"Good morning, Luperusse," Skeithena, a yellow Skeith,
said pleasantly to her younger Lupe brother Luperusse.
"Morning, Skeithena," Luperusse muttered back
grumpily. The Jhudora ex-slave was always grumpy in the morning. "Where'd Sharon
go?" he added.
Skeithena waved a grubby piece of paper before
Luperusse. "She left us a note, see. She's going to be away all day (well, most
of the day, anyway) at the Games Room..." Her voice trailed off as Luperusse
grabbed the note.
It read:
Dear L&S,
We don't have any money left in our bank,
unfortunately; we spent it all on Snow Wars yesterday...hmph, we didn't even
get any trophies for it either! I'm going to be out most - or all - of the day
at the Games Room playing Meerca Chase, Extreme Herder, and games like that
to get enough NP to buy some food for you.
I'm sorry, you two, but there's no food in
the refrigerator, as you've probably noticed. Luperusse, please fly over to
the Giant Omelette in Tyrannia in order to get some Omelette for your breakfast.
You can have one bite, your sister have one, and when I come back I'll have
a bite too!
As for you, Skeithena, kindly go to the Tombola,
Fruit Machine and Coltzan's Shrine (It's your turn to go to the Shrine today,
as you know).
When you have done your job(s), go back to
the Neohome and wait for your sibling. If anything happens to you (I hope not...),
go to the nearest shop or building as soon as you can and send a Neomail to
the Neohome.
Love and thanks,
Sharon
P.S. Please make sure that you've locked the
door securely before you leave - I don't want any hackers in the house stealing
all the furniture, or maybe even putting you in the pound.
"I'm hungry!" complained Luperusse. "And she's
telling me I have to go all the way to Tyrannia..."
"Well Luperusse, guess what. I'm hungry too.
So c'mon, let's go!" cried Skeithena.
***
"Good morning, Mr. Tombola Man!" Skeithena greeted the Tombola Man.
"Ah, good morning to you too, little Skeith,"
the Tombola Man answered cheerfully. "Welcome to my Tombola! Great prizes to
be won, just put your claw in, pick up a Tombola ticket, and see what prize
you win. Anything ending with a 0, 2 or 5 is a winner! You can play the Tombola
once per day. Please do not create multiple accounts in order to play the Tombola,
the Chia Police says that they'll freeze - also known as arrest - people we
see doing this because it's cheating!"
"Yes, yes, Mr. Tombola Man," said Skeithena,
wearily. "Here goes...," she muttered. She put her claw into the Tombola box,
and drew out a ticket.
#143
The Tombola Man shrugged. "Aww, young Skeith,
I'm very sorry - you're a loser. Good luck next time though, and I'll give you
a Booby Prize, now!"
"Thank you sir," said Skeithena gratefully, taking
the Plain Faerie Cake.
"Wait! Little Skeith!" the Tombola Man called
out. "You're a very polite little Neopian, miss, and I am feeling rather
sorry for you. Come on, here's three hundred and nineteen Neopoints!" he added,
and tossed Skeithena a bag of Neopoints.
Skeithena smiled. At least she'd be able to give
Skeithena three hundred NP. "Thanks again, Mr. Tombola Man! I'm very grateful!"
***
"What are you doing, taking so long here?" hissed Sabre-X at Luperusse, who
was pawing around the Giant Omelette for a slice with Sausage on it, as he used
to do when he was a stray Lupe.
"I'm looking for Sausage Omelette," Luperusse
replied, none too politely. In the days when Luperusse was ownerless, Sabre-X
and he were old enemies, even though Sabre-X didn't recognise him right now.
"Is that a crime, may I ask?"
Sabre-X didn't answer his question, but sat down
and said, "You remind me of someone I knew a few months ago, young Lupe!" Luperusse
looked blank, so the prehistoric Lupe continued, "Is your name...Luperusse,
by chance?"
"Yes." Luperusse's Lupish face showed no expression,
no expression at all.
Then suddenly, Sabre-X bared his fangs. "Oh,
so you're that rude little brat Luperusse! Get out of here!"
The prehistoric Lupe was a strong Lupe, but Luperusse
was still a little stronger. Although Sharon did not have many Neopoints, Luperusse
had grown gradually stronger and stronger when he was a stray, because he had
been fending for himself all the time, with no owner to take care of him.
