Crooky and Nip

by Baron1876

Giggles rang out through the park as little Chias ran around. Older ones talked in squeaky voices. Among them was Crooky24, a little Christmas Chia. He sat on a bench. He was reading a book. Inside the Mind of a Lupe. Crooky loved learning about Lupes. A lot of Chias did. Closing his book, Crooky sighed. "Why can't Lupes and Chias just get along?" He went to join the festivities. This was No Lupe Day. It was the day when Chias celebrated the fact that they lived in a Lupeless city. Crooky walked down to the dock, to get away from the little Chias.

Crooky walked down to the empty dock. He sat down on the edge and looked out at the water. Then he heard something, something coming from the nearby woods. Ignoring it, Crooky pulled out his book and kept reading. Suddenly, the branches cracked all at once. A gleaming white form rushed at the Chia through the evening darkness. Crooky felt his antler being seized and he was whisked away, into the Lupe filled forest.

. With a huge bang, Crooky found himself being rolled. He got up and tried to run away. But he was stopped by a towering figure. Looking down at him was the cold glare of a white Lupe. Crooky screamed and covered his head with his paws, like he had learned in Lupe Survival class. A deep laugh rang out. A furry paw rolled Crooky onto his back.

"My, you are a tasty little morsel," the Lupe said.

"Why do you want to eat me? Why do you Lupes always try to eat us Chias?"

The Lupe shrugged.

"Well,...well I think you're being immature."

The Lupe put his face right up against Crooky's. "I don't care. Lupes eat Chias because they taste good."

"We taste awful!"

"No, you don't!"

"Yes, we do!"

The Lupe growled. Crooky suddenly did something very stupid. He rushed at the Lupe and began punching his leg. Crooky soon fell from exhaustion.

The Lupe laughed. "Wow, you have guts! Most of my dinners only have calories. But you're brave," the Lupe said.

"So you won't eat me?"

"Nope. I like you. What's your name? Mine is Nip72," the Lupe said.

"Crooky24," Crooky chirped. From that point on, the two were friends.

***

"Hey Crooky, were where you?" The Chias of the town all were worried about Crooky when he returned.

"I met a friend," Crooky said.

A pear Chia spoke, "What colour?"

"White," Crooky said.

The others murmured. White Chias were always popular. A little purple Chia finally suggested something. "Why not bring him to the town! We can all meet him!" The others agreed. Crooky happily headed off to the woods.

Crooky explained everything to Nip. After promising not to eat anyone, the Lupe went to the Chia city with Crooky. When they came out of the woods, the Chias gasped. They spoke in hushed voices and then began to run around. I won't even go into detail about how Crooky persuaded his fellows to let Nip stay. It is a long story. But they did. Still, the little Chias ran from him and the older ones glared.

"You know, Alexander would love to meet you," Crooky said one day.

"Who?" Nip was confused.

"Alexander T. Chia! He's a famous Lupologist," Crooky replied.

"No! I am not going to be studied," Nip protested.

"It would make the Chias accept you," Crooky said in a kind of singsong voice. Nip sighed.

"Fine, fine."

"This is amazing! I can really study a Lupe. Why do you think Lupes eat Chias?"

"They just taste good. It's natural for us to do it." Al jotted down some notes. "My previous studies have shown that Lupes prefer tough names. Yet yours is Nip. Any comment?"

The questions ranged on, from "What do you think Neopia is doing wrong?" to "Can you touch your nose?" Finally, the Chia seemed happy. He left. And as Crooky had suspected, the Chias began to warm up to Nip. Little Chias would run up to him to stroke his soft, white fur. Then they would run around squealing about how they had touched a Lupe. Everyone would marvel at how Crooky and Nip would play tag, chasing each other and wrestling without fear. Throughout history, stories were told of Lupes who had befriended Chias. But this scene took everyone by surprise. It was just like the famous white Lupe, who had defended the Chia. When Neopia was just new.

One day, the Chias began to notice something. The heavy scent of Lupe was in the air, and it was not Nip72's smell. By night, cold howls would be heard and eyes shone in the woods. They knew this couldn't be Nip, because outside of Crooky's house, Nip lay curled up with Crooky sleeping beside him. This had happened before and it most often meant that the Lupes were restless. Crooky worried about this, but he knew he had Nip with him. Then, one morning, he woke up on the hard ground. Dirt lay scattered around. Mingled with the overturned smells and footprints, there was blood. Crooky followed them. More and more Chias began to gather around. When they got to the park, an awful sight met the eyes of the city Chias.

A mangled white form lay on the ground. It took a while to realise this was Nip. A note lay sprawled out beside him. It said: We got the traitor. Ha ha. Signed, a Pack. Nip took a long time to recover. When he did, the Chias noticed that Nip was becoming more sad. He howled longingly at night.

"What's wrong? You seem sad," Crooky asked one night.

Nip looked up towards the mountain beyond the forest. A silhouette was on a peak. It raised it's head and howled. Nip howled in response. Then he turned to his Chia friend. "I can't live among Chias anymore. I miss my mate. And I'm being called a traitor and attacked. I'm leaving tomorrow night."

The two didn't say another word. But they looked at the sky and remembered the night they had met.

The next day passed too quickly. Crooky and Nip played together, like only a Lupe and Chia can. That night, they stood by the woods. Even Crooky's glowing nose couldn't light up their spirits. A pack of Lupes emerged. They cocked their heads and yipped.

"I promise that I'll visit someday," Nip said to Crooky.

"I'll miss you, Nip," Crooky.

"I'll miss you too," Nip responded.

A beautiful green Lupess stood among them, wagging her tail at Nip. Sadly, Nip rejoined the pack. Crooky watched a long time, even after the pack had disappeared into the woods.

Crooky still misses his friend. Maybe they'll meet again. Nip72 was the Lupe who befriend a Chia and was only one of a handful. Sometimes Crooky hears the howls of Nip and his pack. Griffin the fire Lupe is famous among the city of Chias. But Nip is still talked about sometimes. Crooky's best friend, Nip the white Lupe.

The End