Once Upon A Ship

      "I'm just going down to check on the cargo," she informed Margalow, a pirate Bori, her dear friend and loyal crew member, as she made her way down to the cargo storeroom. Those Petpets were so cute she though as she made her way down the steps. There were Altalaphus, Babaas, Slorgs, Angelpusses, Floobix, Wuzzles and Baby Fireballs of all different colours. Even some Yooyus were in there! All you needed for a grand festival. Tora reached the last step and opened the door slowly, but where she was expecting to hear a chorus of welcoming twittering and barking, there was nothing. The crates were empty!

*****

      "Oh my..." Tora started, unable to express what she was really thinking. "Oh... no."

      The Poogle quickly ran up and down the cages, looking in each one. They were all empty! Every last one. Each door swung open on its hinges. She knew immediately what she had to do.

      She glanced once more at the empty crates, stacked high to the ceiling, her heart sinking in her chest, and ran to the captain's quarters to tell of the tragedy. She knocked on the door loudly. 'Tap Tap Tap.' She was breathing so hard and quickly that she barely heard the captain's voice over her sharp intake of each breath.

      "Come in." She heard the captain's low husky voice emanating from inside his cabin. She entered slowly. The captain was a tall white Gnorbu with hard chiselled features that were jagged and worn, like any true sea captain should have. Tora had heard stories of the old captain surviving horrific storms and fighting great sea creatures. How she dreamed of adventure and exciting journeys. It would be the perfect life, sailing from port to port, discovering new lands. Captain Giles had done all of that, no doubt. He was the talk of the ship, yet not one of the crew felt comfortable enough to actually talk to the captain yet. They were, if anything, a little afraid of the intimidating features of their captain. With the constant fierce expression he wore, he looked as if he would snap at any comment or question, but Tora had to swallow whatever she thought of him and whatever she wanted to know about his wondrous journeys and go ahead. He must know. This was too big for her to sort out by herself.

      "Yes?" Captain Giles asked from behind his desk. He looked like he was going over some old maps. When he saw Tora was glancing at the old tattered parchment, he quickly rolled them up and threw them in the top draw behind his desk, locking it with a small silver key as he went. He stood up so tall that his head, covered by a long mop of icy white hair, nearly hit the ceiling. "Well?" he asked again, this time more impatient. Tora gulped. Not wanting to be in the presence of the captain any longer than she needed to, she started to tell him of what had happened.

      After informing him of the situation with great difficulty, she paused at the part of when she'd locked the doors as she wasn't all too certain now that she had in fact, locked the doors. Captain Giles, who had listened intently, frowned. Tora winced. But instead of the booming of his angry uncontrollable voice that she was expecting, she heard a calm and controlled voice say:

      "Okay, follow me. There's no time to lose!" He ran out to the open deck, shouting, "All hands on deck! All hands on deck!"

      The crew rushed towards them from every direction possible. No one dared be the last one to stand to attention. When all of the crew were accounted for and standing straight in a long line, the captain addressed them all.

      "It seems that our cargo on this ship has been misfortunate enough to have been... misplaced for the moment." The crew looked at each other then at the captain, hoping that he would make the matter clearer. Was he blaming them? "This particular cargo is very important and must be hunted down as quickly as possible with as little fuss as possible."

      He looked at the blank faces in front of him and felt plain bluntness was needed here. "This cargo is the cargo of Petpets for the faerie festival," he finished to a big gasp from every crewmember. The captain split the crew up into pairs and each of the couples were sent to different parts of the ship to hunt for the missing Petpets.

      "Remember," the captain warned them. "Some of the Petpets are very rare. Be careful!"

*****

      Down below in the cargo storeroom, Tora and Margalow searched the crates for any signs of the lost Petpets. Nothing. The pink Poogle sighed. What would King Skarl think? She had failed. All she had to do was look after those Petpets, and now, well, they were gone. She was so disappointed in herself. No wonder King Skarl didn't think she was worthy of the 'important' jobs.

      Well at least one thing was sure to be a success. They were also carrying crates of magic potions that were to be used for the fireworks at the festival. But she knew the door was safely locked, and they couldn't escape. She had the key herself, securely in her jacket. The Poogle felt the bulge in her pocket where the key was still sitting, nice and snug.

      "Over here!" Margalow called from behind a food crate. Tora wasted no time in rushing over to where her partner was to see what he had found. Could it be a Slorg or Babaa? 'Please let it be so,' she thought to herself.

      As she looked down behind the crate she gasped. There, behind the crate was a small hole; it looked like something small had burnt right through the wall. Tora shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them she saw the pirate Bori she knew as Margalow staring at her with a panicked expression on his face. She knew what he was thinking.

      "The potion room's through there," Margalow said, wide eyed. "If they get to the magic crates for the fireworks display... The Wuzzles and Baby Fireballs... There are explosives in there."

*****

      Once again, Tora found herself running for the captain's help. This was becoming a regular thing. When she found the Gnorbu at the helm of the ship she told him of what she and Margalow had seen in the cargo storeroom.

      "Right," Captain Giles said, using the same calm, controlled voice as before. "We need the key. Who has the key?" he asked. Tora slapped her forehead with her pink hand. And the captain stared at the Poogle blankly, holding out his paw, one eyebrow raised. Tora passed the key over and Captain Giles galloped down to the potions storeroom, Tora and Margalow followed on his heels.

      Captain Giles slid the old rusty key into the door of the potions storeroom and slowly turned it until there was a rather loud click. It seemed loud because Tora was holding her breath so as to not scream, because that's what she felt like doing right now. How could she have been so careless? She must have left the cages unlocked. There was no other explanation. The door opened and the three Neopets came face to face with... an army of Meepits!

      "Wha?!" Tora began, but it was too late, the Meepits were watching them. One by one, they advanced on the Gnorbu, Bori and Poogle. One by one, they surrounded them. Tora heard a little laugh from Margalow, more in disbelief than in humour. She glanced back at him, which was a mistake as one chubby looking Meepit jumped up on to her shoulder.

      "Argghhh!" she shouted, trying to shake it off, but more jumped on, until fighting was hopeless. Soon all three were tied up against one of the explosive crates. Unable to do a thing, they watched the Meepits walk out of the room in single file.

      "You won't get away with this!" the captain yelled after them. The last few that left the room, laughed with high-pitched squeaky voices.

      "Erm..." Margalow said. "What just happened?"

      "I think you'll find, young Bori, that the Meepits were disguised as the cargo of Petpets, using those costumes over there," Captain Giles informed him, pointing to a pile of Babaa and Altalaphus coloured rags that had been thrown in the corner. Margalow gulped. "And now I'm guessing, they're going to take over the ship and sail us to some unknown..." Before the captain could finish, Tora could smell a trace of something in the air. She glanced around and saw that a Meepit had thrown something into the room that was giving off a terrible smell and some kind of smoke. Tora suddenly felt sleepy and her eyelids began to droop. Everything in the room started to sway back and forth as if the ship had hit a storm, then everything went dark.

*****

      Tora came to with a thumping headache. She tried to put her paw to her head but couldn't. Oh yeah, the ropes, she thought. The Meepits! She bolted upright, looking around her vigorously and desperately trying to think of something she could use to escape with. But all she could see in the dim light was Margolow to her right and Captain Giles to her left, both slumped over, still unconscious. There was nothing else to do but listen for someone who might be walking in the corridor outside.

      She strained her ears and could hear a very faint voice. A crewmember was shouting in alarm on the deck above. The Meepits must have shown themselves. Think, Tora! Think! she told herself. Her mind was blank. She nudged the pirate Bori to her right. "Wake up!" she almost shouted at him.

      He stirred and opened his eyes. "Ouch!" He winced and tried to move his arm.

      "We need to find something to get us out of here," Tora whispered loudly.

      "Erm... A knife?" Margalow suggested unhelpfully.

      Tora rolled her eyes. "Something that we actually have?" she asked.

      "Oh... Erm..." He was cut off by a familiar low voice.

      "I'll use my penknife," Captain Giles told them, announcing that he had also come to. He searched his pocket for his penknife but couldn't find it. "Those annoying Meepits must have taken it! And the key to my desk drawer as well!" While he was busy grumbling to himself, Tora saw something on the floor in front of her.

      "Help me get the storeroom key," she told the two Neopets, as she moved her foot towards the rusty old key.

      It took a long time of rubbing the old key against the rope, but eventually, it severed and they broke free. Standing up and stretching, they all searched the room for something they could use to bring this Meepit invasion to an end. Tora grabbed a crowbar and opened the large crates. Giles and Margalow followed suit and the captain threw backpacks to each of them which he had found in a cupboard.

      When their bags were full of potions Tora gathered them around and told them her plan.

*****

      Peering out at the scene on deck, Tora, Margalow and Giles all sat on the top step of the stairs. Tora had opened the door a crack and they could see through the small gap. The crew were everywhere, some trying to fend the Meepits off and others running from them. The ship was in chaos.

      "Haha!" shouted a Meepit with a big chain around his neck spelling the name 'Plop'. He seemed to be in charge of the rest. He was standing behind the wheel at the helm of the ship, obviously too short to reach it, as he was perched on a few large crates that had been pushed to the base of the wheel. He was clutching what appeared to be a tatty piece of parchment in one paw.

