Gala looked up as the sun set, her eyes adjusting to the dim twilight quickly and glowing slightly. She glanced around, looking for food. As she gracefully leaped from the tree she had slept in, she walked toward an area full of light at the edge of the forest.
It was the High Street. She looked around as the street lights flickered on brightly. She noticed mobs of owners inside the doors of each shop, snatching items and throwing neopoints at the shopkeepers. Gala shook her head as she walked from shop to shop, noticing each empty as the shopkeeper, ragged and strained, say there was nothing left in the shop. She looked for the money tree, a thing she had never seen but had heard of in the pound. A wonderful tree whee gifts for the poor were left by kind owners and ghosts. Gala soon found what she was looking for.
A giant tree, surrounded by more people she had ever seen, loomed above her. Some scratches in its bark resembled a smiling face. 'Looks more like it's sneering than smiling.' Gala thought to herself as she watched the insane owners diving and grabbing items and bags of neopoints. She gaped at the throng before tying her bag to her back and diving into it.
Gala looked around. She was surrounded by humans, running around. She froze in fear of the sprinting people. Before she regained her senses, she was kicked off to the side, winded. Gala didn't miss a beat, darting out of the way of an owner about to step on her. She noticed a thin bag of neopoints near her. She reached out a paw to grab it, but a plump bruce waddled over and quickly snatched it, smirking smugly. Gala looked around, and spotted a bottle of black sand. She rushed to grab it, but a Usul who appeared to be hanging out with the bruce snatched it out of her grip. The bruce, usul, and various other pets continued this game with her, snatching up items as she tried to grab them.
"I guess you're just too slow, Street Kitten," The bruce sniggered as he adjusted his bow-tie and kicked dust into Gala's eyes. Gala yowled, rubbing her eyes. As her vision cleared, she snarled at the pets. Though they were a few years her senior, they glanced at each other nervously. They obviously hadn't been spending much time in Grundo's Gym or the battledome, based on their pudgy appearances. Gala was thin, but sinewy from years of avoiding Poire's hard knocks. Her claws were quite sharp, kept in good condition from sharpenings on Poire's pudgy body. Gala flashed her claws and snarled again. The group backed up against a wall. But before Gala could do or say anything, a tall skinny woman ran up, and glared at the small red kougra.
"EEK! A RAT!" She screeched, a sneer branded onto her face. Gala scowled at her darkly. "You disgusting creature, what have you been doing to my pets?!" Her obnoxiously high voice gave Gala a headache. She looked up at the owner and began to back away slowly, resisting the urge to sink her teeth into the aggrivating woman's leg. The skinny woman grabbed Gala by the scruff of her neck. "Oh no you don't! I'm gonna talk to your owner! Who is it?!" The woman, who Gala had alread nicknamed Brat in her mind, screamed into Gala's ears.
"No one." Gala yelled back into the woman's face. Brat looked taken aback for a moment, but resumed glaring at Gala.
"You're lying! Oh, I'll find your owner!" Brat laughed, half twittering, half cackling. Gala shivered. 'What an annoying voice...' She thought to herself peevishly as she was raised higher into the air by the scruff of her neck.
"WHO DOES THIS BEAST OF A KOUGRA BELONG TO?!" Brat screeched at the top of her lungs. The owners paused to glance at her. A simultaneous shrug was followed by the resumption of pawing through the articles at the money tree. Gala smiled sweetly.
"I told you I didn't have an owner." Her tone, obnoxiously sweet, had a condescending and annoyed air to it. Brat scowled.
"What's youre name, you wretched pet?" Brat tapped her foot impatiently but Gala shook her head.
"You can't make me tell you my name," Gala growled quietly, as was rewarded with an annoyed mutter from Brat.
"I can find your owner anyway!" She twittered, and, yelling a command for her pets to go home, stalked off to the Neopian Police Building.
They reached the building too soon for Gala. Brat tossed Gala onto the desk. "This kougra was mauling my pets! I want to know what ignorant wretch owns her."
"I was not mauling your pets! They were taunting me first!" Gala scowled. Brat glared at her, but couldn't match Gala's peeved scowl, and looked back at the police.
