Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4
Neopia Central at two-thirty in the morning had a
bit of a different vibe. It had stopped raining, and there was still plenty of
vehicle traffic, but almost no pedestrians on the sidewalks. Most of the lights
in the buildings were out, save for the odd Neopet working a night shift. It
was rather eerie—or peaceful, Terra supposed, depending on how one wanted to
look at it. Right now, though, she was a bit on edge from a kidnapping attempt,
so her mind leaned more toward seeing things as eerie.
She looked up at Isengrim as they traversed the
city blocks between the hotel and the Defenders’ headquarters, and he smiled
down at her, although it seemed to her to be halfhearted. Her worries grew. Had
she offended him in some way? They’d had excellent rapport ever since she
adopted him – well, to be exact, since about a day after she adopted him – but
perhaps she was naïve for thinking nothing could ever cause tension between
them. What concerned her was that he was usually so open with her about
anything bothering him, and now it seemed like that wasn’t the case.
“Are you okay?” she finally asked him as Blynn
made them stop for more gumballs at the restaurant. The Zafara gave a few to
Tally this time, before putting another in her mouth and sticking the rest in
her belt pouch.
“I’ll be just fine,” Isengrim said with another
smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
