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In order to understand what's going on, I suggest you read
this
story.
The five sailors of The Darkmoon had fallen
asleep in the serenity of the sea, so they did not notice that their boat had
hit land.
Spirit's eyes fluttered open. He noticed that
there was an island in his view, so he jumped awake and started waking his brothers
and owner up.
"Aw... I don't want to go to school today..."
Darkmoon said sleepily.
Yawning, Dragoon asked, "Where are we?"
"I have no idea... it doesn't look like any
island I've seen before," Bluey said.
"Aw, we're never going to get back home!" Dragoon
whined.
"Hey now, don't talk like that. I swear on my
Shocking Staff that we'll find some way home," Bluey said. He made a little
victory sign and put on a silly grin. "I promise!"
"Guys! I think I found something!" Gatling reported.
He pulled a bottle out of the water. He opened it up and retrieved a piece of
paper from inside. "Whoa... I think it's a... treasure map!"
"Treasure!?" everyone else exclaimed.
"Yeah! I wonder if this map is for this island?"
"Well, let's find out. Where does the map tell
us to start?" Bluey asked.
"It says... 'Adventurers go, adventurers come,
your trek will begin where dwell creatures of the fin,'" Gatling read.
You could almost see the little question marks
appearing above the five journeymen's heads.
"Creatures of the fin? Does that mean like Flotsam
and Jetsam and Koi and stuff?" Darkmoon asked.
"I would guess so. And most of them live in
the ocean, right?" Dragoon said.
"So we're supposed to start on the shore of
the ocean! ...Right?" Spirit suggested.
"Well, let's suppose that's right. What's the
next clue?" Bluey inquired.
Gatling read, "It says, 'Take ten paces of a
Shoyru, and you find great trees two.'"
Bluey, Darkmoon, Spirit, and Gatling looked
toward Dragoon. "Well?" they asked.
"Ugh... why do I have to do everything?" Dragoon
walked to the edge of the beach. He counted his steps. One, two, three. Four,
five, six. Dragoon looked forward. Seven, eight, nine. Dragoon could see two
huge trees as he took his final step.
"Cool! There's the two trees!" Spirit said.
Gatling ran up and inspected the trees.
"Okay, we're making progress. 'From the shade
of the trees you shall spy the place where all will freeze.'"
The five looked around. It was a tropical paradise,
so you didn't have to worry about freezing. But then they saw a high mountain.
It was certainly cold up there.
"Uh oh... does that mean we have to climb it?"
Dragoon asked.
Gatling checked the map. "Um... 'Stick your
best paw out, because you shall see what mountain climbing's all about.'"
"I don't like the sound of that..." Darkmoon
whined.
Bluey and company stuck their best paw out...
***
Bluey and his pets huffed and puffed as they traveled up the mountain. "Is
it... any... further?" Spirit panted.
"I don't think we're even close..." Dragoon
said.
Gatling studied the map the entire way. "Hmph,"
he snorted, "I'm starting to dislike whoever thought it would be funny to lead
some guys like us all around an island just to find a treasure. I mean, why
don't they just flat out say where the stupid thing's buried?"
"Well..." Bluey said, "at least it gives us
something to do."
"And just think about the looks on the girls'
faces when we bring home a chest full of pirate treasure!" Spirit stated.
This brought a smile to all of the boys' faces.
While the others were fantasizing about how
they would gloat about their treasure, Bluey noticed that they had reached the
top of the mountain. Bluey told the others, and they were very happy about their
accomplishment.
"I'm on top of the world!" Spirit shouted, standing
tall.
"Does anyone have a Neopoint that I can throw
off the mountain?" Darkmoon asked, grinning mischievously.
"No! No one's throwing money off the mountain,"
Bluey commanded.
"So, what do we do now?" Dragoon asked Gatling.
Gatling took a look at the map. "Um... uh oh.
You guys won't like this."
"What is it?" Darkmoon asked, cocking his head
to one side.
Gatling gulped. "'Take a leap of faith, spread
your wings like a bat, aim for the water and don't make a horrible splat.'"
Bluey, Darkmoon, Spirit, and Dragoon became
very uncomfortable.
"We're supposed to jump off a MOUNTAIN!?" Dragoon
shouted.
Gatling was trembling with fright. "I-I think
s-so..."
Bluey walked over to the edge. The mountain
seemed to be a flat wall on this side, with a lake of bright blue water at the
bottom. At least they wouldn't have to worry about falling onto the mountain
path. Bluey gulped.
"Well... er... it was nice knowing you guys..."
Bluey started.
