Rosalina and the Way-Weird Beast

     “You stay snug in here, darling,” Rosalina cooed to Beanie, gently placing him into her hood. “And before you know it, we’ll be back outside and far, FAR away from that hairy beast!”

     Securing the grappling hook to the window sill, Rosalina gazed down at the ground and gulped. She estimated there were at least four to five stories up, and the patch of lawn beneath them seemed more concrete than grass. And despite the constant visualized scenarios of falling down the steep building, winding up critically injured or into the hands of that hairy weirdo, there was no other fathomable way to escape this semi-fancy prison.

     Shaking, Rosalina slowly crawled out of the window and began the trek, bracing her feet against the stone wall. Gripping the sheet for dear life, she slowly descended downwards, hoping they’ll be a-okay, and bracing for any possible disasters. For a nail-bitingly long time, Rosalina inched slowly down the wall, slipping a few times and regaining her footing right away. Beanie was quiet for most of the escape, sometimes peeking his head up to see their progress before ducking back into the cosy hood. By the time they were almost halfway done, Rosalina exhaled loudly and panted, “We're ...almost ...to the end ...can't breathe…”

     “Oh my gosh, what’s that!?” A loud voice shrieked, sending a flock of black Pteris to the sky.

     Rosalina gasped and miss-stepped, her grip on the sheet tightening as she continued to slip on the wall’s smooth surface. Argh! Stupid Pteris! Stupid wall! Stupid voice!!! Scrambling to regain her footing, she sent a few small crumbs to the ground before she could finally regain her composure, legs still shaking.

     “I was so surprised when that alien Aisha appeared and started that dance party!” The annoying voice was creeping closer, followed by a second voice with a high-pitched laugh.

     “Oooh, I always wanted to try this waffle recipe book out,” gushed the second annoying voice. “There's this super yummy one with blackberries and blueberries and maple ...ooh, what’s climbing down that wall, Wendy?”

     Wendy. Sure enough, the familiar candy-wanting green Bruce emerged from the woods with a gawking faerie Peophin by her side. Rather than gasp or do whatever she would have done in such a situation anywhere else, Wendy waved frantically and shouted, “HI ROSIE!!! LONG TIME NO SEE!”

     “YOU LOOK FABOO!” shouted the Peophin.

     Lenny. Rosalina was surprised to see the former strawberry Uni was now a faerie Peophin. She didn't care for his floral necklace and brown derby hat, though. “Oh ...it's you two again,” Rosalina said meekly.

     “What cha doing up there, Rosie?” asked Lenny. “Don’t cha wanna come down and brush my thick, luxurious mane?” He flipped his head to the side. “It’s a hassle to maintain, but ‘tis the cost of being beau-ti-ful.”

     Oh my gosh, I want you both gone NOW. Rosalina composed herself, despite slipping on the wall. “My, this was a lovely visit. How about you two go off and do whatever you were going to do and we’ll meet up in, say, three years?”

     “But what are you doing up there, darling?” asked Wendy. Then she gasped. “My, has that scary Werelupe been keeping you as a prisoner?

     Rosalina grabbed the sheet, relieved she hadn't fallen. “It depends on what your definition of ‘prisoner’ is,” she called over her shoulder. “Yes I did spend half a day with the dimwit, and it was very lovely being locked up in a dusty guestroom. Now I’ve decided to spare him the displeasure of keeping me around, hence my current attempt to escape.”

     “Ooh, you’re just like that storybook princess who was also captured by a Werelupe,” Lenny squealed. “My favourite part was when she kicked her captor in the face before escaping.”

     Wendy nodded. “Yeah, I also loved that part!” She looked up at Rosalina and quickly whispered something to Lenny, then led him back into the forest.

     Finally. Now to continue this ill-advised escape. Rosalina slowly inched her way down, occasionally slipping at certain spots. She held her breath by the halfway point, daring not to breathe in case she was to meet her uncertain doom if anything were to go wrong in the next who-knows-how-many minutes it’d take her to reach the ground. As long as she moved slowly and carefully, everything would hopefully work out and she’d be a-okay.

     “Look! She’s halfway down now!” Wendy rushed over to the wall, a green and white checkered blanket in her and Lenny’s grasp. The pair spread the blanket in between them, creating some sort of trampoline with it. “I knew today was the perfect day to go on a picnic,” Wendy proclaimed.

     Rosalina gazed down and gulped. “Do you honestly expect me to jump down into that??”

