"Roll up, roll up!" came a charming voice from not so far away - Shalen glanced over to the small wooden shack, laden with balloons on either side of purple velvet curtains. "Come and try your hand!"

"Kiko Pop..." Shalen muttered under his breath. The Uni had heard stories from other Neopians about how difficult the game was; to this day he had never tried it for himself.

"Roll up, I say!" the voice continued. "This could be your lucky day!"

Shalen paused for a moment. His hooves were certainly going to be an issue here -- but it could be worth a try? Who knows that the Kiko had for prizes? No-one had ever mentioned the prize.

Shalen pushed the curtain aside and found himself face-to-face with a yellow Kiko, who grinned broadly as Shalen let the curtains fall behind him.

"Welcome, traveller!" The Kiko exclaimed, ushering Shalen further into the tent. "Thank you for popping in." The Kiko smirked, but Shalen rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so what exactly do I have to do?"

The Kiko reached down behind the counter and pulled out a dart, which he handed to Shalen.

"Just see if you can pop one of the balloons," he explained. "It's relatively simple, but you could win a fantastic prize."

Shalen sighed. At least it was free to play, he thought to himself. He wasn't loosing neopoints over a balloon game.

"On the count of three, then," the Kiko said, pulling a lever to the left. The balloons on the wall began to spin. "One.... two..."

"Three." Shalen said, launching the dart in as straight a direction as he could manage. There was a huge bang; the balloons ceased to spin and the Kiko cheered.

"Yes! You've won something, young Uni!" he moved over to where the dart was quite deeply indented in the board. Shalen was mildly impressed with himself. Underneath the remains of a blue balloon was a small piece of paper with a symbol on it; Shalen couldn't quite make it out in the light. The Kiko ripped the card out from board and a strange expression filled his face.

"Well, it's certainly a prize, young sir. B..but whether it's a good one... well, that will be up to you."

"What do you mean by that?" Shalen quipped, but the Kiko was rummaging through the back of the shack. When he reappeared, he was holding a battered-looking cardboard box, with two holes punched in the side.

"Congratulations," the Kiko said, pushing the box into Shalen's hooves. "Don't forget to return again."

And with that, the Kiko all but shoved Shalen out of the shack.

"What on Neopia?" Shalen muttered, looking down at the box. "It can't be that bad, surely?"

He reached across to get a good grip on the box, but as he did so, something let out a shrill cry. Shalen nearly dropped it on instinct. Fumbling with the edge of the lid, Shalen closed his eyes and pulled it off in one swift movement.

He opened one eye and glanced down, but the sight nearly caused him to jump in shock. In the centre of the box, curled up and shivering, was a ...

Dropping the box as he scooped the petpet up, Shalen held the tiny creature as it shivered and shuddered in his arms. What kind of foolish prize was this? A Lost Desert petpet had no business being in Kiko Lake. Even now, at this time of year, the Lake’s soft breezes were no substitute for the baking desert that the creature must have been used to.

“I don’t think…” He spun around to confront the stall-holder, but the shack door was firmly shut. Without a free hoof to pound against it, there would be no getting a response. Not that he felt asking would do him much good.

With a sigh, Shalen glanced down at the Dua. At least it wasn’t shivering anymore. That was something.

“What am I supposed to do with you?”

The Dua, naturally, did not reply, but it still looked cold.

Curious, Shalen found his gaze falling upon that strange symbol etched upon its forehead, slightly askew due to the messy fur. Gently reaching down with a hoof to stroke the fur back into place, Shalen’s eyes widened slowly. The symbol, now neatly displayed, was…

Suddenly, the Dua’s stomach growled, causing it to let out a yelp.

“Ah, you must be hungry,” Shalen mumbled to the Petpet. He looked around - what did desert Petpets even eat? His eyes met the Kiko Lake Treats, and Shalen realized that would be his only option for now.

Shalen made his way over to the shop, carefully holding the Dua. It seemed comforted by the warm, sweet smells inside as he entered the heated store. He met eyes with the familiar Kiko shopkeeper, who recognized him.

“Shalen, welcome back! I’ve just got a fresh batch of taffy made, would you like to try some?” the Kiko greeted.

“No, I’m looking for something for this Dua,” Shalen said.

“Hm, can’t say I’ve seen anything like that before,” the Kiko replied, examining the Dua. “But I know the Kadoaties who come here with their pets from Neopia Central love eating our Kiko apples!”

Shalen nodded as he bought a Caramel Kiko Apple from the owner, hoping it was better than nothing. He went to find a seat, setting the Dua on the table and giving the apple to it. It took two licks before pushing it away, disgusted. Shalen frowned, and started absentmindedly petting the Dua, who had become slightly trusting of him. He was so confused...on why the Petpet was here, on what the symbol on its head was, on why a seemingly simple game stand would give it out…

Shalen’s thoughts were interrupted as he noticed an origami Gelert walking up to him.

