It was a sunny Saturday morning and Kargupi and his brother, HydroFrosto the
striped Cybunny, were out in the Neopian
Marketplace browsing up a storm.
"Who do they think they're kidding?" laughed HydroFrosto, looking into the
window of a shop where a slice of omelette was priced at 1000 NP.
"They're probably having a competition," replied Kargupi, the shadow Shoyru.
Kargupi and HydroFrosto got along well, which was unusual for brothers. HydroFrosto,
or Hydro as he liked to be called, was very likeable, not the grudgy aggressive
type. Kargupi on the other hand, tended to be pretty ignorant at times, even
though he was the oldest in his family.
As they strolled through the busy street Kargupi saw a big shop that stood
out from the others, it had many of the latest toys in the window and he could
smell even from where he was the food inside.
"Hey Hydro, let's go in there!" said Kargupi, pointing towards the shop.
"Sure," replied Hydro, and hopped over to the shop.
Inside the shop was bigger than it looked from the outside. Big shelves towered
over their heads, and on the shelves there were plushies, models, and a whole
section devoted to Usuki Dolls. There was a wide selection of food, cakes, jellies
and chocolate. Kargupi hastily wiped his mouth as he realised he'd been staring
at the food too long, and ran over to look at the battle items.
He found a metal helmet the shape of a Grarrl's head, obviously not his size,
but still put it over his head.
"Hey Hydro, look! I'm a Grarrl!" called Kargupi, who was grinning stupidly
from the big eye-holes.
"Put it back!" hissed Hydro. "Stop fooling around!"
Kargupi hastily shoved it back on the shelf, and then something else caught
his eye. He walked over to a large run, where dozens of PetPets were sleeping,
eating and playing.
"Hey Hydro, check this out!" called Kargupi.
"Wow, neat!" said Hydro, hopping over and looking through the mesh wire.
"Kargupi watched the funny PetPets in amusement, then, to his amazement, he
spotted a small, green, crocodile-like creature lying in a shallow pool, asleep.
"Woah, isn't that a Krawk?" said Kargupi, pointing to the creature.
"You're right, it is! And it's green! Those are rare, and expensive," said Hydro.
Kargupi peered down the price list on the side of the run. "Scarabug, Warf,
Cobrall... ahah! Green Krawk!"
"99,999 Neopoints!" exclaimed Hydro. "If you were thinking of getting it Kargupi,
too bad."
"B-b-but that's the price of a normal Krawk!" said Kargupi. "PetPet paintbrushes
don't come cheap! That's a bargain!"
"Bargain or not Kargupi, we aren't rich," said Hydro. "I'm sorry."
"I've always wanted a Krawk," said Kargupi sadly.
***
Things were different that day. Instead of Kargupi going of into his forest
to train or meeting his friends, he stayed home for the day, wishing he had
something to read, and playing the games he had played a million times on his
computer console.
"Food's up!" called Greg, Kargupi's owner, and Kargupi walked off into the
dining room.
"Hahahaa! That's the first time I've seen anyone beat you to the table! cackled
Aurami, his sister, a desert Pteri.
Ignoring his sister, Kargupi sat down and picked at his omelette.
"Sorry it's just omelette guys, that's all I have at the moment, did you two
get anything whilst you were out shopping?" said Greg to his pets.
"Oh yeah, loads of stuff," said Hydro. "I've got some sponge cake for dessert."
"Excellent," replied Greg.
Kargupi finally decided to bring up the subject that had been niggling his
head all day. "Greg, what would you say if I was to buy myself a PetPet?"
"What did you have in mind?" said Greg, as Rakugi, the youngest, a rainbow
Shoyru, stole the remainder of Kargupi's omelette.
"Well, when me and Hydro were out today, I saw...a Krawk, a green one. Before
you say no, it was only 100k! That's real cheap for a Krawk! Isn't it, Hydro?"
Hydro sighed. "Yes Kargupi, it's kinda cheap for what it is."
"Sorry Kargupi, that's still too expensive," said Greg. "Especially since what
the NeoPets team did to Grundo's Gym. Grrr...I oughtta... =_= ...Anyway, what
about your Grand Lightning Beam? If this Krawk's so cheap, some rich person
will have bought it by now."
"But the Grand Lightning Beam's just a weapon!" whined Kargupi. "Once I have
a PetPet, I'll never need to get another. Pleeeeease?"
"No."
To be continued... | 
