Chapter Sixteen: The Valley of the Fallen Fish

    "Harry? He's awake everyone!" said the voice of Florence as Harry opened his eyes to a blurry world.
    "Wow, you really had us worried, Harry," came Jim's cheerful voice.
    "W-where am I? What happened?" Harry questioned weakly. He looked around. He was in an unfamiliar place. He was in a large, plain-looking, candlelit room with several beds.
    "You were unconscious for quite a while. We found you and Sarah just beyond the debris of Bronze Bowl. Sarah seemed all right, but we figured you were a goner. I even tried mouth-to-mouth!" Kevinda explained.
    Harry shuddered as he looked to the fortune teller. "So then where did you guys take me?"
    "To Cosmo Canyon! They fixed you right up. They almost didn't let us in, but once they saw Sarah, there was no problem," Jim replied.
    "Why Sarah? Where is she now?"
    "They didn't tell us," Jessica spoke up. She way laying on a bed in the corner of the room. "But that one guy, Booganhervy, sure seemed excited to see her. They're off at the processing plant. They've been there ever since we arrived."
    "Yeah, being here in the fishing town of Cosmo Canyon brings back memories," Florence sighed, her voice filled with nostalgia. "Such wonderful times, they were."
    "Really? Like what?" Kevinda inquired.
    "Oh, it was great. My Mom took me here once when I was little, and we went fishing off the docks. I even caught a fish! Then it bit me, and it went back into the water. Wait... That was an awful memory. Perhaps that explains why I hate sea food."
    "Well, I'm going to go check up on Sarah. Does anyone want to come with me?" asked Jim.
    "You can count me out," Jessica replied. "That guy gives me the creeps. He's always laughing weirdly, he doesn't call any of us by our real names and does anyone else find it strange that he floats around?" The others proceeded to shake their heads 'no'.
    "I'll come with you Jim!" Kevinda exclaimed. "See you all later." She ran up to Jim, taking him by the arm, and the two left the inn.
    Kevinda and Jim walked along through Cosmo Canyon. All of the buildings were built right into the canyon itself, creating numerous hidden passageways that could be explored for ages. Then, there were the docks that stretched out a long way into the water. All of the tiny fishing boats rested there, wading softly in the waves that reflected the shimmering orange of the setting sun.
    There was only one building that wasn't part of the great stone canyon, and that was the processing plant. It was in that plant that most of the town's fish were taken to be turned into fish sticks and then distributed around the world. The plant was a large, towering structure, that seemed to be trying to reach up to the moon.
    "So, tell me about yourself Kevinda," Jim said, trying to make idle conversation.
    "Me, er... Well, uh... Why don't you tell me about yourself instead," she suggested with a nervous smile.
    "Well, it all starts many a year ago... My Mom had been in labour for about twenty-eight hours or so, when I finally decided to just pop on out!"
    "I think that's enough Jim..."
    "It was about that time that Doctor, we call the town doctor 'Doctor', took me in his arms and said, 'Mr. and Mrs. McFeatherburry, you have a fine son. Let me just say- oops!' then he dropped me on my head."
    "Okay Jim, I don't need to hear anything else."
    "Then came the big day when I was finally brought home from the hospital. I stayed at that hospital for a long time. You know, I still have the dent in my skull, want to feel it?"
    "Jim! Hey look, there's Booganhervy and Sarah!"
    Sarah cheerfully ran up to Jim. An elderly man in vibrant, purple robes and a long, grey beard, floated up to the group from behind. "Shmoo shmoo shmoooooo!" came the old man's cheerful laugh. "Jobe, Potato-Face, it's good to see you again."
    "I really wish he would stop calling me 'Potato-Face'," Kevinda whispered angrily.
    "I was just having a lovely conversation with Sarah here. You know, she was born here in Cosmo Canyon. It's a shame we had to sell her. At least she's back home now. Shmoo shmoo shmooooo!"
    "Well good. Now, we should probably get going. There's a world to save and stuff. Thanks for everything Booganhervy," said Jim with a smile.
    "Wait a moment," Booganhervy's tone became serious. "There is something that you all must do. Come with me, quickly. I must show you this before you leave."
    The three didn't say anything, but simply followed the floating old man. They went into one of the buildings that had been carved into the rock. The four stood before a great steel door. Booganhervy explained, in between fits of his odd laughter, that the door was sealed long ago. He proceeded to float over to a dirty old mat in front of the door. The mat read 'Go Away'. He reached beneath it, and revealed a key, which he used to open the great door. Behind it was darkness, and a stale odour that wafted slowly to their noses.
    "What's in there?" inquired Jim quizzically.
    "You'll find out soon enough, Jobe," was Booganhervy's response.
    The four went into the strange cave and proceeded to descend into the darkness. They moved cautiously along, every so often encountering large rodent-like creatures that they would have to fend off. Finally, they reached what appeared to be a dead end.
    "Here we are," spoke Booganhervy, softly. They stood before a large statue of a terrible, demonic, face. The face seemed to shudder, and its jaw began to move. From deep within the mouth, a dark shadow leapt forward.
    Kevinda screamed, "Rat! It's a rat! I hate rats!"
    "You didn't seem to mind those rat things we fought along the way," Jim commented as he took a hold of his sword.
    "Yeah, but they weren't this big!"
    Before the group was a rat that was twice as tall as Jim. The rat's clawed toes scratched at the rock. Its hairless tail whipped around viciously and its black, messy fur covered everything else from backside to head. Its ears twitched with devilish glee as it gazed at the company with blood lust in its dark eyes. The rat grinned wickedly as it opened its vile mouth, releasing a horrible, toxic odour. Its teeth were sharp and yellow, longing for fresh meat. Its nose twitched as it smelled Sarah.
    Jim looked at the rat with contemplative eyes. He saw that it was preparing to pounce on his poor goat. "I don't think so," he said with determination. "Come on Kevinda, let's take this thing out."
    "All right, together, on the count of three. One... Two... Three!"
    "Alalaorfaleed!" Jim's scream echoed throughout the cavern, and the rat-beast was startled. Jim leapt onto the creature, attacking madly with the Bungle Sword.
    "That's it Jim! Take it out! Don't let that rat stop you!" Kevinda rooted, still standing in her original position. Sarah glared at her. "What?" She looked down at the goat. "Don't give me that look. You really don't expect me to fight that disgusting rat, do you?"
    Sarah bleated and stepped behind Kevinda. She then charged into her, and launched the poor fortune teller into the rat. Sarah then ran in to lend aid to Jim.
    "I'm touching it!" Kevinda screeched in fright as she rode on the beast's neck. In panic, she drew her crystal orb from her robes and began to beat the monstrous rat over the head repeatedly with it.
    "You never should have decided to pick a fight with Jim McFeatherburry!" Jim shouted at the rat with pride as he dealt the finishing blow.
    The three were exhausted as they approached Booganhervy. Jim spoke up, as he wiped sweat from his brow, "So, is what you wanted to show us beyond this statue?"
    Booganhervy laughed, "Shmoo shmoo shmoooooo! Goodness no! I just wanted to get you three to get rid of that rat. Do you know how much it would have cost us to get an exterminator to rid us of that thing? Shmoo shmoo shmoooooo!" He turned around and began the trek back out of the cave.
    Kevinda grew angry. "I sense extreme pain in his future!" she exclaimed as she lifted her crystal orb and prepared to throttle the old man.
    "No, calm down Kevinda!" Jim struggled to hold her back. "Let's just wait until we get back to the others and- No!"
    The fortune teller broke free of Jim's grip and soon caught up with Booganhervy. She beat the old man with the crystal orb until Jim came and pulled her away.
    Booganhervy gasped weakly, "Sarah, come here." The goat slowly trotted towards the old man. "Take this, old girl. May it help you in your fight against evil. Shmoo.... shmoo... shmoooooo...." He held an item out to Sarah, then disappeared.
    "What is it?" Kevinda asked, looked over Sarah's shoulder, now quite peaceful and calm.
    Jim picked up a red headband. "It looks like it used to be an old head dress, but it was picked clean."
    "Let me see." Jim handed it over to Kevinda and she carefully examined it. "It says, 'Limited Spoon' on the side here."
    "Well, that explains it," said Jim. "It looks like Muffie has visited Cosmo Canyon before."

