|
The troops hurried along the corridor, knocking on the
doors of the many rooms aligned along the area. Every alien Aisha raced across
the hall, strapped on their space suits, and followed the marching group to
the spacecraft’s exit.
Metallic sheets surrounded them as usual, making
up the ceiling, walls, and ground beneath them. The hard, cold floor clanked
as the Aishas ran across the stretching halls and outside into an unfamiliar
world.
“I can’t believe another monster is attacking,”
whined an Aisha named Ajliso, following the other alien Aishas. She continued
speaking to herself, “And while all the Neopets get the exciting job of restraining
it, I have to clean up after them. During the time others get to be helpful
without getting injured and are ushering these Neopians to erase their memory,
I have to clean up after them!”
Stomping outside the spacecraft in which she
had lived in temporarily, Ajliso looked around at the mess the monster had left
behind. Obviously, the Neopians wouldn’t be able to forget what had happened
to their precious homes this time.
Puffing out her cheeks in anger, Ajliso looked
around the area. In the distance, small, but crushed houses could be seen. Armies
of alien Aishas were far away, battling with the monster destructing the home.
Sighing deeply, Ajliso said mournfully, “My life
isn’t that important. I don’t do anything here. Cleaning up isn’t what I signed
up for!”
She angrily kicked a pebble that had appeared
in her path. Ajliso squinted, looking out into the distance. Finally, she mused
aloud once again, “I guess it isn’t so bad. I can just sit back and relax, can’t
I? Maybe I can look for my sister on my way around.”
A few years ago, Ajliso’s sister, or twin to
be more exact, had left to supposedly ‘take over Neopia’. Remembering her sister’s
foolishness, Ajliso teased, “Take over Neopia. That’s a laugh!” Since that day,
her sister had not returned, or was heard of. Although they never got along
well, Ajliso would never admit that she missed her deeply.
After the twin’s flight, a few months later,
Ajliso joined these helpers, who took care of all the monsters appearing from
space. Somehow the creatures landed on Neopia, and it was their job to know
exactly when they landed, and to get them off of the planet. Erasing their memory
was done by special members, and it was necessary for them. Hiding the unknown
worlds (and beasts) would prevent the Neopians from any danger, and that was
their goal.
Ajliso spotted an unharmed site. Rubble surrounded
it, dust and dirt covering nearly every Neometre of the area. Holding her breath,
Ajliso crept around the broken buildings and structures, entering the place
of the single unscathed building.
The walls were weak, and the roof looked as though
it were to collapse at any second. Wondering how unfortunate the owner of the
building may have been, she neared it, careful not to step on any loose objects.
“I’ll finally get to someone before the others
do,” smiled Ajliso with satisfactory. “I can do something before them, and better
too! I’ll show them…”
At last, Ajliso crawled inside the rubble-blocked
door, squeezing through the tiny hole, which was just the right size for her.
With difficulty, Ajliso came through, and began dusting herself off while looking
around.
The inside of the building was worse than the
outer. The alien Aisha panicked in the darkness, gasping for air. Unlike the
outside, the inside had a sweet sent, and the air was able to tolerate, and
for the most part, dust free.
Searching around the murky darkness, Ajliso walked
around, rummaging through the items. She found photographs of a Shoyru family,
with a pet Doglefox at their side. These Neopets looked unfamiliar to her, but
she had learned about them some time ago. Running her finger over the smooth
surface, she tried to remember her own parents. Her mind was blank; she couldn’t
remember a single thing.
Sighing again, she went deeper through the building.
It was only a floor high, she could tell, but it seemed too empty for anyone
to survive in there. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she could see a loose
floorboard amongst the filthy ground.
“Hello?” Ajliso mumbled softly, as most of the
searchers from her group did. Usually the Neopians came out gradually, after
learning it was safe to do so. After hearing only silence, she said to herself,
“The team must have come here early. Drat, I’m late again.”
She began to walk back, angry as usual. She was
just as ill tempered as her twin, but at least she didn’t have silly ideas,
such as taking over Neopia. Stomping along, she huffed angrily; tripping at
the same time she saw the loose floorboard.
“Stupid thing! What’s that doing there?” she
exclaimed, before realizing she had tripped on a handle. She calmed, then touched
the handle. “What’s this?”
Pulling the handle curiously, wondering what
was inside, she fell back, the door attached to it too heavy.
“Hah!” she said, noticing a latch. She pulled
on it, satisfied with the ‘click’, and pulled on the handle again. This time,
it opened. “Ah ha, you can’t outsmart me, little door. I’m an experience one.”
And with that, Ajliso hopped inside, only to
find a staircase leading to a well-lit room. Walking down the stairs as stealthily
as possible, she reached the bottom. A shaken baby Shoyru stood there, clutching
his Doglefox PetPet.
“Hello,” said the alien Aisha gently. “Hello
there, little Shoyru.”
The baby squeaked in reply and began to weep
loudly. Ajliso panicked, searching frantically for something to cheer him up.
“Um, um,” she said, rummaging through all the
items. There was not a toy in sight. She reached at her belt and pulled out
a communicator. “Here you go, little one,” she said, switching off the power
before handing it to him.
The baby Shoyru stopped crying and fumbled with
the communicator cheerily, as the Doglefox barked, happy for his owner.
“Victory,” muttered Ajliso with pride, glad
that she had arrived here before the others. “And I got to reach such a little
cute guy too!”
She patted the Shoyru on his back, and said slowly,
“Follow me.”
The Shoyru responded by staring at her, blinking
every second or so, with a blank expression on his face. Ajliso turned back
from walking, and beckoned him once more. The Doglefox took a step forward,
then began licking the Shoyru.
“Ugh,” said Ajliso impatiently. “Come on, follow!
We’re going to be here all day, you know.”
No matter what Ajliso said, he remained still.
“Speaking of which,” she continued. “What’s
your name?” Seeing that he did not reply, she questioned, “Can you even talk?
You know, the language we speak out there is the same as the language down here
in Neopia.”
The room was not the silence Ajliso was used
to. It was not very peaceful, yet it was not tense or a nervous moment. She
was glad it was not the latter.
Rather irritated, she decided to get some others
of her team to help her out with the little Shoyru. She took the communicator
from him, which was now covered in small teeth marks. Deciding that she needed
some privacy, although it was unknown from what, she walked toward the staircase
and was about to switch it on. She accidentally dropped the communicator onto
the floor, and down it bounced against the stairs.
“Argh!” she said, frustrated. She picked it
up and dusted it off, attempting to turn it on, but with no success. Shaking
her head, she placed the communicator back and took extracted from it a board-like
object. She turned it on, and a map appeared in front of her. A little blue
dot represented her, as she placed her paw on it.
“Shoot!” cursed Ajliso. “Holy Kau, oh my Fyora,
no! This can’t be happening! No, no, no, no!”
The team had left without her.
To be continued…
| 
