| The storm clouds rolled over the sky with an audible rumble, but Sammy, a yellow Meerca, and Mitch, his blue Zafara friend, drowned out the ominous sounds with their joking and laughter.
"And so I said to him, 'oh yeah? Well, your FACE!'" Mitch yelled the end of his story as the two erupted in boisterous and hysterical laughter.
"You didn't!" Sammy gasped between guffaws.
"Oh, you bet I did! And he just stood there and looked confused at me, but oh man was it funny!"
The tiny and sporadic sprinkles of rain that splattered onto their fur were brushed off without a second thought. The two friends ducked into the Food Shop and strolled down the aisles, scouting out their midday meal.
"How about carrots?" Sammy suggested, holding a carrot against his nose like a snowman.
"Hah, that's awesome! Hey, how about these bananas?" Mitch laughed as he held a banana at the tip of his own nose. "Look, I'm an Elephante!"
The Meerca and Zafara had been friends ever since they could remember, and it was awfully hard to separate the two. Anywhere one went, the other would go too, and they shared an odd sense of humor that few others understood or appreciated. It didn't matter to them, though, because they had fun.
The wind was blustering harder, having escalated from simply rustling through the tree leaves to charging through them and whipping smaller branches against the trunks with a resounding "CRACK."
"Hey Mitch, look," Sam said as he opened his mouth wide to reveal chewed up peanut butter and bread.
"Aww, ew!" Mitch laughed in mock disgust before creating and showing the same display to his friend.
The cracking of the small branches against tree trunks was nothing compared to the next BOOM and CRACK that filled the air. A blazing bolt of white-hot lightning came jetting down from the sky, striking an old tree on the base of its trunk and splintering the spot to bits. The rest of the tree came sailing down through the space, screaming and groaning its indignation.
Sammy jumped back. Mitch jumped forward.
The tree slammed down between them... |
Author: water_park1993
Date: May 15th
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"Woah," Mitch screamed. "I almost became a pancake!"
"I could eat you for breakfast!" Replied Sammy, climbing over the tree to get to Mitch. When Sammy reached where Mitch was standing, the grin fell off of his face as he noticed how shaken up his friend looked.
"Hey Buddy," Sammy said softly. "Don't be shook up. The tree missed us, it was just a close call."
But Mitch didn't respond, or even notice Sammy standing there. Mitch was staring out the shop window with a horrified look on his face.
Sammy followed Mitch's gaze out the window and couldn't help but gasp as he saw...
| Author: she_chose_love
Date: May 15th |
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...A strange, glowing figure, crouched motionless on the charred tree-stump. Its body was fluorescent blue and as bright as lightning, so bright that Sammy found himself squinting just to see it.
The figure turned its head, revealing slim, curved eyes in perfect white. It made eye contact with them and froze, ears shot bolt upright before it turned heel and bolted into the forest.
"What was that?" asked Mitch.
"I don't know," said Sammy.
"Did you see its ears? It looked like a-"
Sammy found himself blinking. The charred stump seemed so mundane without that blue creature crouched over it. It was as though it had never been there at all.
"A Neopet?" Sammy said.
"Yeah," said Mitch. "It looked like an Aisha."
"An Aisha did that?!"
"I don't know!" Said Mitch, pulling his arms tightly across his chest. "Maybe they didn't mean to! Maybe they were scared!"
Sammy looked back at the charred stump and the blackened ground, and the edge of the forest beyond it, a wall of tall trees that hugged the path to Neopia Central.
"Whatever it was," said Sammy, "Now it's out there."
| Author: inkdeer
Date: May 16th |
|
..."Should we go follow it?" Mitch asked.
"No way!" Sammy exclaimed, putting his hands up defensively. "We don't know what it's up to. It could be dangerous."
"Yeah, but it might be hurt!" Mitch protested, looking out to the forest again. "Maybe there's something we could do to help?"
Sammy sighed and sat down on the ground. "Look, don't make fun of me for this, but I'm kind of scared of forests," he admitted reluctantly.
"What?!" The Zafara shouted in surprise. "Have you ever even been in one? I go in them all the time whenever you can't hang out! They're totally fine."
"No, but they look so creepy!" Sammy replied, not meeting his friend's eyes. "I just don't know if I can do it."
Mitch offered his hand to his best friend to help him up. "But I'll be with you the whole time. Best friends protect each other. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."
