The Four Lost NeoPets

by Nara

Part 2

Nearly five minutes had passed when Grolth decided to call a halt. She cocked her head, listening, while the others trotted up behind her. The Wocky didn't hear anything chasing them. She told this to her sisters.

"Good," said Arwen, panting. Grolth suddenly realized how hard it must be to run on two hooves.

"Does anyone have any idea where we are?" Keriana wondered.

"I'm not sure," Grolth replied.

"We can't go back the way we came, and that's the only way I know."

"Great," Greenleaf remarked sarcastically. They sat in silence for a minute. Grolth stared out into the forest, trying to figure out exactly how far they had run.

"Not like it matters," she thought.

"It's not safe to go back, even though I can't hear the forest spook anymore. Now that I think about it, it's awfully quiet out hear for late afternoon…." Grolth sat up suddenly.

"What is it?" asked Arwen.

"It's too quiet," Grolth answered. THUMP.

"What was that?" wondered Keriana nervously.

"It came from over there," Grolth said quietly, creeping towards the sound. The others followed silently. Just then, they heard a cold voice and stopped in their tracks. It was definitely female. It was also definitely evil.

"Oh great, a Dark Faerie," thought Grolth. They heard another, similar voice.

"Wonderful. There's more than one," she thought. The voices were coming closer.

"Nice work. Now we can test our new torture spell on it as soon as it hatches," said the first.

"Excellent," added the second. The two Dark Faeries chuckled evilly and moved out of earshot again.

"Oh no!" whispered Arwen.

"They must have stolen an egg! They're going to torture it. We have to stop them!"

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Greenleaf said nervously.

"We have to do something. We can't just leave it there!" Keriana pointed out.

"We can't?" Greenleaf said weakly.

"No, we can't. Come on! We can steal it back while they're gone!" Keriana said as she jumped into the bushes.

The others had no choice but to follow. Greenleaf dove after her friends, wondering when they were going to go home. Her nails were getting dirtier by the minute, and her hair was a mess. The NeoPets turned saw a speckled egg lying in a clearing. Keriana stole quietly towards it as the others watched nervously from the bushes. She carefully picked it up and tiptoed back.

"Put it in your backpack," Grolth suggested quietly.

"Good idea," Keriana said, placing it in with the herbs she had collected earlier.

"Let's get out of here," Greenleaf said softly.

"We need to be far away by the time they return." With that, the four of them took off in the opposite direction. They had been running for several minutes when Greenleaf was suddenly knocked off her feet on into the dirt. She cried out in surprise and stood up.

"Hey! What was that fae--" she started, but was interrupted by the panting green Lupe that had just run into her.

"The...monocerous…chase me…coming…run!" she explained, and raced off in an entirely new direction. "Monocerous?" Greenleaf asked worriedly, galloping after the Lupe. The others followed, running even faster than they had before. They could hear the monocerous behind them, roaring with rage and trampling the undergrowth. Suddenly, the trees gave way to reveal a large lake. The NeoPets stopped short.

"What do we do? It's still behind us!" Arwen gasped. Greenleaf looked around desperately. There had to be some way out of this…

"Aha! Over there, quick!" the Uni shouted, pointing to a boat that was beached on the shore. They rushed towards it and jumped in, just as the angry monocerous came charging out of the forest. "Hurry!" Keriana yelled. Arwen shoved the boat out into the water and jumped in herself. The pets paddled with all their might until they were safe in the middle of the lake.

"Thank you! You saved me!" said the green Lupe gratefully.

"My name's Emariled. I was captured by the Dark Faeries when I was an egg, but I escaped into the forest. I've been living there ever since."

"All alone? That's terrible!" exclaimed Keriana. "Maybe you can come live with us. We have a very nice owner."

"I would like that," said Emariled, smiling."What are your names?"

Keriana introduced everyone and began to tell Emariled everything that had happened before they ran into her. She was almost finished when Grolth interrupted her. "Um, did anyone else notice that we're spinning in circles?" They were spinning in circles. Faster and faster they spun until a hole appeared in the center of their path.

"A whirlpool!" Emariled shouted over the rushing water. The boat drew closer and closer to the hole until it was pulled down into darkness.