     “Consider it a trust exercise,” said Lenny, swaying his ends up and down. “We’ll catch you, or fail trying!”

     Beanie peeked out at the blanket and turned to Rosalina, his little eyes beady. Rosalina chewed her lip, contemplating her options. She could put her trust in these two weirdos she would like to cut all ties with afterwards. Or she could continue scaling perilously down the annoyingly smooth wall, only feeling relieved when she’d touch the ground. While she was going back and forth on these decisions while holding on for dear life, Beanie wiggled his nose, gazed down at the blanket, and crept out of the hood.

     Rosalina gasped. “BBBBEEEEEAAAANNNNIIIEEE!!!!” She threw herself down the wall, screaming all the way down and into the parachute below, still screaming until Beanie climbed his way back into her hood. Relieved, she nervously patted the Meepit’s head, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

     “Hooray! Our plan worked perfectly,” said Wendy, clapping. She helped Rosalina up. “Now let’s get you into town.”

     “Let’s get burgers,” said Lenny. “My new faboo self deserves to be pampered with grilled meat.”

     Rosalina brushed herself off. “Fine, but let’s get as far away from this creepy place as possible.”

     ***

     “Annnnnnnnnnd, we’re lost,” Rosalina groaned, stopping to marvel at the endless tree trunks that surrounded them. She facepalmed. “We’ve been walking around for, like, a million years! I thought you two knew where you were going.”

     Wendy turned to Kenny. “Do we?”

     “No, but let’s pretend we do. It’ll make us look cool,” Kenny whispered loudly. He winked at Rosalina. “Just hang on tight and we’ll get you home, lil missy.”

     Rosalina kicked a nearby tree. Even if the two n00bs were successful with their blanket-parachute idea, they were still worthless when it came to navigating through this seemingly never ending forest. At least you’re not stuck at Manor de la Boring, Rosalina reminded herself as the trio passed the same giant rock for possibly the fifth time. Just count your blessings and be patient. Then, when you FINALLY get to civilization, run far away from those two losers and don’t look back.

     A loud howl pierced through the quiet forest.

     “Cheese and crackers, what was that?” gasped Wendy, whipping her head around.

     Lenny snickered. “You said cheese!” A second, louder howl silenced the Peophin.

     “Hehe ...must have been the wind,” said Rosalina, inching towards her disliked companions. She cradled Beanie in her arms, snuggling him close to her face. “Well, I think we should trek on and, uh, not question why the wind is so annoyingly loud around here.”

     “Yes, let’s go,” agreed Wendy.

     “Oooh, can I hug the Meepit??” asked Lenny.

     A growling noise made Rosalina's heart thud violently. Not fazed, Beanie squirmed in her grasp. Wendy and Lenny were hugging each other, trembling at the sight of two bright eyes staring at them from a bush. In seconds, four more pairs of glowing eyes appeared around the forest’s darkness, each piercing stare pinned at the three terrified Neopians. A slurping sound. Two snapped twigs. A scratching sound from a nearby tree trunk. A chorus of haunting howls, ranging from low to semi high-pitched.

     “It’s, uh, nice to meet all of you,” Rosalina gasped out, “but if you’ll excuse us, we have ...um, somewhere to go!”

     Lenny let go of Wendy and composed himself. “That is right, fair maiden!” he declared with a surprising amount of confidence. “We must first escort thee to thy home before we-ith go onward to thy faboo arcade-ith!”

     “What?” Rosalina was beginning to relax a bit.

     “Ooh, I love going to the arcade,” Wendy gushed, acting as if she wasn’t terrified a few seconds ago.

     Lenny nodded. “I know, right? They have the best games, and the pizzas are great! Oh, and we have GOT to try that new AAA game!”

     “Rosie, would you like to come with us?” asked Wendy. “You can be our third wheel!”

     “No I would not,” Rosalina hissed. “And last time I checked, aren't we being surrounded by a bunch of snarling, growling weirdos?? Why on Neopia would you use such a situation to discuss dinner plans??”

     “It’s not like we have anything better to do,” Lenny countered.

     More howling. Then a tall, muscular figure emerged from the shadows, licking his lips and staring down at Rosalina and the two oafs she was stuck with. With a satisfied smirk, the Werelupe growled in a low gravelly voice, “My, what do we have here? Three little kids and their pet Meepit.” He nodded. “What a treat.”

     To be continued…