Sadly, Mystical gathered the wood she had collected and arranged it within
a circle of stones. She sat down, closed her eyes, cleared her mind, reached
inside herself, and focused on calling, "Fire!" When she opened her eyes, the
woodpile was consumed in roaring flames. "Ooops!" Mystical gasped as she attempted
to regain her concentration and tone down the raging fire. Eventually, she succeeded
and sat down to warm herself. Casually, she glanced over at the potion bottle.
"Hey... if this potion is able to convince one's center to induce focused sleep
rays, then maybe if I add some...." Immediately, Mystical set to work gathering
ingredients and mixing a new potion over the fire. She estimated Frisky would
sleep for about two hours, and then it would be time for a little pay back on
her Wocky friend's behalf.
In the middle of the dark night that followed, Mystical slinked through the
woods with her nose to the ground; following the scent of the Wocky and his
potions. Finally, she found him, asleep in his cart in a clearing. Mystical
and Frisky watched him through the brushes.
"Lupedog and Fwisky go getta Wockycat!" Frisky said enthusiastically.
"Shhh..." Mystical whispered to her Miamouse. "I am not a Lupe of violence."
She smiled and took out her newly created potion from a pouch around her neck.
"I hope this works." Mystical held her nose and gulped down the bottle's contents.
Her whole body tingled and she shook as if she was trying to dry wet fur. Soon,
the tingling stopped and she felt somewhat normal. She sat down and prepared
to go into her trance. Mystical then began to reach out and feel the area --
amazed at how better her control had gotten since she drank the potion! She
felt anxious and excited emotions coming from the life force of her Miamouse,
relaxed and pleased emotions coming from the sleeping Wocky, and magical vibrations
coming from the potions in his cart. She focused only on the potions, grabbed
them with her mind, and then hastily let go! They smashed immediately.
"What's going on!?" SnowyKitsune shouted as he woke abruptly.
Mystical felt a sudden stir of surprise and anger coming from the Wocky life
force. She quickly switched her focus and then reached inside herself to call
upon, "Fiery Gaze!" Snowy was frozen immediately. He could only watch helplessly
as Mystical broke her concentration, walked over to his cart, and took back
her money and prized collar. Frisky giggled and blew a raspberry at the Wocky
before hopping back on Mystical's back for their retreat. The traveling pair
felt good about themselves in the days that followed, and Mystical hid her collar
safely in the herb pouch she carried.
After two weeks of days spent almost entirely devoted to traveling, the once
thick forest began to thin before stopping to yield a large gorge. At the bottom
of the gorge was a valley, and on the other side stretched a vast mountain range.
Mystical decided to settle down here for the time being; pleasing Frisky whom
was "tiwred of all dis run-a-wound!" Mystical found a part of the gorge that
was easy to scale and a cave near the bottom that was to be their shelter for
the time being. The cave was just barely tall enough for Mystical to stand on
her hind legs, but wide enough to have a corner for sleeping, a corner for storage,
and a fire in the center.
Everyday, Mystical left the cave to explore and look for food, but she spent
most of her time experimenting with herbs and potions. She developed several
fire and earth spells and was quite proud of herself. There was plenty of room
in the valley for her to practice her gift without disturbing anything. When
evening came, Mystical would climb up to the mountains and gaze at the night
sky. Her instincts told her to lift her muzzle to the stars and let out a beautiful
song, but she refused -- she deemed it unimportant and had no desire to attract
the attention of any other Lupes. For the night, Mystical headed back to the
cave and snuggled in her bed of brushes and leaves with Frisky by her side.
***
Darkness. Swirling black darkness. At first, it was terrifying and forbidding,
but then it became soothing as it was absorbed...
"Come with me, my young one. Surrender to the darkness that holds your heart.
Without your other half, you belong to me..."
DreamyMoonz woke abruptly with a cry that was half scream and half howl. She
panted as she caught her breath; jet black fur drenched with sweat.
"Dreamy, are you okay?" asked a concerned female voice. A white Lupess
came into view; it was Dreamy's mother, MistyDreamz. Dreamy was back in her
room in her family's den. Safe.
"Yeah. I guess I sleepwalked to the river and fell in." Dreamy said with a
shrug as she attempted to act calm.
"Well, okay, then.." Misty nuzzled her daughter and then turned to leave the
room and return to her mate. Dreamy opened her mouth to ask her mother not too
leave, but it was too late. She was alone. The safety and security she had momentarily
felt had disappeared and the darkness returned. She crouched low and quivered
on the floor of her cave.
"What do you want from me?" Dreamy tearfully whispered. When she closed her
eyes, all she could think about was needing her twin sister, MysticalDreamy.
In a split second, Mystical went from a deep sleep to wide awake and rigid
as a board. The vision she had seen in her dreams was fading fast -- as most
dreams do. But was it a dream? Mystical asked herself. She shook away the vision
but couldn't rid herself of the deep feeling that somebody was calling her.
The Lupess had to squint her eyes to look around in the pitch dark cave; the
fire was long out. Everything was as she left it and Frisky was snoring peacefully.
Mystical tried to relax herself and go back to sleep, but she just couldn't.
"Maybe practicing my gift will calm me...." She thought out loud as she
sat before the fireplace. Eyes closed and mind cleared, she reached out into
the valley and into the mountains for as far as her powers could go. Mystical
then scanned for emotions and activity by focusing on different areas. Everything
seemed peaceful until she felt a sudden pang of fear and distress. THAT'S probably
why I can't sleep, she thought. The signal was too far away for Mystical to
know the species or situation the life form was in; she only knew that it needed
help. Frisky curiously opened one eye just in time to see the end of the Lupess
tail whisk out of the cave.
Mystical galloped through the valley with no idea where her magical instincts
were leading her. She soon found herself in the mountainous region. As she scaled
a narrow mountain path, the scent of another Neopian greeted her nose. It wasn't
a species she had encountered before, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary
either. Mystical turned a corner and found a small cave in the mountainside
in which a soft crying was coming from. She stepped inside and came face-to-face
with a young Skeith.
"Ummm... hello, there..." Mystical said in an attempt to be friendly. The
Skeith whimpered in fear, but then, all of a sudden, attained a tough-guy attitude
and let out an adolescent growl. Mystical smiled and was just thinking about
how she pictured Skeiths larger when she felt a HUGE disturbance behind her
and warm air breathing on her back. Slowly, she turned around to see a VERY
large and VERY angry mother Skeith. She swallowed and tried to back away slowly.
"H-hello... N-nice mountains, aren't they?"
The Skeith mother roared and began to approach Mystical with fangs bared. Mystical
was so terrified that she couldn't concentrate enough to call on her abilities.
Well, I think my journey went OK, she thought as she trembled. She looked down
at her paws, waiting to become Skeith chow, but then she noticed something strange.
Her paws were glowing! In fact, her whole body was glowing a pale yellow! Especially
the spot on her forehead where her unicorn horn once was. Mystical had just
started to comprehend this when...
To be continued... | 