"She's obviously lying." Brat shrugged, and the police-member standing behind the desk rolled his eyes and set to work on his computer. He looked at Gala.
"Strange eyes. Kinda creepy, aren't they?" He shrugged as Gala glared at him. "Name?" Brat shrugged. "You don't know her name? How am I supposed to look her up if you don't know her name?" The police-member scowled.
"I figured the great Neopian Police could figure out that themselves." Brat sniffed.
"Look lady, we're not psychic, but I'll see what I can do." The police-member began typing quickly. "I got something. GalaLeFey: pound escapee, red kougra, golden eyes, thin but strong, answers to Gala." He looked up. "She fits the description. We better OWWWW!" Gala never gave the police-member a chance to finish his sentence. She bit him and jumped off his desk, running towards the door. Two red lupes lept in front of her, snarling, but Gala dodged around them, more agile than the large pets. The glass doors flung themselves open and Gala ran through them, into the fresh air. 'Must be electric, but I didn't see any mechanisms near the door, except the hinges.' Gala didn't give it a second thought as she ran into a statue of a chia. The stature slid to the side slightly, and Gala slipped through the chink. The lupes, well fed and muscled, couldn't slip through the opening, and the statue didn't seem to want to move any more. One lupe, a claw through the opening, muttered at her, sounding not at all pleased with the escape.
Gala looked around the place she had just enterred. She saw various signs: "Poetry Contest," "How to Draw," "Coffee Shop," "Art Gallery," and so on. All the signs seemed to be palettes made of stone. Gala dodged into the Coffee Shop.
"Goodness gracious!" Gala heard someone exclaim. She looked up, making sure her bag was still tied to her back. A cute yellow shoyru, wearing an apron, a hat, some blush, and blue eyeshadow, smiled down at her. "You're so thin! Practically fur and bones! I'll fix you right up!" The shoyru pulled her behind the counter into the back of the shop.
Gala was in a small room, with hundreds of similar foods everywhere. Gala gaped. The shoyru "tsk"ed a couple times. "Haven't seen good food in a long time, have you?" She asked. Gala shook her head, still staring. "I'm Azucar. My family's always fed little pets, since my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt twice-removed Pimienta fed a bunch of nobles unknowingly in the little inn she worked in. The inn had such a pretty name, Silver Lakes. Anyway, I run Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe, makers of the best coffee in Neopia. Just call me Zuc." The shoyru smiled motherly at Gala, who smiled back uncertainly. Zuc pulled a couple different cups out of the shelves, and placed them on a small table with a bench next to it. "Sit! Eat! This," Zuc pointed to a purple cup with whipped cream and purple sprinkles topping it, "is our Purplum Mocha, that's a Strong Berry Java," Zuc pointed at a light brown cup full of chocolatey brown liquid, "and this is Spironut with Cream," the last was a brown cup with whipped cream and brown sprinkles on top. "They're all very good. And I think some of our Tiger Squash foods would be good for you too. How 'bout an Iced Bun, Swirly Cake, and Ice Cream? Does that sound good?" Zuc glanced at Gala as she pulled ou the corresponding foods. Gala nodded ecstatically. As soon as Zuc put the food on the table, Gala ravenously dove into it. Zuc "tsk"ed in the background a few times before going to the front of the shop again.
Gala finished quickly, and stretched. She hadn't had this much food in ages. Zuc came back in after a few minutes. "The front is sold out already. I've got 8 minutes to rest before bringing out more for those vultures." Zuc shook her head, then smiled at Gala. "You sure finished fast. Would you like some more? I've got plenty." Zuc gestured at the shelves. Gala nodded, and Zuc pulled down a blue mug full of liquid and snowberrries, and many pastries and thermoses which she put in a large bag. "Drink this Snowberry Tea now, and save the rest fo later. I don't like seeing pets go underfed, especially ones as young as you. Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Zuc pulled down a cup of tea for herself as Gala waved, leaving the back room.
