The Story Behind Pterattack

      Terry was on her way back from an awesome night at the Concert Hall. She had heard M*YNCI playing their famous songs with her friends. She was a small Pteri, and loved to read. She always kept calm, but had trouble paying attention to people. She was green, with a yellow beak and tail. She always kept her wings silky and shiny, and was very proud of them.

      "Hey," said her friend Jessy, "Ever wonder what's inside the Lair of the Beasts?" Jessy was an adventurous red Chomby. She was tall and thin, and had cunning green eyes.

      "Hmm, maybe a Beast?" said Sam, sarcastically. Sam was a blue Nimmo. He was usually the brains of their group of friends, and knew when to call it quits.

      "I don't really care what's in there," said the Kyrii named Jordan. "I'm not going in there."

      "Me, either!" said Sam, quickly.

      "I guess it's up to you, Terry," said Jessy, nudging Terry.

      "Huh?" Terry had been thinking about the concert. She had really enjoyed the songs.

      "Well," Jessy said, "seeing as Jordan and Sam are too chicken to go in the Lair of Beasts with me, I guess you'll have to, huh?" As daring as Jessy was, she refused to do anything alone.

      "No," said Terry, realizing that she should have been listening.

      "I dare you," said Jessy, her blue, spiked tail swaying back and forth.

      "No."

      "I dare you with a box of Chocolates," said Jessy. The Chomby knew Terry's weakness.

      "Fine," said Terry, "as long as we're only in there for a few minutes."

      "Think about it," warned Sam, but Jessy gave Terry the pleading look that the Pteri found hard to refuse.

      Terry followed the triumphant Chomby across the canyon and onto the smaller side of the Plateau. She ignored the strange looks the Kacheekers were giving them, and advanced to the Lair of the Beasts. She shivered from the cold and the fear that had suddenly crawled up her spine. She couldn't see anything beyond the mouth of the cave, and the path she was standing on disappeared into the darkness. She heard soft splashes as water within the cave hit the rock ground.

      "Are you sure about this?" Terry asked Jessy.

      "Sure, I'm sure. Are you scared?" Jessy asked.

      "No," lied Terry. She was scared. Her wings drooped, and tears of fear came unwillingly to her eyes, but she followed Jessy further into the mysterious cave. What was the worst that could happen? What she didn't know, however, was that this journey would change her life.

      The two neopets came to a dead end, and Terry sighed with relief. Then she saw the rope.

      "No way am I climbing that!" she said, trying to convince Jessy that they should leave. By this point, Terry was not continuing to show Jessy how brave she was. The Pteri was only coming along because she was very worried that if she left, Jessy would hurt herself. Sometimes, the Chomby's sense of adventure was dangerous.

      "Yes you are," said Jessy, tugging the rope. "Look, it's stable. There's nothing to be afraid of."

      "You first," said Terry, feeling faint.

      Jessy hoisted herself up the rope, and gasped.

      "EW!"

      "What??" asked Terry, thinking she should have turned back earlier.

      "A cobweb!" Jessy said. Terry sighed. This from the girl who had persuaded her to enter the Lair of the Beasts. "Ok," Terry heard Jessy's voice say, "I'm up. Your turn."

      Trembling with terror, the Pteri followed Jessy up the rope, all the while, begging to leave. What she saw at the top, though, silenced her. Through the cobwebs, she could just make out a hole in one wall. The hole was surrounded by sharp points sticking out from the cave wall.

      "Come on!" whispered Jessy, tip-toeing across the cave floor. "Let's go!"

      As she followed Jessy towards the hole, Terry heard the sound of whispers, and halted. Unaware, the Chomby moved on, alone.

      Terry followed the noise, curiously. She listened hard to make out what the deep, harsh voice was saying.

      "Midnight," stated a voice louder than the others, commandingly. The voice obviously came from a Grarrl. Someone answered, and Terry couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded like a large bird's voice, cawing.

      "How many?" another Grarrl asked. Terry quietly approached a small puncture through the wall, and could see the animals on the other side of the wall. There were about five Grarrls, and over a hundred Pterodactyls, from what she could see. What were they doing here.

