Break Day adventure

     Normally, He and his team would be exploring the markets around Altador or wandering around the villages on the coast. Enjoying the scenery and the atmosphere. It was a favourite pastime that had become a tradition for the Haunted Woods team. Not today, however.

     Zo was back at the team bunks with Crade. Both had come down with a twenty-four-hour stomach bug. The same one-two of Maraqua’s players had contracted. During yesterday's match, Krell had noticed both Barit and Elon looking a little green around the gills, so to speak. When Elon had the Yooyu, Krell had taken the opportunity to ask him if he was ok, as he went in for the steal. To Elon’s credit, he held out until the end of the match before sprinting off to the showers to be sick and going to see a medic immediately afterwards with his teammates in tow.

     Brains had hung back to keep an eye on Crade and Zo. The Zombie Usul wasn’t particularly fond of Altador’s heat and preferred to stay inside where the air conditioning was. He also had patience enough to stay in one place when anxious. Something Krell had never been good at. The Zombie had chalked it up to years of practice. Krell, had no idea how old Brain’s truly was, but he was old enough to give pretty sound advice about patience every now and then. They celebrated his birthday every year, (like they did with each teammate) but his cakes were always devoid of candles.

     Fanetti was wandering around the seaside town somewhere. He had always been an early riser. He more than likely had no idea that two of their teammates were currently under the weather, having left the bunks before anyone else had woken up. Krell had awoke to the sound of moans from the adjacent bunks. He had initially thought it was Brains, until the Zombie Usul shook him awake further.

     Now here he was, in the seaside village outside of the city trying to find his goalkeeper. He knew Layton from team Darigan would be around here somewhere, too. Something about a cousin or relative, if Krell remembered correctly. Eighteen teams were scattered throughout Altador. Many were still sleeping. It was about eight in the morning. He was wandering down a street overlooking the harbour when he spotted Layton. A friendly wave greeted Krell, as the Darigan Hissi came over to him.

     “You hear about Elon and Barit?” Layton asked. “Twenty-four-hour flu.”

     “Yeah, we played them yesterday,” Krell said. “Crade and Zo caught it, as well.”

     “Yikes, sorry to hear that!” Came the rival captain's reply. “You’re looking for Fanetti, right?”

     Krell nodded. Layton knew Fanetti was an early-morning person and had often gotten breakfast with him over the years. They knew a quiet little cafe that served the best pancakes in Altador. Layton hadn’t seen Fanetti yet today, but had an idea of where he might be. The two captains took off towards the centre of the small town. Chatting all the way about what they had done in the off-season and sharing friendly tips for practice.

     ***

     The smells were delightful. Fresh strawberries, blueberries and even the freshest melons in Altador, were all in one spot. This was the cafe Layton and Fanetti usually had breakfast at first thing in the morning when they could catch up on an off day. It was a cute, small building with colourful murals depicting King Altador and his heroes in various adventures.

     Krell and Layton spotted Fanetti and ordered some breakfast for themselves before sitting down with him. In between bites of the best pancakes, Krell could swear he had ever had, he told Fanetti what was going on back at the bunks.

     “Most unfortunate,” Fanetti said. “I had that bug shortly before the start of the season.”

     The three of them finished breakfast and sat chatting for another twenty minutes before Layton excused himself. He wanted to go and visit family on the eastern side of the small village before their break day was up. Leaving the two haunted woods players to go about their day.

     ***

     Fanetti and Krell were wandering around the harbour, not far from the spot where Krell had bumped into Layton earlier. They watched as merchant ships pulled into the docks. Several had come from Shenkuu. Captain Taun and his crew were unloading some Shenkuuvian fruits and supplies on the dock closest to the side street, the haunted woods players had just emerged from.

     “Wanna go back to the city and see what’s what?” Fanetti asked.

     “Yeah, let’s stop by and check on Zo and Crade first,” Krell said.

