A brisk morning dew dripped from the tree branches. The
water collected on a single leaf, which gave way causing the pristine water
to fall to the ground. It splashed on the face of a young Chia sleeping on the
ground. He stirred a bit and opened one eye, and then the other. He was hidden
under a queue of thick fir trees which dotted the valley. Mountains surrounded
the region, providing shade for the little Chia. He lived there, all alone in
peace. Yip yawned and scratched the bushy mat of olive green hair on his head.
It was a new day, one that promised peace and serenity for the little green
Chia.
"What to do today... A dip in the pond? A swing
in the trees? A-- uh-oh," the little Chia muttered to himself. Yip looked at
his diminished food supply. Yip was a hermit, which meant he lived alone away
from civilization. His supply of mushrooms was nearly gone, which meant he was
going to go out picking them.
Yip strolled through the valley, sniffing all
the way. He tried to pick up the scent as best as he could but found it was
more difficult than usual. There were only a few smells in the entire valley,
namely the plants and himself. No other Neopets lived in Yip's valley. For some
reason, the smell of the mushrooms which usually stood out very clear in the
morning air was masked by another smell.
"This isn't good, isn't good at all," Yip muttered
nervously to himself. His instincts were telling him to run and never return.
The smell entering the little green Chia's nose was a new one, yet something
he knew he should fear.
The morning went on, and Yip just couldn't shake
off the nervous feeling that had welled up inside of him. He managed to locate
some of his little beige mushrooms he loved so much in a heap next to the large
vestal lake. Yip picked them out of the ground and began to walk away, when
his tiny ears picked up a sound. A rustling sound could be heard through the
trees. It's probably just the wind blowing through the trees, Yip thought
to himself.
Yip carried the reassuring thought in his mind
all the way home. He returned to the little clearing he called home and gasped
at what he saw. Pawprints that were much unlike his own filled the clearing.
The smell was even stronger in his clearing, causing the Chia to shake with
fear. He also noticed the few mushrooms that were left in his stock were missing.
"Hello?" Yip called out in a weary voice. He
looked around the clearing which was empty, but he could tell someone had been
in his clearing. That thought scared Yip, because the valley surrounded by mountains
was completely deserted besides himself. Yip squinted his eyes and stared through
the thick undergrowth to see saw two amber eyes stare back at him.
Before Yip could make a move, a four-legged Neopet
leapt out of the darkness. The creature's slick black pelt shone in the sun
as he darted around the clearing, stopping Yip from making a break. It didn't
take a genius to realize what Yip was staring at. A Lupe. The Lupe stopped and
let the Chia see the many sharp carnivorous teeth in his mouth. While Yip was
a hermit, he hadn't spent all of his life in the secluded valley. He was born
in Neopia Central, and knew of the ancient rivalry between Lupes and Chias.
It had been such a long time since Yip had been around civilization, Yip could
barely recognize them. But the Chia did remember the fierce yellow eyes.
"Please, don't hurt me," Yip whimpered. He was
defenceless against the shadow Lupe. Yip wasn't trained at all in the skills
of battle, and was unarmed completely. The Lupe crept closer toward Yip. The
green Chia noticed the mushrooms in his hand. Yip launched the mushrooms at
the Lupe, hitting him in the face. The Lupe put up his paw to defend himself
against the assault of the makeshift weapons. That gave Yip the time to make
a break for it.
He ran from the Lupe as fast as his stubby legs
would take him. Yip jumped over a rock, around a tree and over the grass. There
was no place to hide from the intruder.
"Come back here," snarled the Lupe from the distance.
"Eep!" Yip cried as he ran across the valley.
He didn't dare pause to turn his head to see if the Lupe was gaining much ground.
But he could hear it; the Lupe's paws slamming against the ground.
Suddenly Yip dove into a bush. His green skin
helped him blend in with his surroundings. The Lupe ran past Yip without noticing
and kept on going. Yip exhaled a sigh of relief and got out of the bush. He
shook some leaves out of his hair and looked around. The Lupe was nowhere to
be seen.
***
Yip had spent most of the day hiding in the undergrowth, praying the Lupe wasn't
going to find him. So far the Lupe had not been seen again, but Yip still didn't
dare to leave his hiding spot.
Suddenly, Yip could pick up another smell. It
was similar to the Lupe's... only different. It was unexplainable. The odour
was just like that shadow Lupe's, except there was something else about it he
couldn't quite tell. All he knew was the smell was overwhelmingly powerful.
