Episode Twentyeight: Princess In The Wild

"Ow!" screamed Leia. She had tripped on something and fallen down. "Ow! My leg! I can't move it!" Akio and Weeko carried Leia into the Fire City Village and set her down by the fire. Shuka did what she could to set the bone in place and wrapped it up with a piece of Leia's dress. Kali stayed by her side, while Shuka took a torch and searched around the little village for herbs to help with the pain and bring down the swelling.

Shuka had mastered every art on the island that she had come in contact with, but today, her knowledge wasn't enough. She couldn't find any herbs or special medicinal flowers anywhere. She found little holes in the ground where these plants might have been growing.

Since there weren't any herbs or flowers in the Fire City, Shuka walked over to the field along the river on the other side of the path. Suddenly she could smell Lilly flowers, but was startled by a familiar voice nearby. Shuka couldn't see who it was, but noticed a small fire flickering through the bushes. She hid the light from her torch, and ducked down low.

"King! King!" It was one of the Runners from earlier that day. "The Western Medallion has been spotted. It was hanging on a young blonde woman's neck at the Tribe of The Flowing Water. Sir, she looked a lot like the Queen."
"Why didn't you get it? or her?" A deep voice asked him. He stepped into the light of the fire and Shuka saw his face. It was Councilman Paco. She quickly blew out her torch.
"She wasn't alone. There were two others with her. One of them, I'm positive, was Blanne."
"Impossible!" Paco shouted, and then calmed his voice a little. "I saw the potion I used on him turn him into a fish with my own eyes! You must be mistaken. And what about the other person?"
"Hong, your majesty." Shuka gasped, and covered her mouth.
Paco's face turned pale. "Gather the others and meet me back at the Palace!" Then Shuka heard a rustling, as the Runner left running, and Paco put out his small fire. Shuka began to carefully make her way back to the village while pondering whether her cousin was the Great Sea Monster.

Suddenly, a man ran right out in front of her and stopped. "Shuka! My, my, it's been a long time, princess." said a deep, but familiar voice.

"Councilman Paco? What a surprise! What are you doing here? How are the King and Queen?" Shuka hadn't seen Paco since her family had gone on the great quest to search for the King and Queen, and to find out what had been happening in the Ceremonial Village.

Paco pretended to be sad. "They are gone, Shuka, I am sorry. I have taken over the Palace. I just came out here to pay honor to the Fire Idol for our yearly Great Race. What are you doing here?"

Shuka knew that the King and Queen's oldest son was supposed to take the throne. She was surprised to learn that instead Paco was acting as Island Leader. Shuka nervously replied, "Oh. I am helping an injured friend on our way back to her village. I was just looking for a Lilly flower to make some medicine from. Have you seen one?"

Paco didn't want Shuka to know that he had Lillies in his sack, so he decided that he should be on his way. "Please, visit the Palace sometime and we will have a feast in your honor, Princess Shuka. It was good to see you again, but I have to go back now. You know how it is with royalty, you rarely get a moment for yourself." Shuka, however, could smell the herbs and flowers, but decided to let him go.

"Yes, I remember." Shuka said, recalling moments from her childhood of the great Palace of Prosperity. "Thank you for your invitation, Paco. I'm sure that our paths will meet again."

Paco hurried past the village and the villagers, and into the darkness on the road leading North. Shuka came rushing into the village. As soon as he was clearly gone, she told her followers, "We need to leave now!"

"Who was that? What about Leia's leg? What about the herbs?" they asked of her. They all gathered around the fire to hear what she had to say.

"That was Councilman Paco. Something is wrong. The King's son should have taken the throne, but instead Paco did. We have to get to the Ceremonial Village at once!" Shuka kneeled over Leia to hug her quickly "Please forgive me for not explaining what I'm about to do." The four them all looked up surprised as Shuka jumped up, twirled around, and then, with her hands sparkling, she touched Leia's leg and magically healed her. "Now let's go!"...


As soon as all the Runners were gone, King Ipo led the five of them to climb out of the little cave.
"My father's name was Hong." Samar stated. "If he's still alive and on this island, we're going the wrong way."
"And if Lakia is with him, then that means that she is in danger!" Dodo proclaimed.

Ipo looked at them, and chuckled a little. "My dear children, if Lakia and Hong are with Blanne, then you have no reason to worry. And Dodo, if you are not too injured to travel then we should be on our way."

"Where are we going your Highness?" Jem asked.

"To throw a party, of course!" King Ipo replied cheerfully. But seeing that the others weren't smiling, he added, "We are going to the Darkened Forest to meet Queen Iso. She is waiting there for us with the others." Then King Ipo smiled another bright smile, dusted off his clothes, and began walking into the nearby forest. "He's alive and well and walking!" He sang. "My son is alive and well and walking!" The little flowers along the road beside him suddenly bloomed. "Let's go save Isola!" King Ipo quietly shouted. Dodo, Jem, Piku, and Samar all froze in their place as they watched him.

Finally, Piku said, "Well, I can't remember the last time anyone threw a party to get ready for a rescue. But if he's the King, we should go along with him." The four of them agreed, dusted themselves off, and ran to catch up with the golden King Ipo...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *