The next morning, when they'd had some rest, Shaylily
suggested they look for the boat. They split up, each searching a different
part of the coastline. Wings furiously flapped and feet flew over the ground
as they examined every last bit of sand and water, even swimming into deep water
to get a better look. However, when the five Shoyrus and the owner met up again
at their campsite of sorts not one had found more than the sunny yellow oar
StarSkyFire leaned on like a walking stick.
"It's like someone stole it," commented Starilya.
"Oh, right! And who'd want a stupid orange inflatable
boat?" grumbled Shaylily sarcastically.
"Maybe it's not so much for the boat as to strand
us here. Someone might want us out of the way."
"Like who? The FallingBlues?"
"I don't know. They're the only pets we know
that might do something like that, but maybe, for example, JC is mixed up in
something sinister."
"Hmmm... that could be possible," mused Shaylily.
But who would want to hurt JC? Obviously, she had fallen from Faerieland, or
perhaps been pushed off. Maybe whoever was responsible for that wanted the striped
Shoyru, and most likely her Faerie as well, out of the way.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a crashing sound
from the forest, like someone pushing through tall grass. It was already loud,
and was getting louder by the second.
"Get back! It could be some kind of wild animal!"
shrieked Starilya, hysterical, as a dark shape became visible in the trees.
"Hello!" exclaimed an Island Kougra cheerfully
as he jumped gracefully over a bush. "My name's Zuilian. Sorry if I frightened
you! I hear you've lost your boat? I couldn't help overhearing your conversation."
"Um, yes. It drifted away. Do you have one we
could borrow?" asked StarSkyFire.
"Yes, actually! I make boats. I have hundreds
of boats. Come, and I'll show you." He started striding back into the jungle.
Wondering if their unexpected source of help was to be trusted, the Shoyrus
looked quizzically at Furbyfun. She shrugged, and started to follow him.
Zuilian led them on a long, well-worn path through
the palm trees and tall grass. "I come through here often," the Kougra explained.
Finally, they saw a small hut with piles and piles of boats of all types around
it.
"This is where you live?" asked
StarSkyFire incredulously. Furbyfun poked him in the side.
"Don't be rude," she said. The Island Kougra
laughed.
"It's quite all right. I spend much more time
on my boats than my house." That said, he held the door open and gestured for
them to enter.
Inside, the hut was even smaller than it looked.
Dust decorated every surface, Spyders' webs hung in the corner with the Spyders
themselves skittering across the ceiling, and piles of boat parts took up almost
every bit of space. "Don't worry, we can go up to my room," came a voice from
below their knees.
"Why, Lilluai, have some manners and introduce
yourself!" exclaimed Zuilian.
"Who's Lilluai?" questioned Shaylily.
A Flishy flew up to their eye level, bouncing
up and down in midair. "I'm Lilluai!" she shouted excitedly, adding, "I'm Zuilian's
petpet! I can talk, though, unlike most petpets. Isn't it great?"
"Yeah... great..." said Shaylily, sky-blue eyes
bobbing like yo-yos as she followed the Faerie petpet's midair movements. "We're
looking for a boat. Any boat, as long as it can get us to Mystery Island."
"No problem! I think you'll want a motorboat,
since I presume you're not all too interested in rowing?" asked Lilluai with
a twinkle in her eye, looking directly at Starilya.
"How did you know that?" asked the bewildered
Shoyru, green eyes wide. How could that petpet know she hated rowing?
"We Petpets -- particularly Faerie Petpets --
pick up things. For example, I understand you are an inventor?" said the Flishy,
gesturing at StarSkyFire. His storm-grey eyes widened, and he nodded furiously.
Zuilian picked up a scrap of paper from the cluttered
floor. Muttering to himself, he studied the paper. After a moment, he lowered
it and, with one sunny yellow paw, pointed through a doorway at a pile of metal
boats on the edge of the yard. "Those are the motorized boats. What you do to
run one is sit in it and light the string at the back, and it'll take you anywhere-
and quickly too -- as long as the fire's still burning."
"Isn't that dangerous?" asked Furbyfun, fearing
for her books. "We have a lot of things to take with us, and some of them are
highly combustible." She looked directly at her shadow Shoyru, knowing that
he'd insisted on bringing his portable workbench, which included several flammable
chemicals.
"Not in the least. The flame is enclosed in a
fireproof cube, with the only opening facing away from the rest of the boat.
You won't even be able to heat food over it, let alone start a blaze."
"Okay, we'll take it. How do we return it? Even
if we wanted to keep it, we couldn't accept it."
"When you're done with it, just set it loose
on the sea, and it will find its way back to me."
