Croc Fanfic

[Tyguy]

Hi, everyone. I've decided to start to try to write a Croc fanfic. I suppose if it is not that good, I don't have to write anymore of it, right? Well, tell me what you think!
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PROLOGUE

The Gobbos were a small, furry people. They almost resembled guinea pigs, but larger and cuter. Their fur was normally brown, and their eyes were very big. They had tails on their behinds with a small furry poof right at the end. Gobbos were kind and generous and rather smart, if not a bit helpless and babylike. They inhabited a group of islands known as the Gobbo Archipelago. The archipelago was made up of four islands; first Forest Island, and then Ice Island. Forest Island, true to its name, was full of flowers, trees and other plants and animals. Ice Island was snowy, cold and icy. The temperature there always hovered just above freezing to provide the perfect environment for snowman, snowfort and snowball building, along with winter sports like skiing and sledding. After Ice Island came Desert Island, and then Castle Island. Desert Island was barren, dusty and dry, but at the same time very lively and beautiful. The local residents threw parties often, and the Desert Island was known for its sunsets. Castle Island was the last island, and true to its name, it was nothing but a landmass large enough to be entirely drowned under a dark castle. The capital of the Gobbo Archipelago was Forest Island. Forest Island was the place where the ruler resided. His name was King Rufus.

King Rufus did like going for a walk down to the shore in the mornings. It was so calm, and with the red sparkle of the rising sun on the rippling water, sometimes he thought it was the only thing that kept him sane these days. Ruling the Gobbo Archipelago was very trying. He recently had had to banish the very last of the Dantinis down to Castle Island, the last available island in the archipelago and now a prison for all of the Dantinis. Those particular Dantinis had been wreaking havoc on Ice Island, jumping out of Gobbos' closets at night, scaring them silly. Rufus sighed, and focused his gaze the rippling water. Instead of the usual gentle waves he was used to, something small and black broke through the water. It was heading for shore. Rufus quickly stood up. The little black thing appeared to be a tiny boat. He turned around and yelled for some Gobbos to help him investigate. King Rufus thought that this may be Dantinis coming back for revenge. About five or so Gobbos hopped over a rock, just as the tiny boat hit shore. When it did this, it flipped around. A pair of tiny blue eyes peered out from under a homemade blanket. “It's a crocodile,” King Rufus said, surprised. The only crocodiles he had ever heard of inhabited an island very far away. He didn't even know where it was.

The tiny crocodile stretched out his arms, yearning to be held. King Rufus picked him up, but quickly set him back down on the ground behind him. The other Gobbos gasped in fright, fearing the small crocodile might hurt them. To them, this new baby crocodile was nearly as frightening as the Dantinis! The tiny crocodile began to whimper, then to scream. A few Gobbos ran away in fright, worried for their lives. But Rufus didn't care. He just knew, right then and there, that he had fallen in love with this little creature. He wanted nothing but to raise him as his own.

[Tyguy]

Just to let you know:
A glitterbird is a magical bird that emits sparkles (Beany Bird)
Tickle tag is a game played by gobbos. The one who is 'It' runs away from everyone else. Once he is caught, he is tickled by everyone until he either begs them to stop, pushes them away, passes out or wets himself.
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A DAY AT SEA

“No, see! I'm taller than you!” Croc said defiantly, placing his hand on the top of his head and bringing to hover over Oshie's head. “Just barely!” Oshie protested. “Besides, I'm stronger than you!”

“Nuh-Uh!”

“Yuh-Huh! I bet I could beat you at a tickle tag, too!”

“You're on!”

All the gobbos grew to love the little crocodile, despite their original feelings of terror and worry. They had even given him a name. They named him Croc.

The one vegetable on the island that all of the gobbos seemed to hate was peas. In fact, the hated them so much that instead of calling them 'peas' they called them “Yucky little mushy green balls that taste yucky” for short. When Croc was still just a baby, Rufus had unintentionally left him near a patch of peas while picking dandelions. When Rufus got back, all of the pea pods were completely empty, and Croc's face was smeared with smelly green paste. The gobbos soon became ecstatic that they had a way to rid themselves of the dreaded peas, but exactly the opposite happened. Peas became Croc's main diet, and as long as he was on the island, new peas would have to be grown. The gobbos were very happy to grow the peas if it made Croc happy, though.

King Rufus also feared the Dantinis coming. He worried that without proper training, Croc would be completely helpless to any attacks. So he enlisted Croc in lessons to learn the Gobbo's own style of martial arts, taught by none other than Rufus himself. Croc and some little gobbos went down into the center of Gobbo Valley to be trained every day. Croc met his best friend one day in training. His name was Oshie.

Oshie was a gobbo with bright gold eyes. He and his mother and father lived high up on a hill above Gobbo Valley and on top of their hill was the prettiest garden you can imagine. There were sunflowers and poppies and lilac trees and butterfly bushes and pansies and pretty little pink flowers that smelled amazing but nobody knew exactly what they were. But the garden wasn't just for looks. It was very useful, also. Oshie and his parents grew vegetables and herbs, and on the top of an enormous oak tree was Croc and Oshie's very own tree house.

When you got inside, you could see all of Forest Island, but you could also see the beginning of Ice Island on the horizon. Croc and Oshie had a small window box hanging down out of the tree house window that they grew peas and tummyfruit in. While all gobbos hated peas, they loved tummyfruit. Tummyfruit was a small pinkish purple berry that tasted of liquorice.

The inside of the tree house was covered with pillows that came from King Rufus' palace (Rufus had so many, Croc didn't think he'd mind), pictures that Croc and Oshie had both drawn with violet crayons, little toys and strange things that they had found around the island, such as a string of pearls, a little stone action figure with strange markings on it and a potted plant with red leaves and a swirly stem. Oshie's father had even installed a small wood-burning stove into the place with a metal stovepipe pointing from the roof. One one shelf Croc and Oshie kept their favorite snack foods and drinks, like crumble crackers and tummyfruit juice.

“Wow, Croc! Look at this!” Oshie exclaimed, pointing out of the window. “The moon is already rising!” And indeed it was. Although sunset was just beginning, the silver moonlight already sparkled on the water below. The rainbow that hung over the island began to fade, then the blue sky itself faded into red. A flock of glitterbirds soared over the tree house, then fluttered down to land in the branches of the old oak to roost for the night. One glitterbird in particular perched on the windowsill, peering curiously inside the tree house. She was yellow with silver wings. “Hello!” Croc said cheerfully to the little bird. “Hi,” the bird chirped. She fluttered to the floor of the tree house.

“My name is Croc, and this is Oshie,” Croc said, pointing first to himself and then to Oshie.

“You're a funny little gobbo, aren't you?” The bird chittered. “My name is Beany.”

Croc nodded. “I like that name. You're a glitterbird, aren't you?”

“Most definitely!” The little bird replied. Distant thunder boomed from over the horizon. “ooh, it' gonna be a doozy tonight!” Beany chirped in her chipper voice. She cocked her head to the side.

“I like you guys. Can I roost in here tonight?”

Oshie opened his mouth to say something, but a huge thunderclap interrupted him. A gust of wind rattled the huge oak tree. Beany tensed. “This is even worse then I would have thought.”

“Can we go down now?” Oshie asked shrilly.

But before any of them could act, one massive gust blew the tree to the side, twisting a branch and tearing off the rope ladder.

“Or we can wait the storm out in here,” Beany finished. “I just hope we make it...”




Croc, Oshie and Beany got no sleep that night. How could they, stranded in tree house a hundred feet off the ground in the middle of a horrendous thunderstorm? They tried to wait it out, but the storm did not even falter. It went as strong as ever. Croc sat in a chair in the corner, Beany rested on a fluffy pillow with golden tassels and Oshie was busy trying to find a way to escape. A bolt of lightning struck the other side of the island, sending debris flying. Beany shivered.

