The Treasure of Smuggler's Cove:Part Four

     Clyf planted his feet on the soft, white sand of Smuggler’s Cove Island for the first time. The sand was free of footprints, and any other sign of visitors. Nobody had been here for a very, very long time. The island was lush and green, filled with thriving trees and flowers. The sky overhead was clear and blue, not a cloud in the sky. A gentle breeze rustled the trees.

     The crewmates were hollering and hooting with excitement, playfully punching each other’s shoulders. They had made it. It had been a turbulent and trying journey, but they made it.

     After the Chasm Beast’s attack, Sammy and the rest of the crew had reevaluated the damage, trying to figure out if the ship could still make it the rest of the journey. Sammy decided all the ship needed was a few holes patched up and some tears in the sail mended. The damage was not as bad as they initially thought. Lilla surprised everybody by taking on this role; none of them had any clue she could do domestic work like that. “Don’t get used to it,” she had said, needle in hand.

     “Guys, here it is!” Blitz yelled. He eagerly flew towards a cave, his wings buzzing with excitement.

     Smuggler’s Cove. The cave looked rather small – its opening was only about seven feet high and five feet wide, and the inside did not look very deep. It was dark inside. Along the entrance, Clyf saw what used to be torches, probably for seeing inside. They looked like they had not been used in a very, very long time.

     Clyf and the rest of the crew ran after Blitz. For a moment, Clyf stared at the entrance of the cave, letting this feeling of euphoria rush over him. He imagined all the treasures and gold and jewels that would be inside, waiting for him. They could retire and never have to pull off any heists ever again. After some brief fantasizing of what he would do with his share of the treasure, he dove right in, too.

     Once he entered the cave, Clyf expected his comrades to be yelling in joy and happiness. But everybody was standing still, looking around in confusion. He could see why. This cave was not what he expected.

     The save was lined with shelves. The shelves were filled with various oddities. There was a plushie of a red Bruce that was wearing a striped purple shirt and had a golden hook for a hand. There was a bottled of sand shaped like a star filled with purple and gold sand. There was a large collection of peas in the corner that seemed like they somehow hadn’t gone bad. An hourglass. Some weird chucks that were shaped life mushrooms.

     It looked like…Junk. Just a bunch of junk. Smuggler’s Cove, every pirate’s dream destination, the place that was supposed to be the answer to all Clyf’s problems, was nothing more than some junk. Useless junk. How could this be happening?

     “Ew, is this a rotten Negg?” Clyf heard Lilla say. “That’s disgusting!” she flung it back to the ground. Indeed, the Negg was completely rotten, and emitted a foul smell.

     “Ew, this is even worse,” Blitz complained. He was holding a bag that seemed to be overflowing with sludge. The bag was marked as if it was a special weapon, but it didn’t appear that way to Clyf.

     “This is literally just jelly with a striped bandanna on it,” Kenny complained, holding up the strange jelly. In his other hand he held a plain coconut. There appeared to be nothing special about it at all.

     “Hey Clyf, this would like kind of cool on you, try it on,” Skippy said, handing him a rose gold dubloon amulet. It was marked differently than most dubloons, with a different type of skull and crossbones on it. Clyf was so dumbstruck by his surroundings that he put the necklace around his neck without realizing what he was doing.

     “Guys. What in the world?” Clyf said out loud. “What is all this junk? Where’s the treasure?” Clyf was too shocked to even feel disappointed or angry. He felt…Nothing. Nothing but pure disbelief. How could the incredible Smuggler’s Cove be such a letdown?

     “I don’t know, this is kind of cool,” Kenny said, holding up a strange, green and blue ray gun. Clyf had seen something like it before; it was rumored to belong to the Alien Aisha. He had no idea it had ended up here. “It reminds me of some of the ray guns back from Virtupets.”

     “I don’t want ray guns, I wanted treasure!” Lilla snapped suddenly. She was fuming. Kenny took a step back, holding the ray gun protectively against his chest. He wouldn’t put it past her to throw the ray gun into the ocean in anger. She had a terrible temper.

     “Where are all the jewels? Where is the gold? Where is ANY OF IT?” She picked up a random cabbage sitting on a shelf and threw it against the wall. Clyf thought that was a little mean; the cabbage didn’t do anything wrong.

     Clyf was indifferent to her outburst, and the rest of the crew looked away uncomfortably as Lilla raged. A glass jar in the corner with a small piece of rolled up paper caught Clyf’s attention. It looked similar to the paper used on the map itself. Without saying anything to anybody, he went towards it.

     Carefully, Clyf took the paper out of the jar. The paper was thin and fragile from years of wear and tear. On it was a note, written in elegant script. The black ink had faded, but he could still just barely make it out.

     You’ve made it! Congratulations. We knew that our sirens and the Chasm Beast would not make your journey easy. We also know that you might be a little disappointed by what you see in here. We don’t expect everybody to understand why we wanted to keep these items safe, and why we never told anybody about them. All we will say is that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and things aren’t always what they appear to be. If you’re upset that you aren’t seeing what you expected to see, take a moment to try and realize that you’re already the richest Neopets in Neopia because you have each other, and because you all have made an incredible journey together. Consider that realization the true treasure of The Smuggler’s Cove.

     - The Smugglers

     Lilla had calmed down, but not before breaking a few more random items in front of the cowering crew. She walked over to Clyf. “What are you looking at?” she demanded. Wordlessly, Clyf handed Lilla the poem. She yanked it from his grasp scanned it quickly, and then pulled a face, handing it to Skippy and the others to read.

     “So it was all for nothing?” Lilla growled. Anger was clouding her judgment.

     “Not at all! “Sammy protested. That surprised everybody; he didn’t usually oppose anything or speak up in such a way. “Don’t you get it? It was never about the treasure. It’s about what we can get through together, as a team.”

     “Not all treasure is silver and gold,” Blitz said. They looked at him. “I mean, it’s true,” he said, feeling a bit defensive. “Before I met you guys, I had nobody. I had no friends. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Being with you guys the last few years…It feels like the family I never got to have.”

     “I feel the same way,” Kenny chimed in. “When I was in Virtupets, I had nobody. There were days I didn’t even get to eat. I was alone and scared. And when I somehow managed to escape that terrible place, I was still alone. I was still hungry. But then I met you all. My life’s never been the same since.”

     Clyf felt tears stinging at his eyes. This group really was special to him. In just a short amount of time with them, he felt he had grown tremendously. He had become more patient, more understanding, and even smarter than he was before. He thought about his crewmates, and everything that they had taught him.

     Lilla had taught him that he didn’t know everything, and that it was ok. Blitz had taught him that there was more to people than meets the eye. Grubba had taught him that sometimes it’s ok to tell a white lie to protect somebody’s feelings. Kenny had taught him that no matter where you start from, you can always create a new ending for yourself.

     Clyf had a sudden realization that in a lot of ways, he was already rich beyond his wildest dreams. As Blitz said, not all treasure was silver and gold.

     Lilla, who had mellowed, seemed to realize what was on Clyf’s mind. “Hey, Clyf?” she asked. Clyf turned to her. She smiled at him. “Let’s go home.”

     Clyf smiled back at her. “I’m already home,” he answered.

     The End.