A loud roar shattered the silence of the forest. Balthazar was furious. He knew it was bound to happen. He'd barely caught half a dozen of the small glittering uber – faeries and less than that he managed to get into his sealed bottles. But why did it have to happen now of all times? Especially as the demand for faeries had suddenly increased. He roared again, splitting the silence of the night.
He growled softly, remembering the stories his predecessor had recited. The relevant one soon revealed itself and his growling began to increase. It was the most irritating thing and the worst part was there was nothing he could do to prevent it. No one knew why the faeries shifted their colonies around, only that it happened fairly regularly over the course of several hundred years. There soon wouldn't be any left for kilometres around… and it probably would take years to find them. It was not a task that he could easily complete on his own. "I'll have to get an apprentice!" He spat. It was humiliating for he, Balthazar, who had worked alone for many years, to admit to such a thing. He roared once more, bottles rattling in his paws, mostly empty.
– – –
A small red Lupe slipped quietly and quickly down a convenient alleyway. The cries of "Stop thief!" by the Chia police vanishing into the distance. Rayden sighed in relief and put down his prize – a meaty Chia Lupe treat. He muttered, "Must be getting better at this, they didn't get me this time." He set himself to devouring the meat. Tearing and chewing sounds reigned in the deserted alley. Rayden had been abandoned by his owner and had lived a terrible few days in the pound without food before he managed to escape. Since then he had been living on the streets of Neopia Central, grabbing a meal when he could. That was almost four months ago.
The Lupe Treat was almost gone now.
In that time he was caught three out of five times he managed to grab some food. He'd yet to find a Lupe pack that would take him in. He was virtually out of options but he didn't have the funds to book a trip on a boat that would take him to Mystery Island, for example.
The food was finished. Rayden padded back to the grubby alley entrance and peaked out. Seeing no sign of the police, he headed into the stream of traffic, his scruffy head obvious amongst the well groomed pets on the street outside and headed to the place he called 'home'.
Lying down in a cardboard box heaved from the garbage dump and moved into a cramped space between the shops he drifted off into an uneasy sleep with a half full stomach, dreaming of the Lupe hero Jeran.
Soon after Rayden suddenly jerked awake, started by a sudden noise. He had learned to sleep lightly since his first night out of the pound when he was wakened violently from where he collapsed in the doorway of a store. He shuddered. The way that the Meerca gang intimidated him was not an experience he wanted to repeat.
Night had fallen. He quickly calmed when he discovered it was no more than a Lenny's squawk. The bird itself seemed to be out for a late night walk. As he settled down again with a sigh, he was struck by a novel idea. "Why do I have to stay here any longer?" He murmured. "I may not be able to afford the trip, but I can certainly hide myself aboard a ship. I can try my luck in Meridell or the Haunted Woods. Surely there must be at least one Lupe pack that would accept a small, weak fighter like me." A sly grin crept over his face as he packed away his one thing of value. He took one look around his 'home' noticing again the evidence of decaying buildings and indescribable smells. While he was very tired, adrenaline was spurring him on and he left without a single backwards glance for the marina.
Darkness was best when you didn't want to be seen.