They travelled for a few days, Rick keeping the mood
light with his more or less constant jokes. Eden woke early one morning and
found Moonshadow watching Rick sleeping, with a pensive look on her face. Eden
yawned, and Moonshadow glanced back at her. "Come on." She whispered, and Eden
followed her away from their campsite. Once Moonshadow was sure Rick couldn't
hear them she started speaking. "Eden," she began, "don't you think that something's,
well, a little strange, about Rick." She carried on, speaking quite quickly.
"I mean, he's always joking. He never seems to be serious about anything. And,
well, tell me everything you know about him."
Eden blinked, surprised. "Well, he's... he's..."
She stopped, and Moonshadow looked triumphant.
"See? And what does he know about us? Practically
our entire life stories. He hasn't told us a thing about himself. He always
avoids the questions." Eden glanced back towards the camp. Moonshadow sighed.
"Eden..."
The yellow Lupe turned back to Moonshadow. "All
right, all right. Keep your fur on! We'll ask him, okay?" She had barely finished
the words when there was a cry from the camp. The two froze, then raced back
to Rick. He seemed to be fine, and smiled at them as they hurried in. He was
packing up his things. "What happened? We heard a cry." Rick blinked, and there
was a momentary flicker of fear in his eyes. Or was it just Eden's imagination,
playing tricks on her?
"Oh, that. I, I just rolled onto a thorn, that's
all." There was a pause and Eden glanced at Moonshadow. "Now then, my divine
deities, shall we pack up and move out, or unpack and move in here?" The other
two laughed obediently and started packing up, both with their minds elsewhere.
They walked quite a way before stopping to eat
lunch, and as Eden showed no signs of asking Rick about his past, Moonshadow
took the initiative. "Why does food always taste better when you're eating outdoors?"
Rick smiled. "That's not the outdoors, Shadow.
That's my added secret ingredient, passed down from generation to generation
for who knows how long?"
Moon smiled, used to Rick. "So who invented it?
Your mother?"
Rick looked affronted. "But of course not! I
said generations. It was invented by my grandmother, actually." He smiled as
Eden laughed.
"What was she like?" Moonshadow asked.
Rick paused. "What?"
Moonshadow smiled. "Your grandmother. What was
your grandmother like?"
Rick blinked, then smiled. "Oh, my grandmother.
Well, she was... a very inventive cook!"
Moonshadow nodded. "But what was she like? What
was your mother like?" Rick seemed stuck for an answer as Moonshadow plunged
on. "Where did you come from? What was it like there? You know where we come
from, what it was like there, so tell us a little about you, Rick. Because so
far we know nothing." Rick said nothing, still listening to Moonshadow as she
continued. "Not one single little piece of information, and you wouldn't offer
us any if I didn't try to wrench it from you, would you? You'd just keep quiet
about yourself until we ran out of things to say. Then where would you be?"
Rick looked down at the ground. "Lost." He said
quietly. Eden blinked and Moonshadow paused, interrupted.
"What do you mean?" Eden asked, as quiet as Rick
had been.
Rick looked her straight in the eyes. "I mean
lost. Not like your father, gone, disappeared. I mean taken. Turned away." He
shrugged. "Lost."
There was a long pause, then Moonshadow sat back.
"Rick?"
The other Lupe sighed. "I'm going to really catch
it for this. All right. Listen up. This'll take a short while to tell.
"Aeons ago, when the world was young, there were
two mighty powers. It should come as no surprise that there was one good, one
evil. The good had created the world and everything in it. For that reason it
was dubbed 'Creator'. The evil plotted to destroy, and tear the power away from
the Creator for itself. It was named as 'Destroyer', or sometimes, increasingly
often, as the Dark Lord.
"You might already have guessed that the Light
Faerie is the earthly representative of the Creator, and the Dark Faerie is
that of the Destroyer. In times of great need, the Creator and the Dark Lord
can control the two Faeries, and pit them against one another. If they fought
as themselves, the battle would totally destroy all of Neopia. Although they
have battled slightly before.
"Darkness struggled for decades, but Light always
pushed it back. The Destroyer had to be content with plotting its revenge. It
did try, later on, after the beginning of the world, but its poorly planned
attack was swiftly put down and the Dark Lord fled and went into hiding. Nobody
is sure where. Or nobody was sure.
"The Destroyer has been recruiting. Now he has
a large army, all under his control, completely, and kept alive by his growing
power. They've been brainwashed in a way. None of them properly remember freedom,
or even what life before was like. The Destroyer has them hidden, somewhere
safe. But not too safe. Every now and again somebody stumbles across it, and
the Destroyer has a new recruit. People go looking, and he has more.