“I worry about the other birds out there,” Beany said nervously. “I hope they'll be alright.”

A strong blast of wind shook the tree and rattled the tree house. Croc gazed out of the window at the horrific scene below him. The houses in the Gobbo Valley were nearly blown over. Some were just gone. Entire trees the size of Oshie's oak tree had been wrenched from the ground and blown into the sea.

“I don't like this,” Croc said anxiously. “I can't believe this tree hasn't blown over.”

Oshie stopped suddenly. “Did you hear that, you guys?” Oshie asked, panicked. Croc and Beany looked at each other. “No,” Croc said slowly. “What did you hear?”

Oshie didn't even have the time to respond. A huge snapping sound pierced the air from below the tree house. The house shook a little, then unsteadily swayed to one side with the wind.

“That's what I heard!” Oshie shouted. He was hanging out the window, gazing at the branches nailed to the bottom of the tree house for support. “The branches are breaking. We might actually fall!” And it seemed that way too. The torrents of rain beat at the top of the tree house. The wind was strong enough to be typhoon-worthy and slowly, one by one, the branches at the bottom of the tree house wrenched themselves free. Croc, Oshie, and Beany were even more panicked when they realized there was only one branch left to support them.

The entire tree house started to swing around to one side. Croc gazed, panic stricken, through the other window that faced the tree itself. “We're too heavy! Were breaking the branch. It's barely hanging on to the trunk!” The branch creaked and cracked until it couldn't hold up the weight. It snapped one final time before it began to swing downward and inward. After a few seconds the tip touched the ground and stopped the branch from swinging any further. The tree house was now held at a diagonal slant, facing downwards towards a steep precipice that led to the ocean below. “Oh my gosh!” Beany squealed. “We're gonna fall!” A few more nails loosened from the bottom of the tree house. Another plank snapped.

“My life is flashing before my eyes,” Beany professed.

With one enormous SNAP!, the tree house lurched downwards and freed itself from the twisted branch. “Save yourself, Beany!” Croc screamed. “You can fly away!!”

“I can't fly through this weather! Are you crazy?!”

The entire house scraped against the the rough bark as it slid down the massive branch. The it came to the end of the branch and went sailing over the precipice.

“Brace for impact!” Oshie screamed. For a moment, the house tipped upwards as it fell, and Croc could see King Rufus' Palace which he had grown up in and was sure he would never see again. But then that moment was over, and the tree house hit the water.

A wave of water crashed through the open window. “Aughh! For the love of mustard!” Oshie cried, sopping. Croc flung open the door. The entire tree house was floating on the dark water and drifting away from the island rather quickly. “Close the door, Croc! You're letting the water in. Yuck!” Croc slowly closed the door, then whirled around to face the others. “We need to paddle back! Hurry, get something to paddle with!”

"Okay. Hey Oshie! Come over here!"

“Well, you are a glitterbird!” Oshie started, stepping back. “Couldn't you use your magic to drag us back?”

Beany sighed. “I can't. Well, not yet. I'm still very young and I'm not very powerful yet. In fact, all I can do is make stupid sparkles.” She furrowed her brow. “Wait another five or six years, then I could probably drag us back.”

“Oh.”

They sat in silence, listening to the lapping of the waves and completely helpless of the inevitable.

Oshie sighed. “Well, the tree house seems to be holding, and we seem to be safe for now. I suggest we all get some sleep. It's the best thing we can do.”

Beany yawned. “Good idea. I'm pooped. Missed my nap today, you know.”

Oshie stared through the window.

“Holy patzu! Look! The storm totally vanished.” Croc pushed next to him and Beany fluttered to the window sill.

A sick feeling flooded Croc's stomach.

“He was right!” Beany exclaimed. “It almost looks like the storm never was there.”

“You know what else isn't there?” Croc asked.

“Er...what?”

“The island. Forest Island. I don't see it anywhere.”

Beany let out a funny little shriek. “Did the storm destroy it?!”

Croc stiffened. “I doubt it. Most likely we're just...lost.”

The trio sat in despair, with nothing to console them but the rocking of the tree house on the water.








For the next day and a half, the three friends ate only crumble crackers, tummyfruit juice and whatever there was in the windowbox. They slept at night, but the relentless rocking of the tree house always woke them up from naps. So they were a teense grumpy.

They soon became bored, and began to preoccupy their time playing tickle tag. But tickle tag was too easy in a small enclosed area like the tree house. The 'It' person had no chance of winning. So they got bored with that too, and instead they began to mess with anything and everything they could find. A small stone action figure became Croc, Oshie decided that a rock that shone with all the colors of the rainbow was him, and Beany played as one of her own yellow feathers.

“Watch out, Oshie! My guy is gonna crush your rock!”

“That's what YOU think, Croc! See, my rock has a mystical power and it-”

“And then my guy swooped down and picked up Croc and threw him all the way across the canyon!”

“Hey, that's not fair!”

“Is too!”

And so it went until late in the afternoon. They had to stop soon after because of the horrible afternoon heat. Croc felt like it would kill him. He went to the window, and when he saw the cool sparkling water he got a great idea.

“Hey guys! Wanna go for a swim? The water looks great!”

Beany turned to stare at him. “You guys go ahead. Glitterbirds aren't meant to swim.”

Croc turned and opened the door.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

In the water in front of him stood a massive blue Dantini, easily six or seven stories high. The water only reached his waist.

“Lower me, Mungo,” the voice sounded again. As Mungo's gigantic hand lowered, Croc realized that it wasn't the enormous Dantini speaking. There was a green Dantini standing atop Mungo's hand. He stood four feet or so above an average-sized Dantini and wore metal chain mail. Two large shoulder pads with long spikes protruding from their metal surface were strapped on his shoulders. One hand seemed to be made entirely out of iron, while the other looked normal. He had on purple pants and a red and green striped mohawk plumed above his otherwise bald head.

He stared viciously into the tree house. “Oh, my. What rarities! We never see gobbos this far out.” the horrible Dantini snarled.

“Let us go, dumb Dantini!” Oshie shouted. The Dantini in question just smirked at him. “You are at a disadvantage. I know you are a Gobbo, I needn't know more, but you do not know who I am.” He puffed out his chest. “I am the great and sinister Baron Dante, uniter and leader of all Dantinis, master sorcerer, and hater of all Gobbokind.” He glanced at Croc and Beany. “And whatever you two are.”

Beany harrumphed.

Mungo waded onto the shore of a dark and stormy island. He gently set down the tree house onto the sand. Baron Dante maintained his place on Mungo's palm.

“I assume you envy my enormous henchman? His full title is Mungo the Gimungo, but I prefer to simply call him Mungo. I found him, homeless, on the Mainland and I offered him a job. He's actually almost as tall as my castle; he sleeps in the ocean with his head on the beach most nights.”

Mungo snorted in resentment.

“Mungo, take the prisoners up to the Tower of Power. We'll keep them there until we can use them as ransom.”

“Ransom?” Croc yelled.

Dante turned his gaze to him, then smiled, revealing a toothless mouth.

“Yes, ransom. For all of Gobbo Archipelago. Consider yourselves lucky; not everyone gets to be the reason gobbos went extinct!”

Croc's stomach lurched as the tree house was lifted by Mungo.

Mungo only had to walk a few steps before he got to the Tower of Power on the other side of the island. “Stay right there,” Mungo roared.

“Beany, fly away,” Croc urged. “You can fly to Forest Island; just fly past Desert Island and keep on going.” He pointed to the island on the horizon.

“Croc's right,” Oshie consented. “You could tell King Rufus where we are. I'm sure he'll send help.”

