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Untitled Document
The Elephante had made a great entrance for Liji, screaming
at the top of her lungs "The Queen has come! The Queen has come!" And all of the
Neopets, young and old, stopped in their tracks to bow as Liji passed. Many of
them were Liji's age, or perhaps even older. And yet they all stared into her
eyes with utter admiration. It made Liji seem a bit uncomfortable, but special
as well.
Olcoro finally came to consciousness a few moments
later, completely clueless with what was going on. "H-huh?" he asked in a sort
of day-dreamy way, shading his eyes from the bright sun right smack in the middle
of the sky.
"I'm queen..." said Liji, waving oddly at all
of the Neopets she passed.
"Queen?"
"Yes..." she had a fake half-grin on her face.
She was rather worried about what would happen next.
Suddenly, a huge Kau dressed in an incredible
gown of rich fabrics. She smiled warmly and walked gracefully over to Liji.
She bowed before her, and presented her with a somewhat large gift.
"Uh-I don't really need this," she handed the
gift back the Kau.
"No, it is yours. And you are queen," she bowed
again.
"You can stop bowing now," she told the Kau.
"Alright, but you must take the gift. Open it
today, and soon, but in privacy. No one else shall see it," the Kau's face looked
very solemn and serious. Liji nodded, thankful that she get away from the eyes
of all of the Neopets She ducked away into one of the tents. It was completely
empty.
She settled down into a soft plush chair that
was very relaxing. Carefully, she tore the paper wrapped around the box off.
She lifted the lid. Her heart was beating rapidly at what she saw.
It was a titanium shield, strong and thick.
It was almost twice the size of Liji herself. There was a large "L" on the front
etched into it's face, with decorative detail made of the finest lines and softest
imprints. On the back there was a soft handle, the perfect size for Liji's hand.
It was one of the best gifts she had ever received, especially since she was
worried about what would become of her, what with General Ariconn and Major
Tanren. And she worried about Olcoro. He wasn't strong, and one of his legs
was a fake. But most of all, she worried about her best friends, Baroo and Riggo.
"Baroo! Riggo!" she screamed out. In the corner
of the tent her two friends were locked in monstrous steel cages with colossal
iron locks keeping them shut tight. "Are you two alright?"
"Liji!" they both cried in unison.
"I have to get you out of here!" Liji quickly
dashed out of the tent and into the broad daylight. She spied the Kau talking
to Olcoro, laughing merrily and tossing jokes. She grabbed the Kau by the arm
and dragged her a little ways. "You have to release them! The ones in the cages!"
The Kau wobbled a bit, almost falling over.
She straightened herself out. "Liji, they attempted to hurt us! Perhaps even
kill us! We had to lock them up! We fear them so!"
"But they're my friends! They would never dare
to hurt you! Oh, please, release them!" Liji pleaded. The Kau thought about
it for a minute, then clapped her hands. Four workers, all of whom were Lost
Desert Chias, quickly ran up to the Kau.
"What is it?" one of them asked the Kau.
"Release the prisoners. Queen's orders," the
four Chias quickly raced into a tent and came out with Riggo and Baroo, chained
and hand cuffed.
"Remove those manacles! Take off the shackles!
They don't need those! They're my friends!" Liji screamed.
"But, Queen Liji, your Highness, we must inform
you that these two-"
"I don't care what they did or attempted to
do," she interrupted. "Just release them. Completely. NOW!" the Chias sighed,
rolled their eyes, and unlocked the hand cuffs.
"Liji, we need to talk to you..." said Riggo.
"Liji, um, there's something you ought to know..."
said Olcoro.
"Liji, I have to say something..." said Baroo.
"Queen Liji!" she said in a snobby tone. She
was turning back into her true self now that Riggo and Baroo were there.
"Queen Liji..." said all three.
"Oh, my! I haven't introduced you yet!" Liji
pulled Olcoro over to Riggo and Baroo. "Olcoro, this is Riggo and Baroo. Riggo,
Baroo, this is Olcoro!"
"Hi," they all said quickly, and instantly went
back to telling Liji they needed to talk to her.
"Wait! Alright, follow me," she led them into
a tent. "Now, Riggo, you can go."
"Liji, I need to speak to you in privacy," he
said.
"Me too!" said Olcoro.
"So do I!" said Baroo.
"What could possibly be so important? Alright...
Olcoro, Baroo, go outside and wait until I call you," she loved being queen
and bossing Neopets around. Without another word, Olcoro and Baroo exited the
tent. Liji turned to Riggo. "You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yes... Liji, you know, this is exactly like
what happened to us three months ago with the Poogles! I mean, this isn't safe!
