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The Greatest Backyard Adventure


by harmony_star19

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“How do things look from the crow's-nest, Tobi?” the blue Kacheek Captain asked his Doglefox first mate.

     Tobi chirped happily. Everything was looking fine on the wide expanse of crystal blue ocean.

     Captain Daren was standing on the deck of his beautiful ship, The Golden Doglefox. He and his first mate, Tobi, were on their way to a secret island after spending the morning exploring another mysterious land. They were looking for hidden treasures and daring adventures. To Captain Daren, this was the life. He was breathing in the warm salty air when...

     “Daren, it's lunch time! Come down from your tree house and have something to eat.”

     Daren was annoyed. He and Tobi were just about to start another exciting adventure. But he couldn’t ignore his grumbling stomach.

     “Mina! Tobi and I were just on our way to a secret island,” Daren explained to his owner as he climbed down his tree house ladder, Tobi right behind him. He landed on the grass and looked at Mina, “And it’s Captain Daren, thank you very much!”

     Mina laughed as she followed the two adventurers into the kitchen.

     Daren and Tobi finished their lunch at lightening speed. Before Mina could get a word out, they ran up the stairs in a hurry. A few minutes later, they emerged wearing their safari hats and Daren had a piece of parchment in one hand and a cereal box compass around his neck.

     “Where are you two going?” Mina inquired.

     “We’ve sailed the shining seas, and now it’s time to explore the jungle!” Daren exclaimed.

     “Will you be searching for treasure?” Mina asked enthusiastically.

     “Absolutely!” the Kacheek cried. “We have this secret map that will show us where we need to go. We’ll be back by dinner!”

     Mina waved as Daren and Tobi ran outside. They eagerly approached the forested area in the corner of their backyard.

     Daren looked down to Tobi. “Alright, Tobi, we’re about to embark on a great adventure. Are you ready?” The Doglefox nodded his little head. “Then let’s go.”

     Daren and Tobi stepped into a lush jungle. They could hear the sounds of dozens of creatures everywhere. The parchment in Daren’s hand now laid out the journey to a real treasure hidden deep within an abandoned temple, and his plastic compass had transformed into an antique compass plated in glittering gold. Without wasting a moment, the two explorers began to make their way through the dense foliage of the jungle.

     “Wow, this jungle is fabulous!” Daren declared. “I can’t wait till we find the trea- aah!”

     Suddenly everything was dark. Daren could hear Tobi crying for him to wake up. He opened his eyes to see that he and Tobi had fallen into a hole, a trap.

     “Tobi, are you ok?” Daren asked anxiously.

     The Doglefox nodded, but directed Daren’s attention to something much more important. The Kacheek gasped in horror.

     On the other side of the dark hole was an enormous Kougra with long fangs, and a look of malice in his glowing green eyes. Daren and Tobi shivered in fear as the creature came into the light.

     “Hey there!” the Kougra said happily. “Hope I didn’t look too scary in the shadows.”

     Daren and Tobi were caught in a state of surprise. The Kougra was nice. Maybe he could help them get out of here.

     “Why are you down in this hole?” Daren asked curiously

     “To make your adventure more interesting of course!” The Kougra laughed. “You can escape through the tunnel beside you.”

     Daren looked to his right to see a tunnel that wasn’t there before.

     “Well, thank you,” Daren said. “I guess we’ll be off!”

     The Kougra waved as the two explorers escaped through the pitch black tunnel. Daren and Tobi could not see a foot in front of them. But then they could see a glimmer of light peeking through the darkness in the distance. Daren and Tobi rushed to the light and found themselves standing on the edge of a cliff above a deep canyon with a raging river. Daren glanced at his map and referred to his compass to see that the abandoned temple was on the other side of the canyon.

     The two explorers looked around carefully for a way to get across the canyon. Tobi was quick to notice the long vines hanging from the trees along the cliff. Taking a firm grip of a vine, Daren and Tobi swung like wild Myncies to the other side. They landed with a small thump and sighed in relief that they made it across safely. Knowing that the treasure was within their grasps, Daren and Tobi hurried through the thick jungle and finally found themselves at the foot of a temple that mirrored what they would have seen in a place like Geraptiku.

     “Come on, Tobi, let’s go!” Daren exclaimed, running inside the temple, Tobi on his heels.

     The temple was dark and the two explorers could sense the mysteries hidden within the stone walls. They were careful of their every move in case of any more traps. However, their meticulous care was not enough. Tobi accidentally stepped on a loose stone tile that set off a chain of arrows. But because of their quick reflexes, they superbly avoided the arrows like Hannah in the Pirate Caves.

     Then, Daren and Tobi finally came upon what they were looking for. Resting on top of an intricately decorated gold altar was a sparkling emerald the size of Tobi himself. They approached the gem with gaping eyes, for they had never seen anything so beautiful in all their lives. The smile on Daren’s face was as wide as Neopia! Even as the Captain of The Golden Doglefox, Daren had never found a treasure quite like this. It was all too good to be true.

     Tobi chirped in uncontrollable excitement. He wanted to take the emerald home.

     “No Tobi, we can’t take it home,” Daren replied.

     The Doglefox’s smile faded to a sad frown. He wanted to know why. It was them who found it. They should take it home as their prize.

     “You and I had a lot of fun finding this treasure. We got to see the amazing jungle, we fell into a trap and met a really nice Kougra, and we even got to swing across a canyon on vines! Finding this temple and this wonderful treasure has been the greatest adventure ever for us! But we are not the only ones who will share this adventure. Others just like us who live off of excitement and imagination will set off on a crazy adventure and go in search of valuable treasures. If we take the emerald home, the adventures that neopets and petpets like us embark on will be in vain. For what fun is an adventure if you can’t share the excitement of finding a treasure with your best friends?”

     Tobi’s smile returned to his face. He knew that Daren was right. If the emerald had not been there when they arrived, he would not have been able to share that wonderful feeling of excitement and adventure with Daren.

     “Alright, Tobi, let’s go. We have a lot to tell Mina, and I’m hungry,” Daren said cheerfully.

     And so the two explorers returned home and had many more great backyard adventures.

The End

 
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