A Day in The Life of a Normal Bori

      Then he went from being helpful and reasonable to being scared of his own shadow. He also wouldn’t stop whimpering, and it was getting on his friends’ nerves.

      “How much longer until we get back?” the Bori asked, before dashing for cover under a bush when he heard a faint noise in the trees. Again.

      “Keroro, it might be hours before we get back on the right trail,” the Zafara said, shooting a glare at the Kougra. “If Zack hadn’t led us down the wrong path, we could’ve been home hours ago.”

      “Id’s dot by fault. I hab a sumber code. I can’t focus od directions,” Zack said in what could be a sulky voice, before sneezing loudly.

      “Well, whatever,” the Shoyru said in a somewhat ‘I-don’t-really-care’ voice. “I don’t have to be anywhere today.”

      “Have you noticed it’s quiet here?” Keroro said in a trembling voice to the Shoyru, who was naturally called Star. She didn’t respond, and although Keroro hadn’t been talking to the Faerie Zafara directly, she chose to dive into the conversation.

      “Yeah.” The Zafara slowed her pace. “Even in the deepest parts of the woods, there are usually at least Moaches. I’m not sure I like this.”

      “Cathy, you don’t like anything. Maybe Kero’s just whining too loudly for us to hear anything else,” Star said, but it was hard to tell if she was joking or not.

     Both Keroro and Cathy opened their mouths as if to argue, when all four of them heard a sound close by. Like branches breaking.

      ***

      Zack pulled his Cobrall Dagger out of its pouch and gripped it tightly in his paw, as if it would provide a decent defense from some wild creature. They continued moving slowly, looking around. Suddenly, there was a shower of leaves ahead, and a large shape skidded onto the trail. It stayed there only for a moment, before darting off in the another direction. But it had been there long enough for the group to see what it was.

      “That was a Werelupe,” Zack said, in slight tones of panic.

      “Quick, where was it going?” Cathy said urgently.

      “I’ll take a look,” Star said, rolling her eyes theatrically, and quickly flying up through a slight opening in the tree tops. There was a moment of silence. Then,

      “I think it’s going to the residential neighborhood!” Star landed abruptly, and started running off after it. “We can’t let it get near that area. There are too many terrible things that could happen if a Werelupe is loose around civilized Neopians!” She continued to run, but then apparently decided that it was easier to glide on the slight breeze.

      “Wow. I haven’t seen her get so worked up in months! Usually she doesn’t care about what happens to other Neopians,” Zack said, trotting after her; his summer cold seemed to have mysteriously vanished. He was closely followed by Cathy, and trailing behind was Keroro, who was apparently not looking forward to seeing a real Werelupe up close. He hadn’t liked seeing it from a distance.

      “Excuse me!” someone called from behind them. Zack and Cathy turned around, while Keroro ran past them, and dashed madly down the trail, not even looking to see who had spoken, perhaps suddenly startled by an unfamiliar voice.

      The speaker was a female Blue Lupe, with leaves and twigs caught in her fur. She was wearing a simple black collar with a long silver chain attached that was apparently ripped off of something, and she seemed slightly out of breath.

      “Excuse me, have you seen any large creatures in this area?”

      “Um, there was a Werelupe a while ago,” Cathy said hesitantly.

      “Which way did it go? It didn’t go in the direction of the houses, did it?”

      “In fact, it did. It has a good head start, but if you went quickly, I’m sure you’d-”

      “Thank you. Sorry to have troubled you.” The Lupe darted past them, moving quite quickly for someone dragging a long chain behind them.

      “We’d better get moving too. I notice your cold is gone, Zack,” Cathy said. “If we hurry, maybe we can catch up to Kero.”

      “I’m not sure why my cold seems to have vanished,” Zack said stiffly. “And besides--I never would have thought that Kero could move that fast.”

