An exploration along a large mysterious island turns into a huge wonder upon finding out the large island is made up of four different lands and kingdoms, which later changed into three different lands with different kingdoms. What also follows is a family reunion between two sisters. During the exploration, the initial explorer also gains a traveling friend along the way. This is a writing commission for Shinydust from ToyHouse!

Mystery Island

After consulting the map in her hands, Lux raises her head up to the large island looking ahead. The female cat had been sailing for the past couple of hours while keeping herself alert and busy. But there is something else that has been nagging at the back of her mind for quite a while.

After her short leisure time at a beach located a few miles away from this mysterious island, Lux had picked up a strange bottle that washed up along the shore. Inside of it was a message and it was addressed to her directly! The message read:

"Hello sister! If you have gotten this message, then that means that I am located somewhere on Paradise Island! It has been a while since you left and I have missed you ever since! I look forward to the time when we see each other again; hope we have some catching up to do!"

The note containing that message and being left inside of a bottle seemed more than suspicious enough to Lux. Even more so, since the Maine Coon herself hasn't seen her sister for a while, actually. It has been two months since they last saw each other, and with Lux departing and not coming back for a while, her sister began to miss her.

Lux, on the other hand, is more curious about both the message and her sister's intent, which is why she is sailing her way back to the large island she departed from; she is coming back to reunite with her sister and hopefully catch up, if there are no other plans involved.

Although Lux didn't really have any other plans for now apart from checking out this island, the Maine Coon is already beginning to feel strange and weird vibes from the atmosphere surrounding the mysterious island she is traveling to. These produce shockwaves through her mind and stomach, causing her to shiver briefly. These do more than make her shiver; the rippling effect throughout her mind causes her to have a series of flashback memories when she was younger, living and playing with her sister.

These flashback memories become the driving force and motivation for Lux traveling back to the mysterious island to find her sister. But where could her sister actually be?

Seeing the island approaching and growing large, Lux anticipates an approaching touch onto land; during her sailing trip, the boat she's sailing in is actually a small dark blue sailboat, and she has been seated the whole time from the initial setup, letting the wind do its job in guiding her and her small craft towards the island. This island could be her only shot at reuniting with her long lost sister.

While sitting in her sailboat, Lux keeps her eyes on the looming island before her, sighing to herself. She mutters softly, "It's been a long time since we have last seen each other. I wonder what changes to the island and community have occurred. Nothing too bad, I hope; otherwise, I may have to seek temporary shelter somewhere else."

The soft creaks and rustles of Lux's sailboat is accompanied by the sound of rushing water and the moderate breeze against her fur, also blowing against the sail. There were also different birds that occasionally flew by in the air. The Maine Coon occasionally glances upwards to watch these birds fly and disappear before turning her attention back to the island.

Upon sighting the island now, the spot has grown considerably larger in sight, indicating her incoming arrival. The rest of her closing journey was spent in silence and anticipation. Lux has no recollection of this island, so upon arrival, she is going to take some time out to hopefully explore the large island.

Touching the shoreline, Lux reaches the sandy beach of the island, having just arrived. The only problem is, the large island is mainly grasses and other greenery. Did she arrive at the island just to dock at the wrong spot?

Unfamiliar with the place, Lux scours the landscape, taking in her new surroundings while checking out the new scenery before her. Getting up from her boat, the female Maine Coon mutters to herself in wonder, "This place is so big now. I can't say why, but something tells me this is supposed to be my home. I don't know why, but my mind and body feel it."

True, Lux is already having that nagging feeling inside of her that's telling her this island is her home but since she is here now, she is already unacquainted and unfamiliar with it. It's almost as if she is a foreigner, which in her mindset she considers herself to be.

Upon her arrival, Lux steps off of her boat and begins to make her way onto shore, carefully stepping down to reach the sandy bank of the island. Making her way into the land, she mumbles again, "What is this place?"

"This place is called 'Paradise', or that's what it used to look like before all of this stuff grew." The sudden voice that Lux is hearing just now startles her at first, causing her to squeak and jump in place.

"Eek!!! W-who's there?!" Lux has just barely arrived on the island when she is already hearing voices. This is supposed to be an island journey for her and only her alone; she didn't count on this particular island being inhabited.

If Lux didn't anticipate this island being inhabited then she certainly did not count on the welcoming reception on the island. While she is frozen on the spot, she notices one local villager coming out to meet her.

The villager is a black and white cat in Hawaiian-styled clothing who is the first one to welcome Lux to the island. The cat is wearing a red shirt with a floral pattern along with khaki shorts. Being the first villager to welcome Lux to the island, he gently hugs the female Maine Coon in a soft embrace, rubbing his head on hers.

Lux just stands in place, still glued to her spot while observing the male villager closely. When the black and white cat withdraws from her, he welcomes her with a beaming smile, "Welcome to Paradise Island! Please, feel free to make yourself at home and explore! You are welcome to come and leave as you please!"

Lux just stares at the villager, her mind taking a moment to register what is going on. For all she cared, she was only here for one thing and that was to find her sister to reunite with her. But something in the tomcat's welcoming introduction sparked a mild feeling of intrigue within her, taking her interest by storm.

"Can you repeat what you just mentioned to me, please?" The female Maine Coon requested. She's going to make herself a mental note of this new island and its surroundings if she can pick up again on what the tomcat tells her.

The black and white furred tomcat begins explaining to Lux, "Right! I said that you can explore the entire island. There are three districts here: Paradise, Atlantida, and Neoxis! You're on Paradise right now." He pauses to trail his chartreuse eyes over to Lux's boat and the sandy shoreline, hinting at the female herself to view the coast behind her. The female feline glances over her shoulder to follow his gaze, sighting the sandy coastline and her own raft. She turns back to him, finally understanding the location she is in.

