Author's note: This was a story I started a few years ago. I never finished it, and don't really plan to, but I'll post it, and let you people tell me what you think. Most of the neopets mentioned in this fic are mine, including Ace, J.J., Fleet, and Iniax. Don't touch!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! nothing! "sobs"

Flight Risks

My green uni brother Fleet grinned at me, the morning sun shining through his pale mane. It was way too early to be up, and I was never going to be a morning person.

Fleet knew I needed all the confidence I could get, as this was going to be a long day. In a chipper voice he said, "Come on Ace! You'll do fine. There's not even that many people in our guild, so we don't have to worry about there being a lot of competition. And with my training, your paint job ('I was a Christmas Zafara') and your past experiences with flying, you'll be almost guaranteed to win."

I must have still looked a little worried, as then he said, "Did I mention that mom said that you could keep the prize money, if you place?"

I grinned, "Seriously? Liz said that? Well then, what are we still doing here!? Let's get to that race!"

/

"But I haven't even been a flyer for a week yet! How am I supposed to win a race against the more experienced flyers?"

"SILENCE!" the cloaked figure flung out his hand. She flinched as he snarled, "You will win. Unless you want me to do to you what I did to all the others…" he trailed off, his warning much more threatening than the huge empty expanse of water outside the window.

In a subdued, fearful voice, she said, "Yes master. I will win."

"And remember," the deep voice said, "do not let anyone touch you. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes sir. We are clear."

"Good. Now go. The race is starting soon."

/

I stood nervously in line, my lunch sitting in my stomach like a stone, waiting to hand in my race information, and then get onto the starting blocks. Again, I went over the track in my head. Starting at the Meridell Castle Towers, the racers would fly up to the Darigan Citadel, where the first rest area was. After, the racers circle the Citadel twice, then wing their way to the Neopian food court, where there was free food to revive them (as the Food Shop was one of the sponsors), then to the Haunted Woods. After getting out of the woods, the flyers were to fly to the edge of the Lost Desert, and land on the boat waiting near shore. The first three pets to cross the finish line and land on the boat would receive two sets of codestones, and fifty thousand neopoints each.

I was excited. There were only a few painted flying pets in our guild and the race was for painted flyers only (robot pets, faerie pets ect.) Therefore the number of opponents went way down. According to the list I had just received, there were two robot pets, (S79, and QU8, both Lupes) three faerie pets (Grundo twins, Tyler and Trisha, and a Meerca named Skylock) two Darigan pets (a Zafara named Amy and a Garrl named Crank) and me. Chances were I would be the only pet interested in winning. The Lupes were brothers and seemed to busy arguing with each other to notice the race. The twins looked young enough to still be…well they were younger than me anyway. Skylock and Crank both looked rather serious, but Crank was bigger than a house so I figured he was slow. And Amy…well for some reason, she looked more scared than excited, as if she depended on the prize money or something. But she also looked like she had only been a Darigan pet for a few days. She barely knew how to flap her wings.

There was a muffled sound over the intercom, and everyone started moving around. I figured that was the signal to get moving, so I walked over to my place in the starting line, along the edge of the tower and looked down. Far below me, I could just see a set of green wings. I figured my family must be here. I could even see a few famous Neopians in the crowd. Jeren and Lisha were standing close together, looking up at the small group of pets, us. I glanced around. To my right was Crank and he was flapping his wings, slowly stretching them out. I could just see the faerie twins beside him, and they were staring at the big yellow Garrl as well. To my left, was Amy, and beside her were the robot Lupes, then Skylock. I looked at Amy for the first time. My stomach did a terrible flip-flop, and not for nerves. Amy was very pretty. And very scared, from her jumpiness.

I decided to talk to her, maybe calm her down a bit, "Hi. I'm Ace. Is this your first flyer race too?"

She jumped at my voice and looked round at me. Another round of stomach flip-flops. Her eyes were beautiful, a deep red that seemed more soft and kind than scary looking. Her voice washed over me as she answered, "Yes, it is actually. And um…it's also my first flight as a Darigan Zafara as well…"

I blinked at her, than asked, "Seriously? You've never flown before? As in never?"

She blushed and answered, almost ashamed, "Yea, I became Darigan the other day and I've never been a winged pet before."

Again I blinked. "So are you a lab pet or what?"

