The Neopian Watcher: Part One

      Sage, a pink Acara, was sitting on a window bench, by her bedroom window. She stared out of her window, watching the rain pelting down. The only indication that it was afternoon was by what the clock read. She watched as the rage of the storm drew her attention away from the book she was trying to read. Sage had long anticipated the release of this book for almost a year. She finally managed to buy it on the last trip to the shops with her friends. Half way through though, she realized that she just didn't feel very much like reading anymore. She turned to her window and once again, was captured by the fury of the storm.

      If only something exciting would happen, Sage thought to herself. Nothing exciting ever happens at the Neopian Pound.

      At that moment, something outside caught her attention. She pressed her face against the window to try and get a better look at what she saw.

      "Nothing," she sighed to herself. "It must have been something moving in the wind."

      "What is moving in the wind?" asked Abigail, a blue Bori, as she entered the room.

      Abigail recently became a new addition to the Neopian Pound. Ms. Snowflake had asked Sage if she would mind sharing her room with Abigail. Of course, Sage agreed. She thought it would be fun to have a roommate. Plus, Abigail was the new species of pet, so it would be great to get to know her better.

      "Nothing. I just thought I saw something outside. That's all," Sage replied, still looking out the window.

      Abigail looked at Sage for a moment. "Outside? How can you see anything outside with the rain coming down so hard?"

      Waiting for a response, Abigail took off her sweater and tossed it onto her bed. Abigail wasn't the tidiest pet there was. Then again, neither was Sage. Of course, their room didn't look as bad as some of the others, but it was messy with clothes thrown about and hair ribbons lying around the room.

      Shrugging her shoulders, Sage continued to look out into the storm. Every time she looked outside, she got a strange feeling. However, she couldn't figure out what the feeling was. All she knew for sure was that she felt strange.

      "Me, Flameboy and some others are going down to have a Kacheekers tournament in the recreation room." Abigail stated with some excitement. "Do you want to come down and join us?"

      Sage looked out into the storm a moment longer, then decided she would go with her friends and join the Kacheekers tournament. After all, she was pretty good at the game. As they left the room, she took one last look out of her window. Startled, she jumped a bit. Once again, she thought she saw something outside.

      On the way down the stairs, the group was so busy talking about the Kacheekers tournament that they failed to see Ms. Snowflake, one of the Neopian Pound staff, coming up the stairs. That is until it was too late. The group bumped into Ms. Snowflake, who then dropped the box of candles she was carrying.

      "Oh! We're sorry, Ms. Snowflake." Abigail apologized.

      Sage chimed in, "We didn't see you coming up. "

      "Apparently not," Ms. Snowflake replied with irritation. "Would you all mind helping me pick up these candles?"

      Sage, Abigail and the rest of the group agreed and started to look for the scattered candles.

      "What were you doing with the candles, Ms. Snowflake?" Flameboy asked.

      As the last of the candles were placed back into the box, Ms. Snowflake replied, "The storm has been playing with the lights recently."

      At that moment, the lamps in the hallway below flickered, as if to emphasize the words of Ms. Snowflake. It was a very eerie feeling.

      "I wanted to make sure there were candles upstairs in case the lights went out." Ms. Snowflake stated as she began walking up the stairs again.

      As a last minute thought, Ms. Snowflake called back, "And make sure to watch where you are going."

      They all answered that they would and continued on downstairs. Once they reached the main floor, they turned toward the recreation room, talking among themselves.

      In the corridor leading to the recreation room, they came upon the library. Sage looked into the library and noticed it was filled with several pets. She guessed they were trying to get a head start on their homework, since school had recently begun. Towards the back of the library, Hugo, a yellow Chia, sat at a table with a pile of books in front of him. They were opened all around him with Hugo trying to read all of them at once.

      Hugo was the resident potions master. He enjoyed anything having to do with potions, potion making and potion experiments. His dream was to be just like Kauvara, maybe even better!

      Sage decided she would invite Hugo to play in the Kacheekers tournament and asked the others to wait for her. As she entered the library, she looked at Hugo again. He was reading and writing quickly. She figured he was working on something about potions since that's what he does mostly. Although, he tends to keep it all a bit more secret since that Alexis incident. Sage wasn't here at that time, but she heard the stories.

      Maneuvering around the library, full of pets, she came to where Hugo sat. She could tell that he was working on making his own formulas of potions as well as trying to figure out how to make potions that were already available.

      Standing in front of Hugo, Sage cleared her throat. Hugo didn't respond, but he began mumbling to himself.

      "If x = yz + abc then why won't this work!" Hugo mumbled in frustration.

      Sage just looked at him for a moment with nothing but confusion. This algebra stuff went way over her head.

      "Do you want to come to the Kacheekers tournament with me, Abigail, Flameboy and the others?" she asked a bit louder.

      Hugo looked up at her as if he saw her standing there for the first time.

      "Wha? Huh? No thanks. I have to get this formula right. It might be the greatest potion to ever hit Neopia!" Hugo said with both excitement and frustration in his voice.

      Sage wished him luck and she headed toward the front of the library. She was thinking about the book upstairs she wanted to finish reading. As she neared the door, she ran smack into Mr. Number six, the Neopian Pound director.

      "Excuse me, Mr. Number six!" Sage responded quickly.

      Mr. Number six looked down toward Sage.

      "Please watch where you are going, Sage." And with that, he walked off.

      Boy! I really need to pay more attention! Sage thought to herself.

      They finally reached the recreation room to find a group of excited pets, already around the Kacheekers board. Going inside, Sage, Abigail, Flameboy and the others in their group signed up for the tournament. Sage was full of anticipation of her coming turn. She was sure; she could beat anyone at Kacheekers.

      The pets all cheered for their friends as one by one, they made their moves. Only one would be the ultimate Kacheekers champion! Sage noticed there were several good players there, but she was confident that she would be the champion. It wouldn't be easy though.

      Sage watched as Abigail and Flameboy had their turns. They both managed to move up to the second round. Then it was Sage's turn next. She took her place at the table, by the window, across from Rasius, a brown Yurble. Rasius was a really nice Yurble and he was pretty smart. However, when it came to Kacheekers, Sage knew he was no match for her because he was so terrible at the game.

      The referee gave the instructions to the game and then asked if both Sage and Rasius were ready to play. Each nodded their head in answer. The game began with Rasius making the first move. Sage was analyzing her strategy, then made her move. The pets around them were cheering them on, waiting to see who would come out the winner of this match. The game was half over now and Sage knew she had Rasius right where she wanted him. Just as she made her move, something stirred outside! Forgetting everything around her, she stared out of the window and tried to see what it was.

      NOTHING! I can see NOTHING! Sage angrily thought.

To be continued…