"So this region is Paradise Island?" The cat finally ascertains in full understanding. Eyeballing the tomcat villager, Lux awaits an answer to her assumption, wondering if this is really the place she's landed herself in.

The tomcat responds, "Yup, this is Paradise Island! Or rather, Paradise district, to be more precise. This is only one of three districts out of the entire land. You'll be able to uncover more once you begin exploring around for a little while."

"Paradise Island…?" Lux sounds off slowly from the explanation. She blinks slowly at the tomcat, still not fully there as far as picking up on the location. Island? There are supposed to be four sections of the island. The villager only mentioned three, so this poses a problem to Lux until she can fully understand the situation.

The tomcat nods his head in return, his cheerful smile still shining on his face. "Yep, that's right! Paradise Island! That is the current location you're on now upon arrival! Feel free to make yourself at home here!"

The female Maine Coon slowly shakes her head, blinking at the tomcat villager a second time. She apologizes, "I'm sorry but I don't understand what is going on here. I remember there being 4 districts on this entire island, but not 3 islands in one giant piece of land."

"Well, this place used to consist of four islands, formerly. They merged together, so that leaves only 3 islands in this entire spot. That was a while back." The tomcat explained.

After listening to the villager and letting the information sink in, Lux appears to finally grasp the timeline of said location. But to be sure of things, she implies, "So to set the record straight, you're saying that this place has three islands instead of four now? And two of them merged to become one?"

"Yep, that's right!" The tomcat confirms, much to the female's understanding. This helps Lux to see the situation better, although she may still have more questions to ask. But before Lux can speak, the tomcat's smile falters a little bit upon remembering something.

"Oh, I am so sorry; I didn't get your name! My name is Luke; Luke Walsh." The tomcat finally introduces himself, revealing his name to her. Now it is Lux's turn to introduce herself in return.

"My name is Lux. I think I remember this place but it feels so long ago that I've been here. It's like I've never been here before. Thanks for the introduction, Luke!" Lux responds in her explanation.

Luke pauses and remains silent, his own electric green eyes inspecting Lux with either radiant curiosity or suspicion; such was the latter, since he feels no ill will towards her. Did Lux strike some type of button within him or is he about to dig up a recent memory?

Before Lux can leave, Luke speaks up, "Lux, you say you don't remember being here? Is that correct?"

A sharp jolt of discomfort shoots through her chest upon feeling her heart dropping. Anxiously, she answers, "Yes, why? Is there something wrong?"

The tomcat exhibits a pained expression at first, which turns to discomfort. He begins to explain, "I don't know the full details, but I believe some type of war event or something is what tore this place apart. This spot used to be a united kingdom, but now is a complete division; the region and people of the land are based on what district of the island you travel to; Paradise is the friendliest of all but Neoxis is the one you'll want to avoid the most."

Lux grows uncertain and hesitant, wringing her hands together. Not wanting to risk a confrontation, the female Maine Coon gets to the heart of the matter in her original request. "Um, is there any way you can point me to the castle? I'm looking for someone special."

Luke arches an eyebrow at Lux in questionable skepticism. "Castle, huh? There is only one castle in this entire place and it is located in the very spot you're in." He explains to Lux, "Since Paradise Island is full of beaches, you should find the castle to be on higher ground, farther up one of the beaches here. But I'll bet the king and queen won't have the means to see a common foreigner such as yourself."

Lux blinks at Luke, also arching her head to the side in questionable contempt and confusion. Why wouldn't a king and queen, the monarch rulers of a well-respected land, not want to attend to its villagers? This is especially important if one of them has a specific request they would like to ask for. And in Lux's case, this is very special to her.

The female Maine Coon ascertains, "What ruling monarchy would not care about their own people? Isn't that a little bit extreme to say to someone?"

"True, true, you're right about that. But I believe you will learn more if you see the king and queen in person. That is, if they are not too busy." Luke acknowledged.

Hearing this makes Lux bring herself back to the message in the bottle that she picked up prior to sailing here. It was the message from her sister that prompted her to come to this island to investigate and search for her. At the same time, she also wanted to see what the entire island is like now that she's here.

Originally, Lux was against presenting her own cold hard evidence to anyone to show how serious she was about why she is here, but eventually, Luke had shined some sort of light on the matter, revealing little bits and snippets of the island's history here and there. This makes Lux feel secure enough around Luke to actually present something to him in hopes of having him assist her in her search and investigation.

Finally after some initial thought over the matter, Lux retrieves the bottled message she picked up on her journey here and hands it over to Luke for him to read it. Luke notices the paper in Lux's hold, awaiting his acceptance. Trailing eyes up, the tomcat wonders, "What is this, a note?"

Waiting for Luke to take it, Lux explains, "It's a message I found inside of a bottle while I was gone. Turns out, it's a message from my sister."

"Wait, wait, wait! You have a sister?!" Luke seems pretty astonished upon this matter being revealed to him. He didn't even know Lux had a family, hence his initial bewilderment. Still, the tomcat is still going to do everything he can to help out, even if it possibly means traveling with her. But he too has his own life to tend to as well.

Sheepishly, Lux nods her head. She confirms this while Luke takes the message and reads it. She speaks up, "I have a sister, it's true. And that message is what drew me to search for her. We were separated for a long time, so I'm looking to reunite with her."

Delighted, Luke exclaims, "Ah, a family reunion! Those are really special. I'm sure your sister will be pretty happy to see you again." As further reasoning to the message that Lux had received and just showed to Luke, the tomcat asserts, "Why didn't you show this to me before?"

"Unless I feel I can actually trust the person I am speaking with, I usually don't send out information I deem as important," Lux explains while pointing out the message that Luke is holding, "like that message you're reading now; my sister sent me that. And that's usually a clue as to what's going on."

"So you don't divulge personal information unless absolutely necessary, huh? That's okay! Your secret is safe with me!" The tomcat seems more than happy to learn more about Lux herself, but at the same time he is keenly interested about her family ties.

