|
This was not good… not at all…
The electric Gelert stood under the dark trees,
which encompassed Haunted Woods in a petrified manner. Every sound in the trees,
every movement in the bushes made Harri think that an awful, vicious monster
was simply preparing to leap out at him. He whimpered and held on to his petpet,
a little white Weewoo by the name of Hedwig. It was a silly name to many, but
Harri liked it.
“Oh Hedwig… I think this is really bad,” the
Gelert cried out as Hedwig sunk further within his paws. All Harri meant to
do was pick up some arrows for his brother at the weapon shop like he proposed
to do this morning!
Tahoshi would have got them himself, but the
trip was so out of the way that he would miss out on training that day, causing
him to have a huge conflict of interests. Harri knew how much Tahoshi enjoyed
training, so he suggested that he would pick up the bows while Tahoshi went
to study his combat arts.
“Hrmp, you’ll get lost in those woods, Harri,
but whatever,” Tahoshi grunted before walking out of the house. That was his
way of saying thanks.
But here Harri was… lost… and he didn’t know
how it happened! He took a left at the sign like he was supposed to… or maybe
it was a right… no it was straight… or… down? As Harri contemplated it more
and more, he noticed how eerily quiet the woods were and how he had the feeling
that he was being watched from somewhere beyond the brush.
“Weeewooooo,” the Weewoo’s haunting call
reverberated off the dead trees with almost ghostlike quality. It made the fur
on Harri’s neck stand up as he gently nestled his Weewoo on a perch upon his
head.
“It’s okay Hedwig, we’ll be fine! I promise!”
the Gelert chipped happily. Harri couldn’t help but be optimistic, after all,
he was a Gelert.
And so the pair walked down the somewhat worn
pathway searching for someone, anyone, who would help them (without wanting
to eat them). The map was completely useless without know where on the map you
were, and the faster Harri walked, the more he shook off the feeling that something
was watching him from the shadows. What it’s intent was, however, Harri couldn’t
tell and felt it best to keep as much distance between it and him.
As Harri walked for what seemed like hours beneath
the dead trees, his hope of happening upon someone in the local began to grow
thinner and thinner. His paws began to ache from the constant treading on roots,
rocks, and other things Harri did not entirely wish to know what they were.
The only sound, which reached his long spindly ears was his own paws thudding
on the dirt as well as the silent chirping of Hedwig from his bag.
“WEEWOO!” shrieked the petpet from Harri’s bag.
The Gelert whipped around to see his petpet jump from the top of her owner’s
furry head and dash down the path quickly, almost madly, towards an unknown
destination.
“Hedwig! Be careful!” Harri cried, worried that
something might crawl up and snatch his best friend. Quickly he took off, his
feet thudding loudly as he galloped after the waddling petpet, who was rather
quick for her pudgy stature. Harri’s hopes began to fly; perhaps she had found
a way out of the forest. But as Harri inched closer and closer to where the
Weewoo had halted he noticed that she was not chasing after a way our, but simply
a tree…
“Weeewoooo,” the petpet chirruped, looking at
it’s master with big brown eyes. It was time sat these Harri wish that perhaps
he had a better understanding of petpets as he simply stared at the tree.
“Erm... it’s just a tree Hedwig,” Harri bit his
lip in confusion as he knocked on the black bark with his paw. From amid the
hallowed innards of the tree a fearsome snarl erupted from the hole at the bottom,
startling both Neopet and petpet alike. Hedwig appeared to recover faster than
Harri, almost if she perhaps anticipated it, however… if the petpet knew a monster
was lurking within that tree, surely she would not have lead Harri towards it!
Just then it seemed to dawn on Harri as he looked
at his white Weewoo change her stare from inside the tree to her owner. Instantly
he looked within of the hole on the bottom, slowly answering his question.
“There’s a petpet in there?” Harri questioned,
earning himself a congratulatory tweet from his petpet companion. The Gelert
tried vainly to see what petpet was inside the tree, however the complete darkness
inside allotted him nothing but a shapeless black shadow inside the tree.
However, as he tried to catch a glimpse of the
petpet another though struck Harri; petpets were not uncommon in the Haunted
Woods, so why in all of Neopia had Hedwig made him particularly aware of this
one?