    "So, what's our next destination?" Florence inquired as the crew began walking out of the strange fishing town.
    "Well, I think we'll wander around those big grassy plains over there for a while, until we find something of interest," Harry replied.
    "There's nothing left on this continent that we haven't already seen, is there?" Jessica questioned.
    "Well, not as such, but I'm sure something will turn up somewhere."
    "Maybe we'll find some hair gel plants!" Jim exclaimed optimistically.
    "I'm sure we will," Jessica responded, her voice filled with sarcasm.

    The six wandered along through the Cosmo Canyon area for some time. Finally, they came to the great grassy plains, which weren't particularly great, considering they stretched out long enough for a five minute walk. Not to mention the fact that the grass was dying a slow and painful death. Still, it was grassy nonetheless.
    "It's getting late, maybe we should set up camp," suggested Kevinda.
    "Sounds good to me. I'm starving," agreed Jim. He began to unpack their supplies.
    "Hey, what's that over there?" Florence asked as she looked out across the plain.
    "It almost looks like a town," commented Harry, squinting his eyes. He saw what appeared to be the shadowed outline of a group of buildings on the horizon.
    "Well, let's go take a look!" Kevinda exclaimed, full of new energy and curiousity.
    "B-but... I'm hungry!" Jim moaned as the others began walking toward the buildings. "Hey, come on guys. It's food! We can go over there in the morning. Eating is good for Jim! Oh fine!" He grumpily began repacking the supplies then hurried to catch up with the others.