After spending some time reading the note handed to him about the message from Lux's sister, Luke advises her, "As much as I would love to assist you throughout your exploration of this place, I'm afraid I can't help you; I have my own duties to attend to. I suggest you pick up a traveling buddy along the way. That way, you'll be more familiar with the island and won't have to worry about getting lost."

Lux could feel herself deflating out of disappointment but she hesitantly accepts Luke's condition. The journey along the island is gonna be a huge one, one that won't be complete in just one day during her time here. No, this was going to take a few days, at least. But that's not the reason why Lux is here in the first place. She is searching for her sister. In fact, that is the primary reason she is here.

If Lux really wanted to find her sister, she would have asked already. She did this partly when asking where the castle is, but since she has never been on this particular island before, she has no clue where the castle or the land's rulers are. For all she knew, the king and queen could be anywhere. If she wants to reunite with her sister, then Lux will have to embark on an exploration of her own to find the castle, possibly with a traveling buddy should it come to that point.

Having the information she already needs, Lux did not want to bother Luke any further. Bidding the tomcat farewell, Lux begins to leave but she stops, pausing upon one more question entering her mind.

Turning to Luke again, Lux puts her question out to him to seek answers. She asks him, "So, these inhabitants of this island, what are they like? Are they friendly, evil, what?"

Taking a moment to respond, Luke scratches his chin in thought, coming up with the best way on how he can explain this to her. He certainly did not know everything about the island, so he can only tell her as much as he can.

Finally after some consideration, Luke explains to Lux, "It depends on which district you're in. Whether the people are friendly or not is all based on the location. These places aren't the same. In one district, you'll find friendly people and in the other district, you'll find people that are not so friendly; it all depends on the location."

Listening to Luke relate this information to her makes things easier for her. The female Maine Coon now has more reason to be alert and watch out for her surroundings, but there is just one more question that she wanted to ask, fully related to this exploration thing.

Luke smirks at Lux, wondering what question she has this time. "And that is?"

This final question comes more plainly from Lux with the female Maine Coon having an exact idea of how she wants to get around in her exploration. She pops her last and final new question to the tomcat, hoping to receive an answer, "Are there any landmarks in this place to go by?"

The tomcat pauses for a bit, wondering how he can fully answer Lux's final question. Even though Luke wasn't really that good with landmarks, he still wanted to help as much as he could; it doesn't hurt to try anyway.

"Huh, let's see…" Luke scratches his head in thought while appearing thoughtful, coming up with how he can best explain this. Finally, he answers the female Maine Coon, "Well for Paradise, there are beaches so if you see a lot of sandy areas, then it's the Paradise district of town. Neoxis has a jagged, sharp coastline where one fall means certain death. It is also a poorly managed, rundown slum district, so I think there are a lot of boarded up housing spaces and low quality establishments. Atlantida is purely underwater, which is the third district. I think a bridge connects that location with the rest of town."

"So that's it?" Lux assumed while nodding occasionally in understanding. "That's all you have to tell me about this large place? Honestly, I thought there would be more."

Luke assures Lux in calm advice, "I'm sure you will find out more about this large, yet strange island during your exploration here. It will be pretty useful for your memory. Oh, and before I leave, I forgot to give you something."

Now Lux seems perplexed now. She had already obtained a map when she first started out on her journey to reach this island, so what could Luke have to give her now? She eyes the tomcat curiously while asking him, "What is it that you could possibly have to give me now?"

What Lux hears and sees next causes her eyes to inflate in surprise. There was the large rustling noise of paper, followed by a map being presented to her, but Lux already has a map! Surprised at this, the female Maine Coon is unable to express this until she finally reveals the matter plainly to him.

"What the–?! Luke, this is just another map! I already have one! Why are you giving me another map when I already have one?" Lux could not understand why Luke is handing her a second map when she has one in her inventory already. When she pulls her old map out to compare it to the new map, Luke begins chuckling to himself, immediately getting the point while it takes Lux longer to understand the matter. What didn't help the female feline is the tomcat and his laughter.

Feeling slightly annoyed by this, Lux glares at Luke, "What are you laughing about?"

Luke simply answers in a casual manner, "I'm not laughing directly at you, but it's the fact that you're comparing the two maps together; what strikes me as amused is the fact that your old map is duller than the new one. The new one I handed you just now is more updated, complex, and up to date."

After hearing this explanation from Luke, it appears that Lux finally gets the point after this, now fully understanding the matter. At first, it dawned on her, given her aghast expression of realization; when she slowly cuts her gaze back to the two maps she is holding, that is when she finally gets it.

After looking between the two maps for some time, Lux finally agrees with Luke in understanding, now seeing the differences between the two maps. Inclining her eyes towards the tomcat in reasoning, the female Maine Coon assumes, "So you're telling me that this new map is more recent than the other one?"

"Yeah, that's correct! The new one is much more detailed than the old one and provides more useful locations and landmarks to keep track of your current location." Luke explains simply. This further motivates Lux to begin her new journey in searching for her sister; for this, she will have to discard her old map and make good use of her new one.

Finally, after all that's said and done, the female Maine Coon puts this new map away in her inventory and crumples up the old map, handing this to Luke. The tomcat just eyes the old crumpled-up map and eyes her back, assuming, "You're giving this to me to throw away? You couldn't just find some sort of dumpster or chute to place it in?"

Lux grins at him this time, beginning to inflate with confidence and superiority. She implies in return, "Can't fires be built on beaches?"

Luke blinks at her, frowning a little. "Only when they're made in fire pits designated for such things. Are you expecting me to burn this old map for you?"

Amazed at how fast Luke caught on to Lux's request, the female feline simply nods her head while responding, "Yep, that's it! That's the only logical way I can think of rather than just tossing it to the ground to let it go trampled on."

