The Chronicles of Terror Mountain: Part One

      The Snowickle watched the other petpets play with a Turmac Bouncy Ball. A Meowclops fell and tripped while trying to kick the ball. Her owner, a Faerie Kacheek, immediately rushed over to comfort the Meowclops. Icky didn’t understand what was so unlovable about him. True, he was a worm, but at least he had two eyes!

      Icky overheard the Meowclops talking to her friend, a Selket.

      “Where is Terror Mountain?” the Meowclops asked.

      “It’s way in the north,” the Selket answered. “We’re in the Lost Desert.”

      “I know that!” the Meowclops laughed. “This sand is endless!”

      “And the sun merciless,” the Selket added.

      “Yeah, my fur isn’t suited for this heat,” the Meowclops complained. “I don’t know why my owner took me here.”

      “Well, if you go to Terror Mountain, there’s lots of snow everywhere and it’s cold all year-round!” the Selket said. “You might meet other snow petpets there too! Besides Icky, I mean...”

      The Selket and Meowclops both glanced towards the Snowickle. Icky turned his head away, hurt. The petpets never did anything directly mean towards the Snowickle, but he could tell that he wasn’t accepted among them or liked.

      Icky was thinking furiously. Terror Mountain? Other snow petpets? Icky thought. Maybe I’m not the only one... The Selket had said that Terror Mountain was in the north.

      It doesn’t sound that bad, the Snowickle thought. The Meowclops was right. Snow has to be better than the endless sand of the Lost Desert. Inspired, the Snowickle jumped up and walked past the petpets, ignoring their stares. The sun was setting soon. Maybe he could find some leftover food from the Sakhmet Food Stall.

     ---

      As the Snowickle entered the stall, the shopkeeper looked up and smiled.

      “I know why you’re here!” The Grarrl smiled. “You’re looking for some leftover food, aren’t you?”

      The Snowickle nodded his head.

      “Well, you’re in luck! I have some Sand Watermelons that nobody’s bought,” the shopkeeper continued. The shopkeeper handed the Snowickle two Sand Watermelons. Icky smiled and rubbed his head affectionately against the shopkeeper’s leg. The shopkeeper picked the Snowickle up and hugged Icky before putting him down again.

      “Shoo now!” the shopkeeper laughed. “What would my customers think if they knew I was giving away free food? And I know from experience that stampedes aren’t fun to handle!”

      The Snowickle sat down outside the Fruit Machine while starting to eat his Sand Watermelon. Icky had wished the shopkeeper would adopt him many times before, but he knew that the Grarrl already had a Turmac.

      Icky gazed absently at the Lost Desert, trying to remember all the details. He had made up his mind that he’d leave tomorrow. Suddenly, Icky heard a loud fanfare coming from the Fruit Machine. He saw the Desert Neopets holding up three signs with three Ptolymelons on them.

      “Congratulations! You’ve won a Skunk Paintbrush!” a Desert Elephante said to the lucky person who had won.

      I’ll miss this place, Icky decided, as he saved the second Sand Watermelon for his journey to Terror Mountain. I need a good night’s sleep tonight.

     ---

      Icky woke up to bright sunshine. He yawned and stretched before thinking about how to get to Terror Mountain. Icky vaguely knew where north was, and decided to just head in that general direction. Carrying only his Sand Watermelon, he set out, determined to find a better place.

      After a while, he noticed that there was something clinging to his back. As he turned around to look at it, he saw that it was a Mootix!

      Why, hello there, Icky thought. A companion would be great!

      The Mootix jumped happily, holding on tightly so that he wouldn’t slip off by accident. Icky thought that the little green bug was quite cute!

      As Icky kept walking for hours, he thought that the sand would never end. He had passed Sakhmet City quite a long time ago, and was straining to see any glimpse of some trees. At least I have a companion with me now, the Snowickle thought.

      Icky knew that the Meowclops came from the Haunted Woods, but all he knew about it was that it wasn’t a pleasant place to be after nightfall... whatever that meant. Icky shuddered and picked up his pace. It wasn’t easy traveling across the Lost Desert with the Snowickle’s small legs. His feet kept sinking into the sand, and it was getting quite annoying pulling them back up every time.

