A yellow Kyrii sat atop the parapet of the wall surrounding Sakhmet City. His fur - and the quickly waning sunlight - made him blend in quite nicely to the yellow sandstone. And if someone got a little too nosy, all Stan had to do was slip on the little ring he was absently rolling between his fingers.

He munched idly on a Tchea Fruit he had nicked from a guard down below on his climb up. If he had his schedule right, this wagon was delivering a shipment of rare Geopeppers to the palace for a feast. And Stan was in the mood for a Geopepper or three.

Any minute now, that wagon would roll into the city where Stan could begin to track it into a nice secluded area ripe for the robbing.

But it didn't.

The Unis shared a glance with each other before making a sharp turn right at the gate into Sakhmet proper. Despite himself, Stan leapt up to get a better look. Sure enough, the two Unis were hugging the wall and heading around the city. Had they seen him? Or had he inadvertently stumbled upon a different delivery? The Kyrii's sharp eyes could see no further carriages on the horizon.

Stan slipped his ring of invisibility on his finger before clambering down from the wall, intent to follow the carriage. Whatever was in that wagon, Stan wanted it now more than ever...

"Strange..." Stan muttered to himself, not breaking pace as he approached the back of the carriage.

Would the two Unis notice an addition to their load if he grabbed on to the back of the wagon now? Considering their still slowing pace, Stan reasoned that they would be likely to stop soon and maintained a jog until he was level with the side of the wagon.

"There's no way we're getting away with this," the more nervous of the two Unis suddenly broke its silence, motioning to the wagon behind them with a quick flick of his ears.

"Be quiet," the other hissed back at his companion, "he's definitely not letting us back out now. We have to keep going no matter what."

Curiosity piqued, Stan moved closer to the side of the wagon, hoping to take a peek under the cloth and discover exactly what the two Unis were transporting. He quickly noticed that one of the rear corners of the cloth covering the wagon was lose, flapping ever so slightly with the trundling motion of the wagon.

"What if we just head out towards the desert again, and ditch the wagon?" the left-hand Uni spoke again, his voice noticeably shaking. "We're desert Unis, surely we can outlast them in the desert if we have to."

The right-hand Uni looked back at their cargo as his companion spoke, and began to respond in an angry tone. "I already told you, we can't..." he suddenly trailed off, and then shouted "Abraxas, run!"

Both Unis began to increase their speed, hampered somewhat by the wagon following behind them. Stan glanced behind himself while trying to maintain pace behind them, unsure what had suddenly spooked the Unis. That was when he noticed...

After a few minutes of chase, the two Unis went over a bump. The wagon rocked and a few items fell out of it. Neither the Unis nor the guards noticed the items and continued to run.

Stan stopped near the items to catch his breath. As curious as he was, he couldn't keep running. He watched as the Unis and the guards ran off throughout the streets. There was no way he was going to catch up with them now.

Once Stan caught his breath, he brushed the sand off of his clothes. He noticed that he didn't have the ring of invisibility on anymore. It must have fallen off while he dodged the guards.

"Drat, now I need a new ring," Stan muttered.

He looked up and noticed the items that fell out of the wagon. He walked closer to see what was there. There were a few Geopeppers in the sand. Stan picked them up and put them in a pouch he was carrying. Then he noticed another item that fell out of the wagon...

So that was what the Unis were worried about. He surmised that the ball would most likely be a magical object that could see the future, just like those told in old Sakhmetian tales. But it wasn't that rare; there were still many clairvoyants around the area that depended on crystal balls to earn a living.

In any case, Stan decided that he could sell it to a random fortune teller for a nice price. Then, with the neopoints, he could get a new ring.

The Kyrii scooped up the ball and headed for the city rife in psychics. He munched on a couple of Geopeppers on his way and in no time at all, he had crossed the boundary that separated the city from the desert.

As soon as Stan entered Sakhmet City, he spotted an ominous tent that was erected in a dark alleyway. The perfect place to sell the crystal ball, he thought to himself as he trotted over and entered.

"Welcome, my dear," a mysterious female voice that belonged to a Kau cooed. "What do you wish to know about?"

"Nah, I'm not interested in stuff like that." He pulled out the crystal ball from his pouch. "I'm here to sell you this. Pretty sure you need a much better one than that," he said, pointing at a perfect crystal ball that was placed on a table in front of the Kau.

"No, thank you," the Kau replied, not bothering to look at Stan. "Mine's fine as it is."

Relentless, Stan walked up to the Kau and allowed her to have a better view of the ball. "I bet it's much better than yours. It's even sought after by some very ... powerful seers," he lied.

The Kau glanced up lazily at Stan's outstretched arm. When her eyes fell on the crystal ball, her eyes became wide and she gasped. "Where did you get this?"

"I've got my ways," Stan said shortly.

"That's no ordinary crystal ball," the Kau exclaimed. "Not only can it see the future, but it can also change the outcome ..."

Suddenly, his eyes glazed over with what looked like a blue haze. He was transported out of his current state of mind, and what he saw was the inside of a darkened dungeon. What he smelled was mildew and fear. Through all of these things though, nothing could compare to what he heard.