“Is that your Dua?” the Gelert said, examining the Petpet Shalen was stroking.

Shalen was surprised at the Gelert’s observation, not expecting anyone else to care or notice the creature. “Yeah,” Shalen responded.

“You know it should live -” the Gelert began, continuing to look at the Dua. Before she could finish, her eyes widened, looking at the lightning bolt on its forehead. “Wait. This Dua. It…

Shalen squinted his eyes, trying to recall his old memory of reading a book on Qasalan hieroglyphs. The symbol looked familiar to be one of them but, he wasn't quite sure. It was strangely shaped but, familiar enough for Shalen to decide his next destination was to an expert of Qasala to find out what the deal was with this petpet and its symbol.

Shalen looked down at the Dua and smiled. The Dua gazed back with a pant and whimpered. To Shalen's surprise, the symbol fainted glowed azure, before quickly fading away like the wind. The Dua darted its head around, as if he caught scent of something.

Before Shalen could say anything, the Dua scrambled out of his grasp and dropped to the ground. It was only seconds when Shalen realized the Dua was running after not something related to its glowing symbol but...because it was hungry. The Dua barked gleefully as it jumped on a passing Neopian who held a large sausage in her hand.

"Hey! Stop!" Shalen shouted, running towards the Dua. He quickly picked up the excited petpet and held it firmly as Dua tried desperately to take a bite out of the exposed sausage.

Shalen quickly walked away after apologizing to the Neopian. The Neopian, a Kyrii, watched as Shalen ushered the petpet away while promising him to buy him food if he behaved.

The Kyrii whispered into a hidden mic on her collar.

"Stop the search. I found it."

"Hey! Wait up!" The voice said. Shalen, confused, turned around to see the Kyrii jogging after them with a smile.

"Here! The little fellow can have it." The Kyrii said once she caught up to the pair, offering up her sausage to the hungry little Dua who sniffed it twice before gobbling the thing down. The Kyrii was smiling widley and patting the small canine like creature on the head. She surely seemed happy to see the little guy.

"Oh!..uh, hi. Yes, Thank you!" Shalen babbled on awkwardly, a bit embarrassed by the actions of his new pet, and by the seemingly random kindness of this stranger. He searched his mind aimlessly for something appropriate to say that wouldn't leave him sounding dim-witted. He was distracted for a total of fifteen seconds.

Fifteen seconds, which was more than enough time for the unnamed Kyrii to snatch the Dua right out of his hands, and take off running.

As a Uni who believed that all petpets deserved loving owners who could take good care of them, he knew he had to follow the Kyrii. No harm would come to the young Dua if he could help it.

He dashed along the shore, feeling the wind blow through his mane. He could see the Kyrii turn onto the docks, heading towards an empty tour boat.

"No! Why are you doing this?!" he called desperately, his hooves clacking on the wooden planks. Shalen was struggling; he hadn't run so fast in a long time. The suspicious Kyrii was already at the end, boarding the vehicle. Without turning back, she sped off, Dua still in arms.

The Uni halted, gazing off sadly towards the retreating boat. He felt the despairing pains of failure, until... the boat stopped in the center of the lake. Subsequently, the Kyrii dove underwater with the Dua.

"They went into the lake! I have just the potion to follow them!" He cheered aloud, taking out his Maraquan Uni Morphing potion. He drank it in one gulp, quickly undergoing his transformation. He leapt of the dock as he changed, splashing into the water, now with a stunning tail fin.

Swimming was a breeze with fins, plus the transformation made it remarkably unchallenging to see underwater. He caught up to the Kyrii thief in record time.

But, instead of surrendering, the Kyrii pulled on one of the lampposts vehemently. The pull triggered a series of closed drains to open up and drain the entire lake!

She yelled towards the collar of her drenched shirt, "Start the Dormant Volcanic Eruption Countdown now!" She then glanced towards the trembling Dua, continuing to talk, "I've got the power source right here." She smirked.

Shalen thrashed on the bottom of Kiko Lake, unable to regain footing with his tail fin. He dragged himself towards the Kyrii.

She was snickering, leering, looking down at him as if she had won. He could almost reach her, but before he was able to, a hatch in the ground opened, and she escaped.

Luckily, before the hatch closed behind her, he summoned enough strength to stop the door with his front hooves...

How will this story end...

The Kikos were shook from their petrified stance and made their way forward down to the bottom of the dried lake. They pulled on the hatch, freeing Shalen's hooves and pushing the secret door open. Shalen sighed a breathe of relief before looking into the hatch. A warm, damp mist rose through the hatch, the smell of sea salt catching all four of the Neopets' senses, but it was dark and indiscernibly deep.

