Glad to be Back

      Samuel was a young fourteen-year-old Pirate Shoyru, quick and adventurous. He liked to explore caves and take on daring challenges. With a pirate sabre in hand he will swashbuckle like you've never seen before! He wore a maroon vest over a dull white shirt, which had been made short-sleeved by tearing off a bit of the longer sleeves. There was a black bandanna wrapped around his head, where tufts of gray hair spread out over his forehead. He wore a brown belt and boots, held a scabbard with his sabre, and wore a gold medal. Now the days of risks could not be common anymore, for he wrote stories and books of great adventures.

      Something interested him as a ship pulled on the Krawk Island dock. The Neopians of Krawk Island just passed by, as it was common for ships to pull into their island. Samuel however closed the book he was working on and flew outside, waiting as a plank of wood slid down the entrance. He watched as anonymous Neopians piled out, chatting with each other. He waited at the end of the bridge...and his eyes widened as he saw the last person step out.

      "SAMUEL!!!" a young thirteen-year-old Usul screamed with joy. Her green skirt and chestnut brown locks flew and her tail curled with happiness as she ran to the Shoyru, her arms outstretched. "Samuel, oh, Samuel!" she called again, her sapphire eyes sparkling.

      "HANNAH!" he cried, and began running. Hannah jumped into his arms, and the two gave a welcoming and warm embrace. "Long, long time since I've clapped me eyes on you!"

      The two were very, very close friends. Since their last adventures, they have not seen each other for a long, long time, as Samuel has said, possibly a year and a quarter. Now they got to see each other again.

      "Where were you, wench?" Samuel snickered, ruffling Hannah's hair playfully. "News has it you disappeared with some Gelert lad for some ol' time, mysterious type he was!"

      "I'll tell you all about it!" Hannah burbled excitedly, squeezing his hand tight. "Oh, Sam, I went on some GREAT adventures. I explored the Lost Desert, and Terror Mountain, and I got to see the Snow Faerie Taelia, and I-"

      "Whoa, slow down, mate!" Samuel laughed, pulling his hand away. "From what you've adventured, 'tis be a lot of stuff! Come in and tell me your whole story!" As he took Hannah's hand her sleeve pulled up, revealing her right arm. Exposed on it was tattooed a strange red symbol of lines, an open eye in the middle of an eleven pointed sun. Samuel's eyes widened. "Queen Fyora," he breathed, "what happened to you?!"

      Hannah's face fell. "Let me tell you the first parts first." As they entered Samuel's house she began explaining everything in full detail. It took some time; she skipped the part of the mark and Armin to tell later. After all was told, she began the skipped part. "Going back to the Lost Desert. That was when we finally got to the tomb of the demi-god," Hannah explained, fondling with her mahogany-coloured vest. "It had traps, like the oh-so-common shooting arrows, the bed of spikes, these strange slicing wheels, you get it. That's when we ran into it. It was this weird shrine, with this mark embedded on it!" She pointed to the symbol on her arm. "I told Kanrik that I should check it out first, and then that accursed common trap."

      "Step on the ol' stone and disaster strikes hard?" Samuel drawled with sarcasm, remembering what happened in his adventure at Skull Chamber. "Arrows?"

      "No," Hannah said grimly, " though I wish it was arrows. I will never forget it! The shrine symbol, it glowed! Instantly it moved and struck me here! The pain, it stung like blazing lava, throbbing like crazy-" Hannah choked at the memory. "I was crying; it hurt so much; and then I nearly fell, my hands gripping the edge. I remembered calling to Kanrik, to help me from falling, but the pain of the mark, hurt, badly, and I let go, and I felt myself going down, down into the eternal abyss!"

      "You shouldn't 'ave trusted Kanrik in the first place," Samuel said through gritted teeth and clenched paws.

      "I fell on this short ledge, luck it was. I used some of the rope I packed with me. My arm hurt badly! I overheard Kanrik and his gang talking about Terror Mountain, and they took this big coffin with them. It contained the Bringer of the Night" - she watched as Samuel's eyes widened - "which they took. Then I found this gem...and I decided to wear it. Big mistake."

      "Big mistake indeed, lass!" Samuel snorted in disbelief, shaking his head with pity. "Haven't you heard the flippin' legends? Or should I tell 'em to you?"

      Hannah nodded. Samuel reached out for his bookshelf and opened a book. "See 'ere? 'Twas said that the Bringer of the Night was an evil Moehog demigod, tryin' to overthrow the late pharaoh king Ta Katup, this royal lad 'ere." He pointed at a Desert Blumaroo wizard. "But Ta Katup was wise and knew this, so he imprisoned the demigod, all cause he was destroying villages 'ere and there."

