After walking all the way from Falltree Forest, Kyle and Blaze were finally in Thicketstump Village. It was a moderate-sized town, with a bustling city center.
"Our rescue team base should be close to where we are now. I know because we have this big blue mailbox out front where we get rescue requests from other Neopets," Blaze told Kyle.
Kyle scanned around, but found no sign of any big blue mailboxes, so the two kept walking.
Finally, they reached their destination.
"Behold, the rescue base of Team NeoStars," Blaze said, showing off their repurposed neohome with a bright yellow roof. "C'mon, let's step inside and meet my other pals."
Kyle entered the base with Blaze. Two other Neopets were waiting for them there: a Faerie Kacheek, who was sitting on a couch with her Miamouse, and a Green Xweetok, who was lying down on a beanbag.
"Let me introduce you to my friends," Blaze said. He then turned to the Xweetok and Kacheek. "Hey guys, I found this Lupe near Falltree Forest. He says he's a former human." The other Neopets were quite surprised at this.
"That-that can happen?"
"Wow!"
"But that's not all," Blaze continued. "Almost immediately after I met him, (his name's Kyle, by the way) this Usul comes up to us and asks us to rescue her Puppyblew, which ran off into Falltree Forest. We took the job, and when we finally located the Puppyblew, we came across this psycho pink Poogle in a tiara and tutu who insisted on having the Puppyblew all to herself, and we had to fight her to get the Puppyblew back!"
The Xweetok said, "A possible new member of our rescue team and a job that was completed and you still have energy to spare? Wow, you really are energetic, Blaze. I would probably fall asleep right after! Speaking of sleep…" The Xweetok yawned. "Man, I sure am tired."
Blaze gestured toward the Xweetok and said to Kyle, "This is Ronan. Him and I were the original two members of Team NeoStars, 'cause Ronan's my best friend. Plus, for some reason, he's really fond of sleeping. And eating, just like me. Plus, he's really easygoing and also the best friend I can ask for."
Kyle nodded. "Now who's the other girl?"
"That's Mariya. She's a Faerie Kacheek," Blaze explained. "She's rather shy, and she was one of our first rescue team clients. She wanted to get her Miamouse, Koko, back, and came with us. After that mission was complete, that's when we asked her if she wanted to join, but it was about five minutes of 'um'-ing before she finally agreed."
"Um, hi, Kyle," a blushing Mariya said softly.
"So, guys, what do you think of Kyle being in our little rescue team?" Blaze asked Ronan and Mariya. "I wanna have him on our team, 'cause I'm growing pretty close with him."
"Yeah! He seems nice," Ronan said.
"Um… umm…" Mariya said, unsure. "I guess so."
Blaze then turned to Kyle. "Kyle, do you wanna join us? It'll be fun!"
"Well…" Kyle pondered. "I think so. Going to save the Usul's Puppyblew… it was real exhilarating, I tell you. I'd love to have more adventures like that. So, yes."
"So it's unanimous!" Blaze said. "Welcome to the team, Kyle!"
"Wait," Kyle said. "Didn't you say you were gonna teach me how to use magic?"
"Yeah, about that…" Blaze put his hand behind his head. "I don't really know the type of magic that Lupes are inclined to use. But I know someone who does."
"Who?" Kyle said, curiously.
"Anya," Blaze explained. "All Neopets have different elemental affinities that dictate which elemental spells that they are more likely to learn and which spells would be powered up. For example, I'm a Zafara, so my natural elemental affinity is Thunder. But I also happen to be a Fire Zafara, so I can also learn more Fire spells. Also handy to know: Some elements are strong and weak against others, so if I used a fire spell on a Neopet with a Nature elemental affinity, it would do more damage. But if I used the same spell on a pet with a Water elemental affinity, it wouldn't do as much."
"What does that have to do with this Anya character?" asked Kyle.
"Well, Anya's an Aisha," said Blaze. "Aishas are a special case when it comes to elemental affinities. They have the same weaknesses as Neopets with Light elemental affinities, but can learn spells of all elements, and they're all powered up the same. So she can learn ice spells, which is good because Lupes have the Ice elemental affinity."
"Good! So when are you gonna take me to meet Anya?" Kyle asked.
"Tomorrow, 'cause it's getting late and-"
GRUUMBLLLE!
"GAH! EARTHQUAKE!" Kyle panicked.
Blaze chuckled for a bit, then said "Nah, Kyle. That's just my stomach."
GRRRRRRRRRRRR…
Kyle yelped, thinking there was an earthquake again, before Ronan spoke up. "I'm hungry too, Kyle… that was my tummy!"
Kyle, Blaze and Ronan shared a laugh, then Kyle piped up with "Well, I'm hungry too. Where do you guys like to go to grab a bite?"
"Well, there's this place around here called 'Fabian's Fresh Restaurant'," Blaze said. "The food there is really yummy. Let's go!"
Team NeoStars collectively headed off to Fabian's Fresh Restaurant.
—
When they got there, Kyle ordered a Faux-Chia Patty Burger, while Mariya just got a salad, but Blaze ordered two quintuple-deluxe cheeseburgers with Jumbo Fries, a double-deluxe order of onion rings and a diet Neocola. Ronan ordered the same thing.
When they finally got their food, Blaze and Ronan instantly and messily dug in.
GOBBLE! SNARFLE! SNARF! GULP!
When the dust had finally settled, Blaze and Ronan slumped back in their chairs, patting their heavily bloated bellies.
"URRRRRRP! Now that hit the spot," Blaze said.
"Yup!" Ronan replied, before yawning and saying "Man, you sure get sleepy when you have a full belly…"
When the gang's waiter came around, Kyle paid for the meal with 2,095 NP and Team NeoStars headed off together, with Blaze and Ronan still trying to put effort into their walking despite their bloated bellies, so they could get back to their individual houses (or Blaze's, in the case of Kyle) so they could earn a well-deserved rest.