He didn't hear any rustling which could only mean one thing: the Lupe had found
other Lupes to hunt the Chia.
Of course! Yip thought. The different
smell was caused by different Lupes, and it was so powerful because there were
so many. Yip cowered at the thought or there being a whole pack of Lupes
in his valley. All of a sudden, he could hear the whispers of the Lupes.
"Where is that little wimp?" snarled a vicious
looking orange Lupess.
Yip stared through the bush at the approaching
Lupes. The shadow Lupe he had met earlier in the morning had left the Chia's
valley and found four other Lupes. A purple and an orange Lupess and a silver
and a white Lupe. They prowled through the forest in search of Yip.
"I told you," the shadow Lupe grunted in response.
"He's here somewhere. I came here earlier looking for food. I found some mushrooms
but never thought I'd fund a plump defenceless Chia."
Howls of laughter emanated from the Lupes' maws
as the continued trough the forest. They passed right by Yip's hiding place
and trotted off in the other direction.
That was close, Yip thought. He hopped
out of the hiding place and ran in the opposite direction of the pack of Lupes.
He couldn't let them catch him or else... he didn't want to think about what
came next. Yip ran down the path at a high speed. He ran out of the forest and
reached the mountain side. The Chia looked up at the towering mountain, looming
down on him as if daring him to climb it. Mountains surrounded the hidden valley
and he knew they were the only escape. Yip took one final look at his serene
abode and began to make the climb.
Up the mountain he went, one rock at a time.
His short arms made ascending the mountain difficult and his tiny feet were
useless when climbing. Finally he reached a spot where the mountain leveled
out, allowing the Chia to take a break. Yip laid down on the mountain breathing
heavily.
He just couldn't believe that after so many years
he was leaving his home. He had lived in the mountain ever since he had left
Neopia Central as a young Chia. It was such a lush and hospitable place to live,
and he was leaving it just because of a couple of Lupes.
"I can't do that," Yip suddenly proclaimed aloud.
He turned around and stared down at the valley. He couldn't just leave his dwelling
because of a couple of overgrown furballs! This was his home, and nobody else's.
"I might not be able to beat them in combat, but let's just see how smart those
flea-bitten mongrels really are.
The green Chia jumped off the edge and slid down
the rocky surface. Dust blew into his olive green fur as he made his way quickly
back to the bottom. He landed on the ground and looked into the forest. He'd
show those Lupes a thing or two.
***
It was quite a lucky thing Yip was born a green Chia. His colour made it perfect
for him to blend in among the tree tops. As he swung from branch to branch high
above the ground, he kept a careful eye out for the pack of Lupes.
Finally the five Neopets all came into view.
The shadow one seemed to be the alpha as he lead the pack. The orange and purples
ones followed with the silver and white Lupes bringing up the rear. Yip knew
if he was going to be successful in riding the valley of the intruders, he was
going to have to pick off the weakest in the pack. And he didn't mean physically,
because even the weakest in the pack could probably take him down. He was thinking
intellectually.
Yip landed on the ground behind the pack of Lupes
as silently as possible. The white and silver Lupes seemed to be a couple drops
short of a puddle, and Yip was going to test his theory. He reached up and grabbed
a wine from a tree. He pulled it down with all of his strength. The Chia swung
it around in the air slapped it against the white Lupe's hind-leg. Yip then
quickly tossed the vine over right in the silver Lupe's direction. Yip quickly
jumped out of sight in a nearby bush.
"What was that for?" barked the white Lupe. He
growled at the silver Lupe who simply growled in response.
"I didn't do anything you moron!" grunted the
silver Lupe in response.
"Yeah you did," replied the white Lupe. "You
whipped my leg with that vine! It's right there." The white Lupe jabbed his
paw toward the vine which sat motionless on the ground in front of the silver
Lupe's paw.
"Stay on task you two," the shadow Lupe interjected.
"We're going to find that Chia no matter what."
Yip rolled over in the bush silently sniggering.
That worked perfectly. He jumped out of the bush and saw the five pets continuing
to prowl down the path. Yip snuck up and grabbed the vine again. The little
green Neopet swung it around in the air and whipped it at the silver Lupe's
tail. As quick as a little Chia can go, he tossed it toward the white Lupe and
jumped back in the bush for cover.
"Why did you hit me?" roared the silver Lupe
this time. "The vine is right there, it's proof!"
Before the white Lupe could respond, the shadow
Lupe interrupted. "Quit messing around! There's a little Chia in the valley
and he can probably hear you!"
