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Chapter Three - A Guiding Light - Teen
Nacase had spent all his sailing life believing the only terrors of the sea were its storms and how quickly it could go from his calm and comforting to harsh and unforgiving during the storms or pirates. Yet now he stood looking down upon the Egyptan cub he'd taken in and realized by taking the cocoon he'd created a whole new terror. Now Phantasm was a sweet, caring Egyptan but he had his devils in him and at times Nacase was reminded of a storm when he looked at the teen.
They had been together for a long time now and the young Star Hope was a teen now, turning from a loving child into a mischievious, prankster of a teen. It was the middle of the night when Nacase had left his wheel to stare down at his young Egyptan for the Egyptan had decided to raid the "kitchen" and now had his head stuck in a rather large pot.
Phantasm's tails swished back and forth in a plee of forgiveness and he whimpered ever so slightly as to be begging for the helmet to be removed. Finally Nacase reached down, helped remove the pot and headed back to the wheel with a chuckle and a pat on Phantasm's head. Phantasm just plopped onto the deck and lifted his head to the sky, the stars were so beautiful and often Phantasm wished his little wings would let him fly. Until then he'd have to settle with the crow's nest or the bow of the ship. Yes, he'd left his look out spot!
With a happy yip the star hope raced across the deck and to the front of the boat. Once there he bounded around like a pirate guard watching a glorious pirate treasure, wagged his multiple tails and hopped into his little spot. And there he stayed, gazing out at the obsidian sea and the twilight above.
Phantasm must have fallen asleep for he was awaken by the early dawn and a voice from above. "LAND HO!" Phantasm's tail swished with glee and he pulled himself to his feet with a stretch and a yawn. His eyes turned to his caretaker with care and he trotted to the stone man's feet. Nacase was strong and silent and reminded Phantasm of a big stone statue with a soft heart. Yes, a hard shell but a soft heart. As they got closer to the new port Phantasm gave another yip of joy and raced towards the bow, however he didn't stop at that, he launched himself over the edge of the boat and into the water. From there nothing could stop him, he raced on into the town, a silent giddy blurr of black and rainbow star. Nothing...well except Nacase.
*Come back to the boat.* Nacase said smoothly. Phantasm and himself had been working on speaking telepathicly and Nacase was rather proud of how well he'd learned. Phantasm stood in the middle of the town square and looked back towards his caretaker with a 'aww man' look before heading back and waiting on the dock. Nacase only chuckled when he saw the young egyptan so impatient to explore sitting on the dock like he'd been glued there and was still trying to escape. Ocassionaly the star hope's wings would ruffle, or an azure paw would twitch like he was on the verge of leaping up and running. Phantasm squirmed and his little tails twitched anxious as the slow process of unboarding the large Galleon and tying it to the dock took place. Finally the captian stepped off and set his large hand over the small cub's eyes. "Thats enough."
A jolt of energy flew through the star hope and he reaced off into the on coming dawn towards the unmapped woods at the end. Mapping was one of Phantasm's tallents so he was always allowed to explore as long as he wanted, whenever he, as long as he brought back maps for the ship's logs.
Phantasm rushed into the woods and immediatly his mapping skill went into work without him even knowing, it began a sketch of the woods and town creating a bird's eye view of the place, however that wasn't what mattered to Phantasm. It was the new sights, and sounds the colours and the creatures and the mischief he could create. He trotted of the path, blazing a trail all his own through the thick foliage. Growing up as a sailor gave him a keen love for adventure and for new places so rushing around a new forest was the best thing he could do.
Two days later he'd mapped the whole woods and the area around town but now the cliffs brought curiosity to the young teen. He paced along the wall, tails swishing calmly behind him as he searched for a way in and up to the top of the cliffs. Finally, after hours of searching, the star hope teen came across something of interest. On a large stretch of beach a path lead up the cliff, his tails wagged happily and he bounded towards the cliffs. Suddenly a voice shouted from behind him.
"WAIT! You can't go up there, its dangerous!"
Phantasm turned around to see an old man waving his arms and shouting at him. This rather surprised him but he stopped and walked to the old man.
"A monster is up there, young Egyptan. An evil dragon who was said to have stolen a rare Egyptis cocoon and turned it into an evil dragon as well! I fear for the Egyptis but all fear the Dragon more."
Phantasm seemed to shimmer with joy rather than slink away with fear. *I'll go find her then! And I'll rescue her from the dragon, that is...if she's there to be rescued and all.* Had the old man been younger his jaw would have probably dropped open and he would have stood there like a gaping fish, however the old man was more likely for his jaw to fall off then hang open but he did neither he just stood and stared at the teen like he was insane. Phantasm took that as his time to leave and raced up the cliffs.
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