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It was a rainy morning. The sky was dark with storm clouds,
and a constant curtain of rain drenched anything outside. Dragoon the green Shoyru
tossed and turned in his bed.
Dragoon threw the blanket off him. "I can't
sleep... something's keeping me up." He looked over at his clock, which read
7:50. "Well, I guess I got up at the right time, anyway." Dragoon hopped off
his bed and stretched. "I should probably wake Darkmoon, or else he'll be sleeping
until noon."
Dragoon quietly opened the door to his room,
careful not to wake anyone else in the house. He went down the hallway to another
door; said door was opened in the same fashion as the other one. Dragoon snuck
into the room, and quietly said, "Hey, Dark, it's time to get up."
Seeing no motion and hearing no answer, Dragoon
decided to try again. He said louder, "Darkmoon, wake up."
Dragoon was puzzled about this. Darkmoon could
sleep through an aerial onslaught, but if you made the slightest sound in his
room, he'd get up. Dragoon walked up to the front of Darkmoon's bed and lifted
the cover up. He nearly screamed at what he saw.
Darkmoon was nowhere to be found, and instead
of himself, a green Gelert plushie laid on the bed. Dragoon assumed the worst
and picked up the plushie. He decided to take this matter to his owner, Bluey.
Dragoon left Darkmoon's room and went to another
door in the hallway. The door had torches on either side of it. The torches
were inactive and rather cold; Bluey never really lighted them, he just thought
they looked neat. Dragoon opened the door and found Bluey sleeping in his bed.
"Bluey? Hey, I need to tell you something..."
Dragoon said timidly.
That was enough to wake Bluey, however. He stirred
a bit and lifted his frost dragon head from the pillow. "Hmm? What... what is
it, Dragoon?"
"I think Darkmoon was turned into a plushie!"
Dragoon answered.
Bluey rubbed his eyes. "Turned into a plushie?
Dragoon... that's not very likely."
"Well, he wasn't in his bed, and this plushie
was in his place..."
"I don't know about it..." Bluey took his glasses
from the night stand and slipped them on. "Maybe he's just playing a prank."
"But he wouldn't go to the trouble of playing
a prank at seven in the morning," Dragoon stated.
"That makes sense..." Bluey got up off his bed.
He looked rather comical in his pajamas. "Why don't you ask Spirit? If Darkmoon
was playing a prank, Spirit would know about it."
"Okay, I'll do that." Dragoon gave the plushie
to Bluey. "But, take real good care of this, will you?"
Dragoon left Bluey's bedroom and proceeded down
the hall yet again to Spirit's bedroom door. He abandoned the concept of knocking
and opened the door. He walked over to Spirit's bed, and said, "Spirit? You
awake?"
Receiving no answer, Dragoon pulled the covers
off the bed and was greeted by a rather unwelcome sight. Dragoon gulped. "I
sure hope this is a prank!" Dragoon picked the blue Zafara plushie up.
Dragoon sprinted back to Bluey's bedroom and
demanded an audience with him. "What's the matter, little buddy?" Bluey asked.
"I f-found this in Spirit's bed!" Dragoon handed
Bluey the blue Zafara plushie.
"Hmm... this does seem a little strange. You
wake up all the girls and I'll try waking up the rest of the boys," Bluey said.
"Okay," Dragoon agreed.
***
Later...
Bluey and Dragoon looked at the pile of assorted Neopet plushies they had
amassed on the couch. They were moderately frightened, as they did not know
the true fate of their fellow family members.
"We've searched everywhere... I don't think
the others are in the house at all..." Bluey stated. He had gotten dressed during
the search, and now he was in full daily attire -- blue T-shirt, blue jeans,
and anti-fire leather boots.
"All ten of my brothers and sisters turned into
plushies?" Dragoon thought out loud.
"Are they all here?" Bluey asked.
"I think so." Dragoon picked up the Gelert and
Zafara plushies. "These should be Darkmoon and Spirit."
Bluey found a red Aisha plushie and a green
Lupe plushie. "These look like Bastet and Gatling."
Dragoon pointed at a blue Scorchio plushie.
"That's Legionnaire, and this," Dragoon motioned toward a yellow Kyrii plushie.
"...is Azure."
"This blue Wocky should be Sykes," Bluey said.
"And that yellow Draik is Chrono."
Dragoon pulled out a green Krawk plushie. "Emerald,"
he said simply.
"The blue Ixi is Strike," Bluey stated. "Good,
they're all here."
"This doesn't make any sense. Who would do something
like this?" Dragoon wondered.
"Someone like me..." an ethereal voice said.
"W-Who was that?" Dragoon asked, trembling.
Suddenly, Jhudora the Dark Fairy appeared in
a puff of smoke before them. Dragoon fell backwards from the shock, and Bluey
took a step back. "I was the one who turned your family members into plushies.
I have become bored of you two. Do my bidding and your pets will be freed."
Dragoon got up off the floor. "W-What kind of
bidding?"
Jhudora chuckled. "I have the perfect quest
for you. If you can do for me a simple task, I will gladly release your pets
from this curse."
Bluey boldly spoke. "Alright! I accept."
Dragoon gulped. "I-I don't!"
"Oh..." Bluey covered his face with his claw.
"Regardless of whether you accept or not, I
command you to do it." Jhudora put out her hand and an image of a bright blue
orb appeared. "This is the Faerie's Orb. It is kept in a Faerie stronghold in
Terror Mountain. Bring it to me and I will be most grateful." Jhudora closed
her hand and the orb disappeared.
"Faerie's Orb? I've never heard of it," Bluey
stated. "Not many people have. You should consider yourself lucky to be doing
this quest. NOW GET GOING!!"
"What? Now? We don't get any time to prepare
or anything?" Dragoon asked.
"Preparation is for wimps!" Jhudora snarled.
"If you are truly the Neopian I think you are, this quest will be easy. Now
I don't have all day to wait, so I don't want you to take forever and a week!"
Jhudora crossed her arms, shot Bluey and Dragoon an arrogant look, and disappeared
in a ball of light.
To be continued...
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