The End of Neopia

    Larry and Boingus followed the coursing trails of the hordes of scurrying Meepits all night; or at least it seemed like all night. They left the gloom of the Haunted Woods and came into the bright daylight surrounding Kiko Lake. As they bounded past, Larry dipped into the abandoned Kiko Lake Treats, the smiling storefront welcoming him in. He stole a stale lolly from behind the counter, and as he left, he tossed into the lake, smiling to himself.

    "What was that for?" asked Boingus.

    "Er…" started Larry. He had almost forgotten he was travelling with Boingus. He was an easy travelling companion, never complaining about the long miles. The rhythmic boing-ing of his tail as they went along lulled Larry into a hypnosis, broken only by an occasional delighted laugh from the Yellow Blumaroo as his eyes alighted upon a beautiful flower, or if a Meepit stopped to groom itself with its paws in a cute manner or tripped slightly as it ran. Sometimes, Boingus chuckled and Larry could not figure out why; he presumed some entertaining thought entered into his head. "It's an old habit I picked up, Boingus. Did Kiko Lake ever steal from you?"

    "Hmm, I can't really remember," thought Boingus out loud. "Seems like a fun game you invented, though."

    In just a short while longer they were passing through Neopia Central. "One more stop," said Larry, this time alerting Boingus to what he was doing. He tossed 21 Neopoints into the Wishing Well, and out popped a Neopets 29th Birthday Goodie Bag.

    "Wow, Larry," marvelled Boingus. "You have really gotten this down to a science. Maybe I should do some of these things you do. Can you teach me sometime?"

    "I suppose I can," said Larry. Larry could not imagine what Boingus had been up to if he had not been entering his wishes in the Wishing Well every twelve hours for the past few decades.

    And still the Meepits continued on. Oddly enough, a fleet of boats were waiting at the border of Neopia Central, and the Meepits formed into crews and piled into the various boats. Boingus and Larry did the same with the last remaining one.

    "Aha!" exclaimed Boingus. "We seem to have figured out the mystery. They are not going to the place we most expect, which is a juice-feeding pipeline out in a bright sunny field. Nor is it the place we least expect, which is some combination of Maraqua and the Virtupets Space Station. No, it seems they are going to the place we most expect: my home, Roo Island!"

    But this was not the case either. The boats continued on past Roo Island as Boingus looked longingly at the colorful city. Now it was Boingus who seemed to forget about Larry, humming the Merry Go Round's song quietly, a forlorn note to it.

    It soon became apparent where these boats were headed, the icy peaks of Terror Mountain rising inexorably ahead. The boats touched down on the snowy shores and the colorful bands of Meepits, who seem to have outfitted themselves with warm clothing from the boats, began bounding up the hills. They passed quickly through Happy Valley, but onward the Meepits went, followed closely by their retinue, one bounding on his tail and the other flying over the snow.

    "Oh," squealed Boingus, gripped by nostalgia. "I hope the Advent Calendar returns one day. I loved waiting for its arrival every year, watching the animations and reading the comics." The building hosting it was boarded up, white snow banks pressed against the front door, long out of use.

    "Maybe one day," said Larry, but he was too distracted to think hard about it. There were only so many more places the Meepits could be going, many of them quite terrifying. As they slalomed up the icy trails, his fear grew more acute. No way… he thought, watching the trail of pink, red, and blue meepits filing singly into the opening of a dark, icy cave.

    It was the Snowager's cave.

    "Uh, Boingus…" called Larry, but Boingus was not slowing down.

    "We're still racing!" called Boingus, and he too disappeared into the dark cave.

    And just like that Larry lost the only Neopian he had known in decades.

    Larry thought of returning home and continuing as he had been. There were always more prizes to be had at the Wishing Well. More importantly, he was excited to hear if King Coltzan had a lead on where he could play Bilge Dice, even if deep down he held little hope of that. So far, he had lost very little in following Boingus on this journey. In fact, so far he had only lost Boingus himself. He learned there was probably one Yellow Blumaroo who had existed for the past few decades in Neopia, although Boingus seemed interested in quite different amusements than himself. He learned there had been some Meepits still in Neopia, although for some reason they all just fed themselves to the Snowager. Perhaps one day he could have a Petpet of his own, but he would have to do some planning in that regard. An Abominable Snowball could be fashioned on his trip back down to Happy Valley, if it came to that.

    The rash decisions were rubbing him the wrong way. Why does this bother me so much? thought Larry. Of course I can make an Abominable Snowball. If I later decide I chose the wrong color, I have many Petpet Paintbrushes saved up in my Safety Deposit Box. But resolving this decision did not actually bring him the peace he sought.

    "Darn it," said Larry. He looked at the dark cave yawning open ahead of him, a low, ferocious rumbling shaking the frozen air venting forth from it. "That Blumaroo has really got me all out of sorts." Larry took some cautious steps into the cave, the blinding, snow-reflected light from outside quickly consumed by the stone and ice of the tunnel.

