Cybunny Down: Part One

      I counted the seconds we stared. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. He blinked. I heard a soft sigh escape his lips before he faced the crowd and bowed his head. The crowd started chanting my name. "Meelu, Meelu, Meelu."

      Of course I knew I would win. I once stared down an Electric Cybunny. It took four hours of the Cybunny Carnival but I won. I took a bow before hopping off the stage.

      My name is Meelu. Just a simple Pink Cybunny. Cybunnies like myself are not really super rare but much more uncommon than say Usuls. We all like to gather together once a year and celebrate. Most of us come down from Terror Mountain but we live just about everywhere these days. Like myself. I live in Neopia Central and have my whole life. I'm only one of twenty seven Cybunnies in my school and there are thousands of other neopets.

      I decided to indulge in a bit more food before going off to play Hop Till You Drop Hop-A-Thon which is really just a Cybunny's version of a dance contest. I hopped over to the carrot cake table and grabbed a big slice and then hopped over to some fluffy grass in the shade. I watched the crowds milling around and enjoying the festivities.

      My best friend Frodin popped his head out of the crowd. He was an Orange Xweetok who pretty much kept me in trouble at school and sometimes even at home. One time he dared me to sneak off with him to the NC Mall during math class. We didn't make it past the school doors and neomails were sent to both our Moms... It was embarrassing.

      He was making his way over to me now with his own slice of cake except his was chocolate but there was an orange carrot made of icing on top so it was still carrot themed.

      "Hey, Meelu. How's the party for the pretty Cybunny?" he asked me before stuffing a huge piece of cake into his mouth.

      I gave him a big smile. "Just stared down a Blumaroo in about twenty seconds. Amateur." I scoffed and took a bite of my own cake. "Where have you been?" I asked and took another bite.

      He swallowed another large bite of cake before answering. "I was over talking to some Cybunnies that live on Krawk Island. They have the best stories. This one guys says he has a map to some buried treasure. I might try to buy it off him before the carnival is over," he said thoughtfully.

      "Aren't there like a hundred maps to buried treasure on Krawk Island?" I asked skeptically. He didn't answer me.

      "There's only about an hour left of the party. We should go dance. Everyone is going to clear out soon," Frodin said. Always trying to change the subject. "C'mon, Meelu!" He dumped his plate into a nearby trash can and took what was left of mine and added it too the pile before grabbing my paw and dragging me into the crowd. We could hear Blue Kacheek Group playing across the whole field. How in Neopia they managed to get Blue Kacheek Group I'll never know.

      We danced together for a few songs before some of his friends from school came and dragged him off muttering something about a magic scroll in The Lost Desert. I decided to go over and grab some carrot juice from another table when an old Cybunny stopped me. He was blue in color but his fur was starting to turn silver. No paint brush needed.

      "My child. You look like an adventurer," he said to me. He had crystal blue eyes that seemed to stare straight through me. "Have you ever heard of Cybunny Down?"

      "No, sir. I can't say I have," I said to him and I poured us both a drink. He took the cup I handed him gently. "What is it?"

      "It is an Island. Filled with Cybunnies like us. They say there are hundreds of them there that never leave. They say that they have the most beautiful voices in the universe and when they sing the plants sing too," he continued. "They say that those Cybunnies have the most beautiful fur coats. Even more beautiful than those on Faerieland."

      "Who are they?" I asked him. It sounded like a nice story but that was all. I thought all the Cybunnies came here once a year and there are only about three hundred here.

      He looked at me dumbfounded. "Well, they are the neopets who wrote this book." He handed me a dog-eared worn out book entitled 'Cybunny Down'. "Inside this book is the story of how so many Cybunnies ended up on that Island. Also there is map leading to it. You'll need a boat to get there but it isn't too far from Lutari Island."

      I interrupted him, "But there are several islands around Lutari Island."

      Then he interrupted me, "Yes, but if you follow the map, you know which one it is. Also you are a Cybunny. The other Cybunnies will show themselves to you." He finished with a wink. "Go find it, child."

      "But my best friend isn't a Cybunny. I won't go without him," I murmured and flipped through the book taking in all the details and descriptions of the island.

      I looked up and the old Cybunny was gone. Where did he go? He's too old to go that fast. Who am I kidding? He is a Cybunny. I tucked the book under my arm and hopped on home.

