Suddenly, she spotted a color change on the horizon. The white snow blotched out by a small, pink hue. Sari leapt forward, dashing toward her target. Her chilled legs found an extra burst of energy as she lunged on to the pink form curled up before her.

"Got you!" Sari yelled as she grabbed onto her sister.

"Arg!" Jenni screamed as the Cybunny tackled her. "You always find me!"

Sari laughed, "Well, I wasn't the one that chose to be painted pink!"

The pink Wocky giggled, glancing at her own vibrant fur. "I like pink! Don't judge me!"

"Fine, fine, but at least I blend in." Sari stated, pointing to her white fur.

Jenni nodded in agreement, but stopped suddenly, something new catching her eye.

"Sari, what's that over there?" Jenni pointed her paw into the distance.

Turning, Sari could see what her sister was spying. Barely visible under a thin dusting of snow was a dark colored object. Both the sisters jumped up to investigate. Bounding through the snow, the pair stopped short just before the strange, hidden prize. It turned out to be an old wooden crate, wet and weary with age. Scrawled upon the top of the crate was the word "Supplies."

"Supplies for what?" Jenni questioned, eyeing her sister.

Quietly, Sari shrugged in response, feeling around the edges of the lid for a latch or opening. Finally finding it, and clasping her paw around the old, rusted latch, she tugged roughly. A satisfying click caused the sisters a brief moment of eye contact before Sari slowly wrenched off the lid to the old crate.

Both sisters gasped loudly as they viewed the strange supplies inside...

Jenni creased her eyebrows at the supplies, looking at them strangely. "Who needs PLANTS for supplies?" she asked.

Sari caressed a small purple plant nervously. "Ahh!" she cried as it snapped at her paw. Sari withdrew her hand quickly and glanced at Jenni, who was stepping backward away from the crate, eying the plants with distress.

Sari closed the crate with a snap and slid it over the snow. Jenni came back and helped her push it.

After pushing it about a yard, they decided to sit down on a large rock and take a brief rest. "Those plants are dangerous. We should be cautious around them," Sari said with a huff. She rubbed her hands together furiously and looked at Jenni, who was copying her.

"What are we going to do with that crate?" Jenni asked. Sari shrugged casually and stood up.

"We should probably leave it here. Who knows? Somebody might've left it here while getting food," Sari explained reluctantly. Jenni crossed her arms.

"Nah... I'm thinking they would've either taken it with them or had someone keep an eye on it. C'mon, it's probably abandoned," Jenni said, pushing the crate a little further. Suddenly, a voice echoed throughout the area, slashing through the dead silence that had settled over Sari and Jenni.

"HEY! WHAT'RE YA DOIN' WITH MY CRATE!" the voice shouted. It was a bit deep.

Out of nowhere, a yellow Poogle appeared before them. He looked furious. Jenni and Sari stared at the Poogle as he angrily wobbled up to them...

As he approached, Jenni and Sari inched backwards in fear. The Poogle had wrinkles and spots over his dry skin, and he was dressed in overalls. The most prominent feature that they noticed, however, was the neon green gloves he was wearing on his hands. They stumbled back some more as he approached the crate.

"S-s-s-sorry, sir!" Jenni mumbled. "We didn't mean to! We were just curious, that's all."

The Poogle immediately unlocked his crate and inspected the contents, then slammed it shut.

"Don't you know not to stick your nose into other people's business?!?" he said. "I will let you go this one time, but if I ever see you again, I swear -- you will not see dawn again! Oh, and if you tell anyone, I will find you!"

With that, he picked up his crate and stalked away.

"Wow, he's strong!" Sari noted.

"That was a close call..." Jenni said, sighing.

"So, are we going to follow him or not?" Sari asked.

"What?!? He told us that we're never to see him again!" Jenni replied.

"He also mentioned not to tell anyone!" Sari countered. "I tell you, Jenni, there's something suspicious about him! The strange plants, those neon gloves, the fact he told us not to tell anybody! I'm going to find out what it is!"

