The Mootix brothers had always lived on a happy little Puppyblew and had never had any real problems. Their days were filled with small adventures, such as climbing to the peak of the Petpet's tail or camping out under his ears. The Puppyblew lived in a small Petpet shop, so there were never any issues of extreme weather or conditions. Each day was happy and serene -- if not just a little boring.

The Puppyblew was then sold to a Kyrii, who happily took him home. At first, James and Daniel didn't figure much would change about their lives, until the Kyrii decided to give the Puppyblew a bath. The Mootixes barely had time to jump to safety before their home was flooded, and they watched with tears in their eyes as the Kyrii carefully washed the Puppyblew's fur. While they knew they could simply return home after the bath was over, they realized things would never be the same. It was time to move on.

Daniel found a lovely spot to live in the Kyrii's garden in a cracked flower pot, but James wanted more. He had never really been anywhere or seen much in his life, so he wanted to travel. The two brothers were sad to part, but they knew it was time for them to go their own separate ways.

"I'll be back one day," James said, "And I'll tell you all about what I see out there."

Daniel nodded as he hugged his brother. "And if you ever need me, I'll be there," he stated, "no matter how far away you are."

James spotted a Miamouse nearby, so he hurried over to find a comfortable spot upon the wild Petpet. As he settled himself in the fur, he turned and waved to his brother just as the Miamouse began to run. All through the day and further from his brother James traveled until...

"Ah, good..." the Kougra said. "You made it back, and right on time."

Apparently the Miamouse wasn't as wild as James thought, and had returned to its owner. Oh well, nothing too serious, James surmised -- it just meant that he would have to find another Petpet, sooner rather then later, with which to continue searching around Neopia.

At least that was his plan before he heard a loud, booming voice. "So, which specimen returned, Professor Clodbottle?" the unknown voice said, not belonging to the Kougra.

"Specimen 3-M," he replied, "The Miamouse. Now, let's see if you brought anything back."

Professor Clodbottle put on a strange pair of glasses and adjusted them a bit as he looked over the Miamouse, examining it for something.

"Ah ha!" he said. "Found one!"

James looked up and gasped as he realized that the large Kougra was staring straight at him with his strange glasses. Professor Clodbottle gingerly grabbed James with a small pair of tweezers.

The Mootix tried to struggle his way out, but was unable to escape the grip that he had been put in. Fear was starting to shoot through him. What was this Professor Clodbottle going to do with him? Why was he even looking for a Mootix? Would he ever see his brother again?

Before he could even ponder an answer to those questions, James looked to see that Professor Clodbottle was taking him to a glass structure. "It looks like a Solider," the Kougra said, apparently talking to himself. "I think Habitarium 42 needs one of those."

With a simple movement, Professor Clodbottle opened the glass contraption and gently placed James inside of it. Before the Mootix could react, the glass was closed off again, leaving James inside of the strange structure.

The Mootix looked around, seeing patches of grass and dirt around him. Likewise, there was a small pond a few trees and flowers. A large rock was located near the edge of his new residence.

"Now what?" James asked, taking a few gentle steps around...

James tried to confront the curious onlooker before answering, scuttling around the massive boulder. The round end of a Larnikin was caught out the middle of his eye before disappearing around the rock again. Feeling a little ornery, James carefully tiptoed around to find the purple Petpetpet quivering and then grabbed one of his legs before he could run away.

"AHHH!" the stranger squealed and flailed as he was caught. "Let me go, let me go!"

"Please calm down!" James shouted. "I won’t hurt you -- just tell me where I am and why I'm in this place."

The Larnikin stopped struggling, looking back with tears in its eyes to see James slowly let go of the captive leg. "Promise you're not a pest?"

"Promise. My name is James, by the way."

"H-hello, James..." the Larnikin sniffed, looking nervously between James and the ground. "I'm Unit 03, U3 for short. I'm a Nester."

"Unit 03? Don't you have a name?" James asked. After a momentary pause, he then asked another question. "What is a Nester?"

"That is my name. I was born here." U3 proudly stated, scuttling toward James to get a better look at him. "A Nester like me lays eggs. I was just going out for a walk before returning to my nest. You... you don't look like you were hatched here..."

James sighed and looked around contemplatively. "I wasn't. I found this place, well, by accident." The Mootix recalled his story, stemming from the good old life with his brother on the Puppyblew to his desire to see sights unseen and the incident with the Miamouse.

