Heroes of Neopia: Robin Lupe by bluescorchio104 |  |
HEROES OF NEOPIA HEADQUARTERS - Confident that yet again, I, reporter Bluescorchio104,
would discover more about certain heroic celebrities, I set off to Meridell, intent
on finding Robin Lupe. However, before I set off, I equipped Bluefire104 (my Scorchio)
with a Scorchio helmet, Scorchio horn guard, a bow of earth, a staff of the Earth
Faerie, and a few newly-bought Cobrall daggers. I myself decided to bring along
a web claw, a sword of Domar (it's heavy, and I mean HEAVY!), and a few Snowballs,
as well as a few extra weapons. We hastily had a quick breakfast and set off,
arriving in half an hour at Meridell, where we assumed Robin Lupe would be stationed.(We
would have been there sooner, but Hubrid Nox had gone on one of his rampages again,
and we had to detour to avoid him).
Finding this elusive do-gooder, however, was harder than I anticipated. By
lunchtime, we had given up, and Bluefire104 and I decided to go berry picking.
We made our way to Meri Acres Farm (almost being bombarded by a falling tower
of turnips in the process) and quickly found ourselves at the entrance to the
berry farm. We paid the admission fee, and entered. After a happy half hour
of berry picking (instead of collecting berries, we picked them and ate them
straight away for lunch, so our baskets never filled up, he he he) we came across
a field bordered by a river, a dense forest on the other side.
After snacking on one last Voidberry (one too many; I felt kinda sick afterwards)
Bluefire104 and I waded into the river, the water coming waist deep, before
the riverbed dipped sharply, bringing the water up to our necks. We hurried
back to our bank of the river, (Bluefire104 was afraid his fire would go out)
and dried ourselves in the sun, before I hopped onto Bluefire104's back, and
politely asked him to fly me over the river. He kindly obliged, and within no
time, we were on the edge of the forest. We curiously entered, and explored.
The pristine forest seemed untouched by Neopet or Neopian alike, the soaring
pines and oaks in perfect condition. Bluefire104 and I continued exploring for
at least another hour, before we both started feeling that we were being watched.
As one, we turned back the way we had come, and tried to find our way out
of the forest, our footsteps sinking slightly in the loam covered ground. The
few rays of sunlight filtering through the thick foliage of the trees illuminated
the way through the trees. To our dismay, Bluefire104 and I found us completely
lost. Fearfully, we continued on, stumbling noisily through the bracken.
'Halt at once!' called, a loud, deep voice, filled with authority. We froze,
glancing around for the source of the voice. Suddenly, a red Lupe dropped down
from a tree a few metres away, landing gracefully on his hind paws and aiming
a Professional Bow straight at us. He was a heroic looking figure, wearing a
Forest Cloak, a Forest Hat, and an Iron Lupe Sword hanging from a belt at his
side. "Who art thou, to so noisily disturb the peace?" the Lupe asked, with
a suspicious look on his face.
"I promise, I don't want to hurt you or anything," I hastily replied.
"Methinks that thou had better think about thou's own safety," the Lupe threatened,
drawing the bowstring a little tighter.
"Uh, could I have that in English?" I asked, feeling a little foolish. "I
don't speak medieval very well."
"I take it that you're not from around Meridell then, are you?" the Lupe said
in perfectly understandable modern English.
"Not exactly," I replied, still looking at the arrow aimed at me. "All I wanted
was an interview. You don't happen to know Robin Lupe, do you?"
At this, the Lupe guffawed loudly, but still kept his arrow trained on me.
" I am Robin Lupe," he said between bursts of laughter, " But how do I know
you mean me no harm? As a precaution, I think you'd better come with me".
"No way!" I stuttered.
The Lupe smiled and answered, "Is that so? Boys!" With that, he blew a long
note on a golden horn he had slung around his neck. Immediately, Neopets similarly
attired to Robin Lupe popped out from behind bushes, dropped from trees, and
one even came out from a hollow log. However, all had either drawn swords or
notched arrows to tensioned bowstrings. Suddenly, Bluefire104 and I found us
outnumbered about fifty to one.
Sighing resignedly, we both stood up with our hands (or in Bluefire104's case,
paws) in the air, and allowed ourselves to be blindfolded, and then led away.
