Week - 418 Top Ten Ways to Celebrate Neopets' Birthday by ellbot1998

Description: You don't need a huge party to have fun on Neopets' birthday!

Week - 433 The Issue #336 Mystery by ellbot1998

Description: He never points to the left... Or does he?

Week - 442 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: "Some higher force wants us to have this new, better place!" he always claimed. "Why should we try to escape it?"

Week - 443 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: "Prisoners #3410 and #3411 to transmogrification unit B-64."

Week - 444 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: "Each individual I heal always has the same tale of awakening, but never the same tale of escape."

Week - 445 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: "Not now; we'd probably be caught. I think we'd better follow them."

Week - 446 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: "Where do you think YOU'RE going?"

Week - 447 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: As Axle punched a button on the last device, I heard a shout of, "Redd, is that you?"

Week - 448 From a Rock to a Hard Place: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: 'So you finally caught on to me.'

Week - 467 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: "And the next Xweetok to receive my magic will grow wings," she echoed.

Week - 468 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: "Doesn't it ever stop raining?" I inquired.

Week - 469 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: As soon as he prepared to strike, however, there was a sound like thunder and a flash...

Week - 470 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: "Rubia has been harboring a Xweetok ever since shortly after last meeting. She claims that it came to her door first."

Week - 471 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: "Poor thing, maybe we should go home. I've been so inconsiderate about your thick fur. It seems to get soggy fast."

Week - 472 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: "Rubia, another of my dreams came true."

Week - 473 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: Rubia. I had to know if she'd take me in again or not. Tor told me she would, but he didn't know how cold she'd acted to me.

Week - 474 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Eight by ellbot1998

Description: It was impending destiny.

Week - 475 Hot Herb Tea and a Happy Ending: Part Nine by ellbot1998

Description: "For the sake of my friends, I am fearless..." Torich read aloud as he scratched the inscription in.

Week - 497 Tyrants and Heroes: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: None of this meant that all Xweetoks were bad. I was a Xweetok.

Week - 498 Tyrants and Heroes: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: "We were about to go raid Chix's shuttle and rescue our lost ones," Bronco confessed. I did a mental face-palm.

Week - 499 Tyrants and Heroes: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: It never mattered to me whether I was a true hero or not.

Week - 500 Tyrants and Heroes: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: "Rubia! I'm so glad you're still alive!"

Week - 501 Tyrants and Heroes: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: A series of asterisks appeared on screen. The Usul hit a large key.  "Access granted."

Week - 502 Tyrants and Heroes: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: They saw me not as a Xweetok anymore, but as a hero.

Week - 507 Torch in the Darkness: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: I stopped short as I realized I had ended up in, well, who-knows-where. I was in a golden forest. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 508 Torch in the Darkness: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: It'll be worth it, I told myself and started putting one foot in front of the other on the bough. The snack gradually inched closer. I was almost there... Art by ellbot1998

Week - 509 Torch in the Darkness: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: We traveled in relative silence. When I explained to Faith about having to run from Xweetoks, she nodded quietly, not acting very surprised at all. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 510 Torch in the Darkness: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: The den's scene was exactly as Cerulean and I had found it in the first place. All footprints had been smoothed over by the rain. He was gone, and so was Rachroth. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 511 Torch in the Darkness: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: I gasped. Their homes were in trees? I thought that he would just take me to a nest or something. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 512 Torch in the Darkness: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: My thoughts were interrupted by a raspy "Help... me..." from behind me. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 513 Torch in the Darkness: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: "What are you saying, Azra? Nobody's ever just stumbled across Shadow! This place is practically cut off from the rest of the world!" Art by ellbot1998

Week - 514 Torch in the Darkness: Part Eight by ellbot1998

Description: She didn't deserve to die at the hands of the most infamous creature known to any forester! Art by ellbot1998

Week - 515 Torch in the Darkness: Part Nine by ellbot1998

Description: "I didn't create Val. I had always known him. We have always been contrasting where we placed our values and our dreams. If fortune had come over him instead of me, this would be a different world." Art by ellbot1998

Week - 521 What Makes a Neopet Special by ellbot1998

Description: Some people have plenty of Neopoints, but they have a Neopet or two who they leave as a red, yellow, blue or green creature of a common species.

Week - 526 A Game of Chess... Or Not by ellbot1998

Description: "You and Callie aren't quite a couple of kids. She's seventeen and you're more mature than she is sometimes."

