Like I said, I wasn't born here in a home. My litter was had out in the wilds of neopia somewhere. See, my mother was a red lupe that ran away from her owner after meeting my father, the slick-talking wild white lupe. One look at him and she was ready to follow him to Kreludor and back. He wasn't ready to follow her though...after a whirwind romance, dad was off to rejoin his pack and mom was left with puppies. The rest of my litter and I were born in the forest, and that was my home for the first part of my puppyhood. I loved the wild life, but mom didn't. After a while she couldn't take the strains of raising pups out in the wild by herself anymore.

So she gathered up her litter and lead us out of the forest. Mom returned to her owner and the human was overjoyed to have lots of little lupe puppies...especially ones with markings like me. I wasn't happy though. That spoiled life made me sick to my stomach, I missed the woods.

So I ditched that life....sorta. Hey come on, I was still young. I didn't have what it took to survive in the wild at that age...so I settled for the streets. I guess you could call it a wild life. I hung out with other strays, slept outside, got my own food. Well, okay. I didn't always get my own food...sometimes I stopped at home for some. I didn't think so, but most of the strays out there had it a lot tougher than me...and they were a lot tougher.

I was out there by choice and had a place to go home to, while most of them were out there because life forced them to. But I didn't get it. Sure they were nice to me, but they saw me as a greenhorn who never knew what he was doing or talking about. By the time I was a young adult I was starting to realize that none of the strays took me seriously. One evening I confronted them about it, and then confirmed what I'd thought.

You're a nice kid Jida. But you wouldn't know survival if it bit you on the tail.

Of course I didn't like hearing that. I didn't like it at all. The strays didn't take me seriously, my 'family' didn't...All I was to them was some dumb pup that was all talk. But they were wrong, oho I knew they were. I was going to prove it, and all I needed was the chance. Fortunately I didn't have to wait long...

It was my lucky break. A faerie quest more difficult than any other, they said. The Snow Faerie was supposedly tired of her position. Her sisters could petition whoever they wanted to do a quest and were greatly admired by everyone, while she had to stay held up in her little igloo and wait for someone to come to her. And so on some exceptional whim, she decided to set up the most dangerous and difficult quest she could possibly think of. She wanted different items from all over neopia, items that were almost impossible to obtain and that anyone would have to go to great measures to reach. The reward was promised to be tremendous...but that wasn't the most important part to me. This...a dangerous adventure like this was the perfect chance to prove to everyone that I could make it on my own! And best of all, it was open to everyone and anyone who was willing to go on the quest. I snatched the flyer off of the wall as soon as I spotted it and ran to show the guys.

Well of course none of them thought I'd survive such a trip. A couple of them even tried to talk me out of it, but there's no lupe in neopia more stubborn than Jida. I was stuck to my decision, and the next morning I'd hopped onto the back of a juice delivery truck out of neopia. The wind buzzed through my fur as I watched the horizon of my hometown disappear. I briefly wondered if my mom would miss me..then put the thought aside. My next stop was the lost desert.

Wow, big mistake. I didn't bring water, a map, anything. Just my ambition. Unfortunately, my ambition wasn't enough to last me more than an hour out there. Soon I found myself out of breath and surrounded by blank horizons. Not that I was lost or anything...I could handle the heat, my swirling head, the dryness in my mouth...I could handle it all. That was the last thing I told myself before it all went black.

I finally came to with a buzzing sound rustling up my ears. My senses must have been playing tricks on me...something felt cool against my fur, but warm against my stomach. Filling my nostrils was a scent I'd never smelled before...and to top it all off, it was starting to feel like I was moving. All of this finally registered in my mind, and I forced my eyes open. When my vision finally unblurred...I saw...spots?? I jerked my gaze to the right after lifting my head, and saw the back of someone else's head! That's what that smell was...I was being carried on some kougra's back!
Hey!I shouted to his flapping ears. Nothing.
HEY! IDIOT!

Finally, he stopped with a large skid. We were both covered in sand.
Hm? He turned to face me, a clueless look on his face. I was not happy.
What the hell are you doing?? I demanded with a snarl. His face didn't change.
Oh...you're awake. Hi, I'm Qorin. My eyes narrowed.
I didn't ask you what your name is, I asked what you're doing!
Oh. I was running." He answered simply. I twitched.
I know you were running, but I'm asking what you were doing with ME on your BACK!!
Oooh...well, I was doing some laps around the desert for my routine exercise, and I found you in the sand. Ah, so he was a good semeritain who wanted to help me out. I figured you'd make a good weight to give me an extra good workout while I ran today.
......
What? I dropped off of his back, walked around to face him, and barked out my words.
You were using me as a weight?! For exercise?!?
Yeah. I'm big into training. Seemed like a good idea. He smiled in a stupidly friendly way.
I should KILL you!! Do you have any idea what you've done?!
Nope.
I'm on a quest!! I'm trying to get to Coltzan's shrine!! Now I'm lost in the middle of the desert, who knows how far from where I want to be and soon I'll be so behind on this quest that there'll be no point in continuing!!
You wanna get to Coltzan's shrine? I know where that is...'bout a mile or so from here. You wanna go there? His tail swished. I was hesitant...this Qorin guy seemed like some sort of idiot. Then again, I was lost, and he had a better idea of where to go than I did. I had no time to lose.
Alright...you owe me for using me as some kind of training toy...so take me there, now.
Okay. C'mon.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION. TO BE CONTINUED. k?