ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Unusual Species</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <Basefont face="Arial" size="2"> <CENTER> <h1>Unusual Species<p></h1> <I>By SaturnStorm</I><P> </CENTER> Eagleland, a beautiful country on the west of the Earth. Much greenery covered its many hills and mountains, and forests were short of rare. As the dawning sky slowly shone its light across the land, the cool evening green turned to the green-yellow of the daylight. It was surely a beautiful sight. It was no exception in the northern town of Onett, which to the west overlooked an ocean.<br> The Onett Trumpet Player, who had taken a temporary home in the house on the bay, stepped up to the edge of the cliff and looked at the wonderful view. A melody hit his heart, and he put his trumpet to his lips. The haunting melody of the early morning echoed through the town. Satisfied, the Trumpet player went back inside.<br> In the house north of Onett, a family of four were waking up. A mother, a father, and two children: Tracey... and Ness.<br> Ness slowly opened his eyes as the song of the trumpet player hit his ears. He sighed, roughly guessing the time, and curled back in his bed. He could hear his parents muttering in the other room: His mom was trying to wake up,, but his dad wanted her to stay put, claiming it was too early. Common for the morning. His mother was a hard worker. Ness learned that the hard way.<br> Before Ness could think anymore, another sound hit his ears. It was a sort of low rumbling, like an explosion. It didn't sound close, more like two towns over. It was loud, whatever it was. He felt the floor vibrate to it, too. He could imagine an Earthquake enveloping Twoson or Threed, and began to worry.<br> The house had gone silent. Ness realied he wasn't the only one to feel it. It was only a few minutes after it had died down that Ness's little sister entered the room.<br> "Ness, what was that noise?" Tracey asked, rubbing her eyes. Ness sat up.<br> "I don't know. Felt like an Earthquake." Ness replied, thinking to himself. He was getting worried. What if it was in Twoson? What if....<br> "Aren't you going to see what it was?" Tracey broke into Ness's thoughts.<br> "Huh??" Oh, right, yeah. I'll just get dressed, first."<br> Ness climbed out of bed and pulled a clean T-shirt and a pair of shorts out of his drawers. He looked round at Tracey.<br> "That means you have to go!" He reminded her. Tracey nodded and left.<p> Around fifteen minutes later, Ness and Tracey were both up and dressed. Their mom had offered them breakfast, and they had accepted.<br> "Can't go anywhere on an empty stomach!" Ness said with a smile, sitting down at the table. Tracey sat next to him, and their mom made some pancakes.<br> "Thanks." Both kids mumbled, picking up their cutlery. Their mom couldn't really hear them anymore -- she had gone off to start cleaning. Ness and Tracey wolved down their food at an easy speed, and, after placing their plates by the sink, left the house.<br> As they stepped outside, they began to notice things wrong immediately.<br> "Ness, the animals aren't meant to do that, are they?" Tracey watched the animals closely.<br> "No, I haven't seen this before." Ness agreed, also watching them.<br> The animas were all stood, looking in the direction of Twoson, or more to its left. They were all just... stood there. They had all suddenly paused to look from what they were doing, judging from the layout of some of the animals. A Coil snake and a Runaway dog were both in a tangle, before the explosion. The snake was wrapped around the dog's body, and the dog was on its back. Yet they were still looking toward the explosion.<br> "Its creepy." Ness added, realising that the forest around his house was deathly silent.<br> "Uhhh...." Tracey suddenly murmured.<br> Ness looked round. Tracey was staring at the sky. "What is it?" He asked, frowning in confusion. Tracey just pointed.<br> Ness followed Tracey's finger up toward the sky, which for some reason had just grown a little darker. The sky was clear, and yet the day was becoming covered with darkness! This worried Ness even more. But what did it mean?<br> "Ness, did you check your clock before you woke up?" Tracey asked.<br> "No, did you?" Ness frowned.<br> "No. I woke up to the explosion." Tracey responded. Both remained hesitant for a moment, before running back inside to check the clocks.<br> Ness reached a clock first, diving at the small clock on the living room table. Tracey clambered over Ness to get a good look. Their eyes widened.