Orbs - Chapter One

Hello everyone! It's Blu here.

I have been thinking over some of my story ideas a bit and I suddenly remembered Orbs. It's set in Pandanda and is based around two girls who go on a huge adventure (I would say quest, but that would make it seem like they would be collecting a whole heap of ingredients for Blueberry Pie instead).

Okay, so get ready, get set, and start reading!

Orbs - Chapter One

"Hi, Farmer Ned," I said as I walked through the farm gate. I saw he was busy selling an orange panda some grain, so I sat on the cold, stone wall of the well and waited. Once he had finished with the panda, he came over to me.

"You looking for Amethyst? She's in the barn with Maggie, giving Daisy some hay."

My eyes lit up. I thanked him, and raced up, through a gate, and towards the big, copper-colored building.

My best friend Amethyst was Farmer Ned's daughter. She helped out on the farm when she wasn't out fishing or shopping with me.

I saw her in the barn beside the big black-and-white cow. A pineapple appeared beside her and, when Maggie turned away to chat to a panda, she sneakily grabbed it and stuffed the fruit into the pocket of her jeans. Amethyst saw me and winked.

"Don't tell Maggie, Emerald," she whispered as I walked up to her. "I'm supposed to be feeding Daisy here, so Maggie would probably tell me off if I was too busy collecting stuff for the Summer Festival."

I grinned. "You've no need to worry, Amethyst," I said, "your secret is safe with me. Besides, those togas that Kapono is giving away look really cool. I'm sure Maggie wouldn’t mind if she knew you were picking up the occasional pineapple that gets in the way.”

"What's that?" I heard a voice call out from across the barn.

Maggie was walking back towards us, having just sold an excited panda a pony. In her hand was a pitchfork, which she handed to me.

"Can you help us please, Emerald?" she asked me. "There are some horse stalls that need cleaning, and neither I nor Amethyst have the time to sort them out.”

"Sure." I said. It would take a while, but I liked helping Maggie. She always gave me coins each time I went to see her. Hopefully one day I would have enough to buy another pony.

But for now I would just stick with Smoke, my current horse. Smoke was gray, with a black mane. He had green eyes, which were the colour of a leafy rainforest plant. Smoke was my second best friend, after Amethyst.

I started scraping up the hay in one of the horse stalls on the left wall and pushing it into a pile. A pineapple appeared on the top of the stack, but disappeared as soon as I tried to grab it.

I sighed, the frustration pouring out of me. My paws worked rhythmically for the next hour or so, scooping up the dirty hay, loading it into the wheelbarrow, then moving on to the next stall.

Pineapples kept appearing before me all through that time, teasingly disappearing before I could have the chance to grab them. I saw Amethyst look at me out of the corner of her eye. As I lunged for another pineapple (yes, it left immediately), she giggled.

"Having a bit of trouble, Emerald?" she asked me, jokingly.

I grumbled. "Yeah, a little."

The rest of the day carried on much the same way. I chatted, I ate ice cream, I fished... but never did I manage to collect a single pineapple. It seemed almost as if the fruits were deliberately playing a game; as if they were deliberately hiding from me.

It was unbelievably annoying.

When I was walking through Bear Hollow with Amethyst, I noticed something. The pineapples weren’t hiding from me… they were trying to lead me somewhere!

I saw one appear on the doorstep of the Book Nook, and so went into the large library. Amethyst gave me a questioning glance, but I ignored it.

The next pineapple was beside the fireplace. I followed it. Then the next one was heading over to a shelf. The last was right there – right beside the bookcase that held the books on sorcery.

I stopped. This was a dead end. There was no path ahead of me, so the only choice was to turn around and head back home.

The pineapples had defeated me.

The next day…

The Book Nook was filled with chattering voices. It was almost deafening, really, considering libraries were supposed to be quiet places.

Nevertheless, I sat on a beanbag opposite Amethyst, who was busy reading a fantasy novel.

I glanced at the book in my hands. It was an adventure story, full of sorcerers and evil people and orbs.

The storyline was about a sorcerer who lived right here, in Pandanda, and had a magical orb that he used as a sort of wand. There were heaps of battles against evil dragons from foreign lands.

The most ingenious part of the whole story was about the House of Sorcerers (based on the Haunted House, I’m guessing). You could get to it by the normal forest path, but there was also a secret passageway between the Book Nook and the Parlour of the House…

I stopped and flipped back through the many pages of the novel. There – on page 30! The sorcerer used to go through a tunnel hidden by a shelf of books…

It was hard to stop myself from jumping up and dancing. I had found out where the trail of pineapples was leading me! I had found the secret passage that the sorcerer had used!

Later on…

Amethyst complained as I dragged her back to the Book Nook.

“Look,” she said, “I know you love books, but haven’t we already been there today?”

“Yup.” I said as I skipped up towards where the Book Nook sign was creaking in the breeze. “Come on, Am! It’s time for an adventure!”

When we arrived in the building there was no one in sight. My friend looked uneasy, so I ran off to the bookshelf before she could decide to leave.

I pushed the books off to one side, where they conveniently slid over another shelf. A cloud of dust rose out from a hole of blackness and I started choking.

Well, that certainly caught Amethyst’s attention.

“What’s that?” she said, coming closer.

“The secret tunnel in that book I’ve been reading. It exists!”

She looked as if she didn’t really understand it all. Confusion, worry… but covered with a whole load of curiosity.

“Will it be safe, do you think?” Amethyst said.

I shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I just hope that it’s safe... and spider-free!”

I could sense Amethyst watch me as I disappeared into the ancient passage. Then a change of mind must have come over her, for she leaped in right after me and tugged the shelf back over the hole.

“Right then,” she said, “it’s time for the adventure!”

For the next chapter, click HERE!