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The three pets couldn't remember clearly the last time they
had seen their owner.
"Is that a bad thing?" Flueriel the blue Gelert
asked anxiously, cocking her head to the side as she looked at her brother.
"All I know is I'm starving," Devil_the_wolf_2
growled sadly.
"Me too," Annalisaca whimpered. To signify her
point, the yellow JubJub's little stomach growled loudly.
Anna, Devil and Flueriel had been shut in their
one-roomed Neohome for most of their lives. Their owner hadn't come to check
up on them, play with them or even feed them since Annalisaca was born. The
day this story begins, they were getting into a state of panic as they had just
eaten the last piece of omelette.
"We have to do something," Devil decided. As
the oldest, he tried to put a brave face on the situation, and not let his sisters
see how helpless he felt himself. The blue Lupe surveyed his bushy tail, frowning,
then turned back to them. What he really needed was a good brushing.
"What do we do?" Flueriel sniffed. She was glad
she couldn't see herself, her eyes were sunken and her long ears drooping miserably
by her side. Her ribcage was clearly visible through her soft, dirty blue coat.
"What can we do?"
Devil had been wondering this for some time.
"I ... I remember one thing about Owner," he struggled to recall, "I remember
going to the Soup Kitchen."
Annalisaca, who was the youngest, looked puzzled.
"What's dat?" she inquired curiously, ignoring her loudly complaining stomach.
She had never been outside of the house (which was kept locked tightly), unlike
the other two who had been out twice in their lives, to collect a donation from
the Money Tree, and to be fed from the Soup Kitchen.
Flueriel seemed to remember, "The Soup Kitchen.
Is that the place with the big tree? And the crowds of Neopets, all crawling
over each other in a big pile?"
"No, that's the Money Tree. The Soup Kitchen
has that big cauldron, filled with delicious steaming soup and the nice faerie
who give you that fuzzle," Devil said, raising slowly with a triumphant look
on his face due to the fact that he had remembered the only act of kindness
he had ever witnessed from a stranger.
The blue Gelert looked at Anna, who was hugging
the orange fuzzle that the Soup Faerie had given her. She'd passed it on to
Annalisaca because it was the only toy in the house, and it seemed fitting that
the youngest sibling should have a toy. "Let's go then," she said simply. She
could almost feel the warmth of food in her skinny stomach.
They collected their few Neopoints and somehow
got out of the locked house. They started to walk in the direction they thought
the Soup Kitchen was in, taking one last look at the place they had called home
their whole lives. A small Vernax infested one-roomed building somewhere in
the poorer district of Neopia.
Annalisaca had never seen her home from the
outside. If she had stayed in the Neolodge, it might have slightly reminded
her of the Cockroach Towers (which was all they could afford on their extremely
small budget). The paint was peeling on the front door, the one window was smashed
and the shards of glass littered the sidewalk.
They attracted strange looks, a Lupe, Gelert
and a little Jubjub dragging an orange fuzzle, all limping slowly towards some
unknown destination.
"What if they ask us Owner's name?" Annalisaca
asked cheerfully, almost giddy at the thought of food. All she'd ever eaten
were a few Tombola prizes and flavorless omelettes.
"Esme13," said Devil_the_Wolf_2 immediately.
"Poobear255," Flueriel said at exactly the same
time.
They stopped and looked at each other. Anna
was looking scared. "W-what's Owner's name?"
They decided on Esbear13, and continued. The
yellow Jubjub watched something and started to giggle to herself.
"What's so funny?" Devil asked with a raised
eyebrow.
"Teehee, nuffing!" Anna chuckled. Devil shook
his head and exchanged a smile with Flueriel. This was what he had dreamed of.
They were outside, smiling and being happy.
Anna laughed at something again, with a strange
expression on her young face.
"What now?!"
"I saw somefing! He was all grey and funny looking!"
she giggled.
"Don't laugh at people, it's rude," Flueriel
said quietly, lost in her own happy thoughts.
Without warning, a large ghost loomed in front
of them. It was translucent and wispy at the edges, like a cloud. Anna started
tittering again, "There he is!" Before Flueriel could scream, 20 of their precious
Neopoints were snatched away and heading towards the Money Tree.
