it said cheerfully.

Zeke blinked at the Kougra. "Wha...? Who are you? Where am I?" he asked, sitting up quickly. He was feeling quite scared, having lived a very sheltered life in Neopia Central, and had never been anywhere like the place he found himself now. He seemed to be on a beach leading into a vast jungle...

"I didn't mean to come here!" said Zeke, panicked. "The last thing I remember is playing on the beach by Neopia Central... I was out on the rocks when a big wave knocked me off and dragged me out to sea," he sniffed. "My wings were so heavy with water, I couldn't fly out. I guess it finally washed me up upon this shore."

Zeke stared in horror at the vast jungle and endless sea that surrounded him, as he realized how truly lost he was. It was all too much for a city Eyrie like him. He finally broke into tears and wailed, "I want to go home!"

Cold, wet and weary, but too scared to be left alone, Zeke had no choice but to follow the strange talking Kougra into the jungle...

"What's the village like?" he persisted, catching up with Rorru.

Rorru smiled as if he knew a secret and recited:

Zeke nodded and began to observe the plants that surrounded him. The trees grew far, far above and closed over his head. He pondered over why Rorru spoke only in haikus. Uncomfortable in the silence, he tried to think of some current events to talk about. Then he remembered a horrible story from Tyrannia.

"You know, Rorru, I heard that some poor Floud sacrificed itself to save Tyrannia," he said, scrambling over a patch of weeds and almost tripping and falling on his head.

Rorru's mysterious smile vanished almost immediately, and he cried out in a mournful voice:

Zeke wished he had not mentioned the Floud. Rorru was now looking morosely off into the distance. It was strange how quickly she could change his emotions.

Suddenly he heard shouts far off in the distance, along with the sounds of running feet and snapping branches.

"What's that?" he said in alarm, stepping backwards and looking around fearfully.

Rorru let out a faint smile.

Zeke quickly realized his own throat was parched, and he swallowed.

"Are we almost there, Rorru?" he asked, mixed emotions dawning on him. He was eager to eat and drink, and although he trusted Rorru, he was afraid of what his village would be like.

Rorru looked back on him, his eyes swift and searching. Then his smile widened a little bit and he said calmly:

Zeke decided to push his dubious thoughts aside and tried to be interested in a clump of strange-looking plants on the left side of his path. But he was filled with thoughts from his own town.

Suddenly Rorru pushed aside some bushes and right in front of him Zeke saw...

He spoke. Rorru smiled at him, and bowing his head, he recited to Dusk:

Dusk rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. Zeke just stared at them both with an eyebrow rosen.

"Sorry, kid, I'm still learning. Anyway... I'm Dusk, the bravest warrior in Mystery Island!!"

Dusk said to Zeke with melodramatic expressions, as Rorru just slightly laughed and replied:

Rorru laughed and Dusk sighed.

"Yes, I know," he began, "but one day- I will be!" He took out his spear and swung it around, but seeing Zeke and Rorru's faces, he put it down and coughed.

"Well- I'd really like to get home. Can we please go now?" He began to walk ahead as Rorru spoke again.

Rorru smiled and Zeke frowned. "All right... but-" Zeke was interupted by Dusk.

"Umm, guys..." he began, as he pointed to the distance, "weren't there a LOT more trees just a half an hour ago?"

Turning to look, they all gasped when they saw...

Rorru said, anger flashing in his eyes. Dusk growled, trembling with a mighty wrath. "I do not understand. Why would someone do such a heinous crime to something so magnificent?" he asked.

Zeke looked around, and although cutting down trees was something he was used to in the city, he could see that the trees were very important to the Islanders. As they moved into the clearing for a closer look, an orange marking caught Zeke's eye. As he stepped closer, he noticed something he recognized. An abandoned axe left on the ground was marked with a logo. It was the letters NCC, surrounded by a simple circle. Zeke gasped.

"What is it, Zeke?" Dusk asked.

"This logo. It's from Neopia Central! NCC stands for Neopian Cutting Company. It is supposed to be a company that makes scissors, but it was recently found that they were actually cutting down trees to sell for their own profit, even though the trees did not belong to them. They were banned from Neopia Central, and no one knew what happened to them. I guess now we know."

Dusk sniffed around, to find some other clue. Rorru held his head high and said:

Dusk stopped sniffing, and turned to look at Rorru. "But he is not an Islander! Let me do it!"

Rorru stared at Dusk, clearly making it the final word. Dusk frowned, but said, "Who is the owner of this company? Perhaps, if we knew this and his capabilities, we will have the upper hand."

Zeke nodded. "The owner is...

Rorru sighed and said:

Dusk growled again, this time more vicious. "I will not let this happen. Just let me sniff him out!"