When the blindfolds were taken off, Bluefire104 and I found us in a clearing,
bordered by lush greenery, sturdy trees and filled with wooden huts. Robin Lupe
promptly assigned a Kacheek and a Mynci to guard us, and went into the forest.
A few minutes later (just as I was contemplating an escape plan) we heard yells
and sounds of battle not too far away. Our guards hesitated a moment, then headed
in the direction of the disturbance. Bluefire104 and I (naturally enough) curiously
headed over to see what was going on.
There, among the trees, a huge contingent of mutant Grundos were charging towards
Robin Lupe's band of Neopets, and trust me, neither side looked friendly. Bluefire104
took out his staff of the Earth Faerie, and I readied my web claw for battle.
All at once, the mutant Grundos were upon us, and I noticed Sloth's insignia
on their metal armour.
Whacking fiercely with his staff of the Earth Faerie, Bluefire104 quickly subdued
a fair amount of Grundos, with each whack a small seed launching itself from
the staff, blooming strong vines, and quickly entwining around the foe. I myself
contributed (slightly anyway, I have a sneaking suspicion I got in the way more
than anything else), wrapping up my fair share of the enemy in webs launched
from my web claw. Around us, Robin Lupe's men were fiercely fighting, slashing
with swords and various blades, thumping away with clubs and shooting arrows.
Before long, the foe was vanquished (I've always wanted to say that; it's sounds
so melodramatic, don't you think?) and Robin Lupe's men cheered victoriously.
At worst, they sported a few bumps and bruises, but nothing serious.
Everywhere, mutant Grundos were lying on the ground, either tied up in vines
(courtesy of Bluefire104's Staff of the Earth Faerie and various Bows of Earth),
wrapped in webs, (thanks to me; no applause needed), frozen in giant blocks
of ice (due to various frost bows, blizzard rings and ice scimitars) or just
plain knocked out. I grinned like a loony duck, (no offence to any ducks) feeling
quite pleased with myself. Robin Lupe came over to me and Bluefire104, and gravely
said, "My dear friends, I fear I have made a terrible mistake. Your desire to
vanquish evil shows you are really allies; I apologize sincerely for my actions
earlier this day."
Still grinning, I replied, "Thanks, but all I really want is an interview."
Smiling, Robin Lupe answered, "Okay, sure." We went back to the clearing,
sat down, and began the interview.
Bluescorchio104: So, Robin Lupe, just to let you know, my name's Bluescorchio104,
and my Scorchio friend is called Bluefire104.
Robin Lupe: Bluescorchio104? Haven't I
heard that name before?
Bluescorchio104: Maybe. You see; I'm a Neopian Times reporter.
Robin Lupe: Yes, yes, I know that, but
it's something else… I know, you're the guy who wrote that poem about me on
Lupe Day once!
Bluescorchio104: (surprised) Yeah, that's me. How did you know? I didn't
think anyone would have remembered it by now. Anyway, what's with the golden
horn-summon-everyone-instantly thing?
Robin Lupe: Oh, this? (holds up horn)
This is just a modified Trumpet of Blasting. Certain sequences of notes mean
different things. For instance, one, deep, long note means 'everybody over here'.
Bluescorchio104: Oh, I get it. By the way, why did you speak in that
medieval way when we first met? Isn't it, well, old-fashioned?
Robin Lupe: Well, I still like to think
that I can uphold old traditions of chivalry and honor, so I speak that way,
just to see what those old knights and general do-gooders were like. I'm just
a stickler for tradition, I suppose.
Bluescorchio104: Hmm. By the way, just how good are you with that Professional
Bow? And that Iron Lupe Sword, well, it looks like you're pretty skilled with
that too.
Robin Lupe: (Grins) Why don't you see
how good I am? Come with me.
At this moment in time, Robin Lupe led Bluefire104 and I to the Ultimate Bullseye
ring, where after a few short whispered commands, the Turtum controlling the
crossbow walked out of the arena. At the other end of the arena, Punchbag Bob
was positioned, with an apple placed on his head. Robin Lupe politely asked
me to blindfold him (which I did), notched an arrow to his bow, and shot the
apple straight in the middle. However, he had gauged the tension in the string
so precisely that the apple didn't fall off. With the blindfold still over his
eyes, Robin Lupe aimed almost straight up into the sky, and released yet another
arrow. This arrow arched high into the air, so high that for a few seconds I
lost sight of it, and then came plummeting back down, to neatly split the stalk
of the apple down the middle. He walked to the center of the arena, took off
the blindfold, and whistled, and at this signal, his some of his followers (around
fifty of them) lined the edge of the arena, placing Robin Lupe at the center
of a ring of Neopets.
