From Green to Ice: A Wocky's Story

      Despite being a homeowner, and unlike his cousin, that Green Wocky did live up to his species’ name: he was an adventurer, never one for staying in the same place for too long. Just like a hitchhiker, he carried most of his belongings in his huge khaki backpack. There was no bad season nor bad weather for our traveller. His Raindorf knew it all too well, for he joined his owner in all of his adventures.

      Let us call our protagonist Green, since his forest-green fur was his most striking feature. He looked pretty much like any other Wocky and could not bear to stay in the same place or land for too long. He had to be always on the road, discovering things, making friends and seeing all that Neopia had to offer.

      Indeed, he had been far and wide, with the exception of Kreludor and Darigan Citadel, as he had not met any natives of those lands to help him get access to them, since he was your average Neopet and did not possess the ability to fly. In fact, he was not interested in travelling to lands facing sensitive issues. In previous years, he would have rather not get mixed up with malfunctioning Robot Neopets or irritated Darigan citizens recovering after a war. Nowadays, those lands were more stable. Green thought they would probably respond well to an increase in tourism figures, and it was his goal to visit them as well.

      That Green Wocky was one of the lucky ones, as he was always careful not to cross boundaries when visiting new lands, so much so that he had never gotten in trouble. Green used his smarts, since he knew that he would not be able to hold his own in a real fight; he was by no means a battledome-trained pet, although his reflexes weren’t bad and he could run away pretty quickly at the first sight of danger.

      For all his love of adventure, though, Green was no scholar. He enjoyed travelling just for the fun of it and for the joys of making friends and getting to know other Neopets. His easy-going, laid-back personality meant that he had many friends in all of the lands that he got to visit, and was happy to show them around Neopia Central as well, if his friends ever came to visit – maybe they would, if Green would only sit at home straight for a couple of months.

      Green did not have much on his mind as he sipped a cup of borovan whilst watching the snow falling outside his window in Happy Valley’s main ski lodge. His Raindorf chirped, pointing down to the people gathered outside. A snowball fight, it seemed. Green smiled and opened the window, observing as his Petpet cheerfully climbed down one floor to the yard, joining its brethren in their tag games.

      Green set his cup aside and got to work: he had many things to prepare for tomorrow, the day of his first expedition to the peak of the mountain and then to the Ice Caves. He wanted to see it all; not only tourist attractions, but he also hoped to have time to explore on his own. After all, Terror Mountain was the last location on his bucket list before he would have to stop travelling in order to find a way to get to the hovering citadel or to outer space. He was so close to fulfiling his dream of visiting all Neopian lands that he could not believe it.

      For the remainder of that afternoon, Green bought a few supplies in town and practised a bit of snowball fighting just to cheer his buddy up. He woke up very early the next morning, carrying a still-sleeping Raindorf in his backpack as he saw all of Happy Valley’s sights and spent most of the morning playing games.

      It was as cold as ever, but if there was one thing that would not make Green change his mind about what he set out to do, it was the weather. He had faced far worst weather than snowstorms and icy winds. For one who had visited the mouth of the Volcano in Tyrannia and faced the frigid Maraquan waters whilst traversing its whirlpool, cold weather was the least of his worries.

      This is not to say that Green was completely reckless, though. He had all the necessary wintery, mountaineering gear stuffed in his backpack, and as he prepared to climb the mountain, he wore so many layers of clothes that he could barely see his pink fur ruff. He rubbed his paws, excitedly, and took his first steps into the mountain path, leaving the cheerful, lighted town behind.

      His efforts to learn the sport paid off, as he found no great difficulty in swinging his pickaxe and holding the rope as he climbed instead of taking the usual path through the wintery, snow-covered winding road. By the end of the day, he and his group had reached the summit and visited Taelia the Snow Faerie herself for some much-needed rest.

      While his companions were planning to climb down early on the next day, Green could never get enough of adventuring. Only a resident of the snowy peaks would know of all the perils that awaited him.

      “You are saying that you want to tour the Ice Caves? Is that it?”