      Mom had beat me home from the carnival. She always went for the Carrot Cook Off. The second I stepped inside the door she was waving a giant blue ribbon in my face. Really, this thing was bigger than my head.

      "I won the Carrot Cook Off!" she sang in my ear. Mom had a lovely voice so I didn't really mind.

      I dropped the book on the kitchen table and went to hug Mom, "Congratulations!" I squeezed her tight. "This is like the fifth year in a row, right?" I asked her mockingly.

      "No," she boasted. "It's the third," she stated before trailing off to the living room to hang her new ribbon on the wall.

      She had probably fifty different ribbons and trophies lining the walls of her bedroom and living room. She was very competitive. Me? I'm just a happy explorer.

      "Did you and Frodin enjoy the carnival?" Mom called from the living room as I sat down to flip through the old book again.

      "Yeah," I called back. "He's talked to some Pirate Cybunnies about a buried treasure on Krawk Island one of them have a map to. We'll probably head there one weekend and dig up sand." I looked up to see Mom's eyebrows raised at me. "With your permission, of course." I tacked on with a smile and her eyebrows settled to a normal level.

      "We'll talk about that when the time comes. Did you get that at the carnival?" she asked and pointed her chin at the book.

      "Yeah, an older Cybunny gave it to me. It's filled with stories about neopets searching for this island called Cybunny Down. They say it is the home to hundreds of Cybunnies, if not more."

      "Who's they?" Mom asked.

      I burst out laughing. "That's the same thing I asked. Still. How amazing would it be if Frodin and I found it?"

      "Well, Meelu, I don't know how I feel about you two going off to an uncharted island by yourselves. You could get hurt," Mom said very seriously.

      "Mom, I have been to every continent in Neopia. Several times by myself or just me and Frodin. We've both been training on Mystery Island to defend ourselves. We'll be fine. Besides I haven't said we were going just that some neopet gave the book to me." I really didn't say we were going but I was considering it.

      I can already imagine what they sounded like when they sang. I could see the colors of their fur matching the colors of their eyes. I wondered if I would see a Maraquan Cybunny out there. I always thought they were so beautiful. The island was probably beautiful too with flowers in every color of the rainbow and scents that could only be found there.

      **********

      I sat in my bed for a long time that night flipping through the book. Mostly it told stories of other neopets looking for Cybunny Down. Some of the stories claimed they found the correct island but that it was deserted. I noticed none of those neopets were Cybunnies. I started to look at the map and the island was definitely north of Lutari Island but below Moltara.

     I was starting to get a headache from looking at that map so long so I made myself put it up and go to sleep. I'd show it to Frodin tomorrow at school and see what he thought about it.

      ***********

      "Are you kidding me?" We were walking home after school and, like I thought, Frodin spent the whole school day reading the adventures of the neopets in Cybunny Down instead of actually doing school work. "There is an Island somewhere out there full of Cybunnies like you. Hundreds of them, and some old bunny gave you a map to find them. C'mon, Meelu. We have to try," he finished and looked at me with big Xweetok eyes.

      "Whatever, Frodin. We have school and no boat. How are we going to find this Island anyway without help? We can't sail." I was trying to talk reason into him, but he just kept shaking his head and smiling at me like this was the best idea in the world.

      "We have Spring Break next week, Meelu. I already checked the notice boards for the next boat leaving for Lutari Island and it sets sail next Friday." I shook my head and starting walking again but he continued anyway, "From there we can hire a local Lutari to sail us there so we can explore and we'll sail back to Neopian Central before school starts again." He gave me those big Xweetok eyes again and I stared right back. He blinked but kept staring anyway. I caved.

      "Okay, Frodin. Where are we going to get the neopoints to sail? It's not cheap. It's like fifty thousand neopoints for one of us." I was trying to talk sense into him, but I could tell it wasn't working.

      "Don't act like you don't have savings, Meelu, and I have about twenty four thousand myself and we both have some codestones and dubloons we can sell. We can even do chores around the neighborhood to some extra." He did have a point.

      What did we have to lose, really? A few neopoints? What if we didn't find 'Cybunny Down'?

      "Frodin, how do we even know this island exits? Some stories in a book and map that could all be made up?" I asked this uncertainly, but of course Frodin reassured me.

      "If it is there, we will find it."

To be continued...