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A chilling wind blew across Seris' face. His pet Buzzer,
Ray'tur, was buzzing around in the air, being pelted by the raindrops falling
from the dark sky. Ray'tur was named after Seris' best friend who had moved a
few months back. Luckily, he had gotten over it quickly or else he would have
been in deep despair. The fire Draik adjusted his long brown coat and walked ahead,
keeping a careful eye on his petpet.
They were in this dreary weather for only one
reason. That was to get away from it. Seris decided to take a break from working
and have a nice vacation in the ancient rock and stone of Tyrannia. He had enjoyed
going there when his owner was around and hadn't been there in ages. He thought
it was time for him to go again.
Seris remembered playing with his long gone
sister, running around the rocks and daring to go into the "lair of the beast".
He had always been carefree back then. His owner was around all the time and
never let the two out of his site. That all changed when his sister was in the
hospital. Seris tried never to think about that. After her passing, his owner
took barely any interest in the Draik. Then, a year or so back his owner disappeared
completely from the face of Neopia. Seris never saw him since, except when he
visited to check his stocks. Then he'd leave for a long period of time. So,
Seris had to fend for himself.
Shaking all the thoughts of his past out of
his mind, Seris jogged up ahead, where he Buzzer was airborne again, swiftly
gliding through the trees and signs. "Come on, let's not stay here long. I'm
soaking wet!" Seris yelled to the small bee-shaped creature.
It cocked its head and buzzed. Then it flew
down and landed on Seris' wing. The Draik skimmed his claw over its short back
and started onwards again, hoping to get to the nearest boat before the rain
got worse.
Soon, after walking a little more, the two reached
the dock where a Uni was standing in a raincoat, looking out at what seemed
to be nothing. Then, her crystal blue eyes looked at Seris. "Where to?" she
asked.
Seris looked at the old, dingy boats. "Uhm,
Tyrannia."
The Uni let them into a small building where
a few other Neopets were waiting, twiddling their thumbs or laying down. Seris
took a seat and played with his Buzzer for a bit. Before he knew it, he was
on the boat heading the Tyrannia.
Riding the boat wasn't what he expected at all.
The rain came down in sheets, soaking the small boat as it rocked its way through
the raging waters. It was freezing and through the whole ride, Seris thought
it was a definite yes that he had caught hypothermia. Luckily, as they got closer
and closer to Tyrannia, the rain died down until there was nothing but a slight
fog around the boat.
After hours of riding, Seris felt shaky when
he took his first steps on shore. He looked behind him and beckoned his Buzzer
to come up on his shoulder. He did and then they were both off through the brown
rock of the ancient civilization.
It was only a few minutes before the two got
to the center of the town. People were lined up in front of the Giant Omelette,
crowded around the ticket booth, and rioting near the weapon shop. Seris sighed.
It brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad.
Seris started off to the ticket booth, where
he was hoping to get tickets to the Twisted Roses concert that night. But, because
of the crowd, Seris was quickly pushed away. So, Seris had nothing else to do
but walk around the town, looking at all the people mobbing the stores in this
historic little world.
After walking a fair distance, the two found
themselves in a grass-filled part of Tyrannia which was without a doubt the
Tyrannian Jungle. Seris looked around. He had rarely ever gone into the jungle
as he had heard of some strange things happening there. Cannibals, weapons,
and dung weren't exactly his favorite things to be around. Still, Seris walked
onward, listening to the "Ugga"'s and the "Ooga"'s being muttered through the
town.
He wished someone spoke English around here.
So, he started to yell. "Does anyone speak English around here?"
A gray colored Lupe came up to him, a sword
by his side. "I do. What must you yell for and disturb this peaceful place?"
Seris stared at the sword. It was long, at least
three feet. It must've weighed a ton! There were intricate markings on the blade
and the golden top. "Sorry..." Seris muttered. "Is there anything at all to
do around here?"
The Lupe laughed. "Of course. By the way, I'm
Darquae." He smiled, holding out his paw.
Seris shook it quickly and looked around. "Nice
to meet you. I'm Seris. So, where is some action? When I came here as a kid,
there was so much to do."
"Ah, you were young and everything seemed like
an adventure. There are a few strange things happening around here though...
Town folks possessions have gone missing. When they're sleeping, things start
disappearing."