      "Uh oh." Tora heard the captain's voice behind her. "That's one of my maps... And I can guess which one."

      Tora eyed him but he wasn't giving anything away. "Why would that be, 'uh oh'?" she asked in the end.

      "Lets just say there's a place on one of those maps that normal maps don't have. And it's not a good place for Meepits, or anyone for that matter, to be finding," was all he was going to reveal.

      Tora looked back at the Meepit named Plop.

      "The plan is working!" Plop said, watching the grown crewmembers cry like babies and laughing as some Meepits passed, scaring a particularly rough looking robot Grundo off the ship into the salty water below.

      "Soon, it will be time." He smirked, his squeaky voice shrill enough to be heard all throughout the ship.

      "Not if I can help it," Tora mumbled under her breath as she grabbed one of the potions from her backpack.

*****

      "Follow me," Tora told her two partners as she slipped up onto the deck, the backpack tightly strapped around her shoulders. Giles and Margalow did as the Poogle said, separating at different points in their attempt to surround the Meepits. Luckily the Meepits didn't see them as the chaos on the ship was too great.

      When they got to their positions, they waited. Giles looked at Margalow from halfway up the main mast, Margalow looked at Tora from the poop deck, and Tora looked at the leader Meepit 'Plop' from behind him at the helm. She put her paw in the air so that the others could see, and pulled it down sharp, smashing the bottle of potion that she had been holding to the floor by her feet.

      A thick smog filled the air around where the head Meepit stood.

      "Wha?!" shouted the Meepit. He couldn't see a thing as Tora grabbed him and shoved him into a small crate, sealing it shut behind him. There was one hole for air, but that was it.

      "Let me out! You evil Neopet! Whom do you think you're playing with?!" came a squeak from inside the box.

      Upon the signal, Margalow and Giles had also thrown their bottles down, sending sparks flying and smoke covering the whole ship. They had gotten hold of a Meepit each, throwing them into their own crates and sealing them shut. Fireworks of every colour imaginable were shooting left right and centre, zooming high into the air, lighting up the sea around them. The noise was incredible. Whizzes, sizzles, crackles and bangs could be heard from miles around.

      Now it was the Meepits' turn to panic. Meepits scurried around everywhere, as fast as their little legs would carry them. It was a funny sight but they were fast little things. Tora had thought of this. She needed everyone's cooperation and she was sure they could do it.

      "Everyone, listen up!" she bellowed to the crew like an Elephante's trumpet. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards her. "We need to get these pesky Meepits rounded up! Grab a box and grab a Meepit!" The order was heard by everyone and soon the crew were busy closing in on each and every one of the Meepits.

      Captain Giles and Margalow cornered the last Meepit. It looked hopeless and helpless, and more or less walked into the box before being sealed up. Captain Giles said thank you to Margalow and then turned to face Tora.

      "Well done, Tora. You have shown great courage and intelligence today. If it hadn't been for your quick thinking and bravery, I don't know whether this crew would have made it through." He held out a paw and shook her hand.

      "Thanks." Tora blushed. "I'm just glad no one got hurt. What happened to Talu?" she asked as a rather soggy looking Robot Grundo staggered onto the deck after climbing back up from the life boats. "Never mind." She laughed.

      With that, Margalow started a cheer. "Hip, hip, hooray!" The crew picked Tora up and held her high, celebrating. Tora went the colour of magenta but was happy. She cheered with the rest of them.

      After everyone had put her down, Tora smiled and took control of the ship at the helm, on their way back to Mystery Island. She had done it! She had saved the ship in a crisis, well with the help of the captain and Margalow, albeit with no special Petpets for the festival, and only a few firework potions left, but everyone was in one piece. As she steered the ship into the dock at Mystery Island she glanced at the floor and saw a piece of parchment. It was the map that Plop the Meepit had been holding. As she picked it up, something in the centre of the map caught her eye. "No, it couldn't be..." she said to herself with a sly grin, "No wonder captain Giles was so secretive..."

      She quickly pushed the map into her inside pocket and headed down to the faeries that were waiting. After all was explained, the Meepits were safely taken away and more Petpets and potions sent for, Tora and Margalow walked down to the rock pool.

      "Fancy an adventure after the festival?" Tora asked her friend after a while of silence. He shrugged, glancing at her.

      "What could possibly be more of an adventure than today?" he asked laughing.

      She pulled out the map for him to see, and he gasped.

      There, in the centre of the map was an Island, an Island with swirly lettering scrawled above it in hand writing. The letters were, 'J.W'...

The End