"I see," U3 nodded empathetically. "Well, I'm afraid you won't see much here, but we live a good life. Do you know what your job is?"

James thought for a moment before answering. "There was a yellow Kougra, a Professor Something-or-other, who mentioned that I looked, um... like a Soldier."

"A soldier!" U3 giddily exclaimed before smiling shyly. "Well, that means you fight off pests, something that I could never do."

"Pests?" James asked.

Before U3 could answer, with almost impeccable timing, a harsh growl came from the other side of the rock. The pair jumped in surprise, looking around frantically.

"What was that?" James gasped.

"PESTS!!!" the Larnikin gulped, eyes growing wide and fearful as he backed away from his new friend. "I'm afraid I have to go, James! This is your job!"

"My... my job?!?" James shouted after U3, but the Petpetpet was already scurrying away. Nervousness settled in the Mootix’s stomach as he turned toward the blue invader. "But I don't know what to do..."

"Not so fast, silly pests!" a powerful voice boomed.

James opened his eyes for a brief moment to see a large, brave Pinchit jump between him and the two pests. The Pinchit wrestled both the invaders to the ground, using its pincers to ward them off. The pests then scurried away to avoid any more punishment.

"Ahh, that'll do it... you must be new here. The names 7, U7. I'm head of the P3 army here. Welcome to Habitarium 42," he said, addressing James.

"Th-that was amazing. You saved my life. Thank you so much," James replied.

"Ahhh, don't mention it. It's my job around here. From the looks of it, I think you're our new addition. Soldiers, fall in!" U7 yelled.

Just like that, three more Petpetpets -- a Larnikin and two Mootix -- came out of the shrubs and stood in a single file line.

"First squadron reporting, sir!" one of them said.

"I'd like you to welcome our newest addition. His name's, uhm..."

"The name's James, sir. I didn't get an official name like you. I'm so flustered right now; I just wanted to go on a journey away from home and see the world, but then I ended up being kidnapped and brought to this pla--." James was unable to finish, since the ground beneath them suddenly started to shake. The soldiers looked around alertly.

"Over there, sir," one of them said. "It's a raid -- invaders from Habitarium 79 again, in all likelihood."

"Not 79 again. Alright everyone, time to go to work," U7 said confidently.

James took a big gulp. He knew exactly what was about to happen...

Even though he'd known the words were coming they still sent jitters downs his back. Gulping noisily, he fell in with the other soldiers. They marched confidently along and he did his best to match his steps to theirs, although he felt clumsy next to their practiced efficiency. The Larnikin next to him gave him a friendly smile.

"Don't worry buddy, you'll do fine!" he whispered, "I'm U19, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

James gave U19 a watery smile, trying to be friendly, but nerves had made his steps just slightly shaky.

This wasn't the kind of adventure I wanted! he whined to himself in the privacy of his own head. He then had the presence of mind to utter a short, self-deprecating laugh. To tell the truth, James hadn't exactly known what he wanted when he set out. Just adventure for adventure's sake. And, well... he was getting that, wasn't he? This was definitely an adventure...

There was no more time to think, however, as their arrival to the scene of the raid came quickly. U7 assessed the situation and dispatched orders quickly, smacking of military efficiency. "Only four, and they have a greenie with them," he said briskly and then spared a glance at James, along with a slight smile. "Well, so do we, but this must be a practice raid. U14, U9, take the Mootix near the storage cellar. U19, take the Larnikin at the water pump. James, you're with me -- we'll go take the Mootix and their greenie. Onward, HO!"

With practiced ease the soldiers dispersed, heading toward their respective targets immediately. There was no hesitation or fear in their movements, just brisk determination that James found himself unconsciously trying to imitate as he followed U7 in the direction of their targets.

A greenie... a new soldier like me? James mused as he strode beside his new commander, but he was almost immediately distracted. The battle commenced -- at the water pump, his Larnikin friend U19 was taking on the Larnikin raider. It didn't look like a vicious fight; the raider looked almost... bored. He clearly wasn't giving his all to the fight and gave ground almost immediately. The fight at the storage cellar seemed the same; U14 and U9, the two Mootix, were quickly forcing their raider to back away.

And then there was no time to even observe, because James found himself face to face with his opponent. What he saw was so shocking, so very unexpected, that for a moment his breath was taken away. Whatever he had expected to see, it wasn't this.

"Daniel?!?" he cried out -- for there, looking nervous next to another Mootix soldier, was his brother...

