The Jackals of Sakhmet - Kasha's Plot: Part Eight

"The day has come…" Kasha went on. "That we, the Cybunnies of Sakhmet, make a stand!"

      "HERE, HERE!"

      "Cybunnies are very popular throughout Neopia, no?"

      "HAIL CYBUNNIES!" the crowd roared.

      "We can easily outnumber any other species! So join me now in our rise to victory!"

      "ALL HAIL CYBUNNIES! DOWN WITH THE PRINCESS! DOWN WITH THE PRINCESS!"

      With a satisfied smirk on her face, Kasha stepped down, walking into the crowd. In a struggle for freedom, other pets were now fighting with the Cybunnies to break free. Kasha smirked, moving out of the way of the scramble. This was better then she expected.

      With these guys preoccupied with each other, what better chance to attack the princess? Swiftly, Kasha slipped past the castle gates, making her way up to the castle.

      "Down with the princess," she whispered, letting out a low cackle of triumph as she pulled open the castle door and walked in. "Long live me, the new princess…"

      * * *

      "What is going on," said Princess Amira to herself, still looking out the window. The crowd was now fighting each other for no apparent reason! Or maybe she was missing something… The short, blue Shoyru had not returned to tell her whether or not her guards were handling the situation.

      Something was going on, and Amira had to find out! Princess Amira turned sharply from the window, and reentered the throne room. She began pacing in front of her throne, nervous of what might be happening outside. How come no one was there to alert her, or inform her?!

      There was a soft creak as someone opened the door to the throne room. Princess Amira was facing her throne, glaring at it.

      "It's about time you came back," she said, turning to see the blue Shoyru. But when she turned, she did not find the Shoyru. Instead, she found a cloaked Cybunny standing in front of her, smirking mischievously.

      "Who are you," the princess asked, taken aback. "How did you get in here? Guards, come in here!"

      "Now, now, princess, no need for that…" the Cybunny snickered, taking a step closer. Princess Amira took one step back.

      "What do you want?" she asked nervously. The Cybunny let out a low cackle.

      "What do I want?" she repeated Amira's question. "I want control… I want the crown… I want Sakhmet… and dear, sweet princess… I want you…"

      The Cybunny whipped out a large brown sack, running over to Princess Amira. Amira screamed, trying to run away, but before she knew it, the sack was over her head, closing her in.

      "LET ME OUT! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

      "Say good-bye, Princess…"

      The Cybunny let out a shriek of pride as she dragged away the princess. Amira wiggled, and writhed, and screamed at the top of her lungs. She kicked the insides of the bag, and tried to make it heavier for the Cybunny to carry, but Kasha continued to drag her away from the throne room.

      Kasha took Princess Amira all the way to the very top tower of the castle, and left her there, still tied up in the bag. Kasha giggled as she shut and locked the tower door on the struggling princess.

      "HELP!" she cried. "LET ME OUT!"

      * * *

      "Is everyone familiar with the plan?" Scarab asked as the four of them approached the feuding crowd of pets. Lee, Omar, and Cole nodded. Scarab smiled at them, and then he and Lee ran off to the sidelines, trying to search for another way into the castle. Once they were gone, Cole and Omar started running into the crowd, and then split up.

      "I hope this works," Cole whispered. Cole pushed and shoved his way through the crowd, until he bumped into a Cybunny. The Cybunny looked down and glared at him.

      "Trying to pick a fight, huh?" he snarled, grabbing Cole by the arm. Cole smirked and reached for the necklace the Cybunny wore. Before he could yell in protest, Cole yanked it off his neck. For a moment, the Cybunny stood there, dazed, and then he looked around confused.

      "What's going on? Why's everyone fighting?"

      He let go of Cole, but Cole reached for his arm instead.

      "Sir, please help me! Yank off as many necklaces as you can!" Cole said. The Cybunny looked at him confused, but nodded, making his way through the crowd. It was tough, seeing as everyone was fighting each other, but Omar, Cole, and many other un-hypnotized pets managed to pull off many other pet's necklaces.

