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Also by adoriblelapin
“ESCAPED!?” an infuriated voice questioned loudly. “What
do you mean ESCAPED!?”
A second Neopet spoke, his voice quavering slightly
as he objected, “Well, it wasn’t MY fault you left the gates open! Besides,
one little Korbat like that wouldn’t make a difference, unless you were too
careless to spot what he looked like.” Shaking his head pitifully, he continued,
“His wings were too scrawny to be worth anything.”
The first Neopet did not reply, silenced by
his partner’s quick-witted remark. He merely tapped his sturdy shoes on the
dirt path as though he were thinking. Finally, he spoke. “Well, Azaarx, we had
better not lift the security one bit tonight. As far as we know, that little
runt could be telling all his friends about us.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” replied Azaarx confidently.
“I know this from experience; most that were captured would keep to themselves
until the end, too afraid to do anything.”
Squinting her eyes tightly, SilverEmerald attempted
to peek through the bars of the cage. They were tucked nearly right up against
each other, leaving just enough room for the air she needed to breath normally.
Taking in all the information she could, the Tyrannian Shoyru shuffled forward
a few steps and looked harder.
Two distinct shapes of Scorchios filled her
view, the same ones that had captured her. She was relieved for a second that
they did not have minions of any sorts, or at least to her current knowledge.
Sighing, SilverEmerald limped back toward the end of the cage, which was hardly
a distance away.
Getting out of the net was a hassle and apparently
the Scorchios did not care for the well being of their own specimens. They yanked
SilverEmerald and many others out of the net and practically tossed them into
a dark cage.
Sleepy from the happenings of the evening, she
curled up to keep herself warm and tried to sleep.
***
JadePaw and Lapinny trudged even further through the forest. The moon still
provided light, but it was sad to say the light was receding. Dawn was approaching,
and the two dragon Neopets knew they'd have to get some sleep.
"Lapinny, we can't rescue SilverEmerald from
that zoo place if we fall asleep in the middle of it," JadePaw said as she stifled
a yawn. "I suspect this zoo thing the Korbat told us about is at the edge of
the forest, and that isn't for a few more kilometres."
The cloud Shoyru nodded. JadePaw crawled under
a tree and curled up into a ball. Lapinny edged over toward an large toadstool
and rested his head on it.
They both drifted off into deep dreams.
***
"Where are you taking me!?" SilverEmerald yelled as the red Scorchio known
as Azaarx dragged her away from the cage. The zoo was at the edge of the forest,
right by the busy Neopian road. Dozens of cages filled the zoo. Sad Pteri, Draik,
Buzz and other eyes stared at her.
"Can it, girly," the other Scorchio snapped.
"This doesn't make sense!" SilverEmerald screamed
as they dragged her up to a small building. "Why would Neopets come to a zoo
to see other Neopet?"
"This was all Tandard's idea, a brilliant one
at that," Azaarx cried. "We tell all the folks who come that you are vicious
Neopets, each with some kind of power. You for instance, have the ability to
morph into different objects."
"No I--"
"It's a lie!" Tandard snapped. "But the visitors
buy it. This zoo provides a great cover for what we're really hoping to achieve."
They entered the small building which held nothing
but a flight of stairs. SilverEmerald tried to fight against them but they were
too powerful. The Scorchios dragged her down the stairs. She gasped at what
she saw.
It was a laboratory, hundreds of tables with
beakers and potions not to mention many machines.
"We're really studying winged Neopets. See that
big machine over there?" Tandard said as he pointed to some kind of giant robotic
Scorchio. "We're combining all the attributes of flying to make a machine that
can fly faster than anything. It has the rapid wings of a Buzz, the power of
a Pteri, the speed of a Draik and so much more."
The Scorchios chained SilverEmerald up to a
wall and started measuring her wings. She couldn't fight or break free. No matter
what these scientists were planning to do with the ultimate flying machine,
it couldn't be good.
***
Lappiny and JadePaw hurried along the trail, catching a glimpse of the flat
lands ahead of them. Moving onward, the edge of the forest neared them, their
efforts not in vain, or at least they hoped not.
“We’re almost there…” mumbled Lappiny, although
it was quite obvious that was so. “Are you alright, JadePaw?”
His partner nodded intently, determination resting
soundly in her eyes. Marching forward, the dual Neopets edged on, hardly noticing
the bountiful plants and glimmering river neighbouring them. The light of the
sun peeked through the dense amount of trees, the leaves rusting in the gentle
zephyr. Flowers surrounding them, doing the same calm motion.
Dry coughs escaped JadePaw as Lappiny rushed
to aid her. Pointing at the river, he said, “Would you like some water? I could
fetch some for you.” Seeing the cloud Draik shake her head, he added, “I’m a
little thirsty too, to tell you the truth.”
With that, Lappiny hopped to the river and cued
JadePaw toward it. JadePaw followed the motion of his paw and scooped some water
into her hands. The cool fluid trickled from her shaking paw as she drank it,
relieved.
“Thanks a lot,” she said gratefully after she
had drunk enough water to satisfy her thirst. “I hope I didn’t waste too much
of our time drinking up that stream. I’m afraid we’ll arrive too late.”
To be continued …
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