The Only Hope

by treanor

A long time ago, by a fairly big lake, was a castle where Zafaras lived and ruled the land. There was a tiny forest surrounding the lake were Aishas, Chias, Kacheeks, and Cybunnies lived. They lived by the rules of the King and his army always protected them. The rulers were called King Shiner and Queen Blue_Bubble. They had only one daughter, a blue Zafara, who was named Shineing*. And when this child was on level 7, a teenager in Neoyears, our story begins.

As a Zafara custom, Zafaras were to be crowned Princess, or Prince on Level 7, which Shineing was on now. Today was the day of the crowning and Shineing was nowhere to be found. In fact she was sitting on a branch on a tree watching all the forest/lake creatures searching for her. She sighed. "Why do I have to be Princess?" she thought. "Why can't I be a normal Zafara? As soon as I am crowned Princess, Princes will be coming to marry me, but not for love but for my wealth. I don't even want be a princess, I don't know how to rule anyway. How will I get out of this one?" She started to think about her problem and a plan formed. It would be simple. All she had to do was jump down from the tree and run, run far away from her father's land, and live in a house in the woods forever. Shineing would have to be careful though, because Skeiths, Buzzes, and Jetsams would kidnap her if they found her. They hated her father and given the chance, they would try to harm him and his family, and enslave all the NeoPets that live in the area. Yes, she had to be careful. With that, she jumped down and raced into the woods.

Five months later, Shineing was now living in a little cabin in the forest and leading a simple life that changed so suddenly that nobody expected it. It was late at night when it all happened. There was a knock on the door around 1:00 in the morning and Shineing got up sleepily wondering who was at the door at this time at night. When she opened the door she was shocked to see who was there...

There, right before her eyes, was an injured Zafara "What is he doing here? How did he find me? Why is he wounded?" Questions flooded through Shineing's mind as she put the green Zafara onto her bed. As she looked at his wounds she realized that this Zafara need a doctor badly. He was unconscious too, as well. Shineing decided to get a doctor in the morning for it was too late now. She could hardly sleep that night.

Early the next morning, the little blue Zafara went and got Doctor Gringlass, a glass Shoryu that lived in the woods.

When they reached Shineing's house, Doctor Gringlass set right to work. He stitched up his wounds and healed the burns. When he was done he told Shineing that the green Zafara was to take it easy for one week and with that he left. A few minutes after, the doctor left, the Green Zafara opened his eyes and gasped when he saw Shineing's face. "You! Princess! You are found at last!" It was Shineing's turn to gasp. "How do you know that? How did you find me? Who are you? And why are you so beat up?" The green Zafara answered slowly as if thinking out each question before answering, "My name is Darien, and I am from your father's army. Ever since you ran away, your father was frantic with worry, and started searching for you. While doing so, his kingdom was attacked by Skeiths and Buzzes, and King Shiner was lost in Battle. The leader of the Skeiths, Lord Grunt, defeated most of the army himself. I only just got away, he also enslaved the creatures of the forest and lake. They burnt the palace to the ground! And they are searching for you. As soon as they spot you, they will harm you. But Princess Shineing, you must go back! The kingdom needs you! You're the only one who can save it!"

"Darien, my mother and father are gone? It's can't be true! Please no! It's my fault! Of course I will go back when you are better, Darien." Darien agreed. For a week Darien recovered his strength. During that week, Shineing saw how handsome Darien was. And how kind and caring he was, too. But she kept her feelings to herself. Soon they started to travel to the palace to free the creatures and to defeat the Skeiths and Buzzes once and for all!

Darien and Shineing reached the palace a few days later. They made sure to have their abilities ready and their weapons as well. Darien tiptoed toward the cage where the rest of the army who had not been killed in the attack, and broke open the lock and set them free. Darien brought them to the place where Shining was waiting. Then, together, they told the army their plan. The next day, it would go into action! At dawn, they woke, ready for battle. Shineing told the army that they will sneak attack the Buzz and Skeiths while they were sleeping. Agreeing on that to start their plan, they crept towards the sleeping Skeiths and buzzes. Darien counted to three and then attacked! Everyone followed his lead. The Skeiths and Buzzes began to battle once they saw what was going on, that is. Shineing shot a blue frost cannon at a Buzz. Darien used spark at a Skeith. The rest of the army attacked using very strong weapons, too.

