Tanya and Prince were hot on the trail to Terror Mountain. They had been traveling for a while and were now passing through some thick woods. "So, this Ice Lupe Goddess, she's supposed to gain power whenever Lupes are loved or love someone?"
"Yeah." Prince nodded, pushing back a low hanging branch.
"Then, she must be pretty weak right now."
"I think she's turned back into a mortal. She'll stay a mortal until a Lupe is loved or gives love. I think there was a shorter name for how she gets her power, what was it, islove? Yeah, islove, I remember now."
"So, will she return to an immortal once she has more power?"
"Probably. She just needs one Lupe's islove to become a goddess again."
"Well if that's the case, wouldn't there be at least one Lupe out there that is still loved?"
"Maybe not, all the Lupe packs are dead, every single one of them. I was the future alpha of the last one."
"Do all Lupes look exactly like you, I mean, with the skull. Are you a blue Lupe?"
"No, I'm a mutant Lupe, which makes people more scared of me than a regular Lupe."
"But I wasn't scared of you."
"Yeah you were, did you see how far you jumped back when I had that pleasure growl, you almost fell into that trash can!" he laughed. Tanya just gave him a stern look. They kept on tramping through the forest and found the beach.
Rex had finally found the scent of another Lupe, but it was different that what he had expected. He didn't care though, another Lupe was all he wanted to see. He was now in the haunted woods. He thought he heard a rustling sound in a nearby bush and quickened his pace. Suddenly, in his rush to run away from his own imagination, he ran into a cave. "Great, just great. I run away from my own overactive imagination and end up in a pitch black cave. Rex, you are such an idiot." he yelled at himself.
"I don't think your imagination's that overactive." a ghostly voice resounded from behind Rex. The Christmas Lupe spun around to face the pet, human or faerie who had seen him, fully prepared that he was about to be attacked. He let out a loud growl. "Hey, I don't wanna fight." Rex didn't let up the growl.
"Why did you follow me, and why were you hiding if you're not scared of Lupes? Show yourself!"
"As you wish." the Ghost Lupe suddenly appeared. "I was following you, hoping that you'd know why humans suddenly started hating Lupes. I'm guessing you don't know either?"
"Humans used to not hate Lupes? I didn't know that. What are you exactly, you're not a Lupe, are you?"
"Yeah humans used to live peacefully with Lupes, but something happened recently to get them to hate each other. When I say recently, I mean recently for me, you were probably not even born yet. And as for what I am, I'm the ghost Lupe. I used to be a Lupe, back when humans and faeries used to write stories about how Lupes were loyal."
"I'm trying to find other Lupes, just to see what they look like, the only Lupe I remember seeing is myself in a mirror."
"And now me. I ran into the shadow Usul a while back," at this point Rex gasped, not many pets, Lupes or normal pets, would run into the shadow Usul and act like it was a nothing. "and she said she saw another Lupe back that way, a good 100 miles now."
"Thanks, good luck!" Rex waved. The ghost Lupe waved and bid Rex good luck too.
Back in the days when Lupes were trusted, hardly a pet wouldn't fear me, Lupe or not a Lupe, they all ran screaming. I guess things really have changed, for Neopia, and me. The ghost Lupe sighed and kept on walking, headed up to see an old friend in the endless Plains.
Tala and Ruby now were the best of friends and they lived in Ruby's neohome with her baby sister Sapphire (who was a blue Kacheek). Since Tala couldn't walk out into broad daylight, Ruby was the only one who left the neohome, so Tala babysat Sapphire a lot. Sapphire, being so young, accepted Tala as a regular pet, and they got along fine. Unbeknownst to Tala, every time Ruby left the neohome for school, she'd ask her classmates about their opinions on Lupes.
"Geeze Ruby, you're sounding downright obsessed! Why on Neopia do you keep asking about Lupes? We already said we think they're evil." December, a Christmas Kacheek stated after Ruby asked her daily question again.
"This is sounding pretty weird, especially because Lupes are almost extinct. Did you run into one or something?" Febuary a pink Kacheek asked.
Ruby opened her mouth to tell them about Tala, but thought better of it. What if they still don't believe me that she's not evil and they tell someone? Then Tala could be in danger. "Yeah, I did a little while back." The other Kacheeks gasped. "It was huge, but I didn't get close enough to see it closely, I just walked away from it. I don't think it even noticed me."
"Where was it?" January pelted down her question like sleet.
"When did you see it?" March asked her question more like snow falling.
"Was anyone with you at the time, like us?" July asked, her eyes wide open.
"Nah, I was alone, and it was a few weeks ago. I saw it down that alley near school. But like I said, I just kept walking and it didn't notice me."
"Do you think we should tell someone? What if it's still lose?" April asked with her silky soft voice.
"Nah, if it is, the closest person I know who lives around here would be my math teacher!" June joked.
Well that really worked out well. I'm just hoping no one has to come over to my house for a while, or Tala's in trouble. Ruby sighed. She said bye to her friends and returned to her sister and best friend who were waiting for her in the living room.
"Well, now that I've made it through the Lost Desert without a sign of Lupes," Santa thought. She stopped short when she saw a giant shrine smashed in half. On closer inspection, it had pictures on it of an old, wise looking Desert Lupe, only he looked different from most Desert Lupes. "Who's that?" she thought.