     ***

     The bunks had been quiet except for the sounds of snores. Brain’s had been awake and cleaning his gear. He had said Crade and Zo were doing a bit better. He’d also heard from team Maraqua. They were doing better as well. They had asked Brains if he wanted to go to the market or go visit Derlyn on team Kreludor. The zombie had just shook his head and moaned about how hot it was outside. The cool dampness of the haunted woods was seemingly a luxury taken for granted. So Krell and Fanetti left for the markets without him.

     ***

     “Remember when we found out Wan was allergic to Altachucks?” Fanetti said with a giggle.

     “Yeah, right after he finished saying how cute they were, too!” Krell chuckled.

     Wan had been Krell’s best friend since early childhood. They were still best friends and even though he had retired from the sport, Wan still helped the team out quite a bit during the off-season when he wasn’t busy building is Smoothie and ice cream shake empire.

     Wandering through the streets of downtown Altador the pair came across Team Kreludor’s newest teammate. Motor had made waves last year by being a rather tough and brutal player. His temper had quickly become legendary, even among past players. When they played against Kreludor, Krell had to hang out close to Zo, or have Brains or Crade stick close to prevent Motor from furiously tackling the tiny Korbat. Krell had also learned quickly that making Motor mad impaired his judgment.

     The young Pteri was wandering the markets in a surprisingly good mood. He had a slushie and what looked like a bagel. Fanetti and Krell watched him happily walk around as if he had not a care in the world. Further up the street they were greeted by a wave from Derlyn, kreludor’s team captain. They watched as she ducked into a bookstore. Derlyn enjoyed Altadorian novels, and was a regular customer during Cup season.

     “Hey guys!” Came a bellow from a deep bass voice from their left.

     Leera Haggle was walking up a side street. He had a bag from one of the clothes stores down the street and another bag with treats in it for his team.

     Hey, how are you?” Krell greeted his long-time friend and rival.

     “Doing great! Hey, wanna head over to the amphitheatre and catch a show?” Leera grinned. “They’ve got an Altadorian comedy troupe today.”

     “They’re supposed to be doing one of Neopia’s greatest comedy plays!” Fanetti confirmed pulling a flyer out of his pocket. “I had planned on going!”

     Fanetti eagerly accepted Leera’s invite. Krell decided to just let them go together. He wasn’t much for comedies. He liked action and daring stories better.

     ***

     It was rounding on noon and the cafe’s in Altador would soon be crowded with hungry tourists and many fans who had come to see the cup. Krell surveyed his options, trying to figure out what he was in the mood for. They had a salad shop just across the street from him. One that made quite possibly one of the best salads Krell had ever tasted. A few shops down from that was a sandwich and pita shop. They had some pretty great gyros.

     “Hey, Krell!” Came a voice from behind him. “Wanna grab lunch with us?”

     Krell turned to see Mirsha, her girlfriend (and Team Shenkuu’s new coach) Ginia and Foltaggio from team Altador coming up behind him. Krell accepted the offer and they headed off towards the sandwich shop.

     “So, how was your off-season?” Mirsha asked. “We heard you’d been training in a haunted house!”

     “We did do that,” Krell replied in between bites of his gyro. “Trying to build nerves of steel. It both worked and didn’t work.”

     “How didn’t it work?” Foltaggio asked. He was a former member of Shenkuu and now captain of Altador’s team.

     “Some of the ghosts decided to mess around with our equipment,” Krell said with a chuckle. “Got a visit from Nox’s ghost too. Decided he wanted to send us packing with a good fright. How about you lot, what have you been up to?

     “Lots of training,” Foltaggio said. “Maybe a bit too much sun exposure. We had some severe sunburns for our efforts.”

     “We mixed up our training this year,” Mirsha said. “Since Ginia’s father is now coaching Kiko Lake, we’ve started with some new approaches.”

     “You guys participate in Kari’s Negg hunt?” Foltaggio chimed in ready to talk about something other than Yooyu for a change. The Negg festival this year had been a blast.