But, no matter how hard the Zafara army tried, the Skeiths and Buzzes were just to strong for them. They needed very powerful magic and weapons to win against the Skeiths and Buzzes. The army, realizing this, ran off to hid in the trees to see what was going to happen next. Two Skeiths grabbed Darien by the paws before he can get to Shineing to warn her to leave. The leader of the Skeiths, and Buzzes, Lord Grunt, appeared before Shineing and whispered in her ear, "Good try, Dear, but good isn't enough to defeat us! Good-bye Princess SHINEING!!! Forever! Say hello to my evil frost cannon. It turns anyone to evil with one hit or wounds you very badly so either way it isn't too good of a thing, for you that is. Good-bye!" Lord Grunt aimed the cannon at poor Shineing, who had tears streaming down her face. "No!" screamed Darien. But Lord Grunt had just fired the trigger.

It all happened so fast, it was hard to tell what came first. When Lord Grunt had fired the cannon, Darien had some how broke free of the Skeiths that had been holding him back. He leapt toward Shineing and pushed her aside, away from the cannon's shot. Shineing hit the ground hard and opened her eyes to see Darien get hit with the cannon, instead of her. Lord Grunt was shocked that when Shineing pulled Darien away, into the woods, he did nothing to stop her. Once he realized what had happened, he was in rage. "That soldier saved that dumb Zafara's live! I will have to do something about that! Troupers! Search the woods and when you find them bring them to me!!!!" He yelled.

Meanwhile, Shineing pulled Darien to where the rest of the army was waiting. The soldiers had seen what had happen and brought Doctor Gringlass to see Darien. "Is he alive?" Shineing whispered. Dr. Gringlass answered "Yes, but just barely." "What happened to him?" When Shineing explained, Dr. Gringlass shook his head in disgust. "Will he turn evil?" Shineing demanded. Dr. Gringlass answered, "I don't know, Shineing, I just don't know" When Shineing heard that, tears started to fall. She ran away from the doctor, the army, and even Darien.

When she stopped, she looked around and saw she had stopped at the burned down shell of the palace. When Shineing looked around, she saw a soft, blue glow coming from underneath some rumble. Shineing walked over and started to dig. She dug for a few minutes until she hit something. She pulled out an unbreakable glass case that contained two things. The first thing she pulled out was the Zafara princess crown that had been made for her. Shineing put that on her head and reached in again. And what she pulled out she would have never guessed. Hanging from her paw was a beautiful necklace. It couldn't be! But yes, it was her mother's Water Faerie necklace with a note attached to it. It read:

Dear Shineing,

Use this necklace to defeat the Skeiths I know you can do it!

Love your mother,

Queen Blue_Bubble

Shineing was filled with a new confidence. I will defeat those evil Skeiths and Buzzes! They took my mother and father and now they almost took Darien away from me! But they will not get ME!

Shineing ran back and told the army her plan. They were excited when they saw the necklace. Shineing also found out good news. Darien was going to be okay! With that in her mind, she raced towards the Skeiths, ready to destroy them! Since Lord Grunt had sent most of his army to find Shineing they met many along the way. Shineing and the army fought bravely and won all the encounters always defeating the Skeith they fought. Finally, they saw Lord Grunt in the middle of a clearing. Let me take care of him, "Shineing whispered, and stepped into the clearing. "You!" Lord Grunt hissed and began to attack Shineing. But Shineing fought back. She used "air shield" and blew Lord Grunt into a tree. "You shall leave this place...my kingdom...because of what you did to me and my family...this is for my family!" Shouted Shineing. She shot a powerful blast of magic at him. He moaned in pain. "This is for Darien!" she yelled. Another blast of magic was shot at Lord Grunt. He was shimmering now, one more hit would finish him for good. "And this is for trying to mess with ME!" Shineing screamed at the top of her lungs!

BOOM! Lord Grunt yelled "NO!!!!" before vanishing into wisps of smoke. Shineing ran over to a cage, which held captured Aishas, Chias, Kacheeks, and Cybunnies. They thanked Shineing, the army, and Darien many times. With their help, the castle was rebuilt and their houses restored. When Darien was healed, he and Shineing got married together, deeply in Neolove. Sometimes you will see two males and one female Zafara playing in the courtyard. They are Shineing's children. They have told them the story many times and there was never a runaway princess or prince again.

The End

*This story is to my pet, Shineing. I know Shineing is spelled without the "e" but that is how my pet's name is spelled, and she's in the story, so I left it that way :)