      As they worked on that, Scarab and Lee had an assignment of their own. After climbing up the castle gate wall, the two managed to get onto the castle grounds.

      "Now to save the princess," said Scarab in a self-satisfied way. Lee nodded, and then the two of them ran into the castle, ignoring the fact that someone had already left the door open. There was a tense atmosphere inside the castle.

      "Everything's… quiet…" Lee whispered, looking around in interest.

      "Too quiet…" Scarab finished. "You check left." He pointed down the hall. "And I'll take right."

      Lee nodded and ran off in the left hall, stopping every now and then to check the rooms she passed for the princess.

      "Princess Amira," she whispered, peeking into the seventh room on the right. "Are you in here?"

      Scarab wasn't having much luck either. He was halfway down the castle, away from Lee, checking all the rooms he came up to. This didn't make any sense! Where was Princess Amira?! Oh no… had Kasha already gotten to her? Scarab shook his head, pushing the thought out of his head.

      He came to a halt and stared at a large door in front of him; the throne room. Let's just hope she's in there, he thought, taking a daring step towards it. Before he could even touch the great door, he heard a loud scream from nearby. Lee!

      Scarab started running in the direction of her voice. Where was she? Did Kasha get her too? He heard her scream again, but louder this time, since he was closer. Scarab stopped in the middle of the hall, listening for the source of the scream.

      The screaming had stopped, but he could still hear something… someone struggling, and making muffled cries for help. Someone had Lee, but had covered her mouth so he couldn't find her.

      "Guess again."

      Scarab could hear Lee's grunts just fine. He followed the noise all the way down the hall, speed walking, until he came upon a hall where he saw Niger dragging an Aisha down the hall. But this Aisha was none other then Lycos, trying to push Niger off of her.

      "Let me go! I'm not helping you anymore!"

      "Lycos, just tell me! There's no point hiding it!"

      "Release her, Niger!"

      The two froze, and stared at Scarab. Niger's eyes became wide, and his grip was loosened on Lycos's arm. Lycos, with a smirk on her face, ran over to Scarab, and gave him a great, big hug.

      "Surprised to see me, Niger?" Scarab said, smiling. Niger did not answer. He just shook his head in disbelief. Lycos and Scarab laughed at his expression.

      "You see, Niger," Lycos said, placing a paw on Scarab's shoulder. "I was not lying when I said he was back. And I will never tell you where the rest of his Rubite is!"

      "Is that what you wanted?" Scarab asked suspiciously. Niger nodded, now looking quite stern.

      "Well you're not getting it! Now where's Princess Amira?!"

      This time, Niger had something to smirk about.

      "Honestly, and for truly, I do not know…" he said, raising his paws high in the air as if he were being arrested. And the sad thing was, reader, he was telling the truth. Lycos and Scarab looked nervously at each other as Niger laughed coldly.

      All the while, Lee was searching her half of the castle. She sighed, seeing as she searched all the rooms down on her side, and none of them contained the princess. The only place Lee hadn't looked in was the tower. Lee stood quite still, staring at the stairs that led up to the tower.

      "I hope Princess Amira's up there," she whispered, bracing herself for walking up the stairs. Though Lee never admitted it, she was extremely scared of heights, but this was for Sakhmet. This was for all of Neopia. Taking in a deep breath, Lee walked over to the stairs, but before she went up, loud footsteps could be heard.

      Someone was coming down from the tower, but whom? Lee backed up out of the way to see who was emerging from the tower. One, two, three times the pet stepped. Then they paused, and took another three steps. One, two, three, pause. One, two, three, pause.

      Lee gasped and backed away. Before Lee could run away for help, Kasha grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with her paw, and then snarled into Lee's ear, "I'm sorry, the princess is tied up at the moment. May I take a message?"

      Kasha shrieked with joy, pulling Lee away down the hall.

To be continued...