      ***

     There’s no sign that a Werelupe passed by here. No, wait, paw prints in the mud.... it definitely came this way. Kero was currently in the neighborhood of his owner, Rain. He knew that she could be absent-minded sometimes, but he was hoping that she remembered to shut and lock the outer doors before locking herself in the Study for her daily writing exercises. He didn’t know why she bothered staying in the Study; everything she wrote ended up lost in the house anyway.

      With a growing sense of dread, he approached their house. There were more paw prints in the mud outside the front door. Which was wide open. Kero drew in a hissing breath. It’s here! he thought desperately. What can I do? There seemed to be only one thing he could do. Go inside and risk his safety to save his owner. Yeah. I’ll be a hero! Slowly, he made his way through the mud to the door. Ugh. I’ve got to convince her to get this walkway paved....

      As he walked through the door, he failed to notice another set of paw prints leading into the house, or that the mud from the first set had been wiped off on the welcome mat.

      ***

      Star flapped her wings as she settled down on a rock to rest. Now she was separated from her team, and Kero. She had tripped and fallen in the mud twice, her beautiful wings were covered in the slimy dirt, she had no way of getting a message to anyone she knew, and by this time she was completely lost. She sighed.

      “Well, at least now things can’t get any worse.”

      Suddenly, the weather seemed to decide that it should be raining Doglefoxes and Kadoaties right now. And then it promptly was, seeming as if the rain clouds had been ripped open and emptied of their contents.

      “Figures,” Star muttered to herself, and tried to wrap her wings around herself to keep dry as the rain fell.

      ***

      “Another dead end. It would be helpful if we could see where we’re going. And if we had a map. A map would be good.”

      “Don’t get greedy,” Zack muttered to Cathy, trying to look through the sheets of rain.

      “I’m not. I’m stating the facts. It would be nice to have a map right now, don’t you think? I mean, it’s not doing us a whole lot of good sitting in your desk.”

      “It would be even nicer if we could see the trail clearly,” Zack said, ignoring Cathy’s last comment. He stopped scanning the surroundings and pointed at faint lights far ahead.

      “I think that’s it over there. Because of the rain, though, we just-”

      “Great! Let’s go!” Cathy cut him off and started running, which led to her slipping, falling, and landing face down in the mud on the trail.

      “-shouldn’t run,” Zack finished with an exasperated sigh. He reached down and helped Cathy up. “Now, I think we should just walk from here.”

      “For once, I agree with you,” Cathy said, rubbing the mud off her face as they started walking in what was hopefully the right direction.

      ***

      Kero sidled along the wall in an attempt to keep damages to a minimum. He’d already knocked over a vase--Rain would ground him for sure; if she was still alive, that is--and stepped on something sharp. The room was dark; Rain had obviously forgotten to turn the lights back on after it got dark outside, at least for this part of the house, again. He kept himself tensed; couldn’t let his guard down with a Werelupe in the dark house.

      His house. No wild beast had the right to be there, ever. He paused, having heard a sound upstairs. He pressed himself against the wall next to the stairs, listening. Heavy breathing. The sound of large paws padding on the floor. And, of course, Rain, singing some song loudly. Loudly and very off-key. He heard a door slowly creaking open upstairs, the sound of... two sets of paws? And then a scream. Kero raced upstairs, playing heroic music in his head. He would save his owner!

      He skidded around the corner and raced to the Study. Inside, he screeched to a stop. The Werelupe they had seen earlier was quietly gnawing a leg of Rain’s desk, and Rain was scolding some plain Blue Lupe which, for some reason, had a silver chain dangling from its collar.

      “And then you tracked mud right into our house! Everywhere! Did you forget that there are carpets around? All this expensive flooring I paid for with three months’ pay! And look at your brother!” Rain pointed at her desk. Or rather, under her desk; she was pointing at the Werelupe.

      Brother? That’s her brother? Kero thought wildly.

      “You don’t see him tracking mud into my house, now do you? What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”

      ***

      The Lupe kept her head down. She didn’t say anything.