Beany sighed. “Okay. Be safe.” She fluttered out the window, flying towards Forest Island. She flew right behind the blue giant's head as he looked out to sea.

“Wow! Mungo totally didn't see her leave!” Croc laughed. Oshie giggled.

Mungo peeped into the tree house, his humongous nose filling most of the window. “You are Master Dante's prisoners now!” He chortled.

Oshie's eyes grew wide as he had a brilliant idea. He scampered over to the wall and pulled open a hidden cupboard that Croc didn't previously know about. Inside were glass bottles of all sizes. They all had large, rounded bottoms and long, narrow necks. Inside were liquids of all kinds. Red, gold, pink, blue, green, violet. Some seemed to sparkle, some seemed to be sludge. “Aha!” Oshie whispered softly.

“What are you doing?” Mungo roared. Oshie pulled out a moderate sized glass bottle with baby blue liquid inside. He hurled it at Mungo's gigantic nose. The blue liquid splashed all over his face, and showers of magic glitter rained down his enormous body. Mungo blinked. “What was that for?”

Suddenly Mungo shrank. “Hey!” He said, astonished. Then he shrank again. He was no longer as high as the tree house. And he wasn't growing smaller steadily; instead he would shrink a whole bunch all of the sudden, then stop, then shrink again. It was sort of like shrink spurts instead of growth spurts. Pretty soon Oshie and Croc had to lean out the window to see him. Within minutes he was no taller than Baron Dante, then half his size. He stopped shrinking when he was shorter than Croc's knee. He couldn't be more than four inches tall! Croc turned to stare at his friend. Oshie winked. “Yes, my parents are potion masters. I had a secret stash of potions I had learned to make myself. I knew they'd come in handy someday!” Oshie stared down at the blue speck scuttling through the sand. “I gave him a mega mega mega overdose of shrinkage potion.”

Croc stared at Oshie. “Will it ever wear off?”

Oshie laughed. “Maybe in a few months!”

Something sparkling and flashing over the horizon caught Croc's eye. “A flock of glitterbirds! Beany brought a whole flock of glitterbirds!” Croc squealed, ecstatic.

“Looks like we're saved.” Oshie observed.

“Yes. We're saved.”

[Forte Wily]

Haha, this is great, loving it. It's very much in the spirit of the games, methinks. Do write more, please.

[Tyguy]

Er... As you've probably noticed, I do not have a name for this story. I have no idea what to name it, and I probably will not come up with a good name anytime soon. Maybe possibly someone would have an idea for a name. . . If you have an idea, could you share it?
Thanks in advance!

[Forte Wily]

I've never been all that good at names, sorry.

[Tyguy]

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Beany had flown back to Forest Island as fast as her feathers could take her. When she arrived, she was greeted by many sad Gobbos, mourning the deaths of the three children. Everyone believed that Croc, Oshie and Beany had perished in the storm, and they were overjoyed to hear that they had survived.

When Beany got to King Rufus's palace, he too was happy and relieved to hear that they survived. He had sent a flock of glitterbirds to Castle Island to retrieve the tree house, Croc and Oshie. The birds arrived quickly, easily took ahold of the house and began to pull it away, back towards Forest Island.

“There they go,” Baron Dante said, trembling with rage. He watched the entire scene from a window in his castle. A dark glitterbird fluttered down onto his shoulder.

“Don't worry, your Wickedness,” the black glitterbird soothed. “I'm sure that we will be able to think up a brand new plan, foolproof, better than any plan the world has ever seen!”

Baron Dante cleared his throat. “Don't try to comfort me, Sinistrox” he said growling, “It was your fault that they escaped in the first place. However, if you're thinking what I'm thinking, we should probably plot another plot.”

Sinistrox grinned evilly. “And I know just what to do...”

Croc and Oshie felt the clump! Of the tree house hitting ground. Croc turned to Oshie and grinned. “We're here!” he said, excited.

Oshie pushed open the wooden door and together they stepped outside onto the main plaza of Gobbo Valley. Upon seeing the glitterbird flock returning with the three lost friends, a small clump of excited gobbos pushed their way around them. Beany fluttered down onto the top of Oshie's head.

“Wow! They're back!” shouted one Gobbo. “Someone get King Rufus!” yelled another. “Go get Oshie's parents!” Called a small Gobbo. A few Gobbos broke away from the crowd to do just this. The village bell began to toll to announce the return of the missing kids. “We're famous,” muttered Beany. Oshie glanced up at her. “You bet we are!” He grinned.

Later that night, Oshie and his parents invited Croc and King Rufus up for a picnic. After eating their full of tummyfruit jam, luminous pumpkin pie and a special bowl of peas just for Croc, the group watched the sunset. Once a year, the setting sun turned the sky bright green instead of red for one hour. The night after the great sunset was a holiday for all gobbos. No one knew exactly what the celebration was about, just that it was huge and wonderful. Gobbos from many different islands came to Forest Island to celebrate, some came from very far away islands that were not in the Gobbo Archipelago. All of the gobbos danced and partied all night, under the light of a blue moon. The night after the great green sunset, the sky held a luminous azure moon that shone a silvery blue light down upon Forest Island.

Croc lay on the picnic blanket, staring up at the bizarre green sky. A few bright stars began to twinkle through the dark mossy color. To his left, King Rufus was snoring softly. Down in Gobbo Valley, a few gobbos began to hang lanterns full of crushed glow-fungi, a mushroom that glowed bright green at night, and squashed luminous pumpkin, a white-glowing delicacy grown only on a distant island in perpetual night. Croc scooted back to the huge oak tree. Oshie scooted beside him.

“This is going to be the best party ever!” Oshie whispered. “Especially because my parents agreed that I'm old enough to stay up late tonight.”

Croc stared at the sparkling green ocean waves.

“Croc? Hello! I can stay up late tonight! We can party until dawn!”

Croc jumped up.

“Oshie, look! The boats are here! Let's go meet them!”

Oshie looked down at the water. “Hey, yeah! I've never met any of these foreign Gobbos before!”

A few moments later, King Rufus woke with a start. “Croc?” He croaked.

Croc and Oshie were out of earshot, down at the docks waiting for the boats.

Rufus chuckled. “Those boys certainly like going on adventures...” Rufus drifted back to sleep.

Croc and Oshie ran down to the end of the docks, alerting others of the boat's arrival on their way. The approaching vessel was made of pitch black wood. The fancy boat was not only studded with jewels, but covered with intricate paintings and carvings.

“Someone get King Rufus!” One Gobbo frantically cried. “Croc, will you?”

“Sure,” Croc said, disappointedly. He had wanted to see the ship arrive.

“I'll come with you,” Oshie quickly volunteered. Together they ran up the steep path to Oshie's garden. “Daddy, daddy, wake up!” Croc urged the sleeping form of King Rufus.

“King Rufus, wake up!” Oshie shouted. Rufus stirred and sat up.

“What's all the commotion about?” He asked groggily.

“Your Majesty, the ships have arrived!”

King Rufus smiled. “No need to call me Majesty, Oshie. I'm about as majestic as pre-cooked ham.” Rufus chucked to himself. “Would you boys like to come meet the arrivals? There's sure to be some interesting characters among them.”

Croc and Oshie exchanged excited glances. “Can we?” Croc asked.

“Of course!” Rufus replied. “Follow me to the docks.”

Croc and Oshie pulled as hard as they could to bring to black boat alongside the docks. A couple of Gobbos helped to tie the boat to the dock. Once the boat was secure, two curious looking Gobbos emerged. They both wore black and white patterned veils over their faces. They lifted their veils to reveal startlingly white fur. Croc glanced up at King Rufus with a questioning look on his face. Rufus just winked at him.

“The taller of the two white Gobbos began to speak. “Hello, Rufus. I'm confident you remember me?”