Harri’s attention quickly shifted from the angry,
hissing petpet inside to the tree to the frantic cries of his own petpet. The
Gelert gently trotted around the back of the tree only to find the white Weewoo
hopping up and down in a frantic motion.
“Weewoo!” the petpet cried, pointing her beak
at the back of the tree. Harri stared in a confused manner at the spot she indicated,
however it quickly became clear to him what the problem was, for out of the
back of the tree trunk Harri saw a strong brown spike jutting out from the tree,
clearly wedged in.
“He’s stuck!” Harri cried in some desperation
looking about in a frantic manner. “I’ll get you out!” the kind Gelert said
over the savage snarling and growling of the petpet inside, yet Harri had no
idea how to perhaps achieve this…
“Oh, What should we do, Hedwig?” Harri whined,
looking about franticly. The tiny Weewoo gave a thoughtful chirrup, but offered
nothing more than this. The longer the Gelert sat there, the quicker he realized
that nothing was getting done; that he simply had to act now! He capered off
some feet away from the precariously perched tree, staring it down liked a hated
enemy for a few tense seconds.
“One… two… THREE!” he yelled, charging at the
tree with full strength. Though he was not nearly as strong as many other pets,
he possessed a pure determination inside his very heart to free the poor petpet;
that was simply all he needed as he plunged head long towards the tree with
all his strength.
CRASH! The bark simply shredded
into pieces as the skull of the Gelert connected with the bark of the tree.
In a huge shower of bark and other bits the tree sprayed around the area, leaving
only the pathetic husk of the tree in place where the twisted monstrosity had
once stood.
“WEEWOOOO!” Hedwig cried sadly, rushing over
to her master. Harri sat on the ground, a dazed look in his eyes as stars blinked
before them, obscuring his vision for a few seconds. Sluggishly, the Gelert
resumed a sitting position, gently petting his worried Weewoo on the head.
“I’m okay, Hedwig!” Harri smiled, however he
quickly looked around the broken tree fragments in a panic.
“Where is he?! Where’s the petpet?!” Harri quickly
questioned, fearing that perhaps he may have hurt the petpet in the encounter.
The white Weewoo gave a shrill cry, directing Harri’s attention towards a shaking
clump of bushes in the distance. The Gelert bounded forward after the petpet,
desperately afraid that it may very well hurt itself in it’s wandering around
the woods. Thought the petpet was fast, Harri proved much faster, catching up
with the panicking creature in no time.
Much to Harri’s utter surprise the small thing
turned out to be a simple Splyke. Thought it was not extremely rare to find
one of these wandering around the rock quarries were littered Neopia Central,
it was unusual to find them simply strolling about in the Haunted Woods. Very
few (if any) petpets lived in this harsh environment, proving all too easily
to be a delectable snack to some creeping specter.
The capture did not sit well with the small tyrant,
opting instead to snarl and gnash his teeth at Harri’s incessant helping. Harri
quickly opened his mouth to offer a condoling word or two at the Splyke but
was quickly silenced when a horrendous pain ran against his muzzle with a steely
coldness. He let out a painful yelp, jumping back a few feet to avoid another
attack such as the first. He turned his eyes only to meet face to face with…
The Pant Devil.
“Ohhhhh, look at all the petpets here! So rare
and expensive!” the fiend cackled, deviously, clicking his jagged claws together
with delight. Hedwig gave a nervous cry and huddled behind her owner, desperately
scared of the blue monster, but the Splyke had no protection and simply stood
there, his natural instincts not allowing him to move at all.
“Leave them alone you — you big meanie!” the
Gelert cried in a childish fashion, sending the pant devil into hysterics.
“Meanie?! Ha! Big word there for such
a tiny Gelert-pea brain!” The blue devil laughed, quickly lunching at Harri
with all of his strength. The attack sent the unsuspecting Gelert slamming against
a tree with tremendous force. Harri could not even dodge the attack before he
realized he was on his side, his head throbbing with intense pain.
It was a relaxing feeling, Harri realized, to
simply lie there and close his eyes through the horrible pain. A screeching
cry reverberated from the clearing beside him, the unmistakable cry of a petpet
in fright.