"I stumbled upon it, a while back. I was lucky.
I've got a natural defence against the Dark Lord's powers. It'll take him longer
to turn me to his will. But he could keep me there, and he did until my family
wandered in, searching for me. He turned them, but told me he could release
them any time he chooses, and sent me out. He did give me a job to do in return
for their freedom, though." Rick stopped and fell silent again. Moonshadow glanced
at Eden, who asked the inevitable question, although they both felt like they
already knew the answer.
"What's the job?"
Rick looked back up at Eden. "You."
The yellow Lupe shivered. "Me how?" She murmured.
Rick sighed. "The Dark Lord wants your power.
With you he could finally defeat the Creator. If you won't be turned, he wants
you dead. He sent me out to fetch you to him."
Eden raised an eyebrow. "Why you? Why not send
one of his more experienced, shall we say, trustworthy, minions?"
Rick smiled wanly. "He said my youth and charm
would entice you after me. It was working, wasn't it?"
Eden's eyes widened slightly. "Rick..." she began.
Rick interrupted. "It could still work out for
the best though, you know. There's still a way we..."
Eden jumped to her feet, eyes flashing with anger.
"Rick! You... you imbecile!"
Rick blinked. "I don't like you saying that,
when..." he began, but Eden interrupted him again.
"What did you expect me to say? Oh, it's fine
that you're working with the powers of evil trying to destroy the world, and
me incidentally. I like a little danger in my life! Well tough! Go on back to
your role model and let him brainwash you! Forget about everything! Forget about
me!" Rick was stunned, and couldn't bring himself even to move as she
strode angrily off through the trees.
Moonshadow blinked after Eden's outburst, then
turned to Rick. "She likes you."
Rick shook his head to clear the confusion and
stared at Moonshadow. "That was liking me?"
Moonshadow grimaced. "Well, not really like.
More, sort of..." There was a yelp from the woods and both Lupes jumped up and
ran for the sound.
There was a clearing. Eden was facing another
creature, lurking in the shadows. Her hackles were raised and she growled. Rick
and Moonshadow peered into the gloom, and managed to identify what looked like
a dark cloak, with the hood up and hanging over the face of the creature wearing
it. Its back was to the sun, so its face was in shadow. Rick blinked, then his
eyes widened and he stepped backwards as the cloaked figure glided forward.
Eden and Moonshadow got the impression of a particularly malicious smile before
a deep voice bypassed their ears and appeared straight in their heads. "You
failed, Rick. Now come and fetch your... payment." The fire Lupe went slowly
and stood behind the cloaked figure, head down, refusing to meet both Eden's
and Moonshadow's gaze.
Eden stepped forwards. "It's me you want, isn't
it." She managed to sound calm, making a statement, instead of a question. "Well,
I'm not joining you. Did you ever think for one moment that I would?"
The Dark Lord nodded its cloaked head slowly,
not in answer to Eden's question. "But this way we have an even fight. Two
against two." It raised an arm, the cloak covering even this from view,
and shot a ball of dark magic at Eden. She leapt out of the way, and turned
to see another, only just managing to dodge it in time. They hit trees, which
turned into blackened stumps with a loud explosion. Moonshadow jumped at the
Destroyer, hoping to knock it down, and the cloaked figure turned its attentions
to her, moving aside from her attack with speed faster than lightning. Moonshadow
landed and stumbled, having to catch her balance and wasting precious seconds.
The Destroyer floated off the ground, behind them all, and shot dark magic at
her. Eden yelled a warning and Moonshadow rolled over, the ball missing her
by an inch. As Eden's back turned, the Destroyer launched an attack on her,
and Rick leapt into action, hurtling across the clearing and knocking Eden aside.
The dark magic missed. Rick bounded to his feet and leapt at the Dark Lord as
the Destroyer flung a ball of dark magic towards them. It engulfed Rick and
blazed a brilliant white before exploding. The Dark Lord laughed and vanished,
as Eden froze, unable to prevent the strangled cry being torn from her throat.
"Rick!"
Eden was silent. She and Moonshadow walked on
for days, and the yellow Lupe never said a word. More than once, Moonshadow
caught her on the verge of tears. She didn't try to force Eden to talk. She
knew that would have been the worst thing to do.
Eden-Latin. Opifex-eversor. The Dark Lord mused
quietly, watching those under his control.
There was a squeal from further into the woods
and Eden raced towards it, Moonshadow close behind. A Harris petpet cowered
against a tree, brown to match it, and all alone. There was a rustle in the
treetops above them, then a bird's call. Eden and Moonshadow looked at each
other. The Harris looked up at them hopefully, then looked miserable. "You not
Layla. You know Layla? Layla comin' back soon?"
