Smatty And The Ice Caves

     "You forgot to get me my items again, didn't you Smatty?" The Snow Faerie looked at her, smirking.

     "Uh...I have the items, I just left them at my... house," the Kyrii said, running away from the igloo in a flash.

     Taelia shouted back at the Neopet darting away from her. "Smatty, you have failed! If you return, I *may* give you another chance."

     Smatty slowed down as soon as she was sure Taelia was no longer close by. "Crazy old faerie..." Smatty began muttering to herself, at just about the time where she saw a purple Grarrl in the corner of her eye.

     "Thieves live on!" he shouted, and twenty or so other thieves followed behind him. He ran past the Kyrii, pushing her out of the way.

     "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Smatty demanded him.

     The Grarrl stopped and swivelled around, his fellow thieves mimicking him, turning around in the snow as if they were on ice skates. "I am Galem, the most powerful thief in Neopia!"

     Smatty chuckled, recognizing him now. "Give it up, Hannah already defeated the forces of evil! Why don't you guys just go home and stop bothering everyone here on Terror Mountain?"

     Galem turned to his followers. "How dare she insult us? Pulverize her!" The thieves charged.

      "Eek!" the Kyrii shrieked, scurrying away. A simple visit to the Super Happy Icy Fun Snow Shop had now turned into a spontaneous maniacal thief chase.

     "Get her!" a blue Gelert shouted.

     Another thief turned to him. "Hey, wait a minute. You're Kanrik! You switched sides to Hannah's forces, you're not allowed to be here!"

     Kanrik shrugged and continued chasing Smatty with the rest of the thieves maniacally. They chased Smatty along the edge of a cliff, where the Kyrii decided she had had enough of this nonsense. She pulled away in a quick maneuver and dove down the side of the cliff. The thieves came to a sudden stop and stared down the steep path she had just taken.

     "Whoa! Ahhh!" Smatty tumbled down, wondering why this was happening to her. Galem stood at the edge of the cliff, laughing and shouting at her. He turned back to the thieves.

     "She was a fool!" Galem declared. "Nevertheless, I think she would have made an excellent thief."

     A confused Chia stared at the Grarrl. "Does that mean that if you're a fool, then you'd make a great thief? Are we all fools?"

      "Be quiet, fool!" the Grarrl sneered. "Thieves are not fools!" With that said, they rampaged away shouting and screaming.

     Smatty rolled down the cliff for a few minutes, and bruised herself up a bit. "Stupid thieves," she thought. She glared up to the top of the cliff. It was such a far way up! It would be a difficult climb. She sighed and sagged her shoulders. It occurred to her suddenly that maybe there could be a way around the cliff, so she turned east and walked about a quarter mile, until she saw a small cave. "Oh look!" she thought. "A strange and mysterious cave! I think I'll go check it out." The Kyrii proceeded into the cave and heard the sound of a small fire burning. She went in deeper only to see a small yellow Bori resting near the fire. "Hello?" Smatty looked at the Bori, puzzled. Suddenly, he snapped awake.

     "Someone is here to save me!" the Bori cried instantly, then quickly lowered his voice. "I have been hiding in this cave for a few days. I'm Armin, and I am of a secret race called the Bori."

      "Uh, yeah, I know you're a Bori, they've been in Neopia for a few months. I'm Smatty, and...um, may I ask what you're doing?"

      Armin stared at her, bewildered. "I'm hiding from the thieves, of course!"

     Smatty slapped her forehead. "Kid, don't be afraid of the thieves. They don't have any more power."

      Armin continued on, not listening to what she had just said. "A long time ago, Bori flourished all over the land. Then one day we randomly created this magical artifact gem that contains all of the most powerful powers in Neopia-"

     Smatty rolled her eyes. "I don't see where you're going with this..."

      "Don't interrupt me!" Armin shouted. "The thieves found out about this magical artifact and they want it so that they can steal all of the riches of Neopia! But if they grab hold of the gem, the race of Bori will be abolished...forever."

      "Why?" Smatty asked.

      "Oh, no particular reason."

      "I see," Smatty answered, not at all intrigued. The Kyrii had wasted enough time in this cave already. "Uh, look, I have to go. Do you want to come?"

     Armin's eyes lit up. "Will it be a journey? Can we venture deep into the ice caves? Will you save the race of Bori?"

      "The race of Bori isn't in any danger, kid. There isn't any need to go on some epic adventure." Smatty turned around, ready to leave. Armin stayed where he was, his eyes wide.

      "You're a thief, aren't you? You're just going to lead me to your lair and imprison me! Get away!" Armin pulled out his sling shot.

      "What is wrong with Terror Mountain today?" Smatty wondered aloud, dashing out of the cave. She had to do a lot of running that day, and despite how tired she was, she sure did run quickly away from that Bori. Stopping for a rest, Smatty noticed some steps made of stone ahead of her, leading straight up the cliff. "Oh thank goodness!" she cried, looking up at the sky. She marched tiredly towards the steps and climbed them one by one. It was a long and uneventful way up. After laboring for nearly forty five minutes, Smatty stood at the top of the steps, and nearly collapsed.

     She remembered that she still had to buy a few things at the Super Happy Icy Fun Snow Shop and sighed a sigh worse than that of a grey Neopet. She trudged through the snow and arrived at the doors of the shop, peering through the door windows.

      Exhausted, she entered and saw the Lenny shop keeper talking with a particular famous Usul. "Please," she said, "if you see Armin anywhere, tell me right away. I'm worried sick." The Usul stopped and turned to Smatty. "Have you seen a small yellow Bori around the area? We were exploring a dangerous cave, and he suddenly fell off of a cliff and mysteriously disappeared! I've been searching for him desperately for days, and I fear that something has happened to him. Kind Neopian, could you please aid me in searching for him? For the...entire race of Bori?" Hannah said this, tears rolling down her cheeks. The shop keeper slightly rolled his eyes.

      "Oh, yeah, I saw him!" Smatty beamed at her, enraged. "First, the thieves came and decided to push me down a cliff for no reason, then I walked forever until I saw Armin hiding away in a cave-"

      "He IS alive!" Hannah exclaimed joyfully.

     Smatty continued, "He doesn't want to leave the cave because he thinks the thieves are after him. When I offered to take him home, instead of politely refusing, he brought his sling shot out on me. Now I'm here, and I'm tired, and I do not want to deal with any of you at the moment! Good-bye!" The Kyrii stormed out of the building.

     Hannah was speechless. She turned to the Lenny. "You care about what happens to the Boris, don't you?"

     ***

     Smatty returned home and fixed herself a nice hot cup of Borovan. This had certainly been a day that she would never forget, although she would have liked to forget it. Sitting back in her armchair, she stared at her shopping list, realizing she hadn't bought any of the items on it. "Oh well. I'll go run errands tomorrow," she told herself, not entirely sure she would.

The End