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Maraquan Madness: Part Three


by sirussblack

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Druinnan

Druinnan stole into the hut from the back of the window. Sneaking had always been a talent of his. The Maraquan Kougra guard at the door didn't notice as Druinnan sidled up to the neat little pile of food. Now, how was he going to take it all out? The Krawk picked up a crudely-wrapped parcel in his claws. He would have to the boxes out one by one, and store them by the rock cave in his favourite spot. Hoping against hope that he wouldn't be discovered, the Krawk floated back out the window, the package tucked under his arm, as he began the slow process.

***

Half an hour later, Druinnan was finished. It had taken a while, because the guards kept turning and suspecting something was wrong, so that Druinnan would have to escape and go back a few minutes later. But at last, he was finished, and all the packages of food lay hidden under a thin layer of sand behind the rock, surrounded by straggly tresses of seaweed. The Krawk decided to return to the village for a while, so that he could plan his escape more efficiently by making use of the maps and charts in the main office.

     He wafted into the village, concealing a smirk as he watched villagers run around, shouting to each other about the food. Word was spreading fast, and already Asiris had sunk into a serious conversation with the guards and a few other higher ranked members of the village. Druinnan almost enjoyed watching them panic, as if it were an amusing show put on for his entertainment.

     Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the guards point at him. Asiris shook his head and said something, but the guard kept pointing, and from what Druinnan could hear, he seemed to be persisting that the Krawk was the one who had stolen the food. Asiris, looking doubtful, gave in and floated over with the guard that had been keeping watch most of the time. Druinnan tried to look casual, which was really not too difficult for him.

     "Hello, Druinnan," Asiris greeted him.

     "You sound troubled, sir," said Druinnan. "I go to collect my thoughts outside the village, and when I come back the place is in panic. I don't understand; what happened?"

     "Yes, I am most troubled," sighed Asiris, waving his tail gently in the water so that it gleamed in patches of light. "The food has been stolen, and we don't know who did it. I have not seen you for a while, Druinnan, since you left my office, in fact. Where have you been?" The Draik looked at him sadly. "I trust you, and I don't suspect for a second that you had anything to do with this."

     Druinnan pretended to look shocked. "The village's food supply has been stolen? What will we eat now? I assure you I would never steal anything from the village."

     He lies!" cried the guard, a Maraquan Mynci with a large wooden spear. "I saw him creeping away, with the food in his filthy paws!"

     "That's enough, Gashin!" said Asiris sharply. He turned to Druinnan and said, "I'm sorry to have ever believed for an instant that it might have been you."

     Druinnan shrugged, but Asiris continued, "however, to set the village's mind at ease, do you think we could check around your usual resting spot? I don't expect to find anything there, of course, but it would prevent my guards from attacking you in your sleep." He glared at Gashin.

     Again, Druinnan shrugged, although he was getting apprehensive. "Search the place. I will even lead you there." He swam off, with Asiris and nearly the rest of the curious village in tow.

Sea Slug

His body rippled left to right, left to right as he swam, only following the faint glimpses of the strange object before him. At times he would lose sight of it, only to discover it once more. The minutes slowly ticked by, and the Sea Slug continued to follow his prey, his stubborness set firm on attaining the object before him. Deeper and deeper he swam into the depths of the ocean, and his red eyes started to lose sight of all surroundings except the pitch black of the liquid. Since he was not able to depend on one sense, he decided to do the next best thing; the Sea Slug started to follow the echoes and sounds that he heard underwater. Following his ears instead of his eyes soon led him off to the dark depths of the left, and he followed the soft splish, splash sounds of feet pushing hastily against the water.

     As the Sea Slug followed the sound, he started to hear other sounds as well. Shouts echoed into his mind, and rock crumbling onto the sea's bottom; he heard the slide of sand as Neopians stepped upon it's surface, and he heard the quiet whispers uttered between two characters. The noises bored into the Sea Slug's mind, and it nearly drove him insane. With a cry, he flung open his eyes and hastily pushed all sounds away from his throbbing ears and pained head. Light seeped into his mind the moment his red eyes fell upon the massive, glowing blue structure before him.

     He remembered it's destruction...he remembered it's demise...and he could also recall the great joy which swelled within him when the grand Maraqua fell. He despised the dwellers of Maraqua, and he hated their joy and their ability to converse and think. He hated the noise which they created, and he cursed at them whenever their merrymaking would disturb his slumber. The time between Maraqua's fall and it's reinhabitation were peaceful...and how, the Neopians still dwelled there. Even after it's demise and world-shaking wrecking, the Maraquans still stayed and disturbed his peace. With a loud bellow, he flung himself forward, his eyes glazed over with hate and havoc; he could not stand their intrusion any more.

     The Sea Slug propelled himself forward, using his strong flippers and the currents of the ocean to push him closer towards the left-overs of Maraqua. With his keen ears, he was able to hear the sounds of voices as they conversed within the underwater village. With his keen eyes, we saw many buildings constructed of rough, strong coral that rested beneath the eaves of the fallen city. He glimpsed occasional specks of blue, white, and greenish colored Neopians as they swam to and fro, carefree and completely unaware of the coming of their destruction.

Asiris

"One of your own will betray you," it said again…and again…and again…

     Asiris jumped up in bed. He rolled off the side and fell, clunking his head on his nightstand. He dizzily stood up and stumbled around his large room for a while. He thought about his nightmare he had…what was it about? Who was to betray him? After walking around the room for what seemed like hours, he sighed and returned to his bed, hoping the nightmares would stop. They didn't.

     For the past few days, Asiris had been having strange visions of the dream he had been having earlier. He continued to shrug the warnings off and went about his business for a few days. That is, until his guards told him something so shocking that he couldn't help but gasping.

     "It is suspected that Drunnian has stolen food from the keep, sir." A guard named Gashin whispered in my ear. He glanced over at Drunnian, who was floating just a few feet away with him, looking a bit surprised at what had been going on. There was mass chaos. The townspeople were running around, screaming and panicking.

     "Are you sure?" he asked.

     "Almost definite," the Maraquan Mynci replied.

     Asiris shook his head. "Let us go check this out." The two both went over to Drunnian.

     "Hello, Druinnan," Asiris greeted him.

     "You sound troubled, sir," the Krawk said. "I go to collect my thoughts outside the village, and when I come back the place is in panic. I don't understand; what happened?"

     Asiris sighed. "Yes, I am most troubled," he said, waving his tail around in the water. "The food has been stolen, and we don't know who did it. I have not seen you for a while, Druinnan, since you left my office, in fact. Where have you been?" Asiris frowned. "I trust you, and I don't suspect for a second that you had anything to do with this."

     Druinnan looked shocked. "The village's food supply has been stolen? What will we eat now? I assure you I would never steal anything from the village."

     "He lies!" Gashin cried, grabbing his wooden spear. "I saw him creeping away, with the food in his filthy paws!"

     "That's enough, Gashin!" Asiris said, agitated. He turned to Druinnan and said, "I'm sorry to have ever believed for an instant that it might have been you." Druinnan sighed but Asiris continued speaking. "However, to set the village's mind at ease, do you think we could check around your usual resting spot? I don't expect to find anything there, of course, but it would prevent my guards from attacking you in your sleep." Asiris looked at Gashin angrily.

     "Search the place. I will even lead you there." He started to swim off. Asiris, Gashin, and a lot of other townspeople followed behind him.

To be continued…

 
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Other Episodes


» Maraquan Madness: Part One
» Maraquan Madness: Part Two
» Maraquan Madness: Part Four
» Maraquan Madness: Part Five



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