I'll Never Let You Go: Part Three

      Fly shrugged. "It's not up to us, Bree. It's up to you. Do you want to adopt another Neopet, or do you want to wait for Ky?"

      Bree looked at her feet. "I don't know," she mumbled. "I mean, I'd rather have Ky than any other Neopet -- any other NEW neopet, sorry -- but I can't wait for her forever, and not consider the possibility that maybe she… maybe she froze to death." A few tears trickled down the girl's face and she brushed them away. "But she's a fighter," she argued herself. "She wouldn't let herself die. She'd ask for help. Politely, of course, she's a polite Ixi. We have to make sure that she's alive." She turned around, as if playing two different people. "- And we have no way of knowing. For all we know, she's inside that Snowager! I object," she continued, turning around to face her other self. "Ky is a quick, smart, strong neopet. She would NOT let herself go down without a fight!" At this, she turned around, put on a defeated glower, turned back around and smiled smugly. Then she turned to Fly, who was looking at her with a very odd expression on his face. "Here's my decision," she told him. "We wait for Ky. I trust her to make it out of there."

      Just then, Rusty came up to Bree and hugged her waist from behind. "Guess who!" he giggled.

      Bree laughed and reached behind her to ruffle his blue-and-yellow fur. "Rusty, quit it! You Kyrii are all the same." Rusty made an offended noise and scrambled up Bree's back to perch on her shoulders.

      "We are NOT all the same! We're all different. Like Moogaroo from next door. He used to be a Blumaroo but now he's a Kyrii. But he still hops everywhere." Rusty hugged the top of Bree's head lovingly. "So, that means that we are NOT all the same, so HA to you."

      Bree plucked Rusty from her head and placed him on the ground. "Whatever. You're still silly."

      Fly by now had wandered off. He strolled down the block and looked around. On almost every well-kept lawn he saw an owner playing with his or her neopet, and every time he saw an Ixi he felt a lump rise painfully in his throat. Suddenly, he saw something that shocked him; on the lawn directly across from him was a young teenage girl, playing with four Neopets. One was a starry Kyrii, one was a cloud Usul, one was a Halloween Ixi, and one was a fire Eyrie… just like his family. His beak fell open and a stunned squawk worked its way out. This caught the attention of the Kyrii, who nudged the Eyrie and pointed. The Eyrie winked and beckoned for Fly to come over. Fly smiled and ran across the street to play.

     * * *

     Ky sat uncomfortably on a stool in doomz's NeoHome. She looked around at the walls, which were decorated with gold-coloured wallpaper embossed with - you guessed it - lupes. In fact, the whole place seemed to be Lupe-themed. "You sit right there," doomz said with a grin. "I'll have you home as soon as I can Neomail your owner. Now let me see," he pondered, looking down at his list of NeoFriends. "What did you say your owner's name was?"

      Ky opened her mouth to reply, and was shocked to find that she couldn't quite remember. "Let me see the list," she said at last. Doomz passed it to her, and she scanned it for names she knew. Suddenly she jabbed her pointed hoof onto a name. "That one! Breanna_moon_818! How could I have forgotten?" A wave of memories temporarily suffocated her mind, and she bent over to cradle her head in her hooves, since a sudden headache had afflicted her.

      Doomz took no notice, and took out a NeoMessage form. "Now let's see…" he pondered. "Dear Breanna," he began to scribble furiously, "hello. How are you today? Did you read the weather notice? It's going to be nice and warm, with a slight breeze!"

      Ky looked up at the babbling boy, whimpered softly, and dropped her head back down.

      At last, after what seemed like an eternity, doomz got to the point. "L-O-L LOL Anyway, the reason I'm writing this is because I happen to have found a Halloween Ixi. I don't remember her name… Katy? Kelly? Something with a K… in any case, she told me to send you this message to tell you that she's OK and that you should come here and pick her up. Thanks! Sincerely, your friend as ever, doomz. There." He looked at Ky and grinned stupidly. "Wanna read it?" He offered the paper towards her. Ky took it gingerly and read it through.

      "You spelled 'write' as 'rihgt'," she told him. She read a bit more and added, "and you spelled 'thanks' as 'tahskn'." With a soft moan, she passed it back to him. "Just… just send it."