"Amazed by the ruins of King Coltzan's shrine?" a sly voice sounded behind Santa, who instinctively spun around, ready to defend herself from whatever it was behind her.
"Show yourself! Who's there?" Santa growled.
"Are you going to attack me?" a Desert Aisha snickered as she appeared out of a cloud of dust. "This was once the shrine of a well liked King, but he was murdered, and when humans started hating Lupes, this was the first Lupe target to take down." she half sighed, as if she missed it.
"Why? You mean, humans haven't always hated Lupes?"
"Some of them still don't."
"How do you know all this?" Santa started to relax, seeing that this Aisha wasn't going to attack, just freak the heck out of her.
"I am the sands of time. I control the days, the years, the millenniums, and what happens in them. I can slow down time, or I can speed it up, but none of this amuses me anymore." The Aisha looked off in the distance, as if the sand dunes were more interesting than the ruins and the Lupe.
"How can you not be fascinated by time control? That's something even Judorah can't figure out."
"One can only control time by controlling me, and as I am immortal, this cannot be done. Judorah wants to use me in order to rule different portions of Neopia, and she used to send people on quests to obtain items for her spells, all of them were in vain. None of her spells or potions ever managed to subdue me, and I still reign supreme. However, I have become bored with my time control, and I think you'll do nice as something to amuse me."
"Wait a second, what do you intend to do with me? I'm not your toy!" Santa growled.
"You misunderstand me! I merely wish for something to do, and by assisting you, or thwarting you, whichever I choose, gives me pleasure. Tell me Lupe, what is your name, and what is your quest?"
"I'm Santa, and I'm, not sure what I'm here to do. All I know is that I want to keep away from faeries."
"Ah, you have no quest. This makes things more interesting. What is your deepest desire, I can help you fulfill it."
"Well," Santa had to think on this, she had nothing better to do than to team up with this Aisha, as crazy as she was, thinking she was time. "I guess that I'd want to try out the other lifestyles for a Lupe to have during this time period."
"Ah, an adventurer, looking for a home. That is something! Come, I can help you find a home if that is what you want."
"Why are you helping me, what's in it for you?"
"I already told you, I merely wish to be entertained." Suddenly, the whole world became dark to Santa, she was falling through a sea of darkness, she tried to run, swim, climb, anything to keep from falling, but it was useless, and then she landed on something soft.
"Well, there's Fyora's library, what do we do now?" Heart sighed. Kbai and her had finally found the illusive library that would tell them why Lupes were hated, but unfortunately, the door was guarded by two Light faeries.
"We should probably distract the two guards when we know Fyora isn't in there. Then we can grab the book and run, then chuck it back at the door when we're done." Kbai offered. He didn't want to steal, just borrow.
"Or, mister thief, we could just ask politely to borrow the book from Fyora herself." Heart giggled. Kbai shrugged and the decided to try Heart's plan first.
"That really worked." Kbai snickered when Heart was thrown out on her little Kacheek butt for asking for one of Fyora's books. "Ready to try my plan?"
"Fine, but for the record, I'm not exactly what you'd call 'thief materiel'. I'm not stealthy or quiet, so I'll probably get us caught." Heart sighed.
"You know what, just ride on my back, and I can go in, get it, and get out, without being spotted. For the record, Lupes are the definition of stealthy." Kbai sneered.
Kaisa was still going, with the little Starry Shoyru charm that was Stars, and was now in the middle of a deep Forest that would lead to Meridell. She was lucky enough to find a dirt path that led through the forest.
"YOU!" a voice boomed from everywhere at once.
"What the heck!" Kaisa jumped and growled at her attacker, though because she couldn't see them, she was especially defensive.
"You were the one! The one who ruined my life!"
"But I don't even know you, whoever you are, what did I do to you!" Kaisa asked in more surprise.
"Why in Fyora's name did you think you could house a Lupe without my knowing?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" a voice yelled, this one seemed to come from a specific point, as if it was a living being, the other voice sounded like a god or something. The main difference was that this voice sounded scared.
"No you're not!" By this time, it had dawned on Kaisa that she was not being addressed.
"She was hurt, you didn't need to kill her! She didn't do anything to you! Why did you hate her so much?"
"She was a Lupe, and you know better than anyone that all Lupes are evil! Wasn't it them who killed your parents? And who protected you from them all these years?"
"I'm sorry master, but it wasn't this one who did it, she was innocent!" Suddenly, a young red Zafara fell out of a bush into a clearing near Kaisa, who immediately ducked safely out of sight into a bush.
"None are innocent, isn't that what I taught you a long time ago?" the voice boomed as the person owning it flew out into a clearing. Kaisa gasped as Illusen appeared above the trees in the clearing. The little Zafara fell down and cried into the dirt.
"Please master, please forgive me!" she begged.
Illusen sighed in frustration. "Fine, but I want you to return to your house, and never to deal with those things again. I'm doing this for your own protection, she was going to attack you."
"Yes master." the Zafara bowed and quickly ran out of the clearing. Kaisa gulped, she had to go to Illusen to save Sam and Stars, and she was up against one of the strongest haters of Lupes in all of Neopia. She was doomed.