"The situation is not the greatest, sire."
"I know that!" the striped Uni snapped back,
absently adjusting the crown that had a tendency to slip off his brow.
"They just don't respect you like they did their
father."
"I know that also," he grumbled.
The Uni was a rather scrawny specimen, spindly
legs, skinny face, and stringy hair. His fur was a light purple-blue with darker
purple stripes, still a shade too light for a natural Uni. Ever since he inherited
the throne of a small Uni clan that clung to the old ways, he'd had difficulties.
His small stature and timid personality was not what any of the nobles were
used to, having been under the rule of his father, a powerful king, for a long
time. It was like a field day for the nobles, finally, someone they could easily
intimidate into getting their way.
On top of the nobles, there was the question
of his sister. Dainty, proud, graceful, and with a mind of her own. If only
she'd decided to do her duty and help him keep the nobles in check, instead
of running away, he wouldn't be in this position.
"King Righ? Sire?"
The Uni started and gave his full attention to
the fire Uni, his only trusted advisor.
"Sorry, just thinking," he muttered, again adjusting
the crown that refused to stay put.
"I was saying, perhaps a political marriage could
be used to bring this rebellious noble family into check."
"Yes, but with who? They have one son. I have
no relatives left."
"Why, your sister, of course. After nearly a
year of searching, we've finally found her."
King Righ's head snapped up, nearly sending the
crown flying.
"Yes? Where is she?"
"Living with a girl by the name of child_dragon.
There are three other pets total, an Eyrie, Zafara, and that blasted Shoyru,
Terraile."
"Will it be a problem to bring her back?"
The advisor hesitated, then shook his head.
"No, not to bring her back. Keeping her, that
could be a problem. This owner is rather, ah, shall we say, headstrong? A lot
like your sister in some respects, but with the power to back her up."
"So we'll have to move fast then," King Righ
plotted, "Bring her here, and we'll marry her off as soon as possible. She'll
be stuck here then, and nothing her 'owner' can do will tear her away."
"Very well my lord, I will see to it."
The advisor bowed and exited the room. Righ remained
where he was, absently adjusting the crown again.
"Yes, it's past time Syri MoonFall returned home,"
he mused out loud.
***
Life had been quiet for quite a while, too quiet for it to last, really. I
should have known my luck wouldn't last, and that some event would disrupt the
normal day-to-day life I enjoyed. For once though, it wasn't Un-eairkagh.
The striped Eyrie was at my best friend Melody's
house playing with Padiglione the baby Kougra. The two had been friends from
the moment they met, and Padiglione's new colour had changed nothing. I was
in the living room, idly trying to find something good on TV. I was just about
to give it up as a lost cause, when the door slammed open, crashing into the
wall. I winced, knowing there'd be some spackling necessary to repair that.
"Un-eairkagh!" I shouted angrily, rising and
glaring at the hallway.
My shadowed Shoyru, Terraile, stood there, her
bow in hand with and arrow nocked.
"Kiddo," she said weakly.
I hurried over and knelt by her side.
"What's wrong?"
"It's MoonFall. She's gone. She's been kidnapped."
My heart skipped a couple beats at those words,
and I tentatively sat down on the floor, feeling the room spin around me.
"What do you mean?"
"We were out shopping, just had left the bakery,
when these three Uni's approached us. I didn't recognise any of them, but apparently
they knew MoonFall. They grabbed her and dragged into an alleyway. I tried to
follow, but before I could get an arrow drawn, I got hit on the back of the
head. When I woke up, they were gone."
I stayed silent, then stood, walking down the
hall to Aldrai's room. He was waiting outside the door, and one look at his
eyes told me he'd heard everything. I didn't say a word, but returned to the
kitchen and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" came the voice of Infernus, the fire
Scorchio, on the other end.
"Get Sabreur and tell him to meet at my house.
We have an emergency."
I hung up and dialed Melody, instructing her
to also meet at my house, then Sakuko. When someone messed with one of my pets,
they messed with the entire child_dragon clan. Whoever the kidnapper was, he
was about to have a whole mess of trouble dumped in his lap.