Rufus bowed slightly. “Of course, Queen Layla. An honor to have you here tonight.”

Queen Layla nodded. “Good. Let me introduce my daughter, Princess Kaia.”

Once again, Rufus bowed slightly. “An honor, young Kaia.”

Kaia inclined her head slightly, but it was obvious that she was bored.

Kaia's mother turned her attention to King Rufus. “What a party, Rufus! I see that the blue moon is rising. No better time to have a party!” Croc turned his attention to the east horizon. Sure enough, a sliver of silvery blue could be seen rising above the hilltops.

“Beautiful indeed,” King Rufus murmured.

The pure white Gobbo began to stare at Croc curiously.

“And who is this little fellow, Rufus? Yes, the reptilian one.”

Croc shifted nervously.

“Oh, this cute little fella is mine. I call him Croc.”

Croc blushed and began to stare at his feet.

“Oh, yours indeed? You must have some interesting recessive genes, Rufus.”

Rufus chuckled. “It's a little bit complicated. I'll tell you later.”

Kaia's mother bent down to look Croc in the eye. “Hello, Croc! It is a pleasure meeting a prince! You may call me Queen Layla. I rule over Midnight Island.”

Croc raised an eyebrow.

Layla laughed. “Yes, it is very distant. Very far from Gobbo Archipelago. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of us!”

Queen Layla regained her serious expression. “Our island's very beautiful. I should bring you to visit us sometime.”

Rufus placed his hands on Croc shoulders. “I'm sure we'd like a visit to Midnight Island very much sometime. Oh, look! There's another boat coming in. Oshie, Croc, help me with this one, will you?”

“Yeah, 'course.” Croc said.

“Sure, King Rufus!” Oshie responded.

“Me and my daughter will organize the decorations,” Queen Layla volunteered.

As Queen Layla strode away, Croc and Oshie helped pull in more boats. Most boats contained normal brown Gobbos from other islands in the Gobbo Archipelago, but some visitors obviously came from far away places, like Queen Layla and Princess Kaia had.

A few of the most interesting were the Gobbos that wore tie-dyed bandannas and gold necklaces with precious stones arranged in the red to violet pattern. There were a few Gobbos that came in a hollowed out palm trunk who wore grass skirts and flowers behind their ears. Some Gobbos floated from deep under the sea inside huge air bubbles that made a funny noise when they hit the surface and popped.

After all of the Gobbos arrived, some exotic glitterbirds began flocking to Forest Island. There were white glitterbirds, much like the white Gobbos from Midnight Island. There were gold glitterbirds, rainbow glitterbirds, and even a few transparent glitterbirds.

Many Gobbos began making last minute, finishing touches to the party. The Gobbos with rainbow scarves hung jars of lightning bugs, each bug shining a different color of the rainbow. They also set up a stand to sell more jars of rainbow bugs to other party goers. They also brought crystals to place in every nook and cranny of the cliff face that surrounded Gobbo Valley. The crystals shone dimly, lighting the rock wall. They set up another stand to sell crystals to everyone. The Gobbos from the tropical island far out at sea brought potted tropical plants to decorate the party even further and to sell. And everybody brought food!

After all the party preparations were complete and all the visitors had arrived, King Rufus gathered them all to the main plaza of Gobbo Valley. Rufus himself stood behind a wooden podium on a raised platform.

“Hello everybody! I'm so glad you could all make it. This party is sure to be an excellent one! Oh, and the person with the boat called S.S. Chili Pepper, you left your lanterns on.”

A Desert Islander quietly scooted towards the dock.

“And now, without further ado, let's start the party!” Rufus cheered.

Everybody began to cheer and to rush towards the party.

The huge fireworks that marked the beginning of the party shot up in to the air. A loud boom resonated around Gobbo Valley. Music started. Lights shone. Gobbos lined up for food.

“Wow, what do we do first?” Oshie asked eagerly.

Croc eyed the crowd. “How about food?”

“Nah, the line's too long.”

“Dancing?”

“We'd get squished!”

“Watch a play?”

“Too boring!”

“Buy some stuff?”

“Hey, yeah! I just got my allowance, too!”

So Croc and Oshie ran back to their homes to retrieve their money.

When they met up again, they sat down facing each other to count the little crystals that the Gobbos used as currency.

“I've got ninety-two crystals. How many crystals do you have?”

“One hundred and three.”

Oshie nodded. “Let's go buy some stuff!”

The two boys bought one jar of rainbow bugs each and two crystals each. Oshie bought a tropical plant and some potion ingredients. Croc bought a pot of sparkling white flowers growing in short black grass. The flowers lit up and twinkled every few seconds. Croc also bought a round, glass ball called the 'Bonsai Coral Ball' that had live, tiny coral and minuscule colorful fish living inside. They both pooled their money to buy a dream catcher with glitterbird feathers and tiny, inlaid crystals. After they had no money left, they traded anything they could find in order to get some more neat things. Croc traded some seeds for a Venus Flytrap and Oshie bartered for a stone figure with glowing white lines on it. At last, their shopping spree was over. Croc and Oshie sat down in the grass to examine their purchases.

King Rufus emerged from his palace. Where were Oshie and Croc? He searched the food line, the dancing square, Oshie's garden and even the lagoon. He was about to make an announcement to call Croc and Oshie to him when he scanned Gobbo Valley again. There they were! Away from the party, just sitting in the grass with a plethora of purchased goods. He walked over to them.

“Croc! Oshie! Come with me! I have a surprise for you.”

Croc and Oshie jumped up. “Where?” They both cried. Rufus smiled.

“In my palace. Follow me.”

King Rufus walked a few steps behind the excited Croc and Oshie. As they chattered, Rufus peered into a cloth sack he was carrying. Inside lay a simple, brown backpack with a single gold buckle.

All in good time, Rufus thought to himself. All in good time.

[SoniCroc]

I just read chapters 1-4 (Ow, my eyes are hurting!). I think you did a great job! You definitely wrote this in the spirit of Croc. I'll probably read Chapter 5 when my eyes recover...

[Tyguy]

WONDERS OF A ROYAL ABODE

King Rufus opened the big stained glass double doors that served as an entrance to Rufus's palace. Inside the twin doors was the palace lobby, where chairs were placed along the walls and a circular help desk where a hired Gobbo usually sat in the center. The only source of light were the lamps along the walls that were burning low, and the posh crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling only faintly glowed because it was made of the same crystals that the rainbow Gobbos had brought and Croc and Oshie had bought.

“Here, take this,” said Rufus, handing Croc and Oshie a rolled up piece of parchment.

“I've a feeling you'll be needing it. Well, I need to skedaddle. My work here is done, and this puzzle is for you two.” Rufus exited through the twin glass doors. Croc looked over at Oshie.

“Puzzle? What puzzle? I don't see a puzzle.” The duo looked around for a jigsaw puzzle, but then Croc stopped. “Wait. When dad said puzzle, I bet he meant a treasure hunt. That's why he gave us the parchment!”

Oshie looked down. “Oh yeah. I knew that.”

Croc pulled the neatly tied scarlet ribbon which quickly undid itself. He unrolled the parchment and held it up for Oshie to see.



Congratulations

You've taken my challenge

Don't be fooled

It's really quite hard

You might be scarred

forever and ever for life

Croc and Oshie exchanged glances.

“That's horrible!”

“Awful!”

“Ugly!”

“Terrible!”

“Ghastly!”

“My dad is probably the worst rhymer in history!”

“Is there more?”

“Yeah, this looks like the part where he rhymes out the location of the next clue.”

Oshie shivered. “Why must he rhyme?”





Croc and Oshie pulled up a couple of chairs and sat under the crystal chandelier to read the rest of the puzzle.

