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Neopedia : Nyx & Juni

Name: Nyx
Species: Aisha
Gender: Female
Colour: Blue
Age: Late teens
Likes: Adventure, exploring, spacefaring, coffee, the Twisted Roses
Dislikes: Overpowering perfumes, routines, tentacled monsters
Related To: Ozzy (brother)
Occupation: Junior Spaceship Pilot at Virtupets Delivery Co.
Quote: “I’d better not catch you messing with my brother again, got it?!”

Name: Juniper (aka Juni)
Species: Faellie
Gender: Male
Colour: Void
Age: Older than he looks!
Likes: Mechanics, engineering, adventure, sarcasm, Cherries Jubalee
Dislikes: Rusty cogs, ugly mechanical designs, creepy tentacles
Occupation: Mechanic
Quote: “Yip, yip-yip yip…”


A pair of friends who met when Nyx was hired by the Virtupets Delivery Co., and who were sucked into a mysterious rift in space. After braving the perils of the Void and just barely making it, the two stumbled into the adventure of a lifetime, and helped save Neopia while they were at it.


“And this is… the hangar!” Nyota said. The tall Zafara pressed a button beside the door, and it slid open with a SWOOSH!

Nyx followed her in, eyes wide and breath caught as she took in her surroundings. The hangar was… huge! There had to be room for at least twenty spaceships in here, maybe more! And one of them would be hers to pilot soon enough…

“Oh! And look who it is – Nyx, come over here and meet your supervisor!”

A small buzzing sound registered in Nyx’s ears, as well as a flickering flash of light a few feet away. Though Nyx had frozen just inside the entryway, she hurried to catch up with the Zafara, who was serving as her guide to get her used to her new job. Nyota was standing near one of the spaceships, talking to… someone that Nyx couldn’t see.

“Nyx,” she said when Nyx came to a halt before her, “This is Juniper. He’s a mechanic here at Virtupets Delivery Co., and he’ll be your supervisor for your first few months on the job.”

“Great!” Nyx exclaimed, extending her hand as she turned to greet her new supervisor. “Hi, Mr. Juniper, I’m…”

But what met her was not the rough-and-tough, burly and experienced mechanic she had expected. Instead, Nyx had come face-to-face with someone small, and pink, and… a Petpet.

“Yip, Yip-yip! Yip yip yip yip!” the little Faellie said.

“...N…nice to meet you too,” Nyx greeted back.

What have I gotten myself into?!

–

A few weeks went by, and slowly but surely, Nyx got used to her training. Juniper wasn’t the most patient Petpet around, but he was smart and quick-witted and knew what he was talking about… when Nyx could figure out what he was saying, anyway. Still, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated with him sometimes, especially when she was on the receiving end of a sarcastic safety lecture. I left Ozzy to be bossed around by a Petpet?! Nyx caught herself thinking more than once.

She also caught herself thinking about her brother often while she was supposed to be training. Was Ozzy okay? How was he doing without her? Was he eating enough? Was he still trying to add colour to his drawings, or had he gone back to making everything black-and-white? Nyx wished she’d brought some of his drawings to show off to her coworkers. Maybe a few of his doodles would even put a smile on Juniper’s face. But every time her mind went back to her little brother in Neopia Central, it seemed her supervisor was right there to scold her. And, well, maybe Juniper was right to – she did almost electrocute him once because she hadn’t been paying full attention when he’d explained which wires connected to what to keep the ship operating properly…

It wasn’t as though he was mean to her, though. Nyx learned pretty quickly that Juniper had a bit of a ‘tough love’ streak in him, and he meant well even if he could come across as rude. And once she learned how to properly speak ‘yip,’ that rudeness seemed to vanish more and more.



One day (or night; it was hard to tell in space), the two of them were on a routine delivery when a loud BANG! suddenly resonated through their cockpit. Nyx sat up straight in the pilot’s seat and looked to Juniper, who was already at work flitting from screen to screen to check the ship’s diagnostics. Not even a full minute later, an alarm went off: the ship’s hull had taken damage!

Juniper pulled up a schematic of their ship and Nyx rushed over to look at it. The damage was shown to be on the starboard side, right under the engine. It didn’t look too bad, but if they waited too long, there was a risk that the damage could spread and damage their engines. And if it did…

“We have to fix it!” Nyx declared. Otherwise, I may never get home to my brother!

