paw, then diverted his gaze towards the sand next to Tiyan. "You forgot something!" Rodain yelled, nodding in the direction of the area.

Tiyan instinctively turned towards the place where Rodain was staring; that's when the Lupe made his move. He quickly hurled the coconut he was gripping toward Tiyan, who only had time to block the assault with his left forepaw. The strike was still effective, however, in the fact that it caused the Acara to lose his balance, which gave Rodain the time he needed to successfully tackle him to the ground.

Tiyan cursed and tried to fight his assailant off, but Rodain fought back just as hard. They rolled along the sand together, each fighting with all their might to overpower the other.

Tiyan was a dirty player, though. He picked up a handful of sand, then sent it splashing into Rodain's eyes.

Rodain scowled and covered his burning retinas, allowing Tiyan to take the advantage. He quickly shoved his adversary to the side and made a dive for the rowboat. The reason, Rodain feared, was to grab a weapon. Thus, acting fast (and temporarily without the aid of sight) Rodain grabbed for the Acara's tail, which he somehow managed to get a hold on and quickly yank, causing Tiyan to grimace and fall face-first into the sand.

Rodain forced himself to bypass the excruciating irritation within his eyes and quickly scanned the battlefield for something, anything, he could use to his advantage. His blurry eyes quickly caught a faint glimmer of brown, and he squinted to get a better view of it. It was his coconut! He grabbed it and, moving quickly, slammed the coconut into the back of the Acara's skull, just as he was attempting to stand back up.

Tiyan let out a weak groan before collapsing unconscious into the sands.

Rodain dropped the coconut to the ground and let out a deep sigh of relief, while rubbing the sand free from his eyes.

He got up, dusted off, and considered the rowboat while examining it. Though it had the capacity to support the added weight of a person, and possibly even two for that matter, he was still skeptical about taking it. For, without any desired course, and well-knowing that he would get no help from his former captain, he could easily become lost at sea. That was a risk Rodain didn't care to take.

However, his thoughts were suddenly distracted as, out from the corner in his eye, off in the distance, he saw...

The Lupe yelled loudly, jumping up and down and waving his paws. A Kacheek on the upper deck spotted him and waved back. As he walked towards the ship, the anchor was weighed and a little boat started coming towards him, with about ten of the sailors on it.

"Hello there!" Rodain sshouted towards the Mynci whom he thought might be the captain. He lifted his tri-corn hat to him.

"Hello. I'm Captain Jacques, of the Ivory Tiger. You're lucky we got here in time, by the looks of you! Here, take a drink." He handed Rodain a jug of water, which the Lupe drank from deeply.

Captain Jacques instructed his crew to tie up Tiyan. Rodain helped them load the washed up cargo onto the ship.

"So you're definitely sure there are no more of the crew on this island?" Captain Jacques asked.

"Yes. It was just me, and that traitor," he said, indicating towards Tiyan.

"How did you know where to find me?" Rodain said.

"Come aboard the Tiger, and I'll tell you exactly what happened."

Later, once they were all aboard the ship, and Tiyan was tied tightly in the hold, Rodain sat with the captain and first mate in his private cabin. Rodain was eating ravenously, slowly wiping out his hunger, and listening as Jacques explained.

"Well, we were just sailing past you see, with a cargo of sugar and coconuts. We didn't even know this little island was here. Then we saw something bobbing in the water--a bunch debris, and several sailors clinging on for their lives. We hauled 'em aboard and gave them some water, to revive them a bit. They told us all about the ship that they'd been on, and how it had unexpectedly exploded, and their suspicions about the captain. Yes, it wasn't only you who figured it out. A pirate! When we get home, we can hand him over, and let justice decide what will become of him. But back to your crewmates... They told us that there was a small island they'd spotted, and that they had drifted a long way from it. So, we decided to check if there were any other survivors, before we carried on our way. That's when we found you... and now you're safe and sound. The rest of your crewmates are resting below deck. A lucky lot there."

"Thank you. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have survived for long." Rodain said.

"Arr, think nothin' of it, Rodain."

A week later, the Lupe was walking back on solid ground. He was awarded a medal for catching Tiyan, a notorious criminal, and given his very own ship. The rest of the crew had returned with him, celebrating him as their new captain; and to this day, they still sail the high seas of Neopia.

The End