At the Heart of Treasure

674 words (excluding headlines)

How many traps are set up for this heart?

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Deep deep below the evergreen of Frostfine Pine Forest, past the Murky Lurky Cave, and through several lovepine dens, a bearded pouflon did navigate. A lovepine had caught sight of him at one point, and now the pouflon couldn't get that thing to stop cuddling him. His hair was bursting with density this time of year, and that was the perfect bed for this affectionate creature.

Reaching quite far into this spiraling cave system, Jake picked up on an odd breeze. He followed the mysterious wind into a bright cavern glistening with floating crystal hearts. It wasn't an easy trek as there were giant metal claw traps that had launched at him, and Jake had to dance through about twenty of those kind of irritating traps. As if that wasn't enough, the floor had suddenly turned slippery, and a river of hot water had threatened Jake and his new friend. However thanks to learning how to briefly walk on ceilings from an old rude friend, he avoided a hot bath once again.

You see, Jake only enjoyed baths in ice water during this season since he could pretend he was hunting through arctic waters for fish for his ursuki pal that had gone missing again that month. To be honest, during this time of Jake's life, a lot of friends needed missing posters with their pictures on them to be placed all over Bellecoste. Wouldn't you agree that's a good reason for Jake to start a poster printing venue? Jake was making some good dough from this, not so much from the missing department of his printing service, but off of some nice posters of famous royalty. Had you seen the latest poster of the Queen? Captured her beauty on point! He was hoping his pesky workers would at least give him one print of that Queen poster.

In any case, Jake was basking briefly in his success when he finally got through the crystal heart hall to his destination. There it was, his dearest treasure, a rare item that no one else knew how to get except for the collector that owned the treasure trove Jake broke into.

The best treasure is a good(?) friend

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Sinking his teeth into the wondrous soft sweetness of a strawberry heart loaf, Jake just about shouted being able to taste this masterpiece after all these years. The bread was freshly made, which let Jake know that the baker of this bread was still out there. It flashed into Jake's mind that Neptune knew exactly where this baker was, and Jake busted that pedestal where the bread used to sit into a million pieces!

This lowdown Tune not letting me know this bread was still in production! Jake was about to tear that whole place down when his attention got caught up by a sprouting piece of bark. This wasn't just any fragment of tree! Jake pulled out a drawing his friend had given him a week ago that matched the bark before him.

"Aw man, I thought that boy was trying to send me on a wild wanderoot-chase!" Jake shouted aloud. "The heartwood is real!" Jake snatched that bark up so fast, and he was grinning just thinking about how his newest friend would reward Jake for his find. This meant another fun day in the future of board game challenges with his friend's daughter, Petal!

To think Neptune was a great buddy that made Jake's job so much easier, what a good pouf! It was some decades ago when Jake and this boy were first in the knight academy. Jake then thought back to when he first met Nathaniel around that time, and BOY, that knight knew how to find the best root beer back in the day!

Overflowing with great memories, Jake left that place a mess. Soaring through the sky at rapid speeds, Jake wanted to make sure no one would try to nab that bark off him. He had hoped the next time he solved those puzzles Neptune liked setting up, Neptune would find more of that bread for him!