<br> "Five fifteen in the morning?" Ness read, not believing his eyes.<br> "But.... how come it was day?" Tracey asked what was on both their minds. It was then that the phone rang. Ness pulled himself round, scrambling out from under Tracey, who had grabbed the clock. Ness grabbed the phone and placed it by his ear.<br> "Hello?"<br> "Ness! It's Paula. Did you just see that?" Paula jumped straight into the conversation.<br> "Yeah, day broke before day broke! And the animals--" Ness began.<br> "It was just daylight for you? Lucky! We had nothing but bright light! Something happened in Happy Happy Village. Like a super-sized PK Flash, only... orange." Paula explained.<br> "Orange?"<br> "Yeah. And it lasted way too long for a PSI attack. I was about to see what happened."<br> "Me, too. and Tracey. We were both curious." Ness thought for a moment, "Have you spoken to Jeff about it?"<br> "No, not yet. But he might want to explore it, too. Meet me here as fast as you can, and I'll call Jeff. Shall we call Poo, too?"<br> <Basefont face="Arial" size="1">"Poo too... heh... <Basefont face="Arial" size="2"> Uhm, we may as well. But he hasn't had a lot of time for us recently. Mind if Tracey comes along?"<br> "Umm, okay, but she has to be careful. There's no telling what will happen." Paula reminded Ness.<br> "Right. Be there soon!" Ness and Paula said their goodbyes and hung up. Then the young teenager looked down at his sister.<br> "Am I going?" Tracey asked hopefully.<br> "Yes, but be careful." Ness warned. Tracey nodded enthusiastically, and followed Ness back out the house.<p> "Okay, sure. I'll see if I can get the Sky Runner to work."<br> Jeff put the phone down and looked toward his father, Dr.Andonuts. The kind doc and his assistants -- BigFoot and Apple Kid -- were working on another Phase Distorter... for whatever reason of their own.<br> "Going out?" Dr.Andonuts asked.<br> "'Fraid so. Is the Sky Runner operational?" The young genius thought about the last time he had used it.<br> "Yes it is, which is fortunate." Dr.Andonuts pointed toward his son. "It didn't take kindly to the Summers weather, or the unsavoury landing."<br> Jeff shrugged and chuckled, jogging off toward the Sky Runner, which sat in its own corner of the lab again. He climbed in and was away.<p> Poo had just finished talking with Ness on the phone. <i>A bright light? Happy Happy? I suppose I should try to talk to them without Ness's little sister chirruping in the background.</i><br> The prince looked to where his grandfather was meditating. He had been doing the same until he had recieved the phonecall. He had sensed a strange presence, but hadn't been able to figure what it had been. He decided to see if this strange occurence was the cause.<br> "Grandfather." Poo spoke up.<br> "Say nothing." The old man announced, standing up and planting his hands on Poo's shoulders. "I have forseen this event. Keep your chin up, be brave, and go forth, young one."<br> Poo looked into his grandfather's eyes. There was a gleam of concern in them. But also a hint of belief. With a small smile, he said, "thanks, Grandfather."<br> And then he was gone.<p> It was late morning when Ness and Tracy arrived in Twoson. They had decided to walk it, in case anything else was amiss. Tracy had taken the opportunity to explore every little detail about the two towns... gossiping all the way. Ness paid little heed for the most part. They were lucky: nothing else was out of place, and the animals had resumed what they had been doing, only an hour after the incident. It was a relief to hear life in the forests again.<br> They finally arrived at Polestar Preschool, Ness practically dragging the protesting Tracy away from Burglin Park and the next shopping spree.<br> "No, Tracy, we've got work to do!" Ness scolded.<br> "But I want to see what they're selling! Markets have the best deals!" Tracy protested.<br> Breaking from the conversation, Ness knocked at the door and was greeted only moments later by Paula's cheery smile.<br> "Hi, guys! Ready to explore Happy Happy Village?" The older blode grinned, stepping out of the doorway. "Where are the others?"<br> "Haven't seen them yet." Ness replied. He looked round. "Things seem to be returning to normal everywhere else. I'm anxious to know what caused everything to stop like that."<br> Tracy giggled. "I get to go on an adventure!" She cheered. Paula chucked and ruffled her hair.<br> Before long, Prince Poo was teleporting onto the lawn outside. He looked toward them with his ever-serious face and walked over.<br> "Jeff has not arrived, yet?" Poo asked.