The Omelette Supervisor sprung at Luperusse as
though he was a Tonu, and his hard, sharp tusks cut into Luperusse's side. The
young Lupe gave a pained howl, but saw his chance.
He grabbed Sabre-X's tusks and swung him round
and round as though he was a feather. Neopians all around the Giant Omelette
came to stop and stare.
"Why, what on Neopia is that purple Lupe
doing?" a white Kougra cried, pointing his paw in their direction.
"That purple Lupe must be an ally of the evil,
noxious, horrible Jhudora!" a pink Uni squealed, overexcited, watching
as Luperusse knocked Sabre-X out.
"Neopians, Neopians, what is all this fuss about?"
A quiet yet strong voice rang out. It was Kyruggi, the Grand Elder of Tyrannia.
She was a yellowish-orangey Kyrii. The crowd parted for the respected Kyrii
to pass.
Then her bottle green eyes were on the knocked-out
Sabre-X - and, of course, Luperusse. "Lupe, what have you done?" the old Kyrii
cried. "What have you done to my good friend Sabrey!"
Luperusse nearly laughed aloud at the name 'Sabrey',
but fortunately for him, he controlled himself. "Uh, s-sorry, Miss Kyruggi -
I mean, ma'am," he stuttered, "Mr. Sabre was rude to me, see, and I - um, I
couldn't c-control my t-t-t-temper!"
Kyruggi advanced on Luperusse, ignoring the noise
of the huge crowd that had gathered around the Omelette. "Oh, so you couldn't
control your temper, eh, eh? Now, young Lupe, has it ever occurred to you how
difficult poor Sabrey's job can be?"
"Oh for Shankly's sake," said Luperusse impatiently,
"it can't be that hard to watch people take slices of Omelette every
day, can it? I mean, just sitting there and shouting at pets who just want to
get their favourite Omelette type, it's not a difficult job!"
Oops. Luperusse had said the wrong thing. Kyruggi
bared her long fangs and screamed, "Sabrey has to work almost twenty-four
hours a day, barely getting any sleep! It's not surprising that he has a bit
of a bad temper, he doesn't get a lot of time to even go in his Neohome for
a rest or anything!"
"Okay, okay..." Luperusse muttered, but Kyruggi
was not finished yet.
"If you think that's so easy," she screeched,
"you go and take care of the Omelette in place of Sabrey! Let's see how you
feel after a week!"
"Sorry Kyruggi, I don't think it's so
easy!" Luperusse said quickly. "Please ma'am, let me go back to my Neohome!
My owner's worried about me! I'm genuinely sorry!" he added, sounding like he
wasn't sorry at all, just anxious to get home.
"I don't care!" hollered Kyruggi. "I'll send
them a NeoMail if you like."
Luperusse told her Sharon's username, and Kyruggi
took out a Bendy Yellow Pencil (and paper, of course) and began to write:
Dear Miss Sharon,
I am sorry to say that your NeoPet Luperusse
has knocked Sabre-X of Tyrannia out, and has been rude to me. I will keep him
with me for a week, to teach him a lesson.
If you don't believe me, come here to the
Town Hall to see me. Please, only come to the Town Hall once, as Luperusse should
not see you.
He will not send letters to you either; only
I will. Sabre-X does not have family and so does not send letters. Luperusse
will not either, this week. Do not try to send him mails either. However, feel
free to send messages to me instead.
Miss Sharon, I am very sorry for the inconvenience.
Please teach your Luperusse to be better behaved in future - for his own good.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Kyruggi
Grand Elder of Tyrannia
"Great, really great!" said Luperusse, who had
been looking over the Kyrii's shoulder. "I'm not even allowed to send letters
to my family!"
Kyruggi merely said, "Sabrey does not do so either"
and left the Plateau.
Luperusse was about to run away when he saw Kyruggi
talking to Grarrg, the Tyrannian Battlemaster, out of the corner of his eye.
He sighed, and sat down.
He could tell that the fierce Grarrl Battlemaster
was going to keep a very close eye on him.
To be continued...
What do you think about Part One? How can it be improved? Please go ahead
and send me a mail about it! Feel free to send me comments, complaints, angry
Neomails, questions, and any other type of feedback via NeoMail! Thanks
loads and have a nice day! | 
