A dark figure zoomed from shadow to shadow; a mere blur in the near darkness. The only illumination was a crescent moon that lay beyond a thin blanket of mist. The fungus caves were filled with a putrid smell, but that failed to stop the intruder. It moved silently and evasively through the labyrinth of rocky structures.

In the middle of a wide clearing, a hissi moved across flakes of stone. He scanned the shadows with eyes of a bright amber color, looking for the danger that lurked there. The hissi knew of the mission it was on, and was ready to fight. Out of a corner it pounced; a darigan zafara with a malevolent -disallowed_word- color=#E9CFEC,strength=3);height:0px;"> The Beginning

Rouem sat against the wall, a sweet look on her face. Everyone else in the room looked at her as if she was crazy; but this had been expected from the beginning. She was small and seemed quite frail; even a non-Baby pet that looked like that would be doubted from the start. But something so small as appearance could not stop the scorchio from persuing a dream she had maintained for so long. Here in this room, Rouem was closer than ever.

A Fire Draik stretched his wings and glided over to her. He looked into her sparkly green eyes and smirked. Holding up his tail to her like a measuring stick, he spat out a nasty comment ungraciously.

."You're a little small to be a hunter, hey kid? We pay in neopoints, not gaga grub".

Some of the others in the crowd laughed, while others sat with their backs turned. Remaining silent, Rouem simply stood up and walked through the steel doors in front of her. A lengthy corridor with gelert lanterns lining the walls led the toddler into yet another room. This room was circular, with a grandiose chandelier latched onto the high ceiling. Upon a thrown, against the far wall, slouched a dark looking gelert.

."You. what is your purpose here?" he grumbled, flipping through a red booklet.

."I am Rouem... one of those trying for the position of a hunter?".

The pet eyed her, and then reclined further into his chair. He looked just like those in the waiting room did; so unsure of Rouem. It angered her, knowing that a lifelong dream was going to be lost by horrible judgment.

."And you cannot give me a chance, Zanid"?

."Look at you! Hardly as big as a harris, you are! Why would I need a child like you"?

Snarling, she drew a curved ruki dagger and pelted it towards the blue gelert. Zanid jumped to dodge it, only to have a second knife spiral towards him and strike his cape. He was suspended mid-air, tightly hooked onto a picture frame.

."Ah, I can give you multiple reasons Zan... Why wouldn't you want me? You know plasma hunters are always wanted... who would expect me? Look at me. Do you seriously think others' first impressions will be different from your own? And I'm willing to bet that my skills surpass at least half of your already appointed employees".

Zanid released himself from the frame and chuckled again, a grim -disallowed_word- color=#E9CFEC,strength=3);height:0px;"> Training

Closing the door behind her, Rouem quickly stepped out of the room. She could hear shouts echoing from the audition room, and rolled her eyes in disgust.

Almost immediately, an aisha jumped from nowhere to the side of Rouem. With lightning-fast reflexes, the scorchio spun around and withdrew another dagger, lifting her arms above her face as both a guard and a defence.

."Well, we've got a skilled one 'ere, ya? Hold yer horses, little one! You can call meh Zoey. Zoey Ruth! I'm Zanid's assistant... a guide, if you may!".

Rouem hesitated, before slowly lowering her weapon. In front of her stood a middle-aged aisha, with crossed eyes and bright green fur. She was very scrawny and exotic-looking, with the strange appearance of a person who spent far too many spins on a rollercoaster. She giggled and scribbled something onto a thick clip board.

Rouem sighed and turned around. "I don't need a guide.".

."I don't mean teh burn any bridges, but yes, you do. You'll need yer weapons, group information, and someone that'll tell you where everythin' is located, ya? Don't worry, I'll get yeh perfectly prepared. I may look a little odd, but meh brain works fine!" Zoey pointed to her head and smiled. "I've got a photographic memory, ya? I know more 'bout this place than anyone, I reckon." Zoey paused and laughed again.

."Very well." Rouem stared at Zoey curiously, and allowed the aisha to lead her into the maze of corridors.

For awhile, Zoey rambled on about various rules and regulations about the organization, but Rouem wasn't paying attention. She was busy reading the names of the rooms etched onto each door in the many hallways, trying to memorize the most important ones and taking great care to remember the main halls. The scorchio was very intelligent, and knew that if any problems should arise, Rouem should not be put at a disadvantage just because of her lack of knowledge of the tunnels.