She shook her head, "My…owner, he's really rich and when he heard of the race, he changed me to…this."

"What kind of… never mind, so what kind of pet did you used to be?"

"Oh, I've always been a Zafara, but I used to be a red one. Until he changed me anyway."

There was a commotion behind me, and then the starting gun going went off. Everyone else jumped into the air. I waited for Amy to open her wings, but she just stared at me. She really had never flown before.

With a smile, I told her, "Lift your arms up, and try to open your wings at the same time." I demonstrated, and then continued, "Then flap your arms and your wings at the same time. Just once to see what it's like."

She lifted her hands above her head and at the same time, her deep black wings opened. I grinned as she started to flap, a little badly, but at least both wings where moving. I told her as I opened my own wings, "Good! Now, drop your arms, but keep flapping."

She was flushed, but kept at it. Soon she was hovering, and moving around.

'She must have had some practice to be flying rather well during her first five minutes', I thought to myself right before a near disaster struck.

Amy started falling. In a quick motion, I swooped into the air, flapped my wings once to reach her, and grabbed her by the shoulders. She flinched at my touch, but I paid that no mind as I told her, "Flap your wings with mine. Good! You're doing fine."

Soon she was doing better, and I let go of her shoulders. She faltered slightly, the recovered. We grinned at each other, the started toward the Citadel.

Soon she was out of breath, and slowly falling behind. I nearly rolled my eyes, then realized… "Amy! Can you feel any warmth around you?"

She was gasping for breath but she nodded, and pointed up. I nodded, as I knew about the warm updraft there, as I was using it. I told her, "Good. Now shift your wings and fly into the heat. No, no, just one smooth flap. There you go…"

She grinned as she realized how easy it was to fly smoothly once you entered a warm updraft of air. I continued to coach her, and soon to my immense surprise, we passed the Grundo twins, who were both tired out, and were flapping about like Korbats, trying to stay in the air.

One of them grinned at me as we flapped by and gasped out, "We probably should have got some endurance skills before entering this race…"

He broke off to go slowly tumbling after his sister toward the ground. Amy and I grinned at each other, as we both could see the first rest area coming up, on the looming edge of the Darigan Citadel.

Not long after, Amy and I were both circling the little area of excited pets, all which were either busy rushing around, or were looking up at us. I dropped down and landed with a soft thump. Then I jumped out of the way as Amy crashed on the ground beside me. I quickly helped her to her feet, mentally kicking myself for not telling her how to land. She smiled shyly at me and I grinned back, trying not to blush.

Then we were both distracted by laughter. I turned. There stood Crank, his large muscled body glistening with sweat as he looked down at us. He laughed again, a deep booming laugh, though not a warm laugh, but cold and mean. He snapped at Amy, "Pathetic! Don't you know that this race is only for experienced flyers! Give up before you hurt yourself!"

Angrily, I opened my mouth to shout back at him, but he already had opened his wings. Still laughing, he flew off to do his two laps around the Citadel. I glared at the big yellow body for a time, when I heard a loud commotion behind me.

Alarmed, I whirled around to see the faerie Meerca, Skylock, tumbling past the Citadel's edge and toward the ground. Wasting no time, I jumped into off the edge of the Citadel myself, and dove after the falling Meerca. He looked like he was unconscious, and he was falling straight down, his wings tucked close to his body.

Concentrating fiercely, I straightened my body and streaked closer toward him, and toward the very hard ground. Finally, I swooped past the unconscious Meerca, and whirled around. The little creature fell in my arms, and in one single motion, I whirled around, opened my wings, and swooped up into the air. Gasping at the excitement and the adrenaline surging through my body, I slowly flapped back up to the Citadel. I glanced at the quiet creature in my arms. Expect for his flushed face, he looked fine.

Confused, I looked up when I heard my name being called. Flying above me, eyes wide, was Amy. She looked terrified, as if it was her brothers who had nearly just plunged to their deaths, not just two strangers.

She called down to my slowly rising self, "Oh-my-gosh! Ace! Are you alright? I was so scared…" she trailed off, a little embarrassed at her outburst.

I flew to the Citadel's edge, and landed. Several Usals rushed over, and snatched the Meerca from my hands. I was still a little out of breath, and leaned over, breathing hard, my hands on my knees. Amy landed beside me, better that the last time. I looked up, and we stared at each other for a long time.

