Chapter 14 – First Mission!

POV: Sarah

Time: 7:30

Location: Fossil Apartments

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I slam my hand on my alarm Clock groggily… what time did I go to sleep last night… Right… Last night… even though there was that event with Rupert. I had a lot of fun with him at the Festival… didn't see Rex, Pauleen or Todd at all though. Wonder what happened to them? well either way… guess I'll see them later.

Oh, right more about last night… Guess the Festival games counted as quests or something… I mean I somehow managed to get to level six now…. Completely strange…

"*yawn*" I Stretch out my arm, slowly getting out of my bed… then moving through my usual morning Routine. Get dressed into normal clothes… then check phone for anything interesting. Then bother Rex for breakfast… Oh I got a message from him.

"Hey, I'm planning on heading to the Third Island early. So sorry, but no Breakfast. See you later. —Love Rex"

"heh," I snicker as I read it. Ah, my younger brother is slowly growing up… though he should have made a meal for me. Maybe I can get— BZT. Oh, another message.

"P.S. Rupert left before I did, Crazy right? So, no one is in my room, try not to burn down your kitchen."

"damn it…." I curse, there goes my options for getting food… guess I'll just have to deal with a protein bar… maybe cup noodles… Do I even have any of that stuff? Well guess I'll have to check. Dang… where's a simple meal when you need one.

I leave my room, walking out into the kitchen I find a meal wrapped in plastic. Next to it I find a note for me… it's from Rex.

"You really think I'd leave without giving you a meal. Do you think I trust your cooking abilities at all? Come on, I trust Todd to cook himself more than you. He may have given us food poisoning, but that less deadly then fire. – Love you, Rex."

"*sigh*" As I read the note, I can only give a tired smile and laugh. Rex really knows on how to get under my skin, Doesn't he? Well let's see, he's given me toast with peanut butter, Oatmeal, and an Apple. Wonder if he asked Pauleen to let him in to make this for me? Grrr…. Well there goes my stomach. Time to eat!

About a few minutes I finish eating I hear a knock at my door. Wonder who it is? I didn't leave any fossils at the Cleaning room, did I? I go to open it, and well… guess it shouldn't be a surprise. "Todd!"

"Hey, Sarah… again sorry about last night…" Todd said, yeah after he got away from me. I received about a hundred apology messages from him.

"It's fine… it was just a retort to my accidental insult. I should have been more grown up about it." I bowed my head to him. "Could you, forgive me for it."

"Yeah." Todd nodded in understanding. Now this is why we're friends! Couldn't think to have anyone as supportive as him. "so, you see the message Rex sent?"

"Yeah, he left several for me. even specifying that he doesn't trust in my cooking skills." I explain to Todd.

"…" Todd hesitates to answer. "…Yeah, that sounds about right."

"…" It's one thing for Rex… but really… "Gah… I've been trying to get better."

"…well back to what I was saying before, you want to head over to the third Island?" Todd switches the subject…

"Sure." I smile, though my team does seem to be complete… I did get an Allosaurs from the Rainbow Canyon, much to Todd's and Rex's displeasure. But hey, maybe something more interesting will come along! "Just give me a few minutes, I just finished eating."

Time: 8:30

Location: Ilium Island

Ah… so we get to the new Island… It's called Ilium. And despite it being fairly close to the equator, there's snow here! Amazing! I when I was reading about this Island… yes, I've started to read ahead of the Islands more… I need to be more responsible. Apparently, it's because this island is more of a mountain. Higher elevation type things… Something about less air pressure… eh, whatever that means. All that I see is interesting is that there's Snow!

One other thing is how cool the town is! You'd never believe it, but the town is basically on stilts. Crazy, right? Because this Island is really mountainy, it basically has platforms connected to each one, which are then fixed to another… Insert a physics quote from Rex. And bam we have a suspended town!... though now that I think about it… hopefully it has good coverage against Ice… hate to see someone have a slip near the safety rails… cause… that's a long way down…

"Br… Man, this place is cold…" Todd said rubbing his hands for warmth…

"Is it really?" I'm in like my usual wear… it doesn't seem that cold. Or is Todd cold blooded.