Lux observes the tomcat's features lightening up, turning back into a smile upon listening to her explanation. Satisfied with her explanation, Luke remarks, "That is true; you got a point, there. Best to create a natural way to dispose of something formerly useful rather than becoming a litterbug. I'll take care of your old map as you requested and we should both be on our separate ways."

"Okay, well thanks for your help Luke. I really appreciate it!" Lux thanks the tomcat for his assistance while starting off for her exploration. And while Luke bids Lux farewell, he starts off the other way, leaving the female cat alone in her new journey around the island.

~~~~~

Trekking along the sandy seashore in the Paradise district, Lux briefly consults her new map to pinpoint her current location. As Luke explained earlier, the landmarks for each district is a key feature, one of which Lux is on now.

While staring at her map, Lux trails her eyes over the landmarks and locations for each district before putting her map away, standing at a shoreline overlooking the horizon. When she raises her eyes up, the female feline is met with a breathtaking view of a typical beach, with the water overlooking the horizon. Such a view as this is mesmerizing for the average citizen, but for travelers such as Lux, these types of views bring back memories, some of them vague where she can hardly remember them.

One vague memory plays another flashback in her mind where she and her sister were at one of these beaches; alongside their mother, Lux, her sister, and her mother would sit together at such locations, watching the horizon, playing together, sharing a meal together, these memories were what strengthened Lux's resolve even more to locate her sister and reunite with her. And along the way, she can find out more about the history of her hometown. Luke's version of events is a solid clue of what happened, but that's only a tiny chunk for the full history of Lux's hometown. To find out more, she will have to talk to some of the locals to delve more into the past and secure more information.

After reminiscing on her recent memory, Lux exhales heavily, before rubbing her head firmly. "Why do I miss this place? Something about it seems oddly familiar! I can't quite put my finger on it but what is it?" She reasoned to herself. Her ears flick about occasionally from disappointment, annoyance, and anger; mainly a combination of more feelings welling up inside of her. Eventually, she turns away with a heavy sigh and proceeds to leave, musing again, "I guess I'll find out more when I pick up the pace."

Leaving again, Lux pads along the sandy bank, letting her pawfeet sink into the sand. The prints she leaves behind will be another definite reminder of who was last here, given the water doesn't wash these away. But given the ranging tides, the chances of this happening is moderate. Still, Lux would do just about anything to reach her sister, as long as it helps her in her quest.

While feeling the sand between her toe digits, Lux continues along the bank, stopping occasionally to shake off the excess sand while wiggling her toe digits in the process. While wandering along the sandy coastline, Lux mumbles to herself, "Has the sands gotten deeper over time? It kinda feels like I'm sinking here!"

To erase the sinking feeling she thinks she is getting and to keep herself from slipping, Lux unsheathes her toe claws for better traction. The beaches in the Paradise district are quite big, leaving Lux to gaze around for an added sightseeing trip. The view is exactly eponymous just like the name of the location: Paradise.

"Boy, Luke wasn't kidding when he said this is one of the biggest areas in the town. And with all these villagers here, it's just like Hawaii; very close to it, I think." Lux muses softly to herself while still walking along the sand. She checks her map again to pinpoint her current location and puts it away again. Right as she is about to move again, she notices two new cat villagers coming up to meet her. This time, Lux is more calm than last time when she encountered Luke.

While observing these two new villagers, Lux studies their features. One of these new villagers is a sandy furred shecat along her fingers and toe digits being darker, yet her own chartreuse eyes are sparkling in excitement. She is wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt with a blue floral design along with tan swimming trunks. With her is a white / light gray tomcat, his own turquoise eyes also sparkling. He is shirtless while wearing light blue swim trunks.

"Who might you two be?" Lux wonders softly to herself while staring between the two villagers.

"Oh, my name is Molly," the sandy furred female introduces herself and the tomcat with her, gesturing to him, "and this is my mate, Tom. We're husband and wife."

Innocently, Lux compliments Tom on his appearance; she mentions to Molly, "Your husband is quite the charmer. He is pretty handsome. How did the two of you meet?"

Tom merely chuckles at Lux's question, preferring to save the memory for another time. He can already tell she is busy. But since she asked, it wouldn't hurt to tell her about it.

The chucking tomcat proceeds to explain to Lux how he and Molly first met. He relates, "It was on this very island that Molly and I met each other upon venturing out here; you can say that it was love at first sight; we hardly knew each other." Observing Lux's perplexed expression, Tom elaborates, "Molly and I knew instantly that we couldn't just hit it off without knowing each other fully, so we began hanging out more, getting to know each other more in the process."

After a quick pause, Molly interjects, "Tom is a strong man, but that's not completely why I fell in love with him. Apart from his good looks, he also has quite a charming personality."

Lux remains silent, preferring not to comment on Molly's interrupting interjection. But the Maine Coon perks her ears up from hearing Molly's husband continue his explanation. Scratching his head with a slight blush on his face, Tom starts to further elaborate, "As I mentioned before, Molly and I met and fell in love with each other in this part of town, but we began to grow closer after getting to know each other more. We can't play matchmaker and expect instant results. Nope, relationships don't work like that."

Listening with interest, Lux paid attention to the two feline villagers with how the tomcat related how he and his wife met. Keenly intrigued, Lux points out, "Well from what it sounds like, you two experimented before actually marrying each other."

"Yeah, we did! It makes more sense than going at it blindly." Molly interjected again, locking her indigo eyes to her mate. Tom smiles back with the two nuzzling each other softly, leaving an admiring Lux in deep satisfaction from observing them. Suddenly, the two pull away and Molly advances towards her out of curiosity in wanting to learn about her travels.

"So, what's a traveler like you doing out here? Are you a tourist or something?" The female questions her. Despite the initial friendly encounter, Lux uses this opportunity to introduce herself, taking precaution to explain her reason for being present.

"My name is Lux, and well, I am not a tourist. I am looking for someone special." Lux carefully explains to the married pair before her. This draws Tom's attention also, and he and his wife light up in bright anticipation for what Lux could be searching for.

Anticipating the belief that Lux has found that special someone, Molly excitedly questions her, "Ooohhhh, who's the man you're going for? Is it a reunion between the two of you?"

Rubbing the back of her head, Lux laughs nervously from being asked this type of question and she merely shakes her head in denial, explaining, "I'm not looking for love; I don't have a love interest. Instead, it's a family reunion of sorts; I'm looking for my sister."

"Family reunion, huh?" Tom grows intrigued, giving Lux a toothy grin. Upon paying attention to her attire, the male cat then implies, "Are you heading somewhere special for it?"

Lux nods her head in confirmation, but then she clarifies her reason, "I am actually heading to the castle to look for my sister; another villager suggested that I explore this entire region first before finding the castle though. This is what led to me coming here in the first place." To emphasize her point, Lux shows both Tom and Molly the note that she collected that was written to her from her sister.

While Molly is intrigued by the note and its message, Tom suddenly grows nervous, shown by his tail lashing from side to side. The tomcat then assumes suddenly, "Are you some sort of noble or spy? We have only a queen here. There used to be a king here, but he was a tyrannical leader."

While Molly turns to look at Tom, blinking at him slowly in confusion, Lux appears to be disturbed. Confused by the sudden assumption, Lux wonders, "What does this have to do with my search? I'm not a noble or whatever; why do you ask?"

Tom explains, "This former king was a tyrant, so much that the people feared his offspring would turn out just like him. So to remove it, the king was assassinated and any children that he had were to be wiped out."

Hearing this makes Lux's blood freeze. This is a kind of situation that nobody, especially one of noble rank, wants to be in. An entire bloodline and generation snuffed out due to the terrible actions of a single tyrannical person. Just listening to the explanation spells unexpected and inadvertent trouble for Lux herself, especially since the main thing she is searching for is the castle. Could she have royal blood in her without even knowing it?

Because of her main reason for being here, it is no use in trying to hide the fact that Lux is on a reunion mission after pointing out that she is already searching for the castle on the island. Due to this, she swallows anxiously. Growing timid, Lux squeaks, "You're not going to kill me, are you?"

"Kill you, why? You don't pose a threat to us or anyone else here." Molly shrugs in annoyance. She then remarks, "Besides, you're a tourist anyway. But if you're looking for a castle or ruler or whatever, we can help you."

"You guys want to help me but at the same time, I can't tell if you want to help me or actually kill me. Which one is it?" Lux's uneasiness is clearly seen in her body language and facial expression, though Molly protests otherwise.

"Listen Lux, we only have a queen here in this part of town, whereas the other two districts have their own monarchy. The former kingdom that was existent is now extinct; nothing but shrubs, bushes, and plants. And if you look around, you may find some fragments of such an old castle around here." Molly explained, though heatedly.

"Fragments? What are you talking about?" Lux tilts her head sideways while staring at Molly with a quizzical expression on her face. She even brings up the last villager she had talked to last, "Luke said that there was a horrible king that was done away with and a new monarchy was established."

Scoffing in scorn, Molly dismisses the witness account as fraudulent, claiming, "He doesn't know what he is talking about. Ever since that old king died, we've only had a queen ruling Paradise! The other two lands have kingdoms and rulers of their own, though those are more or less hostile than they seem. Lux, if you want to head for the castle, then go for it; only watch out for the residents that are from the other towns; some of them may be more shady than others."

Upon hearing this, Lux eventually walks away, bidding Molly and her husband a farewell wave. The Maine Coon knows what she needs to do; now is a good time to actually do it. But where could she actually find the castle she is looking for?

