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Seris stared out his window, watching bikes go past. His
owner had grounded him for "worrying him sick" so he was stuck up in his room
for the next week. Still, Seris had found himself drawing Tanucha and Mr. McFluffkins.
He couldn't keep it out of his mind ever since that day when he went to the underwater
world. He longed to see them again. At night, he wrote stories of what could have
happened if the monster didn't destroy Tanucha and if he lived there forever.
It would have been great. Even though he did these things, he knew it would never
come back.
He was now stuck in his own room, drawing a
picture of the monster. Its' scaly skin and drool were sickening. Seris grabbed
a green crayon and started to color his picture in. After he was finished, he
wrote his signature. Seris was actually a good artist. The Draik enjoyed coloring
and drawing. He had started drawing pictures of himself a few years ago. That
was when he was a Green Draik. When his owner bought the Fire paintbrush and
painted him, he knew he would never be able to draw himself. It was too complicated
for his standards.
The doorbell rang and Seris dropped his pencil.
He ran out of his room and beat his owner to the door. His owner scowled and
pushed him aside opening the door. Outside stood a small Shoyru, green in color,
and rather short for a Shoyrus standard.
Seris gasped. "Mr. McFluffkins!" he exclaimed.
"How did you find me?"
Seris' owner stared at him. "You know this stranger?"
The Draik nodded. "Of course. He's the mayor
of Tanucha." Seris saw the puzzled look on his owner's face. "You know, the
place I've been talking about for a week now?"
His owner scowled. "You were making that place
up," he said and turned back to the Shoyru. "Please, why are you here?"
Mr. McFluffkins said, "I am here to talk to
Seris if you don't mind." He walked inside, laying his hat on the coffee table.
"Now, Seris, where is your room?"
Seris pointed to it and Mr. McFluffkins followed.
The owner stood there is disbelief, unable to utter a word.
Seris closed the door to his room once Mr. McFluffkins
was in. The Shoyru sat at the oak desk and Seris took a seat on his blue bed.
"What do you want to tell me, Mr. McFluffkins?"
Seris asked, shifting his position on the bed.
The Shoyru cleared his voice. "We have rebuilt
Tanucha. This time sturdier so no one can break it down. We want you to come
live with us in peace and harmony."
Seris stared at him. This couldn't be happening.
Tanucha had been rebuilt in just a week. It was impossible! A city of that size
couldn't be put up that quickly. "Are you sure it is totally safe?" Seris asked.
"Without a doubt," Mr. McFluffkins said and
smiled. "Would you come along to live there?"
Seris thought for a moment. It meant leaving
all his family and friends. And Ray'tur. "Yes, but can I bring someone?"
Mr. McFluffkins beamed. "Of course you can!
Everybody is welcome!" He then got up out of the chair. "It's in the same location,
only a bit to the right. I hope to see you there!"
Mr. McFluffkins left the room and his owner
came in. "What… who… where…?" He was speechless.
Seris waved. "Goodbye," he said. "I'm going…"
Then, with his owner still standing at the door, Seris packed his few needed
possessions. He grabbed his sleeping Pawkeet, his pillow, his notebook, and
a few pens and pencils. Then, he grabbed a gray backpack and put everything
but the Pawkeet inside it. Seris set the Pawkeet on his shoulder and zipped
up his backpack. His owner was still standing there as Seris brushed past and
him headed out to door.
***
After much arguing, Ray'tur was also on her way, Seris by her side. It wasn't
as if she really wanted to go, but her best friend forced her into it. So, there
they were. Both heading for the same place: Kiko Lake. Then, they'd take a journey
through the water to a domed building underwater called Tanucha. Inside were
buildings, homes, offices, and of course Neopets. And this is exactly what they
did.
When the pair arrived in Tanucha, Mr. McFluffkins
was there to greet them. It didn't look much different then last time. Seris
did notice a few differences. Instead of the yellow cobblestone, the streets
were lined with black pavement. The signs were removed from the ground and the
statue that used to lie on top of Town Hall was now in the middle of the city.
The Town Hall was in the exact same place and looked exactly the same. The marble
exterior was fascinating.
Ray'tur had a hard time taking this all in.
The Poogle had never seen such an amazing place. She had never seen any of the
people or any of the buildings. So she was staring around at everything, taking
it all in. The Blue Poogle almost fainted when her eyes caught the Town Hall.
"Wow…" she muttered and continued staring around.
Seris and Ray'tur followed Mr. McFluffkins into
the Town Hall. It was exactly how Seris remembered it. Red carpets, vases and
portraits lined the halls. The only thing that was different was there was no
one except them there. Mr. McFluffkins showed them down a series of hallways.
Seris and Ray'tur passed paintings of Jhudora and other faeries. Soon, they
all came up to the mayors' office. Both walked inside. The terrarium was still
to the right of Seris, filling the whole wall. A bunch of filing cabinets were
to the right and two desks and three chairs in front of them both.
Ray'tur and Seris took a seat at the two chairs,
their feet dragging across the plush blue carpet. Ray'tur wasn't as much in
awe as she was when the Poogle arrived.
"Let us get right to the business," Mr. McFluffkins
said, shuffling through a stack of papers on his desk. "You, Seris, are the
new mayor of Tanucha as I will be stepping down from my position to be a citizen.
Ray'tur, you are the vice."
Seris looked up. "What?" he exclaimed. "I can't!"
The Shoyru smiled. "Of course you can."
Seris stood up, in shock. "No, I can't take
it. I won't… I came down here to be a citizen, not the mayor."
Ray'tur looked up from the floor, which she
was rubbing her noise again. She gave him puppy eyes. "I'm fine with it," she
said and went back to sniffing the rug.
Seris sighed. Whenever Ray'tur gave him those
eyes, he couldn't decline. "Fine, I'll do it," he said and turned to his friend.
"Come on, let's get busy."
Mr. McFluffkins said goodbye and left the room,
shutting the doors.
Seris turned back to Ray'tur, who was sitting
at the smaller desk to the left. "Well, now that you go us into this we must
do everything." Seris breathed deeply and sat down at his new desk, looking
at a piece of paperwork. Never before had Seris worked this hard.
After a few hours, Mr. McFluffkins came back
in, beaming. "You did a great job. Go away now! Back where you came from!" He
started to shoo the two of the out.
Seris refused to leave. "No!" he said, stopping
at the door and digging his feet into the carpet. "You said we were mayor and
vice and that is what we'll stay!" Seris was suspicious about what the former
mayor was doing.
The Shoyru chuckled and then his smile turned
into a stern face. "Too bad. I changed my mind. Go back above ground where you
came from!" He then shoved the two out of the room, pushing them onto the floor.
Seris got up, brushing himself off. He helped
Ray'tur up and they both quietly walked towards the door to listen in.
For a while, there was no noise at all. Just
as the two were about to give up, they heard talking. "Please, remove him. Tanucha
is mine and the little Fluffkins can kiss his town goodbye!" Following that
was a laugh.
The two removed their ears from the doors. Each
then slowly walked down the corridor heading to the main hall.
"Wow, who would have thought?" Ray'tur said.
"Can we go home now?"
Seris scowled. "You can, but I'm staying to
help my friend!" The Draik felt brave and excited to be on an adventure.
Ray'tur started walking the other way out the
Town Hall doors. "Your choice," she said. "I hope to see you back!"
Seris didn't watch her leave, but instead turned
around and charged back to Mr. McFluffkins office. He knocked at the door but
no one answered. He knocked again. Still no answer. Seris started to ram his
body into the door.
He fell in as the door opened and the Shoyru
stepped out. "Why are you here again?" he scowled. "Maybe I should terminate
you, too. And your little Poogle friend."
"No!" Seris exclaimed. "Ray'tur didn't do anything
to you and nor did I! And I'd like to know why you are holding Mr. McFluffkins
prisoner?"
The Shoyru laughed. Not a laugh the real Mr.
McFluffkins would do. It was a could evil laugh like Dr. Sloth would do. "That
is for me to know and you not to go meddling with. It is none of your business
so I would get your tail out of my affairs. You understand?"
Seris gulped. He had never felt threatened by
anyone before. This time was different. The Shoyru was in his face and his breath
in his face. "I-I understand," Seris stuttered.