     “Yeeees!” Ginia and Mirsha squealed together in delight. They then went into a story about how long it had been since either had visited the space station and how cute the new little Petpet was that was discovered this year. Both were very delighted at the adventure.

     Krell for his part had taken part in the Negg hunt, but had become sidetracked when he came down with a spring cold and the Haunted Woods's own coach decided they needed to up their training schedule.

     They talked about the festival a bit more before Foltaggio declared he had to go. He wanted to catch a book signing from one of his favourite authors. Mirsha and Ginia also excused themselves to go shopping. Krell was on his own again after a delightful lunch.

     ***

     The gardens in Altador were among some of the most beautiful in Neopia. Krell was strolling down a path lined with lilies, hibiscus and a few other flowers he couldn’t place the names of. It was one of his favourite places to relax during cup season.

     “Hey, how’s it going, Vitor!” Came a voice from the left garden path.

     Prytariel was walking along with a huge grin on her face. Krell greeted her and they continued through the Altadorian gardens.

     “I love this place,” Terror Mountain’s team leader said. “We don’t have a lot of greenery back home, so I love seeing this place every year.”

     “I know what you mean,” Krell said. “The haunted woods doesn’t have much in the way of vibrant greenery.”

     “So, my friend worked at your uncle’s apple orchard during harvest last year,” Prytariel said, “She was super excited she got to meet you. She couldn’t stop talking about how cool you were when she returned home.”

     “Aw, that’s really nice,” Krell chuckled, but couldn’t hide the fact he was blushing. Krell always helped during harvest time. He had since he was a small child. On the odd occasion, his uncle brought in help and it almost always was a fan. They were often delighted to see Krell hard at work at something that wasn’t a sport.

     “She’s hoping to go back this fall and help again,” the Aisha grinned, “She enjoyed working with her hero.”

     With that Krell burst out laughing. He hardly thought of himself as a hero to anyone, but this proved to be the opposite when he met people. It was always a shock to both his team and himself when people came up to them and said they were their biggest heroes or inspirations to get into sports. It was a very humbling experience each and every time.

     When they came to the end of the garden they parted ways with a wave. What was he going to do now. He decided to head back to the shopping and financial district. It was rounding on dinner time and surely Zo and Crade would be feeling a bit better by now. Perhaps some gyros to go from the little shop Krell had lunched at with Foltaggio and the ladies earlier.

     ***

     “I’m telling you, Aldric, we HAVE to visit the archives!” Tula said.

     “Fine, we’ll go after we eat,” Aldric said.

     “Krell! Please tell Aldric about how fascinating the archives are!” Tula hissed impatiently.

     Krell had just left the sandwich shop and was on his way back to the bunks when he happened upon Team Moltara. Tula was Aldric’s right-hand woman. Rumours were that she was the brains behind the team's brawn and Aldric’s excellent leadership.

     “Well, if you’re looking for history, it’s pretty grand,” Krell said a bit surprised to be included in a random discussion by another team. “If you’re looking for tips and tricks on Yooyu, Finneus has a few books on it too.”

     “See, we need to get going!” Tula insisted. Aldric reminded her that they needed to eat. They had spent the day practicing and the gyros Krell was carrying smelled amazing.

     Krell said goodbye and continued on his way back to the bunks. It had been a pretty good day. He met up with Fanetti by chance on the way back and asked him about his afternoon. He detailed the play that he and Leera had watched and after he had gone to watch the chariot races with Selmon would and Wizard Windelle.

     Krell, in turn, recounted his afternoon. The walk through the gardens being his favourite part. Altador’s gardens were relaxing.

     It had been a pretty great day, so much so, that Krell had been ignoring the churning feeling in his stomach. Fanetti and Krell returned to the bunks and found Crade and Zo embattled in a serious game of Go Fish with Brains. They were feeling better and this was good news.

     Unfortunately, while his teammates were feeling better, Krell now realized it was his turn with the stomach bug. The slow ache that had started after lunch he thought might have just been the Neocola. Boy, was he wrong?

     Well, you win some, you lose some. It had been a great day at least!

     The End.