The Eccentric Codestone: Part One by apparent |  |
Krawker_oth the spotted Krawk wearily tagged behind his
two older brothers, Jyrosen and Saigru, who were busily sprinting towards the
Tombola Hut in the distance. Their Neoschool's running hours were cut in half
that Friday morning, leaving the three home alone by themselves. "Let's go to
Mystery Island!" Saigru had proposed after they arrived home from the city bus,
thus the three turned up there - in the humid, radiant weather of Neopia's prominent
island. Being a reptile-like Krawk, of course, Krawker HATED going to Mystery
Island. His scales easily dried out and eventually burned due to the heat. "We're
not staying behind because you're such a baby." Jyrosen teased earlier that morning
while on a boat to the Harbor, and Krawker decided he was best at ease when walking
on the wet shoreline.
At around 11 am NST; the siblings arrived close
to the Tombola Hut, after much bickering among themselves during the trek towards
the west side of the floating island. Hungrily, (as he often was), Jyrosen placed
one of his massive white forepaws upon the surface of his stomach as it emitted
a rather nasty growl. "Mm.." He proclaimed while running his tongue over the
surface of his black lips. "I'm STARVING. Let's get some lunch now, we can come
back to Tiki later."
"But you're always starving," Krawker
wailed tiredly towards his older brother, a few beads of perspiration trickling
down the surface of his yellow forehead. "I walked this far in the killer sun,
we're not turning back until we get to the Tombola, at least." And so it was
done. No one really spoke much, the sun seemed angry with Neopia that afternoon
- giving full-strength heat with no occasional breezes to help cope with it.
If anyone dared to speak, his or her mouths would fall dry and cracked for a
long while. Saigru took the lead after a while, even he, who was often energetic,
fell a bit slow within his steps. Soon their expense was cut short when the
large hut belonging to the Tiki Tack Man greeted the three brothers, who lie
now only a few feet away. The large, brown colored civilian grinned towards
the familiar Neopets who had now reached the metallic counter of his hut, wriggling
his stubby toes within his wheat-based sandals on the ground below.
"Hey there!" he proclaimed; his deep voice echoing
through the somewhat deserted island's atmosphere proudly. Tiki was also sweating
a bit himself, wetness-taking effect within his shaggy eyebrows a few moments
later. Jyrosen grinned and shoved his younger brothers out of the way, sending
them both colliding upon the hot sand below as he wagged his tail excitedly
towards the Tombola-man.
"What's crackin', Tiki? Got any prizes for me
today?" Jyrosen inquired goofily while straining to stay on his hind legs, despite
his current four-legged position, his gray eyes peering around at the interior
of the small hut. Saigru laughed a bit towards his older brother, although he
was terribly annoyed at the fact that he would not be able to pick the ticket
that day. Krawker spat a few grains of sand out of his mouth and struggled to
climb onto his feet. Unlike Saigru, he was not going to let Jyrosen have all
of the fun. The yellow-and-black Krawk jumped upon the somewhat cool counter
where he could have a good view of his brother and the Tiki Tack Man. Tiki chuckled
towards his visitors ahead of him. His laughter was somewhat like a peaceful
avalanche, erupting inside his body steadily and then rising to a much more
powerful effect. "Ah, I'm fine, Jyrosen. And you know the deal - no prizes until
you withdraw a winning ticket." Using a chubby finger, the hut's owner pointed
towards the ticket slot at the end of the counter.
Saigru also joined the three as he rose to his
hinds as well, raising an eyebrow at Jyrosen who began to quickly rip a ticket
from the slot. "Be careful," Tiki warned sternly. "Remember what happened the
last time you rushed to rip a ticket - the whole roll was ruined. Proceed slowly."
Not taking any heed of his warning, Jyrosen paw quickly tore a pink ticket from
the slot. Krawker tried to get a good view of what it had said, but it wasn't
necessary to read it, for Jyrosen excitedly squealed, "YAHOO! Number 32 Tiki
- wait, do you see that properly? - We win. Prize time."
"Yesssss!" Saigru chimed in, giving Jyrosen
a high four with his front paw. Krawker bit his bottom lip with envy towards
his older brother, but then turned to watch as Tiki set a Light Faerie, 600
Neopoints, and a few Ghost Marshmallows on the counter with a light grin. "Well,
there you go. This is the prize for today's number 32. Hope you enjoy!" Due
to the hot weather, Tiki politely dismissed himself to retreat inside of the
hut, thinking of his fruit punch sitting within the refrigerator.
