Elizia and the Krawk Island Boat Race

      Elizia was stunned. After all this time, all this worrying, here, on the day of the boat race, was what she had been looking for. The Weewoo came up and snuggled its head into her chin. “I think I’ll call you Ace,” she declared, and began affectionately stroking the back of the petpet’s neck.

      Elizia and Ace became quick friends. As she walked to the inn that day the bird sat perched on her shoulder, occasionally gently pecking at her ear. It would follow this gesture by rubbing its head against hers. She quickly grew fond of the bird. As she walked to the tavern, a familiar voice sounded from behind her. “Wait up!”

      Elizia smiled. “Hello Gable.” As always, Negg sat perched on his shoulder.

      “Let’s walk together,” Gable said.

     Elizia spent the rest of the walk thanking Gable for the Weewoo. Gable shrugged it off, saying that’s simply something friends are for. As she entered the inn with Gable, Ace and Negg, Elizia saw Barney sitting alone by the empty fireplace with a cup of Borovan. He shook his head. “Not today, Elizia. You can have the morning off. We will be closed anyway, due to the boat race.

      “I’m so excited!” Indeed, Gable was shaking with joy. The two Petpets began shaking and dancing too.

      “Really Gable, I can’t thank you enough for this.”

      “Hehe, we shall see! After all, he’s had no experience with racing before!” This was true, but if its energy was any indication of how it would row, the Weewoo would prove an invaluable friend in the race.

      There was a silence, before Elizia spoke her mind. “Gable, you know we will be competing against each other, right?”

      “I try not to think of it that way. I prefer to see it as we both want to win, friends with the same goal. Of course, there can only be one winner!” He leaned in, grinning. “And I don’t plan on going easy on you.”

      Elizia returned his grin. “Me neither!”

      “Children!” Barney interrupted. “Children, please. You don’t have to worry about one another. You have to worry about everyone else! Remember, everyone out there wants to win. And most of them will resort to dishonesty and cheating to get what they want!”

      “Wonder if that orange Krawk from yesterday is going to compete,” Elizia mused.

      “Bah! Forget about him! Even if he does, he’ll be no match against us!”

      “Orange Krawk?” Barney looked unhappy. “Captain Krockins was also an orange Krawk… I’d watch that boy if I was you…”

      It was a beautiful and sunny afternoon, without a cloud in the blue sky. The sea appeared calm. And the docks were bustling with competitors and observers alike. All along the shoreline stands were set up with spectators. And lining the docks were countless ships, of all different sizes.

      Gable and Elizia had had their ships docked on different piers. “I’ll see you on the seas,” Gable grinned. The two shook hands, and he was off.

      The pier was almost overflowing with pets from all over the world. A tough-looking Skeith glared at Elizia as she passed. A one-eyed Scorchio grinned ear-to-ear as Elizia passed. He had obviously had some experience in the life of a pirate… “You just need to keep your wits about you,” Barney said as the two navigated their way through the crowd. Elizia’s ship was at the very end of the dock. It was also the smallest ship, she noticed. Ace sat on her shoulder shaking, and burying his head into her shoulder. Clearly he was not a fan of large crowds.

      Elizia stroked the bird’s feathers. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m here.” Elizia’s jaw dropped as they reached the end of the pier. “No way, she gasped.” Standing there, by the boat next to hers, was the Orange Krawk. And he wasn’t alone. Standing next to him, taller than everyone else in sight, was another Krawk.

      “Krockins!” Barney hissed.

      Krockins turned to face them, a smug look on his face. “Ah, Barney. How long has it been, old chap? I haven’t seen you since… your first boat race! Your first and last boat race, I should say.”

      The younger Krawk began giggling, eyes narrow, cruelty in his eyes. “This is the one I was telling you about, father.”

      Krockins looked down at the young Cybunny. “So you’re competing this year, are you? I wouldn’t get my hopes up, this is my son’s fifth competition. And he doesn’t plan on losing his five-win streak!”

      “Let me guess,” Barney said angrily, “that you’ve done everything to ensure your son will come out of this victorious?”

