Brea stepped gratefully into her small apartment, dropping her tiny bag of items on the floor and nearly collapsing in fatigue. The day, as she judged, had been a terribly long one...though she had no desire to create or adopt a pet just yet, many of the other prisoners had been in quite a hurry to start off with their own new pet. All of the ex-prisoners had been forced to stay together...apartments had already been secured for them on Mystery Island, and they were to travel there together in the transport once everybody had finished with their papers and their pets. Of the 12 people, only one other, an old and bitter looking man with thinning white hair, had chosen not to create their pet right away. Brea's Australian friend, who went by the name of Aerik as she had discovered, had adopted a female lupe puppy named Iomegyn, who he called Meg for short.

After all of the previously frozen people had finished up in Neopia Central, the man who had driven the transport had herded them back to their bus and steered them swiftly towards the Central Docks where the lot of them had been handed into the custody of a burly black man who owned the skiff that was to transport them to Mystery Island. The ride had been long and rather boring for most, but Aerik was still cheerfully chattering, effectively keeping Brea entertained and interested. Towards the end of the ride even his chatter had slowly ebbed away as he watched Iomegyn bounce around on the floor of the skiff and slide to and fro as the ship rocked.

The apartments that the group was to stay at until they could afford homes were located less then a 5 minutes walk from the main Mystery Island docks, but even that short walk had been a difficult one...by the time Brea had reached her room, right next to the room that Aerik and Iomegyn had chosen, it was 11:00 pm Neopian Central, and she was exhausted...not to mention famished. Before even looking around the apartment, she rooted through her small bag of free items and pulled out a Rainbow Chia Pop, one of only two food items she had, and ate it hungrily. After the gruel that the prison called food, the pop was a delicacy and, in Brea's opinion, the best thing she had ever eaten.

As she finished eating, she glanced around the apartment slowly...as she had expected, it was rather dilapidated...directly inside the one-roomed place and to the right was a small kitchenette, consisting of 2 white cabinets with peeling paint, a stove with one burner, a counter-top refrigerator and a small sink with a handle that looked cracked and broken even from where she was standing. To the left was a straw bed surrounded by loose pieces of the hay that made it up, with a small wooden table standing beside it and the doorway to the small closet nearby. Across the room was a dining room table made of rock with a broken leg, listing dangerously to the side, surrounded by stone chairs, and a straw sofa and chair strategically placed around a straw table to make a small 'living room' area. Another door was on that wall, one that she judged to lead to the bathroom.

She turned to the bed with a sigh...it was sure to be itchy, but she was tired enough that even if it was stone she figured she could cope. As she strode towards the bed she noticed something along the front wall beside the door that she hadn't noted previously...a full-length mirror. The reflection that she saw there was barely recognizably, and certainly not the same girl who had went into court room years ago. Once upon a time she had been the type of person that someone would describe as 'cute' or 'adorable', descriptions that her 5'1'' frame certainly encouraged. She had worn her blond hair short, just above the shoulders, and she had been rather soft looking...eyes that betrayed innocence to the world, rounded features that showed lack of physical labor. She hadn't been fat by any measure, or even plump...but she had certainly been decidedly non-muscular. Her domains had been archery, marksmanship and magic, all things that didn't require much physical exertion.

Two years in jail had changed everything about her, from her hair to her preferred fighting style. Her hair now reached nearly to her hips, still blonde with purple streaks on either side of her face. But her features had become harder, less cute and more...dangerous, maybe? Her dark purple eyes were sharp but guarded, hiding her emotions effectively from people seeking to discover them...they shared a knowledge of the world, one gained at an age too young by a person who didn't want to know. Her body was muscular now, due too her training in the martial arts by a middle-aged woman in the jail and many hours of practicing...with each movement her muscles rippled, ready to stretch or contract as their mistress willed. Along her left shoulder, the shoulder that bore her one tattoo of a black dragon with purple eyes, a blackish-purple scar spidered out, following the path that her veins made. It was a token from the stun-blast that had frozen her the night she was arrested. The x-shaped scar on her right upper arm that she had gained from a run-in with the Swamp Ghoul was faded now, noticeable only if you were looking for it. No, she wasn't cute anymore...there was an aura of mysterious beauty about her, but her days of being 'cute' were done and gone.

And what I wouldn't do to have those days back.

Brea drew herself away from the mirror, shaking her head sadly, before tossing herself onto the itchy straw bed and pulling a ratty blanket over her body, quickly falling into a deep, well-deserved sleep.

Author's Notes~ I know, I know...not to interesting yet, but all of this is only the introduction. In the next 4 chapters or so the story of how I found my pets'll be written, and then the actual *Gasp* story-line! Aerik is imaginary, as is Iomegyn, so don't go trying to look them up on neopets. They aren't there :-P Anyhow, I wouldn't say no to a few reviews, but I'm not going to grovel for them...if you like the story so far, leave an encouragement, if not, leave a flame...if you have ideas for the story or suggestions, leave those too! ^_~