"ABRAXAS!"A familiar voice laced with despair yelled gravely into the pitch blackness. It was one of the Unis from earlier.

"ABRAXAS! WHERE ARE YOU ABRAXAS?!"

Stan had never felt such emotion and desperation coming form another in his life, and he was forcefully shot from his trance and collapsed onto his knees, dropping the crystal ball.

He panted for a moment, mind reeling as he tried to catch his breath. He heard the sharp, but calm, clearing of someones throat.

"Well," stated the mystical Kau. "The crystal ball has selected you. You now know what the near future holds. So tell me, Stan..."

The Kau made direct eye contact with him, still in his collapsed state. Stan felt an unexplainable and unprecedented surge of determination and purpose run through his spirit.

"What do you plan to do about it?"

"Who is Sam?" asked Stan.

The Kau just looked him deep in his soul and told him he has to go out and find them himself. With that, the mystical Kau was gone and Stan was standing in a middle of a field.

"Well, what am I suppose to do with that? I don't understand what I need to do now."

Off in the distance, there was a light coming towards Stan with a low hum following it.

How will this story end

"Are you lost, friend?" One of the Myncis asked. Stan had never seen Myncis this far from the beaches of Mystery Island, and he couldn't help gawking at the group. But the one who had spoken laughed and extended a hand to Stan. Stan still had the crystal ball tucked under his vest; he wasn't sure who he could trust just yet. But the Myncis seemed friendly enough. A Maraquan petpet was swimming lazily in a bowl on the edge of a cart, two Myncis were playing Roodoku on a pad of palm leaves. Stan took the short Mynci's hand and shook it.

"I'm Stan," he said. "How funny," the Mynci replied, gripping Stan's wrist in a friendly tug. "Sam." Stan nearly dropped the crystal ball. "You said your name was Sam?" The Mynci nodded. But before Stan could ask him anything else, he heard the unmistakable clomp of a group of royal guards. Their armor sounded like metal rain falling on a tin roof. The vision of the cell flashed through Stan's mind, and he must have looked panicked, because Sam the Mynci pulled him to his feet.

"Are you in trouble with the law or something?" Sam asked. Stan nodded. Without another word, Sam waved over a Mynci flipping a coin with his tail. "We know how to get away from...authority figures." The other Mynci pulled Stan onto a cart and sat him between two sacks of Brightvale fruit. Sam unwound an Avalor tapestry from his knapsack. So they were traders. That would explain how they were so far from home.

"You seem like a friend," Sam said. "So we'll help." Before Stan could protest, Sam tossed the tapestry over Stan's head. The thick yarn made it hard to hear, but if Stan held his breath, he could hear the heavy boots of the royal guard come to a stop. "Who's the leader of your caravan?" One of the guards bellowed. There were a few murmurs and some scuffling, but someone finally spoke.

"I am, sir." Stan recognized Sam's voice. "What trouble would you stop us for?" "We've intercepted an illegal shipment of magical artifacts by a couple of Unis." Stan recalled the haunting cry he had heard in his vision of the jail. He shut his eyes tight. "But one of the artifacts is missing from the load. A crystal ball. Know anything of it?"

"Not a thing, sir," Sam replied. Stan heard a pair of boots walk closer to the cart he was cowering in. "So you wouldn't mind if we had a look through your wares?" "Not at all," Sam said, not a trace of fear to be found in his tone. Stan felt the edge of the royal guard's sabre begin to lift the tapestry and he held his breath, ready to accept his fate.

"But I wouldn't look in that cart, if I were you," Sam said suddenly. Stan opened his eyes. "Why's that?"

"We had a shipment of some bad lychee berries from Mystery Island. Causes horrible rashes. We had to leave one of our own at the Healing Springs on our way here. He tried to move a few of them off the cart and he had warts all up and down his arms for weeks." The boots retreated suddenly. "Well, er-- make sure you dispose of those right away!" "Of course, sir." "And if you see any suspicious activity or persons, you are commanded to report it to the royal guard at once, or risk being jailed for treason." "Absolutely, sir." "Well...safe travels, then." It felt like an eternity between when the guards retreated and when Sam pulled the tapestry off of Stan, but he was in the open air at last. The Myncis had crowded around him curiously. "Don't suppose you've heard anything about this 'crystal ball,' have you?" Sam asked, smiling.

Stan patted the glass ball against his chest, still breathless from the close call with the guard. "All in good time, Sam. You wouldn't mind if I stuck with you all for a leg of the journey? These deserts don't feel too safe anymore." "Of course," Sam said. He waved his hand and the front of the caravan began to move forwards again, lanterns swinging against the night. The songs started up and soon even the glow of the city was far behind them as they walked on towards the horizon. Sam kept pace with Stan as they walked in silence for a bit. "Stan?" "Yeah?" "You know you can trust us, right?" Sam asked, watching Stan warily. "I don't trust a lot of people. But helping someone out in a jam is quite alright with me," Stan replied. "Besides, I think this is the beginning of quite the friendship."

The End.