Then I grinned and gasped out, "I'm o.k. Amy, really I am. Give me another minute and we'll start those laps. And don't look at me like that; I really am o.k.…alright let's get this race over with."

She was still staring at me, but she obediently followed me into the air when I took off. The laps were surprisingly easy, and Amy needed no more coaching. She flew silently now, a few flaps behind me, all her energy focused on flying. I hoped she knew that flying wasn't't going to be all work and no fun.

Halfway through our second lap, I decided to remind her. She was still following behind me, her eyes glazed, her flaps boringly regular. Smirking, I shifted my wings so I was flying upright, at a dead stop, idling like a car, waiting for her to notice. She didn't't, and nearly crashed into me. Desperately she swerved, and dodged me.

She circled me, yelling, "What the heck was that for? You nearly made me crash into you!"

I smirked and called back, still flying upright, "You're taking things way to seriously! Flying is fun! Enjoy it!"

Still grinning, I shifted my wings again, and swooped right over her, knocking her in the back of the head with my tail.

"OW! Ace! I'm gonna get you for that!"

Grinning wickedly, I called back to her, as I changed course, "It would help if you could catch me, Amy. Come on, try and get me!"

Still yelling at each other, we went on a wild chase, swooping in and out of towers, dodging each other, laughing all the while. Before long, I noticed that she was starting to get a little to close for comfort to me, so screeching out a terrific war cry, I changed course again and dove away from her, winging my way toward Neopia Central. As we flapped toward the huge sprawling city, I grinned to myself as I looked back to see Amy smiling as she flew, no longer just going through the motions, but adding excitement to her journey, with unexpected twists and turns and her eyes glittering with excitement and happiness the entire way.

Not long after, we landed on the ground just outside the Food Shop. Every time I heard that name I had to roll my eyes. The Food Shop, talk about original. But we had made it, with no further mishaps, and even had seen Crank's yellow body for a short time, before he looked back and saw us. We'd grinned at each other at how fast he had flown to get back ahead of us.

Amy was out of breath, and slightly shaky from the long unbroken flight we had just completed. She turned to me and asked, "So, why exactly did we stop here? I'm not tired at all!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well that's great then. I, however, am exhausted and I need food. And at least a half hour break. But if you want to fly out over the Haunted Woods all by yourself... well then you have fun with that."

She glanced over to the big expanse of dead trees, which we could just see over the tops of the buildings. She gulped and said shakily, "I-I guess you're right. A little break won't hurt."

Smiling, we both walked into the food shop, to be greeted by a rush of cheers and shouts. I looked around. There was Iniax, my yellow ixi sister, and her large group of friends. They all rushed over and were slapping me on the back and congratulating me for getting this far. Eventually, I got to the counter, and the Chia in charge asked, "So what would you like to eat, dearie?"

Blushing, I turned to see Amy behind me, giggling. I cleared my throat and answered, "Can I get, um, I don't know…"

Amy rolled her eyes and pushed me aside. In a cheerful voice she asked, "Can we get two bowls of fruit, and two bottles of water each please."

The old Chia grinned, and reached behind the counter, pulling out our orders. Iniax sidled up to me, grinning impishly. I knew this would come to no good.

"So-o Ace, who's your friend?"

I stammered out, "Err, well, this is, um…"

The two girls paid me no mind, as they were busy looking each other over suspiciously, eying each other, and then glancing at me. I waited nervously, shifting from one foot to the other, hoping Iniax would not mind me hanging out with Amy.

Then, they both seemed to approve of the other and grinned at me as one. 'Great.' I thought to myself. 'Now I'll never hear the end of it.'

I was right. For the next half-hour, the two girls bonded perfectly, giggling away at everything and chomping down on both of the fruit bowls. I didn't dare complain though, as I figured, as long as they kept talking, I would not have to go out to those woods. Eventually, Iniax glanced at the time, letting out a yelp.

"What are you both still doing here!? Go on, get going, you'll never win that race if you're not out there!"

I followed Amy to the door, then, without waiting for her, opened my wings and took off into the air. I looked back to see my sister yelling at me.

"Ace Zafara!! You better take good care of Amy!!"

I grinned down at her, then winking at Amy, who was following behind me, I changed course and headed of for the Haunted Woods.

