Oooooh snails! I'll take one! He's dark purpley-blue with a red stripe. His name is Dragon, but I suppose that might get confusing....

Turgon has a dark green one named Sir Crusty VonShelli II.

He can just be called Sir Crusty. 

Oh, yay, snails! And night lights! (I do hope it stays on. I do not want a visit from Peter Pan.) 

And you had to mention the Lima beans...*shudders*

Anyway, I shall claim a snail named Lavender (guess what color it is. :-) ).

Moonfrost's snail is as big as a my hand.

Holly's snail is as big as a pinkie mouse.

Rosemary's snail is as big as a commen garden snail.  

Oh! Cho Chang was going to the breedery-- I forgot to say that.

*JAW DROPS* CHIP SAYS BOOK!!!!!!!! NO LIE!! HE REALLY SAYS BOOK!!!!!!!!! B-O-O-K! I AM AMAZED RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!! 

My snail is brown with red stripes, and as large as a hand. His name is Spots. (l know, how orignal ;)

Oh, I meant to say this, but the rest were finishing their breakfasts. 

Guys, I'm super sorry, but I'm falling behind on this story. Please forgive me for the slow rate it's been going. We've been really busy this past week; we got a goat! And I woke up at seven the other day just to go catch her--she's a little trouble maker. I'm gonna post as much as possible, I'm just telling you why it's going slow. :) In case you were curious. Puck is finishing breakfast, and don't worry; he'll will carry out his job soon! (I try to use everyone evenly, but it's hard to do that all the time.)

Ooooh, Joan, you're not dead yet! Nobody knows what's happened to you, but on day 4 we will all know...This one is super-long; I apologize.

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The Woods

"Wow, these woods are sure thick! They looked pretty even from the outside, but this is just crazy!" Moonfrost said to the others from up ahead.

"I'll say. But I'm actually starting to enjoy this vacation, since I get some time away from Spyro," Hotairballoon whispered

Shadow Dragon was in the back, making sure no one would follow them. Dragonrider hadn't exactly told them where she was going, and she wasn't sure if she should wait on her or anything, just in case she was coming. Cho Chang had gone off by herself to the breedery, much to everyone's surprise, and though Dragonrider had offered to go with her, she insisted on exploring on her own. 

Suddenly Moonfrost gasped.

"You guys have to see this!!! It's amazing! So amazing!"

Shadow and H.A.B. pushed through the solid wall of branches and out into an enormous clearing. A waterfall flowed off a cliff that seemed to rip the sky, and on the ground, grass grew, along with tropical plants. Surrounding the clearing, almost bordering it, were palm trees, and it was then that the CBers had realized that the temperature had increased, like, a ton. It was almost eighty degrees! Actually, it was more like eighty-five degrees! Among the smaller palm trees that had sprouted in the middle of the tropical meadow were parrots, the likes of which the three had never seen. Two flew down and landed on Shadow's wing. They were a bright blue, with green beaks. Their wings had patches of purple on them, and their tails were bright apple-green.

Three smaller parrots, (These were red and grey-- red with grey under their wings. They had maroon on top of their head, and tan beaks, and green tails.) landed on Moonfrost's head. They screeched, then flew up into a tree, where they apparently had a nest, which was crazy; considering it was almost winter. 

"Wow, look at all these birds!!! Uh-oh, look at that one. Uh, guys, it's coming right towards me! Not good!" Hotairballoon ducked, but the bird kept coming. It slammed into her face at full speed, knocking her into a tree. The tree leaned back, forming a slide, and it slid her onto a slimy rock. But... the frog--yes, it was indeed a frog--jumped up, launching Hotairballoon into the waterfall. "Help!!!" she cried, but when the CBers got past the flurry of birds, it was too late. The heavy water had finished off Hotairballoon, much to their complete and utter shock, because it was apparent that someone was behind this; after all, animals couldn't have planned that attack so well. Shadow Dragon hoisted Hotairballoon's body onto her back, and, depressed, everyone started back to the house.

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The Barn

Elsa and Spyro glared at each other for a minute, and then they started banging on the wall of the barn. Suddenly, the wall flipped in, allowing entry into the oddly dark building. But the room was darker than usual. A shadow stood in front of them, coming closer. Elsa meow-screamed, and Spyro sort of did this thing where he snorted and sucked his snort back in, because at that moment the murderer grabbed them both and shoved them into a bag. All went dark for the AE and CAPTCHA.

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The Backyard

Sydney, Will, and Poetic Panda all felt kinda hopeless. As they trekked into the backyard, they saw only hills, grass, and air. But they still went exploring, at least for some time to think in peace.

There was something strange about Abigail S.'s death, Panda thought.

Over in Will's brain, similar questions went through his head. How come the Aligator attacked her at the last minute? The CAPTCHAs had calmed her down! 

Sydney was thinking, The murderer has been pretty sneaky. With all these perfect plans, how can we ever realx? And where did Joan go? She can't be dead...? 

Of course, a few minutes later everyone there was thinking, Ouch!!! 

"Hey, there's a wall here!" Will exclaimed. "A grass-covered wall with a painted sky at the top! And fake sheep!"

