Part 1 - Another ordinary day
The light of day shone through the two windows of the room, gently stirring the red Lupe from his slumber. He got out of his bed, made of rough stalks of straw, and rubbed his eyes. "That stuff really itches," he thought to himself, but he knew his owner was doing his best. He took a quick glance at the two Red Geraptiku Vases on the desk – also made of straw - and sighed. It never seemed to make any sense how a straw desk could hold those things without breaking. He took a look at the Snowager poster that was hanging on the wall and said, "One day I'll get something special from you." He padded to the main room of the house for breakfast, opening up a secret passageway in the floor and following it downwards. He had discovered this underground network when his owner first built the main room. Only he and his owner knew of them. He soon opened up the secret door into the main room, where his owner and three brothers were still sleeping comfortably near the fire. Smiling, he made his way over to the Jinjah Desk that they received at Christmas. The yellow Lupe slowly opened one eye. Noticing his brother, he walked over.
"Good morning, Crusherwhite," he yawned sleepily.
"Ah, and a good morning to you too, Horizongold101," replied the red Lupe.
"You know, you don't need to talk like that with us," the yellow Lupe told him. "We're your brothers. You can talk normally."
Crusherwhite smiled. "I know, but I'm so excited! Ever since Carnax489 told me he had a surprise for me, I've been too excited to think straight!" he said enthusiastically.
Horizongold101 grinned back. "I guess you're right. He hasn't even told me or the other two what it is. He may be our owner, but he's still rather sneaky," he said, with a hint of curiosity.
With a slight yawn, the other two Lupes woke up and crept over to them. The blue one placed his paws over Crusherwhite's eyes and yelled "Surprise!"
Crusherwhite removed the paws and said reproachfully, "Lupussilver, how many times have I asked you not to do that?" The blue Lupe looked down, an expression of sadness on his face.
"Sorry, I just couldn't resist," he told Crusherwhite.
"He's coming!" said the green Lupe. Sure enough, Carnax489 had awoken and was now walking towards them.
"Good morning, everyone," he said in a cheery tone. The green Lupe had already got out of his seat to let his owner sit down. "Now Sharkgrey, I don't need to sit down," he said firmly. The green Lupe nodded and sat back down. "I have a surprise for you, Crusherwhite. Zorbak! Basilius! Frosty! Scruffy! Bring it out!" he called. Four petpets emerged nervously and excitedly from behind the Sledding Trophy, holding a box wrapped up in gold wrapping paper. They placed it in front of Crusherwhite, and then scuttled back to their owners. Zorbak the Plushie Warf leapt onto Crusherwhite's shoulder. Basilius the Cobrall slithered up Sharkgrey's leg and into his lap. Scruffy the Puppyblew and Frosty the Snicklebeast climbed up to Lupussilver and Horizongold101 respectively. "Open it, then!" Carnax489 prompted. Crusherwhite nodded and tore the paper away. He opened the box and saw…a White Paintbrush.
"Wow! Thanks!" he said happily, flinging himself into his owner's arms.
"Okay, take it easy!" Carnax489 laughed. "We'll get you painted right after breakfast." He placed four plates on the low table, each one holding a thick slice of Sausage Omelette. "Eat up," he told them. The four Lupes happily ate their breakfast. Afterwards, they prepared to go out. "I'll be back in a minute," Carnax489 told them. He made sure they weren't looking, and then he opened the passageway to Crusherwhite's room. He went through to the room and unrolled an Altador Rug on the floor. "This'll make him even happier," he thought contentedly. He then returned to the main room. "Okay, let's go," he said to the Lupes. The Lupes cheered and raced out of the door.
They soon arrived at the edge of the Rainbow Pool, and bounded up to the water.
"Okay, let's get you painted!" Carnax489 called to Crusherwhite. Suddenly, they heard a voice.
"Chris, over here!" it said. They turned to see one of their best friends, Smileyhappy393. She had brought her four pets along to the Rainbow Pool as well: a blue Flotsam, a red Lenny, a yellow Lenny and a red Blumaroo.
"Oh, hi Smiley," Carnax489 said happily.
"Chris, please don't call me that," she asked, slightly annoyed.
"I already said I'm not calling you by your real name unless it is an emergency," he replied. The two Lennys had begun flying around Lupussilver and Horizongold101's heads, trying to peck at them.
"Loolooneo2, Loolootwo, stop that right now," she said sternly. They stopped and flew back.
"Sorry," they said. By then, Crusherwhite had already dived into the Rainbow Pool with the paintbrush in hand. After a while, he emerged from the water, his fur now a white colour instead of red.
"Wow, you look great!" said the Flotsam.
"Thank you, Flippyfloppy31," said Crusherwhite. "Now, how about we head to Faerieland?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, you have your training session at Krawk Island, remember?" Carnax489 told him.
"Oh yeah, I guess I forgot due to the excitement!" he admitted, admiring his white fur.
"Do you want to come?" he asked Smiley and her pets.
"We'd love to come, right everyone?" she said to her pets. They all nodded happily, except for the red Blumaroo. "Tommo36neo, what's wrong?" she asked. The Blumaroo didn't say anything, but whimpered slightly. "I guess we can't come after all," she said. She picked up the Blumaroo and walked away, waving goodbye as the rest of her pets followed her.
"Come on, let's go home," Carnax489 said as he walked towards the house.
"But what about the training session?" Crusherwhite asked.
"I have a feeling something bad is going to happen…" Carnax489 replied. Knowing it was best to listen to their owner, the four Lupes followed him.
"Why does she call you Chris?" Sharkgrey asked. Carnax489 turned around.
"Because that's my real name," he said. "Crusherwhite, I don't want you to call me by that name unless it's very important." Crusherwhite nodded, knowing it was important to him.
Late that night, Crusherwhite slept restlessly. In his dreams, he was standing in Faerieland, only it looked completely different. The Rainbow Fountain and the Healing Springs had completely dried up. The Wheel of Excitement had shattered into a hundred pieces. The houses were encased in ice and the clouds were pitch black. Faerie Castle looked the same however. "What happened here?" he said.
"You should know," said a voice from behind him. He spun around to see a Lupe. At least, it looked like a Lupe - it was completely black, so he couldn't see the face.
"Who are you? And what do you mean, 'I should know'?" he asked.
"My name is of no importance to you, and you did this. You are cursed," said the Lupe. Crusherwhite just stared, taking a moment to register what he was told.
"Cursed?" he asked. The Lupe in front of him nodded. "What do you mean?" he asked, determined to find out.
"You are not yet meant to know," was the answer he received. "Now watch this scene," the Lupe told him. Suddenly, he was in Neopia Central. He saw a red Aisha walking along peacefully. Suddenly, a Lupe appeared in front of her. It pulled out something and pinned her to the ground. Crusherwhite couldn't make out what it was, but it must have been icy because the Aisha was frozen. He pulled out a dagger and cut his own paw.
"One down, two to go," he said, in a voice that was very familiar to Crusherwhite. He didn't have time to think about it, however, because he was soon awake, breathing heavily and sweating.
"Check the vase for a surprise…" said the voice of the shadow Lupe in his mind. He went over to the vases and placed his paw inside each one. He felt something inside one of them. He pulled it out, only to discover it was the same dagger from his dream. He felt a pain in his right paw. He looked at it and gasped in horror. The same cut that the Lupe had done to himself in the dream was also on his paw.
"What could this mean?" he asked himself. He knew this was a serious problem, but he couldn't worry his owner. "I'm just going to have to keep it a secret" he thought to himself as he returned to bed.