      "The Bori villages!" Hannah gasped, her lips parting in realization.

      "Exactly! Ta Katup imprisoned the Bringer of the Night's immortal powers in this big fat beauty, a gem he placed in the Heart of Terror Mountain, freezin' the demigod for umpteen years, can't remember, shorter than the Darkest Faerie's imprisonment. Yet while the flippin' Bringer of the Night was still not imprisoned, neither his powers in that Heart, he smashed a piece off o' that gem off, causing the Bori to freeze and the piece of gem is the jewel you was wearin'!"

      "And since the Bringer of the Night's powers were so strong, and I couldn't control it, the powers of the fragment took control of me instead!" Hannah finished. "Add it with Ta Katup's curse, and that made things worse! No wonder when I trekked in Terror Mountain's blizzard that Armin told me I was lying there like a battered-up plushie-"

      "Who's Armin?" Samuel interrupted.

      "Armin was the remaining of the Bori village I explained earlier," Hannah said. "He's ten, and pretty brave for a young boy like him. Small, but strong in heart. He's a good slinger and digger. He brought down the Bringer of the Night...when he got frozen."

      "Oh," Samuel said, letting his eyes return to normal size and removing the mere thought of a tiny Bori taking down the invincible Bringer of the Night. "By any chance...was Armin the ancestor of the great Bori warrior, seeking down to help 'is mates?"

      "No, I never asked him-"

      "Old legendary prophecies tell of the reincarnation of a brave Bori fighter that sought out to find help for 'is people. It is then he'll take down the Bringer of the Night with two stones, and then one more, and the Bringer will be vanquished."

      "Two stones Armin shot with his slingshot at the Bringer before I placed the gem back in the Heart of the Mountain, which then unfroze the Bori, and then he struck it, freezing the Bringer instead!" Hannah snapped her fingers. "And THAT'S when Armin shot at his forehead and brought the Bringer crumbling down and the ice skeletons melting."

      Silence hung in the air for a moment, save for the bird Petpets squawking and chirping outside in Krawk Island, and the people chatting. Finally Samuel cleared his throat. "Is Armin your best friend now?" he asked.

      "Funny you should ask," Hannah replied. "I let him read these two books you sent me a few months ago." She removed her backpack and took out two books covered in velvet and embroidered in gold lettering, one with a red velvet cover and the other with green. In the middle of the green book was the small skull jewelry that Samuel had kept from a letter from a Gelert named Cap'n Gerald. Samuel recognized them immediately.

      Hannah pulled out the heart-shaped ruby Samuel had given her on one of their many adventures. "I, I also showed him this," she smiled sheepishly. "The gem you gave me, remember?"

      Samuel smiled. "I remember." His hand touched the finely cut red gem. "And what did Armin say?"

      "He asked if I was best friends with you, Sam. And I said yes, but, in a different way." Hannah lowered her head in embarrassment, turning red. "So I told him we could be best friends, while you and I..."

      Samuel turned away, as not to let Hannah see him blush. "He's a smart one, that Armin. I'd like to meet 'im sometime," he murmured. "So, that's your tale?"

      Hannah nodded, and embraced Samuel again. "We're almost like Kanrik and Masila, but it'll last forever. Kanrik joined the thieves again and became the leader, and Armin rejoins his people. Also, Taelia said the Mark of Ta Katup will stay on me for the rest of my life," she exclaimed. "But it has no effect anymore."

      "Well, that's nice to hear, but what about your ol' ma?" Samuel chortled, and launched into a mock impression of a mother, gently tugging Hannah's ear. "Why, Hannah dear, what is that dreadful tattoo doing on your arm? I told you that you're not old enough to get one yet!"

      Hannah burst out laughing merrily, and began to act like her older sister, Nateah. "Ugh, Hannah, you look so ugly with that mark on your right arm! Like, seriously!" she scoffed tauntingly, flinching her arms in a girly way and making her voice more high-pitched.

      They laughed on and on and on until their sides hurt. "C'mon, Hannah," Samuel said, taking her hand, "let's go to the Golden Dubloon and celebrate!"

      Hannah gave a warm smile. "Let's," she echoed.

      * * * * * * * *

     The Golden Dubloon was in a merry frenzy. Hannah danced and sang about her adventures, sipping some ale instead of fruit grog. Samuel watched from a table as others would raise their tankards in celebration as she danced around and around. Pawkee, who had arrived with a first place Deckball medal to give to his Shoyru friend, flew around, chatting and squawking with some other Petpets. There were cheers and cries for more as Hannah took a bow and headed for Samuel's table.

      "I'm having a grand time, Sam," she grinned. "Why don't you join me?"

