I swear, reality itself was fighting against me getting this up. :P Internet issues, FFN issues, you name it.

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Chapter Three: The Forest Path

The Kelp Forest was never a bright, inviting place to begin with. When the fate of the world rested in your shoulders, it was even less appealing.

Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy trudged along the path, Sandy studying her map. Her companions were nervously looking into the dark forest, jumping whenever they heard something.

"So," said Sandy, "According this, we have to follow this path for about half a day, and we left at about eleven, so we should be out in about…five hours?"

"Well, at least we don't have to camp," sighed Spongebob, relieved.

"It also says that there're harpies on the path," added Sandy, "They're supposed to try to eat us."

Spongebob's face fell.

"Great!" exclaimed Patrick, "Now we'll have company!"

Sandy ignored him, and put her hand on Spongebob's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," she reassured, "There ain't no such thing as a harpy. Just stick by me and Pat…"

She glanced back at Patrick, who was picking wild mushrooms and eating them.

"…just stick by me, and you'll be fine," she finished.

Spongebob smiled, and took a deep breath.

"You're right, I'm just worrying about nothing," he nodded.

Behind them, Patrick stopped as he heard a muffled sound in the kelp. It sounded almost like laughter.

He shrugged, and kept going.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY'RE NOT IN THERE?" thundered the Duke.

Jives fell on his back at the force of the outburst, but managed to climb back up.

"W-we c-c-c-c-counted the p-p-peasants in the b-b-b-bottle," he stammered, "The-they weren't in there, th-they must have been out or…"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU CHECK WHERE THEY WERE?" bellowed the Duke, "I COULD HAVE DEALT WITH THEM ON THE WAY HOME!"

"W-we did," Jives gulped, "Tw-twice."

"WELL WHERE IN THE NAME OF POSEIDON ARE THEY NOW?" screamed the Duke, unaware of the irony in his oath.

"We-we-we don't know," replied Jives.

The Duke facepalmed, and took several deep breaths.

"I want this Kingdom searched," he snarled, "No stone is to be left unturned. I want a rich bounty on their heads. I want them found, Jives! For your sake, do not fail me."

Jives gave a shaky salute, and fled the throne room.

The Duke got off his throne and pushed it aside, careful not to let it topple this time. He opened the safe and looked inside.

Plankton looked back up at him. He was beginning to get a stubble, and had brought a tiny harmonica out of seemingly nowhere.

"Can I go now?" he asked.

"No," sneered the Duke, "I'm just going to tell you – if we fail to find those cretins, I will have you hanged, drawn and quartered. Am I clear?"

"Cr-crystal, your highness," gulped Plankton.

"Good," nodded the Duke, slamming the safe shut. He moved his throne back to cover it and sat back down.

He pulled the key from his robe and began to fidget with it, trying to regain his temper.

Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy continued to make their way down the dark forest path. No-one had spoken for a while – Sandy was studying the map to make sure they didn't get lost, Patrick seemed to be making friends with the various shadows in the kelp, and Spongebob was thinking about home.

It hadn't even been half a day, and his heart was already aching for his home. He missed Gary, he missed Squidward, he missed Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff and even Plankton. He wondered if they were okay, if the Duke had done anything to the bottle. If the Duke was as cruel as he was powerful, Spongebob probably had good reason to be afraid.

"You okay, Spongebob?"

Spongebob blinked as Sandy spoke, and shook his head.

"Yeah, just thinking," he shrugged.

"You thinking of home?" asked Sandy.

Spongebob nodded.

"The Duke won't do anything to Bikini Bottom," reassured Sandy, "Varmints like him like themselves their trophies – he'll probably put the bottle on display."

"You sure?" asked Spongebob, nervously.

"Sure," nodded Sandy, "And even if he does, it ain't nothing King Neptune wouldn't be able to fix with that trident of his when this is over."

"You're right," nodded Spongebob, "I'm just getting worked up over nothing."

He let out a nervous laugh.

"Anything else bothering you?" asked Sandy.

"No, no, I'm good, thanks," replied Spongebob.

"Well," shrugged Sandy, "Y'all ever need to talk about anything, I'm here. After all, it's just us and Pat until we fix this mess – we gotta stick together."

"Thanks Sandy," thanked Spongebob, smiling a little.

It was getting darker. The shadows grew longer and longer every minute, and it was becoming clear that if they didn't leave the Kelp Forest soon, they'd be camping there.

"We're gonna be out before dark, right?" gulped Spongebob.

"Yeah," nodded Sandy, "As long at Patrick picks up the pace back there."

Patrick was lagging behind, looking exhausted.

"Can…can we stop for a second?" he panted.

"No," snapped Sandy.

Patrick groaned and soldiered on.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a small bug fluttering towards him. It landed on his arm – he lifted it up to eyesight.

It was not a bug at all – in fact it was a rather small seagull with the head of a little red-haired girl. She looked up at Patrick and smiled.

"Aw, you're adorable," said Patrick.

"I'm a harpy!" exclaimed the thing, "We're gonna eats you!"

Patrick chuckled.

"How's a little thing like you gonna eat me?" he asked.

"Oh, I only gonna eat a little," said the little harpy, "My family gonna eats the rest!"

"Family?" quizzed Patrick.

All of a sudden, they heard a strange sound behind them. Spongebob and Sandy stopped.

"…that doesn't sound good," said Spongebob.

They turned around.

A mass of full-grown harpies was tearing towards them, screeching a battle cry as they approached. The little harpy began to laugh.

There was a moment of shocked silence, before Patrick said what they were all thinking.

More accurately, he screamed and began to run.

Spongebob and Sandy were not far behind as the first harpies hit them. Spongebob shut his eyes and tried to wave them away before they could start biting him.

He suddenly heard someone cry out over the racket of harpy cries.

"Light!"

Spongebob opened his eyes, seeing a bright light down the path. This meant one of two things – they were nearly out of the Kelp Forest, or he'd been eaten. As he could still see the kelp and harpies around him, he leaned towards the former.

Forcing himself to pick up the pace, Spongebob got closer and closer to the light. He cried out as he leapt the last few metres…

…and toppled face-first onto the path, just at the edge of the forest.

He climbed to his feet, shaking his head. Looking back at the forest, he saw the harpies hanging about at the edge, staring menacingly at them. Sandy and Patrick had managed to get out and were on the edge of the path, panting.

"Well," said Sandy, breathing heavily, "Turns out harpies are real. Who'd a thought?"

"Wait, those were harpies?" gasped Patrick, surprised.

Sandy rolled her eyes.

"Let's just find a place to camp, Pat."