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As seen in the Meridell war plot, Jeran the Lupe accidentally
trips into a time portal and finds himself in the land of Meridell in the
past, when there were no pet owners in Neopia. This is the story of how he
went from child to King Skarl's right hand man.
***
"Lisha?" Jeran suddenly found himself on a wooden floor.
But he had tripped on the forest floor! "Where... am I?" He looked outside.
He saw field, meadow, forest, and a smelly, rotten looking town a mile away.
It was where he had played with Lisha, except the ruins of the lost city were
rebuilt! He was stunned. Suddenly, a dark shadow grabbed him and tied him in
rope.
"Get off of me!" Jeran yelled. He kicked and
screamed until a quick blow to the head knocked him out cold.
***
Jeran awakened in a dark, drab cellar. Nearby was a sleeping Draik guard.
The door was wide open. He tried to start walking away, but he was held back
somehow. Then he discovered that his arms and legs were rapped in chains.
The rattling noise the chains made awoke the
guard. The Draik stood up and left the dungeon.
Jeran could just barely hear the Draik murmur,
"He's going to have a hard time explaining how he got here to..." Everything
else was cut off by the sound of a metal door clanging shut.
After about ten minutes three Draiks entered
the room and cut the metal locks and handcuffed his arms. They surrounded Jeran
on the left, right, and rear and told him to march. They walked through the
eerie corridors, and Jeran couldn't help looking at how dirty and grimy they
were. He was still confused about how he had gotten here, so he was silent.
Maybe this is all a great big dream,
he thought to himself, Or a dream inside a dream. I'll probably wake up and
see Lisha above my head saying 'I found you!'
But this never happened, no matter how
many times he shook his head or stamped his feet all that happened was that
the Draik guards would yell, "Move, kid!"
They finally stopped at two double doors.
Unlike the dungeon, they were clean and made of hard and expensive wood. Two
Korbat's by the door stood up straight and pushed the doors open. Jeran had
never seen such a sight in all his days. Statues of a kingly Skeith were lined
up evenly in two rows, with a red carpet in the middle, rolling so far that
he couldn't see the end of it. Light came in through beautiful glass windows.
He was led down the red carpet and found
himself in front of the Skeith who had his image was carved in all of the statues.
He was sitting on a spectacular throne, made of gold and unpolished silver.
To the right of the Skeith was a white Eyrie, in bronze armor, wielding a sword
with strange carvings on its sides.
The Skeith bent lower on his chair and
said, "Time for questioning. Cuff his legs." Two Draiks held Jeran in place
while another handcuffed his feet. Once the chains were secure, the Skeith left
his chair and started circling Jeran, asking questions.
"Who are you and how did you get in my
castle?" the Skeith asked.
"My names Jeran and I don't know why
I'm here," Jeran said timidly.
"Oh really... so you somehow found yourself
here, like magic?"
"I think so."
"Ha ha ha!" the Skeith laughed, "We have
a lying little child who says he somehow finds himself on the second story of
Meridell Castle in private quarters without being spotted by any Skeith Guards.
You must have stolen something like every other kid sneaking around here this
past month. Now that I have captured a living bribed kid of the ClownHat gang,
I can finish their robberies right now..."
Confused, Jeran asked "The what
gang?"
"Are you trying to stall me!? King Skarl!?
Everybody knows who the ClownHats are!" the King yelled. He calmed down and
said, "Well, some people just don't have half a brain (did I just say that out
loud?)..."
"The ClownHats are a gang of Lennies
led by a Shadow Grarrl named Sonica. She has his Lennies bribe children like
you into traps. They then are hypnotized by the Lennies who give them strange
abilities so they can sneak into my castle and steal food and treasures! They
are called the ClownHats because the Lennies have those silly hats on their
heads. I can't trust you, so I will grant you your freedom if you do me a task."
"What task?" Jeran asked.
"I want you to find the ClownHats secret
base and report to me. Yet you will have one of my loyal Korbat servants tied
to your arm. If you even try acting up or if you need help, the Korbat will
release a silent scream Neopet ears cannot hear will transport here and alert
me. If we find you acting up you will spend all your days in our dungeons, eating
already chewed gruel." Jeran was scared stiff at the thought of eating the same
sickening food for all his life, stuck in a dirty cell.
He quickly said, "I accept this task."
When he said this, they took off his cuffs. Then he remembered his knight toys
and said, "Yet I would like my toys back. I might need them."
"Of course!" Skarl said. He looked behind
his back at the White Eyrie knight who had stayed motionless the entire time
and said, "Bring him his things." Then Skarl looked back at Jeran and said,
"Have we introduced you to him? His name is Aizen (aye-zen). He is my best knight.
He wears the bronze armor of the Meridell Champion."
Jeran walked towards Aizen slowly. It
was a real knight! For a kid who had daydreamed of being Sir Jeran the Brave,
seeing a real one was really cool. Aizen reached behind his back and gave Jeran
his wooden sword, shield, and staff.
"Thank you," Jeran said quickly before
he was turned around by Draik guards and had a Korbat on a string tied to his
shoulder. Then Jeran walked out the door and into the town of Meridell without
a word.
***
Later That Night...
Jeran was shocked by level of smell when he reached the town of Meridell.