The Gelert hastily sat up, glaring with anger
at the Pant Devil who sinisterly cackled as he picked up the panicking Splyke
by a spike. The petpet furiously tried to scratch at the Pant Devil in an attempt
to get away, but the fiend knew better and relished in the desperation of the
Splyke.
“Put him DOWN!” Harri hollered, his legs aching
as he hurtled towards the Paint Devil. The villain barely had time to look up
before the two collided; crashing down a hill, they bumped against the dirt
and rocks. Together they fell into a jumbled heap at the end of the steep hill,
both badly banged up and bruised. The two disentangled quickly, the Pant Devil
looked down at the pathetic Gelert with fury.
“OHHH! You’re going to PAY for that! Throwing
me down the hill! I’m going to finish you… after I get through with stealing
your little petpet!” the Pant Devil screeched as Harri weakly tried to get up,
but failed to do so.
“Leave them ALONE!” Harri cried, only adding
to the mirth of the fiend, which cackled in delight at the Gelert’s pain and
sorrow. This victory, however, was sort lived as a brown blur whooshed down
the hillside with an amazing speed, aligning itself with startling accuracy
at the Pant Devil’s face.
“ARGHHHHHHH!” The creature howled in agony as
the lost Splyke viciously clawed at the Pant Devil’s face in pure anger. He
managed to roughly toss the petpet off of him taking no more time than necessary
to leave the area, not intending for anymore of this fight.
Harri happily tried to thank the petpet, however
his limbs were still far too stiff for him to move. He could only offer a generous
smile at the hero, who still offered no sign of recognition nor friendship in
return. Even so, the odd little thing did not even stop to help the Gelert,
which had saved him, opting simply to disappear into the brush that lined the
area.
“No! Wait! You’ll get hurt!” Harri croaked pitifully,
unable to pursue the Splyke any longer, but he was gone… and Harri realized
that for the first time in his life, he was completely and utterly alone…
“Hedwig? Hedwig?” he cried sadly, the tears beginning
to flow down his face. Just as he had uttered these desperate calls the grass
around him gave a definite crunch of an approaching creature. His tail gave
a happy wag as Harri turned towards the sound, expecting his faithful Weewoo
to bounce out and help him along.
“Hedwig? Hmm… I must confess that I am not this
Hedwig, which you speak of, however perhaps I could be of some assistance regardless
of this,” said a creature in an amazingly polite manner. Harri strained his
blue eyes as the shape came forwards. It was obvious to him that it was not
his Weewoo, but who it was he did not know…
Before him stood an Aisha… actually, a very pretty
Aisha, Harri thought. Her fur was a marvelous shade of lilac, the type of purple
you only find during a dying sunset. Her clothes were varying shades of pink,
delicately laced together with the softest looking material Harri had ever seen.
Among the pink folds there hung fragile bottles of a rainbow of colors, while
upon her head she wore a beautiful assortment of fabric, topped off with what
looked like a golden headpiece.
“Who’re you?” Harri asked in a questionable manner,
not believing that he had ever seen anything like this Aisha in the area before.
She simply gave a knowing smile and bent down to his level while she fished
around in her robes.
“My name, well… my name is something, which I
believe is not important. However, I am known by my proper title as the High
Lady of the Forest… if that helps at all,” the Aisha said in a cryptic manner,
still fishing about in the many pockets, which encompassed her outfit. This
answer seemed only to spark more questions within Harri’s mind, which caused
it to throb intensely.
“Where are you from?” he questioned, receiving
only a delighted smile from the Aisha.
“Around here,” She simply answer, her attention
seemed more upon the vial she had produced from a leather pocket about her belt.
She uncorked the bottle and held out to the wounded Gelert. The smell, which
erupted from the container made his nose wiggle in disgust, which the Lady noted
with a frown.
“It is no good thumbing your nose at it Harri,
so I suggest you drink it,” she said stiffly as Harri opened his mouth weakly.
The content of the vial sizzled on his tongue, erupting into an odd sensation
that seemed to fly through all part of his body once he swallowed it. Instantly
he felt the soreness of his limbs ebb away in spite of his injuries, allowing
him to even stand up without horrific pain.
“Hmm, that appeared to work quicker than I expected,”
the High Lady mused, looking at the vial in a bit of surprise. Harri, however,
had his mind on another thought…
“Harri… you know my name!” Harri quipped up,
distracting the Aisha’s attention from the bottle.
“Of course dear Harri, why wouldn’t I? In any
case, let us go now, we really must be getting along,” The Aisha quipped, slowly
gathering the folds at her dress as she daintily walked down the dirty path
of the Haunted Woods.
“W-wait! We can’t go! I-I gotta find Hedwig!
HEDWWWWIGGGGGG!” Harri cried sorrowfully, looking about in a desperate manner.
It was so horribly selfish of him to simply lie there when his friend could
have been hurt, or worse! The mysterious Aisha let out a chuckle as she stopped
and walked over to the panicked Gelert with a smile.
“Your dear Hedwig is fine and is waiting for
you! The longer you dawdle, the longer she will worry. Please do not make her
wait,” the Aisha pleaded, taking Harri by a paw and leading him down the path.
This statement confused the Gelert, she seemed to speak as if she KNEW his petpet…
“Hedwig, how do you know what Hedwig is thinking?
Did you find her?!” Harri asked happily. The High Lady nodded as she looked
about the trees as she perhaps was looking for something.
“Of course, I know all the petpets, which enter
my realm, after all it is my duty,” she explained. “However, I ask you not to
worry about that for now, after all, you are a guest, my guest, I should say,
for the kindness you have bestowed.”
“Kindness?” Harri inquired, clumsily tripping
over a low branch.“I don’t quite under—”
“Nonsense! You know what you have done, and because
of that I must treat you to a gift of thanks!” she smiled. Before Harri could
protest, however, she hopped through a thick brush of bramble appearing as if
she simply vanished behind it. Harri noticed that before the bramble the odd
shapes the trees made around the area, looking particularly sinister in contrast
to the other trees found in the dark woods.
The thought of the woods completely erased form
Harri’s mind as he vanished through the bramble and found himself in perhaps
the most beautiful place he had ever been! No longer was he trapped in the horrid
Haunted Woods, but a beautiful field lined with trees all around. Here and there
a large tree would jut out from the wildflower strewn grass on the ground, while
a serene lake sat in the middle of the perfect clearing.
“Thi-this isn’t the woods!” Harri barked madly.
It was quite a contrast from the horrible nightmare, almost like night and day.
The Aisha chuckled at his confusion as she continued to walk forward without
stopping.
“You are correct, this is not the woods it is…
well it is my home. I live here in my own little grove, protecting the petpets,
which I find along the way. Most of them cannot live on their own, the petpets.
Either they had been abounded or simply too weak to survive. This is where I
come in…”
All around Harri noticed that the trees were
not alone and stark, but full of peering eyes and faces. Faellies, buzzers,
and even Weewoos all sat within the trees, staring at the visitor or simply
gambling around joyfully. A glaring light caught his eyes as he looked around,
causing him to take note of the sky.
“It’s dusk… I didn’t even see the pretty sunset,”
Harri mused aloud, sitting upon the grass in complete awe. This place, it was
simply perfect, like a place beyond the beauty, which even Faerieland could
possible grasp. The calm trickling of the pound water, the blowing of the breeze,
and the mirthful chirps and giggles of the petpets all around… it was simply
perfect in every way.
“Yes, even I still am amazed at how beautiful
this place is, even though I have lived here for so long. But you deserve to
see such a place Harri, after all the kindness you provided for that poor lost
Splyke,” the Aisha said, gently fluffing out her skirt as she sat down. The
electric Gelert sat up quickly, his ears perking up at this information.
“Yours?! You mean he belongs to you!? Is he okay?!
Is he sa—“ The Aisha put her paw on Harri’s muzzle to silence his loud talking
as she smiled, her voice much more calmer and softer than that of the Gelert’s.
“Of course, he is the one who alerted me of your
plight and your friend Hedwig who… speaking of which…” The Aisha turned distractedly
from Harri and glanced up at the nearest tree, in which a few petpets quickly
ceased their conversations. Harri noticed there seemed to be almost an invisible
bond of understanding between the pet and petpets, as she simply cast her eyes
upon them, the petpets bound off.
“In any case, I still thank you Harri for your
help. You saved that poor Splyk… he likes to run off. Not many pets would help,
it takes truly a heart of gold, such as yours to stop—,” The High Lady’s conversation
ceased as a happy cry erupted through the field as a white bobbing fluff ball
dashing towards the two.