    "Hey, Larry!" called Boingus, turning around and waving to him. Behind him, the massive serpentine figure of the snoozing Snowager was coiled atop treasures of gold and green and red.

    "Shh!" loudly hushed Larry, but it was too late. A gemlike cerulean eye shot open, and the long body of the snow worm began to churn through the ice and treasures with the force of a rocket launching to Kreludor. Above his head rose the tip of his tail like a massive Cobrall rearing to strike, and strike it did! It shot forth right to Larry!

    And it stopped short right in front of his face, a dusting of ice crystals hanging suspended in the air around him. The Snowager's draconic face slid into view beside the tail.

    "How do you do, visitor?" the Snowager rumbled. His voice shook like an avalanche. Larry froze, his insides feeling as strong as a Wet Snowball.

     "It has been some time," the Snowager continued. "You used to visit me, many decades ago, but no longer. Why?" The Snowager turned his heavy head to face Boingus. "Boing-man, what's up?" He advanced his icy tail and bumped against the springy tail of Boingus in greeting.

     "I, I…" started Larry. "Are you guys friends?"

     "Of course we are friends," said Boingus. "There are not many to talk to left in Neopia. But even if there were lots, the Snowager is a quality friend. He hooks me up with one of his treasures every day, and you have got to ask him to go sledding with you sometime."

     "Why would we not be friends?" rumbled the Snowager.

     "I suppose I thought you were much more fearsome than it seems," said Larry.

     The Snowager laughed and shook loose some stalactites from the cave. "Oh I am quite fearsome," he said. "Though," he said, appraising the end of his tail, "there are many more fearsome than I in Neopia, guarding even more valuable treasures."

     "He's nice, too!" said Boingus. "Didn't you ever play Neoquest II? The perfect mix of raw power and protection."

     "I told you," said the Snowager, steam rising from his icy scales. Is he blushing? thought Larry. "That was not really me. I just lent my likeness to the game. Any similarity beyond appearance is purely coincidental. But let us return to you Larry: were my treasures not good enough? Why do you return now, decades later?"

     Larry was dumbfounded, turning first to Boingus, then to the Snowager, then turning to the vanishing trail of Meepits, scurrying away into a dark corner behind a pile of juicy Neggs.

     The Snowager melted the tension again with another rumbling chuckle. "I am only giving you a hard time," he said. "I could understand why you would not care to visit. I did blast you quite a bit back in the day, did I not? Those were fun times. But I have softened in my later years. Now, I just wish for any visitor. Do you not see the large piles of treasures I have amassed? They are bigger than ever before. And my friend Boingus here is the only one to come around."

     "Can you blast me again, Snowy?" pleaded Boingus.

     "Not right now, Boingus," said the Snowager. "We have a guest."

     "Please!" said Boingus.

     The Snowager nervously looked at Larry. "Oh, all right…ROOOOAARRR!!! Did you get my avatar that time"

     Boingus was rolling laughing as he plucked himself out from under a pile of snow and ice. "Not this time," he laughed, "but we can always try again tomorrow. One of these days, for sure!"

          "Would you like a try?" the Snowager asked, turning to Larry.

     "Er, I got it decades ago," he said sheepishly. "But," he continued, "I'm here today because I was following Larry. I thought he was a goner, but it seems I have misunderstood the relationship. And we are both here today because we were following the Meepits."

     "The Meepits…" started the Snowager. "I knew this day would come sooner or later. Please, follow me."

     The massive snow worm plowed through his cave in the direction that Larry had last seen the Meepits. As he wrapped himself lithely around the pile of Neggs, they came to a small crack in the ice wall.

     "The Meepits went into this tunnel, as they do, but as you see, I cannot go there," the Snowager said. "Never have I seen so many Meepits entering here, and certainly not all at once. Something big is happening, but what exactly that is I do not know."

     "That is all well and good," said Larry. "Thank you, wise and powerful Snowager, for your knowledge. We will be on our way."

     "On our way!" cheered Boingus. "For some reason I didn't think you'd want to go in there Larry, no offence to you. You are obviously a great guy, but perhaps a little less adventurous than some."

     "Er," said Larry. "I don't want to go in there. By 'on our way', I meant return back on our way through Happy Valley. I had big plans to make an Abominable Snowball today."

     Boingus turned his head askew. "Larry, I think I will help you out today. What is Neopia without finding adventure in every corner?"

     Larry answered, "I don't know, what?"

     Boingus replied, "I don't know either. So let's find it!" Boingus loaded back on his springy tail and launched himself bodily at Larry. The tangle of figures tumbled down into the entrance to the icy crevasse in a way that would make any Xampher proud.

     To be continued…