All was well at the Lupe pack grounds; the sun was shining, the sky was cloudless,
and nothing very wrong had happened in months. Years even. The pack was at the
peak of its population, and lead by a fire Lupess, who had proven to be very
wise and a good leader.
One of the Beta Lupes, Narcissa, wished she could say the same. Her day was
not going well at all. Her pup, Alabaster, was missing, gone without a trace.
She had searched everywhere… she had looked by the river, in her den, and all
through the surrounding forest. Narcissa had even gotten her Kougra friend,
Chenni, to search the trees for Alabaster, though how a stone Lupe pup could
get up a tree was anyone's guess. After three days, Narcissa was frantic. She
got help from her friend, Jenna:
"Jenna, I really need your help." Jenna, who had just woken up, was not very
happy to be enlisted.
"What did you say, Narcissa? It's two in the morning… Can I go back to bed?"
"No," said Narcissa, "It's urgent. Alabaster is gone!" Jenna, still not completely
awake, said "Well, maybe she just went out exploring… she'll be back in half
an hour, trust me on this."
"Jenna, she's been gone for three days! I'm really worried!"
"Oh, oh-kay. I'll get up…" obviously not wanting to, the white Lupess got
to her feet. "Although I still say she just went exploring. You know how Alabaster
is. Where did you see her last?"
"She went through the woods, on the west side."
"Okay, we search that side…" with a yawn, she limped over to that side of
the forest, Narcissa close behind.
The two Lupesses searched the woods even more than ever, calling out Alabaster's
name. They had no avail, and saw a forest glade that would be cool and a good
spot to rest for a while.
"Jenna, is it just me, or is there a pile of Gingerbread Lupe Treats over
on that rock?"
Narcissa, ravenous, did not wait for her friend's reply, and ran over with
Jenna on her heels. They both reached the stone at about the same time, when
there was a loud cackle… Jenna, frightened, did not know what to think.
"Um, Narcissa, is it just me, or did that come from over behind that bush?"
She looked around, and didn't see Narcissa.
"Narcissa?"
She felt a paw on her shoulder, and, thinking it was Narcissa, turned around…
she screamed when she saw instead the distorted face of a very angry Wocky.
Jenna's scream didn't last long, it was cut short by a blast of Faerie Fog in
her face, and she soon lost consciousness.
When Jenna woke up, she was in a room full of cages. She was in one of them,
and wasn't too happy about it. Clawing at the bars, trying to pick the lock
with her Lupe Moon Charm, and biting the lock had no effect on the strong cage.
Jenna was pretty well stuck. All of a sudden, she heard Narcissa's voice. Narcissa
was not sounding too thrilled.
"Welcome to the caverns of the Lupe Collector," said Narcissa, "That was the
Wocky. Things are not looking good."
"Why?" asked Jenna, puzzled.
"Well, do you know where the molds for chocolate Lupes come from?" Jenna didn't
have an answer to that.
"Well, on the good side, now we know where Alabaster is…" muttered Narcissa.
"Only I really wish I didn't."
Alabaster was in the cage next to Jenna, and looked knocked out. In the other
numerous cages, there were other Lupes… Faerie, Stone, White, Skunk, Fire, Starry,
the list had no end. All of them were looking terrified, angry, or just plain
confused, except for one that looked cynical. It was a starry Lupe, and it seemed
he knew what was happening.
"Not that it matters," said the starry Lupe, "I was in the pound so long it
doesn't matter…. I was plain red, then this collector guy comes along and paints
me, tells me what he's gonna do, and locks me up. I tried fighting, of course,
I'm a fighter, but that didn't work at all. It just took a little longer to
get me in." He lay down, and sighed. It was obvious he had been here for a while.
Jenna was confused. Why would someone capture Lupes to use as candy molds? It
seemed very stupid to die because some brat wanted chocolate, at least it seemed
sot to Jenna, and she got an idea.
She looked over at Narcissa, and Narcissa looked back.
"No," said Narcissa, who had guessed what she was thinking, "no chance. I
WILL NOT do this, Jenna. There is nothing you can do to make me."
"Pleeeeeease?" asked Jenna, adding a sniffle at the end for good measure.
"NO! It won't work, Jenna."
"How can you be sure of that?"
"NO!"
"Oh, come on, Narcissa. Don't be stupid."
"I'm not daft, Jenna. That's why I won't agree to let you pick the lock with
one of my hairpins."
"Come on, Narcissa! You wear more hairpins than any other Lupess I know. Well,
that could be because of the desert thing, but still."
"Oh, all RIGHT, Jenna. If it will help your mood to get on with this silly
little fantasy then I'll let you." Narcissa handed her a hairpin, and sat down
again in a huff.
Jenna took the hairpin, stuck it in the lock, and the door opened.
"Oh," said Narcissa sheepishly, "Maybe it wasn't so silly."
"Well, how about that." It was the Starry Lupe. "If you let me go instead
of her, I'll show you the way out."
Jenna was disgusted. "Why not just let both of you, and all the rest, out?"
The Lupe sighed. "Oh, come on. Hardly any of them are even painted!"
"And your point is…?"
He looked shocked. "Why, surely painted pets are of more value than the unpainted!
Come on, just let me out!" He looked around. "Wait, how about you let me AND
your little friends out? They're both painted." In the end, a procession of
Lupes crawled down the heating vent. There were all colours… except starry.
In the room, a lone star Lupe was left, howling.
"LET ME OUT! THEY'VE ESCAPED, ALL OF THEM!" he yelled.
A Grundo guard called down, "Yeah. Sure, we'll let you out. As soon as we
are quite done with you, that is. We don't want to lose a perfectly good Lupe."
The guard turned, and muttering to himself, said, "IF I weren't as careful,
we'd lose all of them!"
The End | 
