Ermingarde Aisha walked down the street. Her ears drooped and her step was
slow. She, really, looked totally out of place in Neopia Central. But no none
was about to tell HER that. She felt out-of-place enough as it was. All her
sisters were special. Her littlest was faerie, her oldest worked with the soup
faerie herself, and, because she was oldest, was just plain special. And her
other sister... well, that's where she was going.
She passed the bakery and the auction house, and finally she reached her destination.
The Battledome.
Ermine had barely reached the doorway when a spotted Aisha raced out the door
and hugged her. It was her little sister, Speckled_Cloud.
"I won, Ermine!" she cried. Ermine noted she was missing all but three of
her ten hit points, and looked pretty much worse for the wear.
"So how many is that?" Ermine asked, pretending not to know that Cloud, the
family battle-freak, kept perfect track of every battle she played.
"60!" Cloud cried instantly, "That's a landmark!"
Ermine smiled and grabbed her sister's hand.
Their NeoHome was in Neopia Central. Their owner had wanted it in Faerieland,
but she couldn't afford it.
Cloud raced up to the door and rammed right into it.
"Uh, Ermine," Cloud said, "Do you have your key?"
Ermine smiled and waved the silver key in the air.
As soon as they got in, a yellow and purple mass came hurtling at them. Ermine
caught it and held it up. It was her other sister, Sunset_Goddess. Sunset was
the youngest and really only a couple weeks old. Everyone, even their owner,
agreed it was stupid to paint Sunset faerie, for she was very clumsy, and even
more so on wings.
"COME BACK HERE!". A shrill voice rang out from the hall, and Ermine knew
it must be Song_of_the_Lark, her older sister. Lark was painted cloud and was
the oldest, and mostly took care of Sunset and the others. Their owner was very
busy lots of the time, for she was very successful in The Neopian Stock Market
and spent a lot of her time there and in Faerieland. She also went, like every
other Neopian, to Coltzan's Shrine, Tombola, and Fruit Machine every day. She
usually took Cloud to Coltzan, because he made her faster and stronger, Sunset
and Lark (because they usually stuck together) to Fruit Machine, because Sunset
liked to pull the level that made the Fruit Machine spin, and Ermine to Tombola,
because at Mystery Island, she felt more at home than anywhere else.
Lark saw Ermine and Cloud and rushed over to them.
Lark fretted over Cloud's bandaged ear while Cloud told all the gory details
of the battle.
Ermine wandered into her room and poured PetPet Food into her Warf Misty's
bowl.
Naturally Pig, Cloud's food-loving Puppyblew, came over to join in the feast.
Just as Ermine was starting her homework, Lark peeking in.
"May I come in?" she asked, and Ermine nodded yes.
Just as Lark had sat down on the foot of Ermine's bed, they heard a pounding
at the door.
"LAAAAAAAARK!" Sunset ran screaming into the bedroom.
"What's wrong?" Lark asked.
"T-There's a big scary GUY out there!" Sunset replied.
"It's two Tyrannian Shoyrus and a Tyrannian Grarrl," Cloud said, entering,
"And they wanna talk to Mum."
"Well," Lark said, "Mum's not home now, so, I guess I'll go."
Ermine padded down the hall behind her sister.
"Yes?" Lark said to a particularly fierce looking Tyrannian Shoyru.
"We're looking for recruits for the Tyrannian army!" the Shoyru said.
"We aren't interested," Lark said and started to shut the door.
"According to your lookup," the Grarrl said, "You have a battler in the family.
We'll be staying at the Neolodge. Talk it over with your owner. Ask for Ulrick
at the Lodge if you change your mind," and he shut the door.
"What did they want?" Cloud asked, entering the hall.
"They wanted recruits for the Tyrannian army." Lark said.
"I like battling for FUN," Cloud said, "Not to settle a fight between some
stupid Tyrannians."
"Yeah!" Sunset said.
"Yeah," Ermine echoed, absentmindedly, for already a plan was forming in her
mind how SHE could get a name in the family.
To be continued... | 