The CBers were astonished. Even the wide-open backyard held secrets.

"Let's walk the perimeter and see if there's a door," Panda suggested.

Just as she had thought, there was a door, and there were footprints right by it. Small, CBer-sized footprints. And strangely, there were no locks on the door... allowing anyone and everyone to waltz in.

On the other side of the wall, the CBers could hardly breath. And it wasn't for the amazing sight they saw, or a tight space (in fact the space they were in was quite open). It was just... the air. It wasn't exactly a bad smell, or a good smell, just... thick air.

It was sort of like sawdust and sludge mixed together.

"Coughcoughcough... Woghw. Look at thaght," Sydney gasped while gasping.

"Oogh mie... coughcoghcough," Will paused to breathe deeply. 

"Hey, *sucks in some air like it's water* maybe those can heghlp us," Panda trudged over to a stand with helmets on it. It was labled, 'Air Masks for Mortals. The air here is for magical creatures and other animals; much too thick for a human. Please, take a mask!'.

Sydney, Will, and Panda all put on a size small helmet and began to feel their lungs unclench. They could finally turn their attention to the amazing creatures and continue with their dramatic moment.

"Ahem. Let's try this again," Will said from underneath his helmet.

"Wow," they gasped in unison.

"Look at that! What is it?" Sydney wondered. She pointed at a greenish horse with two horns. Its mane was pine-green and looked like seaweed. "Can we call it a bicorn?"

The bicorn began to trot over, then began to bound over, and the three CBers realized how big she was. Suddenly there was a zap, and the bicorn stumbled back. Thank goodness for electric fences.

The rest of the view was obstructed by a hill that looked like it was meant to keep the creatures from seeing people enter.

  They must be friendly Will thought.

So it was when the CBers climbed up onto the rise that ran the entire length of the wall, the animals hidden there all got as close as their electric fences would allow. 

"Look, there are the lions!" Panda said over the din of the noisy animals. I wonder... she thought. 

In cages strategically placed in the huge meadow, all sorts of different animals grazed, yelled, cuddled, and flew. "Shall we continue...?" Panda asked, in an Engligh accent. Sydney giggled. 

They strolled down the hill, trying to discern the pattern in which the animals' fences were placed. The horse-like animals were in front, on the right side. (Zebras, bicorns, pegasuses (with clipped wings), unicorns, and, um, pink cloud-horses. Weird.)

The carnivores,  (lions, and hippogriffs (who had their wings clipped also)), were on the front left. Down the row, in between all that electric fencing towards the back, were the aviaries. 

"Let's explore them all!" Sydney said. "...But let's not go into them!"

First, Panda wanted to see the lions. She had a question about them. There were shelters from the rain, with sections enough for nine lions. Panda saw only six lions. Hmmm... she thought. If what the assistant had said was true, then these lions should be well-tamed.

"C'mere!" she called to them. Will and Sydney watched the lions closely. 

Three lions bounded over playfully, mewling like kittens. They leaned over the fence, licking the CBers' hair, and seemed as sweet as cotton candy. But three lions stayed back, growling and grimacing. They were much, much fatter than the lions licking the CBers' hair, suggesting the'd been given extra food. "Let's come back here in few days to see what happens to these sweet little lions. And to see if the other, missing three are returned. Or, at least, I assume they're missing," Panda was having second thoughts about her theory. Maybe the fat ones are just pregnant, and the three new slots are for their babies.

------------------------

The trio of CBers continued exploring and saw some interesting birds; red ones with grey under their wings, and blue ones with green beaks. As the sun set, they exited the magically hard-to-breath zone and went back home.

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The Breedery 

Cho Chang heard someone following her as she went into the breedery. Entering onto the dim lighting, she heard the entry bell go off again after she had walked in. Abigail V. looked frightened from her place behind the desk. 

Turning slowly, not wanting to do what Mice did, Cho faced the stalker. She gasped.

"YOU?!" she said loudly.

"Me," the murderer said, grinning, and opened the door wide again.  

A rush of animals squeezed in, including three mean lions. They were obviously hungry.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The two bodies of Cho Chang and Abigail V. were gone; only a few scraps of shirt and a lightsaber were left. The murderer had headed for the breedery long, long ago.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

----------------------

The other CBers had gone exploring after breakfast, but found Shadow carrying Hotairballoon with Moonfrost at her side. They buried her, and had a memorial service, and lunch, which they ate with reluctance.

When Spyro hadn't come back with Elsa, people started to worry, and as the sun began to set, a worker told them of the absolutely horrible news of Cho Chang and the other Abigail. Will, Sydney, and Poetic Panda were devastated to hear of the incidents, and after a long, long, long, time of mourning, they went to bed without dinner.

Things would begin to happen at an alarming rate as the murdrer gained confidence and minions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For Joan, life had been boring the past few days. She ate water and nutrients from the ground, and soon she had sprouted up so she could see the other veggies growing. Wow, she thought. We sure did grow fast. I'm the biggest veggie out here, though. I hope I win the 'biggest veggie', since I am one now. Joan's leaves unfurled, soaking up the sun.