      “Come on, Barney old chap, you can’t mean to suggest I would tamper with an honest competition like this, can you? No, I haven’t done anything myself. My son does not need me to do all these things for him.”

      Elizia looked at the boat parked next to hers. The wood was polished and shiny, almost golden. It was a very well-made boat. Onboard sat… another Krawk! But this one was a Petpet, coloured yellow. Krockin’s son noticed her stare, and walked up to her. “Yes, impressive, isn’t he? Against two Krawks, you will stand no chance of winning!”

      Elizia glared at the boy. “May I ask your name, son of Krockins?”

      “Why? You shall know it once I am announced as the first-place winner!”

      “Well that’s the thing, actually. I fear I won’t know it that way, which is why I am asking now. Because it will be ME who gets first place!”

      “You’ll just have to wait, haha!”

      “Jimmy!” Krockins called his son, who appeared very annoyed at the use of his name. Elizia smiled. It was a small victory.

      “See you at the finish line, Jimmy!”

      Jimmy scowled. “You won’t even make it to the finish line in THAT!” He joined his father. Elizia couldn’t help but feel he had a point. Looking at her ship now, was it really going to be able to win? Barney had insisted it would do its part of the job, and she needed to do hers. It was too late for doubts.

      Barney lumbered over. “That Krockins is still a boastful little sea slug! But we’ll show him!” He patted Elizia on the back, and whispered in her ear. “Remember, keep aware of your surroundings. It is inevitable someone will try and hinder your progress, so don’t let that happen…”

      Elizia stepped into the boat with Ace. The Weewoo jumped down, and headed towards the smaller pair of paddles at the back, eager to do his part. The planks of the ship creaked with every movement, but the thing appeared to be holding together well enough. Looking around, she could see all the other opponents entering their boats. There were too many to single-out Gable. She noticed many of the opponents were flying flags above their boats. After all, this was a competition that attracted all kinds of swashbucklers and pirates. All sorts of different varieties of Petpets were also flooding into the boats. Some boats had a sea-bound Petpet at the helm, harnessed to the ships to help pull them. But many also had a Petpet to use as an extra pair of hands to row. Elizia put on her life jacket, put one on Ace, and waited…

      It felt like she was sitting there for a long time. The sea breeze whipped past, chilling her to the bone. Suddenly, now that she had to paddle around it, Krawk Island appeared a lot bigger than she had ever thought it to be. She looked amongst the countless spectators, but couldn’t see Barney anywhere. No doubt he was among them somewhere.

      Everyone was now in their boats. The ropes were undone, and they all paddled towards the starting line. Elizia found that at times the paddling was tough. Though it looked calm, the waves were tougher to navigate than they first appeared. It seemed this was less of a problem for those with a Petpet at the helm to pull the ship. However, they couldn’t paddle as fast.

      She sat there at the starting line, bobbing up and down, for what felt like forever. She looked around her. The line of ships spread out to the end of her line of sight, on both sides. This truly was a massive event. She saw no Gable. No Jimmy. She looked at Ace. “Just you and me now, partner! Let’s win this tournament and go explore the world!”

      A horn sounded. This meant to get ready. The umpire, a Lenny in pirate attire, had sailed out in what could only be described as a floating hot tub. “Now I want a nice, clean competition!” He yelled. Many participants laughed. It looked to Elizia like the umpire was laughing too. Perhaps cheating had just become part of the rules over the years… The umpire continued. “The tides are rougher than usual on the other side of the island today, just past a large coral reef! Do be careful, or you will be knocked off course.” He eyed Elizia’s boat. “Some of you might even find your boats breaking up beneath you…”

      A few minutes later and the umpire had finished giving the warning to all in the enormous line. A drumbeat was coming from the island, meaning that the cannonball to start would be going off at any moment. Elizia leaned forward, feeling more nervous than ever. “I can do this,” she told herself, tightly gripping the paddles. Ace chirped in agreement.

      The sound of the cannonball erupted. The race had begun.

To be continued…