Zoey paused and Rouem nearly ran into her. "Any questions, Cutie?" Rouem shook her head and the aisha beamed. "Well, then. You'll be spendin' alot of yer time in this hall right 'ere. Most important hall in the entire place, this is. The door in front of us is the trainin' arena. I'm not very fond of it, m'self. To our right is the dormitories. The path in there splits in two; girls go to yer right, boys teh the left. And this door to the left, that's the common room. Half of it is filled with shelves. Gotta keep the weapons somewhere, ya? The other half's got tables and such. That's where all of yeh'll be eating, I reckon." Zoey paused and caughed and little into her paw. "Well, I'll see yeh later, little one! Wake up early, tomorra'. You'll need teh go to the trainin' room at 5:00 sharp. Lot's teh do, ya? On the first day, everyone needs teh participate - and, uh... well, you'll see. Later!" Zoey scratched her head and a second later she seemed to vanish into thin air.

Rouem paused, and then turned to her right and opened the door to the dormitories. Light radiated in through the threshold from the brightly-lit room. Rouem entered and closed the door. Sure enough, there were two more doors on the left and right sides of the room, and the rest of the walls were completely bare. There were no lanterns or chandeliers, and Rouem wondered where all the light came from.

The scorchio headed toward the girl's room and moved inside. This room was fairly dark again like the main hallway, and was long and narrow. Rows of bunkbeds lined the sides of the room, old and tattered. Candy wrappers, broken weapons, old issues of the Neopian Times, and other debris littered the floor.

All the beds closest to the door were taken, so Rouem mazed her way through the jungle of trash toward the back of the room. Along the way, many creepy-looking neopets stared at her and shouted random insults at her, or laughed at the sight of her. Rouem ignored them and continued walking, her head held high.

."Hey you. Over here!" A darigan draik motioned for Rouem to take the bed above her. She was very beautiful, with silky, purple fur, and a long mane of thick ringlets that cascaded down her shoulders. Her deep red eyes shined wickedly, bordered by long, black eyelashes. If it weren't for those eyes, the draik would look quite innocent and warm.

Rouem shook her head, but chose a nearby bed nonetheless. The draik smiled and stared with a piercing gaze at Rouem. She seemed to study every detail about the scorchio. "So... Looks like we have the same strategy." Rouem knew exactly what she meant. The draik was pretty, and Rouem was cute. No one would expect either of them to be a hunter of plasma hissis, the mysterious and valuble hissis whose numbers were growing rapidly within the Fungus Caves. These hissis held special powers unlike none other, and it was this organization's job to hunt them down. Secrecy as well as precision was vital.

Rouem nodded. "Yes." She answered, ever so bluntly.

."Well, my name is Skylar. I've been a hunter for a year already, but at the start of a new year everyone needs to audition again. It's to make sure that no mistakes were made the previous year, or to kick out the less-skilled ones if alot of good hunters come in... I work mostly in magic." Skylar paused and pointed at a shadow cybunny sitting in the bed across from her. "This is my friend. Now your friend, too, I suppose. Her name is Tairi. She doesn't talk much. You'll be lucky to hear a word from her. Tairi works mostly with swords.

Rouem examined Tairi. It was hard to make out her figure in the darkness, with her pitch black fur. All Rouem could distinguish was her front paws and three white bands stretched onto her right arm. The scorchio turned back to Skylar. "You don't seem like a hunter.".

Skylar shrugged. "I get bored, living here day after day. So it's nice to have a good conversation at times. When you leave this place to go and hunt, you leave the tunnels just to enter yet another cave. I'm sick of the closure. I need a break... I want to experience flying again! Not just a few feet high, but actual flying! But don't get me wrong, I am very serious about my work and my job. Very serious. So I'm warning you, even though we may be friends now, if you ever step in my way or make a wrong move, you won't live to grow two feet tall. I can promise you that. I may look okay, and talk okay, but don't underestimate my determination or my strength." With that, Skylar lifted the thin sheet off of her matress and lay down. Then, in a calmer tone, she added, "You may consider getting some sleep. It's late; I can tell. And we're getting up early tommorrow. The first day is the most important." She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

The baby scorchio nodded and followed suit. The other girls in the dormitory were chatting loudly, but Rouem was so tired that she didn't care. Soon she was fast asleep.

-----

Rouem awoke to a loud uproar in the dormitory. Apparently two sinewy girls were fighting to get through the door, at the end of the room, first. The waiting crowd behind them shouted angrily for them to hurry up, and shoved them both through the threshold. Rouem and Skylar were the only pets still sitting on their beds.

Skylar yawned and scratched her arm. "We better get going. I don't believe I've learned your name yet?".

The baby scorchio shrugged. "Rouem.".

."Well, Rouem, let's hurry! It's not good to be late on the first day. It gives a bad message, you know? Let's go!". Skylar swiftly hopped out of bed and seemed to glide elegantly toward the door. Rouem followed.

Rouem couldn't hide her amazement when they entered the training room. It was a colossal arena, circular in shape, with a high, domed ceiling. Rows of seats lined the walls, bordering the low stage in the center. On the opposite side of the room there was a tall pulpit, where Zanid and his assistant, Zoey, stood. They were both anxiously waiting for all the hunters to arrive.

