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It was a normal morning in Neopia…The sun was steadily
rising above the hills, the shopkeepers were out flipping their signs from 'Closed'
to 'Open', a mutant Lupe and her owner were rushing out the door to catch their
boat to Krawk Island, the Peadackle was crowing, and the grass was slowly growing.
Clumsilily the mutant Lupe and her owner, lndustrious
were rushing down the concrete path, suitcases bulging, trying to catch their
ride to Krawk Island. They had been planning this vacation for a long, long
time.
"C'mon lndy! We have to hurry!" yelled Lily.
The Lupe was dragging the immense suitcase and
the loud scraping was driving lndustrious insane.
"Can you at LEAST pick up that suitcase?" lndy
asked, obviously peeved.
The scraping ceased as Lily picked up the suitcase,
stumbling slightly.
The two were in a huge hurry to make it to the
edge of Neopia Central where their boat was departing for the shores of Krawk
Island.
It took them near an hour to get to the harbor,
but luckily, the pair had just made it. The steam whistle blew heartily as all
were boarded.
lndustrious handed the two tickets to the Tuskaninny
standing on the side of the gangplank. He ripped the top off the tickets and
handed them back to lndustrious. She hastily shoved them in her pocket as the
two stepped into the boat.
It smelled overpoweringly of salt and fish. Lily
held her nose and pulled a face.
"Sure sbells like a mboat!" Lily mumbled incoherently.
lndustrious rolled her eyes. "Of course it does!"
she said, ushering Lily to their cabin on the lower deck.
When they got to their room, lndustrious pushed
to door open with a loud 'Squeeeeaaaak!" The door thudded against the wall and
the two stepped hesitantly inside.
There were two beds that looked incredibly uncomfortable,
shoved up against the left wall. There was a small portal window on the back
wall, and a desk with a lamp bolted to it on the right wall.
Lily shrugged and threw her suitcase on top of
the bunk and scrambled up the makeshift ladder.
"I get the top!" Lily crowed, pounding her chest
in mock dominance.
lndustrious wrinkled her nose as she looked about
the cabin.
"What's wrong lndy?" the Lupe asked, patting
her bed.
The bed made a dull 'thud' when she patted it.
Definitely not what lndustrious was used to at home…
~*The Next Day, After a Restless Night*~
Lily stood on the bow, arms spread open wide,
the wind fluttering through her fur.
"Look lndustrious! I'm flying!" she laughed,
looking back at her owner who had just walked onto the deck.
"Wonderful," Lndustrious said groggily.
Lily didn't seem to mind that fact that lndustrious
had woken up on the wrong side of the cot…
All of a sudden, the rough voice of the captain
split over the intercom.
"Yar! All hands… er… Passengers on deck if yer'll
leavin' fer Krawk Isle!" he called.
"Thank goodness…" lndustrious whispered, dropping
the two suitcases to the deck.
Hundreds of pets had assembled on the deck as
the boat lurched to a stop at a dock. A few Krawks and Aishas leapt down from
the boat to tie it onto the dock.
lndustrious watched silently as they took the
long ropes and wound them around huge wooden columns.
The pets began flocking off the ship and lndustrious
and Lily were caught in the stream, being tugged down onto the pier.
Once the crowd had thinned, lndustrious and Lily
set off, suitcases in hand.
They stopped at a rather washed down building,
the paint peeling grotesquely in certain places. A small red Kiko was slapping
a coat of pain on one building, his eye patch lifted so he could view the wall
better.
lndustrious and Lily stepped up the front stairs,
both their heads tilted back to read the sign that hung from the building.
The sign was old and wooden, carved and engraved
with bronze lettering. It read 'The Academy'.
lndustrious and Lily shrugged, having never have
heard of it before.
Inside, there were hundreds of pets and owners,
shoving dubloons over the counter and receiving paper slips saying things like
'Pet name - Increasing Level' or 'Pet name - Increasing Defence'.
Lily and lndustrious were very confused. They
finally made their way up to the counter.
The pirate colored Scorchio nodded at them. "What
are ye here fer?"
lndustrious and Lily exchanged glances.
"To find a room to spend the night in…" lndustrious
explained.
"Sorry bonny lass, we don't board here," he countered.
lndustrious raised a brow and plopped a large
sack of Neopoints on the counter.
The Scorchio cleared his throat, reached out
and pulled the NP to him while plopping a key on the counter.
"Yer in building number 125," he stated, slipping
the NP under the counter.
"That's what I thought," Lndustrious admitted
as the stepped out of the building.