Gala peeked through the front door. A couple members of the Neopian Police were looking around, with lupes and gelerts sniffing the ground. Gala ducked into the shop, looking out through a crack in the door. She watched the members pass with their pets, then darted out the door. She crept toward the statue where she had come in, then squeezed through the hole. The statue slid shut, almost catching her tail as she pulled her bag out.
Gala sprinted over to the forest on the outskirts of the High Street. She found a tree with a hole in it, and stuck her bags in it, scratching a G into its bark to mark it. She climbed into its branched, and fell asleep.
Gala woke up at dawn as the sun rose. She watched the sky turn red and gold, then blue as it rose. She leapt down gracefully, and took a drink out of one of the thermoses and ate some of the Gross Food she had left over from her days in the pound. 'No sense leaving that to get even more rotten.' Gala thought to herself. She stretched, sore all over.
Gala made her way to the Money Tree again, but this time sat on the sidelines, watching the scuffles. She noticed a fat pet in expensive clothes pick up a heavy bag of neopoints and waddle out of the throng, kicking some smaller pets out of the way as it walked. Gala snarled, and darted in, snatching the bag from its plump paws and slipping away. She heard the pet yellling at her from behind, but making no move to chase her. Gala noticed a tiny little poogle trying to get to the money tree, but unable to get past the throng before being tossed out again. Gala smiled sadly, and pushed the bag into the poogle's paws. It looked up at her incredulously as it weighed the bag in its paws. "Keep it," Gala whispered, and the poogle ran off as fast as its little legs could carry it. As Gala walked back to her position on the sidelines, she was stopped by a Pant Devil, one of the ones that supplied the money tree with donations. He smirked down at her. Gala shiverred, but stood firm. "I don't have any items. Leave m-me alone." Gala's voice quaked for a moment. The Pant Devil stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "I know that, kougra. That was a kind thing you did. I dislike these rich pets who go to the money tree to take from those who have less than them." The Pant Devil touched her forehead: Gala felt like ice ran through her veins for a few seconds. "You have the makings of a thief. I've heightened them a bit. You have your own magic, I can tell. Things seem to want to please you, and I wouldn't be surprised if I was under the influence of your magic right now. There aren't many ownerless pets who would give something they want away. I'll keep an eye on you for now." The Pant Devil winked at her and faded away, leaving Gala shiverring. She noticed a bunch of pets and owners staring at her like she was a mutant. Gala gulped and slipped away, noticing how much faster and stealthier she was. 'I guess what that Pant Devil said was true... cool!' Gala noticed bloated grarrl sitting on the curb, a large pile of chocolates next to it. 'Now to test out my new abilities...' Gala crept up behind the grarrl, and managed to take the whole pile without it noticing. She walked away, munching on a white chocolate chia. She tossed an orange chocolate skeith to a kyrii so thin you could count its ribs. She gave a dark chcolate usul to a tiny skeith, who nibbled on the ears, smiling. She had soon given away all the chocolates just walking around the High Street. The rest of the day went fast, with Gala stealing items from the rich and giving them to the poor small pets. 'I'm a regular Robruce Hood.' Gala thought to herself as she walked to her tree in the outskirts.
The days followed like that, with an occasianal visit with Zuc, and an occasional visit from the Pant Devil, who told her his name was Mort. And so the days passed, until the day Gala had been exploring the Art Gallery.
Gala had been in the Gallery a few times before, admiring some of the beautiful artwork and wondering how some ever got in. This particular time, though, a member of the Neopian Police had spotted her on her way to the Coffee Shop and she had dodged into the Gallery. She ran frantically, looking for somewhere to hide. Out of nowhere, Gala heard a low, rumbling growl that seemed to fill the gallery. She noticed a large, pearly white lupe walking up the hallway. "The Ghost Lupe..." Gala whisperred. The Ghost Lupe nodded, and gestured with its head. Gala followed, trembling. They silently made their way through the Gallery, making a right turn here, a left turn there. They soon passed the wall of artwork labeled "Page 1." Gala glanced up at the artwork quickly, but when she looked back at the lupe, it was gone. She noticed a white door nearby, coverred with symbols Gala had never seen in her life. She heard the footsteps of the Police-member she'd been running from. 'Here goes nothing...' Gala thought to herself as she opened the door and slipped through.