Dusk snorted but then sat down.

"Alright," said Zeke, quite glad that was over. "Vile lives on 10101 Neopia Central Way, but he's hardly ever home. We have to follow him, and then find and catch him in the act. He's probably somewhere where there are not many people, but still near a city so he can run his terrible business. Somewhere like... the abandoned warehouse district in Neopia Central!"

Rorru said gravely:

He paused.

"We're really close to it, I can tell," Zeke exclaimed. "We're almost... aha! Rorru, you found it!"

Rorru stood at the corner, staring at a sign that said NEOPIA CENTRAL WAY. He chanted:

They raced off down the street, quickly skimming over house numbers, stepping over stones, doing whatever they could to not slow down. All the running exhausted Dusk.

"Can't go on... must rest..." he panted.

"Aww, come on, Dusk!" cried Zeke. "We're almost there! 10109... 10108..."

For a split second Dusk shut his eyes. Just to give me a quick refresher, he thought.

Rorru, who was behind him, managed to mention a quick haiku:

Dusk, who was not a quick reactor, lifted his lids just in time to see a rut in his path. "Aiii!" he screamed. He tripped over, falling flat on his face, and sending the contents of his backpack all over the street. One of them was a bright yellow Filamen.

Dusk got up and glanced around. "Oh no, what... oh, Tiki, how'd you get here?" He looked at the tiny Filamen with a warm smile. He picked her up and she sat on his shoulder.

Rorru caught up to Dusk and commented:

Dusk laughed. "Or she could have crawled into my backpack while I wasn't looking."

"Guys! Guys!" Zeke yelled, "I found the house!"

Zeke was a few yards ahead of Dusk and Rorru. He pointed the tip of his wing at an old house that had not been taken care of, and was obviously not in very good shape. Shutters were hanging, roof shingles were on the ground... it was a mess. That didn't seem to phase Zeke, who was more confident now that he was back in the city.

"Come on, let's check it out!"

Dusk disagreed. "But weren't we going to..."

Zeke was already nearing the door. He interruped Dusk. "Come on! Let's go! Maybe there's a clue inside to helping us find him!"

The Lupe and the Kougra quickly ran up to the house, and, looking in the window and seeing it was in tatters, decided it wasn't a very safe place to go. Unsure, they began to move away, already feeling uneasy about being so far from the jungle.

A few feet away from the house, Dusk turned around in shock. "Tiki!" he yelled. "Tiki? Tiki? Tiki? Oh, little Filamen, where are you?"

Rorru pointed a paw at the front door.

They all ran, just missing Tiki, who had squeezed under the door of the house.

"Oh, no, Tiki!" Dusk wailed. "We have to go in after Tiki!"

Not taking no for an answer, Dusk opened the door and disappeared into the darkness.

Rorru and Zeke looked at each other. Rorru stepped inside, and Zeke shrugged his shoulders.

He went inside and closed the door. "Well, here goes nothing..."

Zeke and Rorru stopped and looked around once they had entered the old building. There was no furniture and no signs that anyone had been living there. It was as if someone cleaned the place out so not to leave any clues behind for anyone to find.

"Tiki, get back here!" Dusk's yell echoed through the empty building. Dusk and Tiki were in another room so they couldn't be seen but Zeke and Rorru heard their footsteps.

Rorru was still looking around in amazement.

Zeke hurried across the empty room and into a hallway where Dusk and Tiki had been a moment ago. Rorru followed shortly after.

The hall lead to a set of stairs. Zeke and Rorru could see the footprints in the dust that showed Dusk and Tiki had travelled that way.

Zeke and Rorru were half way up the stairs when they heard a loud thump from the second floor. "Let us down!" Dusk yelled and Tiki cried.

Zeke and Rorru quietly sneaked to the top of the stairs and peeked around the corner into an big empty room. Dusk and Tiki were hanging upside down from the roof wrapped in a net.

Across the room sat a fat Skeith. He wore a shirt with the logo NCC across the front. The Skeith laughed at Dusk and Tiki.

"My name is Mettle Eg. I work for Malkus Vile. Looks like you are my prisoners," the fat Skeith said. Zeke and Rorru looked at each other and wondered what to do. They had to save their friends.

Rorru had an idea. He entered the room and started talking to the Skeith.

"Don't do it Rorru!" Dusk shouted from his trap. We wanted to save the trees.

"How do you want to help?" The Skeith asked. All the time Rorru was talking to Mettle Eg he was walking toward the far end of the room to draw the Skeith's attention away from the doorway, Dusk, and Tiki

The Skeith thought for a moment. His attention was distracted away from Dusk and Tiki and the door. Zeke crept into the room and walk up to the net. He flew up to the ceiling and untied the rope holding the net. Dusk and Tiki fell on the floor.

"Hey!" Mettle Eg yelled when he realized he had been tricked. It was too late. Dusk, Zeke and Rorru tackled the Skeith.

They captured him and tied him with his own rope. "You are going to answer a few questions and then you are going to take us to where Malkus Vile is hiding..."

"Where is he hiding?" Dusk growled at him. But Eg would not speak.

Just then Tiki appeared, and gave the Skeith a nasty bite on his ear.

Eg roared in pain, but they would not let him go. Eventually, he sighed, and gave in.

"What do you want?"

Rorru spoke softly and painfully.

Mettle Eg shrugged. "Profit, of course."

Dusk snarled, and was about to bite Eg, but Zeke held him back.

"Where does he keep the trees he took?" Dusk asked through clenched teeth.

"He uses Warehouse Number 482 along the East side of Neopia."

"Where does Vile usually stay?" Zeke asked.

Mettle Eg sighed. "He lives in an office a few blocks away."

Rorru's lips curled into a snarl.

The trio, along with Tiki, rushed out of the house, dragging Eg behind them.

They took the Neopian Transport Service (NTS) to the warehouses along the east side of Neopia.

Finally they found the office that Eg had told them about.

The three split up. Zeke went to phone the Neopian Police, while Rorru and Dusk "visited" Vile in his office.

It was almost dark by the time they got there. As they went in, they suddenly saw him.

Malkus Vile, the most evil of businessmen.

He laughed, and grabbed Rorru by the tail.

"You think you can stop me?" Vile laughed, his big belly wobbling like jelly...

growled Rorru, distracting Malkus as Dusk snuck up behind him and bit into his leg. Malkus screamed in pain, letting go of Rorru, who dropped to the floor.

Zeke, who was finished calling the police ran into the office and saw what was happening. Dusk had let go of Vile's leg, which he was now holding in pain.

Malkus glared at them and said, "Pathetic fools! You can NEVER stop me MWAHAHAHAHA!" He stood up and tried to get away while the three were figuring out a plan... Zeke whispered in Dusk's ear.

Dusk growled, and with astonishing speed, charged Malkus. Surprised, Vile was knocked against the wall, his eyes wide with fear at the Lupe fangs inches from his face... Dusk didn't stop growling until the police got there.

Zeke said to Rorru quietly, "The police are on their way, they should be here shortly."

Then Rorru looked up at Malkus and said,

Then Zeke and Rorru tied him up and waited for the police, who arrived shortly.

Rorru, Dusk, and Zeke explained what had happened. "We have been looking for Malkus Vile for months now," the officer told them. "Thank you so much." He shook their hands and hauled Vile away to the waiting police car. Rorru, Dusk, Zeke, and Tiki all watched with a true sense of accomplishment as the police took the squirming Malkus away...

Zeke smiled. "I couldn't of done it without Dusk, and you, Rorru." He paused, then added, "And Tiki." They walked to Rorru's grass hut, and Zeke and Dusk were told to wait outside while Rorru got something. Momments later the Kougra appeared with two beautiful polished stones.

Dusk smiled and took his stone. He put it in his pack to began his journey home. "Goodbye Zeke! Hope your life in the city goes well!"

Zeke gasped, "The city! The helicopter! How do I get home?" Rorru smiled wisely.

Zeke raised an eyebrow skeptically. Rorru's smile remained.

Dusk and Tiki followed as they went to the dock where a Techo awaited them.

The Techo nodded. He brought out a sturdy looking boat made of wood with a large canvass sail. Zeke climbed in and Rorru handed him his stone.

Rorru recited. Dusk waved. "Thanks, Zeke. Come back any time." Zeke smiled and said, "Feel free to visit the city... erm...

Rorru's smile widened. "Farewell, friend," he said. For a moment everyone stared at Rorru. Ever since he had arrived at Mystery Island he hadn't spoken like that. But Zeke just smiled and nodded.

Dusk added on. "Yeah, buddy. Guess the same from us." He indicated him and Tiki.

Zeke found a motor in the back of the boat and wound it up. The motor gave a pathetic sputter then started to work.

"Goodbye Rorru! Goodbye Dusk! Goodbye Tiki! I'll come visit sometime!" The two figures waved until the boat was nothing but a black dot on the horizon. After they had vanished from sight, Zeke sat in the boat, examining the stone Rorru had given him. Suddenly Zeke's paw came upon several neatly carved letters. He read aloud:

Zeke smiled. He didn't know what that meant, at least at the time, but it left a warm happiness inside of him.

The End