Lost...

It was easy to feel lost. It was all new, different from my own world. I saw people, but the creatures with them, I thought I was in a dream, only I couldn't wake up. I fumbled through the town, bizarre buildings on every side of the street. A few people laughed at me, along with the animals they were with.

"Playing alone?"

"Where's your Neopet?"

"Didn't your Neopet like you, did it run away?"

Confused as I was, I didn't answer, just started to run, their taunts vanishing beneath the sound of my footfalls. The small street lead out of town, towards rolling fields and forests in the distance.

I still had no idea where I was, I only knew that my head ached and my body was sore. I should have asked someone, anyone, but my mind was too jumbled to think of it.

I didn't know where I was going, I was just trying to find something I knew, I remembered... I didn't realize how dark it was getting, or how thick the woods around me were becoming. There was a howl echoeing from the distance, and eyes blinked like stars between the trees.

Scared again I ran, but it was too dark to see. My foot caught something solid and I fell. I think I fell forever before my head connected with something hard and I blacked out. I couldn't have been out for very long, it was still dark out. I was so deep into the forest that the trees above had choked out all signs of the moon and stars.

I realized, as I sat on the cold, moist ground, that there were flickering lights around me. I thought at first the eyes had returned, but after a moment I saw they were like fireflies, small purple illuminaries, flitting through the pitch blackness. One of the tiny purple lights appeared in front of me, but it was no insect.

A tiny lady, glowing from some inner magic was flapping tiny wings. She landed on my bent knee and giggled mischieviously. I must have hit my head to be imagining faeries flying around me.

"Are you sure you're imagining them?" I gasped and turned my head towards the voice. In the shadows I could just barely make out a figure. "I've been watching you today. So many laughed at your expense in the marketplace. No one thought you might need help. But you do, don't you?" I stared into the darkness as the woman spoke to me, I couldn't answer, only nodded.

"I can help you, if you like. But you in turn, have to help me."

"How can I?" I asked quietly. "I don't even know who or where I am?"

"Only do as I ask, and I will show you the answers to all of your questions."

"Who are you?" I asked her, I'm not sure why it mattered, I didn't yet know who I was.

"My name, is Fia, I am... a faerie..." she said, stepping into the flickering purple haze that the tiny faeries created. She was tall, and strickingly lovely with large leathery wings. I stood up, brushing myself off and faced her directly.

"I am your humble servant Fia, please help me..."

She took me deeper into the forest. The Haunted Woods, she called it. "Be ever watchful, in this cursed place. There are many dangerous things here. From gouls, to were-lupes, and worse. I will stay with you until we are finished here. After that, you will be on your own."

Our destination was a terrifying place. A living tree. It was huge, with twisted branches reaching through a pulsing brain. She pulled me close to the tree, which was aptly named The Brain Tree.

"He is wise. If there is something you can't find in the Neopedia, then he will know, but you have to go on a quest to answer his question first. Don't worry..." she added, seeing the doubts in my face, "you won't need his help for a while."

"Then why are we here?"

"We need to get you back to the Neopia Main. That is where the neopedia is located. You can research anything until your heart's, and mind's, content. There just happens to be a bus line that goes by here."

"A bus line?! You mean you can't use magic to get us there?"

"Oh I could easily enough, but where would that leave you next time you need to get somewhere?"

"I suppose you're right..."

"Of course I am. Now I want you to stay right here and don't move. I will be back in just a moment."

"Wait, you said you would stay with me while I'm in the woods!" I exclaimed.

"You're safe enough right here. I'll be right back..." She gave me a reassuring smile and vanished into blue smoke. I sat down at the roots of the Brain Tree, waiting for Fia. This was obviously some kind of small village. There was a shabby cottage a few yards away, and I saw a light flickering from another building in the other direction.

"Who was Boris Van Chia?" the Brain Tree bellowed. I jumped to my feet in terror, staring fixedly at the tree.

"I... I don't know."

"You have an hour and ten minutes to find out," he rumbled and appeared to settle back to sleep.

"But... but how?"

