I'm a Faerie in a Bottle:Part Two

     Part 2: When we last left our travellers they had just heard a mysterious noise coming from within the jungle. They had discovered they were in a video game and were given 3 wisdoms to decipher in order to escape the island.

     “That sounded like it came from the trees!” Simone said while sprinting towards the sound.

     “Don’t you know you’re never supposed to run towards the creepy sound!?” Leroy shouted after her.

     She ran into the bushes, almost tripping over the long roots lining the Neopia floor until she came to an abrupt stop. The noise had grown louder but there was nothing to be seen. Suddenly it went silent. Leroy could be heard gasping in the distance.

     “Wait up Simone! You know I can’t run that fast. What did you find?”

     “Nothing. I found absolutely nothing. It was very loud. Almost like it was in front of me and then poof, it was silent.”

     “Well … we may as well carry on. Didn’t the Kyrii mention that we had to get to the edge? Maybe he meant the edge of the map?”

     “I actually was thinking about that and I think he was talking about the island itself. I think escaping this island might be our first task. I just can’t figure out what any of his wisdoms have to do with it yet. We should continue travelling North maybe we will cross paths with someone or something useful.”

     They began the long trek to the edge of the island. A little while after they had been walking suddenly Leroy stopped.

     “Don’t you think it’s strange that after all this time we have yet to see any type of life? Sure you saw the one Gratlik but there should be more. This is an island jungle after all.”

     “Oh look up here! There’s some fruit hanging from these trees. I’m starving, but I do find it suspicious that there seems to be no forms of life on this island other than the mystic man.” She reached up and grabbed a handful of fruit. It was strange looking but she couldn’t complain. Simone slid a few extras into the bag. After they had a quick meal, the brother and sister continued their march to the islands edge. A few minutes later they heard the crash of the waves against the shore of a beach. As they raced across the sand, that same strange noise was heard but even closer.

     “There it is again. I’m not crazy! It must be at the --- Ouch!” Simone yelled as she tripped over something. She looked down but there was nothing to be seen. Scratching her head she walked over to her brother who was standing in the waves.

     “Look over there! That must be Mystery Island. I should see if its safe to swim.” Leroy waded into the water. He barely got 20 feet away before he vanished into thin air.

     “Leroy! LEROY! Are you there? Where did you go?” Simone screamed but as soon as she was done her sentence, she heard a horn and her brother re-appeared at her side.

     “Okay so, we definitely cannot swim over to the other island. I got too far away and then it told me my move was invalid and I wound up here beside you. It also now says on the map I have 2 lives.” He walked away and flopped down onto the beach. Simone came to sit down beside him when suddenly the ground underneath her made a very loud noise. She bolted up and felt the ‘ground’ and it made the same noise.

     “Hey Leroy look at this!” as she pet the air and it continued to make absurd sounds. “There are living creatures here! We just can’t see them because they are invisible. How odd.” she cooed as she continued to pet the unknown creature. “Maybe this is what the second wisdom was talking about ‘your ability to fly will alter without your noticing’. Maybe we have to use these creatures to get off the island.”

     “I guess that makes sense but what do the other two mean and how are we supposed to find ones big enough to ride if we cant see them?”

     Simone and Leroy sat there and pondered the other two wisdoms. Suddenly Leroy got an idea.

     “Maybe we have already answered the first wisdom, ‘ your direction in life will cease in a strange way’. Think about it we made it here and I tried to swim and couldn’t, then you tripped over nothing… which led to us finding the invisible creatures. Also maybe the last one is more of a warning. I’m sure most of these creatures are friendly but maybe those Tapiras aren’t and we will run into them when we’re close to beating the level!” Leroy said matter-of-factly. “The only thing I don’t know is how to see these things.”

     He got up and started to wander down the beach. Simone ran after him.

     “Slow down. I have an idea. I’m going to go talk to the mystic man again now that we have his answers and I’ll see if he can point us in the right way of a creature to get away from here. You stay here and patrol the beach, see if you can find anything useful.” With that Simone hurried off towards the mystic man's hut.

     As Leroy scoured the beach in search of anything they could use, Simone sped back to the Mystic’s hut. She was greeted almost immediately by him waiting in the clearing.

     “I see you have discovered the mystery that cannot be seen. For this I grant you the use of my two giant Tuceets. They shall help you, but only if you can see them.” The Kyrii walked over to a cage around the side and gave Simone two leading ropes. “Take good care of them. When you are done with they shall return home on their own” and with that he walked away leaving Simone with 2 unseeable petpets.

     “I hope Leroy is having some success searching the beach.” Simone pondered.

     Meanwhile, Leroy began his search of the beach. As he was wandering he came across a chest half covered in the sand. Excited he began to dig it out. Once unearthed from the sand he opened it slowly, just incase it was a trap. Very carefully he peered inside and removed a small brown pouch.

     “I wonder if this is some sort of food” as he sticks his finger into the bag. Very quickly Leroy spit out the powder and tried to wipe it off his tongue.

     “That was nasty” he scoffed, “It tastes like smelly argyle socks and burnt turnips. I guess this isn’t going to be useful later on”.

     He lobs it over his shoulder and almost begins to walk away when a tiny squeak is heard. He turns his head and sees a Gympu standing there flickering in and out of sight. “Oh my Fyora, that’s why it didn’t taste good. It’s meant for the petpets.” Leroy picked up the bag and put it in his backpack. “Thank you very much little Gympu” and with a quick pat to its head, Leroy ran back down the beach to their meeting spot.

     Moments later both Simone and Leroy were standing on the beach looking across at the other island.

     Simone coaxed the Tuceets over to Leroy.

     Leroy tossed the powder at the invisible creatures at the end of the ropes before Simone could say anything and they flickered into view.

      “I don’t even care where you got that powder.. But we did it!!” yelled Simone.

     “I just wonder why we never came into contact with any Tapiras. It was the third wisdom after all.”

     Just as Leroy was finishing his sentence the trees began to quiver and bend at the beaches edge.

     “You just HAD to say something didn’t you.” Simone scolded him. “I’m betting that we don’t want to stick around to find out so we better move it.” She clambered onto the back of one of the Tuceets.

     “I hope these things know how to fly, you did get them from the cryptic island man after all” Leroy said while mounting the other. They squeezed the sides of the Tuceets lightly to let them know they wanted to go and the petpets gracefully rose into the air.

     “Let’s hurry and get to the main island. I am definitely glad to be getting off this one” Simone sighed, and with that they were off floating above the waves.

     A short while later...

     Simone and Leroy landed on the sand with a gentle thud. They jumped down from the enormous Tuceets and tossed each one a Banango from their backpack in gratitude. The enormous creatures immediately gobbled them down and leapt into the sky. A ping sound came from the sky and a Faded Bottled Air Faerie appeared before them

     “Congratulations on finishing the first challenge. Here is your prize.”

     The siblings looked at each other and nodded.

     “One down, two to go!” as they turned towards the vast jungle before them and pulled out their map.

     “I think we’re supposed to go northeast along the coast?”

     “Works for me” Leroy replies as they take out some Purpanna for energy and set off into the greenery.

     After about 20 minutes they lost sight of the beach but Simone was still confidently walking ahead when Leroy heard a sound of to his right. As he turned to look he felt a spear being pressed into his back and let out a squeak.

To be continued…