"Ren, we've got a red kougra from the Gallery entrance."
It was the High Street. She looked around as the street lights flickered on brightly. She noticed mobs of owners inside the doors of each shop, snatching items and throwing neopoints at the shopkeepers. Gala shook her head as she walked from shop to shop, noticing each empty as the shopkeeper, ragged and strained, say there was nothing left in the shop. She looked for the money tree, a thing she had never seen but had heard of in the pound. A wonderful tree whee gifts for the poor were left by kind owners and ghosts. Gala soon found what she was looking for.
A giant tree, surrounded by more people she had ever seen, loomed above her. Some scratches in its bark resembled a smiling face. 'Looks more like it's sneering than smiling.' Gala thought to herself as she watched the insane owners diving and grabbing items and bags of neopoints. She gaped at the throng before tying her bag to her back and diving into it.
Gala looked around. She was surrounded by humans, running around. She froze in fear of the sprinting people. Before she regained her senses, she was kicked off to the side, winded. Gala didn't miss a beat, darting out of the way of an owner about to step on her. She noticed a thin bag of neopoints near her. She reached out a paw to grab it, but a plump bruce waddled over and quickly snatched it, smirking smugly. Gala looked around, and spotted a bottle of black sand. She rushed to grab it, but a Usul who appeared to be hanging out with the bruce snatched it out of her grip. The bruce, usul, and various other pets continued this game with her, snatching up items as she tried to grab them.
"I guess you're just too slow, Street Kitten," The bruce sniggered as he adjusted his bow-tie and kicked dust into Gala's eyes. Gala yowled, rubbing her eyes. As her vision cleared, she snarled at the pets. Though they were a few years her senior, they glanced at each other nervously. They obviously hadn't been spending much time in Grundo's Gym or the battledome, based on their pudgy appearances. Gala was thin, but sinewy from years of avoiding Poire's hard knocks. Her claws were quite sharp, kept in good condition from sharpenings on Poire's pudgy body. Gala flashed her claws and snarled again. The group backed up against a wall. But before Gala could do or say anything, a tall skinny woman ran up, and glared at the small red kougra.
"EEK! A RAT!" She screeched, a sneer branded onto her face. Gala scowled at her darkly. "You disgusting creature, what have you been doing to my pets?!" Her obnoxiously high voice gave Gala a headache. She looked up at the owner and began to back away slowly, resisting the urge to sink her teeth into the aggrivating woman's leg. The skinny woman grabbed Gala by the scruff of her neck. "Oh no you don't! I'm gonna talk to your owner! Who is it?!" The woman, who Gala had alread nicknamed Brat in her mind, screamed into Gala's ears.
"No one." Gala yelled back into the woman's face. Brat looked taken aback for a moment, but resumed glaring at Gala.
"You're lying! Oh, I'll find your owner!" Brat laughed, half twittering, half cackling. Gala shivered. 'What an annoying voice...' She thought to herself peevishly as she was raised higher into the air by the scruff of her neck.
"WHO DOES THIS BEAST OF A KOUGRA BELONG TO?!" Brat screeched at the top of her lungs. The owners paused to glance at her. A simultaneous shrug was followed by the resumption of pawing through the articles at the money tree. Gala smiled sweetly.
"I told you I didn't have an owner." Her tone, obnoxiously sweet, had a condescending and annoyed air to it. Brat scowled.
"What's youre name, you wretched pet?" Brat tapped her foot impatiently but Gala shook her head.
"You can't make me tell you my name," Gala growled quietly, as was rewarded with an annoyed mutter from Brat.
"I can find your owner anyway!" She twittered, and, yelling a command for her pets to go home, stalked off to the Neopian Police Building.
They reached the building too soon for Gala. Brat tossed Gala onto the desk. "This kougra was mauling my pets! I want to know what ignorant wretch owns her."
"I was not mauling your pets! They were taunting me first!" Gala scowled. Brat glared at her, but couldn't match Gala's peeved scowl, and looked back at the police.
"She's obviously lying." Brat shrugged, and the police-member standing behind the desk rolled his eyes and set to work on his computer. He looked at Gala.
