Fanfare trumpets blasted in front of the Golden Dubloon. The entire place was unrecognizable: everything had been changed for the wedding of Princess Alabaster of the Lost Desert.
"All hail the groom!" said the Innkeeper of the Golden Dubloon. He didn't care that such an event was being held in his establishment and drove out customers all day; the King was giving him triple his monthly wages to host the wedding.
All the Krawk Islanders cheered as the Groom, a smug male Royal Usul from Meridell, stepped out from the basement where the Krawps games were normally played (the area had been cleared to make it look like an actual wedding establishment). He strutted down the aisle pompously and stood by the altar, looking towards the stairs he had just ascended. The bride should be coming out any second now...
The crowd waited, restless. Not many knew why the King of the Lower Mentu Region, King Sobek, had decided to host his younger daughter's wedding at Krawk Island. Many people had theories: could something bad be happening at the Lost Desert? Was there some sort of peril he was trying to avoid in other regions of Neopia?
No one but the king knew, for Sobek was wise and did not easily give out crucial information that may eventually affect him. All the Krawk Islanders and the people of the Lower Mentu Region knew was that they should try their best to attend the wedding at the prospect of the gifts that they would receive. However, they greatly doubted the prospect of young Princess Alabaster's marriage because it was common knowledge that she valued the art of battling above many other things in her life.
These thoughts ran through everybody's mind as they waited expectantly, every single person in the room looking at the door where the Princess was to soon emerge. After nearly fifteen minutes, they heard a rustling noise, a scream, something that sounded like heavy things falling on the ground, and someone rushing up the stairs as a door slammed.
It was King Sobek that appeared at the summit of the stairwell. He looked like a horrid mess, his normally well-kept dark hair sticking out all over his head and his crown askew. "Nothing... nothing to worry about!" he told the astonished crowd as they gasped at his appearance. He got out his handkerchief and dabbed his sweaty brow with it as he glanced out of a window behind him. "Nothing, nothing to worry about..."
Actually, little did the crowd know that there iwas/i something to worry about. There had been a commotion down in the basement between Alabaster and her father.
"But father!" she had screamed, as numerous make-up Aishas made her look her best for the wedding. "I don't want to marry Prince Shala-what's-his-face! He's a total jerk; I can't stand him at all! All he does is talk about his finances and his 'Petpet-farming' and his 'archery'..."
"Now Alabaster," her father scolded, looking up towards the ceiling as the fanfare trumpets blasted. "You know that in order to keep the peace between the Lower Mentu Region of the Lost Desert and Western Meridell, we must unite our eldest children once every three decades! It is courtesy law, it is an agreement, it is-"
"I don't care what it is, father!" Alabaster yelled as the crowd began to cheer above the argument. In her mind's eye, she could just imagine the Prince walking down the alleyway; his eyes closed in a royal manner and his arm poised with his hand relaxed as if he were holding a fan, which he probably was. This visual image only angered the Usul more, and she punched the droopy, ugly part of her pure-white wedding dress.
"Your Majesty, the make-up is done!" said one of the servant Aishas as she put away her blush and eye shadow inside a large metal box on the desk.
"Ah, thank you," said King Sobek as the servant bowed and left the room to go up a service stair that would lead her to the audience in the wedding. "Come along, my daughter: the Prince will be expecting us."
"No! I don't want to go! I look ridiculous," she said after looking in the mirror. She leaned back against the chair and crossed her arms in a stubborn way, like a small child who didn't want to eat their vegetables.
"No, you don't!" her father said, chuckling and patting her on the back. "You look gorgeous!"
On a regular day, even the Princess herself might have admitted that. Alabaster's long brown locks were curled and flew right to her shoulder in little spirals, each one looking like a crazy-straw that, for some reason, could not get stuck in her crown-diamond necklace set with a beautiful carved jewel at the very center that hung around her neck. Her make-up was applied expertly, so that one couldn't even see her gigantic pimple that had sprouted on her forehead two weeks ago. And her wedding dress: top of the brand import from Terror Mountain. As white as the snow and, if hung on a coat hanger, would probably be taller than King Sobek himself, it was like every young girl's dream.
However, Alabaster was still displeased. Her father made an attempt to grab her wrist and pull her up to the wedding, but she resisted and struggled out of his powerful grip.
"Why, my daughter? Why?"
"I'm not going to! You can't make me!"
"Wait - Alabaster - no!"