Jenni sighed, defeated. "I see there's no stopping you. Follow my lead..."

They quietly stalked the Poogle like this for what seemed like several miles until a terrible blizzard began. They were pelted with falling snow, which made it hard to see and even harder to travel. "Jenni," Sari began, "I don't think we should--"

"Look!" Jenni interrupted as she pointed toward the top of a hill. Past the frenzy of flying frozen flurries was the blurred image of a small wooden cottage. Its lit windows and smoke-spewing chimney made the place seem inviting, especially given their current circumstances. "We're here."

The two watched as the Poogle entered the cottage, still equipped with the crate of strange supplies, and shut the door behind him.

"What now?" Sari asked as she huddled with Jenni to keep warm.

"Well," the pink Wocky started with a deep breath, "we didn't come all of this way for nothing." She then took off toward the cottage, soon followed by Sari.

When the two reached the house they peeked into one of its frosted windows. Inside they could see several strange plants. The place was filled to the brim with colorful flowers and ferns that they had never seen before. "There's the crate," Sari whispered as she pointed to the mysterious container, which had been left in a corner, "but where is--"

The Poogle caught them off guard from behind. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"...

"You just couldn't let it go, could you? Bunch of meddling youngsters, you are!" he growled, glaring at them. "You followed me here, didn't you?"

"Um..." Jenni quirked a small smile. "We just happened to be in the neighbourhood?" she tried.

The Poogle's stern expression did not change. "What did I say about not sticking your noses into the business of others? What did I say?" His voice grew louder and louder, and the sisters drew closer together as he stepped toward them.

Sari let out a squeak. "We're so sorry, sir! Please forgive us, please!"

"I said that I'd let you go just once. You had your chance, and you blew it." He narrowed his eyes at them. "Now, you will do as I say. Get into the house."

The sisters exchanged a quick glance and then, remembering the Poogle's fearful strength, obeyed. Once the door had shut behind them all, he slammed its lock into place. Sari couldn't help looking around, taking in all the pinks and reds and greens -- Jenni, however, kept her eyes fixed on the Poogle, who stared intently back but made no move to harm them.

"What do you want with all of those plants, anyway?" she blurted, her curiosity overcoming her fear. "They're... they're just plants, aren't they?"

At this the Poogle paused, then broke into a strange laugh. "Just plants? Oh no, they are much more than that. Much, much more."

He marched to the corner of the house and gingerly opened the mysterious crate with his neon green gloves. The same crate that they'd seen earlier, filled with strange plants -- but it contained something rather different now...

The Poogle noticed the sisters' stares and allowed himself a sly smile before letting out a chuckle. He then removed a jar from the crate, which had a blinding blue light emanating from it. As the Poogle twisted the jar's lid open, the scent of blueberries came flooding out.

Sari closed her eyes and took in a huge breath of air, consuming the scent as if there were blueberries right in front of her very nose. Concerned, Jenni nudged her sister in an attempt to get her to stop, but it was as if she was under some spell and had stepped into a different world.

The Poogle placed the jar's lid back on, greatly reducing the smell's intensity. Sari snapped out of the spell, shaking her head back into reality.

"So, I see you've taken a fancy to my collection..." the Poogle said with a chuckle, not making eye contact with the girls. "It's taken me many years to complete and finally master, but as you can see it was well worth the time and effort."

The Poogle then put the jar back into the crate before shutting it with a slam. He then turned around and walked toward the sisters, grabbing a small wooden chair from a nearby table. Dragging the chair behind him, he stopped when the chair was right in front of Sari, who was both amazed and confused. He then sat down on the chair.

"I suppose you two may have many questions," the Poogle began while letting out a small grin. "You have to do something for me first, though..."

"Where would we get this 'one small item'?" Sari asked.

"In the cavern of the Snowager."

