A Night in Neovia by Rabbit and June

[June Scarlet]

(Collab between Rabbit ♠ and June Scarlet )

Tucked in a corner of the Haunted Woods of Neopia lies the small town of Neovia; the closest the Woods come to having a bright spot. The Crumpetmonger and Chesterdrawers' Antiques both call it home, but you’re not here to visit them. You’re here neither to visit Bart’s Apple Bobbing Tank, or Prigpants & Swolthy, Tailors. You’re not even here to send your poor Petpet into Grave Danger at the Neovian Catacombs. No, you’re here for a different reason tonight, of all nights. You’re here to trick-or-treat.

And wouldn’t you know it, that house right there looks like a perfect place to start.

The house is rather unassuming at first glance. Simple, one story, dark blue with maroon ceiling tiles. There is a porch with a couple seats and a table. A few paper decorations are probably hanging on the walls by the porch. Nothing fancy, but it’s cute.

It appears some sort of party is going on, as there’s an odd assortment of characters hanging around. There’s a Zombie Buzz, a tween Cybunny, a tall Darigan Buzz, and a tween sized wraith Korbat.

One of them gestures towards you. “There’s another one of those trick-or-treaters,” says the Cybunny.

“There definitely is,” the Darigan Buzz comments.

“They look like a fun one, too” the Korbat adds.

The tween Cybunny speaks again. “So what will it be today? A trick, or a treat?”

“Or you know,” says the Zombie Buzz, “you could just stay for the party.”

***

So what will it be, adventurous trick-or-treater? The stage is set, the rest is up to you!

These are the four Neopets you are encountering this fair night:

Ally:


Saskori:


Shane:


Kaylie:

[downrightdude]

Dressed as a beautiful Mermaid Princess from the North Atlantic Ocean, Snaw looks around, imagining all the things that one can steal while the party's going on.

While admiring a picture of June and Rabbit hanging on a wall, Snaw bumps into Ally and checks out her outfit. "HI there! I'm Snaw, but you can call me FABULOUS!" Snaw explains. "I also happen to be very close friends with Rabbit and June! Can you believe they're hosting this party?"

[June Scarlet]

Rabbit ♠ downrightdude

The Zombie Buzz, wearing a tattered white nightgown, nods. "They're a nice pair. Kaylie," she nods towards the Wraith Korbat, "likes to call Rabbit the Story-Former, though she's never explained to me why."

"Anyway, Fabulous, I'm Ally, short for Alvideria. Shane over there, the other Buzz, he was nice enough to lend his house for the occasion."

[Gelquie]

The corporeal-but-formless-ghost-of-former-Gelquie eventually approaches the house, having been distracted by the noir of the place for quite some time, as well as the nostalgia from back during... specific times in this place. Eventually, they resolved themselves to approach, and they listened to the four neopets.

"Hm, well, parties aren't my thing, but maybe this is a low-key one?" they wondered to themself. They look to Kaylie, pausing for a bit before shaking their head. "Sorry, I got distracted; you just look super cool. Not that the rest of you don't, but you could say I kinda share that aesthetic."

They pause. "Sorry, that was awkward. Um, I should say treat, but maybe we can liven up the party with a trick?"

[downrightdude]

June Scarlet :

Snaw nods. "Rabbit has always been one to make up fun stories for the NT!"

After devouring several pumpkin-themed cupcakes, Snaw continues to blab about how fantastic and pretty Rabbit is and how cool June is with her wicked cool comics. All the while, Snaw eyes the room and sees a shiny gilded vase perched on a small table. Snaw is tempted to steal it, though in the presence if Ally, it would be too easy to be caught.

"Oooh, do you have any more of those pumpkin cupped cakes Ally?" asked Snaw, forgetting to think up a plan to steal the vase.

[June Scarlet]

downrightdude

"I think there might be more cupcakes in the kitchen, though I don't know if they're pumpkin or not," said Ally. "Let me go check."

The Zombie Buzz heads towards the kitchen, leaving Snaw alone for the moment.

[downrightdude]

June Scarlet:

Seeing Ally depart, Snaw heads to the shiny vase and is about to reach for it when a figure passes by. Thinking it was Rabbit, Snaw acts cool, fiddling with the microphone in case there was any need to perform a musical distraction.

For now, Snaw eats a pumpkin spice muffin, making sure to stalk the vase for now.

[Liou]

A very wobbly, very flapping trenchcoat with a goose's head on top waddles resolutely into the party. The top goose grabs one of the paper decorations from the porch on the way, only to toss it onto the floor indoors, puffing out its feathers.
The goose stack struts up to Saskori, giving her a sideways stare. The down goose begins to nudge at the books with its bill, pushing them further and further.

