He sighed as his mind drifted off, daydreaming about tropical islands and sunny climates. The young Shoyru had been born on Terror Mountain and had never seen any other Neopian lands except for inside the pages of books. One of these days, he thought to himself, I’m going to build up the courage and scrape together enough neopoints, to become an explorer.

Thinking of the small handful of neopoints he’d saved since starting his new job he sighed so himself again, it might be quite a long time before he had enough, but at least he had his books in the meantime.

Pylo walked into his neohome, stamping the loose snow from his boots and removing his fluffy winter coat. He lit the fire in the grate and plonked himself down in his favourite cozy chair opposite the warm fireplace. He pulled open his backpack, and removed the new books he’d bought that day from the garage sale. The best part of his job was getting first pick at any books the two Chias happened to find for the sale. Unfortunately that also meant he often spent a good proportion of his wages before he'd even earned them! Oh well, he thought, it was worth it.

Wiping the dust from the cover of the first book, the Shoyru frowned. He didn’t remember buying this one. There were no words or pictures on the cover, just a giant symbol Pylo didn’t recognise. He gently traced his finger around the circular squiggle, then opened the book.

A flash of light suddenly filled the room, knocking Pylo from his chair onto the floor...

Pylo’s vision still flickered in brightly colored spots from the unexpected light, but his floor was definitely not covered in leaves, not to mention the pebbles and something sticky Pylo couldn’t identify. Fresh leaves were almost impossible to find in the frigid temperatures of Terror Mountain. And was that water that he heard?

The Shoyru quickly scrambled to his feet, blinking rapidly first to clear his sight and then to verify that he was really seeing what he thought he was. He was standing on the top slope of a steep hill looking over a beach into the endless expanse of the ocean. Pylo had never seen a beach, or the ocean for that matter, but it fit all the descriptions he had read over and over again in his precious books. Only this, the real thing, was more beautiful than he could have imagined.

Several moments passed before Pylo could tear his gaze from the sight to actually wonder where he was and how he got there. As he looked around, the sticky substance he had noticed before caught his eye. He still wasn’t sure what the orange goo was, but on the opposite side of the puddle, its free end fluttering in the breeze, was a piece of paper...

"Get out of here," was the first sentence on the paper. Pylo had to read it over three times to make sure he read it right. It made no sense to him why it said that. This place looked wonderful. He saw no reason to leave.

No matter, Pylo kept on reading the paper. "This place may look nice, but it is far from it." Again, Pylo had to stop to read that sentence over again. It was as if it was reading his thoughts. "Don't be fooled. I thought the same thing when I first came here. Now I want to get out of this book as fast as possible.

"If you're reading this," the paper went on. "You're stuck in this book as well. Find me. I'll explain this more in depth when we meet. We might be able to get out of this book together. Use the map on the back of this paper. I hope to see you."

Pylo was surprised. He was actually in the book?...

After several moments of watching the waves, he noticed the movements almost seemed to repeat themselves identically, like they were being replayed over and over... He dismissed it as a trick of the mind and took a look at the map. He wasn't sure he believed the note, but wondered where the map might lead.

"A true adventurer would follow the map," he said to himself, thinking about all the characters who had explored places like this in the books he read. He turned his back to the ocean and began walking down the hill, following a path that led into a forested area to the right of the beach.

As soon as he stepped into the woods, it felt like he had entered another world completely. The vivid greens and vibrant flowers of the tropical woods were so striking they seemed synthetic and reminded him of the jungles he had read stories about. He walked past dozens of species of colourful tropical fruits and thickly flourishing fauna before stumbling upon a small wooden shack.

After checking his map a few times to make sure he had arrived at the right place, he hesitated before walking up to the door and knocking. He fidgeted anxiously under the pressure of the humid air, waiting for an answer...

Everything seemed in order, but there was nobody inside. Nervously, he called out, "Hello?" But there was no response. He walked farther into the shack and found himself in a barren room full of only a bed, a cupboard, a sink, and a desk with a pen and paper on it.

Pylo explored tentatively. In the cupboard there was a large stock of food, and a backpack, which he took. There wasn't much else to see but the desk. He walked over and saw a pile of paper and a pen lying on top. He opened the drawer and saw another note!

It read, "They found out I contacted you, aren't happy. Village north of here, follow the path. Don't know when or if I'll see you there. Be safe." The handwriting was scribbled and messy, and the note was certainly written in a hurry.

Pylo was very concerned for the mystery writer, and he figure he'd better do as the note said. He set out, the excitement of being on a real adventure (and in a book, no less!) not lost on him- he had a warm, eager feeling in his chest and a bounce to his step. He followed the path under the bright sky, listening to the sounds of nature...