"Strange eyes. Kinda creepy, aren't they?" He shrugged as Gala glared at him. "Name?" Brat shrugged. "You don't know her name? How am I supposed to look her up if you don't know her name?" The police-member scowled.
"I figured the great Neopian Police could figure out that themselves." Brat sniffed.
"Look lady, we're not psychic, but I'll see what I can do." The police-member began typing quickly. "I got something. GalaLeFey: pound escapee, red kougra, golden eyes, thin but strong, answers to Gala." He looked up. "She fits the description. We better OWWWW!" Gala never gave the police-member a chance to finish his sentence. She bit him and jumped off his desk, running towards the door. Two red lupes lept in front of her, snarling, but Gala dodged around them, more agile than the large pets. The glass doors flung themselves open and Gala ran through them, into the fresh air. 'Must be electric, but I didn't see any mechanisms near the door, except the hinges.' Gala didn't give it a second thought as she ran into a statue of a chia. The stature slid to the side slightly, and Gala slipped through the chink. The lupes, well fed and muscled, couldn't slip through the opening, and the statue didn't seem to want to move any more. One lupe, a claw through the opening, muttered at her, sounding not at all pleased with the escape.
Gala looked around the place she had just enterred. She saw various signs: "Poetry Contest," "How to Draw," "Coffee Shop," "Art Gallery," and so on. All the signs seemed to be palettes made of stone. Gala dodged into the Coffee Shop.
"Goodness gracious!" Gala heard someone exclaim. She looked up, making sure her bag was still tied to her back. A cute yellow shoyru, wearing an apron, a hat, some blush, and blue eyeshadow, smiled down at her. "You're so thin! Practically fur and bones! I'll fix you right up!" The shoyru pulled her behind the counter into the back of the shop.
Gala was in a small room, with hundreds of similar foods everywhere. Gala gaped. The shoyru "tsk"ed a couple times. "Haven't seen good food in a long time, have you?" She asked. Gala shook her head, still staring. "I'm Azucar. My family's always fed little pets, since my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt twice-removed Pimienta fed a bunch of nobles unknowingly in the little inn she worked in. The inn had such a pretty name, Silver Lakes. Anyway, I run Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe, makers of the best coffee in Neopia. Just call me Zuc." The shoyru smiled motherly at Gala, who smiled back uncertainly. Zuc pulled a couple different cups out of the shelves, and placed them on a small table with a bench next to it. "Sit! Eat! This," Zuc pointed to a purple cup with whipped cream and purple sprinkles topping it, "is our Purplum Mocha, that's a Strong Berry Java," Zuc pointed at a light brown cup full of chocolatey brown liquid, "and this is Spironut with Cream," the last was a brown cup with whipped cream and brown sprinkles on top. "They're all very good. And I think some of our Tiger Squash foods would be good for you too. How 'bout an Iced Bun, Swirly Cake, and Ice Cream? Does that sound good?" Zuc glanced at Gala as she pulled ou the corresponding foods. Gala nodded ecstatically. As soon as Zuc put the food on the table, Gala ravenously dove into it. Zuc "tsk"ed in the background a few times before going to the front of the shop again.
Gala finished quickly, and stretched. She hadn't had this much food in ages. Zuc came back in after a few minutes. "The front is sold out already. I've got 8 minutes to rest before bringing out more for those vultures." Zuc shook her head, then smiled at Gala. "You sure finished fast. Would you like some more? I've got plenty." Zuc gestured at the shelves. Gala nodded, and Zuc pulled down a blue mug full of liquid and snowberrries, and many pastries and thermoses which she put in a large bag. "Drink this Snowberry Tea now, and save the rest fo later. I don't like seeing pets go underfed, especially ones as young as you. Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Zuc pulled down a cup of tea for herself as Gala waved, leaving the back room.
Gala peeked through the front door. A couple members of the Neopian Police were looking around, with lupes and gelerts sniffing the ground. Gala ducked into the shop, looking out through a crack in the door. She watched the members pass with their pets, then darted out the door. She crept toward the statue where she had come in, then squeezed through the hole. The statue slid shut, almost catching her tail as she pulled her bag out.