Sammy was very reluctant, but the kind look in Mitch's eyes gave him some courage. "Alright, but don't make me regret it." He gave his friend his hand to get up.
"Alright man, let's go see where that Aisha went!" Mitch said excitedly as the two ran off in the same direction that the Aisha went. Little did they know that they were being watched...
| Author: golden1188
Date: May 16th |
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By the same Aisha that ran by earlier.
Mitch and Sammy followed the trail into the woods. Mitch raised his head and yelled, "Aisha, where are you?"
Sammy jumped and whispered at him, "Mitch! Be quiet! We don't know if there is anyone even in this forest."
"I go here all the time," He reminded his friend. "There isn't anyone or anything unusual here."
As soon as he finished his sentence, Sammy caught a blue blur at the corner of his eye. He stopped dead and froze. "I think I saw it!"
Mitch stopped too, and all of a sudden there was a strange "ahhhhing" sound around them. Sammy looked spooked and he turned to Mitch, saying...
| Author: ditzydoo95
Date: May 16th |
|
"I don't think it's just...one Aisha, Mitch."
Sammy and Mitch watched as multiple blue blurs began to race across the forest, darting in and out from among the trees. First one, then another, possibly at least ten Aishas zoomed past their line of sight. The "ahhhhs" became louder and louder as the Aishas moved closer.
The two friends could not help but watch the fantastic show of lights, but they soon became a bit unsettled. The blurs slowly came closer, closer, closer, circling around them! Sammy and Mitch stood back to back as a circle of ten Aishas formed, staring straight at them. There was no escape.
Mitch looked worriedly at Sammy. "What do you think they want with us? We can't possibly fight all of them ourselves."
"I don't know Mitch," Sammy responded, "we didn't even do anything to them! Is it possible they're friendly?"
An older-looking Aisha, one which was clearly their leader, took two steps towards the two friends and began to speak. "I have come to tell you..."
| Author: michaelruss
Date: May 17th |
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you are in great danger."
"D-danger," stammered Mitch. "what kind of danger?"
"That I cannot tell you," replied the Aisha. "You know the charred tree by the shop that you were in? Well there will be way more charred trees and charred other things in your future."
"What is causing the charring?" Asked Sammy.
"You mean who." Replied the Aisha. "I can show you, if you follow us." The Aisha pointed towards a dark, twisty path leaded deeper into the forest.
"Sammy, I know it looks scary, but I think we need to follow him." Whispered Mitch.
Sammy took a deep breath. "Okay," he whispered...
| Author: she_chose_love
Date: May 17th |
|
...the two friends walked with the Aisha down the path. It was getting darker and fog was starting to circle around their feet. "So where exactly are you taking us?" Sammy asked nervously. "And who are you?"
"I am Tarvon the Wise. I am the leader of my Aisha Tribe. We have been struggling for years against Alien Aishas. They have weapons from space, unlike any we could ever know," Tarvon explained. "That is how the trees have become so charred. Their weapons are dangerous."
"Why are you guys fighting?" Mitch asked.
"Because we seek to repopulate Neopia with nature instead of so many buildings," Tarvon went on to say, as they passed more and more charred trees. "But the Alien Aishas want technology."
Mitch scratched his head in confusion. "So how could we possibly help?"
"The Alien Aishas will not speak to us. They just fire their blasters on sight. But they might speak to you. I need you to try to talk things out with them," Tarvon asked. "There will be a big reward if you can do so." The three came upon something large, bright, and glowing. "Their spaceship is right here. The Alien Aishas should be on the other side. Go now before they see me."
Before Sammy and Mitch knew it, Tarvon had vanished, and they were left alone next to the spaceship...
| Author: golden1188
Date: May 18th |
|
The ship was a bright, metallic chrome, with a smooth, elongated egg-shape that stretched for twenty or fifty feet in each direction. Sammy could see his reflection in the curved hull of the ship, all wibbly-wobbly like a magic mirror.
Both of them were very quiet. There were sounds of talking on the other side of the ship - a strange, high-pitched language full of clicks and trills. Occasionally it broke into squeaks and guffaws, like a strange sort of laughter.
They listened for a while. Sammy had learnt about the Alien Aishas in school - they were a mysterious race who possessed technology leagues ahead of Neopia's own. They gave out weird foods to strangers, and no one knew if it was out of sincerity or just a big in-joke. Some said all Aishas came from space, long ago.