"You know, I've been thinking. Since Bluey's
the oldest, tallest, and certainly most intelligent..." Spirit said, grinning
devilishly, "he should jump first."
"W-What?" Bluey squeaked.
"Sure! He should go first. I mean, he's certainly
the bravest. Aren't you, Bluey?" Darkmoon asked.
Bluey felt like he was shrinking. "Um... that's
not necessarily..."
"Come on, Bluey! Jump!" Gatling urged.
"Yeah! We'll be right behind you!" Dragoon said.
Bluey was completely outnumbered. Even his right-hand
Shoyru was against him. Bluey felt like he had become tiny. His expression was
of utter terror. His own Neopets, urging him to take a flying leap off a mountain?
What if the map was wrong? What if Gatling had misread it? What if this was
all a dream?
Bluey turned to face the lake. "Um... okay..."
Bluey cleared his throat. "Here I go... one... one is for Forcastia... two is
for Dragonita... three is for Canina, four is for Felinia, and this one is to...
is to..." Bluey's legs locked. He couldn't bring himself to jump.
His Neopets didn't look happy. "Chickening out,
Bluey? What kind of example are you setting for your pets?" Darkmoon asked.
Bluey felt horrible. "No! I just can't..."
"Can't jump? Don't worry, Bluey old pal. WE'LL
HELP YOU!!" Bluey's pets lunged forward and started pushing their owner off
the edge. But they slipped up and so they all went tumbling down.
"YEEEEAARRGGGHHHH!!" they screamed.
Dragoon covered his eyes. "Bluey! I just want
you to know that if we don't survive this, I'm really, really sorry for what
I did!"
"Oh, don't worry, little buddy! I'm sure it
doesn't matter now!" Bluey replied.
"I can't look!" Darkmoon focused his eyes on
other, happier things.
"Technically, we could fly away, but I'm afraid
there aren't enough pairs of wings to go around..." Bluey said.
"Please, let this be a dream!" Dragoon hoped,
his eyes still covered.
"Uh oh... this looks like the end!" Gatling
said.
"I hope we're remembered as those great Neopians
who got lost one day sailing, and then all our stories will be put into the
Neopian Times and our pictures will be on the front page and the headlines will
say that Neopia lost the greatest adventurers ever and people will say, 'Oh
man, those guys were great!'" Spirit shouted in one long breath.
The next thing happened so fast. None of them
were expecting it.
SPLASH!!! Bluey and company noticed they
couldn't breathe. They also noticed that they still had control over their body.
They propelled themselves back toward the surface of the water.
Spirit came up panting. He felt like his heart
was in his mouth, trying to escape with each beat. "H-Hey... hey, guys! We're...
we're still alive!!"
Bluey came up for air and spit out some water.
"What? I... I survived!"
Darkmoon, Gatling, and Dragoon resurfaced. They,
too, were surprised that they hadn't been splattered over the ground.
"Bluey!" Dragoon shouted, swimming over and
giving Bluey a hug. "I'm so glad we're still here!"
"I know, it's awesome, little buddy!" Bluey
replied.
Gatling flipped over on his back and floated
on the water. "This is nice... uh... er, where did my map go?"
Bluey and company looked around. They had lost
the map!
"Gatling, you idiot! You lost our ticket out
of the poor house and into the millionaire estates!" Darkmoon chastised.
"Look, there it is!" Dragoon observed. The map
was fluttering down from the sky. Spirit caught it and made sure not to drop
it in the water.
"Let's see here... 'If you survived the mountain
free fall, then you are worthy to travel to where the grass is tall.'" Spirit
read.
"So... the whole jumping off the mountain was
to weed out the weak recruits?" Bluey asked.
"I guess so..." Spirit said, looking at the
map closer.
"Yes!" Darkmoon threw his paws in the air victoriously.
"That means we're worthy of the treasure!"
"Cool!" Gatling said, "I hope that means there
are no more tests."
"Hm... travel to where grass is tall? That would
be the grassland, wouldn't it?" Bluey mused.
The five pulled themselves out of the water.
Darkmoon shook himself off, getting water all over his brothers.
Bluey examined the landscape. "Hmm... this place
seems really familiar for some reason."
The five set off for the grassland.
***
"There it is! I see the grassland!"
Bluey and company arrived at a large field of
grassland. The grass was indeed tall here.
"What's the next clue?" Gatling asked.
Spirit looked at the map. "Um... it doesn't
say."
"Huh?" Spirit's companions inquired.
"The clues end here." Spirit turned the map
around. "Then it gives us an actual map, with places marked."
"But no order or numbers or logical sequence?"
Dragoon asked.