The boys were already sitting in the bleachers. Rouem was surprised at how far the males outnumbered the females. If she were to guess, she would probably say that they were outnumbered five to one. She followed the group of girls who were starting to file into the seats. When everyone was settled into their chairs, Zanid addressed us, his loud voice echoing against the walls of the spacious room.

."Attention hunters! You know why you are here, so I will make this brief. By auditioning to be a hunter, you've all accepted that you've given up your bodies and and your souls to this organization! We've been around a very long time in secret, so don't make any mistakes! Anyone who leaves this place gets their memories erased. If you're too weak, you leave. If you betray us, you leave. If you complain, you leave. There are many of you, and we keep only the best. Today we will hold a tournament in this room. You'll fight against eachother one on one, and the losers will leave. Then those winners will fight against eachother, and the losers of that round will leave, as well. At the end of this day only a fourth of you will remain! We will divide these lucky hunters into groups that fit your talents best. Zoey here will watch your stategies as all of you fight, and when the tournament is done she'll know the right groups to fit the winners in.". Zanid scanned the crowd of hunters and nodded approvingly. He then sat down and motioned for Zoey to take over.

The aisha happily bounced over to the microphone. "'Ello!" She gazed expectantly at the bleachers but no one answered. "Well... We should start the tournament, then, ya? Many of yeh don't have a last name, so I'll first call out yer color, species, and then name. Right, then... Let's see... Brown Tonu, Kaito! Glowing blumaroo, Onyx! You two'll be our first fighters. Head down to the middle, ya? Start when I say go.".

The two neopets slowly trudged down the bleachers, ignoring the complains of others as they squeezed by. The blumaroo was tall and grim looking, while the other was burly and dim-witted. Rouem didn't have to watch to know who was going to win. Strategy was a key to fighting, and someone like the Tonu, who relied purely on brute strength, didn't have a chance.

Whether minutes, hours, or days passed by, it was hard to tell. The battles took a surprisingly long time to go through, and only a couple dozen rounds were fought. Rouem wasn't nervous at all; on the contrary, watching other pets' battles enlightened her spirits. Many of them didn't have a clue how to fight a true battle. Loser after loser left the arena, the door echoing softly as it closed behind them.

Finally, Rouem's name was called. "Baby scorchio, Rouem! Mutant skeith, Greystone!" Rouem grinned slightly and flew out of her seat toward the middle of the stage. She arrived there shortly, and waited impatiently for her opponent.

The crowd stared at her and many laughed, calling out names and jeering at her cruelly. Others rolled their eyes or laid back in their seats, feeling it unnecessary to watch.

Rouem's enemy, Greystone, finally reached the stage. His razor sharp teeth widened into a menacing grin, and he waved his tail back and forth tauntingly. The skeith was at least twenty times bigger than Rouem, and at the sight of them the crowd burst into another fit of giggles. Rouem shrugged and stared back into Greystone's narrow eyes.

."Begin!".

Greystone snarled and bolted toward Rouem, his large claws pounding the floor. The scorchio simply stood there, smiling and waiting for the perfect moment to counterattack.

Finally Greystone was within feet from the baby pet. Rouem deftly twisted around, hoisting her body a few feet into the air. The skeith roared in surprise, and the next thing he knew, a spear was spiraling his way from above, aimed directly above his shoulder blades. At impact the skeith toppled over and lay there, unconscious, but not dead.

Satisfied, Rouem headed back toward her seat. The crowd of hunters were speechless; many of them gawked at the defeated skeith or glared at Rouem. She had beating him so easily, without even as much as a scratch.

The day went by, and Rouem was getting impatient. She was tired of watching battle after battle, and she was very hungry. The only scene of interest to her was Skylar's fight. Rouem was shocked at the draik's change in personality; she was vicious with her opponent and continued fighting him even after he was defeated. Skylar passed by Rouem on the way back to her chair, and when Rouem congratulated her, the draik glared back and remained silent.

Rouem's second fight was just as easy as her first, and after several more battles, the tournament was finally done. Zoey quickly called out all the appointed teams, and instructed them to head to the common room for dinner, and to eat with their assaigned group.

The Mission

It had been three weeks since the tournament, and Rouem's group was very excited for their mission later that day.

."Are you ready, Rouem?" Their group leader spoke quietly over the table as they ate breakfast.

Rouem nodded. Shade was their leader's name, and he was Rouem's favorite out of their group. Shade was very intelligent like her, and was not cocky about his skills or his rank. Still, there was a little too much understanding in his eyes when he looked at the young scorchio.

Skylar also happened to be in the group. Even though they were spending more time together than ever, the draik hadn't spoken to Rouem since their first conversation on the night before the tournament. She was bitter and cold.

These three made up group number 18.

