Step Back Into History {CLOSED} (187 views)

[Blue]

After a long period of argumentation on which path they were to take, Audrey and Sweet finally agreed to one route to get to their destination. All the way from the proud lands of Altador, the brown Grarrl, with her invisible companion, hiked through the northern mountains and into the city of Shenkuu. From there, they bought a few supplies for the rest of their journey and took a flying ship, which will bring them to Mystery Island. Despite their somewhat rivalry going on, the two Neopians seemed to have cooled down from their first encounter. Luckily, they made it to Mystery Island without nearly driving each other mad and almost parting seperate ways. But before departing from the native land, Sweet visited her shop for a short time and collected a few neopoints that had been kept in the safe. Soon, they left from the habour on a boat, reaching to their final destination

Days--no, weeks have passed.

The ocean was seemingly calm, which made things easier for the two of them to navigate through the waters. Exhausted, and covered in sweat after several amounts of time paddling, strong winds passed by, giving them relief. Their boat had been floating on the spot where the city of Maraqua should be. No one could assume accurately that their house would just be right below the surface. The sea is rather enormous, and Audrey would surely get mad if Sweet were to say she assumed that they had made it.

"We need to dive underwater if we're going to get there." Sweet informed. Her voice doesn't seem so serious than last time, but there's still a hint of dullness coming from her tone. She takes out a Seaweed Necklace from her pocket. "Hmm. We're going to need more than on of these... but here, you put them on."

[Otter]

Finding the book was all well and dandy--but then came the issue of transport. Though she knew Sweet resided in Maraqua, it never occurred to her that she'd be diving into her very worst nightmare: the deep, deep ocean. She almost had a heart attack just thinking about it. She was glad she questioned how they were getting to Maraqua, but that only led to a very long debate. One route was to trek all the way from the Lost Desert to Faerieland and then catch a boat--but that was completely out of the question. A few hours passed until, eventually, they decided to take a flying ship all the way to Mystery Island via Shenkuu. Audrey loved it; they'd be traversing steep hills, dangerous heights, trekking up endless mountain...all the way into the sky. It'd be the first she'd ever do so.

The trip was everything she expected it to be, but Shenkuu was another story. She had read books and heard stories of it, but to see it up close was amazing. The two of them were exhausted and relieved at that point, but Audrey found herself immediately at the nearest weapons shop. She could spend hours there, admiring the craftsmanship, but she knew her companion wouldn't tolerate that. Begrudgingly she left with a promise to return, and made their way to the docks.

There was nothing but clouds. They were sailing the ocean of the skies; her hand was wet when she ran it through the clouds at some point. Sweet was never impressed since they left Altador, which continued to frustrate Audrey to no end. Where she clouds would part she could see the endless amount of islands below--as well as the mysterious foggy area where Lutari Island supposedly resided in. Her feet tingled the longer she stared at the waters far below, unable to draw her eyes away having been sucked into fear. During those moments she'd clung to the wooden railings so hard that they'd crack beneath her grasp. Her panic alleviated once they finally reached ground.

Audrey kissed the island the moment her feet touched it, praising the heroes of Neopia for sparing her life. She ignored Sweet's remarks for a while before finally getting up and heading to what appeared her shop. "Never figured you for a tropical gal. Maybe more of Terror Mountain," Audrey joked with a chuckle. Her heart sunk when Sweet decided to manually row to Maraqua--probably out of spite, or so Audrey figured. The minute she stepped on the boat and it rocked beneath her weight, she knew it was going be a long few weeks.

Thanks to Audrey's fear, Sweet had to do most of the initial rowing for a week. It took a lot of persuasion and forced bravery to get Audrey to take Sweet's place. Once she did, however, her fear was replaced with the love she felt from working so hard. She refused to let Sweet switch places with her for a week and a half before she felt her muscles tighten up painfully. Even now, despite the warm sun and cool, salty winds sweeping away her sweat, she felt her healing arms still ache.

"What?" Audrey questioned, wide eyed. She was still pretty darn afraid of the sea. "I-I cannot swim! I told you this many times!" She tried not to panic.

[Blue]

"Avast!" A faded cry called from right above the two. Sounds of wings flapping fast approached them. A silhouette of a mysterious flying Neopet, suspended in mid-air, was seen against the light. Sweet narrowed her eyes, looking over to the unexpected guest. The Neopet hovered over to their boat. It wasn't just a Neopet, but two, as it appears that it was a Faerie Shoyru carrying a Speckled Kiko.

"S-Sweet?!" The Shoyru cried, seeing the floating clothes.

"Ahoy there, big sister!" The Kiko exclaimed.

"Well, this is great timing." Sweet reacted arrogantly, almost laughing at the current scene they are in. "Audrey, these are two of my brothers." She called over to the Grarrl who looked alarmed by their arrival and at the same time worrying about her fear of the ocean. "Azelf..." Sweet gestured over to the Shoyru. "...and Pawkeyt." She does the same action but points over to the Kiko, who waves at Audrey. "Perhaps they could be of assistance to your 'swimming' problem." Sweet sounded like she was in a good mood. She seemed to be slightly enjoying the fact that Audrey had a weakness, and how she behaves when encountering such fear.

Azelf placed Pawkeyt into the water, who now was floating like a beach ball. "I'm a good swimmer! I can show you how. There's nothing to be afraid of!" The kiko informed enthusiastically, making small waves with his arms.

"W-wait... uh, how did you two meet?" Azelf whispered over to Sweet. The Shoyru looked quite frightened by the stranger his sister was with.

"I'm helping her on a quest to go time travelling." As Sweet replied, her brothers were both surprised. Azelf was shocked and Pawkeyt looked very excited. "I know, I know, but we don't got all day. That's why we need B for this one." She showed them the Time Travel book. "I'll explain everything later. By the way, you have an extra necklace on you?" Azelf gave another Seaweed necklace to the Gelert and returned her attention to Audrey. "Like my brother said, there's nothing to be afraid of. And with that necklace on, think of it like you're walking on land. "

Pawkeyt swam over to their boat. "Take my hand, it'll be alright!" He extended his arm towards Audrey, but appeared hesitant to go in.

"Should I push you in?" Sweet asked sarcastically.

"What?! Don't do that!" Azelf opposed to Sweet's suggestion. "F-forgive my sister, she doesn't mean it." Apparently the invisible Gelert's brothers can tell whether she's being sarcastic or not.

"Maybe just close your eyes and jump right in. We'll look after you..." Pawkeyt reassured.

"You want to travel back in time... don't you?" Sweet had no idea what Audrey's intentions were with time travel in the first place, and what she plans to do when it's successful. The Gelert only wanted to help out someone in need, but didn't expect this kind of adventure before.