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A chilling wind tore at my flanks; I couldn't see more than
half a meter in any direction because of the blanket of snow enveloping the sky.
I let out a sigh of frustration. I hate the cold. Despite my shaggy fur, I always
end up feeling out of place. Like a Chia at a Lupe convention. Like a Kau at a
meeting of Hamburger Lovers International. Like Emerald at the Health Food Shop.
But I had a feeling I was here for a reason.
So, I sniffed the snow, using my ultra-sensitive Lupe nose to smell for clues.
I closed my eyes and the smell of the snow reminded me of… emptiness. Black
space, without stars, moons or planets. Not asteroids, or the flying ice balls
for which I was named. (Comets.)
Something was definitely out of place here.
Why would the snow smell like black space? In any case, I followed the scent
trail to a cave. A dark, foreboding place made of steel, ice, and granite. Just
looking at it made me feel like a giant ice block. A menacing laugh erupted
from the cavern's arctic depths. I backed up a little, so I would have room
to fight, if necessary. I reached for my Lupe Wand and… I couldn't find it.
A blast of subzero wind blew me off my paws.
Just when I thought I would be blown into oblivion…
I awoke in a cold sweat. It was only a dream.
But it seemed so real! For a wild moment I wondered whether my cold sweat was
sweat or melted snow.
That morning, at the breakfast table, I told
Indigo about my dream. "I am not surprised," said my Gelert sister. "Kauvara
said one of the Space Faerie's special powers is dream weaving." Shelby, the
russet and white colored dog, licked Indigo's paw as if in agreement.
Our owner, Musician took us to Ridergirl333's
house. Ridergirl and Musician have been best friends for a long time. Now, Indigo
and I and Ridergirl's two oldest pets were shoved through an e-gate from the
planet of Neopia to this foreign land.
I told Ridergirl's pets about my dream. They
weren't surprised either. "In fact," Ruby said. "I had a similar dream a few
nights ago." She told us about her nightmare, the malicious presence, and the
snow on her back, and the fact that she didn't have her Wand of the Light Faerie.
Finally, RubyRainbow333 the rainbow Uni summarized it in a sentence. "The Space
Faerie is trying to tell us something."
"Let's see what we have to work with," I said.
"The two things our dreams have in common: snow and blackness."
EmeraldFlame555 the slightly dull-witted green
Scorchio replied, "But snow is white!"
Ruby rolled her eyes at her brother.
Indigo, always the keeper of the peace, quickly
resumed conversation. "I can't believe you don't see it! The answer is being
rubbed straight in our faces! Snow!"
"White snow," Emerald said.
I put a paw over Emerald's mouth. "What my sister
is trying to say is, this whole thing has something to do with Terror Mountain."
"Or else, not Terror Mountain," Ruby thought
out loud. "The Ice Caves. Comet did see a cave in his dream. I was actually
in a cave in my dream."
"What's so special about the Ice Caves?" I asked.
"You'd think a place called Terror Mountain would be the ultimate territory
for an evil genius."
Musician, (who had been sitting on the couch,
silently thinking this entire time) jumped to her feet. "The crevice! The crack
in the earth that leads to Tyrannia! This prehistoric land escaped his clutches
before. Now, he's plotting vengeance! Picture this. He sees a few NeoPets wandering
the roads of Tyrannia. He mistakes them for locals, and places a tracking device
on the human walking with them. The human then visits her friend, who also uses
NeoPets. Sloth places a tracking device on the friend too. Using first class
levels of technology, he plants the virus in the two computers, and creates
his e-gate. You know the rest."
"Sweet deduction, Cathy!" Ridergirl had entered
the room, carrying with her a bag of potato chips. She offered some to Musician,
who then passed the bag around the room. Ridergirl thought for a moment, then
said, "But how could anyone possibly mistake us for Tyrannian natives?"
Again, Ruby rolled her deep blue eyes. "He's
an evil whacko bent on world domination. You decide."
"I've got to tell the others," Emerald cried.
He leaped off of his chair and raced to the computer. As soon as he logged into
NeoPets.com, the strangest thing happened.
A black cloud raced across the screen, then
poured out of the monitor, stinging my eyes. It smelled of burning coal and
failed transmogrifying potions. Unable to bear the stench, I hid my nose under
the couch. The smoke seemed to follow me, nipping at my eyes until I was forced
to shut them. Filling my nose until I covered it with one of my paws. A thunderous
voice rang from the screen, as if echoing from a vast cavern. "If you return,
filthy NeoPets, you shall face your doom!"
The cloud disappeared from the screen. Musician
and Ridergirl opened a few windows, relieving my poor nose. "What was that all
about?" Ruby asked.
"Obviously, Sloth doesn't want us to go back,"
I said matter-of-factly.
Musician snapped her fingers. "That must mean
that a route back to Neopia still exists!"
"The e-gate," Ridergirl said quietly. "Is just
like any other gate. It's a two way street. You can go in as well as out."
Then, Ridergirl's computer screen went black.
After about half an hour of fiddling with the
different keys, Ridergirl came to this conclusion. "The cloud was another virus.
It crashed my computer."
Back at Musician's house, we found that the
same thing had happened to her PC.
We lost both of our routes back to Neopia.
To be continued...
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