"Oh, right… I forgot how warm blooded you are…" Todd said still rubbing his hands together… yeah… I rarely get cold… same goes for Rex… but he still dresses fairly warmly.

As we continue are way, we get called out to by someone in the park's uniform… though it's like Terry and Stella… Probably another Staff leader. "Hey, Dude! Welcome to Ilium Island! We get some pretty gnarly weather here, dude, so make sure you stay warm and don't catch a cold… Wait? Didn't I already have this convo with you and that girl from earlier?"

"um, you must mean Rex… Wait what?!" I can barely tell what just happened! Rex was here with a Girl!

"oh, you must be Sarah, then… Yeah, so my name's Kent, and—" I interrupt him for more of the important information.

"That doesn't matter! Rex was here with a girl!" Todd also is surprised by this. This is a clear uncharacteristic of Rex. then the both of us shout. "Who was it?!"

"Um…" I think we might be scaring him… "It was that Idol girl with the Mask… Pauleen I think."

"Oh… makes sense." I nod. Hehe, things are going swell for them then… I glance to Todd he understands as well, and we both bow. "Sorry for interrupting. Please continue back with your original topic."

"Yeah… So, my name's Kent, and I'm the Staff Leader on Ilium Island." Kent explains. "Terry and Stella told me you and your brother are pretty radical dudes, but if you need anything, just lemme know."

"…" Me and Todd take another glance at each other, and smiled. "Which way did Rex and Pauleen go!"

POV: Rex

Location: Hot Spring Heights (Ilium Island)

Time: 9:00

"Brr…" I feel an odd shiver down my spine… ugh… Sarah and Todd are nearby I can tell… though I'd rather it would be me just getting cold. As of right now, it's just would be hard to deal with them. Why you ask? Well here's the thing.

"Ok, breathe, girl! Breathe! Breeeeeeeeatheee…" For about the sixth time Pauleen has said this. Right now, she's not wearing her mask… which means she's in her shy mode… which is very cute… though I'll never say out loud.

Though why are we together? That was more or less pure chance, I just wanted an earlier start and thought I'd suffer the Helicopter ride alone. But on my way over, I ran into Pauleen, seems like she was going as well and offered to join me… though my motion sickness wasn't really something I'd like others to see…

As we were in the Helicopter one thing led to another and we decided to help each other with our problems. Pauleen's case is that we'd work together and try to get over her shyness. While I'm going to try not get motion sick on at least a helicopter.

But even so, the competition is still going on so we did some digging of fossils first. Now that we have that over with, we are trying to work on Pauleen's shyness. Making it so that she can talk to others without her mask… though we are starting with her talking to a snowman. Strange I know, but I do remember this was Sarah's and Todd's original tactic when they were helping me… Can I say it worked? Somewhat?

"H-hello, Diga! My name's P-Pauleen, diga!" She stuttered several times… but at least it audible. Progress! "N-nice to meet you, Digadigadig!"

"Good job." I give her a smile, cheering her on. Positive reinforcement should be the right way to go, right?

"I-I can t-talk normally to s-snowmen, diga. It's really n-nice, Digadig. But…" Pauleen trails off as she avoids eye contact with me…

"But the talking to normal people still scares you?" I finish her sentence… I remember how hard it was for me… Still is…

"Yeah…" She continues to look down… but I think I see a bit of red on her face, from me reading her. "I get all flustered and my face turns red."

"…" She didn't even stutter while saying that… I give her back her mask with a smile. "Here, you worked hard today. We can continue another time, balancing the time between with the mask and without is important."

"Thanks…" She says putting it back on, her voice was sad… but also happy. "I hope I can get rid of this mask soon, Digadig…"

"You will." I give a smile spanning from one ear to the other. "You are a rival of mine, after all."

"Heh," I can tell she had a smile from that snicker. She then sticks out her finger towards me. "Don't think you'll win this completion though."

"Eh, don't think you'll be able to win either. I might be terrible with crowds but I'm getting better." I say back to her, I actually haven't stuttered at all today. Go me! "I should be able to stand up to you."

"well—" Before she could speak, we were interrupted by out Paleo Pagers… Odd I thought we had more time between rounds… been changed from like one day between rounds to three.

