The ground began to shake. An earthquake had begun! Pets began to scramble
out of their NeoHomes, but one group had not fled. Floorboards fell through
the open ground. Three Shoyrus held onto parts of the floor above the open ground.
They were hanging on for their lives. Slowly they pulled themselves up.
"Everybody, RUN!" yelled a voice from the trio. They dashed headlong out the
door. As soon as they were out, their home fell through the gap. The gap closed.
Their home lost forever. Each Shoyru looked at one another in turn.
"We go," the motion from one of them was obvious. They walked into the forest,
knowing that if there was anything dangerous it couldn't compare to the ordeal
that they had just felt and witnessed.
***
A week later the trio were weakening, wandering around aimlessly through a
Neopian forest. They had traveled from the place they used to live in, Tyrannia,
and come all the way down to Neopia. Up ahead the sound of a stream gurgling
could be heard.
"I knew we shouldn't have built a home in Tyrannia," the Shoyru in the middle
complained, "Maybe the Lost Desert would have been better..."
"Shhhhhhh! Do you hear that?" the Shoyru on the left whispered.
"It sounds like..."
"WATER!" the Shoyru in the middle took off like a flash. The other two chased
after it. Eventually they made it to the stream. After the abundant fruit growing
in the area and the water refreshed them they continued their journey.
Some time later the three were hungry again. Two birds were just a little ways
up the trail they were traveling on. One of the Shoyrus smiled.
"We are finally going to get some meat!" And with that it picked up a stone
and hurled it.
Instead of hitting the bird, it hit a Pteri not far away. The Pteri gave a
loud cry and twenty Pteris flew from three trees side-by-side.
"Run!" yelled the Shoyru who had thrown the rock.
They took off, each running on all fours as the Pteris followed close behind.
Eventually they came to a fork, with three different paths.
"Split up, they can't follow all of us!" called one of the voices from the
trio.
Each took a separate path. The Pteris split up into groups of seven and continued
the chase.
The path to the right eventually evolved into a deep canyon. The Pteris were
getting closer, having more room to flap their wings and the Shoyru was running
out of ideas to stop them. Before he had used rocks and kicked up dirt but now
it was bare except for walls on all sides. In time he made it to a dead end.
Above was a sandy area. He knew that the Pteris wouldn't go that far. Stretching
out his wings the Shoyru took to the air. Straight up he went, climbing and
gaining altitude. One of the faster birds caught his wing with its beak and
instead of reaching the cliff he went spiraling to the ground. The seven Pteris,
satisfied of their work, flew back into the forest.
A group of corsairs, hiding behind a huge boulder, stepped out from behind
it and walked up to the Shoyru, whom was trying to get up.
"Well, well. What do we have here? Harhar, ye will make a good boat builder
and galley slave," said the Lupe captain with a gruff voice, "Boys ye can take
him and have him help the other slaves build us a new ship." With that the helpless
Shoyru was dragged away.
***
Meanwhile the Shoyru who had taken the middle path was running for dear life
as the Pteris closed in. She suddenly realised that the surrounding area was
changing rapidly, becoming rocky and grey, instead of green and soft. Just as
she thought she'd never escape, a cliff gradually came into view, having a long
drop. She turned around just as she reached the edge. One of the Pteris landed
and slowly advanced on the Shoyru. She backed up, falling off the cliff. She
grabbed onto a piece of jutting rock. Flying back on was completely forgotten
as her mind raced.
"HELP!" she cried
Like a blur something came swinging down from the trees and grabbed her. The
Pteri looked around wildly, completely confused as to what had happened and
flew off, back into the forest.
***
On the final path, the path leading to the west had the final Shoyru in peril.
Rapidly she was slowing down, in minutes she fell to the ground. The Pteris,
thinking she had thrown the rock pecked and slashed her with beaks and talons
until they were satisfied and flew off. She was just outside Neopia City and
about to start an adventure.