"The esophagor," a small gruff voice said from behind me. I spun quickly to see a small, bat like figure flying before me.

"What are you?" he rolled his eyes and gave me an indignant look.

"I'm a Korbat! and my name is Meez." He was a rough looking little thing, with matted fur and red glowing eyes.

"What did you say before?"

"The esophagor will help you solve the question." he said. He landed on the ground and crossed his winged arms over his little chest.

"What's an Esophagor?"

"You really don't know your stuff do you?" He flew up and landed on my shoulder, pointing to the bubbling swamp to the west of us. "That's the esophagor, that big muddy mound. He's a beast that lives here in the forest. Constantly hungry. You feed him, he'll give you the answer to the tree's question."

"Oh I see. Well, what do you feed him?"

"Go ask him why don't you?" he chuckled and flapped away.

"Why don't I not? I'm not moving three paces from here!" I sat back down and waited for Fia to return.




The hunt was flawless, there was food for everyone! As the Kougress's brought the meal back to the pride, Aino saw something that made her heart drop. There was a faerie, one that they barely ever saw. She was tall, with pale blue skin and jet black hair, her black glossed lips smiling wickedly at her. And in her arms she had two tiny green bundles.

"I thank you huntress Aino," the faerie said before vanishing into the darkness. Aino lunged, but found herself passing through purple smoke.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Aino roared into the night. The rest of the pride was there at her side as she swore to find her two newborn cubs.

I heard a sharp crack and there she was, her wings catching the slightest hint of moonlight as she walked towards me.

"I thought you might blend in better if you had a pet. I just happened to know of a pride of Kougra's, who unfortunately weren't well off enough to feed all of their young. So to rescue them from a short life of starvation, I brought them here.

"They are newly born twins, Kittrik Yokoshima (the male), and Shiroi Obake (the female). She handed down the tiny kittens, still purring in their sleep.

"You will also need this," she said handing me a bag of coins. "These are neopoints, they are used to pay for things. Now, sit back and rest some, the bus will be here in an hour."

"Fia?" she looked down at me. "You said you'd tell me my name, do you know it?"

"Alas, I do not, but for now, we can find you one. I think, Senjo Dorei would be fitting."

"That's nice, what does it mean?" Fia flashed me a wicked smile.

"It means Faerie... Helper..." she said.

"Then yes, it would be fitting. Though I don't know how I'm going to help you yet."

"Don't worry Senjo, once you get back to Neopia Central, just try and blend in. Learn everything you can of our world here, I will call on you when you're ready."

"You're not leaving are you?" I stood up in a hurry, afraid to be left alone in the spooky place.

"The bus is on it's way here, and I dislike the atmosphere of the city. We'll be watching you and checking in."

"We?" I asked.

"Mia, Tia, and myself. We're sisters." she told me.

But how will I find you?" I heard a faint rumble in the distance.

"We'll be there when you need us..." and with that she vanished, the blue smoke clearing by the time the 'bus' arrived. It was more like an oversized carriage, drawn by half a dozen Meohogs.

"It's twenty-five neopoints to get to Neopia Central," A cheerful Techo called out from his perch behind the reins.

"Twenty-five?" I asked, wondering what the difference between neopoints and money back home were.

"We all need to keep food on our familie's tables don't we?" one of the Meohogs pointed out. Surprised by the talking animals, I pulled out a twenty-five note coin and handed it to the Techo.

"Thank you missy... Just sit back with yer little ones and enjoy the ride. We'll be there shortly."

I climbed into the carriage and looked down at the two tiny Kougra's in my arms. Kittrik opened his eyes and looked up at me drowsily before drifting back off to sleep.

We stayed the night at the Neolodge. I figured it would be better than trying to find a park bench to sleep on. It was sometime early in the morning when the two cubs awoke. They looked scared and confused... I knew exactly how they felt.

They couldn't talk yet, but they mewed cried out, looking for their mother. They had probably been too young to pull away from their mother yet, but what's done was done. I pulled them close and wrapped them in a blanket, singing softly to sooth their fears until they drifted back off to sleep.

