Home Again

Mystery of the Map

~THIRD PERSON~

Fierce Fox was undoubtedly courageous. Compared to Alice, she was a fully-dressed warrior. But even she had fears. She had gone quiet for a few days because of these fears. These fears were she didn't want anyone to know how weak she could be - not even Alice. Especially after what had happened with her family. She didn't want anything to do with them. Not anymore. Fighting monsters seemed easier than making amends with her parents.

Fierce Fox hoped Alice would forget all about the fashion show incident. Alice wasn't the most pressing person, so Fierce Fox had high hopes. Still, Alice had been suspicious. Fierce Fox hoped she didn't ask any questions. Their relationship was a strained friendship. They worked together well as a team, but as friends... they were odd. Fierce Fox wondered if she should've been nicer when she first met Alice. But then her fears kicked in again. Alice was a human. One from that world.

She had taken everything away from Fierce Fox. How could the Poptropican like such a creature? Yet, she was connected. Alice was strange. Fierce Fox felt angry yet loyal to the blonde-haired girl. Maybe she should talk about... no. Not yet. Fear was building up again. Not just yet.

~ALICE~

Mystery of the Map Island is sort of an advertisement island. Sort of not, since it's based off Poptropica merchandise. I've read the Mystery of the Map comics on FunBrain (good old Funbrain). I quite enjoy them. The island is good too (even though Mya is not in the comics). Anyway, we landed on said island. There's a sandy beach beneath our feet and grass and trees growing everywhere. Grass is growing over a small, rocky cave. It's set in the times of the vikings, so there's not a whole lot of civilization.

Fierce Fox and I walked right, passing a bird sitting on some tall, grass-covered stones. A hot air balloon was sitting in a tree. The base of the tree was loose; it easily could be broken with an axe. A guy was in the hot air balloon. He has dark hair and tan skin. He's wearing a light blue shirt under a dark blue scarf and black jacket. This guy is called Octavian. He's not exactly the good guy.

"You two!" Octavian shouted, staring at us. "Look up here!"

"What are you doing up there?" Fierce Fox asked, squinting at him.

"Never mind why I'm up here - just get me down!" Octavian shouted back.

"How do we do that?" Fierce Fox asked.

"There must be something on this island that you can use," Octavian replied. "This map will help you find it." He dropped a map from his spot in the tree. I picked it up. I grabbed Fierce Fox's arm and led her away from Octavian. Once we were a fair distance away, I began to speak.

"Octavian - the guy in the tree - is not really the hero," I told her. "Quite the opposite, actually. However, we sort of have to go along with the ideal that he can be trusted because of the story-"

"No, we don't," Fierce Fox interrupted. She folded her arms. "We don't always have to go with the story." She gave me a look. "Don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone, Alice. If Octavian is really evil, we can put a stop to that if we try something else. We can capture him."

"Capture him...?" I asked, frowning. "Fierce Fox, I don't know about that. How do we capture him?"

"It's easy," Fierce Fox replied, a grin forming on her face. The word 'fox' pounded in my head. My stomach clenched. "We'll surprise attack him. Knock him out when he's not ready for it. That's the best tactic, right?"

"I suppose," I said, biting my lip. "But what will we do with... hey, I've got an idea! We'll take him to the vikings. Yeah, there are vikings. They'll deal with him." Though, honestly, I didn't really want to hurt him too badly. I was meant to be a hero, after all. But I didn't think the vikings would be too harsh on him. Besides, the kids - Mya, Jorge and Oliver - would be safe. So I agreed with the plan. We were going to capture Octavian.