Celest the Magic Lupe

by _ana_

The Lupe and the Witch

Anna was a small girl with a kind heart. She had long, dark, brown hair and dark brown eyes, and she wore a black dress and a purple cloak every day. She was, of course, a witch. You wouldn't expect a witch to live in Neopia, but there she was, sitting on the grass next to her pet Lupe. Today, however, wasn't such a good day for the both of them.

"Oh, Celest," Anna said to the Lupe, "I can't afford a single bit of food! All the stores are sold out and all the second-hand shops sell items that are so expensive! I can't get any decent food for you..." Celest the Lupe snuggled close to Anna. "It's all right," Celest said, "I've grown rather fond of the Soup Kitchen." Now, Celest was no ordinary Lupe, just like Anna was no ordinary girl! Celest was a golden-yellow Lupe with a bit of a white splotch on the tip of her tail, just like a fox. The same kind of splotches tipped her ears also. But the most magnificent thing about Celest was the star on her forehead! In the dark of night, it shone brighter than any star in the sky. For this reason, Celest was said to be the only Lupe of her kind, and that is just what this story is about: Celest, the Magic Lupe!

That night, after another small meal of chicken soup at the Soup Kitchen, Anna and Celest went into the woods to their little cabin. While Anna made a fire, Celest went out and searched for Chias. This was what she did every night to practice, since they couldn't afford Chia dolls, and definitely not Chocolate Chias. So she went out and hunted live Chias, which she brought back and took to the Pound in exchange for Neopoints. And that was how Anna and Celest made their money.

Celest hummed a little tune to herself as she sniffed around for signs of Chias. Suddenly, she smelled something she couldn't recognize. "Hmm," she said quietly, "not a Chia. Uni? No. Shoyru? No. Maybe a Gelert? Hmm, no. It smells...it smells...like...me!" This made Celest very curious, so she decided to follow the trail of whatever animal it was that she had smelled. Up ahead, she could see a faint light, like the glow of a fire. The scent grew stronger, until there were bunches of the same kind of scent. "Could it be a Lupe? A pack of them, maybe?" she asked herself. Maybe, she thought, because these Lupes kind of smelled familiar. This scent was just like her own kind. Then she saw them: A pack of different-colored Lupes, all with a different shape on their foreheads. Some had spots, some had their feet covered in light fur. All of them looked somewhat like Celest!

One of a Kind No More

Celest the Magic Lupe hid in a bush and peeked through the leaves to see the mysterious Lupes gathered around a fire. She had never seen another Lupe like her, and definitely not an entire pack of them! She wasn't one of a kind anymore.

A large male Lupe with white fur and a lightening bolt-shape on his forehead stepped onto a large bright rock in the middle of the pack. The bright rock illuminated his serious face. Celest cocked her head. She seemed to know him. And yet, she had never seen him before. He was very handsome anyhow. He looked like he was the leader of the pack, but it looked as if he had no mate. Curious, Celest pricked up her ears in hopes of finding out something more.

"Friends! I have asked you here to discuss the disappearance of Star, my mate!" said the Lupe on the rock. There were many whispers among the others. "I heard she wandered off for another mate!" said an elderly Lupe. "I heard she was murdered!" said a little blue Lupe. The Leader Lupe looked impatient. He tapped on the rock three times with his claws. "SILENCE!" he shouted over the noise, "I will not have any more silly rumours spreading about!" A handsome young Lupe with green fur stepped forward. "Galilobo, if I may interrupt," he started politely, "I saw Star on the night she was said to have disappeared. She seemed to be under a trance. A black Lupe was--" He stopped abruptly, for a look of wariness had come over the Leader's face. "Shadow..." said Galilobo, so quietly that Celest hardly heard him at all. Quiet gasps and whispers were heard. "But Shadow was banished from here long ago! He could not have returned unless..." said someone. "Yes," said Galilobo regretfully. Celest had had just about enough. All of this talk of a black Lupe was scaring her. It seemed to scare everyone else too. But Celest was not a Lupe to scare easily. That black Lupe must be terribly powerful and evil, thought Celest, if it scares me so much!

"We must plan a search!" said Galilobo loudly. "But Galilobo," said the green Lupe, "Star does not have any memory of us! If we were to find her, she would not know who she was!" At that very moment, a little pink Lupe crawled out from under her mother and into the middle of the circle. "I saw her!" she cried, though she wasn't very loud, "I saw Star!" More whispering occured. "Shhh!" said Galilobo, "Let the little one speak!" "She was with a witch!" said the little Lupe, "But the witch called her Celest! She had a star on her forehead!" Celest gasped and struggled around in the bush. Suddenly, she was out in the open!

Everyone stared at her, sprawled out on the ground. But she noticed that they weren't really looking at her. They were looking at the star on her forehead. Galilobo gave one look at Celest and leaped from the rock. The rest of the Lupes cleared away. Celest got up and sat in front of Galilobo, not daring to look into his eyes. She felt so awkward, but yet, she felt like she belonged here next to Galilobo. She stared at the ground. She thought: Am I really Star? The mate of Galilobo? Or am I just dreaming all of this? But none of the answers came to her mind.

To be continued...