The Stone Circle: Part One

by Baloyarn

The First Stone

I was upon the grassy hill, playing with my sisters when I stopped to ponder a moment. I knew who I was. I knew what I was. I was red in a family of blue. I was brother in a family of sisters. Even my owner was a girl! No matter, I quickly thought, continuing to chase them about until I panted with sheer exhaustion.

"That was fun!" Twincklezz piped. "I have to check on the PetPets, though."

"Hey, let me come!" I shouted, jumping eagerly. Our owner, Amanda, had spent nearly 30,000 NP for our PetPets. I had a Warf named Biscuit. Twincklezz, a blue female Aisha, owned Katherine, a heavenly Angelpuss. Mysteey, a blue female Kacheek, owned Blue, the adorable Puppyblew. Katrycia the blue, female Shoyru, and eldest of the family, NeoPets-wise, had Hoot the Whoot. I paced over with her, Biscuit contentedly pawing at my book.

"Books are for reading, silly," I said, laughing.

"I know that, but who's on the front?" he asked.

"That's the Uber-Darkness Faerie," I retorted. Twincklezz choked a bit at the word, but after being assured that all the PetPets were fine, we ran back to the hill.

On the way, I tripped on something. Mysteey and Katrycia dashed over instinctively. "Darn..." I began. To my amazement, it was no ordinary stone. It wasn't a codestone either. It was some kind of precious gem, perhaps. It glowed the white of the snow. I stared at it in bewilderment as I picked it up.

"What's that?" Katrycia inquired.

"I don't know," I stammered, still admiring its oblong beauty. "I've never seen it in any book of mine. I can't imagine..."

"Can I see?" interrupted Twincklezz.

"Why not?" I replied. I gave her the stone. It immediately stopped glowing. "Weird," I muttered, noticing the carved shape on it. It was a kind of spirally shapes that resembled the wind. "Hey! Let's ask Starlight!"

We all bolted for the PetPets and the ball Katrycia had brought up. Twincklezz and I followed Mysteey and Katrycia on foot as Katrycia zoomed through the air, Mysteey her passenger. Somewhere inside of me, however, all was not joyful. I felt quite queer and for the first time in my life, something abnormal had happened the day before school started. It was pretty weird.

Turning my attention to the small home at the foot of the hill, I leapt sky high and tumbled in the door, Amanda chatting contentedly with Starlight. "Wildfiree, you have some..." she began.

"Look what we found!" We shouted spontaneously.

"Show them, Wildfiree!" Twincklezz yelled. I pulled the tiny stone out of my bag. It began to glow. "Show them the creepy thing!" She suggested as the two had begun their admiration. I passed the stone to Mysteey, and to their sheer amazement, it stopped glowing.

"I don't know what to make of it," Starlight said, eyeing the strange marks in the white, polished stone. Suddenly, a ghost popped out and seized the stone. "Well, at least they didn't take anything valuable." Starlight boasted.

I had a terrible feeling about what had just happened, so I pursued the little devil. "Get back here!" Amanda hissed. Too late. Biscuit was still on my shoulder and I was in hot pursuit of the ghost. I soon found Twincklezz beside me.

"Why are you helping? I don't want you to get in trouble, too!" I scolded.

"I have this wrenched feeling about what just happened," Twincklezz replied.

"You're not the only one," I muttered. My feet pounded the ground in rapid movements. My eyes were fixed on the ghost. I felt some kind of trap was present. "Be careful," I commented as we chased the fiend.

"I'm getting agitated." Twincklezz hissed after a time, her rapid pulse reaching my ears. That happens to Kyriis sometimes. I suddenly had an idea.

"Biscuit, can you hand me my exploding snowball?" I asked politely.

"Here you go," he piped, handing it to me. I threw it. With a loud BANG, the ghost had halted, the stone flying through the air.

"Katherine, you're on!" Twincklezz shouted. She immediately rose into the air and flew directly in front of the ghost. She came out of the short scuffle without a scratch on her, clutching the stone in her paws.

"WOW! Thanks!" I said graciously to Twincklezz. "And thanks Katherine!" I added.

"Not a problem," Katherine replied.

"I'm not finished with you. The dark queen awaits the next battle, and she can only triumph if she has that stone, now give it!" The ghost hissed in scorn and anguish.

"You want some more?" I asked him, getting into a fighting position.

He hesitated for a moment, then added, "You wait and see! She'll be triumphant!" And with that, he flew away. As he did, I stuck my tongue out at him, as did Biscuit.

***

Panting madly, Twincklezz limped beside me. "That was clever of you, Twincklezz," I managed to say between rapid breaths.

"Don't mention it," Twincklezz replied as we approached the house. It was sun down, and I needed a good night sleep. As I crept in, we were scolded by the ever cautious Amanda, who commanded us to get to bed.

"I don't want to hear a sound. Your pets had better be ready as well," she finished.

Heads hung low, I marched up the stairs, head hung low, followed by Twincklezz. I had swiftly stuffed the stone in a box after readying myself for bed. We closed our eyes and drifted into an innocent slumber.

To be continued...