Skipper the purple Shoyru leaned over the rail of his ship Whitewake, letting
the sea spray wash his face. He was returning from a successful trade across
the oceans, with his pockets full, his heart happy, and a cargo full of interesting
and rare Krawk Island merchandise.
Skip was just thinking how happy his little brother would be when he saw all
the new items when he heard a startling scream--
"SQUEEEEEEEEEAK!!!!"
Skip's heart sank. His green pet Hopso, Loyale, was sounding the distress signal.
Skipper turned his eyes towards the shoreline to see a small cloud of smoke
rising from the port.
Pirates, he thought to himself, those wavescum. They had better
stay away from here while I'm around or they're going to get it.
As the ship nosed into the harbour, Skipper jumped off, shouting to Loyale to
tie up the ship and follow behind. He flew towards the smoke, realising that
it was coming from his shop. When he arrived at the scene he saw that the shop
itself wasn't badly damaged and the fire was almost out. NeoPets and owners
were standing around watching as firefighters were dousing the remaining flames.
But lying at Skip's feet was a small glass bottle with a note inside. His face
darkened as he read--
"Us've gotten yer likkle frend, an if yer ever wants ter see him agin, ye'll
ave ter find him firsts!"
--Reylok an croo
He couldn't believe it. His little brother kidnapped by pirates, supposedly
the most deadly pirates of all. This was really not Skip's best day. He would
set sail again as soon as possible.
***
Skipper the Shoyru and Loyale, his pet, were on the high seas again. Skip had
an idea that the pirate band that kidnapped his brother would be heading to
Krawk Island. He had never been there personally but had heard stories about
the place. From what he knew it was a likely spot.
"Mweep!"
Loyale the Hopso was bouncing around pointing to starboard. There was a ship
following them, but it did not look like a pirate ship. The flag was something
that looked like a pair of Elephante underwear. Skipper knew at once that it
belonged to the Grundo Gang, a band of mischievous Grundos who liked to pull
pranks and occasionally stole from unsuspecting NeoPets. They weren't a big
threat, but he decided to ask them if they knew where Reylok's ship was headed.
Skipper and Loyale slackened the sails and soon the other ship was very close
by.
"DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT REYLOK?" shouted Skipper to the Grundos.
They answered with a blast from their puny cannon, which zoomed past the mast
but missed by a mile. Skip decided that the time for talking was over. He strapped
on his trusty Sword of Domar and flew over to "chat" with the Grundos.
"AAHH! It's Skipper! We surrender!" said the Grundo Gang. They had heard about
the no nonsense captain and didn't want any trouble.
"Well well well. The Grundo Gang. So, boys, do you know anything about where
Reylok is? Don't be shy now!"
"P-please, sir Skipper, we d-don't know where h-he is! Me-me-mercy!"
"HELLO? WHAT IS GOING ON UP THERE? CAN SOMEONE HELP ME OUT HERE?!?!" shouted
a voice from below deck.
Skipper went to investigate, leaving a very stern-looking Loyale to guard the
Grundos. Skip found that the voice, a loud girly voice, was coming from a locked
cabin. He opened the lock easily and found a very angry striped Kacheek.
"WELL! It is sooo nice to be rescued FINALLY! What were you doing up there,
having a TEA PARTY? Can you TALK? Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"
"Um, oh, I'm Skipper, captain of the ship Whitewake. And you are……?"
"My name is Diane. Can we go now?"
So they went back to the top deck. Loyale looked very surprised to see a new
face, but could tell by looking carefully at her that she wouldn't be any real
problem. Diane joined Skipper's crew, despite his objections, and agreed to
let her stay with them. After saying a long, insulting good-bye to the Grundo
Gang, she climbed aboard the Whitewake and immediately took charge.
"All right! Now listen up guys, I will NOT take any freeloaders on this ship!
Everyone works here! Skipper, you do your captain job, whatever it is. Green
rabbit thing, go find some decent food for me. I will inspect the cabins downstairs
and get settled in. Well come on, let's move it!"
Skipper looked at Loyale, and after Diane went below deck they burst out laughing.
This wasn't so bad after all. However, they soon realised that they were still
clueless as to where they would go next.
To be continued... | 
