Grippaw's Glade...
Al is not the only Lupologist in Neopia...
Cybil P. Antigoni was a quiet, timid little
Cybunny, born and raised in Neopia Central. She was a professional Lupologist,
most of her research being for a new Lupe shampoo for the Usukaki Grooming Company.
Day in and day out, Cybil worked hard on discovering the perfect chemical combination
for the smoothest, silkiest Lupe hair possible.
She spent years of her life cooped up in the
laboratory research facilities, exposing herself to countless amounts of chemicals
that often made her sickly and disoriented. Because of this, she developed poor
eyesight that required her to wear abnormally thick glasses. And, because of
this affliction, she was forced to quit her job.
But Cybil was glad. She hated the stuffy old
factories with the cruel, older scientists who always called her 'Junior' and
'Amateur'. She never really wanted to sit and test chemicals on Lupe hair all
day long. After long days in the Usukaki laboratories, she would sit down in
her apartment and read books about things other than Lupe shampoo...
She'd read about Paranormal Lupology.
Cybil had a terrible encounter when she was
young. It may have actually happened, it may have been a dream. But no one really
knows.
She claimed to have seen her little sister be
abducted by Alien Lupes.
Although no one believed her, the little sister,
Margy, had been lost for years, and not a trace of her had been found. Since
then, Cybil had begun to believe in the unbelievable, and explored the realms
of the unknown, hoping to find a way to get her sister back from where she was
taken...
Her bookshelves were packed with fictional and
nonfictional accounts of paranormal activity within the Lupe world. Volumes
about Alien Lupes, who, according to the books, abducted Neopians to conduct
tests and eventually take over the universe. Vampire Lupes, who drained the
blood from Chias and flew across the sky at night. Ghost Lupes, who haunted
those they sought revenge against and were more bark than bite. Lupe witches
and wizards, who had amazing spells that defied logic and proportion. And, most
terrifying of all, the frighteningly strong Werelupes, who were born under the
full moon.
Cybil knew that these kind of creatures didn't
dwell in the city like Neopia Central. They roamed more secretive, quieter places.
If she wanted to find out more about them, as well as the other kinds of Lupes,
she'd have to go to new and different places.
Places like Grippaw's Glade...
***
Cybil scurried through the heavy rain as she tried to navigate through the
almost pitch-black darkness of the deep woods. Her absurdly thick oval-shaped
glasses were covered in raindrops, and her lab coat was stained with mud, as
well as the large purple suitcase she could barely carry. But what really made
Cybil miserable was the fact fur was soaking wet, right after she had styled
it with the special bottle of gel that her co-workers had given her for a farewell
gift.
She sniffled, stopping to sit down in a slightly
covered area beneath a large, leafy tree and landing in a puddle. Cybil was
too wet to even notice, and wiped off her glasses so she could get a good look
around the huge forest she had decided to live in.
Empty. Not one creature in sight.
She nodded, then threw open her suitcase to
check on her supplies.
"Chemicals…dry. Clothes…dry. Food…" She pulled
out a dripping carrot. "Wet, but that's okay."
She nibbled off a hunk as she stared out at
the tall trees and green grasses that made Grippaw's Glade what it was. Although
it was pouring, Cybil could see that it was a very beautiful habitat, and could
understand why so many Lupes decided to live there.
She chewed thoughtfully for a moment. The carrot
tasted a little funny. She needed dip. She was about to reach into her suitcase
for a large tub of ranch dressing when there was a rustling in the bushes. Cybil's
Cybunny instincts flared, and she dodged behind the tree. Her long ears went
rigid as she listened.
Another rustle.
Cybil frowned. Her white, delicate paw carefully
pulled a black bottle of liquid from her large collection of chemicals before
she took a deep breath and gathered her courage.
"Who's there?" She challenged.
There was no response. Simply the rain pouring
down from above, and the wind howling from the west. Cybil shivered as a droplet
of water dripped off her nose and onto the ground.
Another rustle, louder this time. And much closer.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her paw tightly around the bottle, removing
the cork stopper.
Suddenly, something leapt out of the bushes!
Cybil dodged just in the nick of time as a huge,
monstrous creature landed right where she had been waiting. She got onto her
paws and splashed the contents of the bottle at the creature, splashing it right
on target in the face. It yowled in agony, swiping at the air and slashing the
Cybunny across the face with a long, sharp claw.
