The little red creature scampered about the house, tumbling pots and
pans and suchlike paraphernalia saying "ZEEEEeeeeeEEEeeee!" while she
ran.
SweetheartZeeZee the Zafara, for that was her name, had a sweet smile
for every creature, even for her surly companion Arrick the Gelert. She
ran at a breakneck speed and was an utter nuisance when she put her mind
to it. While she loved reading books like Arrick, she also liked running
around, getting lost and making friends. Her fur was red in colour, and
this gave her a very charming demeanor.
Arrick, on the other hand, was a cautious Gelert, currently certified
a super genius by their owner's standards. He used rather long words when
speaking and almost always had his nose in a book. His long ears twitching
while he absorbed knowledge, he was now staring intently at the latest
book, Algebra. His blue tail also twitched as he calculated x(4y-3x) -
4y(3x²).
"Stop all that racing around!" Arrick finally snapped. He was thoroughly
irritated by this little rodent that often disturbed his reading. Why
in Neopia did Ms. Twilight create her? SweetheartZeeZee was annoying and
seemed brainless.
"Why? Why? Why? Why?" SweetheartZeeZee asked.
"I like running around. It's fun!"
"I'd rather be disowned than live with you," Arrick growled, putting
his paws over his head.
"You don't mean that," SweetheartZeeZee said lightly. "Who else can
pull you out of that stuffy mood you so often get into?"
"Ms. Twilight could," Arrick replied.
"Ms. Twilight wouldn't want to. She created you to satisfy that intelligent
side of her that gets her high marks in Science Classes. She created me
to balance out the sociable side of her."
"So exactly what is the objective of all this running about like a mad
Grundo?" Arrick burst out. He immediately regretted his words, seeing
the little tears drop from those wide blue eyes of his companion. Calling
someone else a Grundo was about the worst thing to do, because a Grundo
is the worst thing in Neopia.
SweetheartZeeZee pouted and scampered off.
Arrick sighed as he used his nose to close his book. He got up and followed
the pet he shared the same owner with. It wasn't easy living with SweetheartZeeZee.
They were utter opposites. Arrick wasn't sure at first whether SweetheartZeeZee
was nothing more than a bad joke when Ms. Twilight first brought her home.
The first thing the little Zafara had done was to scamper all over him,
sniffing him and making him sneeze with her tail.
To each his own, Arrick thought as he got up on the balcony ledge with
SweetheartZeeZee. "I'm sorry," He apologised.
Silence. Uh-oh, he thought. The silent treatment.
Suddenly, SweetheartZeeZee said, "Arrick, what's that?"
"What's what?" he asked.
"That," she replied, pointing at a shimmering oval in the park below
the balcony. "It looks like a Light Faerie in front of a mirror."
"Well, you know Light Faeries don't like these parts," Arrick answered,
curiosity also pricked. "You know, I remember a story Ms. Twilight used
to tell me about alternate dimensions. D'you think that could be a doorway?"
"Why, I dare say so!" SweetheartZeeZee declared. "What are you waiting
for, Arrick? Let's go in!!"
"ZeeZee wait!" Arrick called.
Too late. SweetheartZeeZee had already scampered down the ledges so quickly
Arrick wasn't sure he had seen right and the next thing he knew, SweetheartZeeZee
was at the shimmering oval smiling up at him, calling, "Come on, Arrick!"
Then she was gone.
Arrick very nearly shouted one of the low oaths Ms. Twilight always used
whenever she was frustrated with either of them, braced himself and leapt
down right into the shimmering oval.
****
Arrick found himself in a forest, sniffing the ground cautiously. He
didn't like the smell of this place. It faintly reminded him of the Grundos
that used to come by and steal Ms. Twilight's food. That was the time
Dr. Sloth had tried to destroy Neopia. He was gone now.
"ZeeZee?" he called softly. "Zee?"
There was a slight shuffling in the bushes close by.
"ZeeZee? Zee, answer me."
No reply.
"ZeeZee!"