Week - 527 Possessed: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: Rubia barged in, panting. "I was flipping through some magical books, and... Faith, you've been possessed."

Week - 528 Possessed: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: "Cerulean, I was studying before we started this, and I wanted to ask you: When you and Faith were on your journey, were any spells cast on her?"

Week - 529 Possessed: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: That's right, I recalled. I dream the future. It's been so long that I forgot.

Week - 530 Possessed: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: The return to the land of my childhood was bringing out the person that I had left behind along with it; the person used to ice and snow. Slush and sleet.

Week - 531 Possessed: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: "Rubia! Faith's gone!"

Week - 532 Possessed: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: "Chix?" a green-striped Hunter asked as he opened the door. "Chix, where... Ah..." He furrowed his brow in confusion...

Week - 533 Possessed: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: "Well, there's another long day of Faith-chasing ahead of us."

Week - 534 Possessed: Part Eight by ellbot1998

Description: Rubia sank her fangs into its other side.  And then it got angry.

Week - 535 Stooping Low: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: A heavy rainfall was drenching the forests. I barely winced from it. Faith was walking beneath my wing, trying to hide from the rain, however...

Week - 536 Stooping Low: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: "Who is Faith?" She lowered her voice. "I mean, it's unusual. She has to be a Creator's Age Xweetok for some reason, right?"

Week - 537 Stooping Low: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: A current of rushing sand suddenly appeared and pulled me into it. One leg after the others, I was sucked into the pit-sand trap.

Week - 552 How To Recover From Missing Issue #550 by ellbot1998

Description: You aren't necessarily a worse writer than anyone who got published in Issue #550.

Week - 564 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: Some of my dreams are the future, but all the rest are nonsense.

Week - 565 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: I fastened the pin of my cape tighter than I had before. I was out all day, desperately hoping that I would spy her taking refuge within a forest nook, or gloomily wandering around the County outskirts...

Week - 566 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: "Imagine. I found it completely unguarded at the top of Cloudpoint..."

Week - 567 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: The three of us were a family: we seldom got impatient with each other. Melded together by the occasional hardship, we had no need for family squabbles...

Week - 568 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: Faith blinked. "That is a very strange story," she said.

Week - 569 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: "But what if I'm not this Faith you know?"

Week - 570 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: "Things will be alright someday," she murmured. And then I looked at her and noticed that she was devastated. Her eyes showed it, even in the torch-light.

Week - 571 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Eight by ellbot1998

Description: I felt like I'd been sitting on a sopping wet, miserable, uncomfortable cloud, staring down at the world I knew. Staring and wishing.

Week - 572 Cinnamon and Vinegar: Part Nine by ellbot1998

Description: "If I can't have power or at least freedom, I'll have revenge!" Amadeus screamed...

Week - 582 We All Fall Down: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: A lone Hunter strolled through the woods, wide-eyed, light-footed and all ears.

Week - 583 We All Fall Down: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: "Mortal, prepare to face my wrath," the black-winged orange Blumaroo before me commanded. I tried to step backward...

Week - 584 We All Fall Down: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: Something about Cerulean that day seemed... off.

Week - 585 We All Fall Down: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: "...Is he afraid of her? Put those in the pan over there, dear; I'll cook them in a minute."

Week - 586 We All Fall Down: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: For a moment, she half-opened her mouth. She closed it, though, and looked away. "I'm just not used to you and Cerulean fighting..."

Week - 587 We All Fall Down: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: "I... remember..." I murmured, remembering my past. "I've... met her..."

Week - 588 We All Fall Down: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: Siana was carrying me by the scruff of my neck after a good shot from her stun blaster...

Week - 589 We All Fall Down: Part Eight by ellbot1998

Description: "DON'T ANSWER THE DOOR!"

Week - 623 One Way: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: "Keep fighting! She can't win!" I yell, dodging a spiky ball of shadow that hisses past my shoulder. Our only chance is to keep moving...

Week - 624 One Way: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: They weren't home.

Week - 625 One Way: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: "The mind is made to want a soul if it doesn't have one..."

Week - 626 One Way: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: Cerulean fought with perfect rhythm. He stalled, ducked and swerved until his enemies let their guards down.

Week - 627 One Way: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: I'd started piecing some of it together. The Chomby was the head, of course, and she hoarded gold and servants in her gold castle in this glass forest.