<br> "No, not yet. He'll be along soon, I hope." Paula responded. "What took you so long?"<br> "I decided to check round to see what else may have seemed wrong. Everything else seems fine."<br> "And you didn't pick up Jeff?"<br> "He was gone by the time I got there."<br> The matter settled, they waited for what they assumed would likely be a crash landing. Paula and Tracy sat and discussed different issues. Ness sat watching everyone, and often cast a glance at the road to Threed. Poo was stood watching the sky, apparently expecting Jeff from there.<br> It wasn't long before Ness stood up and smiled, looking at the road from Threed. Poo cast a glance over his shoulder at him, then to where he looked, and seemed suprised. The two girls also stood, Tracy waiting to see, and Paula already knowing.<br> Jogging along the side of the road with an apologetic smile was Jeff, in what looked to be his SnowWood unifor, but wasn't, and a new pair of glasses.<br> "'Bout time you showed up!" Ness called with a grin. "What took so long? Where's the 'Runner?"<br> Jeff reached the preschool and caught his breath before answering. "Sorry, guys. I'd landed the Sky Runner in Threed and took the long way. It didn't have the energy to make the full journey."<br> "Well, now we're all here, we can go see Happy Happy Village." Poo informed them.<br> "Yeah, let's get moving! We've wasted enough time already!" Ness agreed, leading the team to the cave leading to Peaceful Rest Valley.<p> The blissful sound of waterfalls filled the air. Birds chirped calmly as a background noise to the background noise. The plantlife was rooted and calm, swaying slightly in the breeze created by the falling water.<br> Poo followed the others from a slight distance, taking in the scenery. He had often dreamed of peaceful places like this... Places where he could meditate, where only the sound of his breathing could break the silence. he contemplated returning to this place after the adventure was over.<br> He remembered the look in his grandfather's eyes. He had almost feared letting him go. The old man must have seen something in his meditation about what was to come... and it wasn't good.<br> <i>What could have spooked him so?</i> Poo thought to himself. <i> We have faced challenges and overcome many obstacles in the past... Could this really be more than that?</i><br> He looked up at the group, that were now ahead of him. Tracy was bounding around the group, apparently finding the scene as breathtaking as he had. Ness and Jeff were talking about the possibilities and dangers of the explosion at the front. Paula was silently walking in the center.<br> Poo recognised the concern in her expression immediately. He himself had worn it many times... and seen it on her more. That feeling and knowledge of what was to come seemed to be more present in her than he or Ness. But then, their PSI specialities didn't lie in their telepathy.<br> "Paula!" Poo called over. The blue-eyed female looked round, the concern turning toward her Royal friend.<br> She dropped back and began to walk beside him. "You sense it too, don't you?" She stated immediately.<br> Poo couldn't lie. He didn't know what to expect at all. "Actually, I cannot sense anything. But apparently my grandfather could. I have only that to work on."<br> "Oh." Was all Paula could say. She looked toward the ground worriedly.<br> "Even if what is ahead of us is a challenge, we shall overcome it. We must have faith in ourselves, for if we do not believe in ourselves, who else can believe in us?" Poo told her, his words of wisdom sparking instantly.<br> Paula looked up and smiled slightly, though her mood didn't match it. "I have faith that we can overcome the challenge, but..." She trailed off, looking toward Ness, Jeff and Tracy, who had apperently stopped to wait for them. They had fallen a little too far behind.<br> "Hurry up, you two, we don't have all day!" Ness yelled out. He then turned to Jeff, who had just opened his mouth to comment. "Say nothing."<br> Paula and Poo began jogging to reach the group again. When they were back together, the journey continued.<br> "We'll talk more later." Paula whispered to Poo, then joined Ness, clinging to his arm. Jeff dropped back to give them space.<br> Poo frowned and looked back at the vallew. Despite all that had happened, its silence and solitude had remained. It told him nothing of the dangers they were likely to face.<br> <i>I sometimes wish that peace were not confined to this valley.</i> Poo thought with a sigh. <i>Then perhaps things would have a lot smoother edges.</i><p> To be continued...<p><p> </BODY> </HTML>