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My mind swirled with confusion. What was going on?
But there was no time to wonder. I swooped through
the air, heading straight toward the Neopians and their black Unis.
Now I was directly in front of the black Unis
and their riders. I wanted to scream, "Stop!!", but I knew that no one could
hear me through all this chaos.
So I knocked the slingshots to the ground, and
the Neopians stopped.
There were three Neopians: One tall, one skinny,
and one short. And their faces were all twisted into horrible expressions. If
looks could kill, I thought to myself, I'd be dead already.
"Leave those Unis alone," I said.
"Bah," said one.
"Bah," said the other.
"Bah," said the third.
"How much do you think that Neopet is worth?"
asked the first one.
"Dunno," said the second one. "Looks pretty new
to me."
"Let's see," said the third. "Worth selling,
I guess. Quick, let's get her!!"
I don't know what made me flee at that moment.
It might have been the devious looks on the three Neopian's faces. Or it could
have been the words, "Let's get her." Either way, something at that moment told
me that it was no longer safe to stay with these three Neopians. So you won't
be surprised when I tell you that at that moment I leapt up into the air and
flew away as fast as I could, following the Unis' footsteps.
The Neopians made quite an attempt to capture
me. They picked up their slingshots and wasted every single stone they had on
trying to get me.
One of the Scarab Stones came close to hitting
me, but I grabbed it in my paw and tucked it away for safe keeping.
Soon I was in the forest, hidden by the thick
bushes. Soft light that filtered through the tree branches made my fur look
silvery, almost liquid. I had lost sight of the Unis' tracks, but now it didn't
matter. As long as they were safe, it didn't matter.
I walked along in silence now, my padded feet
making a pleasant sound as they landed on the spongy moss that covered the ground.
All was peaceful and silent until I heard a twig
snap in the bush behind me. I whirled around, startled.
Out strode a Christmas Kougra. She had a fierce
look about her, though beneath the sharp, pearly teeth and menacing golden eyes,
she was actually breathtakingly beautiful.
The Kougra pounced in front of me and snarled,
golden eyes reflecting the shafts of light and making me squint. "What is your
business here?" she asked in a voice that sounded both menacing and soothing
at the same time, which I had never thought to be possible.
"Well," I said, shifting back into my human form.
"You see, I was looking for my Neopets."
The Kougra snorted. "Looking for your Neopets
here?" she said, obviously amused. "And how exactly did you end
up here? I mean, this is Paradise. Coltzan lives here. You see, it's directly
above the Lost Desert, and I'm his royal guard. Now tell me, really, why you
are here."
So I explained. I told her about the storm, the
Lost Desert, the vacation, my NeoPets. And she listened without a word of interruption.
Well, almost without interruption, for when I mentioned the bottle with "WHAT
YOU WILL" written on it, she said, "How did you find that? That was mine
- until..."
Glistening tears filled the Kougra's golden eyes
as she looked up at me. "You see, my name is Laserbud - Laserbud49. I was captured
by three Neopians long ago, and they wanted to sell me to someone powerful,
someone who would pay a lot for me. But before they took me away, I hid my most
treasured keepsake - a bottle - in the sand, hoping that someone would find
it and wish their way here.
"Coltzan took pity on me and bought me. He has
treated me well, but he is still not my owner. An owner was all I ever really
wanted..."
I sat for a moment, thinking about what Laserbud
had just said. Then an idea struck me. "Laserbud," I said, "is there any chance
I could see Coltzan for just a moment? I think I have an idea to save you."
Laserbud's eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked.
Then, not waiting for my answer, she said, "Follow me, then."
I followed Laserbud up a staircase formed by
several vines wrapped around a tree. Soon we came to a large cloud, and I stepped
on to it. And there, straight in front of me, sat Coltzan, his face sad and
tearstained.
"Coltzan," I said. "Coltzan, what's wrong?"
"I'm missing my scarab," he said, then stopped
to pick up a fluff of cloud and blow his nose with it.
"Oh, Coltzan," I said. "You know, when I was
on my way here, three Neopians tried to capture me. They launched Scarab Stones
at me with their slingshots, and each time they missed. However, I did get close
enough that I was able to pick up this." I showed him the Scarab Stone I had
tucked away.
"Oh, my," he gasped in awe. "That's no ordinary
Scarab Stone, I can tell. This - this is my lost scarab!! How can I ever thank
you?"
I smiled. "Laserbud--she needs a home. An owner.
A family. I have all of these. By any chance, could she come live with me?"
Coltzan rubbed his chin in thought. "Well now,"
he said, "You have found my scarab. Now I can restore order to Neopia. I owe
you a big thanks. If Laserbud wants to live with you, she may."
Laserbud, who had been peeking at us throughout
the meeting, leaped up into the air with joy. "Yay!!" she squealed.
"And another thing," I told him. "I have been
separated from my NeoPet and my friends. Could you please find them?"
Before Coltzan could reply, Dagger, Xena, and
Nexxus appeared next to him. "Here they are," he said as Nexxus ran up to me
and leaped into my arms.
"And I suppose you'll be wanting to get home,
too," Coltzan smiled warmly, and before he teleported us to our NeoHomes, there
were a great deal of thank you's and goodbye's.
"And that," I concluded, speaking to Shiva, Nexxus,
Lightspeed, and Laserbud, "is how we got to be one big, happy family."
My Neopets gave me a generous applause, and Shiva
gave an appreciative shout of, "Bravo!!"
The End
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