      "Nah, you're fine anyway," Samuel responded, taking a sip of ale. "Besides, if you need help, trust me, I'll be there. Blimey, I wonder where those pretty Fontaine sisters arrrrreeyow!" He gave a rueful grin and rubbed the arm where Hannah had sharply pinched him. The Usul gave one more wink to him before getting ready to dance again. She began to sing.

      Samuel cheered and was about to raise his tankard high when he froze in place. His eyes widened, then leveled into a suspicious glare. Behind Hannah, an older green gypsy Acara sat there watching the Usul. She was quite pretty. She wore a green-rimmed purple cloak and wore a beautiful diamond brooch, plus some gold earrings on each ear. Her blue eyes shifted wherever Hannah danced. The Pirate Shoyru then noticed that some other cloaked figures were watching Hannah, about three or four. A fifth cloaked figure was also watching from the doorway, but it was watching the Acara.

      Samuel's brain racked hard and hastily for an answer. He remembered what Hannah said about Kanrik, and who betrayed Kanrik before-

      "Masila!" he gasped. His hand shot to the handle of his sabre.

      Quickly Masila got up and threw a small dagger aimed at Hannah. The wide-eyed Usul froze ice solid as the knife flew past her outstretch arms and thudded into the wall, vibrating with a humming sound. Chaos erupted as thieves threw their hoods off and drew their weapons, but Samuel was onto them like lightning, knocking them out with the hilt of his blade. He whirled his sabre and flew at Masila. Masila breathed heavily as she fell and found the deadly blade edging near her throat. Everyone in the Golden Dubloon was silent, including Pawkee and Hannah. Samuel's eyes leveled dangerously with the double-crossers.

      "What do you want?" he hissed.

      Masila's eyes burned hatred and rage. "You-" she spat, but stopped short as the sabre edged nearer. She felt the tip of the pirate sword.

      "Masila!" Hannah shouted, her hands clenched. She waved a paw to the door. "Everyone, out!" she ordered. "This is none of your business." Reluctantly everyone disappeared, save the thieves and Pawkee.

      She turned back to Masila. "Trying to kill me, eh?" she said in a low voice, tugging Masila's dagger out of the wall. "Thought it was my fault Kanrik turned away from you and joined me, is that why you seek to have revenge? Well, it's not! YOU betrayed Kanrik, so he left you, happy? There's the truth!"

      "Huh, you know more than I thought you did, dear Hannah," Masila smirked, forgetting about the sabre. "How? Is it because..." Her eyes shifted to Samuel and she cackled. "I should've known."

      Samuel and Hannah's eyes widened, and the Shoyru got off. Hannah was about to retort when the fifth cloaked figure at the door said, "You know nothing."

      The cloaked figure at the door walked up to Masila. She removed her hood. Masila screamed and backed away. "Go away!" she cried. "Kanrik said that you were dead!"

      The faded Green Gelert rolled her eyes. She was pretty; she wore a navy blue headband over her smoothly flowing locks of coal-black hair. "Kanrik wasn't there when I realized I survived the disease," she said slyly. "My mother was too sick to realize that I was just sleeping, so she wrote to Kanrik with the last of the strength she could muster. She didn't make it to get the cure one of our people found. You know, Kanrik still thinks of you. I should know, as his little sister Galley. You should...go back to him."

      Masila screeched. "He does not! You are a liar!" she spluttered furiously, clenching her hands.

      "You're blind with anger, I see," Kanrik's sister observed, rolling her eyes again. "It is you who is a liar, double-crosser. Even thieves do not sink this low, well, maybe, just maybe Galem Darkhand would. But, you should go see him anyway." She slowly drew a dagger, surprisingly identical to Kanrik's. "That's an order," Galley finished coldly.

      She grabbed Masila's dagger from Hannah and, using only two fingers, snapped it in half. Masila's eyes widened, then she beckoned to her thieves. "Come," she said gravely as she disappeared out the door.

      Hannah rested her head on Samuel's shoulder. "I'm tired of all these events," she giggled. "For once, can't I have a vacation?"

      "That wouldn't be very exciting, though, matey," Samuel replied, stroking Hannah's hair as Pawkee flew around Galley, who was following Masila's thieves.

      Hannah gave a smile. "I'm glad to be back, Samuel," she sighed, and shut her eyelids in sleep.

- THE END -

Author's Note: Sequel to "Pirate Cave Peril" and "Skull Chamber's Treasure"...and other unwritten sequels to those two, and the aftermath of the Hannah and the Ice Caves Plot (You can't blame us NT Writers to finish off dangling plots, you know. ;D). Comments, questions, or just plain neomail is always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

 ~HTML