Cybil leapt into the air and, with a yell, kicked
the creature back into the bushes. She heard his large body thump against the
ground, and a muffled groan.
Everything fell silent.
The Cybunny shook mud off her lab coat and fixed
her glasses, reaching into her suitcase and producing a tape recorder. Her paws
trembled as a pair of glowing red eyes became visible in the darkness, and a
low growl indicated that the creature in the bushes had recovered.
"L-l-lupologists l-log, 48334... I have discovered...a
Werelupe"
Cybil gasped as the Werelupe slowly rose from
the bushes, releasing a long, anguished howl as he closed in on the Cybunny,
eyes glowing with rage. The corners of his black lips curled into a sneer as
he backed Cybil up against a short tree.
That's when Cybil suddenly and unexpectedly
smiled.
As the Werelupe took on a confused look, she
released the branch she had been bending back with her paw, and with a sound
like a cracking whip, it smacked right into the Werelupe's face. He yelped,
falling down hard and hitting his head on a rock with a sickening clunk.
The clouds began to clear as the rain abruptly
stopped. A slight beam of light from the full moon shone through the parting
clouds, illuminating the Werelupe's grotesque features. He wasn't dead, but
he was definitely out cold. Cybil brushed a few leaves out of her ruff before
reaching into her lab coat and pulling out the miraculously unharmed tape recorder.
"The Lupe has been subdued."
She paused a moment, staring at the Werelupe
Its chest heaved up and down in ragged breaths, indicating it was still breathing.
"I didn't kill it, which is most likely a good
sign. Now testing Formula B..."
Cybil reached into her dirt-stained lab coat
and pulled out a bottle marked with a messily-drawn B, filled with a strange,
silver powder. Pressing her glasses up on her face, she kneeled down beside
the Werelupe, opened up the bottle, shook a tiny bit of the powder into her
dainty paw, and gently sprinkled it over each closed eyelid. She held her breath
as she waited. No obvious changes came over the knocked-out Werelupe
Five minutes passed until something strange
began to happen.
The shaggy, blackish-brown hair of the Werelupe
began to shorten into a more tidier, short black haircut. Under the closed eyelids,
the red eyes turned blue, and in the lungs, the hoarse, rough rasping became
a soft, gentle breathing. The fangs melted away, the entire body began to shrink,
and the claws on the once large and menacing paws became little more than trimmed
nails.
Cybil smiled. After unsuccessfully testing formula
A on another Werelupe with somewhat gruesome results, she had achieved success
with only the second try. Cybil thought that it must have been a world record.
With a startled gasp, the once menacing Werelupe
awoke, his face a mask of confusion, pain, and fear.
"Oh dear...Oh dear dear dear...w-w-where am
I..." He stuttered, grasping his paws together and sitting upright in a rather
timid, unsure manner.
Cybil smiled. "Oh, nothing, just a little sleepwalking.
But boy, did you walk far, all the way out here to Grippaw's Glade?"
"GRIPPAW'S GLADE?!?"
The Lupe yelped and leapt onto his feet, his
paws now trembling and his eyes twitching.
"My word!! Ww-w-were there any Werelupes about?"
"No, sir...not anymore."
He took two nervous looks around his shoulders
before slightly relaxing, giving the Lupologist a shaky grin.
"Well, erm, thank you, Miss..."
He paused to read the name tag attached to her
front coat pocket.
"...Cybil mam...I'm afraid I must be going back
to Meridell now, I suspect that my mother is worried sick, and I myself am feeling
a bit under the weather...toodles..."
"All right then! Take care now!"
She quickly shook his paw and nodded. The Lupe
nodded back before swiftly dashing out of the glade, looking as though he was
being chased by ghosts and completely oblivious to the horror he had caused
moments ago.
Cybil checked her tape recorder. Still running.
She pulled it from her pocket and spoke into it so she could hear herself much
more clearly.
"When shaking paws with the Lupe, I planted
a tracking device upon his upper arm. Although I am confident the new medication
has worked, I must carefully monitor the Werelupe's activity until I can be
confident he is completely cured. Thus ends the Lupologist's Log, Experiment
56..."
Cybil turned off the tape recorder and sighed,
striding back over to her suitcase and pulling out a small mirror, plucking
twigs from her eyelashes.
"It'll take months to get all these burs out
of my fur... I'm going to need a bath..."
The End | 
