Brucey B Chronicles

     Brucey B bent and started digging in the snow looking for lost neopoints. Every bit of land was covered in snow all year long if you lived on Terror Mountain. Brucey B had learnt people lost the strangest things in the snow, but mostly neopoints. He had made a small fortune just from digging for lost neopoints on his free afternoons.

     People walked past Brucey with strange looks, but he was used to it. He just shrugged it off and kept digging. Brucey didn't belong here, and he knew it. Even if he had lived here all his life, he felt like a Koi out of water, misplaced. He wasn't suited to the cold, even if he was a Bruce. Put simply, Brucey didn't like it here.

     After a few minutes of sifting through the snow, Brucey gave up. There wasn't anything to find today. He looked around for something to do. He heard an earsplitting roar coming from the Ice Caves, and he saw some Neopets getting some ice cream from the small Ice Cream Cart a few feet away.

     Then, he turned to the ice. In the corner, another Bruce was playing Rink Runner. It seemed like there was something special about this Bruce, because there were a lot of spectators watching. Suddenly, Brucey saw a flash of gold. Someone had dropped a whole ton of Neopoints! Brucey scrambled up from the frozen ground and started running towards the ice.

     His eyes focused only on the gold, Brucey didn't watch his step. He was gaining speed when tripped over something unexpectedly. Trying not to fall, he lost control of where he was going while he slipped dangerously through the icy surface.

     One of the Rink Runner spectators, a yellow Wocky, pointed at Brucey B and emitted a frightened gasp. "That Bruce could hurt himself!" the Wocky cried.

     More Neopets had turned to look at Brucey B, but he was too panicked to notice. The ice started to crack, leaving him little space to move, or even to stand. Brucey was scared of falling into the cold water; he wasn't a good swimmer. Before he could think of anything else, he lost his balance and his head hit the ice. His vision got blurry, and after that, if anything else happened, Brucey B didn't know.

     Brucey awoke to the sound of waves. He shivered and curled up into a ball.

     "What happened?" he thought to himself. His head was throbbing and his whole body felt frozen. Slowly, he began to realize his head was throbbing with the rhythm of the waves.

     Suddenly, he sat up straight and opened his eyes. There wasn't any water on Terror Mountain. After his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, he looked around. Brucey was shocked. He had never seen so much water. He turned in every direction, but all he could see was water! Panic seized Brucey's thoughts.

     "What happened?" he said aloud, frantically.

     He waited for a response that never came. All he could hear was the steady motion of the ocean. Quickly he realized he was on an iceberg. Brucey tried to made sense of his situation. How had he ended up there? But although many thoughts came to his mind, all they did was confuse him more.

     He was lost in the middle of the sea, on an iceberg that was drifting to who knew where! He tried not to think about wild Jetsams who would be delighted to make him the main course of their dinner.

     A big wave pushed the little iceberg farther south. The iceberg swung fiercely, so Brucey held tightly to it for support, and when he reincorporated he saw land. Far away still, but land. Brucey rubbed his eyes wondering if they were playing tricks on him.

     His eyes weren't. He could definitely make out buildings. And was it getting warmer? He was heading south, after all. However, if he was moving into hotter territory, what would happen to his iceberg? Brucey looked down and he gasped. Already his iceberg had melted to half his size! He hoped he would arrive at this mysterious location soon, or he'd be in trouble. Brucey wasn't too accustomed to swimming, after all.

     Brucey put his flipper into the water and began paddling. He was becoming frantic and his iceberg was losing size fast. He paddled faster and faster. Brucey was so intent on getting to the town that he didn't realize how far he was leaning over. Suddenly, he slipped into the water.

     He felt cold as his body made contact with the water. It was a refreshing feeling, but Brucey had more important matters in mind. He moved his flippers and feet up and down in an attempt of swimming. It was a hard work and all the movement of the sea caused by the waves made it even harder, he could barely keep up to it and stay in the surface. He was losing hope when his right foot collided with something hard. Brucey stopped his wild attempt to swim at once. He could step.

     Slowly, he made his way to solid ground. He could feel the sand at his feet, and as a matter of fact, everywhere he looked he saw were numerous sand dunes. It was also very sunny and hot. Brucey was glad he had his sunglasses with him.

     Where to go now? Brucey thought to himself. He thought he'd ask for help getting to his home-place again, or at least explore around. He could still recognize in the distance the buildings he had seen from the iceberg, so he started walking towards them.

     His feet took step after step into the sizzling sand, burning his feet with every stride. He was amazed at how hot it was here! It never reached even half the temperature in Happy Valley. Brucey was sweating buckets. He hoped he'd reach the town soon, or he would faint.

     Eventually, he reached the town. However, it seemed like no one was there. It was deserted.

     "Hello?" he shouted uncertainly. This place gave him the creeps. To the right, he saw a movement. Turning towards it, he saw a strange, unfamiliar creature walk towards him. It was tall, with a wild and unkempt red mane down its back.

     When it reached him, it said, "Hello."

     Brucey was amazed it could even speak the same language. "What are you? Who are you? Where am I?" he said quickly.

     "Easy! One question at a time. I'm Capara, a Kyrii. What are you?" she asked with a mocking smile.

     Brucey stared at the Kyrii for a moment before answering. He was still pretty confused.

     "My name's Brucey B, and I'm a Bruce," he said finally.

     "You look lost," Capara said matter-of-factly, as she examined Brucey with the same curiosity he had looked at her.

     "I am! And you haven't answered my last question. What is this place?" questioned Brucey

     "This place, my friend, is my home. Welcome to the city of Sakhmet!" Capara made a dramatic gesture with her arms. "And tell me, where are you from, that I had never seen a Neopet like you?"

     Brucey worried at the thought of his home place. He was completely lost and he knew he might not return there again. He had no way to do so. Brucey never liked Terror Mountain that much, but not having anywhere to go didn't feel right.

     The Kyrii must have seen a hint of worry or sadness on the Bruce's face, because she quickly added:

     "You know? It doesn't matter. Want me to show you around?" she offered.

     "That'd be great!" Brucey said with a smile.

     ***

     "You win again!" Capara shouted, exasperated. "I can't believe how good you've gotten at Cheat!" she told me. "We've only been playing for a few hours!"

     Brucey smiled and looked around the table. Capara had taken him to her weekly game of Cheat! where he met Princess Fernypoo, Branston, an Eyrie, and Little Timmy the Tuskaninny. He had instantly taken a liking to all of them - and their money. He had already won thousands of Neopoints and planned to win much more.

     However, Capara said they had to get going. It was dark, and she wanted to show him everything else now that the heat had subsided.

     "The city is really alive now," she told him as they left the others. "No one can bear the heat, so most just come out at night."

     As they looked out across the city, they saw the spectacular sunset. It was beautiful against the sand dunes. Brucey had already decided he was going to stay here. He loved it so much more than Terror Mountain. He fit in better here, and he wasn't always so miserable in the frigid air. He was happy here, and that was all that mattered.

     He looked down when his eye caught something glistening in the sand. Examining it further, he realized it was a coin. It was yellow on the outside, with a black circle on the inside. It had a red scarab emblazoned on it, and it had a string attached to it. Brucey picked it up and put it around his neck.

     As for the rest of the story, well... the rest is history.

The End

Authors' Note: Thanks to Tess (spiritwolf_forever) who originally came up with the idea for this story.