This is the kind of story that I think I've been waiting for. I think this is the first time painting had been discussed in the context of Altador Cup players in canon. I wish morphing and painting would be discussed more often in the context of the Altador Cup. In fact, this story gives me hopes on canonizing the idea that Larcy Phu drank a morphing potion to become a Grundo.
I do have a very minor lore nitpick here. It's very minor since Zo could mean that Crade was the first to discover "Brains"'s intelligence on the team or period. I figured Derlyn deserved credit for the latter, but it does depend on context and maybe it's headcanon run rampant in my head. Not everything I think could (or should for particularly older statements) be canonized!
Wisps of neon-pink smoke and shadow rose into the air, mingling with the mist of the Haunted Woods. High on a hill, atop a gnarled and leafless tree, sat a Wraith, gazing out at the land before him—or rather, a Draik who was painted Wraith.
Crade Talvos sighed and held out a clawed hand before himself, examining, not for the first time, the way swirls of light danced on his palms. He had just returned from visiting a relative in Faerieland, and while he had been there, he’d felt more eyes on him than he was used to—more scared eyes. He supposed it was reasonable, considering how he resembled the Wraiths that had destroyed Faerieland before, but…
Suddenly, a familiar flash of flames burst into his vision. The wings of his teammate Zo Junior flapped as he alighted next to Crade on the tree. “I didn’t know you were back already, Crade,” the Korbat said. “You should have come to say hi, the team was hoping to take you to the Fairground to celebrate your return!”
Crade forced a weak smile. “Thanks Zo, but I’m not really in the mood for the Coconut Shy today.”
Ah—he shouldn’t have said that. Now Zo would know something was bothering him, because he loved the Coconut Shy. They all did; it helped them practice for Yooyuball.
Zo frowned. “Is something eating you?”
Crade’s smile faded. He looked out at the Haunted Woods, at the place he called home. “Hey, Zo… Do you think I’m…” He paused, biting his wispy lip. “...Scary?”
Zo tilted his head to the side. “Huh? What do you mean?” “You remember I wasn’t always painted Wraith, right? That before I tried out for the team, back when I was a waterboy, I was just purple?”
“Yeah…?”
“Well… I painted myself because I thought it would make me feel more comfortable around you guys... and maybe then I'd feel more like myself. I thought it might make you guys take me more seriously as a candidate for the team, but… I don’t know. When I was in Faerieland, some of the other Neopets there—and even some of the Faeries—seemed like they were scared of me. I thought looking scary was what I wanted, but I’m starting to think painting myself Wraith wasn’t a great idea.”
That gave Zo pause. He was silent a moment; then, after chewing on the inside of his cheek, he said, “Crade… do you think we brought you onto the team because you painted yourself Wraith?” Crade’s hands clenched together. His throat felt tight—he wasn’t sure if he could say anything. He couldn’t even look at Zo, even though Zo shifted closer and draped a comforting wing around him.
“Hey, do you remember Wan Dirx?” Zo asked.
That perked Crade up a little. “How could I forget? He used to be your star defender, and he even recommended me as his replacement for some reason.”
“It wasn’t just ‘some reason.’ You know we had dozens of Neopets—and monsters—lined up to play for us when he retired? When you were still purple?” Zo grinned, while Crade’s eyebrows shot up. “We coulda picked any of them. Dirx coulda picked any of them. But we all chose you. In fact, we didn’t even realise you’d painted yourself Wraith until after we’d decided you were the only defender for us.”
Crade looked down at the woods below. A few Ghostkerchiefs fluttered by, all of them chasing after a Zomutt. They caught up quickly; when they did, the Zomutt flopped over and batted at them while they danced and hovered above it.
“Why?” Crade asked, softly.
“Because we knew you.” Zo stood up on his branch and put his hands on his hips, wings folding behind him. “You’d been with us longer than anyone else, and we’d seen you on the pitch. Sure you weren’t as strong as Dirx, or as big as some of the tryouts—” “Thanks,” Crade said flatly.
“—But, if you’ll let me finish… We knew you had heart. You organised that birthday party for Fanetti, and helped get Flankins out of Captain Krell’s fur the night before our first match in the Year 10 Cup. Not to mention how many times you’ve stopped Brains from trying to eat the Brain Tree.”
“He seems to think its branches make for good toothpicks.” “And speaking of Brains,” Zo Junior said, “You were the first one who realised he could say more than just ‘braaaaaiiinnnssss’ over and over again!”
Crade laughed. “I don’t know why he insists on keeping up that schtick.”
“Me neither.” Zo laughed too, but his smile quickly faded into a more contemplative look. “My point is… you’re a part of the team no matter what you look like. So if you want to go back to being purple, you don’t have to worry.”
Crade was silent for a moment.
“Thank you,” he said at last.
“So… do you want to go back to being purple?”
Crade thought about it for a moment. He looked out at the treetops again, and listened to the howl of the werelupes, and the shuffling of branches, and the cackling of witches… and he caught sight, once more, of the wisps of smoke and light swirling and dissipating from him. As the mix of darkness and light faded into the mist, Crade smiled. He liked how that looked—and in that moment, he realised that he felt more at home here, and in his own skin, than ever. Here in the Haunted Woods, where scary was good, and where he had found his place among friends.