      "As many as we can," answered the head Grarrl, the one who had spoken first. "Who volunteers?"

      Almost all of the Pterodactyls opened their beaks to answer. Terry wondered about this. What would be a job so hard, and so secret, that so many Pterodactyls would be needed at midnight?

      "Where will it be?" asked a green Pterodactyl.

      "In the canyons of the Tyrannian Plateau," answered the Grarrl.

      Terry leaned into the wall harder, and her claw slipped against the ground, making a scraping sound. Her eyes widened, and she clutched her beak with her wing to muffle a gasp.

      Afraid of being detected, the Pteri flew back to the rope, to tell Jessy, but the Chomby was nowhere to be seen. Shaking, Terry squeezed through the hole in the wall, which was just big enough for her, into complete darkness.

      She heard a soft growling sound, like an old door creaking in the wind. Her heart sped up, and she shrieked as a huge red bird appeared. Its yellow beak had teeth inside, and its roar caused its saliva to flutter in its breath. Its neck was long, with blue spots on it, and it led to a thin body and enormous wings.

           Screaming, Terry fled the darkness, back down the rope, and out of the cave. Crying from fear, she collapsed outside. When she wiped the blurriness from her red eyes, she saw Jessy holding out a box of chocolates. The Pteri grabbed one and stuffed it in her mouth. The soothing taste relaxed Terry, and she stopped shaking.

      "WOW!" shouted Jessy, "Wasn't that amazing?!"

      "Amazing?" Terry gasped, disbelieving. "That was dreadful, terrible, horrible -"

      "Oh, come on, really!" said Jessy, sighing, "Did anyone get hurt?"

      "Don't you call this hurt?" asked Terry.

      "Look, I'm sorry, okay. I really didn't mean to upset you," Jessy said.

      Terry wiped the last tears from her eyes, 'I'm alright. I just overreacted. But, um, Jessy? When we were in the cave, I heard-"

      "HEY! You made it out alive!" shouted Sam and Jordan. "What was in it?"

      "This awesome, big red bird that scared the guts out of me! It was so cool!" Jessy said, momentarily forgetting Terry.

      "Wow, that sounds awesome," said Jordan, "but I still don't think I want to go in."

      "You could have been injured," Sam agreed. "Jordan and I realized that after you guys left. We should have stopped you. You're lucky to be here."

      "Aw, lay off it," said Jessy. "Don't be boring. No one was hurt, we're all fine, we're all happy ever after..."

      "Well, actually-" said Terry, preparing to spill what she had heard in the cave.

      "Let's go to the Pizzaroo for dinner!" said Jordan, and Sam and Jessy agreed.

      At the Pizzaroo, the four friends talked and talked. The Lair of the Beasts was not mentioned once, and Terry forgot about what she had overheard.

      When they finished dinner, it was dark outside, and the neopets said their farewells.

      "What time is it?" asked Sam, his long blue legs ready for his journey home.

      "Wow, it's almost midnight," answered Jordan, the only one of the pets who wore a watch.

      "Midnight!" Terry exclaimed, and a flood of memories came back to her from the cave. Where had the Grarrl said the group of animals would meet? Then she remembered, the Tyrannian Plateau canyon.

      "Bye, guys, got to fly," she said, and left them quickly.

      At the Plateau, Terry got to the canyon just in time to see the flock of Pterodactyls gathering.

      "Finally, we can get rid of this town, where we belong!" shouted a Pterodactyl, and Terry realized what the group was for.

      Suddenly, something fell from the top of the canyon, where the Tyrannian Weaponry was located. A ball of some sort. Terry had heard about these, they were supposed to let you shoot bullets from your beak when you ate it. Taking the risk, Terry swallowed the weapon and said, in her bravest voice, "You'll have to go through me, first."

      "YOU?!" the Pterodactyls cawed with laughter, and set into flight, charging right at the small, determined Pteri.

      Some say it was determination that drove Terry on, some say it was luck, and others say it was skill, but in the end, the Tyrannians were safe, all because of one, amazing Pteri.

The End