Moonshadow shook her head and imitated its speech.
"Layla who? Not know any Layla."
Eden watched the Harris's hopes fall and said
"Layla come back no time soon, I thinkin'. You comin' with us, maybe? What your
name?"
The Harris looked back up defiantly. "What your
name?"
Moonshadow laughed. "My name Moonshadow."
Eden smiled. "My name Eden. You name?"
The Harris shrugged. "Layla callin' me Riva.
You not Layla. Call me other name."
Eden grinned. "You name insolence! But we callin'
you Kyla. Close to Layla. We maybe also callin' you brave!"
Kyla looked surprised. "Me brave?"
Moonshadow nodded. "You brave. And you clever!"
The Harris frowned. "Clever how?"
The Lupe laughed. "You get Eden speaking!"
Eden, Moonshadow and Kyla travelled onwards for
a good few more days. Kyla rode on Eden's back most of the time, sometimes scurrying
ahead. It was late night and they had a campfire burning when Moonshadow asked
Kyla about Layla. The Harris shrugged. "Layla like youse two. Lupedog. But shadowy
colourin'. Buyin' me from shop, makin' me welcome with family. Then her brother
lost. Go searchin' in forest. They all vanishin', and me 'lone 'gain. Searchin'
for them, bringin' me farther away. Tired an' 'ungry, findin' youse two." She
glanced from one to the other, surprised at their reactions. "Whatta matter?"
Moonshadow tried to relax. "What Layla brother
name?"
Kyla smiled. "Layla brother nicey Lupedog. Layla
callin' 'im Rick." Eden and Moonshadow blinked, then Moonshadow set off on a
different track of questions.
"Where you losin' Layla? Where startin' searchin'?"
Kyla nodded eagerly. "Notta far now. Youse two
goin' inna good way already."
Eden smiled grimly. "I take it that we're heading
in the right direction. In which case we'd better get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow
will be a busy day."
The morning sun rose slowly, as if it knew what
the day held, and was reluctant to unleash it upon the unsuspecting. It's silky
golden light cautiously wandered over Eden and Moonshadow's faces before carefully
stroking Kyla's eyes open. The little Harris stretched and yawned, then nudged
Eden. "Lupedogs sleepydogs. Gettin' up yet? It dawn a plenty. Whatta happenin'
to "busy day"?"
Eden yawned. "Go away, pest. I need my beauty
sleep." Kyla skipped round and peered at Eden's face critically as the Lupe
opened her eyes.
"Yup. You's needin' plenty o' beeyooty sleep."
She skipped away again with a squeal and hid behind a tree as Eden leapt up.
"Least you's awakin' now!"
Moonshadow laughed at them both as she got up
and stretched. "Kyla has a point Eden. You did say it would be a busy
day today. We need an early start if we're going to do what I think you have
in mind."
Eden stretched and nodded. "All right, point
taken. Kyla, you can come out now." The Harris peeped out from behind the tree,
then noticed Moonshadow making breakfast and ran over.
"Hungry now! Chasin' early good for makin' hungry!"
Eden smiled. "Well eat plenty. There's going
to be some more chasing before you get a chance to eat again."
Before Eden's prediction could come true, the
trio had to start searching. Kyla showed Eden and Moonshadow where she had been
searching when Layla and her family had disappeared. The Harris waved a little
uncertainly in one direction. "Layla searchin' over there. I lookin' up, seein'
'er. She shakin' head. I lookin' away. Not feelin' right, lookin' back, she
gone. Poof!" She spread her little arms wide.
Eden nodded. "So we startin' searchin' where
she disappearin'. Maybe we findin' her?"
Kyla shrugged. "Maybes. Needin' lotsa luck for
doin' that, me thinkin'."
Kyla appeared to be right after two hours fruitless
searching. The two Lupes flopped down and rested by a tree while the Harris
kept moving around, trying to find any possible place for her previous owner
to have vanished into. "We should have known it would take a long time. Kyla
has searched before, and it took Layla and her family ages before they
found the way in. I think our luck's out."
Eden smiled grimly. "Was our luck ever in?" She
paused, then frowned slightly. "We managed fine with about as much bad luck
as you can get for a long time, right?"
Moonshadow looked up at Eden. "I suppose you're
right."
The yellow Lupe shook her head and sat up a little
straighter. "Never mind supposing. I am right. And I say it's about time
for our luck to change for the better! Am I right?"
Moonshadow began to smile. "You're right!"
Eden stood up. "So am I right when I say we're
going to find it? Now?!"
Moonshadow jumped to her feet, grinning and yelled
back at her friend. "YES YOU ARE!"
Eden laughed recklessly. "WE WILL!"
To be continued... | 