So you think you can beat this puzzle, no doubt?

The fish in the aquarium may help you out!

“'The fish in the aquarium?'” Oshie read. “What fish? What aquarium?”

Croc, however, was not so confused. “The Aquarium Room on the second floor! I've only been there once, but I think I know the way!”

Once they had run up the stairs, Croc led Oshie around the corner to a door that ordinarily had a gold lock keeping anyone from entering, but the door was unlocked.

Pushing the door open, the two youngsters saw a flight of blue stairs. An almost eerie dark blue light emanated from the doorway.

“Well, up these steps, then,” Croc said with only a tad of nervousness in his voice.

“Croc, are you sure this is the door?”

“Croc furrowed his brow. “No.” He admitted. He quickly began up the stairs so that Oshie wouldn't back out.

Croc slid open the glass trap door that blocked the top of the staircase. Pulling himself up out of the stairway, he gazed in awe at the fish swimming around him.

“Yeah! This is it, Oshie! Come on up!” Croc called down to his friend.”This is the Aquarium Room!”

A few moments later, Oshie's shuffling feet could be heard ascending the staircase. Soon after that, he popped out of the trap door. “Wow Croc! This is so cool!”

And Oshie was right. The aquarium room was made entirely of glass and shaped like half of a bubble. And you were wrong if you thought that there were simply a few fish tanks in the room; in actuality, the Aquarium Room was in the middle of a giant aquarium. Sharks and colorful fish in schools swam around the outside walls of the room. The inside of the Aquarium Room was beautiful as well, with a aqua-colored shag carpet and lots of chairs to pull up and gaze at the fish.

Croc and Oshie searched the whole room, under lampshades, behind cushions, but they could not find a clue. “Hmmm, maybe we're missing something,” Oshie wondered.

Meanwhile, a young purple octopus was drifting along peacefully, when she saw a couple of youngsters in the Aquarium Room. That's when she remembered a mission the king dude had given her in return for some Ginger Soda. Yummy Ginger Soda.

She drifted close to the outsides of the Aquarium Room. She pulled a piece of paper from a tubical sponge, then pressed it against the glass walls so that the youngsters could read it.

“Oshie, look! That squid has the clue!”

Octopus, not squid! She thought resentfully.

The two kids read the clue from inside the glass walls.



Hey kids, check out the King-Sized bedroom

and you're sure to be done with this puzzle soon



“King-Sized Bedroom. Got it,” Croc said. “Thank you, squiddy!” Oshie called out.

Octopus, not 'squiddy'!

“Wait, Oshie! We've got to name her if we want to say goodbye!”

Oh, boy.

“Claire?”

“Velma?”

“How about... Claire?”

“Tula?”

“Chloe?”

“Anastasia?”

“I've got it! Soveena! Soveena the Squid! She looks like a Soveena, doesn't she, Croc?”

“Yeah, that's perfect!” Croc enthused. “Well bye, Soveena the Squid! Thanks for giving us the clue!”

Soveena swam off angrily, which Croc and Oshie both interpreted as 'goodbye!'

All the way back to her home, Soveena was fuming. I'm not a squid.



“I hope this puzzle isn't too long,” Oshie announced as they entered the King-Sized Bedroom. “I want to have time afterwards to party!”
Croc muttered something that sounded like I just wanna go to bed, but Oshie couldn't be sure. As soon as they stepped into the bedroom, the huge ceiling lamps turned on, illuminating the interior of the King-Sized Bedroom. It was a huge circular room with windowpanes all the way around the walls, so it was like one giant window wrapped around. Also wrapped around the room was a giant, circular canopy bed that looked like it had been stretched out and placed along the walls. The center of the room was lower than the outer ring, on which the circular bed rested. On either side of the door were a pair of golden, tasseled ropes next to bunched up, red velvet curtain that rested on the horizontal edges of the windows. In awe, the pair walked forward to a center table, where a single piece of folded parchment lay.
Croc swiped it off of the table.
“What does it say? What does it say?” Oshie asked eagerly.

Well, it's getting late
And I'd really hate
To stay up past my bedtime tonight.
For the sake of all
I think I'll call
This the end, goodnight.

“'Goodnight?' Are we supposed to sleep here?”
Oshie gazed at his surroundings. “If we are, there's no better place to do it.”
Croc yawned. “Or time. Let's get set up.”
They decided that the light of the fireworks and festivities was no good if they wanted their slumber to continue uninterrupted. Running to the door, Oshie jumped up and yanked the tasseled ropes. With a tremendous swoosh, the bunched up curtains sprang forward, continuing to move across the window until the two curtains met up with each other on the opposite side of the room from the door. Because the room was very dark with the lights out, they placed the glowing crystals at various locations around the room that lit up the dark corners with its soft blue light. Placing the rest of their purchases on the table, the duo found a comfortable place in the long canopy bed and snuggled in. At first, they were determined to stay up and talk, but the extremely comfortable King-Sized bed proved to be a powerful sedative, and soon the youngsters drifted into a deep, dream-filled slumber.
Outside, the party was going strong as ever. These parties typically went on until the fireworks ran out, and the fireworks lighters still had tons to haul out of their boats and light. One particular lighter had searched and searched for a firework that would really garner a reaction. In the back of the boat, he saw a huge striped one, nearly as tall as himself. He hauled it to the area set aside for launching fireworks and stuck its long stick far into the ground. Or so he thought. He had really only stuck it a few inches down, just enough for it to stand for the few seconds he needed to light it.
“There she goes!” He shouted. Just before the fuse got the the rocket, the rocket bent over in the dirt. The firework was now bent at such an angle that top of it pointed out across the water. Before this fact could register in rocket lighter's mind, the firework was now well on its way out across the ocean.
Baron Dante swung the black double doors closed and blew out the candles. It was his bedtime. He gazed out the stone arched window, barely glimpsing the full blue moon. He spat. I can't believe those no-good Gobbos celebrate an oddly-colored moon! He thought hatefully to himself. Almost as if punctuating his ridicule, a bright firework flew over the horizon. Just as he was about to make another very rude remark in his head, he noticed that the rocket was not firing up, but flying straight towards the castle. Without hesitation, he pulled the rotted rope that summoned his assistant, the dark glitterbird Sinistrox. As the rocket drew closer, and no glitterbird appeared, Baron Dante became angry. He tugged at the rope until the decomposing thing snapped and lay at his feet. Just as he was about to close the seldom used shutters, the firework burst through the window, striking the Baron's chest, throwing him backwards and continuing to bounce off the walls and around the room. After about thirty seconds of this, it stopped firing and lay on the floor, seeming to be completely dormant. Baron Dante inched closer, preparing to toss it out the window. But the rocket had different plans. Baron Dante succeeded in getting only a few feet from the rocket, he failed in actually getting rid of the rocket. As you are sure to know, rockets have a tendency to explode. I won't go into details. I'll skip telling you how colored sparks flew around, lighting anything they could on fire. Or how badly the Baron's clothes and hair were singed, and how ashes covered everything, including the Baron's skin.
Just as he was about to vow revenge on the Gobbos, the door swung open.
“I believe you rang?” It was Sinistrox.

[Tyguy]

TARA

Croc and Oshie awoke early the next morning. Rather early, in fact. They rushed outside, determined to see the sun rise. They raced out of the palace, tripping now and then, knocking things over.

King Rufus had stayed up very late in the festivities (as he is the king) and had hoped to sleep in until at least lunchtime. But when it was still dark out, he awoke to a great clamor from the hallway. He woke with a scare. “What in the name of all things bright and beautiful is that terrible noise?” He held his blanket up to his eyes. But soon enough, the din retreated, and Rufus slipped back into sleep.

