The Travels of Atoravo - by ~Laura~

Atoravo was at home in the dining room with her parents. Her dad was working on some bills while her mom took a break from cooking. Atoravo took the pass she had gotten from Aisha High out of her pocket. The principal hadn't yet heard of her meeting on Friday and had thought it good for her, since she was the highest in her skills class. She drew in a deep breath and prepared to talk to her parents. Atoravo: Mom? Dad? Her dad continued to work on the bills. Dad: Yes? Her mom at least looked in her direction. Mom: Yes? Atoravo: My friends, Lexii and Cotwit, well, the three of us decided to go on a quest together tomorrow.

She finished quickly and sat waiting for her parents decision. Her mom and dad looked at each other startled for a moment and then her dad looked at Atoravo. Dad: A quest for what? To get out of school? Atoravo paused for a moment, why did everyone have to know and remember that? She quickly came back to the present. Atoravo: No, we decided to go into the mountains to trap a goat for angora scarves. Mom: The mountains? Dad: I'm not so sure you should be going on quests right now. Mom: Don't you remember you still have school? Atoravo: But we've gotten the passes already, we just need them signed. The school already approves of it, look. She handed her dad the pass. Mom: Atoravo, we don't want you to get in trouble. There's lots of dangers in Neopia. Not only the ones in the forest, but the Neopets that live out there can also be dangerous. Atoravo: I'll be ok. Lexii and Cotwit will be with me, and we can all handle it. Dad: Listen, you're not going and that's final. You'll live right here in Central Station until you move out.

Central Station, by the way, was the town Atoravo lived in. All of the new Neopets who were created came through there. Atoravo just called the place ED double A, Everything Dull and Annoying. She looked at her parents and surpressed the urge to storm out and just forge the signature. Either way she'd be in trouble, but she wouldn't have to sit through this. She decided to make her parents go through the trouble of listening to her "additude" and "sarcasm" they and some of her teachers dearly loved to talk about all the time. She decided on muttering under her breath, the most effective way of being annoying without seeming to really meaning it. Atoravo: ED double A again... Dad: Enough with that name! Don't you have any respect for your home? Atoravo: No, this isn't where I want my home to be. I want to be an Aisha of the roads, one who travels everywhere and sees new things. I'd like to get out of here and away from Neopets who think no other life is any good! I respect anyone who wants to help the newly created pets, but not the ones who are too scared to leave!

Her parents looked at her silently. Her dad raised his hands and slowly tore the pass. Everyone was quiet. Her dad looked at her with a stern face as he let the pieces fall on the bills in front of him. Her mom held her forehead with one of her hands and sighed. Atoravo stared her dad straight in the eye. Slowly, a smile spread across her face, a smile of triumph and mischief. She took a piece of paper out of her pocket and waved it infront of her parents. Atoravo: Did you really think I gave you the real pass? She took flight with the pass and went into her room. She slammed the door behind her, locked it, and pushed her bed, desk, nighttable, and two chairs infront of it. She took a backpack, the kind for hiking, out of her closet and started filling it. She put a guidebook on Neopia, a flashlight, some batteries, a small radio, a jacket, and a small sleeping bag inside it. Her share of the food from the store was still in the coatroom with her hat. They could be picked up in the early morning before her parents got up. They would wait up until midnight, most likely, for her to sneak down, and then get up at 4:30 to make sure she didn't get out early. She'd have to just stay up all night until her parents went to bed.

After lying on her bed, still pushed against the door, she started to get worried, travelling took up a lot of energy, and little sleep wouldn't be good. Her parents also might stay up all night. If that happened, what would she do? She decided to make it down to the coatroom and kitchen if it was safe, and then sneak out a window if they were still up. She waited a little while longer, than realized it was silly to keep her furniture against the door all night. She moved every thing back and put her ear against the door to listen for her parents. She heard the arguing. It was all just noise, so she sat down at her desk and took out the pass. It was smart of Lexii to think of giving them a copy in case they were upset about it. There was little difference in the copy Atoravo had made, so little difference that she had to put it in a different pocket to remember which was which. She looked at the principal's signature, Mr. Altern Fian. Even that she had forged on the fake pass well.

She undid a lock on her desk drawer and took out an old report card with her mom's signature on it and a test with her dad's. She put these infront of her and took out a pen. She practiced the signatures a few times on a blank sheet of paper to get her hand steady, then made the final signatures on the pass. They looked perfect enough to only be known fake by her parents, only being known then since they knew they never signed this. She looked at her alarm clock. It was only 9:12 pm. She took the practice paper and ripped it up until it was unreadable and threw it away. She put the report card and test paper back in the drawer and locked it, and then she put the pen back. Atoravo got up and silently walked to the door and put her ear against it. She could her her parents getting ready for sleep. They had work the next day, and didn't want to miss sleep because of some strange idea their daughter had about herself. Atoravo knew this and waited until they were silent.

She slowly unlocked the door making sure there was no sound. She then quietly opened her door. She turned her ear towards her parent's room. She could hear faint snoring already. She waited about 5 minutes, just standing there, listening to her parents snore. She finally slipped out of her room, turned the light off, and made her way quietly through the dark house until she reached the living room where her parents couldn't wake up and see the light on. She flipped the switch and lit up the room. She walked into the coatroom and picked up the bag with her stuff. She took it into the kitchen and opened the refridgerator. She figured she could pay for what she took after her quest. She put in the bag 3 cans of neocola, a few bitten apples (gross but good eating if you're hungry), and some bacon. She closed the fridge and looked in the cabinets. She found some bags of cheesy neos and bananas which also went in her bag. She also found 25 np on the counter, left by her mom before the arguing for milk and a few other groceries for the next day. She took this also, and decided to repay this when she paid for the food after the quest.

Atoravo was still mad at her parents, which made this kitchen "borrowing" easier. She went back into the living room and then stepped into her dad's office for a moment. She grabbed a rope hanging on the wall near the corner of the room and put this in her bag. She left, hiding all evidence of her coming downstairs, and snuck back up to her room. She got inside, closed the door quietly, and locked it. She took the contents of her bag and fitted everything into her backpack, excluding her hat. She spoke quietly to herself. Atoravo: At least it will get lighter after taking out the food.

To be continued...