~~~~~

After walking around a bit more throughout the region, Lux begins to reach higher ground; the sand between her toes is now replaced by soft earth and grass while leaving behind sandy prints in her tracks. To shake off the remaining sand, Lux begins shaking her bare pawfeet once again, wiggling her toe digits in the process. Upon reaching higher ground, Lux begins to notice the fragments of a strange former structure that Tom and Molly had mentioned earlier. The female Maine Coon notices one of these and wonders, "What could this be? There are so many pieces scattered about! Could this be the destruction of the castle that Molly was talking about?"

"These are remnants of a former palace where a tyrannical overload once resided." Another new voice invades Lux's hearing, yet when the female feline searches for the source, her attention is directed downward to a feral blue furred canine standing before her. Intrigued by the sight of this small creature, Lux wonders, "And who might you be?"

The little canine creature introduces itself, "My name is BlueFire, but you can just call me Blue! What's your name?"

Softly, Lux begins to smile back at Blue's enthusiasm. Introducing herself in return, Lux replies back, "My name is Lux. Nice to meet a little critter like you."

"So what brings you out here to this island? Are you looking for somebody?" Blue questioned eagerly.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I am looking for someone; someone special, that is." Lux simply explained, appearing a bit bashful. "I am looking for my sister."

Blue lights up even more in excitement, growing even more excited. "Oohhh, a family reunion! Are you and your sister getting back together or something?"

Lux confirms Blue's assumption, "Mm-hmm! In fact, while I was away from this place, I had picked up this message that came from her inside of a bottle." To emphasize her statement, the female Maine Coon retrieves the message she still has and shows it to Blue, who begins looking it over in keen interest.

While gazing over the message, Blue stares up at Lux and begins jumping around her, ready to get the journey started. "Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go!!"

Lux didn't anticipate Blue running off and leaving her so soon; she is still a newcomer to the island. Immediately, she rushes after him to catch up while calling out, "Hey, wait! I still don't know my way around this island!!"

Blue is so excited at showing Blue around that he doesn't even acknowledge her complaint. Instead, he continues running until he stops at an intersection along the terrain. While Blue stops and searches for the right direction, Lux finally manages to catch up to him, in spite of being lost around here.