The best place on the island to watch the sunrise was on top of Oshie's hill. The duo climbed straight up the face of the hill (as that was more exciting than walking up the pathway) to the top, where Oshie's garden was. Most of the flowers still had their petals closed as they slept.

“Wow.” said Croc, looking down at Gobbo Valley. “This is also the best place to see sleeping Gobbos.” Indeed, many Gobbos had stayed up too late last night, drinking a new imported drink called Ginger Soda. They had simply passed out on the ground, and there they slept.

So the two friends scrambled everywhere they could on the hill to try and find the maximum sunrise viewing place. They found it on top of a mossy rock. They sat fidgeted and talked while waiting for the sunrise.

“How could you let this happen to me?” Baron Dante angrily growled at Sinistrox for the umpteenth time.

“I-I'm s-so sorry, your E-evilness, but I was wa-washing my jammies, like you asked.”

The Baron squinted at him. “Sinistrox, you know what? You are just not scary enough. Scary people don't wash their pajamas during an assault. And your name is too scary for a pajama washer.”

“No,” Sinistrox whispered. “You don't mean...”

The Baron grinned evilly. “Oh, but I do mean. From now on your name will fit your terror effect. From henceforth, you will be known as Ernie. And take out those plastic fangs.”

“Yes. Sir.” Sinistr-I mean, Ernie muttered.

“Now Ernie, the Gobbo menace will likely attack again today. We must get them first.”

“Huh. Yes sir.”

Back on Forest Island, the boys ran around, either waking or playing pranks on the passed-out Gobbos.

“Good morning starshine!”

“The earth says 'Hello'!”

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!”

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!”

“All aboard to reality!”

“Mm... What a delicious morsel! If it doesn't come to, this could be a great breakfast!”

“Are you gonna make this easy, or do we hafta slap ya?!”

“It seems the patient only has hours to live...go, go have a great end of your life.”

Most rude awakenings were greeted with things like 'What in the name of all creatures great and small are you doing?” Or “Aah! For the love of mustard!!” But some just groaned and rolled over.



Later that afternoon, Croc and Oshie helped themselves to a picnic under the huge oak tree. The sun was shining, and the glitterbirds were singing.

Oshie pulled out his favorite food in the entire world, a pickled garlic sandwich. He bit into it, slowly, savoring it. After a few minutes of these nausea-inducing eating habits, Croc asked “So. Pickled garlic, huh?”

“Mmm hmm. Ambrosia!”

“What's ambrosia?”

“Beats me. My dad called his Ginger Soda ambrosia, so I think it's a good thing.”

“Oh. Uh, Oshie, how did you find out about pickled garlic sandwiches? Did you just run into the kitchen and, uh, put the most disgusting things together to see if you liked it?”

“No. My mom did.”

“Oh. Was she punishing you?”

“No. She just wanted to get rid of all the food grandma keeps sending us.”

“Oh.”

“Hey Croc! Let's search for buried treasure!”

“Yeah! Do you have any shovels?”

“No...but we have these two sporks we brought!”

“On with the digging!”

Needless to say, sporks are terrible eating utensils, let alone shovels, but they only needed to dig a few inches to find their treasure.

“Jeepers, Croc! I found a doorknob!”

“Is there a door connected to it?”

“I dunno. C'mon, help me!”

Sporks in hand, the duo dug around the doorknob to reveal part of a solid wood door painted dark green. After they discovered this, they dug until they uncovered the entire door.

“Wowzers, Croc. Someone buried a door.”

“I wonder if it opens?”

“Hey! Let's try opening it!”

They gripped the doorknob with both of their hands, and started to turn it... but the doorknob wouldn't turn.

Croc sat down in defeat.

“It's no use. It's locked.”

Oshie put his eye to the keyhole and peered through.

“I can't see anything. Croc, where's the key?”

Croc was about to open his mouth to snap “How should I know?” when he remembered Rufus's rather large key collection. “Well, I know where it would be!” Croc shouted, running gleefully down the hill to the palace. Oshie followed because he didn't know what else to do.



“You want to see my collection?” King Rufus asked, puzzled.

“Yeah,” Croc said quickly. “We've always admired it. And besides, we are looking for a key. You know, to open a door we found buried in the ground?”

“Well, I can't say I'm surprised,” Rufus chuckled. “My collection IS quite amazing. All you need is a key to a door in the ground? I've probably got a million of those!” he bragged. A door in the ground was just another way to prove his key collection to be worthy.

The room holding the key collection looked like any other room in the palace, except for a long red curtain covering two of the walls.

“And this,” Rufus said dramatically, “Is the key collection!”

He pulled on a gold tasseled rope and the red curtain was drawn back, revealing hundreds of keys.

Croc stared at it for a minute, then turned to Rufus and said “So where are the keys to the doors in the hills?”

“Well, I have a section of unusual keys. Maybe the key you are looking for is there?”

So there they searched, until Oshie found a key behind all the rest that had a tag tied to it.

“Found it!” He cried. They gathered around the tag to read it. It said,



Here is the key

it is to a door

a door in a hill-hey!

It looks like it is in the floor.

-B.D.



“Whoever this B.D. person is, he is not as good at writing riddles as I am.” Rufus bragged.

Oshie turned to him. “Why didn't you give this to us in the first place?”

Rufus shrugged. “I didn't know it was for a door in a hill!”

“It says clearly that it is for a door in a hill!”

Croc changed the subject. “Who is B.D?”

Again, Rufus shrugged. “Beats me. Bedtime Distress? Belinda Downy? Balloon Discount? Betty Dolores? Baby Dandruff? Barbie Doll?”

They just looked at him.

He shifted uncomfortably, and quickly handed them the key. “Now go and unlock that door...in the...ground... Wait, door in the ground?” But Croc and Oshie were already gone.

He chuckled. “Don't you two stop being adorable!”



Croc and Oshie climbed back up to the top of Oshie's hill, and back to the place where the door was.

Just before they unlocked it, Oshie put his ear to the keyhole. His eyes grew wide. “Croc! I can hear someone singing!” Croc quickly listened too.

“Quick, let's open it!” They stuck the key in the keyhole and turned. The door opened, and for an instant, the singing was louder than ever. Then that instant was over.

Meanwhile, Baron Dante paced in front of a large group of Dantinis that he had called to a meeting, to think up the best possible way to bring about revenge on the poor Gobbos. He was in a walled in courtyard, with dead vegetation along the walls and grass long dead from lack of sunshine under their feet. The perpetually stormy sky raged overhead, and several Dantinis conversed in low voices. Baron Dante turned and glared at the onslaught of Dantinis. “Well?” he demanded. The Dantinis cast their gazes to him. After a moment of awkward silence, one blue Dantini of average height stood up and cleared his throat.

“I propose that we build a really big cork that we could stick in the volcano at the top of Forest Island, and when the pressure builds, the island will explode!” He said dramatically. Baron Dante just stared at him. “You may be a part of the action once you have regained your stature. But until you become about sixteen times taller than you are now, Mungo, I suggest you sit down.” Mungo the Has-Been Gimungo sat down with a huff. One Dantini in a jester suit stood up, nervously. “As you all know, there is an island beyond Forest Island, Marble Island, in the opposite direction from Ice Island, only a little further? Its base is completely hollow. The outside appears intact, but after about one foot of stone, you hit the hollow inside. I propose that we ram something into the outside of the island until we crack through. Then the island itself will sink beneath the waves, and hundreds of Gobbos would be stranded!” The wicked creature rubbed his hands together. The thought of sinking an entire civilization into the ocean made him overjoyed. Baron Dante grinned. “Fantastic idea. Ernie, Mungo, and, uh, you! Dreycott! Come with me. We are breaking down a landmass!”



Croc was about to lower himself into the dark hole without a second thought when he heard a chipper voice. “Croc! Wait!”