Week - 628 One Way: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: When I woke up, Faith was sitting cross-legged right front of me. My mind was thick with sleep. But when my eyes met her face, I yelped and sat up.

Week - 629 One Way: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: "What does it take," I murmured, "for a golden roof to collapse?"

Week - 630 One Way: Part Eight by ellbot1998

Description: "You must really know your way around this place," Amadeus remarked, while we were still walking in uninhabited hallways. I shrugged. "I've only been here for most of my life."

Week - 631 One Way: Part Nine by ellbot1998

Description: "I... don't believe it..." Dromiay stuttered. "She wasn't in the book!"

Week - 632 One Way: Part Ten by ellbot1998

Description: Benjai started to laugh again. And then, "You want me to trust you? I barely know your name!"

Week - 633 One Way: Part Eleven by ellbot1998

Description: 'You've learned well enough that there are certain things people ought not to do.'

Week - 650 650 Eternities by ellbot1998

Description: "Dromiay," Benjai hisses. I freeze. The spell ends. I choose to run.

Week - 678 The Case for More NT Item Prizes by ellbot1998

Description: Many Neopians enjoy reading the Times as well as, or instead of, creating for it.

Week - 684 The Door Closes: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: He hums his way down the slope, to the tune of a song I faintly remember. Though his voice has been absent from my life for many years, it still sounds unforgettable and familiar. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 685 The Door Closes: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: On my second day in the desert I come to a city around an oasis. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 686 The Door Closes: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: I stare down at the table, head in my hands. Anders pokes his nose at my fingers, chirping quietly. Several spikes of stone lie broken on the ground. Art by Ellbot1998

Week - 687 The Door Closes: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: We break free from the sands of the desert to find calm, rolling western hills. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 688 The Door Closes: Part Five by ellbot1998

Description: The next day we stretch and eat. The morning sun feels cleansing. I can only imagine how much more we'll enjoy it once we have Faith back once and for all. We lie on the grassy banks, waiting ominously hour after hour. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 689 The Door Closes: Part Six by ellbot1998

Description: Clouds of sand lash through the sky above, staining most of it orange and a few scarce threads of it red. For the first time, I feel like something I'm going through could be a dream in my dreamless life. So I blink once. Twice. Three times. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 690 The Door Closes: Part Seven by ellbot1998

Description: A man breathes heavily across from me, audible even from beneath a mask of loose grey cloth. A swath of worn fabrics wrapped up and down his figure encloses him. He wears different patterns, colors and materials, but they are all faded and fraying, as though he has had nothing new to wear for the past hundred years and must make do with the pieces of an old wardrobe. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 698 Begin Again: Part One by ellbot1998

Description: The green Draik breaks through the forest, leaping out from between two trees. She dashes down the slope, long wings billowing up from the wind of her dash. She runs on all fours, having the lithe limbs to do so. Her small backpack bounces with every step. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 699 Begin Again: Part Two by ellbot1998

Description: Lukirri looks out into the night, backpack heavy with dried food, fresh water and a bigger map. She stands alone, but alone and enforced, with a firm idea of what she’s doing. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 700 Begin Again: Part Three by ellbot1998

Description: It feels drafty, even though it’s in the side of the mountain, and is the furthest room from the now-howling winds of the great outdoors. Lukirri grumbles, gets out of bed, and slumps over in front of the fireplace. She hates being alone. She wants to go talk to anyone – even if it’s Hedera – or at least watch her work. But she already knows that even trying would lose some of Hedera’s favor. Art by ellbot1998

Week - 701 Begin Again: Part Four by ellbot1998

Description: Deep bags hang under Hedera’s eye. She lowers the stein, ruggedly wipes her face; and once again spends several seconds chugging at it. She spent twenty minutes eating nonstop when she first awakened – her baggy clothes do nothing to hide the thinness she gained while she was out. Lukirri shudders. What was happening to her? Art by ellbot1998

Week - 697 So You're Having a Bad Day by ellbot1998

Description: Dedicated to any Neopets player who's had a bad day. That means you.

Week - 705 Corruption by ellbot1998

Description: I feel weird. Sometimes I hold a book like a child. Sometimes I wonder why I have never gotten used to my own appearance. I wonder why I can’t socialize. Why nothing worked out for me. Sometimes I stare down at my hands, wondering where I went wrong.