      Doomz grinned wider and went outside for a moment. Several seconds later, he returned. "Done. Now all we have to do is wait for a reply." He sat there staring at Ky, stupid grin fixed on face, and it was all the Ixi could do not to slap him one.

      Several hours later, a rock smashed through the picture window and whapped doomz on the head. He didn't seem fazed by it-in fact, he didn't even notice it. Ky sighed and reached for it. There was a note pinned to it and Ky tugged it off gently. She opened it, hooves shaking, painfully aware that doomz's blank grin was still fixed where she had been sitting, and read the single word that was written in what she recognized as Bree's untidy teenage scrawl:

      "WHAT??????????"

     * * *

     Bree lay on her bed, longing for someone to hug her and tell her that she'd find her pet again. Fly had been gone for a while, Rusty was in his room reading the latest addition to his library of books: "CH47$P33K D!C70N4RY", Fluffy was playing with her Usuki dolls, and Ky… well, Ky was gone. Suddenly, there was a slight chime as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" came Rusty's voice. Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-swip!-CRASHCRASHCRASH-"AHAHAHAHAHOWWWWWWWCH!!! That HURT!! No, I'm fine!"-thud-thud-thud-thud. Creeeeak as the door opened. "Message for your owner," came a chirping voice that could only belong to a Pteri. "Sign here… thank you." Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud. A pause. The rustling of paper, mumbled words as the message was read. A piercing shriek.

      Bree darted out of her room, instinctively searching for danger. The shriek came again, and the human's eyes fell on her Kyrii, a wide grin on his face, shrieking and dancing and waving the message over his head. "Rusty, what happened??" asked Bree over his shrieks.

      "SHE'S OK! SHE'S OK! SHE'S ALIVE, AND SHE'S OK!" Rusty was almost leaping through the skylight, he was so happy. "KY'S COMING HOME!!!"

      This last statement stopped Bree in her tracks. She stood, frozen with shock. When at last she spoke, her voice came in a trembling whisper, "If you're lying to me… if this is some kind of cruel joke…"

      Rusty shrieked again and shoved the paper into her hands. "READ IT!!" he squealed.

      By the time Fluffy came out into the hall, wondering what all the noise was about, Bree was hugging Rusty and screaming with joy also. Fluffy was hastily informed, and soon all three were charging down the street screaming at the top of their lungs to get Fly.

      Fly looked up from the game of Cheat! he was playing with the Kyrii, the Ixi, and the Eyrie while the Usul lay on her back looking at the clouds. He looked in amazement at his owner and siblings running to him, screaming incoherently and waving a scrap of paper around. He excused himself and flapped over to his family. "What on earth is your-OOF!" he began, but the other three jumped on his back all at the same time.

      "Go to 784345 Lupe Lane and STEP ON IT!!" shrieked Bree in his ear.

      "Sorry!" he called to the four pets looking knowingly at him, and flapped his black wings and soared into the sky.

     * * *

     Ky was reunited with her owner and siblings tearfully and joyfully. Fluffy clung to her neck and didn't let go until they got home, Rusty just leaped around and around the other four, Fly flapped his wings and screeched with joy, and Bree just hugged her Ixi, with tears rolling down her face. Hugged her and kept saying her name, over and over.

      When at last the five got home, and after Rusty, Fluffy, and Fly were in bed, Bree sat reading the NeoSports section of the Poogle Races in the paper with Ky cradled protectively in her arms. "So tell me," she said after a few minutes of contented, loving bliss, "what happened back there? With the Snowager? I been thinking I'd send the story to the Neopian Times. It's kinda tremendous."

      Ky smiled, turned to face her owner, and told the story which you have just completed.

The End

Author's note: If you are reading this, it means I've gotten into the NT. YAY! I hope you liked my series, and I'm sorry if you didn't. Feel free to send hate/fan mail. We always love that. And it's disclaimer time!! Breanna_moon_818, Rusty_463, Fluffy6743, Flyaway785, and Kylie_872 are all FICTIONAL characters (created out of my own little warped mind). Any similarities to you or your pets is purely coincidental. Thankya. This may be the only time I get into the Neopian Times, sooo… *blocked* EXISTS!!! *screams and runs away from Adam and Donna*