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The Peophin Princess


by acorna12

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PART ONE: THE KIDNAPPING

Lily swam through the dense waves of Maraqua, her tail whipping back and fourth. She hid behind a coral plant as she saw her destination.

     The castle.

     I should be in there, Lily thought as she peeked out from behind the plant leaves. I should be in there, being protected, instead of King Kelpbeard.

     Lily glanced down at her own tattered rags and cringed. She had once been Princess of Old Maraqua, alongside her father, King Koreltail. But when Maraqua had been attacked by a giant wave that had destroyed many homes and buildings, including the palace, Lily had swum to safety. Her father had been kidnapped by pirates, and it was up to Lily to reclaim the throne. But when she had come back, she had discovered a new King had took place, and was rebuilding Old Maraqua. No one spoke of Lily again, and those who did said she was dead.

     Lily smiled. She had been semi-happy when Old Maraqua had been attacked by pirates. Serves him right! she had thought at the time. But she soon realized that they were rebuilding Maraqua at a safer location. With that, she had swum far, far away.

     Until today.

     Mustering her courage, Lily swam to the palace gates, only to be stopped by the guards.

     "No commoners inside the castle," one of them said.

     "I'm not a commoner," Lily seethed. "I'm Princess Lily, daughter of King Koreltail."

     The guard glanced at Lily skeptically.

     "Princess Lily? She's dead. She hasn't been seen for years."

     "You're looking right at her!" Lily screamed, causing the other guards to gallop over.

     "Take this Peophin away," the guard said. "I don't want to see her again."

     Two guards grabbed Lily, and thrust her far away. Lily lay in the soft sand for a moment, everything aching.

     Suddenly, Lily had an idea. She glanced at her rags, and decided she had to.

     She dropped to the sand, rolling in it, until she was completely caked in it.

     "This will work," she said to herself as she approached the palace gates again.

     "No commoners inside the palace," the guard said.

     "Please," Lily said in a weak, thin voice. "I am a poor Peophin, in need of food and shelter. I can clean out the petpet stables, and I am willing to work for minimum wage." She gave the guard her Puppyblew eyes.

     The guard's face flushed with sympathy.

     "Alright," he said. "You will get thirty Neopoints a day, and I will allow you to stay in the petpet stable. You can pick new seaweed for the petpets."

     Lily smiled.

     "Oh, thank you, sir!"

     --------------

     Lily gently picked seaweed from a seaweed plant that grew outside the petpet stable. She was earning her hard-earned Neopoints at the end of each day, and keeping herself fed with food she found at the surface of Maraqua. True, she was still very poor, but she had decided to save her Neopoints so she could go off on her own for a bit.

     She was just about to go back inside the stables when a raspy voice cut through the water like knives.

     "Hey."

     Lily swiveled around to find a red Jetsam staring at her. She swallowed.

     "Uh, hi," she said.

     "I heard you the other day. You said you were the daughter of King Koreltail."

     Lily kept her head down.

     "Oh, I get it, you don't want to talk." The Jetsam leaned up against the shiny coral. "It's just... I know where your father is."

     "I don't talk to strangers," Lily snapped as she slammed the stables door shut behind her.

     "You just did!" she heard the Jetsam scream.

     Lily sat down on the sand. That Jetsam said her knew where her father was. Oh, now she was just being silly. That couldn't be reliable information.

     That night, Lily swam to the surface, looking for food. She was just about there when someone grabbed her tail and blindfolded her. When she woke up, she was on a boat, and her hooves were tied together. Just as she was getting her bearings together, she heard a familiar voice say, "Hello, princess."

     PART TWO: THE NEW LIFE

     Lily swiveled around, her eyes burning.

     "I'm not a princess," she seethed. "I'm just a normal Royal Peophin."

     "Oh really?" the familiar red Jetsam said to her. He turned around. "Hey guys! Come over here!"

     Lily glanced in horror as three other Jetsams emerged from the darkness. They were basic colours as well, but they all had tattoos of pirate ships on their right shoulders.

     "This is Princess Lily."

     "Princess Lily?" a blue Jetsam said. He cocked his head. "How do we know?"

     The red Jetsam grabbed Lily's tail.

     "Because she has the royal birthmark on her left fin," he confirmed. He released her tail.

     Lily glared at her kidnappers.

     "You can't keep me here," she said. "The royal guard will notice I'm missing."

     "Oh, cheer up, princess," the red Jetsam said in a mocking tone. "The fun's about to start."

     ---------------

     Lily sat on the wooden deck of the pirate ship. She was closely guarded by a chubby yellow Jetsam, who whistled in annoying tunes all day. Lily was very miserable.

     Suddenly, she noticed a piece of sail coming loose from its post. She was coming up with an idea...

     "Oh no!" she cried in a dramatic voice. The Jetsam turned to glare at her.

     "What, princess?"

     "The sail! It's loose! You have to fix it!"

     The Jetsam waddled over to the sail. As soon as Lily was sure he was distracted, she jumped into the water... SPLOOSH!!!

     "What the...?!?" the Jetsam cried as he peeked over the edge. "Guys, the princess escaped!!!"

     Lily swam down, deeper and deeper, until she heard four loud splashes coming after her. She panicked, and swam as hard as she ever did, behind a building in Old Maraqua. She ducked out of sight just as the Jetsams swam past.

     "Oh, she got away," one Jetsam moaned. "We'll never find another one to sell now."