***
Three days later that same Shoyru, who was the main target for the Pteris,
lay in the Neopian Hospital. She had begun to stir when a Gelert ran in and
stopped her from thrashing about. In a flash she was sitting up. Who am
I? Her thoughts raced. Where am I?
"Where am I? Who am I?" she voiced her thoughts.
"You are at the Neopian Hospital," the Gelert answered. She had green fir,
light blue eyes and a white dress on. She was very fussy.
"How did I get here?"
"A Kau found you and brought you here. She said you were delirious, ranting
and raving about someone called Arwen, and someone else called Starwin. We believe
you have amnesia."
All of a sudden her mind flooded with memories.
"My name is Jadestone!" she said with a loud outburst. She jumped up, standing
on the bed.
The Gelert backed up and said, "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine! I'm going to find my sister and her friend Star!" With that Jade
jumped off the bed.
"No you won't!" the Gelert yelled.
Jade ignored her and walked out of the hospital. Everybody inside and out was
shocked, for they had seen her being carried in three days before.
Jade had an old red tattered tunic on. Unlike a normal Shoyru, Jade's fur was
the colour of jade, that's how she got her name. Her eyes were a gentle blue.
She had magical abilities too. It was powerful magic, enabling her to use any
type of magic she pleased.
Arwen, on the other hand, was a star Shoyru; she always had people starring
at her because not very many Neopians could afford the paintbrush. Her eyes
were a bright green. Like Jade, she too had magic. She had the ability to feel
a spirit's presence among them.
And then came Arwen's friend, Starwin. Starwin had fur the colour of the sun.
Nobody knew how he got his name or where he had come from. He had sky blue eyes.
His magic was focused around light type attacks.
***
About an hour later Jade was ready. She had bought six tunics, two green, three
blue, and one red. She also rented three small horses, two males and a female.
Jade rode on the female, who's name was Lionheart. They were all white in colour.
Jade continued her journey, knowing the last place she saw her friends was
in the Neopian forest. She jumped down from Lionheart and tied up the three
to a thick tree. Grabbing a bag filled with her tunics, plenty of food and water,
a bow with magical arrows, a sling, and a sword.
Jadestone leaned against a tree and thought about back to the fork with the
three paths. What paths did Arwen and Star take? she thought. I
took the left and... grrr! Why can't I remember? Guess I'll start with the path
to the north and work my way to the east. I wont go south though.
Shaking her head Jade walked over to a nearby apple tree and picked three apples,
one for Lionheart, Jarn, and Lorn. She dropped them at their feet and took out
a drink and a raspberry and cream cheese flan. The ropes were long enough for
the horses to drink from the small stream and a few feet away, making that a
convenience for her.
Walking into the forest a ways, Jade gently murmured, "I vow to find Arwen
and Starwin!" She thought she was alone but someone else was watching. She walked
back towards the horses to make sure they were OK and saddle them up.
After she was finished, Jade refilled her canteen and picked a few apples.
Quickly she untied the three horses and jumped on Lionheart, and placed the
saddle back on her side. Taking the reins of all three she set out again.
***
Three hours later they arrived at the fork. "Wow, took us three hours to get
here guys. I'm hungry!" And with that Jade grabbed some food from the pack and
let Lorn, Jarn, and Lionheart graze and have an apple each.
Just as she sat down to eat, she noticed paw prints on the ground. Roots and
leaves were all over the place. Jade thought for a moment. Star has bigger
feet than mine and Arwen has smaller feet than me so these must be...
Gently she placed her paw over one of the prints, and then made a print beside
it. She smiled to herself... these are Arwen's! her thoughts raced.
Quickly, Jade put away everything she had brought out and placed the bag on
the side of Lionheart.
"We ride again guys."
Jarn snorted. Jade shook her head, "We have to. I promise that as soon as we
find a good place to camp you can rest the night and have another apple." Jarn
gave a neigh of delight. Jade smiled, saddled up Lionheart and away they went.
To be continued... | 
