The Rescue of Dr. Boolin

     "Come on, Dr. Boolin," Professor Vinsjin hollers behind him, "we are almost home!" The red Kiko runs behind his friends, every fiber in his body tormented by the menacing howls. Cold fog clogs the lungs of the Neopets as low rising branches slap them in the face with hot bruises. Neovia is so close now; only yards away, but the Haunted Forest is not only treacherous for the evil creatures that reside in it, but also for the rugged terrain that threatens to sprain an ankle. Dr. Boolin watches his colleagues fade farther away from him in the distance. He yells to them, but his breath is short. The Haunted Woods grows darker as the howls begin to enclose him with flying shadows. One shadow jumps out to Boolin's left. Boolin shrieks, shying away from the monster, simultaneously entangling himself in the roots of a tree. The shadows are all around him now, howling, laughing manically.

      One shadow steps forward. "The King will be happy to feast on you tonight."

     *****

     Professor Vinsjin paces around his small cottage home in Neovia as Bren hangs silver ornaments around the room, dusting away spyder webs with a nonchalant flick of his wrist. The full moon hangs high in the sky, providing white light through the dirty window.

     "Boolin should be back by now," the yellow Wocky states, pouring some silver dust near a doorway. Vinsjin continues wandering around the room, casting dust into the air, wishing the Wocky would not waste the silver dust. Vinsjin knows the Werelupes will not enter Neovia and silver dust is not easily obtained. One must first melt silver items found around Neopia and then mix the metal with sand from Mystery Island. It requires many Neopoints and much time. Bren sighs and lifts his head to Vinsjin.

     "Do you think the worst has happened?" he asks, watching as the blue Kacheek's face softens, revealing two glistening wet eyes filling with tears.

     "I do not, 'ol chap," Vinsjin replies, turning his face away in shame.

     "Then we should go rescue Boolin!" Bren exclaims, standing tall.

     "How do you suppose we do that?"

     "We will fight our way through, of course! I am not afraid of a pack of Werelupes." Bren's knuckles crack.

     "We will not return if we use our bare fists."

     "Then let's acquire a weapon."

     Vinsjin pauses at this, ceasing his aimless strides across the dusty floorboards. What weapons could be used against Werelupes? Who would know of such weapons? Vinsjin at that moment knows exactly what Bren and he must do. Racing over to the Wocky, clapping Bren's hands in his own, Vinsjin smiles. "Bren, ol' chap, you are genius! I know exactly where we can acquire such a wondrous weapon!"

     *****

     Vinsjin holds a lantern before Bren and himself, the light shuttering off the trees in the Haunted Woods and casting trickster shadows on the bushes.

     "How much farther?" Bren asks, striding confidently behind Vinsjin.

     Glancing behind him, Vinsjin replies, "It cannot be much farther now." He gazes up and down the poised Wocky who in turn stares up at the full moon without the slightest hint of fear in his eyes, his green coat covered in mud and rotten leaves, a wet scratch gleaming across his yellow cheek, starting from his eye. Vinsjin sighs enviously; the Wocky is nicknamed Brave Bren for a reason.

     "How will we know when we find it?" Bren asks once more. An Oukin fusses in a nearby tree, its yellow eyes peering straight to Vinsjin's heart, sending shivers up his spine. Stopping abruptly and causing Bren to run into him, Vinsjin looks up at the towering tree, red windows glaring down at the Neopets, the door a ragged mouth opening wide yet unwelcoming.

     "We found it," Vinsjin says.

     Walking up to the door, he raises a trembling hand, but draws it away after a few seconds hesitation. What if she turns them away? What would become of Boolin? Vinsjin shakes the thoughts from his head and knocks hard on the door. The tree gives an alarming roar. Vinsjin shrieks, jumping into Bren's arms as he too trembles at the monstrous sound.

     "Who dares disturb me?" a melodic yet fearsome voice bellows through the door.

     "M-My name is Professor Vinsjin, m'lady. We have come to seek your guidance."

     "I do not give guidance," the voice spits. "I do not meddle in the trivial problems of Neopets."

     "Please, m'lady, show us kinship as you showed Sophie when Neovia was cursed. We too wish to rescue a Neopet we hold dear to our hearts." There is silence on the other side of the door. The sound of whooshing magic whispers through the air as the door to the tree's mouth slowly opens, revealing a tall Earth Faerie, her eyes glowing an emerald as dark as the Woods, her hair evergreen braids on her tan skin.

     "Who is it that needs rescue?" Ilere asks.

     Vinsjin, scrambling from the arms of Bren and composing himself, replies, "Our colleague and companion Dr. Boolin. He was captured by Werelupes not more than a few hours ago when the Werelupes routed our hunt for the Ghost Lupe."

     "Why were you hunting the Ghost Lupe?" Ilere speaks with confusion in her voice.