      “Saying it will not kill you, Lily. Come on, say it!”

      Lily sighed, and said, in a quiet voice, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

      Kero nearly fainted.

      Rain looked satisfied, however.

      “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

      Lily, who was apparently his sister, just grunted.

      “I’ve blocked access to this house. Only family members can get in with their security cards. So, no one around to complain about your brother staying here for a few days! Okay, your brother has a place to sleep set up in your room. I’m cooking a separate, very special dinner for him, so he might have to wait a little longer for food than the rest of us. Oh yes, Rule Number One: No biting anyone while you are staying here. Got it?” Rain had established her command of the situation, which she was characteristically unconcerned by.

     The Werelupe, who seemed to have been content staring at his destructive work on the desk, nodded.

      “Okay then. Lily’s room is down the hall. Don’t go in Kero’s; he’d probably faint or something. No offense, Kero.” Rain directed that apology at Kero, who was standing in the doorway, staring at all of them in disbelief.

      “Everyone knows what they’re doing, and where they’re going? Okay, I’ll be around, probably making dinner. Oh, and Kero... You probably shouldn’t tell this to your friends for now. I mean, they really dislike Werelupes, right?”

     Who doesn’t? Kero thought bitterly, but all he said was, “Yes, Mom.”

      “Well, anyway, go have fun.” Rain turned to leave, then looked back. “And while I’m making dinner, no one go in the kitchen, okay? See you all in a while.” And off she went, this time humming a tune to a song Kero didn’t know, although it almost sounded like the theme to Meepit Juice Break. Just twice as annoying.

      “She’s crazy,” Lily said in slight wonder. “Is she always like this?”

      “Sometimes. Usually her lectures are twice as long as the one she gave you. And she has some other quirks. You’ll get used to her. Oh, and please keep your brother out of my room and away from my stuff?” Kero voiced it as a question, then waited to see Lily’s reaction, which was a simple nod. Then Kero turned and bounded outside to find his group.

      ***

      Star was glad to be found after sitting in the rain, and Zack and Cathy had been walking in circles, arguing about directions and each other almost the whole time.

      And they all wanted to know what happened. Well, Kero was slightly pressed for time, since Rain was making dinner; Kero just knew that Lily’s Werelupe brother would eat Kero’s dessert if he wasn’t there. So, not for the first, and certainly not for the last time, Kero told a story. Hey, it was technically true. He was just leaving out a few details; that was all.

      “I found the Werelupe’s trail. Then I was stuck with my owner for a while, meeting my new sister. After I finally got to leave the house, well, I didn’t know where the Werelupe was. So I guess we missed it this time. But can you guys come over soon? I have a new sister, and I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with her. She is very weird; I could use some intelligent company once in a while.”

      “Sure. Life’s certainly more interesting with you around. Hey, it’s getting dark. We should head back to the office, guys,” Zack said. They said their goodbyes, and Cathy handed him a piece of paper with the address of their office on it. Nothing quite like free advertising.

      “Let us know if you need our help,” Cathy said, acting businesslike.

      “Or, if you just feel like visiting,” Star said with a bright smile, as the three turned and began walking in the general direction of Neopia Central.

      “Okay, thanks. See you soon, I hope!” Kero called after them. Then, he went inside to get his dinner. And dessert, if the Werelupe hadn’t eaten it. All in a day’s work for a nice, normal Bori!

     All’s well that ends well?

     Nope.

     In the forest near Rain’s house was a threat greater than any Werelupe. But who or what is this threat? Only time will tell....

The End

Disclaimer Thingy: Most of these characters are fictional. I do have Lily and Kero in my Neopet ‘family’ and I do own my own plot of land in the Haunted Woods. If you have any comments, questions, things I may have messed up on, etc., feel free to Neomail me. Special thanks to ohwall2, who had nothing to do with this story, but I felt like thanking anyway.