Lost Before, Light

      Faythe, like before, awoke with his eyes half-opened, and gazed around us in an unkempt manner. He rolled his eyes and rubbed them, blinking non-stop before opening his eyes again."Eh, brother, where are we?" the little blue Tonu muttered groggily, totally not recollecting the series of events that had unfolded. I looked at him in disgust and ignored him, standing up with my torch held up. My best friend, Kei the blue Shoyru, touched the inviting stream with his hands and yelped in joy. I stared at him, not noticing anything. The stream appeared beautiful, as colours shone upon it, giving an appearance of dancing rainbow colours.

      "Hey, Clive, no harm taking a shower and washing our faces first before setting off, right?" he suggested, his wings flapping eagerly behind him, waiting impatiently to jump into the water. Acknowledging what he had suggested, I shone my torch on the water to make sure all was find, before leaping into it with Kei and Faythe. Kei and I had been friends since we were young. He was older than me by one year and he would often joked "Clive the Crybaby Gelert".

      We showered in delight in the shade, as tall majestic trees loomed over us. After a few moments of water splashing, we wiped ourselves with towels and changed into another set of hiking gears, before strolling ahead.

      "Faythe, don't you remember that we have planned to conquer this forest and reach the Peak of Techo Mountain?" I exclaimed in exasperation while Kei shook his head. Faythe had been pestering us with questions such as 'Why are we here' and 'What is this place' incessantly. I regretted bringing him along as he was more of a hindrance that a help.

      "Do you remember we are here to see the most beautiful sunrise at the peak? Techo Mountain directly faces the part where the sun rises or sets," Kei added helpfully. Faythe could only nod dumbly, as he remembered only bits and fragments. I shook my head in frustration and continued ahead. Kei glanced at the map which was given to us by a native, and fingered the spot of the hill and announced, "I believe we are almost arriving at the foot of the hill."

      I preserved and advanced forward. We aimed to get to the peak of the hill no matter what happened.

      "Fortunately, Techo Mountain is not that high. But its slopes are quite steep, we have to be careful," Kei advised. I took note of that, hoping that my ignorant brother had noted that too as it would be hard for a Gelert and a Tonu to climb a hill, unlike a Shoyru that could fly all the way up there.

      After a long walk and a few encounters with non-venomous but menacing Cobralls, we arrived at the foot of the hill. The slope was indeed steep.

      "Kei, you have the hiking chain in your haversack, right? Why don't you fly up first? Then, lower the chain down and I will secure it around Faythe, then he will climb," I decided, worried for the blue Tonu, thus arranging for him to be the second.

      The Shoyru agreed and adjusting his haversack on his back, he prepared to fly up. He showed a thumbs-up sign to me, and I showed a cross sign to him with my paw, blessing him that everything would go well. His wings flapped gracefully and he swept to the peak of the mountain, completing his easy task, before looking down and waving. Kei took out the chain and threw it down the mountain.

      "Tie the chain around his waist and lock it!" Kei instructed. I wasted no time fastening the chain around Faythe's waist, if he had a waist at all, fidgeting with difficulty. In some time, Faythe was ready and he climbed up the slope, with the help of some jagged rocks and stones. Kei, at the peak, was tugging the rope tightly, afraid to let go.

      Faythe almost slipped, but Kei pulled the chain. I was worried sick, watching the Tonu climbing up and worrying what would happen if he fell down. However, my worries were uncalled for as Faythe reached the peak after quite some time safely, except for some scratches caused by some stones.

      Kei unlocked the chain and threw it down again. I fastened the chain around my waist, and prepared to climb up. The process was quite smooth-sailing. As I was halfway up, a sudden big gust of wind blew hard, causing a sharp rock which was resting on a small edge to dangle further up. The wind tugged hard, as if it wanted the rock to fall and in the end, the rock did. The rock toppled down dangerously. Kei who saw what was going to happen, immediately yelled, "Clive, look out!"

      I noticed the rock and dodged my head, but my leg was slashed by the sharp edges. Blood tricked out and I felt the pain rising, draining the blood from my face as I gritted my teeth. Somehow, I managed to preserve and made my way up.

      I unfastened the chain and handed it to Kei. He kept it in the haversack and pointed to my leg in concern, but I waved him off, gesturing that it was fine. Faythe sat beside Kei silently, enjoying the beauty of the sight in front of us. The three of us sat down together, stunned by the dazzling sight. It was still morning, but the sight that we now faced, was more beautiful than what we first saw when we woke up. The birds flew and chirped, used to the morning routine.

      "I swear… I must remember this sight forever…" I swore firmly and crossing my heart, I hoped that the happiness that we received at this moment would last forever. We truly hoped that this special moment should not pass in the blink of an eye. The sunlight was tranquil and seemed to be assuring us of our moment. We sat silently, looking at the animated-like sun, flaring all the light, telling Neopians that another new day had begun.

      Blood was oozing out from my wound, but I took no notice, as it was just a small matter compared to the dazzling sight of colours swirling and combining. The natives in Mystery Island must be wondering what we were doing now. To me, this moment was the best time of my life and I must treasure it. Three teenagers, lost before in a dense forest, sitting at the Peak of Techo Mountain, looking at the magnificent sight of light before their eyes… Slowly, a smile came to my face as I glanced on…

The End