     "We hunt and vanquish all ghouls and vampires in the lands of Neopia in hopes to rid the world of such evil; however, that is beside the point, m'lady. We seek your guidance in helping our friend. How can we sneak past the Werelupes without detection?"

     Ilere scoffs at the question. "How do you sneak past anyone? You become invisible."

     Vinsjin ponders for a moment. How would one become invisible? A potion possibly could work, but potions take time to brew and the witch Sophie was on the other side of the Haunted Forest. Boolin could be a Lupe treat by then.

     "M'lady," Vinsjin begins, "would you make us an invisibility potion?"

     "No," she replies.

     "Please?" Bren pipes in.

     "No."

     Vinsjin places his hands on his head, scanning the memory of his cottage for anything which might help the Neopets become invisible. His memory takes him to a dank corner of his basement where his great-grandfather's diary lies in an old chest covered in dust and spyder webs. Bundled next to the tattered diary lies a glistening silver mesh cloth.

     "That is it!" Vinsjin declares. Ilere raises an eyebrow at the Kacheek. Vinsjin clasps the faerie's hand in his own, shaking it violently. "Thank you, Mistress."

     Ilere draws her hand away in disgust. "For your own sake, I hope you fail."

     Vinsjin ignores her warning and dashes back down the dark path that leads to Neovia, pulling his gold pocket watch from his waistcoat. "We still have time."

     *****

     Brave Bren and Professor Vinsjin creep past a few broken gravestones towards the entangled mess of vines that marks the entrance of the Werelupe lair. Stories of old tell of the lair, a labyrinth of houses high above the ground in the trees, allowing a Werelupe to drop on an unsuspected victim. Tall purple and green fern bushes masking a Werelupe that waits for the unbeknownst adventurer. Reaching into his satchel, Vinsjin pulls out his great-grandfather's Kacheek Invisio-cloth. It is old, but the silver fabric stays true and strong from end to end.

     "Do you think this is going to work?" Bren asks as he double checks his pack for silver sand and his small obsidian dagger.

     "We can only hope, 'ol chap," Vinsjin murmurs. Throwing the cloth over them both, Vinsjin begins to lead their way into the Werelupe lair, sneaking past purple and green fern bushes and huts structured high in the trees.

     They tiptoe into the center of the lair where the dark grass opens to a dirt sparring circle, with a throne of bones sitting on a short platform that overlooks the circle. Vinsjin checks continuously that the invisio-cloth is on top of the two Neopets. A deep, dark, chuckle begins reverberating through the trees.

     "Did you think you could sneak past me in that pathetic getup?"

     Vinsjin and Bren pause in their tracks glancing this way and that way to locate the voice.

     "Have we been seen?" Bren whispers, tugging on Vinsjin's waistcoat.

     "Impossible," Vinsjin replies. "My great-grandfather's Kacheek invisio-cloth renders us unseen! They must have smelt us."

     "We don't need to waste our noses on you two imbeciles," a colossal Werelupe jeers, walking out behind the shadows of a tree; claws hanging from his biceps and his neck, a ragged bone nestles between his pointed black ears; a symbol of his kingship. "What Neopet does not know that a species weapon can only be used by that specific species?"

     A smaller, brown Werelupe chuckles deeply. "One that doesn't fight in the Battledome very often." A chorus of laughter surrounds Bren and Vinsjin, echoing through the huts structured high in the trees, the pack enclosing around the trembling Neopets.

     "It will make defeating them easier," another brown Werelupe with glowing green eyes chimes in, yanking the invisio-cloth from the heads of Bren and Vinsjin, dragging them with a firm paw over to the king.

     "I'm so sorry, 'ol chap, I do not know where I went wrong," Professor Vinsjin whimpers.

     "You did your best, Professor," Bren croaks.

     The Werelupe King sits in his throne of bones smirking. "You don't know where you went wrong? The Kacheek invisio-cloth is a species-specific weapon. It cannot be used on your scrumptious looking Wocky friend over here." The Werelupe King gives a slight nod of his head towards Bren, licking his lips with a long pink tongue; taunting the Wocky with a loud smack. The Wocky stands valiant, but even Brave Bren quivers at the sight of the pack of Werelupes beginning to crowd behind Bren and Vinsjin, blocking the only exit out of the lair.

     "Make way for the Sage," a voice hollers from the back of the crowd. Limping through the crowd, a large black Lupe, locks of his fur fading into a slate grey, approaches the Werelupe King. The Werelupe King places his jaw in his burly paw as the Sage approaches him.

     "I advise you put these Neopets with the Kiko the pack captured earlier this evening," the Sage says, his voice hoarse and cracking.

     The Werelupe King bares his teeth. "What if I want to eat them now? I am hungry now, old man!"

     "Do you not think you would gain more favor with the pack by presenting them a show? Why not have them face Gnarfas? The Kacheek's stunt with the invisio-cloth appeared humorous to many of them."