The living room was crowded with all the pets
and humans. There was Melody, my best friend, a skinny blond 19 year old. Her
three pets, SwiftRiversRunning, a faerie Gelert now, FireDarkWolfX, a green
Gelert currently going to the lab ray, and Padiglione, occupied one corner of
the room. My brother, Sabreur, a tall guy with spiky blond hair, took the couch,
along with Infernus the fire Scorchio Infernus was the battler of the group,
and Sabreur was currently scrapping together the money to someday buy a Hidden
Tower weapon for him. Sakuko, a younger girl with one pet, Netsuko, took the
floor. Netsuko, a rainbow Zafara, sat next to my spotted Zafara, Aldrai. Un-eairkagh
and Terraile also took the floor, and I took the centre of the room, waiting.
I had just turned 18 - legally an adult even though I'd had the responsibilities
of one for almost two years. Ever since the Shadow incident, in which all of
Neopia was threatened by an ancient evil, I'd tried to live a quiet life. After
being turned into an Eyrie by a mishap in Sabreur's lab, then turned into the
Essence of Neopia to fulfill an ancient prophecy and rid Neopia of the Shadows,
I thought I deserved some peace. Apparently this was not to be so, however,
and once again I was being forced to use a power I'd much rather leave alone.
"As you know, MoonFall was kidnapped this morning,"
I said gravely. "I'm not going to the police just yet, as I believe we can handle
this better than they could."
There were agreeing nods from across the room.
"I need your help though. I could probably track
them down myself, but since we don't know if MoonFall is in danger, the situation
could be quite delicate. Plus," I reluctantly admitted, "everyone here knows
I'm miserable at this detective stuff."
Sabreur snorted in laughter. I ignored him.
"So, everyone brought their weapons, right?"
There was a clatter of metal as everyone rattled
their sword, daggers, or bow in acknowledgement.
"All right then. First stop, the bakery to see
what we can find out."
There are always stares when we go anywhere.
For one thing, a group of four humans and eight pets are always noticeable.
Secondly, this particular group was especially noticeable due to me. I was the
Essence of Neopia, meaning I was pet and owner. I wasn't that tall, skinny with
brown hair, normally utterly unremarkable. But now; I was quite different. I
had white Eyrie wings, a dark blue Pteri tail, light blue Peophin frills on
my cheeks, red Scorchio horns, the hands of a black Kougra, and the feet of
a green Uni. Naturally, people stared. I'd grown used to it.
Melody talked to the bakery store owner. She
was always received well by people, I imagined it was just her gentle nature.
Melody claimed it was because people just didn't know better, at which point
she attempted to laugh evilly. I nosed around the side of the building, trying
to pick up the strands of elements that defined one pet from another. Melody
returned and reported her findings.
"The bakery owner did not witness the actual
kidnapping. However, he did see four Unis hanging around all day. He can't remember
their colours, however."
I nodded and again concentrated on the strands.
I knew that MoonFall was earth, her familiar strand was quite easy to pick out.
Now armed with the knowledge that her kidnappers were all Unis, I was also able
to pick out the rest of the strands. I started walking, trailing them as I went.
They led out of Neopia Central through the marketplace. I almost lost them once
or twice, but eventually regained the trail until we were in the fields surrounding
Neopia Central. From there, the strands split up, and MoonFall's vanished.
"It's gone," I said weakly.
"What's gone?" said Sakuko, looking a little
tired from following me across Neopia Central.
"Her strand. Three split up, and MoonFall's and
another vanishes."
"They didn't."
"No," I said, finished the unspoken thought,
"There would be traces. They probably took to the air, or had a way of concealing
her presence. Either way, we've got to find them."
There was silence for a moment as I thought on
what to do.
"All right. Sabreur and Terraile will take this
strand," I said. "You can see it, right?"
Terraile squinted at it for a long time, then
nodded.
"Vaguely," she murmured, "but well enough."
"Melody and Aldrai will take this one," I directed
pointing to another.
Aldrai concentrated for a moment, then nodded
also.
"I don't know how, but I can see the strands
too. Faintly. It will be hard."
"And I and Sakuko will take this one. I don't
know what we'll have to do about the fourth Uni, but hopefully we can find some
clues."
My friends nodded and we quickly separated into
groups. Our pets sorted themselves out, making sure there was at least one good
fighter per group. That done, I faced my friends for one last instruction.
"We stop searching at 10 PM, NST. Meet back at
my house and we'll compare our findings."
"And if we're close to something?" Terraile asked.
"Then keep going if it can't wait until tomorrow."
I took a deep breath.
"Good luck everyone," I said softly, feeling
the grief finally start to break, "and remember, this is family they've messed
with."
Everyone nodded, and we began our hunt.
To be continued... | 
