| Gilly gripped the lamp in her paws tightly, waving it across her path in an effort to illuminate as much of the dark forest as she could. The lights from the wanderer camp were too far behind her to be visible any longer, and in their absence she felt her resolve beginning to crumble.
Despite the friends she had made on her previous journeys through the Haunted Woods, the young Usul still feared the sinister fog that always settled around the trees. She found herself wary of what might be lying in wait just beyond the flickering light of her lamp.
Gilly shivered, pulling her red cloak tightly around her shoulder. No, she wouldn’t be venturing out here if not for the invitation Sophie and her family had extended to her.
The town of Neovia now held a yearly feast to honor her bravery ever since she had helped Sophie lift the decade-long curses cast on the unlucky townsfolk. It would be shameful if she was too afraid to make the trek out to their quaint little village to attend such an event.
Suddenly, Gilly was shaken from her thoughts as a loud crashing sound rumbled behind her. The Usul’s ears twitched as she whirled around, swinging her flickering lamp.
“W-who goes there?!” She stammered, cowering behind her light to find… |
Author: lightningtrouble_65
Date: Nov 24th
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A cluster of eyes blinked up at her from the shadows of the brush.
Gilly froze. Her grip tightened around the lamp, and for a heartbeat, the woods went still. Nothing but her own breath puffing in the cold air to keep her company. The eyes let out a high-pitched squeak as Gilly swung her lamp in its direction.
It was a Spyder. Only a Spyder that scurried backwards into the darkness to avoid her light. Gilly let out an uneasy breath. "Oh... oh thank goodness. You gave me a good fright."
Suddenly, a paw gripped her shoulder and Gilly let out her own high-pitched screech. Her stomach lurched into her throat, and she swung her lamp like a weapon in hopes to make purchase to whoever was trying to attack her.
"Gilly! Gilly, wait! It's just me!"
She lowered the lamp a fraction to get a better look and the figure tentatively stepped back into her lamplight. A small Meerca--bundled up in a scarf two sizes too large for him--blinked up at her with relief.
"P-Percy?" Gilly relaxed at the familiar face. "What in Neopia are you doing out here?"
Percy gulped and looked behind him. "I was trying to get to Neovia, but I think something is following me."
Gilly's fur prickled. "Following you?"
Before he could answer, another sound rippled through the trees—soft and dragging, like something heavy shifting over roots. Gilly swallowed hard as the fog behind them parted just enough to reveal a looming silhouette stepping into their path...
| Author: _myst_queen Date: Nov 25th |
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"Bruno," Gilly gasped, relief enveloping her immediately. Rather unknowingly, she had clutched Percy's arm, whether to protect him or herself she wasn't sure, and only at the sight of her friend did she release her firm grip.
Holding her lamp aloft, she illuminated the Gelert heading towards them. Bruno was huge, his footsteps bounding on the path and kicking up dust, but it was what he was dragging behind him that had caused the sound that had rippled through the trees. A sack of some kind, filled with something clearly heavy, as it was taking Bruno both hands to drag it along behind him.
"Hello, you two!" Bruno called, somewhat sheepishly. "Didn't mean to frighten you. Are you heading for the feast too?"
"Absolutely," Gilly said, not wanting to admit she had been a little spooked. "What on Neopia have you got in that bag?"
"It's the weirdest thing," Bruno said. "Sophie asked me to collect them, you see. Said it was important for tonight. I don't know why."
"Collect what?"
Bruno cast an eye back over his bag. Gilly didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't help feeling something was wrong. Why did Bruno suddenly look so worried?
"Well," Bruno said, "it's..."
| Author: dudeiloled Date: Nov 26th |
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He paused, his anxiety becoming even more apparent as he looked over his shoulder to make sure no one else was in ear shot.
“It’s a bag of potions and potion ingredients,” the towering Gelert admitted sheepishly.
Ever since his own transformation, Bruno has been very wary of potions, spells, and his own sister’s concoctions. No matter how good, evil, or neutral they were, he could never fully trust them again.
“Hmmm, maybe she’s planning to concoct something for the feast?” Gilly suggested, unsure of Sophie’s intentions herself.
“Yeah, maybe it’s a [i]petite fours[/i] for after dinner,” Percy suggested in a silly accent.
“Yeah, maybe,” Bruno agreed with a forced chuckle. He looked down at the lumpy, burlap sack in his large paws as a silence fell over the trio. The Gelert still couldn’t shake his feeling of prudence.
“Shall we?” the Usul suggested with a smile, holding up her lantern and leading the way toward Neovia.
“Wait for me!” Percy shouted, his stumpy Meerca legs working twice as hard to keep up.
The three of them walked through the moonlit forest, scanning for potions and Sophie’s list of ingredients as they made their way towards the annual feast…
| Author: i_lovee_icecream Date: Nov 27th |
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The trio was approaching the feast when Bruno clumsily tripped over a fallen tree branch, and the sack of potions flew out of his grasp! The ear-splitting sound of all of the potions breaking sank everyone’s hearts.
“Oh, no!” lamented Bruno. “Sophie will be so disappointed!”
“Now, how are we supposed to replace all those?!” sighed a clearly frustrated Percy. “I know nothing about making potions! Do either of you know anything about alchemy?!”
“Hold on…” frowned Gilly. “I think we have bigger problems…” She pointed to the mess of broken potions.
Sure enough, the different potions were reacting with one another. “This isn’t good, to say the least…” stammered Percy.
The potions combined into a rainbow glow, and then a large explosion occurred! The trio was knocked over, but otherwise unharmed. As the smoke cleared, the trio could see that the reaction had created something mysterious. It was…
| Author: _brainchild_ Date: Nov 28th |