We ran out of the Haunted Woods as quickly as possible.
We were too small to be affected by tree limbs, and if a bush or root was in
our way, we fought our way past it. Phoenix was the fastest out of us, since
he could hover and fly above the ground a little.
"Keep running, I see light!" Phoenix called.
We ran and ran. And ran some more, until the
trees thinned and the ground beneath us softened into sand. Sand?
"Holy Kau, we went the wrong way!" I yelled,
completely frustrated. "We're not in Neopia Central at all--we're in the
Lost Desert!"
"It's all right," Bip said, bouncing slightly
and whacking up a lot of sand.
"It was only a navigational error," Phoenix pointed
out. "It was our fault as much as it was yours. More us, even, since you found
out how to get to the Hidden Tower."
"Hidden Tower? You guys really are lost," came
a voice.
I turned around, still a little shaky. "Who are
you?"
"My name's Elle," said the...thing. It seemed
to blend into the sand. "I'm a Petpet, too." It shook itself off to reveal a
Pink Wadjet.
"Do you have an owner?" Phoenix asked it.
"No," the Wadjet said. Now that I thought about
it, it sounded like a female. "I used to have a pretty moderately-rich owner,
but one of the pets dumped me here as a joke." She stiffened, and looked more
like a Cobrall from her stance. "I've been waiting weeks, and they haven't come
back to find me."
"We're looking for Faeriland--the Hidden Tower,
actually," Bip said, still trying to bounce on the sand. He gave up and simply
started spinning.
"Yes, that's obvious," Elle said. "I heard you
guys talking. Came through the Haunted Woods, huh? That's only been done once
before. I'd have thought you were joking, but you must be serious."
"We were looking for owners," I explained. "My
name's Dylan."
Phoenix introduced himself, too. "I'm Phoenix.
I'd tell you why, but I don't have a carrot."
"Um..." Elle looked at Bip. "What's your name?"
"Bip, Miss!" He finally stopped spinning, and
looked dizzy. "Nice to meet you, Elle."
I rolled all four of my eyes at him. "Listen,
Elle, I mean, since you don't have an owner...do you want to come with us?"
"I suppose," she said. "I've never met anyone
as nice as you."
I turned as pink as Phoenix, and I hoped that
Bip didn't notice.
"We need to refuel first," Phoenix pointed out.
"Food, water, the like. Do you know where we could find some stuff?"
"Sure," Elle laughed. "Phoenix, huh? Where'd
you get the name?"
"Um, Elle, I don't think--"
"I explode when I eat carrots," Phoenix said
proudly. "And I sort of regenerate, which makes me like a phoenix. Even though
those don't exist."
"Cool!" she exclaimed. "I can call you Phoe."
"Um, we'd better get going," I interjected. "Where's
the nearest food store?"
"I'll show you," Elle said.
"Phoe sounds good," Phoenix said quickly. "Phoe--sounds
like 'fee.' Better than 'Encyclopedia,' which is what Dylan here is. Phoe--"
I tried not to listen to Phoenix's babbling.
I didn't know that my buddies would go crazy over some girl Wadjet, but apparently
they were. Elle lead us in the search of a food shop, and finally we found one.
There were some good burned treats in the sand-coloured dumpster behind it, and
not having eaten anything in a day and a half, we ate hungrily. Petpets only
need to eat about every other day to be satisfied, and we can live two to three
weeks without food, but hey...we were traveling.
"So what have you three been up to?" Elle inquired.
"Well, I picked up Bip from my web in Neopia
Central," I laughed. "He made me go with him to Faerieland, where we found Phoenix,
then we went to the Haunted Woods, where a certain tree unwillingly gave us
directions to the Hidden Tower. Then we ended up here."
"Cool," Elle said. "So you want to find owners?
I don't know...I'd rather be free. But you guys seem like nice Petpets to be
friends with."
I nodded, and when she wasn't looking, I leaned
over to Phoenix. "I thought all painted Petpets were snobbish," I whispered
him.