The sudden wind started blowing sand in his eyes, and the Shoyru covered his face with one of his arms. The sun and heat were quickly getting oppressive, and the storm in the desert was pushing him back.

"What is..going on?" Pylo said to himself, getting a mouthful of sand that he spat out in disgust.

Still, he pressed on. The sudden change in scenery and setting wasn't going to thwart him from solving this mystery and adventure he was on. Pylo steeled himself against the oppressive elements and continued to trek forward.

He definitely wasn't dressed for this, but at least after a few minutes the wind started to die down. That just left the blazing sun of the desert burning overhead. The Shoyru was panting hard from the heat, but he soon spotted something blue ahead of him.

"An oasis!" He said to himself. Now this really was starting to seem like a desert adventure. Pylo quickly raced to the body of water, already feeling the cooler air from the spring alleviate some of the oppressive heat as he stayed under the shade of a large palm tree.

However, he looked at the trunk of the palm and saw that there was another note.

"They know you're getting closer." It read, "Keep on the path. Although the setting has changed, the location hasn't. Keep going north. You'll find the village. Watch out, from here, things might not be what they seem..."

Being the headstrong Shoyru that he was, he decided he'd keep moving on despite the harsh elements he was facing. The more time spent resting, meant the more time he'd have to spend away from home. As if his feet were cemented to the ground, he picked up the note and forced himself to keep moving. Since the note instructed him to move north, that is exactly what he did. The Shoyru neatly folded the note and put it in his pocket for safe keeping.

Pylo continued on his journey, but this time, he decided to fly. He flew north, just making it past the desert by sundown. During his descent back to the ground, he was greeted by a Grundo who waited outside of its spaceship which had landed just in front of the village Pylo sought.

"You must be Pylo. Our head commander has been waiting for you." The plasma white, female Grundo stated. "I'm Ren and I'll be flying you to the Virtupets Space Station."

Nothing on the note told Pylo that a space Neopian would be awaiting him. Would he be foolish to trust her or should he keep moving toward the village he could see just ahead?

Ren frowned. “About 10 minutes?”

“Get out of my way!” Pylo huffed.

“The village people will do you no good; they will try to trick you into staying here forever.” Ren called after him and soon followed. “You’ll never smell a dusty book again!”

“Why should I trust you when I’m following random papers from this unusual book?” Pylo snapped.

“Hello? Do you hear yourself?” Ren said. “And if I’m correct it said the setting’s changed but the location hasn’t. The village may be in the same place but that doesn’t mean the same people are there.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Ms. Know-It-All! What are you trying to tell me?” Pylo whipped around to face her.

“Taelia, the Snow Faerie, is ill. Every villager came from Terror Mountain, as you did. She is trying to keep the natives from returning. No one knows why, but Taelia has never acted like this before.”

Pylo felt sorry for the faerie. “Could the Snowager have something to do with this?”

“I don’t know but you have to come with me!” Ren pleaded.

“Alright…for Taelia!” Pylo agreed and they left, leaving the village behind…

Pablo, the yellow Lupe, gave her arm a reassuring pat. "It's OK, Lily. Someday, someone has to resist. This evil book will be destroyed, and every deluded character with it. You mark my words."

"Oh, yeah? When? This was the one. Now he fell for it, and he's going to be abandoned in a wasteland nothing like Virtupets. He'll only realise when it's too late..." Lily shook her head at Pylo's stupidity. He had been the one who would help, and he had thrown away the chance. Now the entire world was getting ready to crumble...

Suddenly, she heard the flapping of wings, and Pablo shouting excitedly in her ear, "Lily! Look! He's come! He's come!"

She shook the tears away and looked up. Sure enough, the Shoyru was racing towards them, the Grundo spaceship right on his tail.

"Finally someone to save us!" she cried in joy and relief. But the spaceship was closing in as Pylo descended. "Quick! We have to leave NOW!" she yelled over the roar of the hovercraft's engine, pointing further North still.

Pylo zoomed down and grabbed both Pablo and Lily's arms, and flew as hard as his wings could carry him and his two passengers towards the North.

The spaceship was getting closer. He flew faster still. "There! That silver door!" Pablo directed him. Right above them, a silver rectangle glinted in the sunlight.

"Surrender or face the consequences!" a Grundo's gravelly voice grunted through a loudhailer, so close it seemed like the spaceship was right beside them. But Pylo was not about to spend the rest of his life trapped in a book. He mustered all his strength and pushed on upward.. slamming right into the door.

The wide silver door swung open, and the three tumbled through it.

All was still. No spaceship chased them. The air was cool. Pylo, Pablo and Lily looked around at each other. And wide grins spread across their faces. They'd made it. Back on Terror Mountain. Back in Neopia. Back home.

The End.