This is my rendition of Neopets. In case you were wondering, i was writing this while i attended college at mvnu. but i didn't start it until like the fourth to last week of school and it stretched far into my summer vacation. i didn't finish it until like late july. anyway, it's done. idk if i'll make a sequel to it or not. also, some of what you read here has happened. of course, it is a fiction, therefore not all of it actually happened. you'll just have to figure out for yourselves which is fact or fiction b/c i'm not saying. or, you don't have to, doesn't matter to me.

I don't own Neopets. Tamara and most everyone else is mine. The oc's are my friends and family. the story line is mine. This is also a double whammy - prologue and chapter all rolled into one. enjoy.

Prologue

I never gave much thought to how I would die. But, if it was for someone I loved, cared for, or—possibly admired—seemed easy enough. I wasn't selfish. Mostly. Especially if it was the creatures I knew and loved. And, even raised.

Bluehopper curled up close to my chest and I curled my arm protectively around her blue, furry body. I held her close and whispered into her flopping ears comforting words. I knew she could understand me as many of her kin could. Bluehopper and I have a special connection; one that had been developed for sometime since my cousin and I found her in her nest; cold, hungry, and alone—her mother was dead; her remains close to the nest.

"Mistress. We have to move now." Fangore told me. I looked up into his red, lupine face and I saw a look of concern radiating in his cool, yellow eyes. I knew he was just worried about me.

"Where's Arco and Dilasca?" I asked him.

Fangore looked back over his shoulder at the two other creatures I had cared for since they came to me. Dilasca was cradled in Arco's arms; a black contusion visible on her yellow fur. Her purple eyes were closed. I nearly cried. Dilasca had been abandoned by her own master and I had taken it upon myself to care for her and raise her like she was my own. I cursed the fact that some humans could feel little to no compassion for the little creatures of this world.

I got up and swung Bluehopper onto my back. She clung to my shoulders and her sharp claws dug into the fabric of my thick, red vest and her long, blue tail wrapped itself around my waist for stability. I approached Arco and took Dilasca from her. The little Ixi was still breathing; her little stomach was heaving.

"What happened, Arco?" I asked, though I knew it was a stupid question to ask for one of two reasons. One, the Grundo couldn't speak because of his dim-witted intelligence. And two, because I knew what had happened. But, I was blinded by the hot tears that were threatening to show. I had to be strong. Arco was learning strength from me and Bluehopper was still too young to understand why a strong human like me would actually cry over the half-dead corpse of an Ixy.

Suddenly, Arco's strong, three-fingered hand closed around my ankle. His glassy, blue eyes wide with fear. A fear I knew well. He pointed up at the sky indicating that danger was near.

"Mistress! Look!" Fangore barked.

I followed both of their gazes and my eyes widened in the same fear that both Fangore and Arco felt.

"RUN!" I screamed.

Fangore snatched Arco up in his teeth and tossed him onto his back. He clung to his thick, red fur tightly as he ran beside me.

"Mistress! Look out!" Fangore howled after me as I slipped onto a rock and feel onto my knees; nearly crushing Dilasca with my body.

I twisted to my side and looked up. The dark, malicious shape of the opposing Eyrie descending upon me.

They say that when you're about to die, you're whole life flashes before your eyes.

At first, I used to let that roll off my back and act like it never happened. Now, I see what the elders meant by it. However, there was part of an untruth to that saying. I didn't just see my life. I saw the lives of my pets. Everything they had shared with me when we communed. Everyone, but Arco's who was not really my pet.

This is what happened:

When I was a child
Chapter One

I could remember back to the day when I first knew about the creatures of my world.

Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Tamara, aka Tam. I live on a small planet called Neopia which is very far from the original home of the humans; Earth. This is after the time when the humans had not only populated Earth, the moon, and Mars, but had also grown out to other planets. We became over populated on our many planets to the point where we extended into the Coal Sack Galaxy; the place where Neopia lay.

I was born on Neopia to parents of different origins. My mother was true Neopian–born and bred–while my father had come on a freighter from Mars. Both fell in love with each other, married, and had two children. My brother, Codax, and myself.

Codax was a handsome boy that many, young girls lusted over though he took no interest in any of them except one.

Selena.

Only, she was not interested in him.

Codax became bitter and did not help our mother with the usual duties of caring for the small creatures that lived came to us.

Mom was a veterinarians who specialized in healing neopets and petpets.

Mom's great love for neopets drove me to love and care for them too. To the point where I knew that I could train and take care of them.

That was how my adventure began.

It was the coldest snowy season in my entire ten years of life. Public school had ended for me and mom was working late at the office. Codax had gone into town to get supplies for the night. A terrible snowstorm was starting to brew and he was being prepared as all boy scouts were taught.

There was a note on the table addressed to me in simple Neopian.

Tam, Mam is expecting you at her house this evening. Go there until I come get you. With all my heart, Mom.

Normally, I would have just stuck around. The wind was bitting cold and strong enough that it would have knocked me over. My face was starting to return to its natural color. I wasn't willing to just go outside. However, children were expected to obey their parents no matter what order they gave.

I shrugged into my winter bundles and set out.

My skin was bitten at and I shuddered. I wished that Codax was with me. Even if he did make me sad or just plain annoyed me, he was still pleasant company when I needed him to be.

I crossed the snow covered plain. My spiked boots sliding uselessly across the ice beneath the thin, white layer. Was it just me, or were the elements plotting against me?

Oops!

My foot slipped on a hidden ice patch. I slid down the bank into the ravine below. The thick ice supported my full, ninety-six pounds of body weight and heavy clothing.

