It was a cold winter's afternoon, and snow was falling gently over Neopia.
Sarah_Rei, a slim silver Shoyru, sat on a stump beside a frozen pond, a blue
scarf tied snugly around her neck. She shivered a little and tied on her ice
skates, her Anubis, Anui, sitting nearby.
He seemed to be enjoying the snow very much, as he kept snapping at the drifting
flakes and looking very confused when the melted on his tongue or nose. Sarah
watched him and giggled, then stood up and stepped onto the ice. Anui, being
the dutiful little PetPet that he was, tried to step onto it with her, only
to slip and crash on his stomach. Sarah laughed.
"Silly! You can't come out here, you'll have to wait by the pond until I'm
through!" she scolded. Anui whimpered softly and sat down. He was fiercely loyal,
and never liked to be separated from his owner.
Sarah continued skating around the ice (with great ease, for she was quite
the graceful creature), doing figure eights, jumps, and a number of other simple
tricks. Anui curled up in the snow while he waited for her to finish and come
back.
After a few minutes, a shout was heard from the edge of the nearby forest's
edge. "Oy! Hi there, Sarah!"
Sarah stopped and looked around, then saw who had called her. It was her friend
Folyage, a fire Shoyru whom she had known since she was just a week old. Anui
jumped up and started to bark, running around in a circle. She smiled and waved,
then skated to the edge of the pond.
Folyage grinned and walked over to her. "Hey! Long time no see!" He glanced
at Anui, who was sniffing him intently and growling softly.
Sarah nodded in agreement and smiled back. "How you been?" She looked down
at the overly protective Anubis and said softly, "Hush! You know Folyage, he's
not going to hurt anyone!"
Folyage chuckled. "He's all right, don't worry." Anui growled again quietly
and sat down between the two of them.
The two Shoyrus started to talk, informing each other of their events and
the latest "gossip" of the Shoyru world. All the while, Anui sat, staring at
Folyage intently.
Soon, the sky began to darken. Folyage stood up. "I'd better go… dinner's
soon. See ya Sarah!" He smiled, winked, then took wing and disappeared.
"Bye!" yelled Sarah, then turned to Anui, frowning. "What is wrong with you
today? You're acting really strange!" She picked up Anui and looked him in the
eye. "You know better than to growl at Folyage! You know him perfectly well!"
she finished, and set him down. He clearly didn't understand a word she had
said, but knew he was in trouble.
Sarah looked around. "Well, it's time to go back home. Don't want to worry
everyone… Oh, and there'll be no PetPet treats for you tonight!" She said, then
slung her pack on her back and began to walk through the woods towards her home.
Anui followed her dutifully, always right beside her.
***
It was very dark. Night had fallen, and Sarah_Rei was still trekking her way
through the woods, eager to be home. Anui, her faithful Anubis, walked beside
her.
Sarah looked around, wondering if she had taken all the right turns. It didn't
normally take her long at all to get home, but she was certain it had already
been at least an hour. She sighed and sat down on a log, cold and tired.
"Uh oh… I think we're lost," she said finally. Anui whimpered, noticing the
look of concern on her face. "What should we do?" she asked to no one in particular.
Anui looked around and sniffed the air, trying to catch some scent of home.
He knew that they were lost, and had known for much longer than Sarah had. Sarah
sighed again and put her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees.
Anui whimpered consolingly and licked her hand.
"Well, since we're obviously gonna be stuck here for a while, we might as
well eat something," she said, taking off her pack. She dug through it for a
moment, then produced two sandwiches from within it. She started to munch on
hers, and offered a piece to Anui. He gulped it down hungrily and licked his
chops.
Once they were done eating, the duo started off once more. They walked and
walked; past unfamiliar forks and turns on the path. After a while, Sarah realized
they had been walking in circles! They had passed the same funny-looking tree
three times now!
Sarah groaned and sat down in the snow. "Arrgh! It's hopeless! We're going
to be stuck here until morning…" she sighed and put her head in her hands again.
Anui sat beside her and licked her cheek.
Sarah tried to get to sleep, but she just couldn't. The forest's night noises
were loud, not to mention scary. She pulled Anui toward her and gave him a hug,
then said, "Don't worry boy, we'll get home eventually," though she said it
mostly to comfort herself. Anui licked her cheek once again, wagged his tail,
and curled up in her lap. Sarah fell asleep soon, but Anui was wide-awake and
alert, though he was very tired.
Suddenly, Anui leapt up and began growling madly at some unseen terror in
the forest. Sarah awoke with a jolt and glanced about her nervously, wondering
what was wrong. The Anubis continued to growl and snarl, eyes lit up with fire.
She leaned forward towards him, not seeing a thing wrong. "Anui… Anui! Calm
down, we're okay!" she said; though she doubted her words. Suddenly, a bright
light appeared from between the trees. Sarah gasped and leaned back as she saw
what it was…
A Lava Ghoul!