The next morning I tried letting them play on the floor. They were still wobbly on thier tiny legs, but they pounced around for a good hour, chasing each other's tales and nipping at my ankles as I walked by. Confident that they were going to be fine, I set off with them to get breakfast. The food was unfamiliar, but good regardless.

Once our bellies were full, I lifted the two cubs onto my shoulders and went off to seek out the Neopedia. I asked the Lodge clerk and he pointed me in the right direction. The place was huge, with tons of people and Neopets alike. They were sitting at computer terminals, pouring over dusty books, or leaning over tattered scrolls.

I sat down at one of the computers and just started reading. I wasn't sure where to begin, so I just dove into whatever was there. The cubs were playing quietly at my feet and eventually I lost track of all time. It wasn't until the late afternoon when the Kittrik and Shiroi started meweing loudly.

I stretched and looked around. The place was still packed full of people, but the shadows were lengthened to the opposite walls, it was nearly sunset. The growl in my stomach matched the kitten's cries and laughed in spite of myself.

"I think it's time for dinner, what do you think?" They both sat down, staring pointedly at me. Young though they might be, it was clear that they were going to be intellegent. I stood up and they followed suit.

"Would you like to just follow me or shall I carry you?" I felt silly asking, but they were standing on their hind legs in seconds. Clearly they understood. I shook my head and lifted them both up. We left the center and went out in search of food. There was a Hotdog stand across the street, a Mynci dressed in vendor's clothing behind the desk.

"Sorry we're sold out!" he said as I came closer. Still thrown by the sound of animals talking, I paused, staring at him. "Hughbert's Hotdogs" hung just above the Mynci. Could it be?... This little Monkey is Hughbert.

"I said I'm sold out! The Pizzaroo might have something though," he said pointing over at the rounded building, shaped like a pizza.

"Thank you..." I said and made my way over. There was a strange looking creature, a green Blumaroo, with a mustache tossing pizza dough into the air.

"What will you have tonight?" he said with a slight accent.

"Um..." "The Pepperoni Olive is on sale today..." The Kougra's on my shoulders started purring loudly.

"We'll have that then." This was at least something familiar. The pizza was good, it was a nice place inside. There were whole families of Neopets inside. Some with people, some by themselves. There were a couple of faeries sitting in a corner, talking excitedly.

I had learned a lot in the few hours of reading the Neopedia, but it was still difficult to take in. After dinner was over I went back to the Neopedia. The cubs curled up and slept at my feet while I continued reading.



It happened like that for the next week. The Kougras were growing at an alarming rate, and I couldn't stay inside with them for very long. They would get restless and start playing roughly. At one point they almost trampled a small Shadow Quiggle who quickly jumped into his owner's arms.

"You need to go play some games with those two before they tear this place down!" the Zafara, Sarah her name was, called to me from behind the desk.

"Oh... right!" The games I had learned was a good source of fun, and a great way to earn Neopoints. It would be good to replenish the small purse of coins at my side, and the twins deffinately needed to get out.

"Come on you two, let's not cause anymore trouble." I said. They bounded after me as I lead the way.

"Mom, are we going to play a game?" Shiroi asked. I wasn't entirely sure when they had started talking, but they never seemed to stop.

"We sure are. What do you guys want to play?" I asked.

"Anything with a lot of fighting, and action, and blowing things up!!" Kittrik growled, jumping up and landing into a stalking position.

"Well, we're not going far from Neopia Central yet, so we'll do what's around here."

"Aahhhh Mooooommm..." They pleaded.

"We want to explore!" Shiroi said.

"Yeah, I want to know what's out there!"

"We've tried reading some of the articles, and talking to the other Neopets, but we've never been out of Neopia Central!"

"Can we go somewhere else... please??" Kittrik pressed, they were both pulling on my shirt-tale now. I stopped and looked down at them.

"How can we be sure it's safe out there?" I asked. I had become rather comfortable with Neopia Central and I wasn't sure I wanted to be surprised further by whatever might lay beyond those rolling hills.

"We'll protect you!" Kittrik said. "Nothing in their right mind would try and get us!" He barred his teeth and slashed his large claws through the empty air.