“HEDWIG!” Harri cried, grasping his gentle little
friend with both his paws in a loving embrace. The Aisha watched with warmth
as the two friends gave a hug of true affection…
Harri turned towards the Aisha to thank her,
but it was about that time that he noticed, something about her. He could not
quite understand what it was about her, but something about her seemed beyond
comprehension…
“Ahh, it warms my heart to see you two back together,
however it is rather late and I would feel horribly selfish if you were later
in returning to your family!” the Aisha exclaimed, standing up to bask in the
glow of the setting sun.
“Yeah you’re right... I promised Linny I’d be
back by this afternoon…” Harri bit his lip nervously. “Do you know how—”
“Of course! If I remember correctly, you live
in Neopia Central. If you simply run to the edge of the grove and through these
trees you’ll enter at the edge of the Haunted Woods and the fields, which surround
the city.” At these words, the Aisha pointed to a pack of trees near the end
of the area. Harri was rather dumbstruck by the speed, which the Aisha seemed
to predict his sentence, not to mention his home. Hedwig jumped upon Harri’s
back as he started for the area, but turned towards the High Lady of the Forest
for a final question…
“Can I come back and see you?” Harri asked. The
Lady gave an omniscient sort of smile as she let a buzzer perch upon her shoulder.
“Perhaps, but I shall see you first,” the Aisha
grinned as the sun began to sink lower and lower behind her. “Now go before
your owner becomes angry.”
The Gelert gave an obedient sort of nod and dashed
towards the threes, reaching the edge of the Haunted Woods even before he realized
it…
***
“It was an Aisha!”
“Uh-uh.”
“No, really! I’m not joking!”
“Yep…”
Harri whined childishly as the Christmas Lupe
before him rolled his eyes in a peeved manner, stomping on the dirt path before
him. A mutant Cybunny and girl, which lagged behind the group both decided to
stay out of the conversation as Harri protested at his brother’s interference.
“Tahoooooossssshiiiii! She really WAS there!”
Harri cried, once again leading the way. It had been only three days since the
meeting with the mysterious Aisha, however Harri decided that it would perhaps
be a kind gesture to visit her again to offer his thanks. It did take Harri
a while to find his spot on the roads again, but once he did, he knew he was
on the way.
“Yeah, a magical grove in the Haunted Woods!
Please!” Tahoshi scoffed. Harri frowned, but knew that Tahoshi would be wrong
when he showed him what he saw! It was then that Harri saw the sinister trees
around him as well as the thick bramble wall before him. Eagerly the Gelert
tore into the bramble, keen to see his fantasy land again…however…
It was not there.
“I-it” Harri sputtered manner. Before him was no
longer the clearing, but simply a dark patch of the Haunted Woods, surrounded
with trees far to thick to penetrate.
“GREAT! Now I’m late for my training sessions,
Harri! Geez!” Tahoshi snarled, stomping off in a furious temper. The Cybunny
and owner stood quietly, watching Harri stare around the area in utter disbelief.
“But... she... I…” Harri cried franticly, digging
about him in a confused motion. Was he mad? It couldn’t be! It simply couldn’t!
It took a few minutes of consoling from the Cybunny and owner to gently coax
him away from the spot where he was still furiously twirling about.
In the thicket of bushes a mere few feet away
a Splyke peered out of the bushes apparently torn between emotions. He turned
to look at the shadowy figure behind him, as if seeing if it would refute his
action as he set a foot out of the bush to walk towards the Gelert.
“Ahh—ahh! Not now, you cannot right now,” said the
High Lady of the Forest as she walked over slowly, kneeling down beside the petpet.
It simply stared at her for a few seconds, not a single sound coming out of it
its mouth; however this was all the connection the Aisha needed, for she gave
a cheerful smile.
“You’ll get to thank him, I promise. We’ll meet
Harri again, just not now…” Once again the Splyke looked at her in a questioning
manner, and one again the Aisha smiled.
“Really, I cannot tell you when! That would ruin
the surprise,” she sighed, slowly sitting up and walking away into the shadows,
the Splyke quickly following in her wake.
The End
| 