Croc turned around quickly. He knew that voice.

“Beany Bird!” Croc grinned and held his hand out for Beany to land on. She did, and Croc asked, still smiling happily, “Where have you been?”

Beany sighed. “In the glitterbird tree, on the other side of the island. I wasn't allowed off of it till now.”

Oshie patted Beany's head. “We were just about to check out this mysterious hole in the ground. Would you like to join us?”

Beany's eyes got wide. “Wow! Really? I'd love to!”

Croc lowered himself down first, then Oshie. Beany fluttered down beside them.

After a few minutes of walking down dirt stairways carved into the dirt and stone, they could no longer see the light from the doorway. It would have been pitch black, but Beany, being a glitterbird, let out a soft light that they could see by. Every so often Beany's yellow feathers would emit a small, yellow spark that would spin through the air behind them before winking out.

Once they had walked through the tunnel for almost a minute more, small veins of glowing crystal ribboned the wall, providing enough light that the tunnel soon was filled with a soft yet full light blue glow.

After too many stairs, they finally hit the bottom of the staircase. The floor and walls were made of stone instead of the compact soil that the stairs had been made of. There were many more ribbons of crystal down there than there were in the stairway, so the passageway was lit brighter than ever.

Oshie had been reluctant to get down into the passageway, and would have been frightened to death if Beany had not been there to light up the tunnel during the darker part of the journey. For most of the trip, he had been scanning the passageway ahead, hoping for a dead end so they could turn back. Croc and Beany were talking to each other about what had happened since they had last seen each other, so they were not looking ahead. Oshie was the first one to see the end of the tunnel, the entire reason the tunnel had been built. At first he didn't believe what he saw, but as they got closer his sight was confirmed. He grabbed Croc's hand. "Croc! Look! There's a plant over there!" They scampered over, until they were standing right in front of it.

Croc cocked his head. "It looks like...a sunflower." He stared at it. "But its head is drooping. I bet it's sad." The sunflower was on top of a rise in the floor that had a few steps leading up onto it. It was planted in a tan-orange terra-cotta pot. Next to the pot was a rusted watering can. It was close enough so that the sprinkler head was resting over the soil in the pot. Every now and then a clear drop of water would fall from the sprinkler head and into the soil. The crystal ribbons were highly concentrated around the sunflower, so much that it looked more like the walls were crystal with a few veins of rock running through them.

"You bet I'm sad."

A clear, strong woman's voice reverberated around the stone walls. Croc and Beany looked around wildly, Oshie just stared in awe at the sunflower. Croc trotted over to the watering can.

"Hello? Watering can? I'm Croc! Can you talk?"

"Uh, Croc? I think it's the flower talking."

Without looking up from examining the can, Croc exclaimed "Don't be silly. Flowers can't talk. Some can sing, but I don't think any can talk. Hello? It's okay, Mr. Can, I won't hurt you!"

Then Croc looked up. The sunflower's head was lifting up to face them, slowly but steadily, and soon enough they saw the face of the sunflower. It had two sad almond colored eyes in the middle of its face and mouth with a pair of full red lips. It also had a small, pointed yellow nose.

Croc stared in curiosity. "Who are you?"

The sunflower regarded him. "I am Tara, the sorceress."

Oshie regarded her dubiously. "You are a sorceress? No offense intended, ma'am, but you are a sunflower a million feet underground. How are you a sorceress?"

Tara looked up with her strong, hazel eyes. "Would you like to hear my story?"

Beany spoke up. "If it means you can explain yourself, and if we can help you, then yes. We would like to hear your story."

Tara took a breath and began. "I was once a Gobbo. I was born and raised on Prairie Island. Castle Island used to be Prairie Island before Dante took over. Soon, all the Gobbos on Prairie Island were kicked to Desert Island. Including me. I met an old Gobbo named Dustin who claimed he was a wizard, and an oracle, at that. At first I believed him only to be crazy. Then he foretold the rise of the Dantinis." Tara took another breath, scanned the group with her nut-colored eyes, and resumed. "Soon, their place of exile, the once-peaceful Castle Island, then named Prairie Island, became their seat of power. Then Dante came and took control. Without him they were nothing but a bunch of wild animals; with him they were an organized society. All the Gobbos were booted from the renamed Prairie Island, to the barren Desert Island. Enough stones were pulled from the ocean to build a mighty and awesomely huge castle that covered the entire land. Then Dustin slowly began teaching me sorcery, and after a year or two I graduated as a sorceress." Tara sighed. "I was young and impulsive. Almost immediately after I graduated I rowed to Castle Island to fight Baron Dante. He finished me off before I could strike a blow. He condemned me to the worst thing imaginable. He changed me into a sunflower that can't see the sun!" Her eyes began tearing up, and she lowered her head. All three friends glanced at each other. They knew what they had to do.

Beany fluttered over to Tara. "We can bring you up to the surface. There's a beautiful garden on top of a hill, with trees and flowers and grass and..." Tara cut him off. Sobbing at this point, she exclaimed

"Say no more! Yes, yes! Please! I was with you as soon as you said surface!"


Croc carried Tara up the stairs in her pot. Oshie carried the watering can, and Beany Bird kept conversation with her.

"My name, Tara, means 'hill' in some language or another. That's why I was buried underneath a hill. Baron Dante thought he was so clever. Using my name as my condemnation. Ha! But we've showed him!"

Oshie almost rolled his eyes at the incessant babble, but instead found it in him to smile and nod.

"I haven't had anyone to talk to in so long! It's such a relief to talk again!"

Once they had reached the top of the dirt staircase, Croc heaved the pot to the top. He heard Tara cry out with joy.

"Sun! Mmm! It's so warm! I haven't felt the sun for too long!" Oshie and Croc climbed out of the hole, to see the state Tara was in. Her petals had blushed a brighter yellow, her leaves a deeper green.

"You look beautiful," Beany stated.

She smiled bashfully. Croc assumed she was a brave warrior in sunflower form, but now she was acting like a happy child. So far, she seemed nice. And fun to be around. With one of her two leaves, she beckoned Croc and Oshie over. They followed her guide, and were enveloped in a joyful hug. They both thought it awkward, but hugged her back, anyway. It was strange hugging a flower.

After a fulfilling breakfast of tummyfruit jam and crumble strudel, Croc and Oshie donned shovels and spades, rounded up some help and began planting Tara in Oshie's garden. At first, everyone was mystified by the strange, living flower. But before soon, they all were entranced by Tara's strange stories and sense of humor. Before long, she was firmly planted in the rich soil.

Delighted at being able to stretch her roots, Tara cried out "Oh, my, oh my oh my! The soil is so tasty! The water is so sweet! Forest Island is simply delicious!" And everyone laughed.