"Yeah! Between the two of us, nothing would be dumb enough to try and attack." Shiroi agreed. I had to admit, they could be awfully intemidating.

"Alright... But I don't want to go too far!" "YAY" They cheered, jumping up and down.

"I know, let's go to Meridell! That's not too far away!" Shiroi said. I agreed and we started our treck. The Twins were adament about walking. They claimed they never got enough exercise. It took a day to make our way across the rolling hills over to Meridell.

There were still gouge and burn marks in the farmlands where the Battle between Meridell and Darigan had taken place not too long before hand. But the palace in the distance... was a magnificent sight.

"It's beautiful!" Shiroi and I both agreed, Kittrik however was too busy romping through the bushes, searching for someone to rough house with.

"Hurry, come on!" Shiroi said, charging ahead. We decided to play a few games before finding a place to stay. Kittrik took a liking to Ultimate bullseye, but Shiroi decided she just didn't have a knack for it. She did however like gambling at the poker table.

It was there, that I saw one of the most incredible creatures I had ever laid eyes upon... a Draik. He was magnificent, strolling down the street, taller than his Person. He had silvery scales and a proud smile. The cubs didn't notice as I stared at him. There were more in the distance I realized. Red, Green, Plushies... It was like a Draik convention! There were of course the Ixi's prancing freely around the fields and with their owners, but the sheer size and rarity of the Draiks...

I had to have one. Unfortunately, they were a restricted pet and the only way to get your hands one was to get a potion and change a pet into one.

"Yes... a Draik would be a nice addition to your little band. And such power..." I spun quickly. It was Mia, one of the triplet faeries. She stood there, watching the Draiks with me.

"I couldn't do that to Kittrik or Shiroi. They're too perfect as they are."

"You are absolutely right! But... if you had another pet... one that someone had carelessly abandonned. Give it the chance to be something great. You need one..." she whispered before vanishing n her usual puff of blue smoke. I needed one...

"Mom, can we get something to eat?" That was Kittrik, constantly hungry. We went to Meri Foods and had some stew and loaves of bread. It was good, chock full of potatos for some reason...



The cubs had been right, it wasn't scary outside of Neopia Central, it was fascinating. I realized that it had been my initial shock of the place that had frightened me away from the rest of Neopia. We decided to sojourn to the Lost desert. Kittrik wanted to visit the shrine of the Great Coltzan.

Unfortunately that meant going through the edge of the Haunted Wood. But we went, traveled day and night, camping beneathe the stars. Every now and then we could see the bright speck of the space-station fly above us, like a slow moving shooting star.

It was in the edge of the woods, that something happened. The usual howls and beys of the were-lupes, and even regular Lupes filled the air. They were hunting in the night for Chias, or anything else that could be overpowered by their packs.

We decided to sleep in the trees, feeling it safer than being caught unawares in the middle of the night by a pack of wild Lupes. We were lucky we had. Some time past midnight, the howls started up, louder than ever. We looked down when the bushes below us started rustling. Shiroi snuggled close against me, but Kittrik was ready to dive down and attack.

It wasn't a Lupe that stumbled out, but a Noil. Full grown, coat snowy white, but dirty as could be. Abandonned? He got back to his feet and started to flee, but the Lupes had caught up with their quarry. A golden Lupe lunged out of the bushes in front of the small Noil, a Shadow and Green one behind him, teeth barred, ready to attack.

A tiny "help..." could be heard from our branch above them. It was the Lupes that were taken unaware when Kittrik dove off the branch, landing on the backs of the Shadow and Green one. He roared and slashed at them with his claws.

Unwilling to let her headstrong brother get all the fun, Shiroi leaped into the fray. I was going to stay where I was, the twins could handle the Lupes on their own, but I saw the Noil, stumbling to get out of the fight's path.

I climbed down and picked him up, he was frail beneath his scraggly main. "You'll be alright," I said carrying him back up the tree with me.

In the end, it was the surprise that drove the Lupes away, and the call from the rest of their pack. A kill had taken place on the other side of the wood. The Noil was no longer needed.