"Mmm, let's see, which way to go…?" While Blue is searching for a new route to follow, Lux stops him by gently placing her hand on his head. This causes him to look up at the Maine Coon in wonder.

"Hmm? What is it?" Blue becomes curious at first and then begins to melt from his head being scratched gently by the Maine Coon. Lux just gazes softly at him, giggling to herself at how playful Blue has been acting. The small canine sure has a lot of energy for someone his size though; he seems more excited about exploring and giving Lux a tour of the entire place rather than just straight up taking her where she needs to go.

Lux explains gently, "You sure seem pretty eager to go exploring. I have never seen anyone so energetic like you before."

Blue just giggled while jumping against Lux. However, Lux grabs him gently and picks him up to cradle him against the chest. However, Blue begins writhing in her hold, barking dramatically, "Release me, woman!!!"

Although Lux begins to struggle with holding Blue while laughing, the female Maine Coon is even more impressed with Blue's rambunctious energy and his playfulness. She teasingly quips, "Be still so I can hold you!"

"Never!!!" Blue goes on to playfully bite Lux's forearm and she releases him immediately, causing the canine to drop to the ground…

*WHUMP!*

…yet Blue ends up landing on Lux's pawfeet, thus cushioning his fall. Still, the drop has left Blue feeling slightly winded, but fine. Yet Blue rolls onto his feet and removes himself from Lux, now standing beside her.

~~~~~

After a bit more exploring around the region of Paradise, Blue and Lux eventually make their way out of the region, going into the next district. What used to be warm, sunny beaches is now dense, foggy grit, along with rundown or destroyed buildings. This new region seems to evoke a sense of fear in Lux. Shivering in fright, Lux squeaks out, "What is this place…?"

Blue runs a little distance ahead of Lux to get a good look at their new surroundings before reporting back to her, "This place is known as Neoxis. It's quite different from Paradise just by the atmosphere alone. I don't know how people do it, but the citizens here still manage to keep themselves afloat."

Lux is already fearful of the new place, shivering in terror. Blue, however, marches up to her and nuzzles her leg to relax her, trying to calm her down. Lux, however, scoops him into her arms where he immediately protests again, this time more serious. He begins squirming in Lux's arms again while squealing, "Oi! Put me down already!"

"Okay…! Okay…!" Lux finally sets Blue back down on the ground beside her while mumbling to herself, "This place gives me the creeps."

"Tell me about it." Blue scoffs in return. He is in agreement with Lux not because of the atmosphere but because both of them can see it all for themselves. The dense atmosphere, the dreary landscape, even close by is a boarded up building; it appeared to be a former general store. Still, the scenery alone will make chills creep through anyone's spine.

Lux gulps, "So this is Neoxis… very, very creepy."

Blue, however, begged to differ; walking away to start, the canine expresses, "Ehh, it's not that much like a horror sort of thing, but still; it's really nasty out here. The people here are a lot less friendly."

Hesitant, Lux stays put while listening to Blue speak his mind, yet the female Maine Coon doesn't not want to be left behind; that's the last thing she wanted to happen to her. Her ears are folded back in fear, but they perk up once she chases after Blue to catch up to him, "Hey, wait for me!!"

~~~~~

The initial start of the journey around Neoxis was rather silent with Lux too afraid to speak, let alone try and start a conversation. From what Blue said, the people in this part are less friendly and Lux not only believed him, but also considered the atmosphere to heart.

Blue is the only one brave enough to start another conversation. While sweeping his eyes around the landscape, he comments, "This place is vastly different from Paradise, that's for sure."

Hearing Blue speak makes Lux's ears fly up. This gives her the courage to speak, temporarily forgetting about the conditions they're surrounded by. In response, she wonders, "How bad is this district?"

Casually, Blue explains, "Well this goes to show how horrible this place is; this district had a monarch here, but he's been long gone; he got snatched and nobody bothered to even search for him. Like the saying goes, 'here today, gone tomorrow' am I right?"

All Lux does is give Blue an inquisitive, doubtful stare. The way he talked about it kinda disturbed her, almost if nothing had happened. All Lux can say now is, "Really, Blue? How long have you been on this island?"

"Ah, about a couple of months, really. Not that long." Blue reveals to the female feline. "What about you?"

Lux sighs, "Honestly, I just got here. I told you before, I am here on a term of family reunion; I am looking for my sister."

Blue grins at her in return, assuring her, "You told me that before and I am willing to help you locate her. Who knows, it may be sooner than you think!"

"Yeah, as long as we get out of this dump quickly enough! It's already scary enough just being here and I want out of this place, like right now!" Lux wanted to leave Neoxis so badly she wanted to just bolt and scamper away. Only thing is, she is unfamiliar with the region. Even Blue pauses to turn to her, picking up on her intense fear.

Blue cautions the scared Maine Coon, "Listen, I know you want out of this dump immediately, and so do I; the best way we can leave this place is if we turn back and go in the direction where we came from, not any further. Neoxis has a dangerous coastline reminiscent of some kind of cliffside trail, and there are no guardrails either."

The female cat pales upon finding this out. Freaked out, she squeaks, "So you mean this place is a deathtrap?"

"More or less, but this is still a hostile city." Blue reported in return. He turns around, raising up to stand against Lux's waist while assuming, "It's best we get out of here while we can; the citizens of Neoxis do not like newcomers or foreigners."

"Yeah, you're telling me! Let's get out of here!" Grabbing Blue and picking him up, Lux cradles the small canine close to her chest while beating a hasty retreat. At the same time, Blue mentions, "Well look at it this way, we don't have to deal with that ugly coastline!"

