Who is Hiss and why was he so special to Howo?
The first technical answer is that Hiss was a Glowing Hissi owned by a friend, Miranda (or crazy4cowz - though the account Hiss was on was frozen), at a neopets guild I used to be a part of. Now on to the story part of the answer.
Having been abandoned at the dinner table on the first date she ever went on, left to hope that the boy she liked most would accept her confession before finding him with the most popular girl in class, and losing a friend to a surfer girl, Howo had a very warped perception of romantic relationships and, for the most part, teenage boys in general. Eventually, after a few more failed relationships which mostly ended in the boy leaving her for another girl, Howo decided to give up. She would no longer come to the boy; a boy would have to come to her.
In her junior year of high school, Howo got her wish; a Glowing Hissi straight out of high school, Hiss, introduced himself first and was the picture of maturity. Though he was not even two years older, she had a hunch he was not one of the teenage boys that would leave her behind. And unlike her past relationships, she was not the first to ask to start a relationship, and she was not to first to use the word "love." And to top it off, Hiss made her feel like she really mattered.
(additionally, Fiona is not an existing Neopet, and Echauffer is a character I have who would eventually be a Water Zafara.)
Having been abandoned at the dinner table on the first date she ever went on, left to hope that the boy she liked most would accept her confession before finding him with the most popular girl in class, and losing a friend to a surfer girl, Howo had a very warped perception of romantic relationships and, for the most part, teenage boys in general. Eventually, after a few more failed relationships which mostly ended in the boy leaving her for another girl, Howo decided to give up. She would no longer come to the boy; a boy would have to come to her.
In her junior year of high school, Howo got her wish; a Glowing Hissi straight out of high school, Hiss, introduced himself first and was the picture of maturity. Though he was not even two years older, she had a hunch he was not one of the teenage boys that would leave her behind. And unlike her past relationships, she was not the first to ask to start a relationship, and she was not to first to use the word "love." And to top it off, Hiss made her feel like she really mattered.
(additionally, Fiona is not an existing Neopet, and Echauffer is a character I have who would eventually be a Water Zafara.)
So when did things start going wrong?
Once Howo did find the man of her dreams... he suddenly disappeared one day, leaving her alone and confused. He would not be at home and would not pick up the phone - not even a note was left behind.
At the start of the relationship, Howo had somewhat evident signs of depression that only worsened by Hiss's absence. Finding a potions store by chance, Howo turned to Echauffer (under the pen name Wanda Whimsy) for a potion to help her think a little less negatively, and instead got a potion that gave her a horrible skin mutation. Her condition only worsened, thinking Hiss could never possibly love her with how she looked now.
Half a year later, Hiss has returned unannounced. Having apparently gone on a self-finding journey, he had turned off his phone to avoid outside involvement and felt guilty when he realized he had forgotten to leave a note. Unfazed by Howo's appearance, he asked her to marry him and things are great again (painfully cliche, yet "the power of love" cured Howo.) Enveloped in stories of the two living together as a married couple in the future by a lighthouse, Howo felt that things were back to normal. That is... until he disappeared once more.
This time, she had no contact with him until a full year passed. Hiss had honestly started the second self-finding journey to try and be a better man; but along the way, he met someone new and it ended up becoming something more. All the while, Howo has been abandoned by Hiss once more, but this time has at least the hope that they will marry once he returns home. She received a phone call from him soon after, the first contact she had with him in a year, but something seems uncertain and sullen in his voice. It was the tone of voice you'd hear someone have if they had forgotten something they should have remembered. After bombarding him in questions of his journey and when he planned to come home, Howo is responded to with a request to meet him again in order to return the ring; there's someone else.
At the start of the relationship, Howo had somewhat evident signs of depression that only worsened by Hiss's absence. Finding a potions store by chance, Howo turned to Echauffer (under the pen name Wanda Whimsy) for a potion to help her think a little less negatively, and instead got a potion that gave her a horrible skin mutation. Her condition only worsened, thinking Hiss could never possibly love her with how she looked now.
Half a year later, Hiss has returned unannounced. Having apparently gone on a self-finding journey, he had turned off his phone to avoid outside involvement and felt guilty when he realized he had forgotten to leave a note. Unfazed by Howo's appearance, he asked her to marry him and things are great again (painfully cliche, yet "the power of love" cured Howo.) Enveloped in stories of the two living together as a married couple in the future by a lighthouse, Howo felt that things were back to normal. That is... until he disappeared once more.