I climbed back down and we hurried out of the wood. We made it out as the sun was rising. Kittrik and Shiroi hadn't been hurt very bad, a few cuts and bruises, but they were hungry, and tired. We decided to head straight towards the Lost Dessert without stopping.

The Noil, as it turned out had not been abandonned, but lost. His name was Nyk, and he had belonged to another Kougra, a white Kougra, and to everyone's surprise, the Kougra had been named Kittrik.

"What happened to your Kittrik?" Shiroi asked. Nyk hung his head solemly.

"The Snowager... I... Haven't seen him in months and I can't find his owner. She left after he dissappeared." he said sadly.

"You're welcome to stay with us," Kittrik said, pulling the little Noil into a hug. Nyk began to cry and accepted the offer. "You can be my Petpet, I'll take good care of you!"

We made it to the Lost Dessert and got everyone fed and cleaned up. Kittrik was blessed to be faster by Coltzan's Shrine and I bought Shiroi her own Petpet, a Wadjet which she named Gir. We all had fun at the gambling tables here, playing Solataire and Pyramids. We stayed for a good long while.

It was a couple of weeks later when Fia showed up again. She handed me a scroll and told me not to forget about power. She also said that I needed to find a better way of getting around.

I wasn't quite sure what she meant. There were no cars in Neopia, only the Neopets and bicycles. I read over the scroll and was amazed. No one knew of her, in all my research, she was never mentioned. But the scroll gave something away to who she really was.

She was deffinately a dark faerie, probably evil to the core. But she had helped me, and I was pledged to do the same. I would keep my word. She wanted to train my pets, make them stronger, more intelligent. She wanted us ready, to spread her word, and her truth.

I didn't know then, what exactly she meant, but I knew what had to be done. We decided to make our way back to Neopia Central. It was time to explore another part of Neopia, but we had to catch a boat. We thought about going to the Islands, but decided to make a trip to Terror Mountain and Tyrannia instead.

There I saw what would be the third perfect pet... an Eryie. Massive creatures, strong, with large wings. They looked like griffons, and were very loyal. If I had one of those... he could be trained... That must have been what Fia meant. Get an Eryie and use him to get around.

Nyk didn't want to go near the ice caves, but Kittrik was adament about it.

"Your Kittrik might still be in there. We might have a chance at saving him!" I had to give it him, he had a brave heart, and good soul. Nyk stayed behind with me, as Kittrik and Shiroi slunk carefully into the cave of the Snowager.

"Besides, we can get some Neggs and trade them with the Negg Faerie..." Shiroi said. "Imagine getting the Genius Negg..."

"Or the Power Negg!" Kittrik whispered whishfully.

"Oh look, Kittrik, he's asleep..." Shiroi urged as they went closer, but the tinkling of ice and the sound of their claws on the rock beneath was enough to wake him. He roared fiercely.

I felt the cave shake beneath me as the twins came tearing out. Bruised and bloody.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" I cried, pulling them both into my arms.

"He woke up..." Shiroi said before passing out in my arms.

"I took them to Tyrannia, where we grabbed tons of omelette and a place to rest. They were fine in a day or so. They said that the Snowager's head seemed to explode into ice crystals that shot at them from every direction. I told them once they were healed, we were going back to Neopia Central for a while.



The twins were content to stay resting in Neopia Central. I decided to play a few of the local games. I needed to save my neopoints. I stopped into the adoption agency... but didn't seen any of the pets that I wanted. So I decided to create a pet.

Kittrik and Shiroi thought I was crazy, and maybe I was. I thought long and hard on the boat ride back. As wonderful as it would be to have Draik, they're also difficult to hide and they draw a lot of attention... unless they're small. Great things come in small packages sometimes.

When I came back to the lodge, I had an Eyrie. A sweet little girl named Seyia_Kou. She was a pale, shimmery blue with bright golden eyes. What through the twins was the tiny yellow Kyrii that was curled around my shoulder. I think if it hadn't been for Shiroi and Nyk, Kittrik would have swallowed him whole.

