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The Petpet Quest

by goodgreenfaerie

It was a typical night on Terror Mountain: dark, cold, and snowy. My pets and I were holed up in our snug Neohome, hoping to go sledding the next morning. I was sitting on the Zen sofa, reading a book to the baby, Crown. The petpets were snoozing in front of the fire, no doubt dreaming of their next meal. My three older pets went outside briefly for a short snowball fight, and returned within minutes, shivering and stamping their feet.

“Brrr!” said ToxicBreathBoos, almost slamming the door on her brother Binky’s wing. “It is just way too cold outside.” She shook some snow from her grey fur, and wiped her feet on the mat. She marched into the den, and flopped dead center on the rug. Havelock the Ganuthor opened one sleepy eye, and then went back to sleep.

Binky edged down the hall, shaking snow from his wings as he went. His other sister, Sybil, clucked her tongue in disapproval. “I just mopped this morning!” she cried. “Moooooooooom!!!”

I hastened out into the hallway to help Binky clean up the melting snow, and help Sybil dry off. When I returned, I noticed that Boos was now sitting in her chair, looking at her sleeping white Ona, Angua, discontentedly.

“Mom,” she whispered. “Can we talk about Angua?”

“Of course,” I replied. “Let’s go tuck her into her basket, and we’ll chat.” Each of the pets picked up their petpets, and took them to their rooms for the night. Boos returned, and climbed up on the couch beside me. I handed the book I had been reading Crown to Sybil, who eagerly scooped up the baby, and took him to his room to finish reading.

“Ever since I got zapped grey, you know I haven’t been the same,” Boos began. “Angua is just such a happy petpet, and we just don’t seem to fit well any more. I’d really like a grey petpet to match my moods. I know that we can’t afford a fancy petpet, since you just bought Sybil her paintbrush, but maybe we could look?”

“We can try,” I replied. “Let’s all get to bed, and hopefully, it will stop snowing and we can head to the Bazaar in the morning. Maybe we can sled when we get back.” I tucked them each into bed, and kissed them good night.

Sybil was up at the crack of dawn. I could hear her bustling around in the kitchen as she made waffles. Eventually, we were all drawn to the kitchen by the aroma of waffles and chokato syrup. Crown had beaten us to the dining room, and was wolfing down waffles at an astonishing speed. Sybil beamed at him fondly. She loves to cook, and is always looking for people and pets to test recipes on.

As we ate, we made a list of the possible petpets for Boos. Binky kept naming petpets which were way out of the family budget, and we finally sent him to finish his breakfast in the petpet playroom with Havelock.

Boos eventually narrowed her choices to a grey Polarchuck, a grey Snowbunny, and a grey Cirrus. Leaving Sybil in charge of Crown and the petpets, we managed to leave the Neohome at a decent hour, with a whining Binky in tow.

“Where are we going to look first? How much do you think you will have to spend? Will we still be able to afford food?” Finally, I gave him some Chewing Dung so we could have some peace and quiet while we traveled.

Eventually, we reached Neopia Central, and after stopping by the sold-out Petpet Shop, we went to the Bazaar. We went into shop after shop, mostly discouraged by the prices and the brusqueness of the shopkeepers. “I didn’t know there were so many Goth Usuls in Neopia,” marveled Binky.

Finally, after many long hours of shopping, we found a dusty little store with the shutters half-drawn, and a hodgepodge of objects in the window. A small, dingy sign in the corner advertised petpets. “Wow,” Boos said, nudging the door open with a hesitant paw, “I think they have a little bit of everything.” She pushed the door the rest of the way open, and stepped inside.

As soon as we were inside, petpets swarmed about our ankles. Eventually, the shopkeeper bustled out of the back room and began swatting at them indiscriminately with a towel. “Geroff,” she ordered. After a few hits, the petpets began to disperse and we were able to look about. “Can I help you find something?” she asked.

“My sister is looking for a petpet. One that is nice, and not too expensive,” said Binky quickly.

The saleslady shook her head. “I’ve heard that line somewhere before,” she mumbled. “Well, we have quite a variety. Was there a species or colour you had in mind?”

“I’d kind of like a grey petpet,” Boos said shyly. “Do you have any?”

“As a matter of fact, we do have one,” the shopkeeper answered. “She’s over here, but she has been through a lot, and is rather shy. I don’t know that you will be able to get her to come out of the cage.”

She led us over to a far corner of the store, brushing cobwebs off the shelves as she went. A small water bowl sat next to a dark petpet carrier. “She’s in there,” she said. “Good luck.” She excused herself, and went back to puttering around the shop.

Boos knelt on the floor and peered into the carrier. “Hello,” she said softly. “Please come out, I’d really like to meet you.” She extended her paw, and waited.

We heard a few soft thumps, and the saddest looking snowbunny we had ever seen slumped into view. She was tiny, and her little nose quivered as she looked around at us. After a quick glance around, she put her head on her paws and looked at the floor dejectedly.

Boos softly stroked her ears, and the snowbunny took a tiny hop closer. Binky and I sensed that this might take some time, and left to wander about the store.

We were browsing in the book section when Boos walked up to us, the sad little snowbunny wrapped in a blanket and snuggled up to her. “Can we take her home?” she asked. “I really think she is perfect.”

I went to talk to the shopkeeper, and we settled on a price. I paid for the snowbunny, and we began the long trek home.

“So what are you going to name her, Sis?” asked Binky, as we trudged through the snow.

“I was kind of thinking of Eskerina,” Boos said shyly. The tiny grey nose poked out of the blanket, and Boos uncovered the rest of her little face. “What do you think of that?”

The snowbunny licked Boos’s cheek as if she were happy with the name, and Boos smiled. “That settles it! Eskerina it is!”

As we went, we discussed what to do with Angua, now that the snowbunny, Eskerina, was coming to live with us. We agreed to place her with some friends, so that we could visit her often. And yes, we did get to go sledding. Eskerina sat on the sidelines on a blanket with Sybil, our resident fusspot, as everyone else went on run after run down the hill. Sybil’s petpet, Captain Carrot, eagerly hit the slopes with the rest of us. Sybil and Eskerina cheered us all on.

The best part about this whole episode was the happiness it brought to two sad little grey Neopets. They were very lucky to find each other, and have become the best possible friends. I’m sad to say that Eskerina has become very spoiled, but I suppose it was to be expected! So I guess you could say it was a happy ending, all around.

All related images and material are (c) 2005 Neopets , Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. 
Content was created by members of The Neopian Orphanage.
Site design (c) 2005 wtrswoopes. Site graphics (c) 2005 vegetarewlz.