“...No,” he said at last, and as the word left his mouth, he was surprised to find how true it was. “I don’t.”
I have no fucking clue about ANYTHING of yoyuuball or whatever it’s called uh, ALTADOR CUP. Yeah I have no idea how it works or anything but, this dude looks smug as fuck
In my 12 years of playing neopets, this will be the first time I'm not gonna get frustrated with yooyu ball after one game and finally get a trophy!!!!
Here's your favourite handsome offense bat from Team Haunted Woods and his biggest fan, my Baby Korbat Faucherchen!
It's Faucherchen's first AC and he loves watching his favourite player score goal after goal in hopes of meeting him one day ....!
..This is a really pretty long intensive list of the headcanons I have for the HW altador cup team members (including retired ones) :( I just love them a lot.
Krell Vitor
- Born in Neovia
- Was bitten and afflicted with lycanthropy sometime in his teens
- His family tried to cover it up best as they could because while Neovia is part of the Haunted Woods and they’ve become more accepting of mutants, were-creatures, ghouls etc. since the TOW plot many older residents still regard them with a lot of fear and suspicion.
- As he got older the fact that he’s a werekyrii got harder and harder to cover up until it seemed like he could no longer revert to his original form.
- IDK but I imagine him with a really thick english accent.
Fanetti
- He uses potions which allow him to play in broad daylight (without y’know, turning to ash. Poor vampire)
- Like a classic vampire he has to be invited into a house to enter it. It gets really annoying when he goes out to get neocola or takeout or something to bring to his teammates places and NOBODY WANTS TO ANSWER THE F*KIN DOOR.
Zo Junior
- When he first started he was the youngest altador cup-level yooyuball player in history. Full of pride for this fact and also desperation to prove he’s a serious player and not-just-a-kid he’s got...quite an ego, to put it lightly.
- Used to be the king of trash-talk but Krell and Chelo Binay’s guidance have helped him calm down from that over time. Now he just does so quietly in his head, or to his teammates.
- He loves messing with his teammates, Krell especially. If it’ll piss Krell off he’s down for it. (he really does respect him tho, deep down)
- He can be a real little shit but he’s like the teams annoying younger brother.
Brains Mortigan
- A PURE BOY. A GOOD BOY.
- Really tho, after replacing Autrey HW fans had no idea what to expect from Brains but he’s become a real fan favorite.
- Zombie though he is Brains isn’t stupid. He speaks slurred and really slow, but he’s actually a lot better at communicating through letters (you can take your sweet time when writing). Derlyn Fonnet can vouch for this.
- At first the team had a hard time trying to communicate with Brains and adjust to his reaction time. The team spent special practice time focusing on working with Brains. It was really sweet tbh.
- DON’T MESS WITH BRAINS. Unless you want to be cursed/haunted/torn to shreds by his teammates don’t do it. Also, don’t call him dumb or a mindless zombie in front of Derlyn unless you want to get beat up really bad.
Wan Dirx
- Wan was originally born in Qasala but moved to the woods with his family when he was young.
- He’s the teammate that Krell has known the longest. They’re best of friends and have very strong trust in each other.
- Aside from the cup Wan’s other passion is business (his parents were merchants) and culinary, his desire to open up a spooky shakes store was one of his main reasons for retiring from yooyuball.
- When Wan was thinking about retiring he talked to Krell about it first. Krell was heartbroken but was understanding about Wan wanting to pursue his other dream.
Chelo Binay (holy shit this is getting long)
- She’s a veteran player and a legend. Like, special vintage baseball card legend.
- Though she doesn’t admit to it she’s probably hundreds of years old.
- Other than being a famous athlete Chelo is also well-known in the woods for her services as a witch.
- Chelo introduced Krell to yooyuball and is the one that taught him everything he knows about the sport.
- Chelo met Krell when he was still a gangly, skinny teenager. He sought her out because he was desperate to find a cure for his lycanthropy and hoped that Chelo had a spell or potion, anything that could cure him. She did not.
- Instead she helped Krell accept himself and his werekyrii form. She taught him the ins and outs of yooyuball as a positive outlet for his strength and aggression.
- TEAM MOM EVEN THO SHE’S RETIRED. they’re all her children really. She babies Zo to the point of smothering, her little talented baby-bat.
- OH YEAH, she’s totally married to Edna and they live in her tower as the grumpy old witch couple they are.
Crade Talvos
- He was turned into a wraith somehow during the events of the faeries ruin.
- Crade was a longtime fan of the HW team before joining them.
- HE’S TRYING HIS BEST :( .
- He feels responsible for the teams recent low standings and he knows the fans don’t have a lot of faith in him. I mean, replacing Wan Dirx is no easy thing.
- Krell’s told Crade not to let it get to him, but he still feels a lot of pressure to turn things around for the team and please the fans.
Autrey Fulse
- I don’t have a lot to say about him tbh :(
- Quiet guy and alright for the most part but he liked playing tricks on the other players, sometimes these tricks went too far.