      As the sun was starting to set, Icky finally caught a glimpse of the Haunted Woods. He started to run (as fast as he could with that darn sand beneath him!), and reached the Haunted Woods in a matter of minutes. Icky rested near the Colouring Pages (the friendliest place he could find in the Haunted Woods), where a Halloween Aisha was coloring something... mutant.

      He saw some brave Neopets entering the Castle of Eliv Thade, and some petpets being bought from the Spooky Petpets shop. Icky saw a Sludgy being bought by a Pink Bori and once again wondered why nobody wanted him. He wasn’t muddy, and he was certain that two eyes were better than one.

      Suddenly, Icky noticed that the night was falling fast. He had to get out of the Haunted Woods as fast as possible! Icky got up and started to run again, pushing his endurance to its limits.

      He passed by the ever-hungry Esophagor and the Brain Tree before arriving at the Deserted Fairground. He picked up his pace as he saw people’s items getting turned to sludge by the Wheel of Misfortune, and getting cheated out of many neopoints by the *cough* rigged *cough* Coconut Shy. Icky collapsed at the outskirts of the Deserted Fairground, trying to catch his breath.

      Icky needed to rest badly after a day of trekking, and hoped that whatever happened after nightfall wouldn’t happen to him. After he shared his Sand Watermelon with his petpetpet, he curled up as small as he could and slept, dreaming of a grand Terror Mountain.

      In the morning, Icky was confused. It was still dark out, but he was sure it was morning. His instincts never failed him. Then he remembered that he was in the Haunted Woods and that it only made sense that it was dark all the time.

      Icky’s stomach grumbled. He knew he still had a long way to go, so he decided to see if there were leftovers in the Spooky Food shop.

      As he approached, the shopkeeper spread his wings. The Halloween Bruce didn’t look very friendly to Icky. Icky pointed to the cheapest item there, a Spooky Doughnut, hoping that the shopkeeper would understand what he was trying to say.

      The Halloween Bruce shook his head. “Unless you have neopoints, you’re not getting anything for free from me!” the shopkeeper said. Apparently he did, but he wasn’t generous like the Sakhmet Food Stall shopkeeper.

      “Excuse me,” a Neopet from behind said. The Snowickle turned around and saw a Royal Poogle with a bulging bag of Neopoints.

      “I would like to buy a Spooky Doughnut, please,” the Royal Poogle said, handing the shopkeeper the 183 Neopoints. The shopkeeper grabbed the Neopoints, and gave the Poogle the doughnut.

      Much to Icky’s surprise, the Royal Poogle then handed the doughnut to the Snowickle. Icky’s eyes widened, and he smiled at the Poogle. She smiled back, before turning to try her strength at “Test Your Strength”.

      I’ll remember this moment forever, Icky thought.

      The Snowickle shared a quarter of the doughnut for his Mootix, and the other quarter for himself, before starting his journey once again. But not before glaring daggers at the shopkeeper.

     ---

      Icky reached Neopia Central two days later, having eaten the other half of the Spooky Doughnut already and very, very hungry. He sat under the biggest tree he could see, and rested in the shade of the Money Tree. He saw generous Neopets donate many Neopoints and items, but he also saw the crowd of Neopets trying to get some free items. Only a few got them, while the rest left disappointedly and empty-handed.

      Icky decided to try his speed at getting some food. He was quite small and considered himself rather fast. He randomly grabbed some food and got a Green Pepper Omelette.

      It lasts three meals! Icky thought happily.

      He munched on it, and ate a third of it. He put the now 2/3 Green Pepper Omelette in his lap as he sat down to enjoy the sunset. The bustle of people in Neopia Central calmed him. The crowd outside the NC Mall surprised him, though; he had never seen so many Neopets at once!

      The lull of the water lapping in the fountain in front of the Neolodge made him quite sleepy. His eyes started to droop, and he once again curled up and fell sleep.

     ---

      Finally, one week after he left Sakhmet, he reached Terror Mountain.

To be continued...