I didn't tell them what I wanted the Kyrii for, but he knew, his name was Binx and he had bright blue eyes. I told him when I held him for the first time why he was made. He was too small really to understand, but after a few days he was thrilled.

Seyia grew faster than I could have imagined. She had been the size of the Kougras when I brought her back, but now she was as tall as I was. She was a kind soul, very friendly to everyone around her. Binx often used her as a shield between himself and Kittrik. Binx, of course, remained tiny, a little yellow blur.

The lodging was getting too small, but I didn't want to spend the money for a house until I had my morphing potion for Binx. Then I would work on Paintbrushes for my other three. Halloween would be suiting for the Kougras. They would have wings of their own. Besides, I couldn't imagine Kittrik being purple for a Faerie Paintbrush.

Seyia I wasn't sure about. She would be extremely intemidating were she painted in Darigan's colors, but that wouldn't suit her cheery disposition. I thought maybe just white... or striped. Give the family something of a uniform look.

I decided I wanted the Kougra's to be white. But the white Paintbrushes were outrageously expensive. We discovered however that the Christmas Paintbrush made the Kougra's white as well. So with neopoints in our pocket and minds made up, we went to buy 2 Christmas Paintbrushes and took a trip to the Rainbow pool. It was there however that Tia, the third Faerie triplet, appeared.

"What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be saving Neopoints for a Draik Morphing potion, not playing dress up with your CATS!" she yelled at me.

"I...I'm sorry. I figured we could continue saving for the Draik Potion after I had the other pets painted. I didn't know it was going to cause..." I stammered, taken aback by her anger.

"It's bad enough that you intend to turn the RODENT into a miniscule Draik instead of using the Eyrie, but now you're postponing our plans for your kittens' satisfaction?" her voice was thick with hatred and for the first time ever I started to realize how much trouble I was going to be in by working with the dark faeries.

"I'd sell the paintbrushes but it's too late, I've already put them all in the pool to be changed..." I told her. She didn't have to say anything more, I ran to the pool and reached in. Shiroi was the closest so I pulled her out first, still neon green and striped, then I reached for Kittrik, but it was seconds too late, the magic started to work. Since I had pulled Shiroi out, both paint brushes worked on Kittrik, painting him twice. When I set him down, he was White with red and green stripes on his tail and silver ones down his back.

"You fool," Tia said quietly shaking her head. Shiroi was looking wildly between all three of us, exasperated by what happened. With a final angry sigh, Tia vanished with a snap in her blue puff of smoke.

"Senjo... what did you do that for?" Shiroi asked meekly, on the verge of tears. Kittrik looked into the complementary mirror at himself, then at Shiroi and despite himself started laughing.

"That was a really stupid thing to do you know!" he chuckled. Tears were rolling down Shiroi's furry cheaks now, she was still looking between Kittrik and myself.

"Senjo...? Why?" I just sighed and looked down.

"I'm sorry, I... thought it was done..." I lied. At that Kittrik burst into laughter and dropped to the ground, rolling in the grass giggling. Shiroi's tears became angry and she slapped him hard. With a final angry look at me she stormed off, grabbing GIR from the grass where he had been resting by Nyk. Kittrik stopped laughing once he was slapped and sat up looking stunned. Nyk finally risked walking over.

"That was a smooth move wasn't it?" Nyk asked Kittrik who just looked down at the little Noil.

"Senjo, what do the faeries want?" I looked down at him, taken by surprise by the sudden question. Not being sure of the answer myself I just shook my head and walked back towards the inn. Seyia and Binx were there, but Shiroi was no where to be found.

"Is something wrong Senjo?" Seyia asked, worry evident in her sing-song voice.

"Everything... " I said before sinking into the bed and burrying my face in the pillows.

Shiroi wandered back a couple of days later, silent and still angry with me. The only thing she said was that Kittrik went on a holiday and wouldn't be around for a while. The change I saw in my dear sweet Kougra was terrifying. She had been so angry and upset that it shook her to the core. I didn't know how to make it up to her. I didn't know what to do. Binx and Seyia tried talking to her, but she remained silent, brooding.