After the two had deposited their suitcases in
the room and had armed themselves with several thousand Neopoints, they were
off.
"There's so much to do!" cheered Lily. "There's
digging for treasure, training, rescuing dubloons, rolling a Pawkeet ball into
a goal, the slots…" Lily rambled on about the things they could do.
"How about the slots?" asked lndy, heading over
to a large flashy building with 'Black Pawkeet Slots' flashing in neon lights.
Lily shrugged. "Sure!"
The two plodded inside, and they were hit by
a loud blast of noises. Singing, music, and the clank of NP in the slots.
lndustrious smiled and sat down at one slot,
plopping the bag of NP on her lap. She held her breath as she plunked five NP
into the slot.
"Here we go…" she whispered, pulling the lever.
The Pawkeets, pirate flags, dubloons, and treasure
chests flashed by, heart music booming from the slot speakers. Lndustrious bit
her lip as the first roller stopped. In the center, there was a small pile of
treasure…
The next row stopped…Another pile of treasure!
Then… the third row stopped… ooh… a mug… too
bad.
The fourth and fifth were pirate ships.
lndy sighed, "Oh well… better luck next time…"
She was about to get up as the Usul next to her began squealing as hundreds
of NP fell out into her lap. "That could have been me…" lndustrious mused.
Lily sat silently next to lndy, bored already
of the slots. "C'mon lndy, let's go… this is boring!" she prodded.
"No, no… I want to try again…" lndustrious explained,
plunking another few NP into the slot. She pulled down the lever and again,
the bars spun wildly, plinking as they went.
Lily raised a brow at her owner. "Well… I'm going
to go get a drink, alright?" she asked, stepping off the stool.
lndy cheered as a few NP plunked out into the
cup.
"lndy?" Lily asked worriedly, stepping closer.
lndustrious simply nodded as she deposited a
few more NP into the machine.
~*Several Hours Later*~
Lily walked sleepily up to lndustrious, a glass of Kau Milk clutched in her
paw. There were bags under her eyes as she poked her owner.
"lndy? Can we go to the academy now? I think
my eyes are going to fall out…" She whimpered.
lndustrious cast a glance back at her Lupe. She
looked miserable…
"Just one more go?" lndustrious pleaded. Her
eyes had bags under them too, and the bag of NP was sagging from the NP that
had been spent.
"But lndy…" Lily moaned, rubbing her eyes with
a paw, "I wanna sleep!"
A large pirate Kougra plodded out into the lobby
and over to lndustrious.
"Excuse me miss…" he greeted with a gruff voice.
"We're closing in half an hour…"
"Can I stay 'til then?" lndustrious queried,
clutching a few NP in her hand.
"Erm…" the Kougra declared uncomfortably. "I
guess you could…But you might want to think about going home, as there can be
Riffraff out on the streets this time of night…"
lndustrious shrugged. "No matter."
"AUGH!" Lily moaned, slumping down to lean against
the stool. Her empty milk glass tipped over on the carpet.
~*Half an Hour Later*~
lndustrious sighed as she scooped a few NP from the tray and deposited it back
into the slot machine. Once again, it whirred as she pulled down the lever.
The Kougra returned, placing a large paw gently,
but firmly, onto lndustrious' shoulder.
"Excuse me miss, we're closed now…" he interrupted.
Lily had fallen asleep on the floor and was snoring
soundly.
"But…" pleaded lndustrious, "just one more go?!"
"I'm afraid not…" the large Kougra stated.
As soon as he finished his sentence, the lights
in the large building thudded off, and lndustrious was left with Lily and the
Kougra, in the dark.
~*After Their Vacation, Back at lndustrious' Neohome*~
lndustrious and Lily sat on their rainbow sofa together. The two were flipping
through a book, a photo album.
"Look!" Lily mused. "There's you with your Pawkeet
slot winnings!" ahe laughed.
lndy scowled and flipped the page. She didn't
want to remember that empty sack of NP ever again…
The End
Author's Note: Thanks a Bunch for reading! It's been SUCH a pleasure
getting mail from all my readers! And I've had SO many requests to write another
story! So… here you go! I hope you enjoy it! This one's more about lndustrious
(myself) than Lily… I hope that's alright… Please Neomail me with any praise
(Thanks to everyone who Neomailed me telling me that they loved my stories!
I GREATLY appreciate it!) comments, or criticisms! Please make sure the criticisms
are constructive, not mean… Thank you! I REALLY hope you enjoyed this story!
I tried to meet all of your expectations!
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