     The Werelupe King lets a low growl escape his cream furred lips. "Put the Neopets in the cage!" Vinsjin looks at the Sage who returns the gaze by staring at the Kacheek. The Sage's eyes close, a warm smile slightly spreading across his lips. Vinsjin wonders if the Sage has just provided them time to plan an escape.

     *****

     It cannot be more than a half hour of tripping down winding stone stairs before Vinsjin and Bren are thrown to the cold ground. The scraping of metal bars close behind them, and the light click of a lock traps them as shadows dance from the torches perched on the stone walls. Bren throws off the unfashionable sack placed over his head.

     "This place smell of molding dung," he coughs, looking around the cage. Vinsjin removes the sack from his head, immediately pulling the gold pocket watch from his waistcoat. The thin hand ticks lightly by, showing 3:30 am NST. The Werelupes will definitely hold the fight before the sun rises.

     A soft rustle sounds from a shaded corner of their prison, as a red Kiko nudges his way out of the shadows. "Bren? Vinsjin?" the Kiko whimpers. "Is it you?"

     "Boolin!" Bren hollers, skipping over to the corner and picking the Kiko up in a warm hug, knocking the Kiko's hat to the floor.

     A sharp growl echoes across the cage towards an adjacent prison cell. A torch flickering on the wall casts silhouettes into the other cell. Removing the torch from its holder on the wall, Bren tiptoes over to the other cell, reaching his hand through the bars so that the torch can light the stone cell. There stands, in the corner, a four-armed monster, a giant red Werelupe wearing a loin cloth and shackles on his muscular biceps. The shackles bind him to the wall. Bren gasps, dropping the torch on the ground, snuffing out the only light in the underground jail.

     "I look forward to playing with you tomorrow," the monster chuckles with a voice of howling squall.

     Backing away from the Werelupe, Bren whispers, "What are we going to do, Professor?"

     Vinsjin looks around the cage for anything, a rock, a piece of straw, something to spark an idea in his desperate brain.

     "Did the Werelupes happen to take your pack, Bren?" Vinsjin asks in a despairing tone.

     The Wocky gazes towards the ground. "Unfortunately, yes. They took all of our silver sand and my obsidian dagger."

     "Darn it," the Kacheek curses, kicking the ground with his foot with a scuffing noise. "We have no way of protecting ourselves!" Pulling out his gold pocket watch, he reads the time aloud, "3:45am. The pack will come soon to collect us for the fight." Bren runs his hand through his collar.

     Dr. Boolin steps forward. "They did not collect my satchel or any of the contents within."

     "No offense, 'ol chap, but I am doubtful that your satchel contains any weapons," Vinsjin grumbles, placing his hands on his head.

     "Trust me, Professor. We will be back in Neovia for morning tea and biscuits at The Crumpetmonger."

     *****

     Growling laughter echoes down the staircase. Bren welcomes the fresh breeze that drifts in, captive also of the Werelupes.

     "Time for dinner!" one voice howls in excitement.

     "I hope Gnarfas makes them nice and tender," another crackles.

     Five Werelupes approach the cage lock, smacking their lips in taunting motions. Dr. Boolin waits patiently in the shaded corner, his satchel cradled in his arms, dirt and grime sticking to his mauve coat.

     The door to the cage swings open. CREEEE.

     "Now!" Dr. Boolin shouts, pulling an item from his satchel that upon release from its captivity in the dark leather shines a bright crimson light. The Werelupes shy away, covering their eyes from the bright light.

     One shrieks, "Not again!" as Bren shoves him aside and bolts out the door, his heart racing. The Neopets run from the Werelupe lair, past the green and purple fern bushes, past the huts hiding tall in the trees.

     The lair entrance looms before the gasping Neopets in an entanglement of vines, branches, and rotting leaves; they are blocked, intercepted by the Werelupe King. Boolin lets out a squeal, hiding behind Bren. Vinsjin can hear his heart pounding over his winded gasps.

     "Why, you pesky... arg!" he cries, shielding his eyes from the bright red light as Boolin pulls the item out of his satchel once more. "What is this sorcery?"

     The Neopets run past them; stopping only a handful of times to make sure Boolin has not been ensnared by tree roots. Within the hour, the Neopets arrive in Neovia, their lungs aching, hearts pounding, scratches from the tree branches marking their faces. Vinsjin pants, inhaling and exhaling hard, painful breaths. He places his hand on a brick chimney to steady himself.

      As the sun rises over Neovia, Bren begins to let out a deranged laugh. "I don't know about you, Professor, but I'm glad we trusted the Doctor. He did get us home in time for morning tea and biscuits."

     Vinsjin looks up at the building he rests against. An old wooden sign swings in the morning wind that lifts the fog off the cobble street sides. Written in scratched gold paint reads, The Crumpetmonger.

The End