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Moquotamorphosis


by graevyard

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Night paired eternally over Neovia. The fog hid the trees from far away. It was a strange winter. Most Nenovians stayed inside their homes, waiting for the season to be over. In a single house at the edge of the cobblestone road was a small balcony, with a single being on it.

     Fansa Green looked through his telescope, observing Kreludor and the stars. Barely any poked through the thick veil of the late season. The Sleeper could barely be seen, her faint glimmer being accompanied by other smaller, nameless stars. Fansa scribbled the astronomical data on his notepad in snippets only he really understood.

     The Zafara went to sleep, covering himself in old, raggedy blankets that came with his house. The last few thought regarding bills, debts, and work became garbled as his view of the moonlight peeking through his window blurred, and Fansa went to sleep.

     A weird sensation plagued his body. Fansa felt strange but couldn't quite describe it. It was as if he had shrunken into his bed, letting the grey covers obscure him. He opened his eyes and was startled as to what he had found. His entire room was gigantic. The holes on his blankets were bigger than he was, and his hands! His hands were instead strange, bird-like feet. His body was purple, and his very long nose was forever in front of him. By Fyora! He was a Moquot! Overnight, he went from a complete Zafara to a simplistic fly!

     Fansa freaked out, trying his best to get used to it all. Most importantly: How would he even live! His debt with Chesterdrawer's, his work at the Neovian Press! He could not possibly do it all in such a puny form! He felt a stare as he turned around, only to see eyes glowing in the dark. It was Jewels, his Chuchuana. Its eyes were overtaken with hunger. Fansa tried to speak to his beloved pet, but had no voice. All that he could reproduce were a series of tiny, insignificant chirps. Jewels's mouth was watering, the lizard's pink paws slowly moved forward as she fixated her gaze on the succulent prey that laid before her.

     The Moquot tried to run away, but his size didn't allow him much progress. In a desperate attempt, he tried to jump as far away from the Chuchuana as he could, but in his first jump, he wound up going much higher as his wings began to flap. He looked back at the Petpet, and tried to fly through the window. Alas, his body squished against the glass as he tried over and over, to no avail.

     Fansa escaped the room through the gap between his door and the floor. He navigated the house he knew well, trying to find a window to go through. He wanted to seek help, although he had no plan. His nose was teased with the scent of something in his kitchen. Something tasty. It was a piece of cheddar he had left out of the fridge. His Moquot snout pierced it and took a chunk out as he bit the comically large cheese. Fansa was filled with bliss.

     This small moment of warmth had brought with it an epiphany: he could live happily as a Moquot, without ever having to work again! No more debts, no more waking up early! He ate some more of the cheese and flew towards his balcony. His telescope was huge! He could gaze upon the stars much more easily like that!

     He left to watch the life of Neovia. His first stop was the Neovian Press. The shopkeep opened the store, organizing her books thoroughly. Constantly looking at the clock, the Pteri would sigh, probably awaiting Green's arrival. Fansa entered the store, The dark, candle-lit environment was much more difficult to navigate as a Moquot. He slowly stopped at the clerk's desk, noticing the cup of pitch-black coffee. 'A single sip couldn't hurt!' Fansa thought. His long Moquot snout drank some while the shopkeep wasn't looking. The warmth quickly coursed through his body as he felt the caffeine buzz.

     His little Moquot body shook and fought for balance as he tried to fly out of the edge of the cup. He stumbled on the counter and fell atop a leather-bound book. The shopkeep noticed the Moquot, and swiped him away, into the floor. There, the dust was much bigger than it once was to him. Fansa stumbled his way towards a nearby bookshelf, carefully climbing on it. He tried to fly, but couldn't. His flight would form strange patters and he'd end up falling on his face over and over.

     Too tired, he hid between two gigantic encyclopedias. "Who is this?" asked a voice. "I don't know! Someone new!" said another. 'Who goes there!?' shouted Fansa, producing the same series of short clicks with his bug mouth. "We're like you." the voice responded to the sounds he had made. A dim light shone on the dark alcove. A Lightmite and a Ditrey showed up before them, the Ditrey holding a piece of paper in its mouth.

     "You're bugs too?" Fansa asked. "Once Neopets too. I was a Cybunny." the Ditrey mentioned. "I was a Grarrl." the Lightmite said, rubbing his hands as his tail produced a brighter light. "I'm Fansa." the Moquot brought forth one of his legs, shaking it with the two other bugs. "I'm Odette." the Ditrey munched on the piece of paper with the end of a phrase written on it. "I'm Kanute" the once Grarrl bug began looking around book Odette was munching on.

     "How long have you guys been bugs?" Fansa asked. "About a year or so. You get used to it once you learn the ropes." Kanute said. "And you've been eating books for that long?" he continued his question.

     "We eat a little bit of everything. Odette's favorites are the books, but I prefer the Crumpetmonger's leftovers." Kanute smiled.

     "I was almost my Chuchuana's lunch today." Fansa mentioned. "Oh yeah, Meowclopses, Puppyblews, even Babaas will think you're some kind of tasty morsel. Some pets leave us alone, but not the kind of Petpet that lives in the haunted woods!" Odette mentioned. She turned around to show a small, healed wound on her left wing. It had left a scar. "A Meepit did this to me!" she complained.

     They spent the rest of the day chatting about within the books. The store's clientele came and passed by. Fansa warmed up to his new bug friends, each taking turns to tell stories about their pre-Petpetpet lives. Suddenly, the floor shook as a client entered the bookstore. It was a fancy, Elephante gentleman with his Cyodrake Petpet. The trio held their breath as they watched the blue dragon pass by. Its owner started to haggle with the shopkeep, but the Cyodrake kept snooping around the store.

     The anxiety made Kanute's light begin to flare, giving away their position. The Cyodrake stuck its snout in between encyclopedias, but the bugs managed to escape in the nick of time. They flew away through the bookstore's open window, looking back at the owner of the Cyodrake who was now picking up the small creature and placing it on his shoulder as the librarian put the heavy encyclopedias back in place.

     "What now?" Odette asked as she and Kanute turned to Fansa, who was flying somewhere. They called for him, but gave up and began chasing the Moquot. "I know where we can go!" he shouted as they all flew back to Green's house. Entering through the kitchen window, Odette asked: "What is this place?"

     "It's my house! We can stay in here, as long as we hide from Jewels." he mentioned, landing on the cheddar cheese from earlier. They all sat alongside Fansa, eating some of the cheese as well. They spent a few minutes eating the cheese, and then Fansa looked at the night sky. He noticed it was very dark outside. "Follow me!" he flew with the other two to the balcony as they all sat on the telescope's eye lens. "It's beautiful!" the other two bugs mentioned as they looked through the night sky, dotted with many stars. Fansa guided them through the constellations in the night sky.

     The End.

 
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