Rouem and the others had prepared many days for today's mission, and they knew every little detail about what they were to do. At twelve o' clock sharp, midnight, the group was to venture out to a nearby cave on the coast of Lutari Island, and they were to eliminate any traces of plasma hissis living there. They were lucky to be assaigned a cave nearby; some of the other groups had to venture across Neopia for certain missions.

That day, the hours seemed to pass by at a drastically slow rate, and when the tall clock in the common room finally chimed 11:00, the group made their last preparations for departure.

."Alright." Shade announced at last. "Let's go!" He led the group through the tunnels and out the entrance-way. Fortunately for them, all the members of their group could fly, so traveling to the cave wouldn't be a problem.

Shade launched off the ground first, and Skylar and Rouem soon followed. Rouem could hear Skylar giggle blissfully and she spiraled through the air. Shade glared at her reproachfully, and she returned to their formation reluctantly, grumbling under her breath.

Rouem could not blame the draik for her happiness. It felt very good to stretch out her wings to their fullest potential. She closed her eyes and relaxed to the steady beat of her wings. The cool night air rolled through her fur as the three pets were soon swallowed by the dark, starry sky. They ascended quickly, and after some time, Rouem's face felt numb in the frigid wind.

Finally, the group reached their destination. They landed a few feet from the mouth of the cave, and examined their surroundings. It was a little hard to see in the dark, but they found themselves in fairly tranquill place. The cave sat on the coast that overlooked a beautiful sea, which filled the night with sounds of waves crashing lightly onto the sand. It would have been a great vacation spot had it not been for the tedious task that lay ahead.

."Alright, you two know the plan. Rouem, you'll head as deep as you can into the cave. Skylar, stay towards the middle. Search a wider area... go left, then right. I'll stay towards the mouth of the cave." Shade nodded to the girls and headed toward the cave.

This was Rouem's first official mission. The organization hired the hunters for one single purpose, and that was to eliminate Fungus Caves of the mysterious hissis that lived in them. However, Rouem had another ambition. She was going to save them.

A Helping Hand

The cave was even darker from the inside. Rouem's heart pounded within her as she treaded deeper inside the cave. She knew what she had to do would take a great risk, with consequences worse than anything she could imagine.

Step one. When Rouem reached half-way through the cave, or at least in estimation, Rouem dropped a dagger apon the rocky turf. Sound echoed throughout the cave, giving away their presence to whoever might be lurking inside.

Skylar, who was standing a few feet from Rouem, grabbed her by the shoulders and scowled. "How DARE you?" She hissed, angrily. The draik stomped off, trembling with fury.

When Skylar was out of sight, Rouem beamed. Hopefully the sound would send the hissis farther away, and give her more time for the hardest task of all. She needed to communicate with one of the plasma hissis.

As silently as she could, Rouem hurried to the back of the cave. This would be the place where most of the hissis would be living.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Rouem by the arm, and before she could scream, a firm hand covered her mouth. The scorchio's mind was numb. Fear shrouded her body, and she could not think, and could scarcely breathe. The scorchio could not retaliate under such conditions. Rouem's betrayal was discovered, and all hope was lost. She would be punished, and would never be free again, even without her memory.

Her holder guided her to a nearby wall and forced her to sit. "Shhh... It's okay, it's alright!" Rouem recognized the voice. It was Shade! Rouem felt an unexplainable surge of relief through her body.

."You are a very intelligent scorchio, Rouem." Shade whispered, softly. Rouem stared in disbelief, and waited for him to continue. "Look, I know about your goals. You played your part very well. Everyone was convinced... You appeared to be 10 pounds of pure evil!".

Rouem bowed her head in shame. She should have known that Shade was here to turn her in. Her life was over, and she hadn't managed to save any hissis at all.

Shade shook his head. "Although, I suspected you from the beginning. Not because of your appearance... that's why the others suspected you. I suspected you because of your personality. You were careful to form a wall between yourself and others, afraid to let anyone get to know you too well.".

."But, I guess I should get to the point. Rouem... you are not alone. I'm here to save the hissis as well.".

-----

A Note From Nibblespretzle:

Hello! Thanks so much for finishing the story! It means so much to me. I just wanted to say a few things about the story.

I know I ended very abruptly, but I kind of want you guys to imagine what happens at the end. I have a vision in my mind of what happens later in this story, but for some reason I feel compelled to share it with others, and I want you guys to be the ones to decide the ending for yourselves. And I am very sorry for the occasional gruesome parts in this tale. This is the first time I've ever added something like that into one of my stories, and I'm not too happy about it. But in order to portray how awful the orgination was, I had to write the worst. So I apologize!

Thanks again for reading. I realize that there are some mistakes, but I am a little bit in a rush to turn in this application, so at the moment I don't have time to proof-read it fully. But I will definately add the corrections it desperately needs in the future!