      He did. Taelia was too shocked by that bold Wocky’s courage, or perhaps recklessness. Well, not tour the caves per se, as he doubted that he could hire a guide to accompany him there, but he mostly wanted to explore it on his own.

      “Then it’s worse than I thought. You wish to go to one of Neopia’s most desolate places on your own. Have you lost your mind?”

      “Well, Taelia, it wouldn’t be the first time. I have walked the Haunted Woods and Tyrannia on my own and nothing bad happened.”

      The Snow Faerie sighed so heavily that her wings moved. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

      “I can see that there is no convincing you, young Wocky. Be warned that the caves are nothing like you have ever seen. I will send word to my friend Kari at the Neggery. If you don’t show up at her place in a few hours, we will send a search party for you.”

      Green thanked her profusely, still not able to understand why she was being so overzealous. With more supplies than he could carry and his pointed ears ringing from so much advice and scolds, he left the peak of the mountain through a well-travelled path, his Raindorf chirping happily on his shoulder.

      His first few days were quiet in the Ice Caves, as he discovered a large number of people living there and even made some friends. He took some time to learn about Neggs as he helped Kari with the preparations for the next year’s festival.

      A few days later, when he was returning from the Ice Crystal Shop, he happened upon a large cave. As he entered it, he heard snoring, and had to cover his mouth to refrain from screaming in terror at the view of a huge ice monster curled up around piles and piles of Neopoints and treasures, items that he thought he would never see in his lifetime.

      His Raindorf hid in Green’s scarf as soon as he heard the snoring. As a native to that land, he seemed to know better than his owner did. Green stood there, marvelling at the riches he could never have. The huge ice worm was none other than the infamous Snowager, known for his awful temper and wrath directed at those who disturbed him.

      Green told himself to keep calm and take a few steps back. The Snowager was asleep and as long as Green did not irritate him, he would be fine. As he took a few steps back, resisting the urge to grab a handful of money from one of the piles, his ears twitched, catching the sounds of hurried steps.

      It was all he could do to turn around and sign for two small Neopets to back off and keep quiet. The feistiest one, however, grabbed a chunk of coins from the nearest pile, and in that moment a swift movement made Green’s heart stop.

      The piles were moving.

      All coins and items were falling down, and the Snowager slowly rose to his full height, roaring so loudly that the ground shook and Green thought that the ice beneath their feet was going to break.

      In what seemed like a split second, he saw the other two trespassers make a mad dash for the exit, as they had barely entered the cave, as the Snowager unleashed an icy blast from his gaping maw.

      “I didn’t do anything!”

      He shouted at the top of his lungs, as his Raindorf held onto his fur. But the blast hit them with full force, making Green feel numb, as he felt himself being thrown away from the cave.

      When he opened his eyes, all he saw was snow beneath him and a bright, blue sky above. The Wocky looked around, having no idea where he was. As he shook his body when getting up, a full backpack fell, as well as a Raindorf… or was it? He nudged it, seeing that it was encased in ice with a terrified look in its eyes. When it moved, the Wocky sighed in relief. Somehow, that little guy was still alive.

      He did not feel cold anymore, which prompted him to leave all of his winter gear on the ground. He fumbled around his backpack for an icy bandage, without feeling its cold touch when he placed the cold remedy in his fur… wait, what fur?

      He finally looked at himself. His forest-green fur had been turned into pure ice from the Snowager’s blast, or so it seemed. Where once was beautiful fur, now was an icy skin, cold to the touch. Was this how Ice Neopets were made?

      As he tried walking around, he realised that not just the sky was blue, but also the mountains around him, which were actually ice volcanoes, which he did not think existed. He could not believe his eyes, and soon forgot why he was there in the first place.

      As he walked and walked in a simple fur cape and in his backpack, he sat down and begun to dig through ice and snow, not knowing what he was doing.

      “I can’t remember my name or what I was doing before the blast… why do I have such a Short Memory?”

      He dug and scavenged, trying to find his way back…

      The End.