Jyrosen hopped from foot to foot, shaking his
Faerie while chewing on his Ghost Marshmallows hungrily. "Har har, you guys
stink! I win, I'm the bomb, go Jyrosen, it's ya birthday!" Saigru frowned. "You're
stupid, Jyrosen. Let's go find somewhere that gives brain surgery."
Jyrosen frowned back towards his brother Saigru
who made the rather embarrassing comment, ignoring Krawker's snickers coming
from the opposite side. The clouds in the sky began to vanish as the sun hung
lazily overhead. Krawker immediately became overheated and began to pant. "Guys,
let's go for a swim before we head back home for lunch."
Saigru raised an eyebrow while wagging his tail
affront his face as a miniature fan. "You always go swimming, Krawker. You might
as well be a Kiko at this rate, but anyway, I'm up for a swim. What about you,
Jyrosen?" No response came from their elder brother as he threw his empty Faerie's
glass onto the ground, sprinting towards the water while yelling, "Yahoo! You
all are slow pokes!"
After exchanging worried glances, Krawker and
Saigru changed their minds and began to run behind. Krawker enjoyed the feel
of the sand beneath his feet, and Saigru loved the feel of the wind within his
fur. The three brothers jumped into the water blissfully while exchanging excited
squeals and shrieks, splashes of water seen here and there. Every few moments
the atmosphere would fall silent as the three went underwater, yet erupted in
noise again when at least one of them popped back onto the surface. A day of
traveling in the sun was tiring - and no one could deny that the water's components
against their bodies felt relieving and energizing.
It took about an hour's worth of fooling to
please the three siblings who had taken a trip to the island that day. Jyrosen
was the first to drag himself back onto the shore after the realization of what
time it was. "Hey guys.. We've got to get back home. Apparent will be expecting
us home soon." Without complaint, Saigru followed suit. His navy blue fur was
drenched and matted flatly upon his body. He shook his body to relax the fur
upon it and get rid of any excess water, while exclaiming contentedly, "Wow,
that was some swim! I'm kinda hungry now, though."
Krawker lingered within the water for a little
longer before dragging himself out of the cool sensation, shivering a bit due
to the amount of time he'd spent in the ocean. Jyrosen and Saigru didn't wait
any longer for their youngest brother, already advancing towards the still-life
Harbor. "Wait, guys, don't leave me!" Krawker squealed tiredly, struggling to
run offshore where his brothers were headed. Just as he began to make some progress
onto the land, Krawker abruptly tripped over something sticking out of the sand.
"Ow! Ouch!" he wailed as his rear made a rather painful collision with the warm
sand below, quickly grasping his foot in order to try and ease the pain away.
"What was that?" As soon as the small Krawk scrambled to a standing position,
his brown eyes shifted downwards. A slightly lopsided Har codestone was visible
in the millions of grains of sand below, radiantly glowing with help from the
sunlight. Krawker had never seen a codestone so dirty before, but was proud
of his discovery nonetheless.
"Finally! A prize of my own," he smiled to himself,
and bent over a bit to pick the small stone up off of the ground. "Jyrosen's
going to have competition." While smiling a bit to himself, Krawker ran to catch
up to his brothers who had already made their way to the next available boat
at the Harbor. His plans for his codestone and himself quickly began to unveil
within his mind while hopping next to Saigru on the wooden boat.
"What took you so long?" Jyrosen asked, raising
an eyebrow curiously as Krawker stepped onto the boat, apparently late.
"Look at what I've got," Krawker handed the
rusty codestone to his older brother. "I found it along the shore of the ocean
where we were swimming a little while ago." Saigru grinned as he managed to
get a look at the Har codestone his younger brother had retrieved. "It looks
pretty old, Krawker. I doubt anyone will accept it. Anyway, let's enjoy the
boat ride home."
Krawker nodded silently as Jyrosen handed him
back the codestone. For a moment he felt disappointed, but was still overjoyed
that he managed to find something. "I'll use it somehow." He said to himself,
his brothers paying no attention whatsoever.
He had no idea how accurate his last declaration
was, either.
To be continued...
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