He knew that these people must never bathe! They had almost no food or water
so he wondered how they stayed alive. He actually smelt the odor so he knew
this was no dream. The Korbat's name was Joanako, or Jo for short. He was colored
blue, and seemed to have a mouth the size of twenty codestones! It was hard
to understand what the Korbat said because everything was very fast and slurred.
"How are we going to get the ClownHats
here I mean nobody can find them so far I mean why would they want us?" he said
with mixed feelings.
"They won't want to capture us if you
keep babbling like that!" Jeran said firmly. Then he remembered to ask "Will
Skarl do anything for his people?"
The Korbat acted shocked that he had
spoken against the king, but replied with, "Just a few months ago Skarl sent
out almost every knight to find something to save us. The last knight left here
is Aizen so gangs are running wild. How are you finding the ClownHats when it
is pitch black at night?"
"Please close your mouth! If we're quiet,
alone, and children, they'll find us."
"You're right, kids!" A sack came over
Jeran and Jo's body. They were suddenly traveling at high speeds, but couldn't
see a thing because they were covered up.
JO was freaked out and started yelling
nonsense but Jeran quieted him by saying silently "Shut your trap! This is what
we wanted! Now they'll take us to their secret base. As soon as we reach the
hideout I wanted you to shriek your special cry."
Thud!
They landed with a bump. They heard the
sound of a vault opening slowly. Then they felt themselves slide down an air
conditioning vent. The sack hit a wooden mat hard. It tipped over so Jeran and
JO crawled out away from the Lennies and hid behind a table. They could watch
the conversation from afar.
"We got more than one kid for you your
greatness, we caught two!" said the squeaky voice of a Lenny.
The voice of the Grarrl leader Sonica
grew tense. "I wanted twelve you deaf crooks! You either learn to pay attention
or end up like them!" She pointed at the corner where Lenny bones lay charred
and in a heap. "Now go before I get angry!" The three Lennies left without a
sound, and didn't notice the Korbat silently screaming. Sonica sat in her chair,
laughing.
She said to a Lenny, "Bring me the two
kids from the sack. I want to have some fun with them."
The Lenny bowed and silently obeyed.
When he opened the bag, the last thing he saw before blacking out was a wooden
sword.
Jeran threw the limp body behind him and
said, "Who wants some?"
Sonica stared at the young one, then erupted
with laughter. "That's a good one!" she said. "Clowns, give this kid a long
time out... cold!" The six Lennies in the room all charged.
Jeran only had to lift his sword to crush
the first Lenny's face. The second he hit like it was a baseball. It collided
into the third Lenny and they both fell in a heap. The fourth went at high speeds,
and was about to hit Jeran when he ducked.
After hitting the wall, the Lenny started
to cry after she said, "My teef !" The fifth was lucky enough to cut the rope
between Jeran and JO before being batted in the air. JO went up the vent and
into hiding. The lucky sixth Lenny knocked Jeran over, causing him to drop his
sword. He fell down a seemingly empty hole. This hole was where the ClownHat's
secret weapon lurked.
"Good job, clumsy! Now he'll be in for
a wild ride!" Sonica said to the Lenny. She sat in her chair and relaxed, waiting
to hear the horrible screams from below.
Jeran found himself in a dark room with
the light making strange symbols and patterns. Suddenly Jeran heard shuffling
of dust and dirt as something moved closer. He grabbed his staff and put it
in the attack position. As soon as his staff was in the air it cracked in half
from some evil magic. Jeran put each half in both hands and waited for his combatant
to attack.
"KEREEE!"
A baby Lenny colored Shadow jumped and
attacked! Sonica had found it in a deserted cave of a dark fairy.
Jeran was lucky enough to dodge the speedy
head butt. The Lenny crashed into the wall. It was Jeran's chance to counterattack.
He started beating the Lenny with his staff pieces. The Lenny teleported inside
the darkness.
He seems to not be affected by anything I
hit it with, Jeran thought to himself, I won't last with him having the
advantage of darkness. As soon as he thought this, JO came down at a high
speed.
"Grab on!" JO shouted. Jeran snatched
JO's tail and he flew off and through the other exit in the ceiling. They were
almost outside when a giant fire blast blocked their path. Sonica sprouted out
of the hole the fire made and grabbed Jeran by the neck. She threw the Lupe
at a wall, knocking him unconscious.
"You have ruined me!!!" Sonica yelled
as she started to whip up a powerful Fire Blast that had additional power from
her rage. She fired. Yet as if it was magic, the blast was cut in two and hit
the wall on the left and right of Jeran. When the smoke cleared, Aizen the Knight
was there, in the blocking position with his sword.
At first Sonica was shocked, then she
picked up her Grarrl terror blade and Grarrl shield of terror and charged into
the death match. When Sonica swung her sword, Aizen swung his and cut it in
half. She discarded it and blocked Aizen's attack with her shield, charging
up a fire blast at the same time.
She fired and hit Aizen's armor. Aizen
wasn't hurt but he was blasted backwards. Sonica began to cackle as she created
a Fire Blast to finish the brave Eyrie off. Luckily, Aizen noticed Jeran's shield
and threw it like a speeding frisbee at Sonica's neck. It hit, causing the Grarrl
to lift her head upwards and release the blast. The ceiling above her started
to crack, and it fell. This was the end of Sonica and the ClownHat gang.
To be continued....
What awaits Jeran and his Korbat friend? Find out next
time!
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