FicWad

“Mama!” a young, small Lupe cried, as she and her small tiki raft were swept away from the shore stealthily.
“Nessime!” Her mother bellowed from her spot on the sand, waving her arms around drastically and calling for help. With all her might, Nessime attempted to over-run the current with her hurried paddling, but to no avail. She slumped down onto her hard raft wood and let out a sigh.
“Who will save me now?” She mumbled to herself, a small tear rolling down her cheek. Nessime sat there for what felt like hours, but in reality could have been no more than five minutes. Suddenly a huge disturbance occurred under the glassy waters of the sea, a faint rumble could be heard beneath the raft, a large whirlpool rose up and swallowed the humble raft and its occupant whole, the world spun in the small Lupes eyes as she plunged deep into the depths of the waters. She scrabbled frantically at the water to reach the surface, but it was too far away, she struggled to breath, was this the end?
As if on cue, a figure came nearer from the distance, it was a maraquan Draik.
“I am Craig.” He spoke, then reaching into his jacket pocket he brought out a large, solidified starfish on a string. “Take this necklace, it will enable you to breath down here.” He explained, before swimming off once more into the distance.
Nessime hastily threw the necklace over her head so it rested around her neck and instant relief flowed through her body, she could breath once again.
From below there was an eerie tinge of blue glowing, the light beckoned exploration, Nessime kicked her legs and circled her arms in the direction of the light, after a few minutes of strenuous exercise, she came across the source of the light, it was a small, blue gem, it gleamed even in the dim glow, Nessime twiddled it in between her fingers, before placeing it in her pockets and continuing on her search.
Her surroundings were small huts, in an underwater village, there were market stalls set out and doors were wide open, on closer inspection, there were plates of food set out on the tables of a few homes, and some chairs were overtoplled on the floor. The whole village was completely deserted, though, not a single person in sight.
“These people must have left in an awful hurry…” Nessime mused to herself. Wondering how as she continued her search, looking all around the village. Soon she came to a deep cavern in the floor, she swam towards it, inside nothing could be seen, the pitch darkness overwhelmed everything. Most people would be scared at this point, but for an adventurous Lupe like Nessmie, this was another chance to have fun. She ventured deeper into the cavern, the dim glow of the gem in her pocket illuminating a few meters ahead of her. She continued on, deeper and deeper, twisting and turning in the water.
She planted her feet on the ground, feeling a bit squishy, she assumed it was the sand beneath her feet, and began to walk around the cavern. A sharp movement beneath her feet caused her to turn quickly and gaze around the room, suddenly the floor beneath her began to shift, she toppled over onto her back and squirmed, a huge tentacle appeared out of nowhere and bashed Nessime on the head, causing her to gasp out in pain. She swam speedily out of the cave and through the deserted village, she turned to face her opponent and came face to face with a colossal squid, its beady eyes staring sharply into her own. She let out a shriek of terror and began to speed up her pace, without even looking behind her she could tell that the creature was fast advancing towards her, with one large swing of its tentacle the whole village was left in wreckage, Nessmie lay strewn within the debris, motionless, suddenly the blue gem in her pocket illuminated dazzlingly, rising up into the air and returning to its rightful place in the centre of the starfish necklace, suddenly the whole ocean was filled with its bright glow. A figure could be seen making its steady pace through the debris. It was the legendary statue! It had moved from its fixed position in the depths of Maraqua and was standing tall, marching towards the scene of terror. Hands outstretched towards the gem. The statue of the woman was beautiful as it bathed in the blue tinged light. The necklace grew ever brighter as she neared. She turned to face the giant squid.
“Be gone!” She bellowed, casting a strong blow of power through the air, blasting the squid away, the squid retreated hastily to its home in the dark cavern.
“It’s okay, I’m here.” She soothed, as she lifted Nessimes limp body into her concrete arms and swam gracefully away towards a far off place where there would be people to take care of her.
“Woah. She’s waking up!” Cried the voice of a female close to Nessime’s bedside.
“Trudy!” Another scolded, “Be quiet!”
“Sorry Zoey…”
“Anyway, where’s Tina? I though she was only going to get help from Craig…”
“I’m sure she’ll be back soon, Briley.”
Nessime’s eyes fluttered open as she met the concerned looks of 4 other people, leaning over her and looking at her in bewilderment.
“You okay, girl?” Asked Trudy, her dark hair obscuring her vision slightly.
“Y-yeah, I guess.” Nessime replied, her throat felt dry although they were underwater. Suddenly the door swung open and Tina and Craig bustled in.
“Hey, guys!” Craig smiled, then walking quickly over to Nessime’s bedside. He looked her up and down, then his hands suddenly came to rest on the Starfish necklace around her neck.
“So.. The legend is true…” He muttered, tracing his fingertips over the bumps and crevices of the necklace. He then gazed up at the looks of confusion bore on each persons face. “Allow me to explain”
He explained that the necklace had once belonged to the great statue that lay in Maraqua, the owner had once been a great and powerful water spirit, Yarina. The necklace had been swiped by pirates many years ago, at which point she turned into concrete, ending her reign of peaceful bliss among the creatures of the ocean. When and if the necklace was activated Yarina would once again turn to her living form and defend the owner of the necklace in their direst times of need, she would forever remain in their ownership.
“So.. this is Yarina’s?” Nessime asked.
“Yes.” Craig replied softly to the young Lupe.
“Will you return it to her?” Nessmie requested.
“Yes.” was the answer.
Once again the seas of Neopia were returned to their blissful state, Nessmie was happily returned to her mother and the tribe of Darkave continued to do what it does best, save the underwater realms of Maraqua.