Gala sprinted over to the forest on the outskirts of the High Street. She found a tree with a hole in it, and stuck her bags in it, scratching a G into its bark to mark it. She climbed into its branched, and fell asleep.
Gala woke up at dawn as the sun rose. She watched the sky turn red and gold, then blue as it rose. She leapt down gracefully, and took a drink out of one of the thermoses and ate some of the Gross Food she had left over from her days in the pound. 'No sense leaving that to get even more rotten.' Gala thought to herself. She stretched, sore all over.
Gala made her way to the Money Tree again, but this time sat on the sidelines, watching the scuffles. She noticed a fat pet in expensive clothes pick up a heavy bag of neopoints and waddle out of the throng, kicking some smaller pets out of the way as it walked. Gala snarled, and darted in, snatching the bag from its plump paws and slipping away. She heard the pet yellling at her from behind, but making no move to chase her. Gala noticed a tiny little poogle trying to get to the money tree, but unable to get past the throng before being tossed out again. Gala smiled sadly, and pushed the bag into the poogle's paws. It looked up at her incredulously as it weighed the bag in its paws. "Keep it," Gala whispered, and the poogle ran off as fast as its little legs could carry it. As Gala walked back to her position on the sidelines, she was stopped by a Pant Devil, one of the ones that supplied the money tree with donations. He smirked down at her. Gala shiverred, but stood firm. "I don't have any items. Leave m-me alone." Gala's voice quaked for a moment. The Pant Devil stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "I know that, kougra. That was a kind thing you did. I dislike these rich pets who go to the money tree to take from those who have less than them." The Pant Devil touched her forehead: Gala felt like ice ran through her veins for a few seconds. "You have the makings of a thief. I've heightened them a bit. You have your own magic, I can tell. Things seem to want to please you, and I wouldn't be surprised if I was under the influence of your magic right now. There aren't many ownerless pets who would give something they want away. I'll keep an eye on you for now." The Pant Devil winked at her and faded away, leaving Gala shiverring. She noticed a bunch of pets and owners staring at her like she was a mutant. Gala gulped and slipped away, noticing how much faster and stealthier she was. 'I guess what that Pant Devil said was true... cool!' Gala noticed bloated grarrl sitting on the curb, a large pile of chocolates next to it. 'Now to test out my new abilities...' Gala crept up behind the grarrl, and managed to take the whole pile without it noticing. She walked away, munching on a white chocolate chia. She tossed an orange chocolate skeith to a kyrii so thin you could count its ribs. She gave a dark chcolate usul to a tiny skeith, who nibbled on the ears, smiling. She had soon given away all the chocolates just walking around the High Street. The rest of the day went fast, with Gala stealing items from the rich and giving them to the poor small pets. 'I'm a regular Robruce Hood.' Gala thought to herself as she walked to her tree in the outskirts.
The days followed like that, with an occasianal visit with Zuc, and an occasional visit from the Pant Devil, who told her his name was Mort. And so the days passed, until the day Gala had been exploring the Art Gallery.
Gala had been in the Gallery a few times before, admiring some of the beautiful artwork and wondering how some ever got in. This particular time, though, a member of the Neopian Police had spotted her on her way to the Coffee Shop and she had dodged into the Gallery. She ran frantically, looking for somewhere to hide. Out of nowhere, Gala heard a low, rumbling growl that seemed to fill the gallery. She noticed a large, pearly white lupe walking up the hallway. "The Ghost Lupe..." Gala whisperred. The Ghost Lupe nodded, and gestured with its head. Gala followed, trembling. They silently made their way through the Gallery, making a right turn here, a left turn there. They soon passed the wall of artwork labeled "Page 1." Gala glanced up at the artwork quickly, but when she looked back at the lupe, it was gone. She noticed a white door nearby, coverred with symbols Gala had never seen in her life. She heard the footsteps of the Police-member she'd been running from. 'Here goes nothing...' Gala thought to herself as she opened the door and slipped through.
"Ren, we've got a red kougra from the Gallery entrance."