Home Again

Well journal, we're all back home! Me, Happy, Rainy... and we even brought back Cherimoya! She'll only be visiting for a while before she goes back to her own village, but until then she's just hanging out.

And I guess whoever's reading this is curious as to what went down in the Crocodile Kingdom. Turns out that the plan worked perfectly! It seems weird with me being so casual about freeing the lions from centuries of being under the control of the phantoms. Our exit from the crocodile kingdom was rather un-ceremonial save for the fact that "Prince Rainbow" had to have a big discussion with the two crocodile queens about wanting to leave the kingdom. The queens were persistent because they did miss their son, but allowed him to stay with his friends–– as long as he wrote letters every single day and visited at least three times a month. 

Back to the lions. No one was really allowed inside the actual castle, but according to Rainy there was this big peace treaty between the crocodiles and the lions. While all of us "common folk" celebrated outside, the Prince Rainbow observed as the lions talked of making the journey to far-off Appondale–– all the way across the map! It was a good thing the crocodiles were generous and kind, granting the lions rations, maps, and even compasses so they could complete their journey. 

Rainy says it was probably because they just wanted the lions out the door as soon as possible, but at least they did so with grace and generosity. 

We all watched them head across the bridge on their merry way to Appondale. They seemed a little bewildered but overall in much better spirits. Snowflake the lioness as well as Pineapple and Coconut hadn't joined them, instead going off to their own clan of phantom-free lions to tell them the news. Overall this was a very happy celebration!

And to think that for hundreds of years, the lions had been under the control of phantoms. Jamaa 1, phantoms 0! Arguably a big win against those octopus-looking globs of tar. 

Then again... would such a big victory be noticed by the phantoms? If so, would they target us!? I need to stop thinking so hard; my head hurts! Ouch!

Fast forward to the present. Cherimoya is outside helping Happy water the plants, Rainy is right next to me struggling to write a letter to the queens, and I'm here... writing in this book. Yep. It feels like it's been so long since I've been able to relax like this! I hope I don't jinx it and start a whole other chain of annoying events. 

Ok, from this point on I will be ultra careful not to get myself into ANYTHING suspicious!

Nope, not moving from this spot!

Staying completely still!

...

.....

.......

...........

ok i'm bored

*TO BE CONTINUED IN TWO WEEKS!*

Old Friends

The two geckos were not actually geckos, but the lions that had kidnapped Rainbow!

Rainbow himself hid behind Happy as the two "geckos" morphed out of their disguise. As soon as they did, Strawberry rushed over and hugged them. Apparently, they were the lions that had vanished from her camp!

We all watched on in awkward confusion as they talked about where they had been, what stories they had to tell. None of us smaller plushies wanted to interrupt as we probably had no idea what it was like to be separated for so long.

Finally, the topic of what-exactly-is-happening-right-now was brought up. It was revealed that the two gecko-posers had learned from the scrolls all about what they were up against in terms of the phantoms. They also managed to crack a secret code within the ancient text that roughly spelled out "CHECK YOUR MANE" 

They told of how they finally found out what that meant as they turned around, showing two phantoms each latched onto their great manes like parasites. Strawberry laughed and used her sharp teeth to pull them off, and as soon as she did they disintegrated as if they were nothing. It seemed that as she did that, a previously unnoticed sickly yellow sheen to their eyes disintegrated two. Overjoyed with being freed from the phantoms' control, they rolled around in the new Autumn leaves, sneezing and laughing from the dusty leaf mold.

"It's been a while since I've seen you this happy!" happily remarked Strawberry.

'How long have we been trying to rescue Rainy?' I (Berry) thought. If the leaves were already falling, and Alex the crocodile had come to them in June... then one whole summer had passed. 'I can't wait to go home'

Changing the subject, Cherimoya revealed that some of her escaped allies reported that her plan was already in action. All of the North, South, East, and West villages (including Cherimoya's home town, Honeygrass Village) had been temporarily evacuated. 

"I've also called over my sister Elderberry. She's a witch, remember? She has this magic flute that once played, will make all the lions fall asleep for 12 hours. Once she's sure they're all asleep, she'll alert the hidden villagers that it's safe. Then, they'll all help pick the phantoms off the sleeping lions' manes."

A distant low note sounded from the direction of the forest. 

"Looks like she's already here," said Cherimoya happily.

I couldn't believe it. It was finally over, I could finally go home! 

But first...

"I can't thank you enough, Cherimoya. Could we go help Elderberry with removing the phantoms?"