As we picked it up it was Joe Wildwest. Guess patrol duties call. "Joe Wildwest here with a message for my new Caliosteo Patrol Team. I got a little job for ya. Can y'all meet me at my suite in Wildwest Tower? I'll be waitin'!"

"Well… Duty calls." I say… with an unnoticeable sigh… I really wanted to spend more time together… but we both would be on the helicopter back. Guess that's good?

"Yup," Pauleen managed to pep back into her step fast. And did a twirl… man she's cute… I didn't say that. "Time to show what this Pop-Idol can do!"

But I still can't keep that smile off my face. "Then let's go."

Time: 10:30

Location: Wildwest Tower (Cranial Isle)

Since leaving Ilium Island, Me and Pauleen rush back to Wildwest tower. The teleporters on Ilium were malfunctioning, so we had to take the helicopter back… which is always fun. But still, someone had already taken one right before we got to the platform so that took even longer… ugh… I hate being late. And I'm not even the impatient one! That's Sarah! She'll even be madder about that.

Ding!

Well we made it to the top… and I see Todd and Sarah. "Took you long enough, Rex!"

"Finally, we're all accounted for!" Sarah groans… wonder how impatient she was about this…

"Sorry… I got lost." Best excuse… because it's the most believable.

As I say that both Sarah's and Todd's head droop. "probably did…"

Sarah quickly turns to Pauleen and places a hand on her shoulder. "Pauleen, I know you haven't known us long. But if you're ever with Rex, don't trust his sense of direction. Just don't." It would hurt to hear them say that, but they're not wrong…

"N-noted…" I think Pauleen was surprised to hear I had such another terrible weakness.

"Ahem." Joe though quickly calls for attention, there is a guy in a blue suit green tie next to him. Guess this guy found something? "I'm glad y'all made it. Sorry for ropin' ya here on such short notice. Lemme introduce ya to someone. This here's Minister Pomposa from the Kingdom of Nomadistan."

"Harrumph! I am Minister Pomposa! See that you address me by my full and proper name!" A Minister is here? Wow… did not expect that… but Nomadistan… that name rings a bell… there was something interesting about that country… Sarah didn't like it though… What was it?

"?" I see question marks above her head… I don't think she… well I shouldn't really expect her to. Especially if I don't remember.

"Geez, all right. No need to act like a big shot…" Oh, yeah if I can't remember it. Todd probably can't either… Unless we learned about it in History Class, Todd should remember…

"Todd, he's a minister. He is." I whisper that to him.

"Now listen up." Joe calls back, "Minister Pomposa's got somethin' very important he wants to tell y'all."

"Harrumph! The words Minister Pomposa will now speak are of vital importance to the Kingdom of Nomadistan." Did he just refer to himself in third person? Does everyone form there do that? Was that what I found interesting?... But Sarah wouldn't care about that, would she?

"…Psst!" Todd starts to whisper to me… if he's about to… "I've never heard of the Kingdom of Nomadistan!"

"…" And my guess was incorrect… maybe I just read about in a book then.

Though this was also overheard by Pauleen. "Duh! It's a country in the west!... Or maybe it's up north. Actually, I don't know."

Then can both of you just shut up! I'm trying to listen! "HARRUMPH! No one may whisper when Minister Pomposa is speaking!" And everyone got quiet. "Now, if you are done being rude… The Kingdom of Nomadistan has a lovely princess whom the people treasure above all else. However, our beloved princess has recently gone missing! This is simply unacceptable! Minister Pomposa has traveled far and wide in search of the princess, but with no success. However, we now believe we are close to finding her whereabouts. It seems she has entered herself in the Caliosteo Cup! This means she is here in this very fossil park. Minister Pomposa is sure of it, harrumph, harrumph."

"As y'all can see, this is a matter of some sensitivity, and we've been asked to keep it under our hats." Joe didn't need to tell us this… this seems like an international incident, and if those Bare Bone Brigade catch wind… well that's very catastrophic. "But I figured if anyone could form a posse and track down this little lady, it would be my Patrol Team!"
"I don't mind looking for the princess." … Did I just see hearts in his eyes?... Typical Todd. "but Minister Jerkface there is really starting to bug me!"