"El zilcho," Spirit replied.
"Well, we shouldn't be too hard pressed to find
the treasure now. We just need to find out which location is the right one.
Just hand me the map and I'll lead on from here," Bluey said.
"What? I'm doing such a good job, I think I
should stay the leader!" Spirit answered indignantly.
"No dice, Spirit!" Bluey stated. "I'll take
the map from here."
"No! It's mine!"
"That's it!" Bluey grabbed hold of the map.
Spirit held the other half. The two struggled for power until...
RIP! Bluey raised his half of the map
and looked at it. Spirit did the same. "Didn't we all really expect that to
happen, in the back of our minds?" Bluey wondered.
Spirit held his half protectively. "I'm afraid
I can't travel with a greedy dragon like Bluey. I'm just going to have to leave
now." Spirit started off toward in no particular direction.
"All right, fine then, Zafara. Me and Dragoon
will go off on our own," Bluey stated.
"Well? Darkmoon, Gatling, aren't you coming?"
Spirit and Bluey said in stereo.
"Um..." Darkmoon groaned.
"Uh..." Gatling moaned.
"We'll go with Spirit..." they said at last.
"WHAT!?" Bluey screeched. "Fine... have it your
way."
The two groups separated.
***
Bluey and Dragoon traveled through the grassland. Dragoon said after a while,
"Er, Bluey? Do you know where we're supposed to be going?"
"Of course I do! We're going to..." Bluey looked
at the desecrated map. "We're going to this big rock that looks sort of like
a plateau."
"Well, okay, if you say so."
Bluey and Dragoon continued in silence.
Until Dragoon broke it. "You know... I kinda
wish Spirit and the others could've come along..."
Bluey clenched his fists. "Well... it's their
fault."
***
Spirit, Darkmoon, and Gatling walked through the grasslands, in the opposite
direction as Bluey and Dragoon. Darkmoon whined the whole way.
"I'm tired..." he groaned.
"That sounds like a personal problem, doesn't
it?" Spirit replied, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"I'm thirsty..." Darkmoon moaned.
"Will you please shut up?" Gatling asked.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so hungry..."
Spirit noticed some green berries on a nearby
tree. He picked a couple and handed them to Darkmoon. "Here, eat these."
"Nuh-uh. No way. After Legionnaire's shrink
ray incident, I don't trust anything green," Darkmoon replied.
"So you don't trust me?" Gatling inquired, looking
at his green pelt.
"Especially not Gatling."
"Hmph, fine." Spirit tossed the berries away.
Darkmoon continued his cycle of whining.
***
"Come on, Dragoon, just a little further..."
"Hurry up, guys! It's not to long now..."
Bluey and Spirit collided with each other.
"YOU!!" they screamed.
Dragoon, Darkmoon, and Gatling hurried to the
scene of the accident.
The dragon and the Zafara were now growling
at each other like Gelerts.
"Oh, that's it! You've ruined it! You've totally
ruined it!" Gatling shouted.
"Huh?" Bluey and Spirit asked.
"You two have got to make up now! I'm tired
of having my owner and my stupid brother arguing over something as silly as
a broken map!" Gatling gave the two a tongue-lashing.
Spirit sniffed. Bluey was frowning. "Um... I'm
sorry..." Bluey sputtered.
"Yeah... me too..." Spirit replied.
Bluey and Spirit shook paws. Darkmoon whistled,
cheering them on.
"Okay, now can we find the treasure?" Gatling
said.
"Hey, guys, I think we found something!" Dragoon
relayed.
Gatling gasped. "Is it the treasure?"
"No... we found Tyrannia!"
Bluey and company were enthralled. "That's great!
We can finally get back home!" Darkmoon said.
Bluey, Darkmoon, Spirit, and Dragoon started
running toward the Tyrannia town square. They stopped when Gatling asked, "Hey...
what about the treasure?"
"Who cares?" Spirit answered. "The real treasure
is finally getting back to Neopia. We'll be able to get back to Neopia Central
from Tyrannia!"
"Um... well... okay..." Gatling replied, getting
to his feet. He ran toward the rest, yelling "Wait up!" Then, Gatling tripped
on a rock. Or what seemed like a rock.
Bluey and Gatling's brothers looked back. "Hey,
Gatling, are you all right?" Dragoon asked.
"Ow... I tripped on something..." Gatling examined
the thing that he hit. He gasped. "It's a... a... treasure chest!"
The End
Author's Note: Well, hope you enjoyed this story. If you liked it, send
me a Neomail. But no hatemail or I'll throw you in the sea. Thanks for reading!
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