Less than half an hour later, they were back
on Mystery Island, thanks in part to Azamanti, whose flames were magical and
therefore burned better and faster than regular fire. This had got them back
in half the time, which everyone appreciated later on when they were unloading
the boat during the time that would have otherwise been spent sailing.
Once they'd unpacked, the five Shoyrus and their
owner- JC was starting to think of Furbyfun as an owner- headed for the ferry
to Neopia Central, all carrying heavy boxes.
"I refuse to leave!" shouted the striped Shoyru,
dropping the four boxes she had been carrying. They were picked up and thrown
into the luggage chute by a few loading Skeiths, but nobody noticed; they were
too busy staring at JC. "I have to find my Faerie, and here on Mystery Island
is the most likely place in all Neopia for her to be!"
Shaylily sighed in exasperation, noticing a shadow
in the forest of palm trees as she put down her boxes, which were also loaded
onto the boat. Perhaps it was just an oddly shaped tree, but the disco Shoyru
somehow knew that shadow was a symbol of something sinister. "JC, come on! The
boat's leaving in five minutes!"
"I don't care! I'm staying!"
As a last resort, Shaylily shouted, "Oh, look!
It's Chet Flash!"
The striped Shoyru's head twisted around. "Where?"
"Come on!" The disco Shoyru grabbed her by the
waist, half-carrying, half-dragging her onto the ship. The ramp was retracted,
and it began to pull away from the dock. Although unseen by the occupants, three
shadowy figures ran from the trees and jumped onto the ferry just as it left,
hanging off a Shoyru Grappling Hook (although none were Shoyrus) latched onto
a crack in the rivets. The three waited, hidden by the curvature of the vessel,
for the anticipated long and bumpy ride to come to an end.
An hour and a half later, the ride ended. A large
crowd strode off the ramp, most carrying luggage. This included Furbyfun and
her pets, who were all struggling under the weight of weighty bags and boxes.
Preoccupied with the activity of carrying their loads, they remained silent
as they exited the ship.
Once the other passengers had gone, the three
shadows dislodged the hook. Predictably, they fell into the water with a loud
splash! Climbing onto the dock, the trio donned Invisihats and vanished
from sight.
At their Neohome, an owner and her Shoyrus dropped
their packages at the door and sighed in relief. Four of the five Shoyrus ran
upstairs, JC choosing to come with Shaylily because her cloud room sounded the
most like her Faerieland home. Aerolani, however, stayed behind to read a book
on the couch.
With a bang, the door was thrown open and two
Dark Faeries, who were the Uber Dark Faerie and another Aerolani didn't recognize,
along with a Faerie Meerca. The three stood just outside. "Where's Jadecrystal?"
asked the unfamiliar one, looking quite hostile.
"What?" asked the white Shoyru, fighting to keep
a confused look on her face
"You're a good actor, Shoyru, but not that good.
We know she's here," snapped the Uber Dark Faerie.
"What are you talking about? Who's this Jadecrystal
person?"
"Don't play dumb. We followed you all the way
here. Jadecrystal's that white-winged Shoyru you walked home with, who happens
to be the former pet of the Uber Air Faerie."
"Well, I don't know what you're talking about.
Who are you, anyway?"
"As for ourselves, I am Damiyé, the Uber Dark
Faerie, and this is my sister Mysinell. The Meerca is my Neopet." She gestured
at her companions; first Mysinell, who was tall with messy purple hair, and
then her Meerca, hiding behind her owner's leg with a long tail wrapped around
it.
Satisfied with their explanation, but still not
wanting them in the Neohome, the white Shoyru threw the door shut. Just before
it closed, it was flung open again and the Dark Faeries walked inside.
"We're not leaving without Jadecrystal," said
Mysinell, "she's caused us a great deal of trouble."
Aerolani stared helplessly as the clearly evil,
or at least evil-intentioned, Faeries strode into her home. She turned and ran
up the stairs to warn her siblings and owner, and JC especially. Surprisingly
enough, the Faeries didn't even turn around to grab her. Panting like a Gelert,
she told everyone to meet in Shaylily's room and not to leave. Once everyone
was in the cloud room, she told them what was going on downstairs.
JC was the first to react, breaking the stunned
silence of everyone else. "Damiyé and Mysinell are here?" she asked in
terror and disbelief.
"I don't care who they are, or what they want,
they are not welcome in our Neohome! We have to get them out!" exclaimed
Shaylily, the biggest battler of the family. The other five residents agreed,
and grabbed their weapons -- with the exception of Furbyfun since she was an
owner and therefore had no Neopian weapons, and JC because she was obviously
what they were after -- to fight off the Dark Faeries.
To be continued...
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