The Shoyru then backed off and returned to Mr.
McFluffkins desk. "Now, shoo!" He said, waving his hands.
Seris started to walk out then turned around.
"What was your name again?"
The Shoyru put his feet on the desk. "I never
gave it," he chuckled. "Scram!"
Seris ran out of the room, slamming the door.
He rushed out of the Town Hall and down the marble steps. Where could Mr. McFluffkins
be? There weren't that many places to hide in Tanucha. He quickly decided he
needed to tell the townspeople. It was a no-brainer.
The Draik looked around for a place to stand.
He decided to do something to get everyone's attention. He jogged over to the
statue and started to climb it. Behind him he heard gasps and screams. Seris
looked up. It was bigger than he thought. He climbed up the silver statue, grabbing
onto the marble sword and swinging himself up to the Lupes' head. He had gotten
everyone's attention. Now it was time to tell them.
Seris cleared his throat and started to yell.
"Please! Listen to me!" he screamed as he saw people turning away and muttering.
"Mr. McFluffkins has been taken prisoner and a Shoyru is faking to be him. He's
going to turn this town into dust if we don't stop him! Please, tell me, do
you have any idea where Mr. McFluffkins could be?"
A red Grarrl came out of the crowd. He had a
blue suit on and a briefcase in his hand. He had small glasses trying to cover
his bulging eyes. "He may be under Town Hall. There has been a chamber down
there forever and it was useless. Maybe the mayor is in there."
Seris started down the statue. When down, he
went up to the Grarrl. "Do you know where this place is?"
He nodded and dropped his briefcase. "Let's
go!"
Seris jumped in front of the crowd. "Wait! How
are we going to do it? Just barge in there and have his minions kill us or do
we actually make a plan." Seris thought for a moment. "Two people should go
in and get Mr. McFluffkins. I say the Grarrl that knows where it is and one
person. I will be outside with an army of you to attack if anyone comes out
and tries to… well… kill us. Do you think it would work?"
The people cheered.
Seris looked around the crowd. He tried to find
someone small. He pointed to a fairly short Zafara. "You!" he yelled. "Come
here!"
The short Faerie Zafara stumbled over. "What?"
Seris looked at the wings. They may be a problem,
but he was going to risk it. "Could you go in?"
The Zafara nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Let us
get him back."
Seris smiled. His plan was turning out well
so far. He hoped there were no difficulties later on.
The two pets slowly walked up the stairs, making
almost no noise. They then opened the doors and walked in.
Seris had an "army" of about a hundred people
at the foot of the stairs. They were carrying anything they could find. Some
had bats, some had gravel, some shovels, and then even more inventive weapons.
Seris was holding a bat that he had borrowed from a house. Everyone was tense.
They had no idea what was to happen.
The doors opened. Two green Shoyrus were standing
there, both almost identical. Then, the Grarrl and Zafara came out. They pointed
to one of them, making a slicing motion across their throats.
Seris started to walk up the stairs, bat in
hand. He got in the impostor's face. "You never come back here again," he breathed
heavily. "Now go."
The Shoyru ran off down the side of the stairs,
through the people and out of Tanucha. He was too scared to ever come back.
Seris turned back to the two. "Thank you," he
said. "But I have a question. Where are his bodyguards or minions?"
"It's stupid, but he had none," the Grarrl said.
"Or they all ran away after they locked Mr. McFluffkins up."
The Zafara nodded.
Mr. McFluffkins came forward, crying. "Thank
you, Seris," he said. Then, he stopped crying and smiled at the Draik. "May
I have my job back?"
"Of course," Seris said, smiling. "I never wanted
it anyway. Now, I know I said I was going to stay, but I have thought about
it and I must go back to my family and friends. I hope you are well and have
a great time." Seris then walked away, through the mob of pets.
As he got into the water, he saw inside the
dome. Everyone was waving goodbye. He smiled and started his way up to the sands
of Kiko Lake. There was no going back.
When Seris got to land, Ray'tur was waiting.
She was smiling. "How did it go?"
Seris sighed. "Let's go home. I don't want to
talk about it. I never want to see that place again." A tear rolled down his
cheek as the two walked back to Neopia Central.
The End
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