"What do we do?" asked Mitch, very quietly.
"I guess we go out there," said Sammy. He could see a flickering light at the edge of the ship, probably from some sort of campfire on the other side, but the light wasn't quite the right color for normal fire.
They looked at each other again, each watching for some indication from the other that it was time to move.
"You know, I think I'm scared," said Mitch.
"Don't worry," said Sammy. "We'll protect each other."
Mitch nodded. Sammy pulled him by the arm to the edge of the space ship, and they began to whisper a countdown.
"3, 2, 1..."
The boys jumped into the light...
| Author: inkdeer
Date: May 19th |
|
They found themselves in a clearing. The ground beneath them was metal - like and around them they saw blinking lights of machines.
"Woah," Mitch stood in awe as he looked at all the devices.
The place seemed deserted, so Sammy stepped forward and looked at all the equipment. Sammy was surprised as well and stared at a control panel. He began to slowly put one paw out.
"Don't touch it!" Mitch warned him. "We don't know what it does."
"But I've learned about these things before," Sammy said. "I've heard the Alien Aishas use control panels like these, but I never thought I'd see one in person!"
"It does look pretty cool," Mitch came up beside Sammy.
Suddenly the door behind them shut, and the lights flickered for a moment. A voice came behind them.
"It appears we have visitors, friends."
The two turned around and saw...
| Author: ditzydoo95
Date: May 19th |
|
Three Alien Aisha's standing there.
"Um hi," stammered Mitch, "We are just here to.."
The Alien Aisha's started making loud noises and squeaks.
"Mitch, they don't understand us." Whispered Sammy taking a step towards the Aisha's.
The Aisha's grabbed their blasters and pointed them at Mitch and Sammy. Suddenly more Alien Aisha's appeared and made a circle around them, all with their blasters out.
"Oh no," yelled Sammy. "They are gonna fire at us, we are going to be charred."
Before Mitch could reply there was a loud crash behind them. Mitch turned around to see...
How will the story end?
| Author: she_chose_love
Date: May 19th |
|
...a tree having broken through the floor ship, its trunk quickly growing wider and its leaves fanning out with greater and greater density.
Immediately, the soft white lighting turned a crimson shade, blinking in time with the periodic sounding of an alarm beep. "HULL BREACH IN SECTOR F2," came a feminine voice over the loudspeaker. "HULL BREACH IN SECTOR F4. HULL BREACH IN PRIMARY POWER SECTOR. HULL BREACH IN SECTOR S1. HULL BREACH IN BACKUP POWER SECTOR."
And then the lights went out and the alarm stopped, as did the voice. The tree was cleverly planted to grow through and destroy both the primary and backup power grids.
The Alien Aishas just stood, horrified, as eerie blue glows started to permeate and travel around their ship and through the deck on which Mitch and Sammy stood surrounded. They tried to shoot at the lights, but found their blasters failed to work.
Mitch and Sammy were picked up and taken outside by the lights, taken into the first few rays of sunshine.
The two friends realized the lights were shaped vaguely like Aishas. "There you are, you two. Well done!" said Tarvon, approaching the pair.
"What did we do?" asked Sammy.
The Aisha-light smiled. "You caused enough of a disturbance and took away enough of their surveillance personnel that we could plant a few of our fastest growing trees directly under both their power grids. This also, of course, took out their weapons."
Another Aisha came over. "I am Elisia the Charitable. While the Alien Aishas will not be deterred in their technological conquest and spread, this will allow our natural cause time to prepare and accelerate our work. For this, we thank you, and bestow upon you two this..." She touched both their chests, and, to the boys' surprise and amazement, they started to glow a fluorescent blue hue. "By controlling your thoughts and alpha waves, you may become light whenever you please."
Sammy and Mitch high-fived.
***
"I just know it's here SOMEWHERE," Mitch said as he walked on through the cave.
"I'm pretty sure you're wrong," the Meerca replied. "No wait, look over there!"
The Zafara grinned and ran over, picking up his flashlight. "See, I told you I dropped it in here after the batteries went dead last time we explored this cave." He imagined his own light off, and turned his super bright flashlight on. "Perfect."
"OK," Sammy started, rubbing his hands together as he let his own light fade, "Let's keep searching this cave for Scarblade's Legendary Treasure!"
The two high-fived again. It was always one adventure after another, and that was the way it would be for a long time.
THE END.
| Author: rielcz
Date: May 22nd |