As we flew further and further over the dreaded woods, I went over the map in my mind again. We would be flying straight over the woods, with no stops and no breaks. I did not want to get lost in the woods, even in the middle of the day. Amy seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she was constantly looking for warm updrafts that would make our flight that much shorter. Our silence was a comfortable one, but I felt it needed to be broken. I asked her, "So, what's your owner like? You an only pet?"

She looked round, her eyes suddenly much colder than before. Before I could apologize for…well whatever I did wrong, she said in a sharp voice, "Yes, I'm an only pet. But I do not like my owner."

I blinked. Most only pets I knew loved their owners to pieces and were at least somewhat spoiled. Never had I heard one outright say she didn't like her owner. I didn't know what to say, so I just said nothing, waiting her out.

A sigh. "I know it sounds weird. Most pets love their owner; think they're the best thing since neopoints, but my…owner, he just isn't nice. He's always off somewhere, he never pays any attention to me, and when he does, all he does is yell at me or threaten me."

There was a catch in her voice. I glanced over at her. Her eyes where closed, but I could see the wet trail of tears sliding down her face. I knew that those were not simply watery eyes. I quickly glanced away, embarrassed for staring. Then decided to change the subject, for the time being. "Well, I guess that's pretty bad. Me, I'm adopted. I'm not even a normal pet…"

I trailed off. I said too much. I remembered my promise to Liz, so long ago it seemed. I would never tell anyone the entire truth about my past. I felt that was just easier that way. We kept flying, but the silence was no longer comfortable. I felt bad for Amy, but I was at a loss to what I was supposed to say.

Then, what Amy said next nearly dropped me out of the sky. "Ace! What's that smoke!?"

My wings faltered with the unplanned interruption, as I looked around trying to see what the problem was. I quickly saw it. A large plume of smoke, black and thick, just past the race track. I glanced at Amy, who was staring down at the smoke. I didn't't hesitate, or think about what I was doing, and quickly dove into the dark trees, toward the smoking crisis. I could hear Amy following behind me, her leathery wings flapping as she dove after me.

I landed on the darkened ground with a soft thump and looked around, hating being in such a dangerous place. And hating even more that Amy was with me, and that I may not be able to protect her.

Amy landed beside me, and gasped quietly. I looked around, following her eyes. There, lying in the middle of the smoking heap was S79! I stared at him in horror. His shiny metallic coat was ruined, scratched up and smashed, and his eyes, two glowing bulbs, were staring past us.

We both rushed over to S79, me snatching a branch of the ground and muttering an old phrase as I ran. When we reached the broken robot Lupe, the branch I held was glowing faintly, a sky-blue. Amy stared at me as I waved the stick over the Lupe, grunting with satisfaction at the success of the new healing stick. I brushed the stick up and down the gleaming body, smiling at little as I watched the joints on the Lupe pull magically back together, and cleaning off the dirt with a few hardy leaves that still clung to the branch. Suddenly, the Lupe's eyes sprung to life, and the Lupe struggled to his feet. Amy helped him, gently holding him up.

I asked him, my eyes searching the woods around us, "S79! What in Neopia happened?"

The Lupe looked at me, his glowing eyes staring, "I-I remember flying toward the desert with my brother, then I remember QU8 yelling at me to duck…then, nothing." The glowing eyes seemed to widen. "W-wait! Where's my brother!?"

Amy and I looked at each other, with no idea whatsoever about what we where going to tell the distraught Lupe.

Suddenly a new voice rang out threw the clearing. "Here I am, brother."

We all looked round, trying to discover where the voice was coming from. Then from out of the trees emerged the second robot Lupe, identical to his brother in every way, right down to the scratched metal on his chest. S79 struggled away from Amy, and limped over to his brother. The two Lupes stared at each other, almost disbelieving. Then, QU8 grabbed his brother in a big bear hug, and they stayed that was for a long time, hugging each other and laughing and joking.

Amy cleared her throat, "Ahem…hate to break of this happy moment, but what happened to the both of you? And, better question, when can we leave?"

QU8 released his brother, and looked at the two of us. He looked at me, then my glowing healing stick I still gripped in my paw, then, to my surprise, he bowed at me. His deep voice told us, "Thank-you both. If it wasn't for you two, I may have lost my best friend." He nodded at my stick, "if it wasn't't for your quick use of that wand, my brother would have died. Again, thank you."