“Yip!” Juniper agreed, rather sharply. He scurried out of the cockpit and rushed toward the engine room. Nyx followed, but not before hitting a certain big green button on the ship’s main control console. Just in case.

It wasn’t a big ship, so the two of them quickly reached their destination – but it wasn’t long before they discovered another problem: the engine room door wouldn’t open!

“Oh no! Whatever hit us must have messed with the circuitry, too,” Nyx said. It seemed strange, though – wasn’t the ship designed so that an outside impact wouldn’t affect the inner electrical functions? But there was no time to ponder it – she had to act fast!

Without hesitation, Nyx launched herself at the door, but it was so solid it wouldn’t budge. She stuck her fingers in the seam between the sliding panels and tried to pry it apart… but that was no good either.

“Come on!” she spat, kicking the door when it became clear she couldn’t open it with her hands. She growled in frustration, and Juniper crossed his arms at her. “Oh, I know, brute force isn’t gonna do anything. But it was worth…”

Hang on a second. That was it! Brute force might not get the door open, but it was what caused the damage to be done, right? Whatever had hit their hull must have jostled something out of place, so if she could jostle it back…

“Mr. Juniper! I need one of your screwdrivers. Flathead!”

Surprised, Juniper reached into his tool belt and tossed Nyx what she needed. There was a control panel for the door nearby, and she needed to screw it open – not punch it, otherwise she’d risk shocking herself just like she had Juniper in training. Luckily, Nyx was strong and deft, and she was able to get it open in an instant. Sure enough, it was as she suspected: a couple wires had come loose, but hadn’t totally disconnected. So, carefully, and making sure her gloves were secure, she pinched the bunch of wires that had come loose, pressed the switch to open up the port they were meant to be attached to, and manoeuvred them as carefully as she could back into place…

SWOOSH!

“Yip yip!” Juniper cried out. Nyx turned around to beam at him. She did it!

But they weren’t out of the woods yet. Juni scurried into the engine room quickly, and Nyx followed him… but the moment they entered the room, something rumbled above them. With a creak! and a CRACK!, one of the ventilation tubes in the ceiling broke off – and started hurtling right toward Juniper!

“Look out!” Nyx cried, leaping into action. Before Juniper could even move, Nyx was standing over him, arms raised above her head to catch the falling vent tube. She grunted as it landed in her hands, and one of her knees buckled, but there was plenty of room for Juniper to get past.

“Yip! Yip yip!”

“It’s fine, I’ve got this!” Nyx yelled. “You just go and fix the hull! I’ll hold down – er, I guess hold up the fort here!”

“Yip! Yip-yip, yip-yip, yip!”

“Don’t worry, I’m stronger than I look! I’ll hold this as long as you need!”

“Yip.” With that, Juniper darted off, down into the depths of the engine room and beyond…

–

“This is DC-0714, responding to the stress signal sent 43 minutes ago. Are you okay, DC-0813?”

The voice came over the ship’s radio. Juniper looked over at Nyx. “Yip yip?”

“Yeah, I hit the distress signal button before I followed you to the engine room,” Nyx explained. “Just like you taught me.”

“Yip… yip yip!”

Nyx grinned, pleased at the praise, while Juniper hit the communication button to respond to their ‘rescuer.’

“Yip yip yip-yip!” Juniper said into the radio.

Nyx pressed her own communication button. “He means, yep! We’re all good, Xargax. Could use a tow back to HQ, though – our hull is damaged, and even though Juniper sealed up the hole, we don’t want it opening up again.”

“10-4, Nyx, Juniper. I’ll get you that tow.”

The signal cut, and Nyx and Juniper laughed. Nyx held up a palm to Juniper, and Juniper fluttered over to slap it. A high-five – the most celebratory gesture of friendship ever invented.

“Yip!” Juni said. “Yip… Yip, yip yip-yip, yip yip.”

“Huh?” Nyx sat up. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want me to call you Juni?”

“Yip, yip, yip, yip! Yip!”

“Well, I don’t know if I would call Juniper ‘stuffy,’ but if that’s what you want, then you’ve got it… Juni.”

“Yip!”

Juniper – Juni – launched himself at Nyx, and Nyx caught him in her arms. She laughed, but before she could give him the hug she thought he wanted, the little Faellie jumped up onto her head and ruffled her hair affectionately. “Hey, cut it out!” Nyx cried, but it was only a token protest. As Juni yipped and messed her hair up even more, all Nyx could think was, Wow. I can’t wait to tell Ozzy that I made a new friend!