He shrugged, as much as a Floud can. "Dunno,
Encyclopedia. Prejudices are often proven wrong."
"I'm not prejudiced!" I shot back.
Phoenix laughed. "Keep on thinkin' that, dude.
It'll get you nowhere."
"Well, at least I'm not 'Phoe.'"
"Hey, you can be Dyl."
I laughed at that, and we ate some more. Finally
I wasn't "Encyclopedia" to Phoenix--I wasn't some geek, I was his friend.
But that feeling only lasted a moment. Suddenly,
the ground shook. BOOM--BOOM--ROAR!
"Get out!" a huge Grarrl screamed. "You're making
a mess!"
I guess the shopkeeper didn't like Petpets. "We
should've picked a shop closer to Peopatra's Pet Pets," I whispered to Phoenix,
dodging a broom.
"Um, Dyl?"
"That's it! I'm taking you back to Peopatra's
Pet Pets Shop!" the Grarrl boomed, scooping us up.
"Hey, maybe we can find owners," I offered.
"Um, maybe Elle can," Phoenix shot back.
The Grarrl shopkeeper walked over to Peopatra's
shop and dumped us on the sand. "PEOPATRA!"
A Desert Peophin appeared, followed by some Desert
Petpets. "Yes, Dontu?"
"Make sure none of your Petpets run lose again,"
he roared.
"These aren't mine," Peopatra said, looking down
at us. "But I can take in the Wadjet."
"See! They'll only accept Elle," Phoenix whispered
to me.
I looked where Elle was and gasped. She was gone!
"Oh...I thought there was a Pink Wadjet
there," Peopatra said. "Oh well, maybe I need glasses. I'll take these three
over to Coltzan's Shrine--if a Neopian lost them, they'll probably look there."
The three of us were scooped up, put in a purse,
and a minute later were gently laid down right in front of Coltzan's Shrine.
A girl with a Desert Aisha went up to the Shrine, and they were given a burnt
piece of food, but they didn't even notice us.
"Where's Elle?" I asked. "Did she ditch us that
quickly?"
"Nope!" came a voice. Suddenly, she appeared
out of the sand. "Underground Selket tunnels...perfect for avoiding being stepped
on or separated from your friends."
"Elle, that's awesome!" Bip exclaimed, jumping
up and down. "I missed you!"
"I missed her more!" Phoenix shouted back.
I sighed. Suddenly, Elle turned to me.
"I didn't want to be separated from you," she
said shyly. "Okay, then, how do we get to Faerieland?"
I was too shocked to speak. Elle...no, she meant
all of us. She couldn't mean me.
"We can take a boat to Meridell, then to Neopia Central," Phoenix said. "From
there, we take a Shoyru or Pteri Ferry straight up."
"Right!" Bip said, bouncing happily.
"Okay, then, what are we waiting for?" Elle laughed.
We ran to the harbour of the Lost Desert, when
I leisurely chatted with Phoenix. "If it's near the water, they should call
it a Lost Beach, eh?"
"Prolly, Dyl. But I'm not the one who's going
to tell the Neopets Team that."
We all laughed, and finally we spotted a boat
that was leaving and snuck on. It only took a few minutes to get to Meridell,
but it was already dark by the time we arrived.
"Wow, night already?" Elle marveled.
"Why is the sky orange?" Bip asked, bouncing
excitedly.
"I dunno. Let's rest up for the night," Phoenix
said.
"Okay!" Bip exclaimed, still bouncing. Come to
think of it, he only stopped when he was eating or sleeping.
"We still have some time," I insisted. "Besides,
there's nowhere to sleep around here. Let's do some crawling--or bouncing, or
flying."
Everyone reluctantly agreed, so we looked around
for a while and found a place next to a tree. One by one, we fell asleep, even
though we were just four Petpets in a strange land and only a shred of hope
to cling on to.
To be continued... | 