Somewhat embarrassed at the speech, I rubbed the back of my neck, grinning somewhat modestly. The Lupe continued, "And as for your question, I believe the thing that attacked me and my brother was that Garrl, Crank. He just jumped out of the woods and swatted S79 to the ground. I had to flee, but the Garrl just disappeared back into the trees.

Amy yelped, "Then what the heck are we still doing in here!? He may still be out there! Let's get going!"

I agreed with Amy, and we all took off into the air, flapping our wings hard or setting rocket shoes to fast. We burst out of the trees into the air, but to our mutual dismay, the weather had somehow turned from bright and sunny to dark and stormy. Gritting my teeth, I took the lead, flying hard for the edge of the woods. I glanced at my paw. The glowing healing stick was still there, humming faintly. For the moment, I stuffed it into my pack. Finally, we saw it. The end of the huge expanse of long dead trees and the start of the dessert finally came into view.

Amy caught up to me, "Ace! What if Crank is still out here somewhere? You saw what he did to S79!"

I hesitated, glancing back at the pair of Lupes, whose metallic fur gleamed in the dim light that was still showing through the clouds. They were flying side by side, their rocket boosters nearly touching. They seemed to be quietly murmuring to each other. I could still see the big scratch on S79's chest. I thought about the big Garrl, remembering his large, ugly claws, the disturbing speed at which he flew. Amy was right. It was not safe to stay out in the open like this for much longer.

"You're right, Amy! That Garrl is probably still out here somewhere. But what can we do? If we land, we'll be in even more danger, and if we continue the way we're going, I'm sure Crank will find us eventually!"

Amy chewed on her lip, her tiny white teeth startlingly bright against her dark fur. There was a small scar on the end of her left ear. It almost looked like a serial number. Then she glanced at me. I realized I was staring and quickly glanced away, looking out over the endless expanse of trees. But, too late, I saw a flash of pale orange directly underneath us.

"NO!!" with a shout, I twisted my wings and flew up into the air, high above the others. They were all staring at me, not looking at the ground. I watched in dismay as Crank threw himself out of the trees, flying straight toward the three pets.

For a moment, just a second, I froze, watching the ugly yellowed creature fly toward my new friends, his great wide mouth ajar, teeth glimmering inside it, his wings, stretched to their full extent, flapping in the wind. Then I came to. Or at least, that's what it felt like what happened. I closed my wings, and immediately, dropped, stone-like, for the trees and the ground.

Crank's eyes were on me, and I intended to keep them that way for the moment. I plummeted past him, then, expertly opening my wings, pivoted and grabbed onto the beast's tail. He must not have liked that, as he let out a loud roar, and turned his head, his brightened yellow eyes glaring at me. Somewhere far off, perhaps inside my imagination I heard the voice of my brother, J.J. a Lupe who had grown up in the wild jungle of Tyrannia.

"'Yes, when I was a kid, I used to tease Garrls. It wasn't't all that hard, as Garrls are rather slow creatures and, usually, not very bright.' My brother lay on the soft carpet, grinning at me as he told me about how to keep a Garrl's attention. 'All you have to do to make a Garrl really mad is grab his tail. They don't like that, see, and when they turn round to go after you, if you time it right, the Garrl will chomp down on his own tail.' At this point, I remember asking him what happened if you didn't't time it right. The big blue Lupe had grinned at me, and then he had asked me if I had ever heard of the Ghost Lupe. Elaboration was not needed.

Timing was all I needed. I stared up at the descending Garrls teeth, counting down in my head. From far away, I could hear Amy screaming. I paid it no mind, and instead, at the last second, dropped the tail and flew out of the way. Behind, startling close, was a loud CRUNCH. Then a loud, eardrum shattering pained roar from the Garrl.

Grinning wickedly, not feeling bad at all, I flew toward my friends and shouted at them, "Fly! FLY! What are you waiting for?"

The twins turned and zoomed off. I was going to call back to them that they were going the wrong way, that is, toward Sakramet, but they were already gone. Then I realized. Amy was no where in sight. Terrified, a lot more afraid now then thirty seconds ago, I looked around frantically for the now familiar flash of red fur. Then, relief rushed threw my body as I saw the Darigan Zafara flying close behind me, her eyes wide with terror. I dropped back, looking at her. Soon we were flying side by side, and our eyes locked. It was at that point that I realized it. I wanted to spend forever staring into those eyes.