I slowly slid into a sitting position and groaned when I felt my ankle. It wasn't broken just sprained but it might as well have been broken with the pain I felt. I slowly raised myself into a standing position and looked up at the high ravine walls. Now that I think about it, the walls weren't that high but I was short as a kid so they looked taller than to the adult perspective.I scanned them; looking for a way out as I balanced myself on one leg. My sense of balance had always been fairly good. But, I could not stand still for long as the rough winds grabbed on to me with icy fingers and started pushing me roughly to the side. I screamed in surprise and grabbed onto a protruding root. It was all I could do to stop from breaking the ice and falling into the icy water below.

I heard a low rumble and looked up. To my surprise, I was met with the most awesome sight of all. A red Lupe stood on top of the ravine looking down at me; his golden yellow eyes sparkling with a kind of curiosity that was unusual for wild Lupes. His pointed ears were pricked forward and his head cocked off to the side.

Though I had been warned away from Lupes because of their tendency to become violent out of fear when approached by a strange human, I held out a mittened hand to him.

"Here Lupe." I called. I was hoping that the Lupe would not see me much as a threat. I knew that Lupes could be extremely loyal and friendly. At least, all the tamed ones I had seen were really friendly.

Much to my surprise, the Lupe slid down the wall and trotted across the ice toward me.

I curled my fingers into a fist to make them less vulnerable and allowed the Lupe to pick up my scent. His black snout twitched in my direction as he extended his neck out. I was tempted just to touch the tufted ears but knew that there was a possibility he would snap at me. Then, he brushed his muzzle into my knuckles. I knew it was safe to touch him.

I got down to his level and cupped his face tenderly in my hand and met his eyes. We stayed that way for a while as he communed with me.

The elders in my village had often mentioned that communing with neopets created a whole new world for people. It opens a plain of understanding to the point where communication between humans and neopets are now possible. I needed to commune with him or else he would not be able to understand me.

"Hello, Lupe." I said, calmly. "My name is . . ." and I told him my name which–at that time–had not been stolen from me after I graduated from the academy. "What shall I address you as?"

"Whatever you want to call me, mistress." came the masculine reply.

As a kid, I always had an imaginative mind and I chose the name that came easiest to my mind. "I shall call you Fangore."

The Lupe licked my face with his hot, sticky tongue which felt good on my freezing (and possibly red) face. "Then to Fangore I will answer." He said. "What do you need of me?"

I pointed up the bank. "I need to get to my Mam's house."

"So? Let's go." Fangore said, but I shook my head. "What's wrong?"

"I sprained my ankle." I replied.

Fangore seemed to measure me with his eyes. A feeling that made me feel uncomfortable. "How much do you weigh?"

"Ninety-six pounds."

He whimpered at my reply. "It'll be a little much but it'll have to do for now. Climb on." He turned his back to me and I slowly but surely slid onto his back.

Fangore trotted to the end of the ravine and climbed out onto a path I didn't even know existed because of the snow. Then, he ran in the direction of Mam's house. The bitter wind still nipped at my already frozen face. I flinched and buried my nose into his musky fur.

I realized that I was totally and utterly tired from the communing process. I had not realized just how much energy it would take to make such an effort to commune with a neopet who was not yet full-grown. I tried to think about all the factors that might have played.

Perhaps I was inexperienced. Then again, how did all the elders get experience from communing if they hadn't done it once themselves.

Perhaps, my age–or the age of the Lupe–had played a part. After all, I was only ten at the time and not that experienced on neopets. At least, not as much as mom, anyway.

Whatever the case was, I just wanted to fall asleep across the Lupe's warm back.

"Is this it?" Fangore asked and I looked up at a Bogota style house that was my Mam's.

"Yes." I replied as I slid off Fangore's back. I landed onto my sprained ankle and grimaced.

Pap was working in the wood shop when he heard me hiss in pain. He came out, wrapped in an old fashioned jacket and picked me up when he noticed that I was balancing on my left leg while holding up my right, gingerly.

"It's okay, honey." Pap told me as I pressed my ear against his throbbing heart. Pap was gentle as he carried me into the house. "I'll take care of you. Imagine it! Your mom sending you out here on your own in this weather! What was she thinking?"

"But I wasn't alone, Pap!" I said. "Fangore found me."

"Fangore?" Pap asked as he opened the door.

"The Lupe." I looked over his shoulder at the red Lupe who was standing on the snow covered path. Blood red against white. His yellow eyes looking at me, pleadingly.

Pap spun around and looked at the Lupe. He saw the eyes and the fact that Fangore was not in attack position. "Tam! He looks rather young." Pap said.

"He got me out of the ravine." I said.

"You fell into the ravine!" Pap asked.

I nodded.

Pap sighed. "Did you commune with him?"

I nodded again.

"Then, he should come in. It's dangerous out here in this weather. Even for a Lupe."

I smiled. "Come on, Fangore."

Fangore barked excitedly and bounded in after us. He shook the snow from his coat and went to the fireplace to warm up.

Pap sat me down in the big, comfy chair and propped up my sprained foot. I winced as he removed my boot and sock and stared in shock at the swelling. He applied ice to it (making me cringe and whine in the process) before wrapping it in a bandage. Then, he made me rest until mom came to get me.

I had to give mom an entire rundown on the days events but I put much more emphasis on how I came across Fangore. At first, mom would not let Fangore come home with us. That was, until I mentioned that I had communed with him. Thus, I had left my mark on him and he left his mark on me.

Under normal circumstances, the Neopian High Council would not have allowed a ten-year-old girl–with little to no experience at handling or working with neopets–to own a half-grown Lupe. At once, they ordered me to release Fangore into the wild. That was, until I had explained that I had communed with him and to make me release him was against the law of Meridell. Finally, The council allowed me to keep Fangore under the condition that I applied for the Academy of Neo-Trainers. That way, I could keep Fangore legally.