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A beautiful island Kougra runs through the haunted woods
as fast as she can. She dodges large trees, and then darts to the left. Still
running, she looks back to see if her attacker is coming closer. -CRUNCH-
She runs into a tree with her left side and loses balance, tumbling down the side
of a hill and falling into a large area with tall dead grass. She lands on her
side, breathing hard. "Keira," says a spooky voice from above her, "Why do you
run from me?" She looked up, to see before her was -
Keira the island Kougress opened her eyes. Standing
above her was Darren, the Darigan Eyrie, "Geez, you would think that you were
about to have a heart attack with that heavy breathin'. Seems like you had walked
from camp last night and slept here." Keira yawns and stretches while getting
up. "Just a bad dream," she said.
"Again?" asked Darren. Keira gave no reply. Instead
her attention was on the scar on her left arm.
"When did I get this?" she mumbled.
Darren took a look. "Looks like... bark from
a tree?"
Keira noticed slight pain in her left side also,
could she really have been in the haunted woods? A handsome battle ready red
Zafara sits under a palm tree overlooking the beach. He relaxes as the morning
sun warms him. Keira and Darren come walking into the camp. "Morning Nick,"
said Keira. The Zafara turns his head toward camp and dips his head in greeting,
"Anything new? What's that?" Nick was looking at the scar on Keira.
"Oh that -- that's nothing. Can we go to the
market place and get something for it? It stings a bit." They packed up camp
and headed for Darren's apartment and the local market place.
Nick sat on a bench under a short, big leafed
palm tree awaiting Keira and Darren. Darren went to drop off the camping supplies
at his apartment. He showed up moments later as the marketplace began to fill.
Keira walked to where they were sitting a few minutes after Darren had arrived
with a bandage around her left arm. "Hey guys! Have you seen that new Darigan
Kougra look?" said Keira happily.
They started talking and laughing like best
friends would. Nick stands up and starts working on his battle moves with his
rugged Zafara short sword, "I bet this can take down someone like Lord Darigan
easily!"
"Yeah right Nick, like that thing could take
down an evil crazed king," said Darren laughing. Nick gave him a cold look.
A blue Uni passes by right in front of them
talking to her friend (another Uni) loudly, "…No, I'm going to Jellyworld in
an hour."
"Ha! Jellyworld? Do you really believe that?"
"Of course! Honestly, do you think I'm crazy?"
"What do you guys think about Jellyworld? It
says in The Neopian Times that it's just a myth," said Keira. Nick twirls his
sword around and tucks it safely into its leather pocket, "I think it's true.
What do you say we find this Jellyworld and prove the NeoPets Team wrong?" The
group agrees and plans for their journey to start tomorrow morning. After a
long day at the beach and running around in the jungles, they decided to walk
through town and see if anyone knows where they can find Jellyworld.
No luck, yet. "Hey wait a sec, he might know
something," said Darren, looking toward an old island native sitting outside
his store. He appeared to be making a beaded necklace of some sort.
Nick walks to the native and asks, "Excuse me,
but do you happen to know directions to Jellyworld, sir?" The island native
looked up at Nick as if he could tell everything about him right then and there,
just by looking into his eyes.
"Ah... yes. In fact, I do. I know of this Smellyworld
you speak. I will tell you the legend... roughly two years ago I have heard
of this. There was a generous royal family that lived on the 'other side of
Neopia', an extended part of Mystery Island some say. Something very big had
happened there and the land became smelly."
"I don't want to know what that 'big' thing
was," said Darren jokingly. Keira giggles while Nick tried to hold back a laugh.
The native didn't understand the joke, but went
on, "Go to Techo Mountain. There are passages inside. One, and only one leads
to the great Smellyworld." He then began a poem; "It is blocked at day and open
at night. Through the mist you will see such a sight. Open your eyes, so you
can see. See that it is behind a tree."
"Yeah. Thanks," Darren said then walked away
with his group.
Keira said, "Do you think it's true? Smellyworld,
that is?"
" 'Course not," said Nick. "Maybe if we find
Smellyworld we can find Jellyworld. The poor guy has it all messed up."
* * *
Early morning the next day, they were ready to go. They grabbed their bags
from their apartment and left for Techo Mountain. Finding Techo Mountain was
rather easy, as it was a popular tourist attraction. The hard part was climbing
it! Darren helped his friends up with a few stops on the way.
Finally, they made it up to the top of the Techo
head and decided to stop and gather their energy. Darren took his backpack and
started digging around for food. He found one ummagine and held it up to check
for damages. The wind blew strongly just then and Darren lost grip, "Oh, man!"
The ummagine fell off the side of the mountain and he went after it.
He caught the fruit just before it hit a rock
near the bottom. He began flying up while eating. -SMACK- He had hit
his head on some bamboo covering something and he once again lost grip of the
fruit. This time, it had smashed on a rock. Darren on the other hand, was more
interested in what he had hit. He noticed it was the bottom of the Techo's nose
and out of curiosity, started to climb into one of the nostrils.
"Hey, there are caves in here," said Darren
to himself. He climbed out and flew up to meet his pals on the top of the Techo
head. Nick was searching for the passage entrance and Keira was at the edge
enjoying the view. Darren said, "Hey guys, I think I found the entrance." Nick
and Keira followed Darren down to the Techo's nostril with the excitement of
finding Jellyworld.
"Up in here," said Darren, clinging on to the
side of a rock. Nick climbed in.
"HEY! I am NOT going in there! Don't you see
those green plants...?!" Keira said disgusted.
Darren shoved Keira in before climbing in himself.
Once inside, they were shocked to find so many trails to go with. By sunset
they were searching hopelessly for the right way to go. Most of the halls led
to rooms filled with fruits, Gadsgadsbogen accessories, and such. "So, only
one leads to the place we are looking for," said Nick. They had stopped to rest
and eat in a circular like area.
"It is blocked at day and open at night. Through
the mist you will see such a sight. Open your eyes, so you can see. See that
it is behind a tree," mumbled Nick. "What could this mean? A tree leaf covering
a door? Hmm..."
He began to look around for some sign of anything.
He spotted Keira, whom was fast asleep. "Probably in a dream again," he said
quietly to Darren, who was also looking at her.
Keira knew this was a dream. It had to be. Or
could it not be? If felt so real… she could feel the dirt in between her paws.
It started where it left off, in the tall dead grass of the Haunted Woods. The
only difference was she had a bandage wrapped around her left arm. She didn't
even look up this time, but stayed low, while searching for a safer area. He
was after her, an evil person she was so, so afraid of. Keira decided to make
a run for it.
She sped through the grass, into the forest,
and into another tall grass filled meadow. She stopped, trying to focus her
ears on any sound. Nothing but the dead grass swaying in the wind. She looked
around. In the forest, a greyish shadow seemed to be running through the trees
towards her. Then disappeared.
She thought this was just her mind playing games
on her. "Keira?" said a soft soothing voice. Could it be her mother? She had
lost her parents a while back but has no memory of them. Yet this voice seemed
so familiar.
Ears perked up, Keira peered above the grass.
"Mom?" Before she even had time to think, a dark grey shadow of what looked
like a Faerie, rapidly jumped at her making a screeching noise and everything
went dark.
To be continued…
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