It was Crank's roar that brought me back. He was right behind us, and his teeth were soaked with something that was definitely not drool. His eyes, small and beady, were staring at Amy, and almost too late, I realized what he was going to do. Letting out a warning yell, I threw myself at Amy, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulled her down with me. For a short while the two of us headed straight for the ground, but, at the last second, as if we had rehearsed it, we both opened our wings and flew, close to the trees, close enough that I could count the dead leaves still clinging bravely onto their tree, refusing to give it up. I could still hear Crank behind us, roaring angrily at us for evading him.

"Well," I thought grimly to myself, "we're going to be making him a lot angrier then."

Amy was trembling. I could feel her shaking underneath me, her entire body raked with little shivers. I knew she was scared, and I knew I was scared as well, but for now, the only thing I could do for her was hold on to her and keep flapping. But a few words of comfort could be just the thing we both needed at the moment, and I was ready to go for it. I pulled her closer to me, our wings still flapping perfectly in sync.

"We can do this Amy. Cranks slow, and I think, under some kind of spell. For the moment, all we have to do is keep ahead of him." I hoped my voice was more confident than it sounded. But for the moment it seemed to do, as Amy nodded. We kept flying, and I could still here the angry breathing of the big yellow beast behind me.

It was Amy who saw the water first. We had been flying together for nearly a half hour, and by now, Crank was nothing more than a small speck far behind us. We had flown over the vast expanse of sand, the sand dunes ridiculously high, and the dips between the dunes deep in shadow. I had my eyes closed and was simply concentrating on the faint scent of lilacs that was wafting up from Amy. Her excited voice brought me stumbling back to earth.

"Ace! Ace, look! I can see the ocean!"

My eyes popped open and I scanned the horizon. Amy was right. There was the beginning of the endless expanse of ocean water, and I knew, soon past that, the boat where we would finish the race. I let go of Amy, my excitement bubbling.

"Finally! There's the ocean. And soon, we'll be able to see the boat, and then, we can find someone who can knock some sense back into Crank!" I was feeling much better about this race, and I think it showed, as Amy was grinning at me.

She had a peculiar light glimmering in her eyes, and I wasn't all that surprised when she asked, "Why don't we finally start racing? All we've been doing up to now was just flying."

I grinned, "If you feel up to it, why not? First one to the boat wins!"

With that, I took off. I have been a flyer for nearly all my life, and it just comes naturally to me now. I quickly shifted my body into a warm updraft, and extended my wings as long as they could go. I stayed like this for a while, then, with a jerk I remembered Crank. I looked back. Amy was closer behind me than I had realized, and to my terror, I could again see Crank winging his way toward us, his big yellowed wings flapping rhythmically, up and down, up and down. This wasn't the time to panic; so, instead, I deliberately slowed down, making it seem that I was tiring in out.

Amy seized the opportunity and swooped ahead of me, laughing triumphantly. I couldn't afford for her to look back. If she wasn't panicking, then she could concentrate on her flying. I shouted to her, "I'm gonna pass you! I'm gonna win!"

That did the trick. Amy kicked it into overdrive, not even glancing back at me, and zoomed ahead. This was exactly what I needed. We passed over the desert, and finally swooped over the sea. I breathed deep, enjoying the scent of the salty air. Then an angry roar brought me back. I glanced back. Crank was closer. Much closer and still closing in on us both. Amy hadn't heard him, and kept going.

Just ahead of us was the boat. It gleamed in the poor light of the storm, and on its hull I could just make out its name. Tyrannia's Revenge. Great. Irony. Amy was near the deck of it swooping down to land on it. Behind me, for the second time, I could hear the crazed Garrl's breathing. I couldn't stop. He was too close, I couldn't concentrate. On the boat I could see J.J. and standing beside him, my owner, Liz. Seeing them helped clear my head. I knew she was not going to like this. I swooped down lower; my feet inches from the deck, the Garrl still behind me. I could hear Amy shouting.

I reached a rail, beyond that, the sea. I planted both feet on the rail, earning my place on the winner's circle. That thought flashed crazily threw my head, as I dove for the sea, Crank still right behind me. I conjured up my weak bubble shield, and the bubble, with me encased inside it, dove into the deep, blue ocean. This was not my day.