She had risen out of her chair with such force that it fell right over on to the desk, spilling the contents of the make-up box, a good number of hair clips from another, smaller box, and other accessories concealed inside various drawers. The desk itself toppled over and the mirror on top of it smashed. A servant Aisha who had come down the stairs to see what had happened to the princess screamed at the sight of all the smashed items, and Sobek turned around to see what had caused the scream. This was, in Alabaster's opinion, a great opportunity to run away from the betrothal and to forget about it forever.
As quickly as possible, she dashed over to the service stair and ran up. At the top, she reached two doors. One door was labeled "Patio Dock" and another "Main Restaurant". She opened the one that led to the patio and ran in, being sure to slam the door as loudly as she could behind her.
The dock was just a gigantic plank. Alabaster went down to the end of it, taking care not to trip over her long wedding dress, and looked down. She estimated that the distance it must be from the plank to the wavering waters beneath her must've been at least a few hundred feet.
The Usul momentarily regretted her elopement, but she heard the heavy footsteps of her father running up the stairs behind her. She proclaimed to the sky, "A thousand feet is not enough to separate me from him! Even if I must swim one hundred miles from here to the other side of Neopia to get away from that - Prince - then I will! bI will!/b"
With her final words, the door opened with a slam behind her. Her father had heard her, and the King could only yell "NOOOO!" as Alabaster closed her eyes, put her hands together and jumped into the sea, wedding dress and all. The cold water surrounded her as she began to swim as fast she could, her father then returning to the scene described above.
When night began to descend, the tired Usul swam ashore. The moon and the stars were shining brightly that particular night, with an especially bright, golden star that hung directly over Faerieland. Some in the Lost Desert, where the star can most directly be seen, say that the star was the Star of Wishing.
"Oh, bright Star of Wishing! I wish I could get out of this…" Alabaster yelled towards the sky. Despite her agility, strength, and stubbornness she was actually beginning to cry now, her tears mingling in with the ocean water that seeped from her long-since ruined hair. She had been swimming ever since she had left the Golden Dubloon because she was afraid of search fleets that King Sobek might send out. Alabaster knew that if she were caught, she would be in much more trouble than just marrying the prince.
The star far above her seemed to twinkle a little bit, but the Usul had long since lost sight of the star because of her tears. Alabaster, sobbing away quietly next to the moon-lit ocean, felt a small nudge at the end of her wedding dress and looked up to see what was tugging on the ends of her outfit.
She found a small Krawk, strong-looking and brave, nibbling at her sand-covered ends of the wedding dress. With a scream, she pulled it away from the Petpet's grip and backed away further on to the beach. The Krawk, being small in size, ended up falling flat on his face with a small 'thump' on the sand. It then got up, closed his eyes, and shook his head, dazed.
Despite being cold and afraid on a northern, desolate shore of Krawk Island, Alabaster managed to let out a small giggle after seeing the Krawk's silly behavior. She decided that the Krawk could be her potential companion, even if it was only a Petpet.
Smiling, the Usul looked up to see that they were at the base of a stairwell that led to two small caves. She knew that the one on the right was the infamous Smuggler's Cove that sold pirated but rare items and was most likely already inhabited, so she decided to ascend the staircase, carrying the Krawk like she would a baby, and bivouac in the left cave.
Inside the cave, there was only a murky, green river that flowed between the fungus-covered walls. Camping near the cave entrance, she stared up towards the night sky with the small Krawk as her tears slowly began to subside. Alabaster slowly began to doze off to sleep, feeling peaceful and relaxed in the strange but somewhat-homey environment. The Usul didn't even notice her new Petpet wandering from the warmth of her body and begin to nibble some of the fungus from the walls…
Alabaster awoke to the sounds of crashing waves on the beach of Krawk Island. She sat up and stretched, yawning luxuriously. It took her a few moments to remember what had transpired since the wedding, and instantly tears began to fill her eyes again. Before any managed to come out, the Usul noticed that her Krawk friend was gone.
'Krawk?' she whispered nervously into the deep depths of the cave. Alabaster stood up and slowly began creeping further inside, following the rushing river. A strange dripping noise came from the ceiling, followed by a mysterious panting noise.
The Usul turned a corner and came face to face with a Green Krawk standing on its hind-legs. Alabaster screamed and ran back around the corner, leaving the Krawk with a confused expression. She slowly peered over the wall again, cautious of the monster that was there waiting for her.
To her surprise, she found nothing there but small drops of water that were falling from the dark ceiling. Relieved, she turned around only to find the Krawk standing before her, this time with a grin.
Alabaster screamed again at the sight, and was about to run deep into the caverns when she realized that this was HER Krawk friend. She now recalled stories where Krawks that went into a strange cave near Smuggler's Cove often came back different, though she had never seen proof of such an event before.