One of the Kikos who was peering into the hatch picked a rock off the lake's dried bed and dropped it into the hatch. The rock fell for two seconds before landing with a plop- there was more water down there. With a crack in her voice, the young Kiko said aloud, "We were always told that there was an underground reservoir beneath the lake."

The second chimed in, "Yeah, from the old volcano crater that filled with rainwater to make Kiko Lake. The volcano went dormant and its magma tunnels cooled..."

"...to allow nearby seawater to flood in. But this hatch...? How did any of this happen?" the third Kiko questioned.

Shalen took a look at his new aquatic self and said with confidence, "Well... if there's water down there, I can go. That no-good Kyrii's plans, whether she's trying to really activate the volcano again or not, have to be stopped and I won't let her put my Dua in harm's way! Can you please hoist me into the hatch?"

The three Kikos glanced uncertainly at each other then complied, lifting Shalen and roughly pushing him through the entrance and into a free fall himself. They could hear Shalen yell for a moment and then the crash of water as he reached the surface of the reservoir. "Good luck!!!" the three Kikos exclaimed, their voices echoing into the cavern beneath.

--

Shalen spit out mouthfuls of seawater from his impact with the reservoir. He resurfaced to look ahead-- the darkness of the cavern was split by crude torches lining the sides of the cooled magma walls. The cavern twisted and turned, but there was only one direction that the Kyrii could have gone: forward. Shalen swam with his powerful flipper onward through the warm waters of the underground reservoir, wondering if him and the Kyrii were the only Neopets down here.

The lights of the torches become more frequent, illuminating the cavern up ahead and revealing a spacious chamber. Sunlight peaked through into the center of the cavern from a crack in the ceiling, lighting up several large half-submerged boulders seemingly placed in a semi-circle. On the middle one was the Kyrii and-- Shalen's Dua!! The Kyrii looked back and saw Shalen's entrance, whereby she began to laugh hysterically.

"It's too late, you following me was for nothing! I don't know how you got Nereid's Dua," she cackled, holding up the Dua whose hieroglyphic symbol was shining the same azure color, "but I am here to awaken the Beast!"

"The Beast?!" stammered Shalen, looked about the cavern. There was a bubbling mass just beneath the waters beyond the semi-circle of boulders and as the Kyrii walked closer on the boulder, the mass began to swirl.

"You must know..." the Kyrii spat, "about the Giant Moltenore residing in Mystery Island's volcano. There used to be many more of them. Long ago, Nereid the Water Faerie sealed this giant Water Moltenore away because he disturbed the communities of aquatic Neopets. She placed a spell on him in antiquity, binding him to the volcano beneath Kiko Lake. He became dormant like the volcano, and when he is wakened by the breaking of the spell, so shall the volcano awake. The only way to break it was to bring one of Nereid's items with her imbued magic- like her Dua- to this exact location again."

"Why are you doing this? Why do you want to erupt the volcano beneath Kiko Lake?!" Shalen cried out.

"Why?! Why?!" the Kyrii angrily shouted. "I'm Antonia Allersback, the great yooyuball goalkeeper! You'd have known about me except the Kiko Lake club chose that stupid Uni to be their goalie instead! They ruined my career so in return, I'll ruin them. Awaken, beast of the cavern!"

The swirling mass rose to reveal a massive Water Molternore whose roar sounded like the crashing of waves against steel. Its eyes were blankly azure, and it transfixed upon the Dua. The Dua cowered, not knowing what to do.

"Now, release the volcano from its dormancy!" the Kyrii hysterically screamed.

Immediately, Shalen used his massive flipper to turn and splash water at the Kyrii whose back was turned to him. The Kyrii yelped and released the Dua, who leapt across the boulder and onto the adjacent one. The Kyrii tried to chase after it, but lost her balance on the wet boulder and clung to a jag on its side to prevent herself from falling in. The Dua began to bark at the Moltenore who turned to face it. The Moltenore let a massive rumbling noise out in response to the Dua and Shalen realized-- they're communicating! Petpet to petpet! The two exchanged utterances a few more times as Shalen swam up to the boulder that the Dua rested on.

Then, without warning, the Moltenore reached out with its swirling hand of water and picked up Shalen and the Dua, lifting them up to the crack in the ceiling and pushing them through to the daylight beyond. Like a geyser erupting, Shalen and the Dua spouted out and landed in a shallow pool of water nearby.

Shalen grabbed the Dua who was yelping with excitement as he cried tears of joy, "Oh, you did it! I don't know how, but you did! I may not have been able to communicate with you, but you were with that giant Moltenore!"

The Dua licked Shalen's face but he didn't care-- they were out of the cavern and that Kyrii no longer poised a threat to Kiko Lake-- whatever her fate may be.

"Let's get you back to your owner-- Nereid, was it?" Shalen asked the Dua, who barked a confirmatory yes in return as the two headed downstream to figure out their next move.

The End!