Anui growled fiercely at the monster, who approached quickly, a fiendish grin
on its fiery face. It swooped down over them, obviously looking for a fight.
Sarah screamed and stood up, leaning on the tree for support. She had never
been interested in the Battledome, and had no means of protection whatsoever--except
for her speed and cleverness.
The Lava Ghoul took a swipe at Sarah, who leaped up in the air and barely
dodged it. The tip of her silver tail had been scratched just a little. She
landed neatly behind the ghoul and tried to think up something to do. All the
while, Anui barked like crazy.
The monster turned around and tried to catch Sarah again, but she dodged it
once more. Anui circled around it, barking and snarling. No one would hurt his
master, oh no! Not if it meant his very life they wouldn't! The Lava Ghoul turned
to Anui, thinking him simply an annoyance instead of a threat. It knocked Anui
over, then returned to his prey: Sarah.
She glared at the monster as it swooped over to her once more, and dodged
it again. She didn't know how long she could keep away. She was getting tired,
but the Lava Ghoul obviously had much more strength to spare. After a few more
quickly dodged attacks, the ghoul hit Sarah head on. She went spiraling backwards
and slammed into a tree, then slumped down towards the ground. Anui went absolutely
crazy with rage.
The last thing that Sarah remembered before she lost consciousness was Anui
leaping up onto the Lava Ghoul's back, growling furiously. The blurry image
of her Anubis got darker and darker, until she fell into a faint.
***
Sarah_Rei awoke to something hot and wet against her bruised cheek. She groaned
and sat up, then rubbed her eyes. "What happened?" she asked, looking around.
It was almost dawn, and the first rays of daylight were peeking up over the
horizon. She looked down and saw Anui, who had wakened her. She picked up her
Anubis and gasped; he was bruised and scarred all over! Anui smiled up at her
and licked her face, happy his owner was okay. He didn't even seem to care about
his own wounds, which were much greater than Sarah's.
"Oh! Anui, what happen--" she stopped in mid-sentence, suddenly remembering
what had happened before she blacked out. Her eyes grew wide. "Anui! Did you…
did you fight off the Lava Ghoul?!" she asked, astounded. Anui wagged his tail.
Sarah grinned and hugged him close. "Anui, you're a hero! What a brave boy
you are! You're the best PetPet there ever was!" She rocked him back and forth
in her arms gently, and after a few moments he was sound asleep. She was so
proud of her loyal PetPet!
Sarah held Anui there for until the morning came, and she could see well enough
to try and get back home. She stood up and started to carry him along the twisted
paths, feeling confident that she could find her way out of the woods now.
After a few minutes of walking, a shout was heard from nearby. "Sarah! Oh
Sa-rah! Are you in here?"
Sarah blinked, startled, wondering who had called her. "Yes! I'm back here,
down the path!"
"I'm coming!" came the voice again, and soon a fire Shoyru appeared from between
the trees. Sarah grinned.
"Folyage!" she said, running over to him. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Where've you been?!" He asked and gave her a hug. "We were all worried about
you! I called your house after I got home, but Zippy said that you weren't there.
She thought that you had come home with me, so I knew something was wrong. So
I decided to come look for you."
Sarah smiled. "You won't believe what happened! It was dark and we got lost,
but then…" She told him the rest of the story.
When she finished, Folyage said, "Wow, Anui did a great job! I didn't know
the little guy had it in him!"
She smiled fondly at her sleeping PetPet. "Me either… I'm so glad he was here
though!" she said. She blinked suddenly and frowned. "Hmm… I wonder why he was
growling at you earlier? That's not like Anui!"
Folyage grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Well… I had this snowball,
see, and I was kind of… plotting to throw it at you." He laughed.
Sarah laughed. "Folyage! That's mean!"
He laughed again. "Heheh, I know! I'm sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," said Sarah. Anui woke up and wagged his tail. She
set him down, but as she did, she made a snowball! She hid it behind her back
and grinned at Folyage slyly. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"What?" he asked, noticing the look on her face.
"Oh, nothing," she said, smiling innocently. "Now, shouldn't we be going home?"
Folyage nodded. "Yeah, let's go. Just follow me!" he said, then turned and
started off through the forest. Suddenly, he shouted, "Oww!" Sarah laughed.
She had hit him in the head with the snowball!
"Hehehe! I got you!" she shouted. Folyage frowned and rubbed his head, but
then laughed.
"C'mon, let's go," he said, starting out again. Sarah followed him, Anui close
behind, barking and frolicking in the snow. Soon they would be home, safe and
warm!
While they were walking, Sarah turned around and picked up Anui. She hugged
her little "hero" and carried him the rest of the way home. "You're getting
some extra PetPet treats tonight," she whispered.
The End | 