We're going to get stuck here again!"
"Riggo, Riggo, Riggo..." she sighed. "They are
being very nice. They can't be evil."
"That was exactly what all of those Poogles
did..." he began. "They acted so nice, then turned on us! Don't tell me you
don't remember!"
"Of course I remember," she wasn't taking this
very seriously. "It was only three months ago."
"You're not making it seem like you care about
what might happen," he said in a concerned tone.
"Of course I care. I'm queen," she said.
"The Poogles told you that you were queen, too,
and then because of that they attempted to kill you!" Riggo was growing agitated.
"But this is different," Liji insisted.
"How is it so different?" he argued.
"When I was at their rainbow pool, this beautiful
fountain, I turned into this; attire only for a queen. And I only had to touch
it. This is for real, Riggo..."
"Exactly! That is why I am so concerned! This
is for real! And you don't even care!" His face was red with anger.
"Riggo..." she stood up and put her hand on
his shoulder. "Riggo, it's gonna be fine. Now go outside and get Olcoro."
Riggo stomped out of the tent filled with rage.
Olcoro entered, sitting himself down opposite Liji.
"Liji, there is something very important on
my mind..."
"Yes, what?" she asked.
"Well, um, I'm not exactly sure how to put this..."
"Just say it, Olcoro. I have a lot of things
to do as a queen." Olcoro laughed, but quit as soon as Liji shot him a look.
"Well, Major Tanren and General Ariconn are
here..."
"Here? What do you mean?"
"They are here. And they know that you're queen.
And they requested to come talk to you in privacy... Liji, I think we're in
trouble..."
"Yes," she looked at her hands. They shook lightly
in worry. "Anything we can do?"
Olcoro laughed. "Well, you could order them
to be locked up in those cages."
"That would work for Major Tanren, but General
Ariconn can just disappear to wherever, remember?" said Liji.
"Oh, yes..." he thought a minute. "Well, we
have to think up a plan. And quick..."
"Queen Liji, there are two Lupes here that say
they must speak with you on an urgent manner. You must continue your conversation
later." One of the Chias popped his head into the tent.
"Tell them too-" she looked at Olcoro. "Tell
them to return... tomorrow! Tomorrow evening, or later! Send them home-don't
let them stay here-and tell them to return tomorrow evening!"
"Alright... but they won't be happy..." the
Chia disappeared, closing the drape for a door.
"That doesn't give us much time." Olcoro was
worried.
"Yes, but any longer and they'll be over-suspicious.
We need to address this carefully. What can we do?" Liji was thinking hard.
"We could get Riggo and Baroo to help us," Olcoro
suggested.
"Good! Go out there and tell them..."
"Me? Why me?"
"Well, I can't let Major Tanren and General
Ariconn see me if they're out there..."
"Neither can I!"
"Well..." Liji took a scrap of parchment and
a quill and scribbled out 'send in Baroo and Riggo'. She carefully went over
to the front of the tent and opened the flap wide enough only so that the note
could be seen. When she felt someone grab it, her arm retreated and sat back
down in her chair. A moment later, Baroo and Riggo entered.
"What's wrong?" asked Riggo.
"We have to do some planning," Olcoro began.
"We need to find a way to escape from here without
anyone seeing or knowing," Liji continued. "We can't let General Ariconn or
Major Tanren see us, especially. But I don't want anyone else to see either.
Because, Riggo, if you're right, then they can find us easily. But we only have
until tomorrow evening."
"Couldn't we just go under the tent in the back
and run away right now?" Baroo suggested. Riggo, Liji, and Olcoro all looked
at each other, then at Baroo.
"I don't see why not," said Liji. "Come on,
let's go!"
The four ducked under the canvas and came out
into the sun. Hills upon hills of sand stood before them.
"Long walk," said Riggo, laughing gently.
"I don't think so..." said Olcoro, pointing
to the group's right. There was a cart, with plenty of room to fit the foursome,
with two Lost Desert Unis chained to the front, smiling at them.
"Weird... I've never seen a Lost Desert Uni,"
said Liji, admiring the magnificence of their beauty. "Come on," said Baroo.
The four piled into the cart. Riggo pulled lightly on the chains, causing the
Uni's run through the desert. The cart ran smoothly over the thick sand dunes.
The Uni's mains and tails blew through the breeze. The sun slowly sank over
the horizon before them as they raced through the sand.
To be continued...
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