"I can't believe it's real!" Kyry said.
Kitty was clutching the necklace, the group clustered around her.
"You guys do know that I was probably wrong about the faerie, right?" I walked into our lounge, and handed a blanket to Kitty. "For all we know, it's just a copy; a replica."
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Ken" Zapo scolded playfully. "There's nothing wrong with pretending."
"Well, what if we go to Faerieland?" asked Slim. "Surely Fyora will know what it is."
"Then it's settled" Kitty looked up. "Slim and I'll go there, get an answer to this."
So Slim and Kitty headed off to Faerieland, intent on questioning Fyora about the necklace, and the faerie. We waved goodbye as they climbed onto the one o'clock cloud up to Faerieland. As we headed home, I just couldn't shake the feeling that we should have gone with them. Turning around, I watched as they disappeared into the sky.
"What's wrong, Ken?" Regal turned and looked at me.
"I just feel that we should have gone with them. I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen to them."
"Oh, don't be such a worry wart! They'll be just fine. After all, what could possibly happen to them in Faerieland?"
With a final look and a resigned sigh, I turned away, and headed home. Three days passed, and not a word from either of them. Feeling very worried, I headed for Faerieland, dragging Regal along with me. We quickly found Fyora, who said that she hadn't seen them. Regal and I then spent the next 12 hours searching Faerieland for any sign of them. When we finally gave up there, we headed home, to get the others. Two days of searching had turned up nothing, and we were running out of places to look. We ended up meeting on Mystery Island, the last place on Neopia they could be. After an entire day of searching the island, asking around, and turning down dinner invitations from some very persistent coconut people, we regrouped by a large forest.
"Look guys. No matter how hard we look, eventually, we're going to have to face the possibility that they've been taken off of Neopia" Kyry said tiredly.
"We just have to look harder!" exclaimed Regal. "I'm not giving up on my friends that easily!"
"No one said we were giving up" I assured her. "We just have to accept the possibility that it may take a long time to find them. Look, we're all tired, so why don't we go rest for a little while, then continue?"
Everyone seemed to perk up at this suggestion. We headed into the forest, in the hopes of finding a good place to rest. Instead, we found a road that, when followed for a couple of hours, ended in a large, military type camp. We were about to head toward it, when Maxa spotted something.
"Look!" she cried out, pointing towards the camp.
"What? I don't see anything." Kyry said, straining her eyes.
"There, in the middle of the camp."
"Oh my gods! It's the faerie Kitty saw!" Regal exclaimed in amazement.
"And look at that!" I said, pointing at the building next to the faerie. "That's the only solid structure in the entire camp."
"So?" asked Zapo. "What's so important about a solid building?"
"A solid building is harder to break out of then a tent is. And all the structures are tents, except for that one. So, if anyone is being held prisoner, it's highly likely that they're in there."
"Oh, right. I knew that!"
Moving quickly, we hid behind some bushes. Peering through the bushes, we watched as the faerie paced back and forth, deep in conversation with her generals.
"We have to free them," Kyry said quietly. "If she gets the necklace from Kitty, Neopia's doomed"
"What we need" Regal mused "is a distraction.
"And just where are we going to get that?"
"I think I have an idea about that," I said, looking sideways. They all turned and looked at me. "Zapo, Maxa, I think your fights are about to come in handy."
Gathering together, I quickly told them my plan, worked out the details, and then we separated. Zapo and Maxa headed back to the road, and started toward the camp.
"Disco."
"What?"
"You'd look real good as a Disco Chomby" said Zapo.
"ARGH! Oh, you are NOT starting that again!?!" cried an irate Maxa.
"Well, why not? It'd suit your temperament perfectly."
They continued arguing back and forth as they approached the camp.
"What's that?" the faerie growled. "What's that noise? Find the source, and bring it before me!"
Her guards sprang forward, dragging Zapo and Maxa into the camp. While everyone was distracted, the three of us crept in, and quickly made our way into the dome.
"Alright, split up." Regal whispered. "Remember, if you get into trouble, run. Don't worry about the rest of us. Got it?"
Nodding, we fanned out, each taking a section of the structure. I had just completed my part, when I heard Regal calling.
'She's found them!' I thought excitedly. 'Maybe now we can put an end to this!'
Quickly making my way back, I found Regal and Kyry in front of a dark cell. Lighting a Magic Torch, I went in. Kitty was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood drying on the side of her mouth. Slim was chained to the wall, her fetters the only thing holding her up. Dashing forward, Regal quickly sliced through Slim's bonds with a sturdy blue sword, while Kyry poured a healing potion on Kitty's wounds.