"What?" Sari asked incredulously. "You can't be serious."

Before the Poogle could respond, Jenni began tugging at her sister's sleeve and whispering, rather loudly enough for everyone to hear, "This must be it, Sari, the prize."

Sari tried to shush the young Wocky, but the Poogle said, "Prize? What prize?"

Before Sari could stop her, Jenni began babbling excitedly, "We're on a quest for the Negg Faerie. I know she doesn't usually give quests at this time of year, but with the Festival of Neggs coming up, we offered our services to Kari and she accepted. She told us to search the ice fields of Terror Mountain for a very special prize. She said we would know it when we saw it -- that's what we were looking for in your crate, by the way -- and she said that if we brought it back to her, she would reward us tenfold." Pausing for a breath, the Wocky looked back and forth between the two listeners and added, "Don't you see? The special Negg must be the prize."

Sari felt very exposed now that the Poogle knew their mission and she turned her focus to his face, not quite trusting the smile that bloomed there.

"This is perfect," he declared. "I am, indeed, making this Negg for Kari. Once you come back from the Snowager, I'll finish its creation and you can present it to her yourselves."

Jenni bounced gleefully on her toes and said, "I knew we'd find the prize. So what do you need from the Snowager? A keyring? Scratchcard?"

"Nothing quite so common," the Poogle replied blandly. "I need a scale from the old snow worm's hide..."

Jenni, on the other hand, was excited about the challenge the Poogle had set before them. "Oh, we can do it Sari," she said encouragingly. "After all, the Negg Faerie would never give us a quest that we couldn't complete."

The Poogle chuckled. "You're going to need these," he said, pulling off his neon gloves and handing them to Sari.

Jenni was confused. "Your gloves? Why would we need those?"

"You'll see," he said with a smile. "Just keep them on."

Sari slipped the warm neon gloves on. As soon as she did, it was like she'd drunken a healing potion after a fight. She felt GOOD, like she could take on anything. "Whoa!" she gasped. "Wh-wha..."

The Poogle laughed. "I'd forgotten what it was like to put those on for the first time. Those gloves were given to me by an old friend long ago. They increase your strength tenfold."

"Yeah?" Jenni asked. "Wow..."

The Poogle smiled slyly. "You'll need that strength to get the scale, and your fur blends perfectly with the snow, which will make it easy for you to get close enough."

"What about me?" Jenni asked.

"You will serve as a distraction," the Poogle said, grinning from ear to ear. This was all just too perfect.

Jenni looked nervous, but Sari gently placed a paw on her sister's shoulder. "We'll be okay," she said. "Don't worry."

The Poogle urged them to hurry. "The Snowager won't be expecting visitors in a blizzard," he said, "so you'd better hurry before it lets up."

"Wait," Jenni said, turning toward him as she and Sari stood outside the cottage. "Before we go, what's your name?"

The Poogle hesitated at first, but then smiled a friendly smile. "Just call me Bec."

Soon the two sisters reached the mouth of the Snowager's cave. They looked at each other nervously, but there was no turning back now. Squeezing each other's paws, they entered, moving cautiously against the wall.

A low growl sounded through the cave...

The shock of their opponent's size, coupled with the enormity of the challenge, came as a huge blow to the sisters. "You heard its growl," Jenni whispered frantically, "we're dead meat if we try to steal from it."

"Wait a second," Sari replied softly. "Do you see what I see?"

Jenni squinted into the dark, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim ice cave. "No way... it can't be..."

The Snowager was sleeping.

Sari nudged her sister excitedly. "This is fantastic! Let's go quickly, before it wakes up again!" She bounded forward, ignoring Jenni's whispered warnings.

Jenni reluctantly followed suit, leaping to catch up with her impatient sibling. After only a few minutes she had reached where her sister stood -- only a foot away from the slumbering ice beast.