As one, each Neopet placed a red organic apple on their head. Robin Lupe aimed
upwards, and released yet another arrow directly upwards. Immediately, Robin
Lupe reloaded and fired at an apple perched on the head of a perfectly still
follower. He continued this rapidly, shooting and reloading in a blink of an
eye, till all the apples had an arrow in the precise center.
Then, firing one last shot into the sky and then throwing the professional
bow down onto the ground, he drew his iron Lupe sword, and slashed upwards.
As I peered closer, I realized that on the ground was two halves of an arrow,
perfectly split from the metal tip to the feathered end. With a jolt, I realized
that with pinpoint accuracy and amazing timing, Robin Lupe had split the arrow
while it was on the way down, the very same arrow he had fired into the air.
Quickly, I shut my mouth, which was hanging open, (a fully grown Elephante could've
walked into it with room to spare) and applauded loudly. Beside me, Bluefire104
was also clapping appreciatively.
Bluescorchio104: Wow, that was amazing! It must have taken years to
accomplish that!
Robin Lupe: (Sheepishly) Actually, it's
taken half a lifetime. I was given my first Archery Set at the age of 10 months.
I practise three hours a day, and been getting better ever since.
Bluescorchio104: Whoa! I could never handle that kind of dedication.
I mean, I never practise that hard. People are always saying 'practice makes
perfect'. Well, no one's perfect, so why practise?
Robin Lupe: That's not exactly the most
optimistic quote I've ever heard.
Bluescorchio104: Well, tough. I didn't invent that quote anyway. Back
to the interview- How often are you attacked by mutant Grundos?
Robin Lupe: Oh, about twice a week. We're
rarely worried about being beaten; we've got plenty of back up.
Bluescorchio104: Why does Sloth send them here in the first place?
Robin Lupe: (Laughs) Oh, they're not being
sent by Sloth, even though they've got his insignia. My spies found out a long
time ago that Commander Garoo is actually sending them.
Bluescorchio104: Commander Garoo? What does he want with you?
Robin Lupe: How am I supposed to know
the motives of a sick, twisted mind? Though I do suspect that it had something
to do with the one time in Neoschool…
Bluescorchio104: Neoschool? You went to Neoschool together?
Robin Lupe: Yep.
Bluescorchio104: What happened "that one time"?
Robin Lupe: Oh, nothing much. I beat him
in a Battledoming tournament set up by the principal.
Bluescorchio104: Can you tell me about it?
Robin Lupe: Oh, sure. I remember it like
it was yesterday. The tournament was elimination style, in four categories-
long range combat, strategy, endurance and brute strength. Naturally, I excelled
in long range, with my natural skill in archery and all. Eventually, everyone
was eliminated except me and Garoo. It was down to the final match, a combination
of all the events. One-on-one combat. It was held in the Battledome- the school
had booked the largest arena, rocky terrain, complete with artificial mountains
and clumps of trees.
Garoo gained the upper hand first in close-combat, his ferocity was enormous.
It was like he was trying to kill me. What made it worse was the fact he was
wielding Hubrid's noxious blade. But with the iron Lupe sword, I quickly made
the match more even, but by that time, I was already dead tired. Eventually,
using a Lupe wand, I froze him, and climbed to higher ground. From there, using
my professional bow, the same one I own today, as it happens, I shot a few arrows
at him. Each time he came closer, I drove him back, slowly wearing him down.
Eventually, with my very last forest arrow, I finished him off. The very next
day he quit Neoschool, screaming at me that he'd get his revenge, or something
like that. He's been slightly bitter ever since, I guess.
Bluescorchio104: Interesting. So Garoo has a grudge against you, huh?
Oh by the way, the feather in the cap thing really suits you. I wish I could
make this interview longer, but I gotta go. See ya!
Robin Lupe: Bye!
With that, I said goodbye to Robin Lupe's merry men, and went back home, content
I had found out all I wanted. So, Garoo had a grudge against Robin Lupe, huh?
Interesting…
Author's Note: There is actually a book your Neopet can read called Robin
Lupe, but I'm not sure if it's still available.
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