Not as well as you think," thought Yip
as he remained in the bush trying not to laugh his head off.
"I don't care about one little bugger of a Chia!"
the silver Lupe growled. "I'm not prowling around this stupid valley for one
little snack if it means I have to be with this dolt." With that, the silver
Lupe walked off and the white Lupe did the same in the other direction.
"You don't get away with insulting my valley,"
growled Yip. He tossed a rock at the white Lupe.
"WHY I OUGHT TO--" the white Lupe roared as he
ran after the silver Lupe with his claws ready to attack.
***
"The sun is going to set in a couple of hours. Can't we just forget about the
little Chia?" whined the orange Lupess as the now three Lupes continued to prowl
through the valley.
"No. The little Chia is around here, I can smell
him. If it weren't for those two buffoons making enough noise to wake the Turmaculus
himself, then we would've found the Chia by now. But they're gone, so we can
finally make that little Chia pay," the alpha Lupe grunted.
"But why?" the purple Lupess asked. "What did
the Chia even do?"
The shadow Lupe paused to think about it. "Uh...
he threw a mushroom at my eye! And anyway, he's just a moronic Chia. He deserves
to end up as a side dish," explained the shadow Lupe.
The three remaining pets prowled some more through
the valley. Yip was close behind, following the Lupes at a good distance. He
could tell the females didn't enjoy walking for so long. They weren't exactly
the toughest pets. That gave Yip an idea. He ran up to the three Lupes and jumped
clear over their backs.
"Come on you mutts, can't you catch me?" Yip
taunted. He blew them a raspberry and ran off. The three Lupes growled and ran
after him.
"Come back here!" the alpha grunted viciously.
Suddenly, a the pristine lake came into view.
It sparkled in the dying sunlight as Yip drew ever closer. Right before the
shadow Lupe could slash at him with his claws, Yip jumped into the lake. The
Lupesses couldn't even see the lake from behind their alpha's back, so when
he jumped in after the Chia the didn't have enough time to stop.
SPLASH!
"AHHHHH! MY FUR!" howled the purple Lupess.
"I GROOMED IT FOR AN HOUR THIS MORNING!" screeched
the other Lupess.
The alpha looked around and saw the Lupes struggling
to get out. "It's only a bit of algae," barked the shadow Lupe.
"ALGAE?!?" the two Lupesses squealed. "GET US
OUT OF THIS!"
The shadow Lupe had no choice but to help his
two friends out. He nudged them out of the water. The females sprawled out on
the ground, panting heavily. Their beautiful pelt had been reduced to nothing
but a drenched mat of shaggy fur.
"That's it, no meal is worth this! I'm leaving,"
cried the purple Lupess. She shook the water out of her coat and the orange
Lupess did the same. They trotted off away from the alpha Lupe.
"Heeheehee, looks like your friends couldn't
take me down!" mocked Yip. He was on the other side of the pond, dancing with
joy.
The shadow Lupe just stood there, panting heavily.
A look of pure malice glared across the water at Yip. Yip was rolling on the
ground laughing. Suddenly, with an emphatic bound, the Lupe leaped clear over
the lake on the ground next too Yip. The Chia wasn't laughing anymore. He stared
at the Lupe through his narrow eyes.
"Prepare... to... be... punished," growled the
Lupe.
Yip bounced up off the ground. The Lupe leaped
toward him which Yip managed to evade. Yip sped off over to the tree and jumped
up in. The dark Lupe jumped at the little green pet but couldn't seem to make
it up the tree. As the Lupe landed back on the ground, Yip took the time to
make a jump from the tree. Before the Lupe could defend in any way, Yip's dark
green foot came crashing into the Lupe's face.
"AROOOOO!" howled the Lupe in pain. He collapsed
to the ground and Yip sprung off the alpha's face and onto the grass.
Yip stood there, breathing heavily as the adrenaline
flowed through him. He stared the Lupe in the eye. The panting mongrel crouched
on the ground. Finally, he stood up. Fear flooded through Yip, but the fear
washed away as the Lupe gracefully trotted away. Away from the olive green Chia
he walked, heading toward the mountain range. The exit.
As Yip watched the Lupe walk away, a rush of
triumph filled him. He had defended his valley from the intruders. He, a little
Chia, had won.
The End
Note: Yip's opinions of Lupes does not reflect at all upon my own. Just
because he doesn't particularly like Lupes, doesn't mean I hate them too. I
also understand all Lupes aren't as vicious as the five Lupes in the story were
portrayed. I love Lupes too.
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