Sari reached out slowly and gingerly grasped the loose edge of a nearby scale. The scales were nearly as big as her entire body, and even with the strength-multiplier gloves she was struggling to pry the scale loose. Desperately, she gave a great and forceful yank.

Suddenly, a roar erupted from the Snowager. A head could be seen rising from the body, shaking itself awake.

Sari began to panic. The scale was almost off, but was still just hanging on. She threw a terrified glance at her sister.

Jenni sprung to action, leaping backward into full view of the Snowager.

The great beast's head snapped in her direction, and its head reared back in preparation for its attack. After only a moment, a blast of icy spears came swishing through the air with deadly intent.

Jenni darted out of the way just as the spears crashed into the space she had occupied seconds ago. She began a sort of dance, zig-zagging to and fro to avoid an icy blast.

Sari made a triumphant cry as the scale finally came loose. She grabbed it and made her way towards the mouth of the cave, but struggled to move with haste as, even with the gloves, the scale seemed to weigh as much as a bag of bricks.

The Snowager caught the retreating figure of Sari out of the corner of its eye. The only thing it hated more than intruders was thieves, and it appeared that the little Cybunny had stolen one of its treasures. The beast turned its head to its new, slower target.

Jenni saw the Snowager's attention shift to her sister and fear shot through her. She rushed toward her, but knew she would never make it in time to help her get away. "Sari!" she cried. "Drop the scale and run!"

Sari looked blankly at her sister and then, recognizing the terror on her face, glanced behind her just in time to see the Snowager rearing back its head. Looking back to her sister, Sari could see that Jenni was almost at her side, meaning that she would suffer the same fate. Frozen with fear and exhaustion, Sari closed her eyes.

As she did so, she felt something slam into her, but from the direction of the cave mouth, not the Snowager. Her eyes flew open and shot upward to see the face of Bec looming down at her. He had placed a shield in front of the sisters and himself, reducing the Snowager's icy blast to the effect of icicles thrown against a wall.

"W-why? How? What?" Sari stuttered, confusion plain on her face.

"Let's get out of here first," Bec said and began to move backward, dragging the sisters with him while keeping the shield steady to block the continuous attacks.

Finally, the trio reached the mouth of the cave and turned tail to run. After several hundred feet, they all collapsed to the ground, exhausted but exhilarated by their brush with the Snowager's wrath. Even the Poogle chuckled with relief, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I can't believe you came for us," Sari said, wide-eyed, gazing at her rescuer with amazement in her eyes.

"Yes, well, I couldn't just leave two helpless youngsters to face a beast like that on their own. I mean, I needed you two in one piece to get the scale. Speaking of which, the scale." He looked away, embarrassed.

"Ahh! It's exquisite!" the Negg Faerie exclaimed, marveling at the newly-crafted Negg. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble to get that pesky Snowager scale."

The sisters exchanged a knowing glance. "Actually," Jenni began, "we were very nearly popsicles."

The Negg Faerie chortled. "Yes, yes, I figured that may be the case. However, I had a feeling you two would be okay. After all, you were with Bec, and I was confident you'd be safe with him. I mean, that silly Poogle purchased four Faerie Tabards from the Hidden Tower last year, so I knew he'd have the means to protect you."

Jenni sighed at the Negg Faerie's carelessness. "So, about that reward..."

"Ah yes, the reward. The best reward a young Neopet could wish for," she replied dreamily.

"Riches beyond our wildest imagination?" Sari asked excitedly.

"Glowing Battle Dung?" Jenni gasped.

"A fully furnished Neohome worthy of many awards?"

"Rancid Battle Dung??"

"Leadership in a guild with a million members?"

"Maybe... please let it be... Starry Battle Dung?"

"None of the above!" the Negg Faerie exclaimed giddily. "Even better, in fact!"

The sisters huddled closer, hungry for the reward that could possibly be better than riches, fame, or even Battle Dung.

Smiling at both sisters, the Negg Faerie finally spoke. "I have another quest for you two."

The End