She smiled, full of ease and pride. "We need all the help we can get."

fin

*TO BE CONTINUED IN TWO WEEKS ON FRIDAY!*

Arguments

(NOTE: I'm now going to update Berry's journal every two weeks on Friday! Woo-hoo! :D)

Strawberry bent back the bars wide enough for Happy to squeeze through, and then once everyone was out in the fresh night breeze we wasted no time and dashed to the forest so no one would see us. "Catch ya later!" called Alex and he ran away deeper into the forest. "I'm gonna go check up on the village!"

Once Alex was gone we were certain that no one would see us, I was the first to speak. "Strawberry, what do you mean by 'save us from ourselves'?"

The white lion quickly looked around for guards one more time, suddenly stern, and then turned back to say, "I've realized that we've been talking too much, so I'll keep it short: Long ago, when the phantoms came to Jamaa from who knows where, lions were the first to fall. Some lions. I was descended from the others who lived in the mountains, so I have always been free of the phantoms' control. But these ones?" she nodded her head toward the castle, "No freedom for them."

This was beginning to sound familiar. As if he had heard my thoughts, Happy nudged me.

The scroll...

"Strawberry!!!" Everyone flinched at the sudden loudness in Happy's voice. "I think me and Berry read about whatever you're talking about in this here scroll!!!" Happy enthusiastically rolled open the scroll with his trunk and waved it around to everyone.

Strawberry gave one look at the scroll and gasped. "The scroll... the story... How did you get this!? This was the very same scroll that was stolen from my group the day Pineapple and Coco went missing!" 

Rainy looked up. "Pineapple? Coco? Somehow those names seem eerily familiar..."

"Were you the one who kidnapped them and stole the scroll, then!? Were YOU the one who–––"

"No one here stole your scroll!" Cherimoya said frustratedly. "I've only known these plushies for like 15 minutes but I'm pretty sure they'd never do anything like that. They're too pure for stealing and junk like that. I'm a great judge of character. We have to work together––– if a lion catches us once then it's all over for another hundred years!" the pale green rabbit plushie sighed, "Now, who wants to actually know what we should do?"

Strawberry looked to the ground embarrassed, pawing the dirt. "Okay, but first I just want to get a simple answer. Berry and Happy, where did you get the scroll? And Rainy, how do you know those names, Pineapple and Coconut?"

Cherimoya face-palmed when a threatening rustle startled everyone. 

"Hey everyone! We heard our names and were wondering––– oh, hi Strawberry! Long time no see!"

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Continuation Notice

Hey, it's Berry!!! Me, the blue koala plushie!!!

I hope you haven't forgot about me just yet, because this is a notice that while this journal/story won't be updated this month (August 2015) it WILL continue the next month, in September 2015! Isn't that great, now you can see more of ME!!! :D

So until then, hang on! I'll be back shortly~ :)

 – Berry the Koala

Cherimoya's Foolproof Plan

Okay... I have no idea what to do.

So me, Happy, and Alex tried to save Rainy. Now we're all stuck together, with no one to save any of us? Honestly this entire flipping journey has taken what seems like a whole year! Maybe it's been a week, but I don't even know anymore. We're just moving from one conflict to another, another long walk to another. Me and Happy have been thru some stuff, son. 

Yep, me, Happy, and...

Alex?

Wait, where is he?!

-----

Alex's POV:

I lifted up my head, bumping my head on a low hanging branch. Rubbing my head dizzily, I looked up at the sky. 

I was in the middle of a very dense forest, that I knew for certain. I managed to slip out of that cell, which I actually have no recollection of doing? And why does it seem like I slept for hours even though it feels like I was just thrown in a dungeon five minutes ago? Whatevs, at least I'm free and–

Oh, right. Berry.

Responsibilities...

I looked over to the castle, where there was none. I was out in the middle of the forest with no landmarks, so no need to even think about responsibility when I don't even have a WAY to do it! Anyways....

I looked around the forest. Yep, very green. Very leafy...

Very silent...

I'm scared.

At this point, I began running around in circles screaming. Normally when I'm afraid I try to be funny to kinda, er, combat the fear?? I mean it's just a forest... but I was freaked out, and screaming is funny, right?? It's not gonna alert any predators, right?? I'm a crocodile but you never know when a whole ANACONDA will come lunging out of the bushes and YEAH I KNOW ANACONDAS PROBABLY ARENT IN THIS REGION BUT–

I heard a twig snap and a scream that wasn't mine.

-----

Rainy's POV

It was cold and damp inside the cave-like dungeon, which I could have stood just fine forever if it wasn't so gloomy and depressing. I was the prince of this doomed kingdom, and we were just here to view its destruction... 

