I Survived the Magma Pool!

     It all started one day when my siblings and I went down to Moltara. It is really, really, really hot down there. I was sweating up a storm after less than twenty minutes! My sister, Una, was talking to one of the Moltarans she knows. My brothers, Xweetie and Zadar, were browsing inside Cog's Togs, and I was just minding my own business, as usual. Una came over to me, holding a useless old lantern in her fins, and whistled to our brothers. They came over to us, and looked at our sister.

     "Come on, let's find some worms!" Una said, waving the empty lantern, and soon we were all hunting for little worms that glowed in all sorts of colours. Zadar found a green one, Xweetie found a white one, and Una smiled as she picked up a squirming rainbow one. I decided to escape to the Magma Caves, where I knew other worms were hiding.

     As I turned to the entrance that leads to the Magma Caves, someone bumped into me, coming out of them. "Oh, excuse me," he said, and went on. It was a Gnorbu, but not like any Gnorbu I'd ever seen before. I've seen Fire Gnorbus, but that was no Fire Gnorbu. He seemed to be glowing a sluggish red-orange colour. It looked like he was made of magma. I gazed at him in fascination, and turned back to the direction from which the Gnorbu had come.

     Now curious, I dashed off to the Magma Caves. What was going on? Here, I paused, and never in all my life was I so surprised by what I saw. The hot pool of liquid magma, guarded by an old Tonu guard, was there, and the guard seemed to have nodded off. To my horrified amazement, a Shoyru was swimming in the fiery liquid magma. Her striped colouring was quickly vanishing, right before my very eyes!

     "Ccaenine! What are you doing? You're supposed to be looking for... oh my goodness, what is that Shoyru doing?" Una's awestricken voice dropped to a horrified whisper, and she stared at the Shoyru as well. The others joined us, and looked on at the scene. The Shoyru had just finished her swim, and had emerged from the pool, changed! She spread her dimly-glowing wings and flew past us, laughing as she soared away.

     "Wow, did you see that? That magma didn't seem to harm her at all!" Zadar scratched his head and looked shocked. I stepped forward without realising it. Una grabbed at my arm, but I was transfixed by what I had just witnessed. The Tonu had woken up from his doze, and stood guard over the hot pool of sludgy, glowing magma. He looked very efficient, and I knew I'd have to bide my time. Eventually he'd sleep again.

     With that, the hunt for worms was resumed. I found a pink one, and then a black one. Zadar found all the others. Xweetie volunteered to go into the dark cave. He's cool like that, really. Picking up the glowing lantern in his teeth, Xweetie went into the dark cave, and returned with the lantern, now dimmed down, and a piece of red moltite in the pocket of his black jacket. Ogrins are awesome to know. That's what Xweetie is, and he's one of the coolest Ogrins around all of Neopia.

     Zadar was complaining about the oppressive heat, and wiping his brow with a massive clawed paw, typical of all Mutant Kyrii, when I saw the Tonu guard yawn hugely, and then he dropped off again. I knew I had to be quick. I turned to my sister and brothers. I had to say something to them, just in case.

     "I'll be back. Wait for me. If something should happen, well, you've been so kind to me, all of you, and I can't ever thank you all enough." Una came forward and hugged me, and Xweetie merely nodded, but Zadar turned away with a heavy sigh. I turned and ran as fast as I could. The moment had come. Coiling my thick tail, I sprang into the air, and landed in the hot, seething magma.

     To my amazement, the magma wasn't really as hot as I'd expected it to be. It flowed over my body, and soon the long-familiar Camouflage colouring began to disappear. It felt as pleasant in that pool as it felt in the healing springs. There was nothing painful about it at all! The only thing that seemed to be happening was that my old Camouflage colour was vanishing. I took on the same appearance as the molten magma in the pool. When the changes were done, I stepped out of the hot pool, and bounced away, back to my family, who were all waiting for me.

     Zadar took one look at me, and then fainted clean away. That huge, monstrous Mutant Kyrii had actually fainted! I sighed, and grabbed him under his arms. Una grabbed his feet, and we took him back to Moltara City. Xweetie grabbed some water and flung it over him, and me, too, but it sizzled and evaporated. A thought came into my mind.

     "Sheesh, how am I supposed to bathe every day? I'll boil all the water out of the tub!" I said in amazement. Cog, from Cog's Togs, laughed when she heard me, then whispered something in my ear. I groaned, and she laughed again. There was no escape, after all! Just my luck!

     Zadar recovered, and we went home. Despite my new appearance, I did no harm to the furniture, or even to my clothes! Una looked at me with narrowed Koi eyes, then filled a pot with water, and had me put one of my paws under it. The water boiled, and Una smiled as she chopped up vegetables and added chicken stock, to make a hearty soup. She hugged me, later on, and was surprised to find out she wasn't even burnt! So was I, truth be told!

     Now, I spend my days being the master chef in my family. Una mixes batter for cakes, rolls dough for bread and cookies, and then I hold the pans and bake everything for her! I also boil all the water for soups and stews. No one can get enough of my wheat bread! In my spare time, I visit Roo Island and light the barbeque grills and campfires for all the little Roos. My neighbours in the Haunted Woods ask me to help them out, too. I'm so busy these days, it seems! I don't mind, though. I like to be helpful!

     So, if you'd like to swim in the magma pool, and see for yourself what it's all about, go for it, by all means! If I could survive a swim, so can you! All you need is a bit of patience, a little courage, and lots of time on your hands! When the Tonu guard sleeps, you're in like flint! I did it, and so can you! Just wait, and then you'll be rewarded! Have fun, and good luck!

The End