Slowly, she reached out to pat the Krawk's paw, but he pulled it back and snapped his jaws a handbreadth from her bangs. The Usul did not scream, but bent back a little as to avoid the sharp fangs that protruded from his mouth. The fact that the large Krawk was graceful enough to even elude her, combined with the fact that he did seem pretty loyal and adorable in its own way, opened up a grimy window inside of her and let the sunlight of passion flow into her.
'Would you like to come with me and join me on my adventures and be christened as Slither?' Alabaster asked it, her eyes sparkling now with happy tears instead of ones of sorrow. Though the Krawk could not talk, the Usul felt that it had a basic understanding of words that she said and she felt that she might even be able to expand his vocabulary in their future adventures to come so that they could work even better with one another. The Krawk slowly twisted its mouth into a smile and nodded, emitting a strange, barking-noise from its throat.
As he did, a shouting plea came from outside. There was a loud scream that pierced the air like a silver dart before it faded away, leaving Alabaster's ears ringing.
Quickly, Alabaster said, 'Someone's in trouble! Quickly, we have to help them!'
With that, she leapt on to Slither's back, and he stealthily bounded out of the cave in about five long jumps. When the Usul got outside, she saw what the commotion was: a maiden, who looked like a Make-Up Aisha from her wedding, had been bound in ropes and captured, and was now being carried by two chubby pirates into the Smuggler's Cove. Just recently, it looked like her mouth had been covered with what looked like her father's own handkerchief to prevent any screaming.
'Follow the pirates,' Alabaster whispered to Slither as the last one disappeared into the dark depths of the merchant cove. Slither nodded and crept into the darkness. The Usul assumed that he could see in the dark, since it was pitch-black and the Krawk seemed to know where he was going.
After following the tunnel for about ten minutes, they got to a large cavern. A roof in the ceiling above them let in a single ray of bright sunshine, which fell directly upon the captured maiden. A group of about eight or nine pirates, none of which noticed the Usul atop of the Krawk, circled her with menacing smiles, cracking their knuckles and chuckling to themselves.
One of them stopped and stepped towards the prisoner, 'This'd be some good loot, matey. Aye, me bucko... Th' kin' will pay, arghhh. Them scallywags be takin a long walk on a short plank to get her!'
Suddenly, Alabaster realized who the prisoner was. It was none other than Princess Sultic, one of her sisters that had attended as a bridesmaid. She knew that she could not allow Sobek to pay whatever price the pirates offered. The Usul knew she had to rescue her!
Eyeing the walls, she spied a mithril sword and a mysterious shield lying near the entrance of the cove. Silently, she scooped them, as well as some iron armour, coloured red, lying underneath them. Quick as a flash, equipped all of the weapons and armour, and charged into the center of the circle of rotating pirates.
The pirates were slow and took a few moments to realize what had appeared before their eyes: a Usul dressed with their latest loot! They could not stand it, and raised their scimitars to charge.
Alabaster wouldn't have had stood a chance if she had not ever practiced her sword-fighting skills before. With the strength of a boar and the grace of a swan, she struck each of the pirates down, knocking them unconscious for a few hours. After the battle, she scooped up the form of her sister, and Slither sped out the cave before any more pirates could come. The Krawk continued to run at a fast speed, never stopping, until they got to the Dubloon o' Matic.
In front of the strange machine, Alabaster untied her sister and allowed her to speak. 'Alabaster?' she said in frenzy as soon as she was free to talk and move freely again. 'What happened? Father and the prince and all of those people are looking for you – '
'They cannot be allowed to find me,' Alabaster said to her sister. 'Sultic, listen closely: I will be going away from the Lost Desert – '
'You mean like on a vacation?' the Aisha said, her eyes sparkling.
Alabaster paused at the strange comparison. 'Yes, a vacation – a long one. Anyway, Father or the Prince or anybody that you know must not be allowed to know that you met me. When you go back to the Golden Dubloon, tell them that you snuck out yourself when the pirates were asleep. Do you understand?'
Sultic seemed disoriented by her capture and her sister's strange speech, but she nodded before asking, 'But dear sister – where will you go?'
The Usul laughed harshly with a small amount of amusement. 'Me? If you truly wish to find me, then I will be a thousand miles away from here…'
And with that, Alabaster got back on to Slither, and both of them headed towards the horizon, where the sun was beginning to set. Sultic watched them go into the reddening seas and swim, never even looking back once. However, she did think that she saw a hand rise in a final farewell before she fainted on to the ground, fast asleep.