I just hoped that the village plushies could get out safely...

"Hey Berry," I spoke for the first time in a while, my voice cracked.

"Yeah Rainy? Prince Rainbow? What is it that you wanna be called?" he responded

"Err, Rainy's fine... It's what it's always been, right? Hahaa... umm.."

It was silent for a minute and I fidgeted my claws.

"You okay, Rai–?"

"I just think this whole thing is pointless!" I blurted out.

The whole dungeon was silent once more, but it was a thicker silence than before.

Happy was the first to break the fog. "Listen Rainy, everything's gonna be okay! It's obvious that we're gonna get out of here at some point– Berry thinks that Alex is going to come back, and Berry's smart! We WILL get out of here, and maybe someday, sometime we can come back and fix this mess with the kingdom and all that."

"Happy's got a point," Berry joined, but a with a little sudden reluctance. "This kingdom thing... it can't be fixed right now. We can't fix it now, maybe we can't fix it ever on our own, but it will be fixed. Eventually." he curled back up in the corner.

I took a deep breath. "Guys, I'm not really sure you can understand right now. It's either... It's..."

"Yeah?" prodded Berry.

"It's either now, or... never. If a magic gecko doesn't grant us an instant result then we can't just rebuild this village and take down these lions on a later date! The plushies from the village are moving onto bigger towns already." I paused. "My home town will be destroyed from the inside out until there's nothing left..." 

Berry was out of his protective curl. Happy went over to hug me. Both were about to say something until a slight tap was heard on the outside bars of our cell.

Alex!

And two others, too?

-----

Berry's POV

"Alex!" I called out and rushed over to the bars, already being squeezed through by the pumpkin-colored crocodile. "I knew you'd come back!"

I then noticed that beside Alex was a small light green rabbit with an even smaller bandage around her left front paw.

"Berry, meet Cherimoya!" Alex began, strangely cheerful for the situation. Hey... that name rings a bell!

"You're Elderberry's sister, right?" I asked, not trying to hide my excitement. "If you are, then could you help us out of here? Elderberry's pretty cool and smart and I think you are too and also Happy may not be able to fit through the bars like Alex can."

She seemed to sift through my jumble of deliriously hopeful words and answered carefully, "Yes, I'm Elderberry's sister. But you must have traveled far, for the desert is almost on the other side of The World!"

"The desert?" Happy confusedly replied "but I thought we found Elderberry's home in the Marshlands...?"

At this Cherimoya's cool expression slipped off into startled confusion, and then laughing, she said "My sister must want to try out that whole 'witch living alone in the middle of nowhere' thing and leave me out of it. Whatever she wants, that isn't my world. Anyway, my friend Strawberry is strong enough to bend these bars wide enough."

All of a sudden, a snow colored lioness seemingly materialized out of dust to Rainy's startled gasp. Rainy was shaken up, but everyone else seemed to sense the kindness in the lions heart, however corny that sounds.

"I'm here to aid you, not to harm you. Trust me, everything will be alright." said Strawberry in a willowy voice. "I will bend these bars. Cherimoya, please explain to the Prince your plan."

"Thank you so much for everything, Strawberry," Cherimoya's thanks were genuine and then, turning to rainy began, "I created a plan not only to take back the 'crocodile' in crocodile kingdom, but to protect the villagers under it as well."

Rainy lit up brighter than Rainy or Happy had ever seen, and it was almost as if a glowing light of wild hope had filled the damp dungeon cell. "Tell me! Tell me please! Tell me, I want to help set it in action!" 

Cherimoya smiled excitedly and told him with joy "It's already in action, and it's foolproof." 

Seeing Rainy's light grow even brighter to near bursting, she got right into her plan's details. "I have already over the course of only a single moon cycle evacuated every single villager along with their belongings to a very safe place until this mess is all over. Tomorrow is supposed to be the defining moment of when the people will be forced under the rule of the lions: the raid."

When Rainy looked a little confused, Cherimoya elaborated.

"All the lions will leave the castle (which they will assume is safe) to swarm all of the villages and conduct a raid, stealing gems and valuables which they will justify as legal announcing they're the kingdom's new rulers. They will walk far through the forest, walk the long paths to each village, DESERTING the castle and making it vulnerable for at least three hours, and come upon villages of nothing but empty structures," Strawberry's eyes glinted in the corner of my vision, hinting at the same, if not higher, joy as Rainy. "and knowing these lions, they'll search every single crack for the smallest gem, which doubles the amount of time we'll have."