"Well now that you mentioned it, I absolutely hate this place! Let's get out of here!" Lux resolves while rushing out of the Neoxis district. She is also holding Blue close to her, literally, even after the last couple of times he's protested. This time, he hangs on while leaving the district.

~~~~~[/center

After beating a hasty retreat from the Neoxis district, Lux and Blue end up back in the Paradise district, walking along the beaches now. While Lux is shaking her pawfeet to expel the excess sand from between her toes, Blue is playing and rolling around in the sand, happily in his own little world while at the same time accompanying Lux in her expedition. While Lux is traveling along the sand, she stops suddenly and turns towards the playing canine, commenting on a realization that just came to her mind. "Hey Blue, we haven't explored Atlantida yet. That's the third district in this giant place, isn't it?"

Upon hearing Lux speak, Blue raises up and shakes the sand from himself. He responds to her assumption, telling her in part, "Yeah, it's the third part of this big island, but Atlantida is an underwater place. So unless you're good at swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving, we can't explore that place!"

Lux groans as a result of Blue's statement, moaning, "Ooohhhh, and that would've been a fun trip! I'm good at swimming but I don't have any equipment - we don't have any equipment!"

Blue giggles at the comment while coming forward to meet Lux, "Yeah, imagine if we did have the equipment; we'd look completely funny!"

"Yeah, I guess so." Lux sighs while she resumes her trek along the sand. "It still would have been a nice place to explore, honestly. No doubt about that."

Blue remarks in return, "Well, look on the bright side; we're back in Paradise now so we have all the sunny, tropical fun again! Plus, we have a better chance of tracking down your sister!"

"But she could be anywhere, not just here!" Lux protested in return.

"Yeah, but the villagers here are the most helpful and friendliest out of all." Blue rushes to meet her while giving her more helpful advice, answering her protest. The canine then adds, "Also, we have some more fragments of a former castle to investigate; there used to be a monarchy here but now, it's all dry land; just forested area now."

Lux pauses in her tracks, stopping to turn to Blue. "Fragments? Speaking of fragments, a villager here related to me the aftermath of some kind of war where the castle was destroyed. I passed by some fragments of a castle not too long ago."

"Oh really!?" Blue jumps around, excited at the prospect. "Tell me, where did you happen to find them?"

"Yeah, but they were in another part of this district. I don't think any pieces of a former castle will be found in this part of the land; if we search hard enough, we may uncover something else, but who knows until we get to that part?" Lux explains in reason.

"Are you for real, Lux? An explosion or something similar usually scatters remnants of a structure across an entire region!" Blue squeaks in protest. Then he considers his own statement, reasoning to conclude, "Unless it depends on the force of the blast though…"

"You have a point there. But it depends on the types of explosives though, and there are different kinds." Lux began to explain but she keeps her explanation short. Unfortunately, Blue's curiosity has him zooming up to Lux, wanting to learn more.

"Explosives, huh? Like what different kinds of explosives?" Blue's tail is wagging from side to side in a fast, erratic manner due to his pure excitement. And he just waits, eagerly anticipating Lux's explanation. This not only throws Lux for a loop, but also puts her in a decline in her mood; she becomes hesitant to talk at this point now.

The female Maine Coon hesitated now. And from the look on her face, she seems almost apologetic or melancholic. Eventually, Lux recovers enough to consider her words carefully, and she begins to fill Blue in on the matter.

"Well, you have different explosives like plastics, C4, that type of stuff. But I don't think that kind of stuff exists on an island as large as this one." She explained to Blue.

"If that's the case, then how do you explain all these fragments and debris scattered throughout Paradise, huh? We do have explosives here, but we use them sparingly!" Neither Lux or Blue respond to one another for they both fall silent at hearing the feminine voice coming up behind them. To Lux, that voice sounds familiar already.

"Wait a minute, that voice! Could it be?" Upon recognizing the voice, Lux whirls around to find herself and Blue being greeted by Molly, Tom, and Luke; these three villagers are welcoming Lux back to Paradise with a new motive up their sleeve, which Molly reveals eventually.

"Hey Lux, good to see you again; welcome back!" Molly is the first to greet Lux, embracing her; this is followed by Tom and then Luke, leaving Lux a frozen surprised cat. The female Maine Coon just stands in place, being pulled into an embrace each time. She made no effort to return the gesture, just frozen in place. Looks like this is also something she isn't used to either.

While Lux just stands in silent surprise for the time being, Molly trails her eyes over to Blue, wondering in turn, "And who is this little guy? Are you a friend of Lux's?"

"Yes I am!" Blue jumps around happily, eager to meet the trio; He already ends up bounding straight towards Molly, leaping into her arms. Molly barely has time to react when another set of arms grab him. Luke catches him right as he sails towards Molly, resulting with the black / white furred tomcat pulling Blue close to his chest.

"Gotcha!" Luke nuzzles a squirming Blue in his arms, rubbing his head gently against the canine. While the tomcat is purring, Blue continues squirming until he runs out of energy, leaving him to catch his breath. Right as Luke begins licking Blue, the canine protests again in a loud manner, "Put me down, I say!!!"

All four felines jump from how loud Blue's objection is. Their fur standing on end, the four cats end up with quite a scare from the canine's loud lungs - Lux is the only one out of the four who is slowly getting used to the canine, so her reaction wasn't as bad as the other three villagers, but it was still there.

"Goodness, he's loud!" Molly exclaims in surprise, rearing back. Her husband, Tom, also had the same reaction. But as for Luke, he had a bit more trouble with Blue since he is the one holding him.

Since Luke is the one holding Blue, he nearly drops the canine upon his loud protest, scrambling to keep him in his arms. He later sets Blue down on the ground, patting him on his side. Blue begins to waddle away from the trio when he feels a hand on his side again… before being flipped over onto his back. "..!?"

Molly is the one that sends Blue capsizing onto his back in the sand, leaving the poor canine motionless with all four legs straight up in the air and stationary. Blue hears her chuckle and ask around, "Isn't this little guy the cutest thing ever?"

