The Magical Transporter: Part Two

     Katniss was running through the forest, looking for help. She had just seen her owner Calleigh disappear together with her sister Amy. She had to do something; she couldn’t just leave them there. What had happened? Were they okay? Would they ever come back? Would she be a member of the pound soon? Katniss tried to calm herself. She didn’t need to worry like this. As long as she didn’t know for sure what had happened, she shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It would be all right, she kept telling herself. In the next couple of minutes they would just appear in front of her right?

     After what seemed hours Katniss saw someone walking. This person was alone, without any Neopets. Furthermore, this person wore a special suit. Would that be someone who could help? Did he or she know what had happened to Calleigh and Amy? Cautiously Katniss approached the person.

     ‘Hello?’ she asked.

     ‘Is something the matter?’ the person asked.

     ‘Well, my friend just disappeared,’ Katniss said. ‘I am very worried about them’.

     ‘I understand,’ the person said. ‘I am Yay; can I take you the Defenders of Neopia headquarters?’

     Katniss nodded. They would know what to do. They had trained people to become Defenders. And these Defenders always solved problems. Katniss was sure they could find her owner and sister too. There was probably just some wanted Neopet or person who wanted to rule the world or something. Just like Sloth and the person who kidnapped Abigail and AAA a few years ago. There was one thing Katniss knew for sure, the Defenders of Neopia would know what to do. They also rescued a lot of other people. She wasn’t sure if rescuing AAA and Abigail was also part of that. But she shouldn’t worry about that right now.

     After Katniss had calmed down she and Yay walked side to side in silence. Katniss wondered why he didn’t have any Neopets. They were close to Neopia Central so maybe he had just come back from the pound trying to find a Neopet to own. Looks like he didn’t find what he wanted. She felt sorry for him.

     ‘Here it is,’ Yay said, interrupting Katniss’ thoughts.

     Katniss looked up. In front of her rose a giant building. Above the entrance Defenders of Neopia was shown in big letters. They were lit up so they could be seen from far away. Obviously nobody would miss their headquarters if they came looking for it Katniss thought. Well, she had to go inside now. She had to tell the Defenders that she needed help finding her owner. And she needed a place to stay too. She started to feel all worried again.

     Yay grabbed her hand and together they walked in. The commander immediately came running to them. He had already seen they were looking for help. Other people wouldn’t come to the headquarters anyway. People who didn’t need help usually stayed away from here. They didn’t want to be reminded of all the bad things happening around Neopia. Of course they always depended on the Defenders if they needed them. But when there wasn’t trouble they rather acted as if the Defenders of Neopia didn’t exist. Must be hard for them. The only people that regularly came here where the Neopet owners who wanted to help the Defenders of Neopia with their work. So maybe the Defenders didn’t really mind the attitude of the people who acted like they didn’t exist.

     ‘Can I help you with anything?’ the commander asked.

     ‘My owner went missing,’ Katniss started. ‘She just disappeared into nowhere, together with my sister Amy’.

     ‘That is a problem indeed,’ the commander agreed. ‘Well, why don’t you take me to the place where it all happened? I can send a patrol who can take a look there. Maybe there is an easy solution. Maybe there are not far away. We will do anything we can’.

     Katniss nodded. She was glad someone would come looking. She hoped the commander was right. She hoped to find her family soon. She didn’t want to live on her own or be adopted by someone she didn’t know. She was attached to her family and didn’t want to live without them. On the other side, she wouldn’t let the new owner know. She would act like she liked it there, and maybe that would be the truth. She would eventually find the strength to live with the fact that she didn’t had an owner anymore and no sister.

     The commander followed them all the way to the forest. Katniss took a good look around. She needed to bring the commander to the exact place. She tried to remember what exactly she had been doing when it all happened. She saw her friend Emily, a starry Ruki, play with a ball. And then she remembered. She was playing a ball game together with her Ruki friends. She quickened her pace toward the grass field. This is where they had been playing until she had run away for help. She left Emily without an explanation.

     Emily had noticed her coming. She also saw the commander running behind her. She shouted out too Katniss. She wanted to know where she was going and if something was wrong. Katniss pointed to the path ahead of her. The path was the last place where she had seen her family. Emily followed her.

     ‘My owner disappeared and Amy too,’ she explained to Emily. ‘I went to the Defenders of Neopia for help’.

     ‘They just disappeared?’ Emily asked. Her eyes looked worried.