SweetheartZeeZee finally poked her head out of the bushes, eyes wide
and fearful. "Where are we, Arrick?"
Without hesitation, he replied, "In another dimension."
SweetheartZeeZee whimpered and crept over to hide under Arrick. "This
place is scary, Arrick."
Arrick looked behind him. No shimmering oval. He, too, began to feel
a bit nervous.
"The oval's gone, Arrick! How are we gonna get back?" SweetheartZeeZee
had to point out the obvious.
"I have two eyes like you, ZeeZee. Of course I can see that."
There was a sound from up ahead.
"Arrick!" SweetheartZeeZee gasped. "Did you hear that?"
"Grundos," Arrick said grimly. "This must be a dimension where Dr. Sloth
must have taken over Neopia."
"I don't like Dr. Sloth, Arrick."
Arrick shrugged. "Who does?" he asked, trying to make her feel better.
"HAR!" a harsh voice boomed from right behind them and a great light
shone on them.
Arrick yelped and SweetheartZeeZee shrieked in fright.
"Don't let them get away!" a horrible voice shouted.
The two NeoPets began to run. "Run, ZeeZee!" Arrick shouted. "Use your
speed!"
"What about you?" SweetheartZeeZee shouted back. "I'll keep them off,
then catch up with you!"
SweetheartZeeZee looked back incredulously.
"GO! GO NOW!"
She didn't look back as she ran and ran without stopping. Her heart beating
so quickly she was sure it was up to a thousand beats per second she ran
until she finally bumped into something hard.
"EEK!" she screamed, terrified that it would be the last of her. She
had visions of herself mutated the way Dr. Sloth had done to the unlucky
Zafaras that were caught by him.
There was a replying yell and she fell backwards.
"Oh, my lordy, lordy, lordy me!" a twangy voice mumbled. "Whut have
we git ourselves into now?"
SweetheartZeeZee got up to see a small encampment. A blue Zafara was
rubbing his forehead where he and she had crashed together. There were
other NeoPets about, and they all came out curiously from their hiding
places to see what had happened.
"My, my, my! Ain't seen not one fully non-mutated NeoPet around here
before, no!" the blue Zafara said, finally getting up.
SweetheartZeeZee gasped when she saw his face. He had one computerized
glass eye and the other eye had a red optic lens over it. His teeth protruded
from his mouth and his skin looked leathery and scaly. The small spikes
on his back, characteristic of all Zafaras, were metal and in the shadow
of the forest, seemed to emit evil looking electric charges.
"Now, see here missy, I ain't whut you tink," the blue Zafara said,
backing away cautiously. "We all ain'ts, for dat matter."
"What happened to you?" SweetheartZeeZee cried. "Yoo mean - whaaat didn't
- haaappen to - to usss!" a Korbat screeched from his perch in a nearby
tree. His wings were made of metal plats and instead of ears, he had antennae
that blinked with a blue light every few seconds. "All - all - all mutated!
Mutated halfway! Until we're so - so - so ugly!"
"Pardon Jekers, missy," the blue Zafara apologised. "He gits very emotional
every now and then."
"Who are you?" SweetheartZeeZee asked, a knot of fear rising
in her throat. "Why are you all like this?"
"We be all called changelings, missy," he replied. "Half mutated but
still got our minds in our heads. Ain't all o' us got turned evil, and
with our hopes, ain't all o' us gonna at all. M'name's Zeb, by the way,
missy. And whut be a cute, fully non-mutated NeoPet like you be doin'
here in the Woods o' Despair?"
"'Woods Of Despair'?"
"That's whut it be called now, ain't it?" Zeb asked, cocking his head
quizzically.
"I… I don't know. I don't come from around here."
"Then where do you come from?"
SweetheartZeeZee shrugged weakly. "There was a shimmering oval, so me
and my fellow pet went through it, and came here."
"You mean… that's whut it did?"
SweetheartZeeZee didn't reply. She was exhausted and frightened from
all this. She fainted right on the spot.
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