Crank had followed me into the water. For the moment, I didn't care. It was all I could do to keep my shield from collapsing and keep the water away from my delicate wings. I slowly floated through the water, watching around me. It was dark already, and very empty. Creepy almost. I turned in my bubble, looking for Crank. He was behind me, yet no longer after me. His yellow hate filled eyes where staring at me, and yet…they were no longer hate filled. It was to my immense relief when I realized the water must have somehow awaken him. He started moving towards me, his eyes now concerned. It was at that moment that my life changed forever. My shield collapsed in a bust of silvery bubbles and the world went dark. I slipped away…

It was very dark. There was nothing. Then my scenes came back into play. My halo, which was usually glowing a soft yellow, lit up the area around me, giving off light. I was floating, yet my wings were tight against my body. Then details seemed to form around me. I was in a room, a dark, featureless room, with nothing inside it but a desk. Two figures were in the room, one at the desk staring with cold contempt that the other.

"Well? Did you find her?"

"Y-yes my Lord, we did find her."

"Were there witnesses?"

"Only one, lord. We removed her."

"Have you modified her yet?"

"Yes sir. She only remembers you, nothing else."

"Excellent"

The other took this as a message to leave, and did so. A door quietly clicked shut. I was alone in the room with a something I did not like at all. The voice of the something was not a nice voice, no. It was a voice of something to be feared. Coldly effective, the voice disturbed me. The owner of the voice suddenly leaned forward, his face coming into the light. I screamed, but he didn't hear me. Dr. Sloth glared at something behind me, his small eyes gleaming with a hate far deeper than I had ever seen before. I didn't understand why he couldn't hear me, until a light clicked on. I whirled around, looking for the one who turned on the light. As I did, I looked down. I had no shadow.

This was too crazy. I willed myself to wake up, but before I did, I saw a beautiful female Zafara, with soft red fur, staring beyond me, at Dr. Sloth. Light suddenly filled the room, and a familiar voice whispered, "D-daddy?"

The light engulfed the Zafara before me, and I tried to throw myself at her, wanting to protect her, anyway I could. The light became blinding and I closed my eyes…

/

When I opened my eyes, the world around me was fuzzy, as though I was seeing it through a glass. The light above me was blinding, yet obscured by several faces I could not yet focus on. Groaning, I brought my hands up to my face, and covered my eyes. Everything was sore, and for some reason…wet?

My temporary insomnia faded, and I sat up with a gasp, staring around me. With a cry, someone through their arms around me and began so sob loudly. I patted the person on the back, confused, until I saw the mussed brown hair. "Mo-om please, I'm o.k. just a little wet, nothing to cry about."

Liz sniffled and pulled back, looking me over. "When I saw you flying towards us, I was worried you were overdoing it. Then I saw the Garrl and…" her voice faded, and her eyes filled with tears once again. J.J. wandered over and gently patted her on the back.

The Lupe smiled at me, and with a little wink said to me, "Good flying Bro, you got second. Not so bad for a Zafara."

I grinned weakly at him, and then shook my head trying to clear it. Then I remembered. "Where's Crank?"

Liz grimaced, "Apparently he was under some sort of spell. Or some kind of mind control. He's in the medical tent, recovering." She scowled, "I've never liked Darigan pets, they've always been rather creepy to me. Even that skinny Zafara left after she saw you made it out of the water."

I started. Amy was gone? "What do you mean the other Zafara left? What happened?"

J.J. stepped in, "She was quite upset when she saw you had fallen in the water. But when Crank pulled you out, she suddenly went all rigid. She walked over to the judges, collected her prize and just…flew away."

"Flew away!? What do you mean 'Flew away?" I was too confused to say much more, until I realized. Whatever I had seen while I was underwater, it had something to do with Amy. My eyes widened with shock. I shakily stood up, trying to keep my balance. J.J. and Liz stared at me with concern. I said in a quiet voice, "Mom, I-I have to go after her. It's not something I can explain, it's just something I have to do." I waited, unsure of how my owner would react.

She was staring at me, her brown eyes wide with concern. Then, to my astonishment, she nodded. I had the affirmative from my owner. I opened my wings, ready to fly. I hand fell on my shoulder. I turned, ready for nearly anything. Except this. Fyora, queen of the fairies, was standing before me, a small smile on her pretty face. I could literally feel my jaw thump on the floor. She had strangely familiar purple eyes, which were now looking me over.