I was listening intently, but not as intently as Rainy "time to do what? Do we have anything to do with it?" 

The sun was beginning to set, and the warm light reflecting off of puddles by the window reminded Rainy of the red pears from the Marshlands. Cherimoya stretched in the fading light and continued "Me and Elderberry have noticed some strange things about this one castle in particular. We think that taking down this castle can take down something much, much bigger than just the lions. In fact, it won't even be taking down the lions, but the results will be amazing."

Cherimoya began shuffling through a bag. Rainy's joyous glow faded slightly and looked around in confusion, but saw only Berry and Happy look at each other in a mixture of knowing and wonder, which comforted him.

Cherimoya fished out a half shredded map from her bag and handed it to Rainy with reverence. "You can save not only our kingdom, but every lion as well from something that's been destroying them for hundreds of years."

"I don't understand..." said Rainy. "What is destroying them? Why and how can I help?"

Strawberry pushed her head through the now completely open window. 

"You can save us from ourselves." 

*TO BE CONTINUED IN JUNE, NEXT MONTH*

The Woods

Hi Journal!!! We're running as fast as we can through the woods to get to the crocodile kingdom. Thanks to you, (or more accurately me) I've tripped and fallen on tree roots at least seven times, so thanks!!! And yes, I'm writing this while running because I feel the NEED to record everything in case these lions have more crafty ideas that will require me to memorize forest paths and stuff!!! I know Alex and Happy keep telling me to put my journal down, but it's for science!!!

So anyway we've been meeting a lot of crocodiles in the woods and we've found that most have been of the fallen royal family!! We've promised each and every one that if we get through this we'll gather up our strength and help save the crocodile kingdom from the destruction that the lions are probably planning under their rule. 

We reached the gate of the kingdom and I honestly had no idea how we snuck in there without being noticed. Maybe I was too busy writing down stuff here... Maybe Happy threw a rope around me and led me around... It is a mystery. Maybe it's because the lions are so big and we're so small! 

We snuck down this big dark staircase leading to what we assumed to be the dungeon, and right we were. At this point I had put my journal back into my bag and we began to explore the darkness a little bit, with Alex's glowing nocturnal eyes leading the way. Kind of. They weren't like flashlights or anything, so the light was minimal.

We looked around, but it appeared all of the cells were completely empty. That is, until we heard a very hushed call from a cell. "Berry! Over here!" and we followed to find... Rainy!!!

It was at that point where we stopped paying attention to the fact that we could walk right into a trap at any minute. We let our voices get too loud as we talked about our annoyingly endless journey to rescue when...

A lion walked up from behind us.

"What are you annoying creatures doing out of your cells!?" he said irritably and simply locked us up. Right next to Rainy.

Honestly, Journal, was this all for nothing?

*TO BE CONTINUED NEXT MONTH!*

Rainy the Croc's Journal: pg. 4 – Help?

Okay, so here I am, journal. This isn't really my journal though, it's just a piece of scrap paper I found on the ground. I just wanna keep a record of this because it seems important. Important for a prince, at least, because soon I'm going to be catapulted far away from here, away from the kingdom that is supposed to be my responsibility! This whole journey just to be thrown back to where I started from!

"So I can't mess up the plan," my leonine captors had said. But I already know everything now so what point is anything if I'll just keep coming back?

But maybe they know that I can't come back. Sometimes I feel like I'd rather just lie around in the comfort of somewhere far away and let my kingdom crumble than walk back and forth through miles! These stubby crocodile legs are meant for paddling through a shallow pond, not hiking.

I was almost surprised that I was relieved to be locked away in this damp and cold dungeon instead of having to walk more. At least I can just lie here... and who knows? Maybe some magical force will sense the sheer injustice of all this and rescue the kingdom for me? There's not much I alone can do by now, except to record this. Then one day, someone with far more flexible legs than I could see this and find enough energy to finish the job for me...

So here I am. Prince Rainbow, all alone in this damp, dark dungeon. These lions that came from seemingly nowhere have imprisoned me in my own kingdom and are taking it over by force. I have no idea what they plan other than what will cause despair for my subjects, surely. 

...No, wait. There is something I overheard while being guided through Honeygrass. 

I looked around through the dungeon and saw dozens of pairs of flickering but hopeless eyes. Some pairs were specialized for the night and glowed in the darkness. 

I was about to ask to confirm if my suspicions were true, but just before the first syllable flew out of my jaws, a small rabbit spoke up.