[June Scarlet]

Liou

Saskori looks down at the paper decoration. “I guess you don’t like that one, huh?”

Then one of the stack starts nudging the books she’s brought along from her treehouse. “Hey! Careful! Those are my monster books! I’m a monster tamer, you know. So I have to read all about monsters and stuff.”

As goose pushes the books further and further, Saskori seems to realize something. “Wait, do you want me to read them to you? They’re really quite fascinating.”

Regardless if she realized correctly, Saskori picks one up and flips to an entry about Candy Vampires, and shows it to the trenchcoated figure. “See, this is a petpet, but it disguises itself as candy corn. There’s always one in every bag, they say,”

[Rabbit ♠]

Gelquie

Kaylie giggles. “Aw, thank ya. Ya look super cool as well.” She pauses and taps her finger to her chin. “As for a trick, hmm… That’s a hard one...”

Kaylie thumps her tail against the ground. With each thump, swirls of dark matter rise from the ground before disappearing. She looks down at her tail and her face lights up. Kaylie hops up and down, her form becoming less defined with every jump. After a few seconds, she is a swirling dark cloud that cheerfully swirls around the ghost.

“Haha, it’s been a while since I’ve done that! Shoulda done that sooner,” Kaylie cheered, quickly forming back into the shape of a Korbat. “How’s that for a trick?”

---

downrightdude

Shane walks back from the kitchen with a platter of food. A party was nothing without refreshments. He places the platter on a table and looks around, trying to figure out how many snacks he would need to put out. Hopefully there will be enough for everybody.

As Shane was looking around, he spots Snaw off in the corner, acting a bit on edge. He pushes the food thought aside and walks over.

“Hey there, are you alright?” he asks. “You seem nervous. Are you enjoying the party?”

[downrightdude]

Rabbit ♠

Snaw sighs, trying to stay still. "I'm alright. And ooh, you're name's Shane? Do you know Rabbit, my dearest friend in all the lands?"

Shane didn't seem to be wearing a costume, so Snaw didn't know what else to talk about. Looking around the room, Snaw notices all of the guests are happily enjoying themselves....and that the house lacked a fireplace. Snaw began wondering if the house was easy to set ablaze, or if stealing the vase would be evil enough.

"So, what foods do you have on your tray?" asked Snaw, trying not to seem too suspicious.

[Gelquie]

The being applauds Kaylie. "That's quite a trick! Right up my alley. I approve, and you did well! Looks like you could use that for a lot of cool things. Keep it up!"

The being nods. "And thank you for the compliment. I kinda like the ghostly visage myself. I can do a bit of darkness stuff too, but I generally leave the serious magic-wrangling to my characters to fumble at and save my magic for cheap tricks or pranks or if I need to banhammer a bot into a black hole. More fun that way."

[Liou]

June Scarlet Top Goose leans so close to the candy vampire illustration in the book that it's within pecking range. The geese's trenchcoat, by now, has pockets full of sweets - which may have been given or filched from people's pockets or picked up after fleeing children. Down Goose quickly checks the pockets for loose candy vampires. As it rifles through the pockets, some of the sweets topple on the floor. Down Goose stoops to pick them up, then negligently pushes them across the floor to Saskori.
Top Goose imperiously nudges the rest of the book, and the geese sit and await, listening for more tales.

[June Scarlet]

downrightdude Rabbit ♠

Ally returns. "I see you brought the food, Shane."

She turns to Snaw. "I wasn't able to find more of the cupcakes, but Shane grabbed some more food to share."

***

Liou

Saskori picks up one of the sweets. "For me? Thank you. I didn't get the chance to go trick or treating yet, because I've been here. I think I'm still young enough to trick or treat, though, don't you? Never too old for free candy, at least."

She picks up another book, and flips to a page. "These are ghouls. They like to inhabit homes all over Neopia, and come in a variety of colors. The trick to getting rid of them is to get three of the same colored ones next to each other, then they disappear!"

Saskori shakes her head slightly. "This book doesn't explain how to keep one as a petpet, though, which would be much cooler, in my opinion. I mean, the Ghoul Catchers are famous now for dealing with these house ghouls, and yet they don't actually catch anything! A bit misleading, if you ask me."

[downrightdude]

Rabbit ♠

Snaw is saddened by the lack of cupcakes, but smiles nonetheless.

Plotting to steal the shiny vase, Snaw asks, "That shiny vase you have there that would look SO great in my salon is so shiny! Wherever did you get it?"