Jagger padded silently through the lush green moss and prickly bushes, his
nose alert for anything out of the ordinary. A silence hung heavily over the
darkening forest, and it was humid, a sure sign of approaching rain. When the
rain came the forest would be filled with the sound of water hitting leaves
and the ground, but for now it was enveloped in a strange quiet.
Which was just as well, so far as he was concerned. All the more easier to
hear the approach of an enemy.
Suddenly he paused, and turned in a half-circle to look back the way he came.
From that direction came a sort of pounding, a rumbling so deep that it reverberated
in the very heart of the earth. There was something coming, something not quite
right… the green Lupe crouched low, thanking the stars that his coat blended
so well with the surrounding undergrowth.
Into a clearing nearby came a strange procession. Jagger caught a glimpse of
a hard brown shell; heard a snatch of strange, hollow chanting--and suddenly
realised that these must be the Mystery Island coconuts, those strange beasts
with their own tribes and customs, just like his distant uncle had once told
him… But what were they doing so far in the cold evergreen forests of Northern
Neopia? Weren't they supposed to make their livings in the hot, steamy tropics
of the south?
That was when he saw that a group of them were carrying something; that something
was a yellow Gelert.
The Gelert was a mere puppy, tossing and turning in the net that held him,
snarling at his captors. He was a sort of dirty yellow, and his fur was matted
and stuck together with mud. At the moment he looked quite helpless, but that
didn't stop him from trying to escape from the net, even though his efforts
managed to get him even more entangled in it. The coconuts paid him no heed.
Jagger hesitated for a moment. The pup was certainly in trouble, but that was
not Jagger's business; and besides, the pup was not a Lupe. Jagger might help
a Lupe in distress, but one of his species' sworn enemies…
And then the Gelert let out such a piteous whimper that Jagger's heart went
out to him. In a second the Lupe's mind was made up.
As the coconuts set up camp for the fast-approaching night, Jagger stealthily
crept to the place where they had left the Gelert tied to a tree trunk. The
pup's spirit seemed to have faded with the sun; now he was lying limply in his
bonds.
Jagger snuck up behind the pup. "Hey, buddy. What's your name?" The Gelert
jumped with shock, then looked around. When he saw Jagger he relaxed a bit.
"Cheppie. Why do you want to know?" he replied.
"I'm here to help you, Cheppie. Now, hold--still--" Jagger gasped out as
he struggled to bite through the ropes. They were made of some strange material
that he had never seen before, perhaps something from the south… Finally he
got the ropes undone.
"Come on," he said. "Those coconuts will be here soon…" As he said these words,
he already heard a cry coming from the coconuts. There was the pounding of feet--they were coming towards him…
He grabbed Cheppie by the scruff of his neck and set off at a run towards the
treeline, half a dozen spears following him. The coconuts were not going to
give up easily, for he heard the sounds of a large tracking party coming after
them. Jagger suddenly wheeled left, plunged forward through a succession of
bushes, and turned right. Cheppie was whimpering softly. Jagger then scraped
his way up a tree, stayed there until the search party passed, scrambled down,
and ran in the other direction. He kept these tricks up for about ten minutes
more, until he was sure that he had lost their pursuers. Then he headed home.
Home for him was a small cave set behind a medium-sized waterfall, somewhere
in the middle of the forest. It took him a good twenty minutes or so to find
the landmarks that reminded him where to go, but once he found those he reached
the shelter quickly. And just in time, too. Night had fallen, and it became
hard to see ten feet in front of him.
Cheppie was already fast asleep, and Jagger put him gently on the bed of rushes
that he had created. Then he curled up next to the pup, closed his eyes, and
fell into a deep slumber.
In the distance a storm rumbled, and the rain began to fall.
To be continued... | 
