Down With Ownership!

I don't own Neopets, or the song "Don't Fence Me In" and DizzeeLara is fictional.

Part One:

Enter the Zafara

It was close to midnight in Neopian time, on a cold and dark night in Neopia Central. Sensible citizens shivered and pulled the curtains shut, drinking hot tea to keep out the chill. Elsewhere, however, things were somewhat different.

Not many people knew about this room, one of the few in the Adoption Centre to be out of the public's vision and not to have a view of the town square below. A single light flickered erratically on the ceiling, slightly brightening the gloom. A lone Zafara slouched with her paws behind her head, half awake, without the sight of sky and Neohomes that the other pets enjoyed. She was not bitter, despite this. She knew full well why she was in this of all rooms.

She was not one of the well-groomed, Beauty-Contest-style petsfar from it. Her fur was held back by a grimy red headband, and looked as though it hadn't been brushed in several weeks.

Despite all appearances, the Zafara was not, in fact, idle. With a loop of reddish threadthe same dull colour as her headbandtied around her left paw, she was making complex swivelling and jerking motions with that leg. An observer might have followed the thread down through a metal grating in the floor, through which light was faintly filtering. Slowly but surely, the paw was lowered to the floor until the thread had all but vanished into the grille.

Some way below, a tiny creature swung itself down towards a metal box in the room directly beneath. The boiler that heated the Pound was humming gently, but the Petpetpet was annoyed. It had been taken from its crevice in the wall and dangled about on a length of thread, not knowing where it was or what would happen to it at the hands of this clearly insane Zafara. Buzzing with fury, it launched a full-scale attack at the nearest objecta harmless looking pipepuncturing the surface and following with a minute tongue of flame.

A Meerca in a nearby room was the first to spot the orange-gold flickering across the corridor. Sniffing, she picked up the scent of smoke; there was no mistaking it.

"Fire!" she shouted as loudly as possible, trying to control her panic. "Fire! FIRE!"

A team of Scorchios had arrived, carried on the back of a scarlet Eyrie. With the help of several Petpets and a long hose they were extinguishing the small blaze which had taken hold on the fifth floor of the Adoption Centre. It wasn't dangerous; the auto-shutoff on the heating system had prevented it from spreading far.

Dr. Death and Rose, standing outside in the cold night air, exchanged frustrated looks. The Uni was surrounded by wailing pets of all species, seemingly unable to hear her reassurances that it had only been a scare and there was nothing to worry about.One of the more organised of the Pound's inmates, a blue Bruce, was attempting to take a register. "And ... Zdsdfdsdfggggg. That seems to be everyoneoh no, there's one missing!" He looked up with an expression of panic.

The Uni and Techo spoke a name in weary unison. "DizzeeLara."

"That's right," replied the bewildered Bruce. "How did you know?"

"I thought you were responsible for making sure it didn't happen again!" snapped Dr. Death as he took the stairs two at a time, his long tail and white coat flying. "Why do you think we isolated her in the first place? The diversion of a fire, panicky pets running everywhere... it's perfect! She could be anywhere in the grounds by now!"

"I never thought" Rose gasped as they continued onto the fifth flight.

The door of the isolation room was open, swinging on its hinges. Without looking at one another the two workers ran to the end of the hall, where a thick wall separated the residents from the outside world. Now, a tunnel led down through the middle of the wall. Rose dropped a pebble and heard its rattle far below. "We have to send someone down and see where it leads!" she exclaimed.

The Scorchio firefighters having left, a Petpet with a light was duly attached to a long lead. "We have to find her before she gets too far..."

"What's the furthest she ever got?" asked a Nimmo resident with an amused air.

"As far as the Neopian Bank. Come on!"

...meanwhile, a kiteline hung between the sixth floor window and a nearby tree. Seeing the two Pound guardians occupied with the hole in the wall, a secretive shadow detached herself from the window sill where she had clung throughout the incident, and swung herself onto the slender string.

DizzeeLara allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. She had managed to get Dr. Death and Rose to look entirely the other way while she escaped. This time, she did not intend to be recaptured. Abandoning her usual route, she opted instead for a path that skirted the trees and bushes, hoping the shadowy cover would hide her from any searchers.

A light startled her and she jumped behind a tree, her fur standing on end. "Hope this isn't game over," Lara muttered under her breath. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she made out the figure of Rose with a flashlight, and breathed a sigh of relief. Rose was the easier of the two supervisors to outwit.

Her paw gripped a pebble and she hurled it into a clearing some feet away. The clatter of twigs and stones startled Rose, who ran to see what had fallen. Meanwhile, Lara released the Petpetpet she still held, letting it fly away in a fury of bright flame. The panicked searchers followed its light.

The escape was almost complete. Staying as quiet as she could, Lara scrambled into the branches of the tall tree. Like a quick, secretive shadow she was over the wall in an instant. Free.

Neopia Central was near deserted at this time of night. Lara ducked and weaved amongst the empty streets, her heart thudding in her ears, but inwardly triumphant. Almost inaudibly, she began to hum her favourite song. It wasn't, strictly speaking, a Neopian song, but it summed up DizzeeLara's attitude pretty well.

"Oh give me land, lots of land under starry skies above, don't fence me in. Let me ride through the wide open country that I love, don't fence me in..."

A light shone from a back street window, and Lara turned the corner and headed for it. This was it. It had to be.

Knocking at the door, she waited for a reply but heard nothing. Her desperation gave her daring, and she hoisted herself through the open window of the grubby building.

Inside it was warm and bright. There was a distant sound of speech, and a flickering glow from a fire somewhere. Lara crept closer, shivering at the contrast in temperature. She caught the phrase "...Neopoint-earning games..." and clambered onto the curtain-rail, looking through into the next room.

A fire-painted Kyrii stood at the centre of a circle of pets, addressing them in an uninterrupted speech. He was obviously in a very animated mood, waving his arms and speaking in a raised voice.

"...Tomorrow maybe we will..."

Lara heard no more of the speech. An enormous Green Grarrl was suddenly towering over her, claws out, looking severely menacing to the young Zafara.

"JC!" he boomed. "INTRUDER ALERT!"

To be continued...