Amanda's Secret: Captured Ixi

      Her real name is Amanda____10, but we call her Amanda.

      We adopted Amanda because she was a better cook than her old brother fire_stone_17 (now belongs to bexthetrex), she was caring for her sisters, and she helped them when we needed her.

      But none of us knew she worked for Dr. Sloth, and she was a top worker for him...

      *********

      It was the 13th of Storing in the Lost Desert. It was a huge bustle in Qasala, and everyone was busy. Especially a blue Usul following a tourist crowd. This Usul was Amanda, and she had some work to do.

      Her assignment is to find a way into the room of Nabile, the queen of Qasala, and steal her crown. Piece of cake. She stole multiple items for her master.

      "And here we are, at the castle of Queen Nabile and King Jazan." That got Amanda's attention. She looked ahead to see a magnificent castle, and next to it was Desert Arms.

      "As you can see, this castle is made of..." While the tourist was talking, Amanda snuck from the crowd and into the shop. On the way, she pickpocketed a dozen tourists for NP.

      At Desert Arms, she bought a carved Qasalan Blowgun, a Golden Bow Of Qasala, a Jazan Shield, and an Elegant Desert Sword.

      That night, Amanda loaded her blowgun and fired at a guard posed in front of the door. The second guard sprang into defense mode. "Who's there?" he called out into the darkness.

      Amanda quietly pickup a rock, and threw it near Words of Antiquity. The guard walked over to the shop to see what happened. Amanda ran to the door and opened it. She walked inside and closed the door behind her.

      The hallway surrounding the Usul was guarded by marble statues of guards wielding weapons. One statue showed Hanso swiping the artifact from Xandra. Another showed the Desert Scarabs fighting mummies of Qasala. There were signs leading to different rooms, and Amanda decided to swipe a bit.

      She took a Black Granite Tablet from the library and a Quando Bread from the kitchen.

      Finally, the Usul arrived at Queen Nabile's room. She was about to walk in when some whispers echoed across the room, coming nearer and nearer. Amanda quickly hid behind a statue of Jeran battling a Darigan soldier and watched the corridor.

      "You know Mama and Father would ground us if they see us, right?" Two desert Ixi wandered to Nabile's door.

      "Relax, Esmeralda, it's midnight," the other Ixi said. "Father and Mama won't wake up."

      "What if they do, Caspar? We'll be in trouble for sure."

      "Like I said, it's midni-" Amanda blew a dart at the Ixi named Caspar, who fell to the ground at once.

      "Caspar!" Esmeralda leaped to her brother's side. Amanda hit her with a dart too.

      "Good thing these kids have rope," the Usul muttered as she tied the kids together and duct taped their mouths. She put them behind the Jeran statue to hide them from any guards. Then she went into Nabile's room.

      ***********

      Nabile's room was amazing, carved with limestone and marble. Nabile was asleep in her bed, and some time had passed. Now, it was 12:59, and then 1:00. Amanda stifled a yawn. She had to find the crown soon, or she'll fall asleep and get captured.

      Amanda rummaged through the drawers, and found a key buried under a stack of paper. Amanda put that in her pocket, and went on.

      1:05: Amanda had searched through the whole room, except a small chest. Amanda opened it with the key she got, and... she found the crown!

      1:07: She placed the crown in her pocket, and got to the door. She got the kids, and searched for their room.

      1:10: The Usul found the kid's room, and she placed Caspar in his bed after she ungagged and untied him. "Sweet Dreams," she whispered to Caspar, still having Esmeralda. She left the room with Esmeralda in her paws.

      1:15: Amanda left the palace with Esmeralda, still gagged and tied up. Amanda took out a remote with a button on it, and she pressed it. About five minutes later, a spaceship arrived, and a pirate Lupe stuck his head out the open hatch. "New recruit?" Amanda nodded. beads of sweat rolled down her face. The pirate Lupe, named Flame, took the desert Ixi. Amanda took a piece of Frizz Free Mane Cloth, and wiped the sweat across her forehead.

      The Usul clambered aboard Flame's ship, called the Bad Luck. Then, we took off.

      **********

      The next morning, I collected the mail and sat down on our red couch and read. What caught my attention was this article:

      CHAOS IN QASALA

      Just this morning, a guard was found hit with a dart from a blowgun. This guard was posed in front of the Qasala castle. We interviewed the other guard, and this is what we got:" I heard a noise after the dart shooting, and I found the cause of the noise at the front of Words Of Antiquity. When I came back, the door was ajar; someone had snuck in." When our reporter had went inside, we found more trouble." Our daughter, Esmeralda, had disappeared last night," King Jazan had said," And Nabile's crown is missing, too." that's al we got out of the couple.

      Amanda, Brynn (BrynnGoGo_1) , Sal (Sssnakesalive),and Ann (Annieromi) came into the room, and saw the article.

      " Whoa!" they all said at once. Ann was the least surprised." I heard a noise, and I saw a shadow of a Usul or a Xweetok in the window of Nabile's room," she told us." So, it was either a Usul or Xweetok," Amanda said. I nodded to say I agreed with Amanda, and we all went out for breakfast.

      After breakfast, we went in different directions. Ann and I went to the grooming parlour, Brynn went to the Toy store to help work there, Sal went to help with the chocolate factory, and Amanda went to a clearing in the forest near Altador.

      There, the Bad Luck was waiting, along with Flame. "Climb aboard!" he called. "How's Esmeralda?" she said, climbing up the steps. "She's into stealing items for Dr. Sloth," the Lupe told Amanda, making the spaceship lift up." Nice, for a five year old," Amanda said, a they blasted off into hyperspace.

      **********

      Amanda and Flame landed at the hanger, and got out of the Bad Luck. Cleaners immediately started to clean the Bad Luck.

      Amanda and Flame walked to Dr. Sloth's orphanage, where children training as collecters lived. Esmeralda greeted the duo with a hug with Amanda. "How's your life here, Esmeralda?" Esmeralda answered," It's fun! I made lots of new friends, like Cool!" Esmeralda waved to a Grundo stretching.

      "I don't want to go back home to the palace! I stinks there, having rules and all!"

      "You're going to love it here, I promise," Amanda told her. Flame stayed behind to watch the kids while Amanda went to Dr. Sloth's office.

      "Come in, top thief." As Amanda entered the room, she saw that Sloth had repainted. Gray walls were instead of black, and the desk curved. Dr. Sloth sat in his chair with a cup of coffee. "Thank you for the new apprentice, top thief," he said,"but I have anther assignment: Someone ordered a large gem from Shenkuu. Here is where we located the gem." He handed Amanda a map. "A young child lives there. If you find her, well, she's one of us."

The End