"Wha... Where am I?" Slim groggily woke up.
"It's alright" Regal quietly reassured her. "You're safe. We're going to get you out of here."
Passing the torch to Kyry, I picked Kitty up, as Regal helped Slim. Quickly but silently, we worked our way back.
Meanwhile, outside, Zapo and Maxa were up to their usual tricks. As the guards dragged them into the camp, my dear little brother decided to push Maxa just a little too far.
"I know!"
"Oh, what now?"
"You could be painted baby!"
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!"
"Ya, then you really would be my baby sister!"
That was just too much for Maxa, who pulled out her Chomby sword and charged Zapo. But before Maxa could hit him, he jumped to one side, causing Maxa to run into one of the two guards. Zapo quickly knocked the second guard out, and the two of them headed for the bushes on the other side of the camp.
"Find the Zafara and Chomby!"
Freezing, we heard the sound of an alarm go off somewhere in the camp.
"Out the back, quick" Regal hissed to us. "And Kyry, put that torch out before they see it."
Wending our way through the dark corridors, we swiftly made our way to the back of the dome, narrowly missing a couple of patrols along the way. Finally, we came to the back door.
"It's locked!" cried Kyry in dismay.
"We're going to have to blast them open." I said.
Passing Kitty over to my sister, I positioned myself in front of the door.
"Get ready to run."
I let out a thundering roar, blowing the door clean off its hinges. Hurrying the others out, I kept checking behind, expecting the guards to be on us any minute. We raced as fast as we could to the bushes. Just as we reached them, a guard jumped out in front of us, bow drawn and ready to fire.
'This is it' I thought in horror. 'We'll never make it!'
Just then, a big blue ball of fur went flying past us, right into the guard, knocking him out cold.
"That was fun!"
"Ya! Let's do it again!"
Zapo and Maxa grinned at each other.
"No time for that now. Maxa, take Kitty. Zapo, you and Kyry go ahead, make sure the coast is clear. I'll make sure we're not followed." I added with a growl.
They quickly disappeared into the bush, while I followed close behind, covering our tracks. A couple hours later, we were in Faerieland, heading for the Hidden Tower, and Fyora.
Kitty was clutching the necklace, the group clustered around her.
"You guys do know that I was probably wrong about the faerie, right?" I walked into our lounge, and handed a blanket to Kitty. "For all we know, it's just a copy; a replica."
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Ken" Zapo scolded playfully. "There's nothing wrong with pretending."
"Well, what if we go to Faerieland?" asked Slim. "Surely Fyora will know what it is."
"Then it's settled" Kitty looked up. "Slim and I'll go there, get an answer to this."
So Slim and Kitty headed off to Faerieland, intent on questioning Fyora about the necklace, and the faerie. We waved goodbye as they climbed onto the one o'clock cloud up to Faerieland. As we headed home, I just couldn't shake the feeling that we should have gone with them. Turning around, I watched as they disappeared into the sky.
"What's wrong, Ken?" Regal turned and looked at me.
"I just feel that we should have gone with them. I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen to them."
"Oh, don't be such a worry wart! They'll be just fine. After all, what could possibly happen to them in Faerieland?"
With a final look and a resigned sigh, I turned away, and headed home. Three days passed, and not a word from either of them. Feeling very worried, I headed for Faerieland, dragging Regal along with me. We quickly found Fyora, who said that she hadn't seen them. Regal and I then spent the next 12 hours searching Faerieland for any sign of them. When we finally gave up there, we headed home, to get the others. Two days of searching had turned up nothing, and we were running out of places to look. We ended up meeting on Mystery Island, the last place on Neopia they could be. After an entire day of searching the island, asking around, and turning down dinner invitations from some very persistent coconut people, we regrouped by a large forest.
"Look guys. No matter how hard we look, eventually, we're going to have to face the possibility that they've been taken off of Neopia" Kyry said tiredly.
"We just have to look harder!" exclaimed Regal. "I'm not giving up on my friends that easily!"
"No one said we were giving up" I assured her. "We just have to accept the possibility that it may take a long time to find them. Look, we're all tired, so why don't we go rest for a little while, then continue?"
Everyone seemed to perk up at this suggestion. We headed into the forest, in the hopes of finding a good place to rest. Instead, we found a road that, when followed for a couple of hours, ended in a large, military type camp. We were about to head toward it, when Maxa spotted something.