Seris then said, "Oh, interesting. Is there
anything I can do to help?" His eyes drifted to the sword again. It was like
he could stop looking at it. So long... shiny... he had to ask. "Can... can
I see the sword?"
Darquae looked down at his hip. "This?" he held
it up. "No... no, you can't. It's precious to the whole city. It's a symbol
of my father and is worth billions of Neopoints. I couldn't risk it. I was entrusted
by the mayor to watch over it and to make sure no one steals it. You're a stranger
and I don't trust strangers. Sorry, Seris, but you can't." He gently brushed
the sword with his paw, his large brown eyes reflecting in its' gleam.
Seris sighed. "Okay... fine then. Still, anything
I can do to help the town?"
"Oh, yes, definitely. You can..." Darquae thought
for a moment. "You can... help me search for the thief. We can capture him and
then get all the peoples belongings back safely." He said, sweat rolling down
his forehead. "Yeah... and then we can... we can put him away for a long time."
Seris nodded. "Okay, so... where do we start?"
Darquae chuckled. "Let's review what I've found,"
he said while walking over to Seris and pulling out a notepad from somewhere
inside his fur. His eyes skimmed the paper, reading it over before talking.
"The creature definitely had two feet. The four footprints in the house were
hops or something. No... couldn't have been four legs." His eyes stared down
at his legs. "He was large... like you, Seris. Draik or Uni size approximately."
Seris nodded, trying to follow and memorize
what he said. After Darquae rambled on a bit more, they both started out searching
for footprints…
***
The sun had set and the two had found many things, but most were discarded
by Darquae. So, as the full moon was in the air, the pair retired to their beds.
Seris had decided to spend the night with Darquae.
As Seris was closing his eyes after staying
up and talking to himself all night, he saw Darquae get out of bed, muttering
to himself. He went deeper into the covers and only let his eyes show to see
what was going on. Darquae walked out of the room and out of his eyesight.
Seris jumped quietly out of his bed and tiptoed
down the hallways, following a fully dressed Darquae. The sword was at his side,
gleaming in the rooms' candlelight (from the few candles around on tables).
He continued to mutter, walking around, taking no notice to Seris.
Soon, the Lupe started out the door. Curiosity
took hold of Seris and he followed him through the empty Tyrannian streets to
a small shop. Seris looked up at the sign on the top of the red building. DARQUAE'S
DEALS was what it read.
Seris looked back at the windows of the shop.
The lights were now on and the sign that said open was blinking in the window.
Darquae shuffled around the floor, grabbing a piece of cardboard, a marker,
and a pedestal. He put the piece of board down on the pedestal and wrote something
on it with the marker. He then grabbed the sword from his side and gently put
it on the pedestal and put the sign in front of it.
Then, Seris saw a few more items lined up against
the shelves at very high prices. It took him a minute to figure out what was
going on. When he did, he didn't think at all. The Draik marched into the store.
"You traitor!" Seris shouted, pointing a finger
at the Lupe who had his back turned to him.
The Lupe chuckled. "Sorry, Seris. Money is more
important than friendship," he said and turned around. "Maybe you should have
thought about coming in here before you did. I can take the sword and dispose
of you right now and I wouldn't hesitate."
Seris shuddered. "I don't want you to cause
me any harm. All I want to know is why you would do something so… stupid."
"It was my choice. I stole from others and it
felt good. Still, people trusted me and I knew I would be able to take their
most precious item someday," he said. Darquaes' face looked as if he was an
angry ghost. "The sword was that item and because I was assigned to watch over
it, I knew nobody would suspect me…or I hoped no one would. Soon, after a few
months of having the sword, I decided I had to do it soon, so I chose tonight
no matter what happened. Unfortunately, you were there and you were awake. So,
you followed me out of curiosity and ended up here where you saw me pricing
the sword to sell it. The rest is what is about to happen now."
The Lupe walked over to Seris and stood on his
hind legs. "Drag me away to the mayor… I did wrong," he said.
Seris did as he was told…
After Seris took him to the mayor, it was a
long three days. Seris had to tell the town about what he saw and what he thought
may have caused the theft. Then, on the third day he was there (and the final)
Darquae was banned from ever going back to the town or near it.
As Seris was leaving Tyrannia, the mayor of
the town came up to him and thanked him. Seris smiled and got onboard the boat
with Ray'tur, going back to Neopia Central again…
The End
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