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Description
Ah, you know the Shadow Usul, yes? Good, because you better know her, she lurks in every corner of Neopia, including the safety of your own neohome. This creature is listed in the Gallery of Evil, but no one knows her true motives, so can she really be evil?
What if this creature of the night is the one who puts items in your inventory when you aren’t looking, just to benefit you? Believe me it’s happened, but I’m not sure if it WAS the Shadow Usul, but it may have been.
And this story is to tell how the Usul became just a lurking Shadow of herself....
It was lovely day in the town of Meridell, an Usul by the name of Shaina, skipped out of her home to explore the world of Neopia and bring back rare goods to sell back at home, as she does every week.
She was an intelligent and happy critter, swinging her empty basket as she made her way to the Harbor and boarded her handcrafted ship, pulling up the sails and waving goodbye to the town she loved so much. Then turned her head to the endless ocean, making her way towards Mystery Island...
Though she neared Mystery Island with a wide smile on her face, an unsuspecting wind suddenly caught her sail. This wind didn’t seem normal either as it carried her through the air along with the ship, luckily though, she landed, but not on the ground, her ship now rested on a large cloud, a beautiful city was before her.
‘Wow...’ She thought, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before....’ A giggle escaped her throat as she grabbed her empty basket and headed towards the first shop she saw, only until something else out of the ordinary caught her eye.
It was a purple cloud, with what looked like a bubbling green moat inside of it and dark castle upon the floating fluff.
“Hmm....Maybe that‘ll have even more rare goodies!” She excitedly exclaimed as she skipped along and managed to get to the door of the dark looking castle, Shaina lifted her hand, but before she could even knock, the door swung open.
“Come in...Come in...” A voice echoed from the darkness, “Welcome Guest, welcome...” The voice seemed to have a hint of mischievousness, but that did not bother Shaina at all, she gleefully pranced inside the castle, the door slowly closing behind her.
“Um...Hello?” Shaina whispered, the fear soon creeping up her spine.
“Hello.” A woman, draped in a long purple dress came forth to meet her; she now stood in front of the little usul. “So...Are you here for a Quest my little one?”
Shaina was speechless, staring up at her, she knew who it was just from the stories her parents had told, and she knew how evil Jhudora could be. “Um....N-No...”
Jhudora became annoyed, but soon settled down a bit, “Then what have you come for?”
“Do you sell items here?” Shaina did not dare look up at the Dark Faerie, fear taking full hold of her.
Jhudora smirked, getting an idea into her head, “Why...Yes....Yes I do. Come with me little one...” The faerie turned and lead the neopet down the hallway and into a room full of magic potions. “Take your pick of any of the potions in here, but I must warn you, you can only have one....”
“I-I don’t know...I think I’ll just leave...” She turned and began heading towards the door but Jhudora was soon standing in front of the exit. “You must pick one, or you can never leave this castle!” She seemed infuriated, so Shaina backed away and did as Jhudora said, looking for an interesting potion to take home.
Those little blue eyes of her caught a rainbow colored potion and she immediately grabbed it, “This one!” She smiled putting into her basket and exiting, Jhudora now allowing her to exit the castle.
Shaina skipped along back to her ship and climbed in, setting her sails just right so the winds could take her away back to the ocean below. As the winds took her back home to Meridell, her curiosity got the best of her. Shaina wandered to her basket with the potion and scooped it up into her paws, “I wonder what this really does...It can’t be all bad since it’s shiny and rainbow colored!” She chuckled and popped the cork off of the potion and drank it down, loving the taste of the drink. She put the bottle back into the basket once she was finished and sighed deeply, “Nothing seems to be happening.”
That’s what she thought, but her appearance had already changed, her fur dark as the darkest night and it flowed like a thick fog over a morning swamp....
Her eyes became more sensitive to the sun, making it harder for her to see at the moment, but as the skies darkened, her vision cleared. “What an amazing night this is! I can’t believe I can see everything so clearly!” She giggled and climbed off her boat as it docked. She leaped into the town of Meridell, beginning to wonder why everyone seemed to back away from her, or hide back into the their homes, the town was less cheery now that she’d returned, but why? Her little feet hurriedly carried her home and she entered, going to a mirror and letting out a gasp, “I’m different...That potion made me...evil-looking...” She ran out of her home and into the darkness of the night and vowed never to return since everyone seemed scared of her now that she had changed...
So you see, the Shadow Usul isn’t evil, she is only scared and that is the reason she hides from us, afraid that she would frighten someone. The only reason she isn’t seen in the daylight is because the sun gives her a blurry vision now and she can walk comfortably in the night, without scaring anyone, for her fur blends well with the darkness.
Now if you ever see the Shadow Usul lurking in the darkness, do not worry she means no harm to any of the neopians, she is just trying to live her life in peace.
Please, just think back to this wonderful little short story and maybe, just maybe you wont be as terrified by the Shadow Usul anymore. If you do see Shaina lurking in the shadows of her home, maybe you could offer some help, or at least be a good friend to her. Maybe she won’t have to hide anymore and her new name, The Shadow Usul, will be taken out of the Gallery of Evil and placed elsewhere, like a gallery of Bravery.
And, can you believe it? There is actually a Moral to this story. The moral of the story is, no matter how you look, someone out there is bound to accept you for who you are, you just have to find them first, but don’t worry, there is always a perfect friend out there just for you. And now you know the true story of the Shadow Usul, but we may never know her true motives, she may have become evil by now or she could just be another shy little neopet out there looking for someone to care for her. Will you be that loving friend?