"What happened?" said Anna, looking suddenly
confused.
"Quick! He headed this way! Hurry!" Devil shouted,
and they bounded after the speedy white blur, as fast as their sore feet could
carry them. They skidded to a halt at the edges of a huge crowd and the ghost
bobbed out of site with an evil cackle. They could just see the tip of the famous
Money Tree brushing the sky.
After a few confused moments they wove their
way through the crowd. There were about a dozen ghosts stealing and donating
Neopoints, and the rest were crazed owners and pets grabbing what they could,
except for a few of the heroic role model types who were donating.
"It's gone," Flueriel said sadly, "we might
try to get something else though." 20 Neopoints was a lot of money to them.
Devil pounced on a bag of Neopoints, and growled
loudly at anyone coming close, prepared to fight for a measly 15 Neopoints.
But then it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing between his paws
but an empty little bag.
Annalisaca sat and watched the chaos around
her with interest. Never having been outside her house in her entire life, it
was a strange experience. A purple Buzz was humming a Twisted Roses song softly
to himself, thinking nobody heard him. A Faerie Meerca and silver Shoyru were
playing tag, but the Shoyru kept cheating and flying out of his friend's grasp.
She saw a young girl with a beautiful Usul by her side. They dropped a heavy
bag, which nobody seemed to notice. Curiously, Anna waddled over and picked
it up with one foot. Inside it was 2000 Neopoints! Anna had never seen so much
in her life.
Flueriel and Devil rushed over and hugged her,
while Anna searched for the mysterious girl who had given her the Neopoints.
She had gone.
"Okay, team, let's keep going," Devil ordered.
His constantly nagging hunger was making him the teeniest bit grouchy.
"I don't think I can make it," Flueriel whispered.
She licked her swelling paws.
"Me either," Annalisaca said. "I'm too hungwy!"
Devil looked at the newly acquired money, then
at the two girls. He sighed, knowing what he had to do. "I'll be right back."
He tripped his way towards the shops. He hadn't
wanted to leave his sisters by themselves, defenseless in their weak state,
so he hurried along looking to buy something for them all to eat. The first
shop he came to was The Health Food Shop. He sniffed the air, and decided it
didn't smell that bad so he wandered in.
"EEEEK!! What's this? A dirty Lupe getting mud
all over my clean floors! Out!" and a green Quiggle cradling a carrot shooed
Devil out, tutting and shaking his head.
Devil the Wolf growled, his pride hurt, and
left the shop, wandering down the street looking for somewhere else. One shop
stood out like it had disco lights in it's windows. The Food Shop! What a great
name! He bounded over and flew through the door, bowling over a woman with an
eye patch.
"Arrr. What ye be in such a hurry fur, matey?"
she said kindly, looking at the starving Lupe.
"Uh sorry, uh ... matey ... I haven't eaten
in a ... while. I'm a bit hungry you see."
The woman chuckled at the Lupe's strange behavior.
She patted him softly and walked out of the shop, looking back only once.
Devil_the_wolf_2 grabbed everything in sight.
He was in heaven! Sushi rolls, cheeseburgers, peaches and cheese, all the smells
of the different food made him nervous that he was going to drool all over it.
After he had picked up as much as he could, he rushed to a Chia with an apron
on.
"Where is your owner, little one?" the Chia
said, a bit cautious of all Lupes. Devil had never learnt to hunt Chia, so he
wasn't a threat to the pudgy yellow fellow with the chef's hat on.
"I don't know," Devil answered truthfully.
"Well, sorry, only owners can spend Neopoints
in the shops," it said, walking away quickly to the next customer.
Devil walked outside with his tail between his
legs, the very image of defeat. He saw the strange pirate girl.
"Arrrr. No luck?" she said.
"No luck," he sighed, "my owner seems to have...
gone." What was he going to tell the others? They were relying on him to save
the day.
"I think I have an idea," she said with a twinkle
in her eye. She lead Devil towards the Adoption Center.
To be continued…
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