She spoke, even more amazingly to me, "There is almost something familiar about you, young Zafara. Have we met before, perhaps?" I stared at her. Her face was familiar, of course, but she was the queen of fairies, so I knew who she was. But for her to recognize me… she interrupted my thoughts, her soft voice again directed at me. "Well, it is no matter if we have met before. That is in the past, and this is now. You are going after the other young Zafara, are you not?" Dumbfounded, I nodded. How did she…?

She continued. "I thought so. But before you do, I have a quest for you, something that will surely help you. I need two bottles of water. I am rather thirsty. Do you happen to have my request?" I opened my mouth to say I didn't when a yellowed, clawed hand appeared in my vision. I jumped back; alarmed when I saw who the arm belonged to. Crank stood before me, looking down at me, his beady eyes staring at me in a concerned expression.

I glared at him. I was not in the mood to put up with this large Garrl's aggression. Then he opened his paw. "Here. This won't make up for what I did to you, but I'm hoping it will make you hate me a little less."

In his hand was a pair of bottled water, which glistened in the light of the sun. I stared at the water for a little while, and then I smiled. It was already an impossible day, why not make it even crazier. "Thanks, Crank. This means a lot to me."

The Garrl grinned and pressed the bottles into my hands. He stared to turn away, when my brother caught his attention. The two stared at each other, and I could feel the quick battle of wills between them. Then J.J. grinned. Relieved, the Garrl smiled back. With a quick smile of relief, I turned back to the fairy queen and handed her the bottles.

She smiled at me then said in a semi-formal voice, "Thank you, young Zafara, for finding my bottled water. As I reward, I increase your levels in your magic." She waved her hands at me, and a strange blue light came from her hand and landed on me. I blinked quickly, trying to make sense of what just happened. Then I realized. My bubble shield ability was stronger and wouldn't break so easily. And as a bonus, I was dry again. I bowed to the queen, my gratitude too large to put into words. I wasn't sure why, but something told me I would need that shield.

I opened my wings for the second time, ready to fly. J.J. suddenly looked up at me, and then said in a soft voice, "Just a second, brother."

I blinked, wondering what the Tyrannian Lupe wanted from me. He padded over to me, his big tusks gleaming in the sunshine. As he did, he reached behind him. I watched him warily; unsure of what was going on. The Lupe pulled something out from the pack he nearly always wore.

It was a sword. I gaped at it. J.J.'s second favorite weapon, the energy blade, gleamed and flashed, as though it was showing off, and from the looks he was about to give it to me. I was always fascinated with swords, and spent several hours a week practicing with them, waiting of the day my owner would give me a decent blade. It looked like today was that day.

J.J. handed the blade to me. Wordlessly, I accepted it, feeling as though I was watching what was happening from a distance. I looked at my brother in disbelief, and managed to stammer out, "D-do you really want me to have it?"

J.J. grinned. "Little brother, the only thing I want from you is to come home tonight." His easy smile faded, "and I don't think you will without that sword. Take care of yourself, O.K?"

I nodded, and opened my wings once more. Tucking the weapon into my belt, I started to flap my wings, unsure of what was to happen or where I would go. I was given an encouraging smile from my owner and a cheeky grin from my brother. Once again, seeing their confidence in me helped to clear my head, and I shifted my wings, and started for the west, with the wind at my back, blowing through my wings, lifting me slowly higher and higher. I felt ready to take on the world.

Of course, taking on the world is much easier when you are on an adrenaline high.

My high lasted about ten minutes before I realized I really had now idea where I was to start looking for Amy. I stopped my flight in midair, and looked around, confused. I didn't know where Amy was, I had no idea where I was, and…and my halo was suddenly so bright it was giving me a migraine, it was blinding, it was almost burning, and there was nothing I could do for it. Then a beam of light burst from my halo, shooting out into the distance. I stared at the beam, somewhat confused. It was coming form my halo, yet it didn't seem to be part of my magics.

/

/

A.N.: And that's it! There is my neopets story based on two of my pets (Ace and J.J.) and a couple of of O.C.s that you'll never see again...Let me know what you thought! Review!

Or even just point and laugh at the suckiness. I don't care which...