     As soon as Lily was sure they were gone, she bolted from her hiding place, to a sandy beach on the shore of Maraqua. She bit through the ropes tying her hooves together, and tried to clear her head of what just happened.

     I was almost kidnapped, she thought. This is too much; there is only one thing I could do.

     Forty minutes later, Lily was standing outside the Create-A-Pet station. Taking a deep breath, she galloped inside.

     Behind an oak desk was a pretty faerie with blue wings. She smiled as she glanced at Lily.

     "How can I help you?" she asked.

     "I need to start over," Lily announced. "I am being stalked by four Jetsams, and I need to begin life anew."

     The faerie was shocked.

     "Well, um, okay. I have never done this before, so I'm a little nervous." She took out a piece of paper. "You will need to choose a name, a basic colour, Battledome stats, etc.."

     As soon as Lily had completed the paper, she handed it back to the faerie. The faerie then pulled out a spell book.

     "You will be placed directly in the Pound as soon as I complete this spell." The faerie bit her bottom lip in sadness. "You sure you want to do this?"

     "Yes," Lily said. The faerie opened her spell book, chanted a few words in a foreign language, and Lily fainted.

     PART THREE: THE POUND

     Lily sat up, dazed and a little confused. She glanced around. Cages. Other Neopets.

     The Pound.

     The Faerie had told her she would be placed in the pound. But Lily was still nervous. She had no experience with outsiders, or what happened to other Neopets.

     "Hi!"

     Lily turned, to see a small yellow Kacheek in the cage next to her. She was weak from hunger, but her smile lit up the entire room, and she was perky and full of energy.

     "I'm Soona," the Kacheek said in a voice that went with blonde curls. "What's your name?"

     "Uh, Lily," Lily responded. "What is this place?"

     "The Pound is where owners drop off their Neopets to be adopted by new ones," Soona explained. "What's your dream owner? Mine is one that will love me forever and paint me a nice colour and..."

     "Wait," Lily said, cutting Soona off. "What's an owner?"

     Soona's eyes went wide.

     "Were you wild or something? Well, owners are called humans, and they have hair growing out of their head, and something called skin." Soona giggled. "They must sound like hideous creatures to you, but some of them are really pretty."

     Lily breathed heavily. She was a princess living in a new world. How would she survive?

     A few hours later, the Pound opened. Lily braced herself for an owner's appearance.

     The door to the Pound swung open, and a young teenager walked in. She had dark blonde hair and purple framed glasses teetering on the edge of her cinnamon freckled nose. Her eyes were an astonishing blue green colour, and her skin was so pale, it seemed to glow in the dim light of the pound. Lily glanced at her in shock. That was an owner?

     The girl walked past Lily's cage, then stopped, and walked back, so she was looking at her.

     "Hi!" she said. "I'm Steph, pretty Peophin. Do you want to be my Neopet?"

     Lily exchanged a shocked glance with Soona, who nodded her head.

     "Um, okay." Lily whispered.

     "You'll love it at my Neohome," Steph blabbed as they waited for the adoption papers. "You have four siblings, and I have a petpet for you!"

     "Alright," the pink Uni who ran the adoption center said. "Just sign here and, oh, hello!" the pink Uni said to a young girl behind them. "How can I help you?"

     "I'm looking for Kacheeks," the girl whispered.

     "Okay. Um, just fill out the papers, and I'll be right back."

     Lily watched as the girl stopped outside of Soona's cage.

     "Oh, I am going to love you forever!" she squealed as she picked up Soona. Lily and Soona smiled. Finally, they had found owners.

     --------------

     "So, what was your previous home like?"

     Lily placed down her breadfish. They were back at the Neohome, and Steph had been asking Lily questions.

     "Well, um, well..." Lily started. "I didn't have a home. I was..." she gulped. "I was... I'm a princess!" she blurted.

     PART FOUR: A HAPPY ENDING

     Steph blinked at her Peophin.

     "A... princess?" she asked.

     "Yeah," Lily mumbled. "Big secret, huh?"

     "Wow," Steph murmured. She sat back in her seat. "What was it like? What happened?"

     Lily told Steph what happened, the tidal wave, the kidnappers, and finally, the Pound. Steph listened very closely, and glanced at Lily in sympathy.

     "Well," she finally said, getting up. "Should we tell your siblings?"

     Lily grinned.

     "I guess we should."

     --------------

     Lily's siblings took the news surprisingly well. They didn't make fun or tease. After Lily's adoption came Steph's last pets, the total becoming twenty!!

     As Lily's sixteenth birthday approached, a year later, she realized how much she had grown in the past year. She had grown to adjust to a loving, caring home, and still be a princess.

     On the day of Lily's birthday, she galloped down the stairs to find a waterfall of presents, and a towering cake. A banner was hung, reading, 'Happy Birthday, Princess!' Lily didn't mind being called a princess anymore. She found it funny.

     After blowing out the candles and eating the cake, Lily opened her presents. Clothes, make-up, jewelry and other wonderful things could be found in them. But then Steph came up with a special present.

     "For my princess," she declared. Lily opened it and gasped.

     "Really?!?" she shrieked.

     Steph nodded.

     "Yes, anything for you."

     Lily got up and hugged her owner.

     "Thank you," she whispered.

     And even though she had said it very quietly, Lily still heard the response.

The End

Lily is my Neopet, on my side account. And if you are reading, yay! I'm in the Times! *happy dance*

 
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