"Look!" she cried out, pointing towards the camp.
"What? I don't see anything." Kyry said, straining her eyes.
"There, in the middle of the camp."
"Oh my gods! It's the faerie Kitty saw!" Regal exclaimed in amazement.
"And look at that!" I said, pointing at the building next to the faerie. "That's the only solid structure in the entire camp."
"So?" asked Zapo. "What's so important about a solid building?"
"A solid building is harder to break out of then a tent is. And all the structures are tents, except for that one. So, if anyone is being held prisoner, it's highly likely that they're in there."
"Oh, right. I knew that!"
Moving quickly, we hid behind some bushes. Peering through the bushes, we watched as the faerie paced back and forth, deep in conversation with her generals.
"We have to free them," Kyry said quietly. "If she gets the necklace from Kitty, Neopia's doomed"
"What we need" Regal mused "is a distraction.
"And just where are we going to get that?"
"I think I have an idea about that," I said, looking sideways. They all turned and looked at me. "Zapo, Maxa, I think your fights are about to come in handy."
Gathering together, I quickly told them my plan, worked out the details, and then we separated. Zapo and Maxa headed back to the road, and started toward the camp.
"Disco."
"What?"
"You'd look real good as a Disco Chomby" said Zapo.
"ARGH! Oh, you are NOT starting that again!?!" cried an irate Maxa.
"Well, why not? It'd suit your temperament perfectly."
They continued arguing back and forth as they approached the camp.
"What's that?" the faerie growled. "What's that noise? Find the source, and bring it before me!"
Her guards sprang forward, dragging Zapo and Maxa into the camp. While everyone was distracted, the three of us crept in, and quickly made our way into the dome.
"Alright, split up." Regal whispered. "Remember, if you get into trouble, run. Don't worry about the rest of us. Got it?"
Nodding, we fanned out, each taking a section of the structure. I had just completed my part, when I heard Regal calling.
'She's found them!' I thought excitedly. 'Maybe now we can put an end to this!'
Quickly making my way back, I found Regal and Kyry in front of a dark cell. Lighting a Magic Torch, I went in. Kitty was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood drying on the side of her mouth. Slim was chained to the wall, her fetters the only thing holding her up. Dashing forward, Regal quickly sliced through Slim's bonds with a sturdy blue sword, while Kyry poured a healing potion on Kitty's wounds.
"Wha... Where am I?" Slim groggily woke up.
"It's alright" Regal quietly reassured her. "You're safe. We're going to get you out of here."
Passing the torch to Kyry, I picked Kitty up, as Regal helped Slim. Quickly but silently, we worked our way back.
Meanwhile, outside, Zapo and Maxa were up to their usual tricks. As the guards dragged them into the camp, my dear little brother decided to push Maxa just a little too far.
"I know!"
"Oh, what now?"
"You could be painted baby!"
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!"
"Ya, then you really would be my baby sister!"
That was just too much for Maxa, who pulled out her Chomby sword and charged Zapo. But before Maxa could hit him, he jumped to one side, causing Maxa to run into one of the two guards. Zapo quickly knocked the second guard out, and the two of them headed for the bushes on the other side of the camp.
"Find the Zafara and Chomby!"
Freezing, we heard the sound of an alarm go off somewhere in the camp.
"Out the back, quick" Regal hissed to us. "And Kyry, put that torch out before they see it."
Wending our way through the dark corridors, we swiftly made our way to the back of the dome, narrowly missing a couple of patrols along the way. Finally, we came to the back door.
"It's locked!" cried Kyry in dismay.
"We're going to have to blast them open." I said.
Passing Kitty over to my sister, I positioned myself in front of the door.
"Get ready to run."
I let out a thundering roar, blowing the door clean off its hinges. Hurrying the others out, I kept checking behind, expecting the guards to be on us any minute. We raced as fast as we could to the bushes. Just as we reached them, a guard jumped out in front of us, bow drawn and ready to fire.
'This is it' I thought in horror. 'We'll never make it!'
Just then, a big blue ball of fur went flying past us, right into the guard, knocking him out cold.
"That was fun!"
"Ya! Let's do it again!"
Zapo and Maxa grinned at each other.
"No time for that now. Maxa, take Kitty. Zapo, you and Kyry go ahead, make sure the coast is clear. I'll make sure we're not followed." I added with a growl.
They quickly disappeared into the bush, while I followed close behind, covering our tracks. A couple hours later, we were in Faerieland, heading for the Hidden Tower, and Fyora.