Having no idea what is happening, the poor canine squeaks, "Hey, what's going on??" And then seconds later, he begins squirming around again from a hand rubbing his belly. This activates his tickle spot, causing him to laugh and cry out, "Hey! Hey! No, aaaahhhh! Stop! That tickles!!! Llluuuuxxxx, heeeeelllllpppppppp!!!"

Lux watches from the sidelines, amused, while giggling to herself at the three villagers playing with Blue. Eventually after a few minutes, the Maine Coon calls out to them, "Okay that's enough; let Blue breathe now! Now what did you guys come back here to tell us?"

Molly comes back with Tom and Luke to join Lux, smirking while reporting to her, "We've got some news for you on the whereabouts of a certain castle you can check out here. Remember the map that Luke gave you?"

"Yeah, why?" Lux replied, wondering where Molly was going with this. She pulls out the map that Luke gave her with Molly coming to join her.

Consulting the map, Molly began, "We're in a different part of Paradise now, so you should be close to the castle if you want to find your sister. Rumor has it she's affiliated with the current queen here. Who knows, you could be working for the queen too."

Lux froze. Her sister? An affiliate of the current queen? She hardly considered it to be the case since her sister could plainly be anywhere at this point. But time will soon tell in the matter; Molly points out a part of the map, pointing directly to the middle part of it. She directs Lux's attention to the location, "You see this part, Lux? The middle ground is where the castle is located. You should see a purple and white structure somewhere along those lines. That's where the queen and your sister should be."

Lux objects, "My sister could be anywhere; not just in the castle alone! She could be anywhere on this island!"

Molly smirks at her again while reminding her, "Trust me, your sister is in safe hands, Lux. The rumor could be true after all but you'll see for yourself eventually. She is a close advisor of the queen and her most trusted advocate."

Lux grumbles out a skeptical 'hmph', putting away her map while insinuating, "I'll believe it when I see it. Come on, Blue; let's finish off the rest of our journey."

"Uuuggghhhh finally! I can freely breathe! Coming, Lux!" Blue bounds past the villagers to catch up with Lux, relieved and excited at the prospect of completing their journey. Molly, Luke, and Tom all watch in unison as the two leave the area to go into another section of the district."

[Center][b]~~~~~

The journey to the middle part of Paradise was only a short distance since the duo are on the sandy shoreline. This transitions to normal grass, leaving Lux the chore of shaking off all the sand from her pawfeet; any that was left clung to the grassy land she walked on. Either that, or she would wipe her feet on the ground to remove the sand. Blue, on the other hand, is just walking as casual and normal as he can be, not even bothered by the sand. Yet he points this out to Lux with one simple question, "Hey Lux, does the sand bother you? I have no problem with it."

"Sometimes the sand doesn't bother me." Lux stares back at Blue briefly, focusing back on her destination at hand, "It's when it's between my toes that it bothers me."

"Ah, I see." Blue hums while keeping his eyes on the horizon. He then lights up at noticing a large purple / white structure and he begins running towards it, beckoning Lux to follow. "There it is! We're here!"

Meanwhile outside the castle, a lone female cat is currently busy, sweeping away at the castle foundation. The cat is wearing all purple garb; a flowing robe, amethyst jewelry, even purple footbands. Only the hood of the robe is white, infusing into a purple color once it reaches her shoulders. Busied with maintaining her structure, her ears go up to the sound of an inquiry behind her, catching her attention. "Excuse me, I'm looking for my sister. Do you know where she is?"

The stranger pauses in her sweeping and turns around to meet Lux's gaze with her own, catching the gray Maine Coon by surprise. But this stranger picks up on something from Lux and before she can question what's going on, the stranger introduces herself.

"I am Close, queen of Paradise. You seem vaguely familiar for some reason; it must be your eyes." The stranger reveals herself to be another cat; taking her white hood off of her head, her ears fly erect, revealing her to be another Maine Coon!

Lux is taken aback at first by the introduction, but when the stranger mentioned her eyes, Lux wonders, "What about them? Is there something peculiar?"

Close just smiled at Lux sweetly, a genuine smile on her face. She relates to Lux, "Seeing you here just now, those bright eyes of yours, they remind me of your sister. Obsidiana will be very proud to see you."

Hearing that name makes Lux's heart swell in excitement; she can hardly believe what she's just heard. Clasping her mouth with her hands, Lux squeals, "You mean…!?"

Close simply nods to the surprised female in confirmation, pointing out, "Your sister would speak very highly of you, by the way. And she lives here in this exact castle! She is my royal advisor. I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about upon seeing each other." She chuckles.

Feeling the excitement increasing within her, Lux wonders, "Where is she?"

Close is about to respond when a flick of her ears alerts her to movement nearby, which sounded like soft creaking. She informs Lux, "Speaking of, she's coming down right now. Lux, here is your sister, Obsidiana!"

Coming down the castle stairs and out of the castle itself is a beautiful Maine Coon also decked out in royal garb, but there is a purple trinket around her neck. Once Obsidiana notices Lux, the purple-eyed female runs right up to Lux while Lux does the same, slamming into each other in a hard embrace.

The two hold the embrace with Close spectating, and she turns to leave, preferring to let the two sisters have some private time to themselves to catch up. While she leaves, Obsidiana whispers to Lux, "It's so good to see you, Lux. It's been a while!"

"Yes it has; I missed you!" Lux whispers in return, nuzzling her sister.

While the two sisters nuzzle each other, Obsidiana assumes, "I'm sure you have a lot to tell me about. Come, come! We can talk more while outside on the sand."

"First question, how did you become Close's royal advisor?" Lux giggles while joining Obsidiana on their short walk to the beach area.

"All will be explained in due time, Lux. Stay patient." Obsidiana responds lightly while nuzzling Lux. The two sisters soon disappeared from the grassy terrain and now walk along the sand, choosing a spot to sit where they can catch up on past memories.

~~~~~

Lux, Blue, Close, and Obsidiana all belong to Shinydust from ToyHouse!