Just Ixi: Part Four by superixionffx |  |
I looked at the mountains, looming ahead of me like dark
shadows, waiting to swallow me. They didn’t look so pretty anymore; the rainbow
colors had vanished. I shivered, despite the fact that it was a fairly warm
day. I was so busy staring open-mouthed at the mountains that I yelped when
I saw Shiva at my side.
"Ixi," said Shiva, "We haven’t eaten in three
days. Can’t we have something now?"
It was true. We hadn’t eaten since we left the
forest clearing, three days ago. I rubbed my growling stomach.
"Alright," I said, handing Shiva a few slices
of meat and a potato, "but keep flying while you eat. Remember, Nexxus has nothing
at all to eat, and we’ll be lucky if we reach him by sunset, even if we make
no stops."
I took a slice of bread for myself, and a few
pieces of gourmet sushi. We munched quietly for a moment, thinking and trying
to make the food last as long as we could. Then Shiva broke the silence by saying,
"If Nexxus warped up there, can’t he just warp here?"
"Hmmm..." I thought for a moment. "I suppose
I could ask him." I drew my dagger and said, "Nexxus, can you try and warp here?"
There was no reply, only a faint whining sound.
But this was not Nexxus’s voice. This voice was gruff, but softened as a voice
told it, "Star, are you okay?"
That was his voice. "Nexxus?" I asked. "Nexxus,
is that you? Who’s with you?"
"Huh?" I could almost see Nexxus look around
in bewilderment as he searched around for whoever was talking to him. "Oh!!!
Ixi, yes, it’s me, Nexxus. I’ve found some kind of petpet – a Tyrannian Doglefox,
I think."
"Wow!!!" Shiva squealed with excitement. “Nexxus
has a petpet? A painted petpet? I want one!!!"
I sighed, and made a mental note to get Shiva
a petpet when we returned home. "Wait," I told Nexxus, "Can you warp to us?"
"I already tried," he replied sadly, "but it
didn’t work. I don’t even know how I did it in the first place, to tell you
the truth."
I looked up ahead of me. There were the mountains.
And we had reached them. "Okay, Nexxus," I said. "We’re at the mountains. We’ll
fetch you as soon as possible."
Doubt rose in my mind as I looked up at the sinister
mountains. We could spend all our lives here, and never find what we were looking
for. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, only the needle was microscopic
and the haystack was the size of Neopia. We’ll die here, I thought in
despair.
Then something grasped me by the wings, and I
was pulled down, down underground. I tried to scream, but all that came out
was a strained gasp. I tried to struggle, but the slimy hand that dragged me
down held firm. In what seemed like hours, but was really minutes later, my
kidnapper plunked me down in a filthy cell that had flickering torches sending
a dim light across the room. There were dirt and grime smudges all over the
floor, and once I was sure that I heard a low moan. Then I turned to the creature
that had taken me here, and growled. The thing growled back, a sharp, black
snout poking out from under the black cloak it wore. I managed to croak, "Who
are you and why am I here?"
The creature, which looked like some kind of
mutant Lupe, replied, "You may have heard of me before. My name is Death. You
are here to be my messenger."
I gulped. "Why me?"
The creature pulled his hood off, revealing a
hideous face. Yes, this was a Lupe, and definitely a mutant one. "You will ask
no questions. That’s my job. Rule number 7,345,762, page 1,000,000, paragraph
333 in the rule book. Now, let me show you around. Make yourself at home." His
tone was not a friendly one.
Death showed me another cell with a wise-looking,
old blue Lupe. His coat was matted and his face was melancholy. "Go back," he
moaned. "Go back while you still can."
"Silence!!!" hissed Death. "Captives must not
speak unless spoken to. Rule number 18,730,566, page 5,345,001, paragraph 15
in the rule book!!!"
"Now," said Death, pointing to a blue tornado
spinning in the center of a circular room, "this is the portal back to your
NeoHome. You are strictly prohibited to use it. Rule number 1, page 1, paragraph
1 of the rule book. The most important rule of all. That is, next to rule number
2, which clearly states that captives must follow the rules, and rule number
3, which clearly states that..."
I knew where this conversation was going to end
up. And I knew how I was going to die. Death was going to bore me to death!!!
I looked at the spinning tornado, which had every
color of blue; aquamarine, turquoise, sky blue, navy, and so many others, some
of which I did not know the names of. I glanced back at Death. He was so wrapped
up in trying to bore me to death that he didn’t notice me slip away back into
the dungeons. My plan was fairly simple: all I had to do was free the blue Lupe
and make a dash for the tornado. I found the keys hanging up on a rack beside
the Lupe’s cell. Quickly, I unlocked the door and helped the Lupe run out of
it. Together, we dashed past Death (who was currently talking about the history
of rule number 564,758,982,295,572,548), and into the swirling tornado.
I felt myself riding the body of the wind. I
glanced around, hoping to see the blue Lupe beside me. He was there, muttering,
"Thank you, thank you" over and over again.
The wind I was riding was in the shape of a Uni,
a blue, swirling giant that charged forward. I lifted my dagger up and shifted
back into my human form. It was much easier to ride the wind this way.
I was almost sad when the ride ended, but the
ending was fun, for the wind began to buck and leap. I was tossed off, along
with the Lupe, into endless space. But I did not lose my oxygen, and I floated
about until I could see my NeoHome. Then I was tossed onto the huge luxurious
sofa in my own living room, and the blue Lupe plopped down beside me.
Even more to my surprise was who I saw, playing
quietly with a pink Poogle toy on the floor. Nexxus. And Shiva. I ran up to
them and embraced them both. "How did you get here?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Nexxus looked confused. "We’ve
been home all this time. Who’s that beside you?"
Nexxus didn’t remember that he got lost in the
mountains. And Shiva didn’t, either. Nor did the Tyrannian Doglefox (named Star
of Africa) that sat beside Nexxus. I didn’t know why, but I decided not to argue.
It would only confuse them.
But I remembered. And so did Lightspeed45neo
(Lightspeed for short), the blue Lupe I had rescued from Death. He shared a
room with me, and sometimes we spent long nights discussing our capture, what
had happened, and wondering who Death really was. We never found out, but it
was still fun to ponder the possibilities.
However, that was nowhere near the end of our
adventures...
To be continued...
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