"Todd… Let's calm down here." Sarah said… which is surprising, I thought if anything her temper would have snapped first.

"What did you say?!" The Minister exclaims back at Todd… this is not good.

"I… um…said you have a very nice mustache, sir!" …hopefully his excuse works…

"Harrumph! Yes, it is quite fine." Ah, seemed like it worked. "Minister Pomposa brushes it with 100 strokes every night. Now then. If you return our princess, we shall reward you most generously." That sounds promising. "You shall be given a Miraculous Fossil Rock so fine, Fighters shed tears of joy to be near it.

I don't use this term lightly. But when I heard that my eyes practically popped out of their sockets. And…I use this lightly, was left speechless. "…"

"A m-m-miraculous fossil rock?!" Todd exclaimed.

"Really? You'd actually give something like that away?" even Pauleen was surprised to hear this.

"uh… What?" … As expected of Sarah.

"*Sigh* They are like wonderous fossil rocks, but are extremely rare." I Tell her. "they can also transform or evolve certain Vivosaurs as soon as their integrated. It increases their power exponentially. They apparently can go for like $2,500,000."

"What?! And you're just giving something like that away!" Sarah's eyes are now bulging as well, as she shouts.

"You have the word of the great and terrible Minister Pomposa himself." The minister nodded. "And his word is stronger than oak!"

"Okay it's a deal! I'll find your princess!" Todd shouted jumping in the air.

"Step off, shorty! You need someone beautiful and Clever to find a missing princess…. Someone like ME!" Pauleen is also very excited.

"…" Sarah though gives me a worried glance… with my navigation skills… I'm more likely to become a missing person.

"I'm teaming up with you." I say to her. "my investigation skills, with you people skills, we'll find them in no time."

Oh yeah, Todd and Pauleen start to run to the Elevator. before stopping short, realizing their mistake, and walk back. "Um, wait. What does the princess look like, anyway?"

"Yeah… I'm good, but I'm not THAT good." Pauleen also admits…

"Harrumph, harrumph! Yes, it seems that information would be helpful." The minister walks closer, and takes out a photograph. "Behold, our beloved princess!"

The picture showed, the girl we met in Rainbow Canyon Joanie, and her dog Madame Pooch, was the name I believe… Oh. That's what I was forgetting, oh Sarah is not going to like this one bit… "ooh…"

"Wha?!" I don't think Todd has the right idea, but this photo is still surprising.

"…" Though Sarah is now shaking with fear…

"It seems you appreciate true beauty! Your lips utter the cry that your heart cannot." The minister says… though I think the cries were giving are of surprise.

"Sorry to drop this on y'all, but I don't know who else to trust." Joe walks over and explains. "Ya might wanna ask around first. See if some'a the townsfolk know anything. But heck's sake, don't tell em' yer lookin' for a princess!"

"Yes sir." We all said.

"All right, team. Get out there and scare up that missing lady!" Joe yelled back to us.

"Yes, sir!" We shouted and ran into the elevator.

On the way down Todd started to talk to me and Sarah… practically ignoring Pauleen. "Hey, guys? That girl in the photo was Joanie, wasn't it?"

"It was." I answer as Sarah is still not wanting to do this.

"I can't believe she's a princess!" oh, it's going to be hard from keeping an evil smile.

Pauleen seemed to take this as a challenge. "Look, if you guys want to stand around and chew the fat, you're more than welcome. But I'm going to find the princess and earn the miraculous fossil rock! Seeee yaaa!" And she ran off… eh, thought that would happen though.

"Ha!" Todd laughed. "That miraculous Fossil rock is MINE! No one's gonna beat me this time!"

And Todd ran off as well. leaving me with Sarah. "Ah… so it seems like they've got it covered… I guess we could just rest—"

"Nope." I say to her. "you hear how rare a Miraculous fossil rock is. And, I'm making sure you're getting it."

"Huh? Wait me?!" Sarah looked back at me, touched and surprised. "but what about you! should—"

"They are rare, but the festival yesterday held a small-scale competition with one as the prize." I explain. "the goal was to clean a hundred fossil rocks within a certain time limit. And I won."

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Come on, we're getting you that rock!" I shouted back to her and dragged her along with me.