[Tyguy]

I have made some major, major edits to my story. For example, upon re-reading all of it, I realized that there was not a single objective that ran through all the chapters. So I merged some chapters, removed the "chapter" heading, and turned it into a series of short stories. Each of the short stories covers one adventure Croc had before Baron Dante kidnapped the Gobbos. I also did some more conventional revisions because my writing skills have grown and I wasn't happy with some of the things I had written. Here's the latest short story I have prepared. It's more serious than the rest, but I think the story can support itself. Tell me what you think.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MARBLE ISLAND

For Magistrate Murphy of Marble Mounds, a mooring of Marble Island, the day began like any other day. He got up and got dressed before the sun was up, and spent all morning visiting his people. Yes, he was the ruler, but he lived in a house just like anyone else. A marble building with beautiful adornments. All the buildings on Marble Island were made of marble. You see, when such a beautiful and sturdy building material is readily available, why use trees, which grew sparsely on Marble Island anyway, which will only look ugly and fall over? So marble was the material of choice. Magistrate Murphy moved past houses made of not only white, but blue, pink and green marble, too. Such a beautiful place! He thought merrily. He hopped down the marble cobblestone path to the Marble Island plaza. There was a large marble statue in the center of some long-past ruler. It was clean scrubbed, as always. He stood in the center, taking in the beautiful landscapes. As far as the eye could see, there were prairies and grasslands, and marble buildings everywhere. He turned to the sea, expecting only to see the glimmering waves. Instead, he saw about half a dozen wooden ships coming their way. Marble Island was far from the whorl of thousands of islands in the ocean, so they did not often get visitors. So Magistrate Murphy lay in the grass and watched the clouds until the ships got close enough that you could barely see the sailors on board. Expecting the best, Murphy raised a flag of greeting. In return, the ship offered a flag of piracy. The magistrate was quite alarmed. He waited a while longer until the ships were closer, then he commanded the alarm be raised.
Then they fired.
The ships were loaded with cannons that were loaded with cannonballs. Magistrate Murphy was terrified. This island was distant enough that it had never been attacked before, and he didn't know what to do. A terrified little boy ran up to him and asked "Mr. Magistrate Murphy, sir, what are we supposed to do?" Shaking, the magistrate leaned down. "Go get your family and hide. Tell others. I'll deal with these." But then he noticed something queer. The ships were deliberately firing at the cliffsides-the very cliffsides that held up the entire island. They were trying to sink Marble Island.
"No, wait!" He yelled. "Go get everyone and get them to the docks! Get them in boats and into the water!" The boy thought this a strange request, but did as he was told.
Murphy ran to a cannon that had never been used before. His hand quaking, he lit the fuse, aimed it towards a ship--and the marble cannonball hit its mark. The ship sank.
He ran around the island, shooting off cannonballs at the ships circling the island. He hit about half of the time, missed the other half. It looked like Magistrate Murphy would single-handedly save his island.
Then Baron Dante reared his ugly head.
Shooting his best sparks of magic, the cliff walls melted away where they were hit. The cannons continued firing. No doubt the cliff walls were severely cracked by now. Murphy cried out in frustration and made way to the docks.
The boy did his best and rounded up as many as he could. There were many already floating, sadly, in the waves.
Across the island, Baron Dante was getting sick of this. The island was more durable than he thought!
He closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and snapped his fingers. When his grimy green fingers slid across each other, they sparked and sizzled. He held one spark in the air inbetween his thumb and forefinger. It began to grow, into a huge ball of electricity. Once he was satisfied with the amount of lightning he wielded, he threw his hands behind his body, and the ball of lightning split into several bolts. He lunged forward and pointed his fore and middle fingers at the cliff wall. The lightning instantaneously shot a gaping hole in the side. There was a horrible moment of silence.
With a horrendous crunching sound, massive cracks shot out from the smoking black hole. The cliff began buckling and crushing itself.
Everyone felt the awful cracks and groans the island made as it collapsed on itself. Gobbos frantically beat for the docks and any other floating structures. Then the water rose, very very quickly, swallowing everything as it rushed onto what was once dry land.
Oshie and Croc got up early again to go check out their treehouse that had been lying at the plaza for several days. The door had been barred so no one could enter, but Croc had the key. Unlocking the door, they found everything as it was last they saw it. They missed their treehouse already.
"We need to get this back into the tree," Croc announced.
"I totally agree." Oshie said. "But how? We can't just lift this thing up there!"
Croc thought for a moment. "No, but I know someone who can! Let's go to the glitterbird tree!"
As the two friends made their way across the island to the huge tree where the glitterbirds lived. It grew on a grassy ledge looking out to sea. Because glitterbirds had inhabited the tree for so long, some of their magic had rubbed off on the tree. Its leaves glittered, of course, but they were not all green. There were many leaves that were purple, blue, orange, red, silver, gold... and if the tree had not been enchanted by glitterbird magic, it would have died long, long ago. But it still lived, and grew. It was enormous. Much bigger than any tree anywhere. And there were nests! Thousands upon thousands of nests! There were hollowed holes in the trunk, huge blossoms that grew from the branches (some held huge pools of water where little blue frogs swam) and a few plumpy plums (enchanted, of course) hung from the branches. From the flurry of activity, Croc and Oshie shouted "Hey! We need some help moving our treehouse back into our tree!"
Suddenly all the commotion in the tree stopped.
"Ah! Yes! Good!Thank you for being so willing to help us!"
A little voice that was more than a little impatient, indignant and ornery answered "We aren't looking towards you! Look at the fleet of ships approaching!"
A little offended, Croc and Oshie turned towards the ocean. At least a hundred, if not more, sailboats bobbed toward Forest Island, and inbetween them there were even more dinghys. Everyone stared in stunned silence for awhile.
"We should go tell King Rufus," a nervous voice broke in. A small flock of glitterbirds broke away from the tree towards the royal palace.
"Let's go to the dock," Croc nervously suggested. "We'll wait for them there." Some glitterbirds did just that, and a couple more brave ones flew out to meet the ships. Oshie and Croc began to run down to cobbled path that led to the docks. Along the way, they warned people of the incoming ships.
"There's a whole fleet of ships coming," Oshie would warn everyone he saw. "We don't know who they are."
Many mothers pulled their children inside in fear of a pirate attack.
Oshie and Croc reached the dock at the same time. There already was a gaggle of anxious glitterbirds waiting for the ships.
"Croc! Oshie! What--what are you doing here?"
They turned around to see King Rufus stumbling down the path towards them.
"Dad?" Croc nervously asked. "Do you know the people coming?"
Rufus squinted at the water bright with morning sun. He scanned the line of boats until his gaze rested on a large wooden ship, easily bigger than the rest. At the top of its mast flew both the Forest Island flag to communicate they meant no harm against the inhabitants of Forest Island, and a flag with a picture of a stone pillar with a rising sun behind it. King Rufus turned to face his loyal subjects.
"Do not worry, they are friends! They come in peace!"
An audible sigh went up through the crowd. Everyone seemed relieved that the visitors were peaceful, but as much as they were relieved, they were that much more confused as to why the entire fleet of ships was headed their way.
Everyone was tense as the largest boat flying the flag landed aground. A gate was opened on the top and a wooden ramp was slid into place. Magistrate Murphy stumbled down, obviously distressed.
"What troubles you, Murphy?" Rufus spoke refined and proper, as royalty often does to other royalty.
Magistrate Murphy obviously had no time for formalities.
"Macaroni, Rufus. Macaroni!"
King Rufus looked alarmed.
"Murphy! Not in front of the children!"
"Don't you get it!? Marble Island was destroyed! Decimated! Obliterated! We have no where to go!"
Rufus looked quite shaken for a moment, then said "If it's any consolation, everyone here may stay in the palace. And then Murphy, you must tell me exactly what happened."

An hour later, when everyone had settled into the palace, and Croc had neighbors, King Rufus sat down with Magistrate Murphy in his private parlor.
"What exactly happened, Murphy?" Rufus asked, very straightforward.
The magistrate took a shuddering breath and related the details of the attack. How horrible wooden boats had showed up at their shores carrying countless dantinis and Baron Dante himself, how they had focused their attack on the walls holding the island up. The panicked mass exodus from the entire island, and how the outside of the island had broken like an eggshell, sinking it to the bottom of the ocean.
Magistrate Murphy was quaking, barely holding back hysterical tears. Rufus was rubbing his temples, head in hands.
"I don't understand," The king said at last. "Why would they attack and destroy an entire island? Are they wicked enough to do something simply for their own evil pleasure?"
Murphy sighed deeply. "Perhaps. I wouldn't put it past the dantinis. But Baron Dante is no fool, and I have no doubt that he doesn't have some larger master plan."
Rufus blinked. "Then we've gravely underestimated them."