Sakirina the green Lupe crept through the Haunted Woods.
She had been abandoned not long after she was born and was now cruel and heartless.
Having no home, and not wanting to go to the pound, she had traveled to the
Haunted Woods thinking that it would be a good place to spend her days. Since
then she had met many evil pets that the rest of us can only imagine in our
nightmares. Sakirina remembered little of her life before being abandoned and
she almost didn't care anymore. Almost, but not quite. In her heart she wanted
a safe and happy life.
Scaring young pets and their owners had become
a hobby of Sakirina over the years. She liked to jump out from behind trees
yelling. She was rather frightening looking, considering that she had lived
alone for years and had not cut or brushed her fur in months and had blended
into her surroundings.
One day when Sakirina was hunting in the woods
she came across a small yellow Chia that seemed to have been kicked around like
a soccer ball. Sniffing him, Sakirina coughed violently. He smelled like rotten
eggs mixed with dirt. The Chia groaned and rolled over. Picking him up in her
mouth, Sakirina carried the Chia to a small cave in the depths of the Haunted
Woods, which was the only thing she could call home. After dunking the Chia
in the trickling stream that ran past Sakirina's cave to clean him off, she
took him inside and sat him down, sitting on her bed of leaves.
"What's your name?" Sakirina asked gruffly.
"L-L-Linkidu, miss," the Chia stammered.
Sakirina grunted and went to sit at the opening
of the cave. It was a bit of a mystery why Sakirina didn't eat Linkidu. She
had always had a bit of a soft spot for Chias, probably because she had met
a Chia soon after she was abandoned and they had become friends, before the
Chia, Aleni, had disappeared on Terror Mountain one day. It was after that that
Sakirina had become evil and she had never gotten over the disappearance of
Aleni.
Finally deciding what to do with Linkidu, Sakirina
went back to where he was sitting.
"All right, you can stay," she announced. "As
long as you don't get underfoot."
"Th-thank you miss," the Chia said quietly.
"And stop calling me 'miss.' I'm not a 'miss.'
I'm a vicious Lupe," Sakirina said. "What am I to call you then?" Linkidu asked.
"Call me Sakirina or Saki will you," she replied.
"Yes, Sakirina."
She grunted and went outside to see if there
was anyone around to scare. Suddenly a large slate gray Lupe sprang out from
between the trees. Sakirina stepped back in surprise.
"Who are you?" she growled.
"I am the ghost Lupe, terror of all Lupes and
Chias alike!" the Lupe declared loudly.
Linkidu, who had come to see what the noise was
about, quickly snuck back in the cave. He must have decided that it would be
useful to have a surprise for the ghost Lupe if this turned into a fight.
If Sakirina had been tongue-tied in fright before,
she certainly wasn't now.
"How dare you invade my peaceful home, you ugly
monster!?" cried Sakirina, starting to get angry.
"How dare you insult me!? I am not an ugly monster!
You are the ugly monster!" the ghost Lupe said hotly.
Sakirina attacked. The insult had really gotten
to her and she wasn't going to let this Lupe get away without hurting him first.
Sakirina hated anyone who tried to hurt Chias since the disappearance of Aleni
and this was someone who had probably hurt more Chias than Sakirina could count.
She bit and clawed at the ghost Lupe, trying to tear his fur. Suddenly a yellow
blob of Chia came flying from a tree to land on the ghost Lupe's back. The Lupe
tried to claw Linkidu of his back but couldn't reach him. The little yellow
Chia bit and tore at the ghost Lupe's back. Suddenly the Lupe ran off into the
forest. Linkidu quickly jumped off his back and went to stand by Sakirina.
Shaking, Sakirina sat down hard.
"Linkidu? I think you just saved out lives,"
Sakirina said gratefully. "You've definitely earned the right to stay here."
"Thanks."
***
After that, Sakirina and Linkidu became good friends. They did everything
together. Sakirina was much happier than she had been, but her problems certainly
weren't over. They still lived in the Haunted Woods, so they ran into a lot
of evil creatures that many people do not even know exist, but they were happy.
One day when Sakirina and Linkidu were exploring
the Haunted Woods, they came across an abandoned well. Not thinking that an
abandoned well was a strange thing, Sakirina and Linkidu started to investigate
it. A bucket was still attached to the rope, and so the two pets decided to
lower it down, just for fun. They heard a thunk as the bucket hit the bottom
and started to pull it back up. It seemed much heavier than before. Maybe there
was still water in the well. It was possible. Once the bucket was pulled up
Sakirina leaned over and looked in. She gasped and reached into the bucket.
Inside it was a giant blue crystal.
"Linkidu! Take a look at this!" Sakirina said
excitedly.
"What is it, Saki? I'm busy," asked Linkidu.
"Just look! It's really cool!" Sakirina replied.
So Linkidu stood up from looking around the
trees at the edge of the clearing where the well sat and came over to see what
Sakirina was looking at.
"Woah," Linkidu gasped in awe. "Why was that
in an abandoned well in the middle of the Haunted Woods?"
"Good question," Sakirina replied. "Do you think
we should keep it?"
"Well, it doesn't look like it belongs to anyone,
being in the bottom of a well and all. I suppose it couldn't hurt to keep it,"
decided Linkidu.
"You're probably right. Who would keep a huge
crystal like this at the bottom of a well anyway?" Sakirina wondered.
"Who knows? I think we should go home soon.
I don't like this place," Linkidu said.
"I don't like it any more than you do. Let's
get out of here!" Sakirina said.
Later when they were back in the cave, Linkidu
and Sakirina examined the large crystal closer.
"It almost looks as if it were burning on the
inside," Sakirina said, voicing her thoughts.
"You're right," Linkidu agreed slowly. "I wonder
what its uses are."
"You think it has uses?" Saki asked. "Or is
it just a useless knick-knack?"
"It could be a useless knickknack But I have
a feeling it's not," said Linkidu.
Sakirina looked at him sharply. "I don't like
the sound of that."
"Neither do I."
Suddenly the crystal's light flared, blinding
the two pets that were looking at it. When the light cleared, a large, vampire-like
blue Chia was standing at the entrance to the cave. Sakirina and Linkidu scrambled
to their feet to face Hubrid Nox, for that must have been who the Chia was.
"What do you want from us?" Linkidu asked boldly.
"Revenge of course! What else could I want?"
Hubrid Nox declared loudly.
"For what!?" Sakirina spat.
"For taking the Gem of Truth! I need that for
some…experiments," said the evil Chia
"The poor little Chia! His little toy has been
stolen! Poor thing," taunted Sakirina. "Do you really think we plan to give
it back to you? It's obvious you will use it for evil, and that is exactly what
we want to prevent. And we didn't steal it. We found it."
"Don't insult me! You will be very sorry if
you do," Hubrid Nox yelled.
The evil blue Chia muttered something and pointed
at the crystal. It flamed and then went dark. "Nooooo! You have ruined the Gem's
power!" Hubrid Nox yelled angrily.
"Us!? We don't even know what it does!" Linkidu
protested.
"Hmmph! You will pay for this you stupid creatures!
Pay, and pay well!" the Chia declared, and vanished.
Sakirina carefully picked up the crystal and
looked at it intently. "I think we have not seen the last of Hubrid Nox," she
said at last.
The End
Author's Note: Since this is not a series I will be writing other short stories
about Sakirina and Linkidu. You will soon be able to find them in later issues
of The Neopian Times. Feel free to send
me any feedback or ideas on my story! | 