     ‘They did,’ Katniss said. ‘It happened here. I saw them disappear and just had to run away to find help. Anything could have happened to them. I am so worried’.

     ‘Calm down,’ Emily said. ‘I saw a flash coming from here. So maybe there was something they touched or saw what made them disappear? I am sure it will be all right’.

     ‘Thanks for your support Emily,’ Katniss said. ‘Here it is,’ she told the commander. ‘This is where they disappeared’.

     Emily confirmed it was the place where she saw the flash. The commander told Katniss, Emily and Yay to take some distance. He needed to have the room to search for any evidence what could help him find out where Calleigh and Amy were.

     The commander searched the ground. He pushed away the leaves to see what was underneath it. He even climbed the tree to see if something had hidden there. He examined everything thoroughly. Katniss sat down on the forest floor. She knew it was good that the commander was trying to find clues, but still did he have to do it so properly? Maybe there wasn’t any evidence, you never knew if the person who did this already got rid of everything that could lead to him. And everyone here in the park could have done it while nobody was looking. This person or Neopet must have been smart. Maybe she should try asking her owner to buy her more books when she got home. Katniss immediately regretted this. How could she think of books while her family could be in great trouble? She should think of others not just of herself.

     The commander was finally done looking. Katniss stood up. She wanted to know what he found and if it would help in the search for Amy and Calleigh.

     ‘This is strange, very strange,’ the commander said. ‘This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen’

     ‘What is?’ Katniss asked curiously.

     ‘This,’ the commander answered. ‘I found this piece of metal on the ground. It’s round and blue. I’ve never seen anything like it. This could be what caused the disappearance of your owner and your sister. I also found this little plastic thing’.

     The commander showed Katniss and Emily a small piece of plastic. It looked like grass. And it looked very much alike. If Katniss hadn’t known it was plastic she would have thought it was just normal grass. There was something slightly different though. If you turned the piece it changed colour. There was no way this was normal grass. But why would someone make something like that?

     ‘Commander?’ Katniss asked. ‘Do you know anyone who makes this kind of things?’

     ‘No, I don’t,’ the commander answered. ‘But what I do know is this. The person, who made this, as I am sure it was a person, isn’t up to anything good. Why would anyone make something like this? I think someone is trying to make something with plastic grass and maybe other stuff as well. Maybe someone is making his own island or house made of plastic pieces that just look like real materials. Maybe this person makes plastic trees and plastic sand too. We have to find this person and we have to find out what the metal is used for’.

     Emily stepped forward, trying to grab the metal piece. She looked like it was really important to get hold of that piece. She stretched her paws and put her finger on the piece of metal. But this time it did react to her touch. The metal started to flash brightly. Emily’s eyes widened as she remembered this was the same flash she saw when Calleigh and Amy disappeared. Before she could say this to the commander or Katniss she disappeared into the metal.

     Katniss screamed.

     ‘Emily, come back,’ she shouted. ‘Where are you and are you all right?’

     The commander looked shocked. He pushed Katniss down to the ground and tried to calm her down. He kept saying it was going to be fine and she didn’t have to worry. But that was exactly what Katniss did. Emily was gone just like her family. Something terrible was happening and there was nothing she could do.

     ‘Now I am sure this thing has something to do with this,’ the commander said. ‘Katniss, you can call me judge Hog. Anyway, this thing must have been some sort of transporter. And it seems it only reacts to certain people or pets touching it. It reacted to your owner and it reacted to Emily too’.

     After he said this he put the metal in a bag and held it on an arm distance.

     ‘I don’t want to touch this thing anymore’ the commander said. ‘Maybe I will disappear too. We have to examine this thing without touching it. I hope gloves will be good enough as well. Well, my work is done here. Let’s go back to the headquarters so I can try to find out why this thing is making people disappear. And also what this piece of plastic has to do with it’.

     With that words Hog ran off towards the Defenders of Neopia headquarters, leaving Katniss alone. Katniss still wasn’t calm. Yay decided to wait with her until she had calm down. When she finally did, he told her she could stay with him until they found out where Calleigh and Amy were. He would take care of her as if she was his own Neopet. She could play with his Neopets as well. He told her he was alone in the forest to pick a nice bouquet of flowers to give to the newest member of the family. Katniss was relieved; she’d rather be with someone with Neopets then with someone who was alone.

     To be continued…