The other Mootix soldier came to a halt and held Daniel back, glancing back and forth between the lost siblings. His expression grew disgruntled, clearly bothered by this complication. "You two know each other?"

James answered before Daniel could, "He's my brother! While I left to go explore the world, he stayed behind."

"Brother, eh?" U7 interjected, chuckling slightly. "Well, this certainly changes things."

"Enough! How bothersome," the third Mootix sighed. "Practice raids never go as planned anymore," he then added under his breath. With a shrill whistle, the soldier silenced the battlefield. The units at the storage cellar and water pump stopped fighting and stared at the angry Mootix questioningly, more out of surprise than acknowledgement of what the whistle meant.

"We have a problem," the Mootix soldier roared. James and Daniel exchanged glances waringly, wondering what their relation meant for them in this situation.

"No need to yell like that," U7 growled, annoyed. "Let me speak with your raid leader." He turned to James and Daniel, making a signal for them to stay put while he conferred with the opposition. He and the Mootix then hurried off into the center of the Habitarium, where the other raid leader, a fearsome-looking Pinchit, was waiting.

James grabbed Daniel into an embrace. "What happened, brother? Are you okay?"

"The K-Kyrii reported us, James!" Daniel cried hysterically, burying his face into James's shoulder. "She found me while watering her flowers, mentioning that she'd reported another Mootix earlier and called on this smelly Miamouse. It took me into its mouth and brought me here, where some Kougra put me into a glass box. I was so scared, brother..."

James hushed his sibling, trying to calm him down as he kept an eye on the meeting happening across the battlefield. The leaders were definitely at odds with each other, and it seemed to be more so out of bad blood from the past than anger with James and Daniel for complicating things. U7 spat and shook his head, catching James's eyes. The Pinchit grinned, and his look was somewhat contemplative and ingenious. James took it as a good sign.

"How are we going to get home, James?" Daniel sniffed quietly. James continued to say nothing, closing his eyes as he held his brother. Poor Daniel never had quite an appetite for adventure -- that was always his dream. At this point, James's notions with regard to adventure were growing a little jaded, too. All that mattered to him now was getting his brother somewhere safe and living the quiet, simple life once again, even if it was in a cracked flower pot.

Several minutes passed. A firm and reassuring claw fell upon James's shoulder. It was U7. "Don't worry, boys," U7 exclaimed with a sly wink. "We have a plan..."

"A plan," U7 repeated.

"And what might this 'plan' be?" James asked.

The Pinchit laughed a bit before saying, "Miamouse transport."

They had been smuggled through a hole in the ground, through a crack in the glass the Professor had never noticed.

"Oh, brother," Daniel sighed as they squeezed themselves through the glass. "Do you really think this will work? How will we ever get home?"

"We'll think of something." Despite these words, though, James found himself doubting that they could ever get back to their former life on the Puppyblew's back. He had no way of knowing where the Puppyblew was, and even if he did, he would probably spend the rest of his days in fear of baths and grooming appointments.

The Miamouse had been sleeping in the corner, snoring loudly. After waving goodbye to all their friends from both Habitarium 42 and 79, the brothers jumped on the Miamouse's back.

"Should we bite the Miamouse and wake him up or something?" Daniel asked hesitantly.

James shrugged. "Sure. I don't see why not."

He sank his teeth into the Miamouse's neck, gagging slightly at the taste. The Miamouse jumped up, furiously scratching at his neck and then starting to run around in circles.

"It's working!" James exclaimed.

He bit the Miamouse again and again until the Petpet finally darted out of the nearest exit.

So then, they were out in the night.

They let the Miamouse run for a bit, down the road, turning corners here and there. At last they'd jumped off, tumbling into the grass.

"Where do we go now?"

James didn't answer -- he was too busy surveying his surroundings. It was a quiet, deserted sort of grass field, with a paved street on one side and a forest on the other.

"James?"

"We find a place to stay, I guess," he said at last. "Come on. Let's search."

They wove their way through some tall grasses, searching desperately for a place to stay. All they found, however, were candy wrappers and other litter.

At last, after much searching, they finally came upon a tin can, which was half-buried in the dirt.

"How about this?" James asked, tapping an arm on the side of the can. Once he was certain that no one was in there, he crawled inside. "It's clean... it's warm... and I'm sure we could find food around here."

"I guess that's okay," Daniel said. "I mean, it's no Puppyblew..."

"Who needs Puppyblews?" James laughed. "I could live in a rotten shoe, as long as you were there with me."

The End