"Prince Rainbow, my name is Cherimoya and I know some things about what the lions will do. Thats why they imprisoned me in the first place, because I knew too much." 

Could she be a mind reader? "C-could you...?" I choked out.

"Maybe I'm a mind reader, I don't know much about it myself. But please, I'd like to speak quickly before they come back. But I warn you, you may not be prepared for what I'm going to tell you." She continued. It sounded almost rehearsed, the way she said it, but what else was anyone going to do while trapped in a dungeon than plot their escape? I was a prince. I had power. I could get her out of there, possibly, with what little scraps of authority I still had.

"I'm not prepared for anything, but I need this knowledge." I responded. I thought about how long it had been since I had last spoke with an ally.

"Alright, here goes: I've been thinking about this a lot and a lot of these things just don't seem right, but I'll get to the fact before I get to my speculations. I've probably been in here the longest and while I've suffered the most of all this boredom and fear, I've gained the most knowledge about the lions. They're going to spread fear and anxiety throughout the kingdom's villages, which will lure phantoms out and spread even MORE fear about... so it will be a vicious circle of fear, yes." Cherimoya took a deep breath before continuing. 
"So the former crocodile kingdom will swarm with phantoms, and I don't know exactly how a phantom portal is formed, but I'm guessing that having a ton of phantoms around is part of it. A massive phantom portal will be formed– bigger than anything you've probably seen before and swallow the crocodile kingdom into darkness."

I did not know what to make of that. My head was swimming and I really was afraid. I tried to respond, but I was too hoarse. I could have fainted.

But Cherimoya was fine, and continued: "So what's this speculation I have about the lions? It's that they are just too connected with these phantoms to be... like us. I mean, why are these lions doing this? The phantoms don't establish treaties with any creature unless they mean to break them in a few seconds."

I found my voice. "What do you mean? I'm not understanding this at all."

She sighed and tried to resume her momentum. We could both hear paw steps coming down the stone stairs. "What will the lions get from phantoms swarming their kingdom? What will any creature get from phantoms being there? Fear, negative things– nothing worth making big plans for! This can't just be from curiosity– I believe the lions have somehow merged with the phantoms long ago! How else could they be the only known creature to shape shift?" the paw steps got louder and quicker and Cherimoya got louder with desperation. "So-called phantom magic isn't something you can practice, because you have to be a phantom to do it!" 

At this point I was terrified and could only focus on the paw steps drawing closer to Cherimoya's dungeon cell. I could see the glowing eyes of a nocturnal hunter, but it didn't appear that the lioness could see mine. Only Cherimoya's desperate rambling.

I saw she turned around to look at the lioness, and there was fear in her eyes, but only fear of not getting her message out. She still continued even as the lioness spoke in a surprisingly calm voice: "You've been in here too long, rabbit. I have been given orders to dispatch you somewhere far away from Honeygrass where you cannot do any damage to our plan."

I was temporarily thrown off guard by the mocking way she said "our," but then I noticed that Cherimoya had finally stopped– no, allowed herself to be interrupted.

"I... I think so, too." She said in a whisper.

And then as docile as a leaf, Cherimoya left with the lioness and I could hear the dungeon door close. 

I pressed my claws up against the cold stone wall and thought about all that Cherimoya said, and thought about how useless it was for me.

Still, it was better than nothing. I thought it over and noticed the darkening sky through the window too high for my crocodile legs to lift me, or my crocodile voice to be heard.

--End of Rainy's journal entry--

--Beginning of Strawberry the lion's POV--

After exiting the castle, I guided Cherimoya over to the secret exit path out of the jungle. Everything had always felt so wrong since I was a cub, so with the rabbit I was going to escape, and hopefully guide some of those trapped in the forest, too.

"Over this way!" I whisper-yelled. If I failed this one task, I would have failed Mira. After hearing Cherimoya over and over again in the cell, even with the way she so analyzed our ways, I secretly felt relieved because I was right! This little rabbit had guided me out of the darkness that the phantoms choked the other lions with.

Cherimoya expressed her gratitude profusely, but I should have been thanking her! But I didn't dare talk more than I needed to, lest another lion hear my familiar voice.

I guided her through the forest, while she promised to guide me to the Savannah. With a last glance at the dark clouds looming over the castle, I silently promised myself that one day, no matter what happened, I would go back and free my brothers and sisters from the phantoms. But until then, I could only hope that the crocodile prince Cherimoya had been talking to could remember her words.

"Let's go, Strawberry." Cherimoya whispered.

"Thank you," I whispered back, even softer.

*TO BE CONTINUED IN APRIL!*