Description
Ah, you know the Shadow Usul, yes? Good, because you better know her, she lurks in every corner of Neopia, including the safety of your own neohome. This creature is listed in the Gallery of Evil, but no one knows her true motives, so can she really be evil?
What if this creature of the night is the one who puts items in your inventory when you aren’t looking, just to benefit you? Believe me it’s happened, but I’m not sure if it WAS the Shadow Usul, but it may have been.
And this story is to tell how the Usul became just a lurking Shadow of herself....
It was lovely day in the town of Meridell, an Usul by the name of Shaina, skipped out of her home to explore the world of Neopia and bring back rare goods to sell back at home, as she does every week.
She was an intelligent and happy critter, swinging her empty basket as she made her way to the Harbor and boarded her handcrafted ship, pulling up the sails and waving goodbye to the town she loved so much. Then turned her head to the endless ocean, making her way towards Mystery Island...
Though she neared Mystery Island with a wide smile on her face, an unsuspecting wind suddenly caught her sail. This wind didn’t seem normal either as it carried her through the air along with the ship, luckily though, she landed, but not on the ground, her ship now rested on a large cloud, a beautiful city was before her.
‘Wow...’ She thought, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before....’ A giggle escaped her throat as she grabbed her empty basket and headed towards the first shop she saw, only until something else out of the ordinary caught her eye.
It was a purple cloud, with what looked like a bubbling green moat inside of it and dark castle upon the floating fluff.
“Hmm....Maybe that‘ll have even more rare goodies!” She excitedly exclaimed as she skipped along and managed to get to the door of the dark looking castle, Shaina lifted her hand, but before she could even knock, the door swung open.
“Come in...Come in...” A voice echoed from the darkness, “Welcome Guest, welcome...” The voice seemed to have a hint of mischievousness, but that did not bother Shaina at all, she gleefully pranced inside the castle, the door slowly closing behind her.
“Um...Hello?” Shaina whispered, the fear soon creeping up her spine.
“Hello.” A woman, draped in a long purple dress came forth to meet her; she now stood in front of the little usul. “So...Are you here for a Quest my little one?”
Shaina was speechless, staring up at her, she knew who it was just from the stories her parents had told, and she knew how evil Jhudora could be. “Um....N-No...”
Jhudora became annoyed, but soon settled down a bit, “Then what have you come for?”
“Do you sell items here?” Shaina did not dare look up at the Dark Faerie, fear taking full hold of her.
Jhudora smirked, getting an idea into her head, “Why...Yes....Yes I do. Come with me little one...” The faerie turned and lead the neopet down the hallway and into a room full of magic potions. “Take your pick of any of the potions in here, but I must warn you, you can only have one....”
“I-I don’t know...I think I’ll just leave...” She turned and began heading towards the door but Jhudora was soon standing in front of the exit. “You must pick one, or you can never leave this castle!” She seemed infuriated, so Shaina backed away and did as Jhudora said, looking for an interesting potion to take home.
Those little blue eyes of her caught a rainbow colored potion and she immediately grabbed it, “This one!” She smiled putting into her basket and exiting, Jhudora now allowing her to exit the castle.
Shaina skipped along back to her ship and climbed in, setting her sails just right so the winds could take her away back to the ocean below. As the winds took her back home to Meridell, her curiosity got the best of her. Shaina wandered to her basket with the potion and scooped it up into her paws, “I wonder what this really does...It can’t be all bad since it’s shiny and rainbow colored!” She chuckled and popped the cork off of the potion and drank it down, loving the taste of the drink. She put the bottle back into the basket once she was finished and sighed deeply, “Nothing seems to be happening.”
That’s what she thought, but her appearance had already changed, her fur dark as the darkest night and it flowed like a thick fog over a morning swamp....
Her eyes became more sensitive to the sun, making it harder for her to see at the moment, but as the skies darkened, her vision cleared. “What an amazing night this is! I can’t believe I can see everything so clearly!” She giggled and climbed off her boat as it docked. She leaped into the town of Meridell, beginning to wonder why everyone seemed to back away from her, or hide back into the their homes, the town was less cheery now that she’d returned, but why? Her little feet hurriedly carried her home and she entered, going to a mirror and letting out a gasp, “I’m different...That potion made me...evil-looking...” She ran out of her home and into the darkness of the night and vowed never to return since everyone seemed scared of her now that she had changed...
So you see, the Shadow Usul isn’t evil, she is only scared and that is the reason she hides from us, afraid that she would frighten someone. The only reason she isn’t seen in the daylight is because the sun gives her a blurry vision now and she can walk comfortably in the night, without scaring anyone, for her fur blends well with the darkness.
Now if you ever see the Shadow Usul lurking in the darkness, do not worry she means no harm to any of the neopians, she is just trying to live her life in peace.
Please, just think back to this wonderful little short story and maybe, just maybe you wont be as terrified by the Shadow Usul anymore. If you do see Shaina lurking in the shadows of her home, maybe you could offer some help, or at least be a good friend to her. Maybe she won’t have to hide anymore and her new name, The Shadow Usul, will be taken out of the Gallery of Evil and placed elsewhere, like a gallery of Bravery.
And, can you believe it? There is actually a Moral to this story. The moral of the story is, no matter how you look, someone out there is bound to accept you for who you are, you just have to find them first, but don’t worry, there is always a perfect friend out there just for you. And now you know the true story of the Shadow Usul, but we may never know her true motives, she may have become evil by now or she could just be another shy little neopet out there looking for someone to care for her. Will you be that loving friend?