This time, she had no contact with him until a full year passed. Hiss had honestly started the second self-finding journey to try and be a better man; but along the way, he met someone new and it ended up becoming something more. All the while, Howo has been abandoned by Hiss once more, but this time has at least the hope that they will marry once he returns home. She received a phone call from him soon after, the first contact she had with him in a year, but something seems uncertain and sullen in his voice. It was the tone of voice you'd hear someone have if they had forgotten something they should have remembered. After bombarding him in questions of his journey and when he planned to come home, Howo is responded to with a request to meet him again in order to return the ring; there's someone else.
Wow, that's awful. So how does Fiona come into play?
By chance at a book store, Howo bumped into a Gelert named Fiona, and befriended her easily. They got to know each other better, and once the question of "are you in a relationship" came up, Howo was uncomfortable in saying that her fiance had just admitted to cheating, so she instead claimed to not be in any relationship. Once Fiona described her fiance to Howo, she got suspicious, and these suspicions were confirmed when the gelert took a picture of the Hissi himself from her wallet.
Howo was battling conflicting emotions. She knew that all she had to do was tell Fiona how Hiss had left her hanging for a year and it would be over - but she didn't want to drag her new friend down with this revelation. And yet, so consumed with guilt of Fiona never knowing the truth, she spilled the beans - only for Fiona to be somehow flattered by Hiss's choice and concerned that Howo was just hanging around her out of spite.
That's when Howo, who had been relieved of the weight of guilt, was now consumed with anger and slugs Fiona in the face. Fiona was being punched repeatedly until deus ex machina Hiss appeared out of nowhere and shoved Howo away from her, causing her wayward fist to go right into a store window. The potion still lurking in her bloodstream caused a purple wrist scar once the glass cut into her. (Turns out true love didn't "cure" her after all).
Howo was battling conflicting emotions. She knew that all she had to do was tell Fiona how Hiss had left her hanging for a year and it would be over - but she didn't want to drag her new friend down with this revelation. And yet, so consumed with guilt of Fiona never knowing the truth, she spilled the beans - only for Fiona to be somehow flattered by Hiss's choice and concerned that Howo was just hanging around her out of spite.
That's when Howo, who had been relieved of the weight of guilt, was now consumed with anger and slugs Fiona in the face. Fiona was being punched repeatedly until deus ex machina Hiss appeared out of nowhere and shoved Howo away from her, causing her wayward fist to go right into a store window. The potion still lurking in her bloodstream caused a purple wrist scar once the glass cut into her. (Turns out true love didn't "cure" her after all).
How does the relationship end?
Hiss knew this had gone too far and it was his fault for not coming clean to Howo sooner, so the two had a brief "heart-to-heart." He says that the first time he left, he really was just trying to find himself, and at the start of his second journey, he left in the intention of becoming better, perhaps earning enough money to make their dream life come true. But after meeting Fiona and failing to mention the hopeful girlfriend he had left behind in Neopia Central, Hiss started to realize something about this relationship that was different from his with Howo's. It felt more natural to him.
Hiss confessed that being with Fiona made him realize that he couldn't deal with Howo's increasingly problematic and pessimistic personality, and jerk of the week tried to band-aid his selfish actions by saying that someone else would be eons better for her. No kidding.
The relationship ended with Hiss and Howo coming to an understanding that it was over. But before the two would officially part ways for their lives without each other, Hiss asked for the ring once more. So Howo took the engagement ring from off of her finger, and though it initially appeared that she'd be giving it back, she dropped it on the ground and crushed the band under the heel of her shoe, kicking the remnants into the gutter.
Howo and Fiona both apologized for their actions (Howo more so than Fiona) and the problem was resolved.
Before she parted ways with Fiona and Hiss, Fiona asked Howo if they could possibly meet up again another day, which Howo somewhat reluctantly agreed to. When she waved goodbye, Hiss only gave her an indifferent "Yeah, bye," before leaving her behind, destroying any bit of love Howo ever had for him.
Hiss confessed that being with Fiona made him realize that he couldn't deal with Howo's increasingly problematic and pessimistic personality, and jerk of the week tried to band-aid his selfish actions by saying that someone else would be eons better for her. No kidding.
The relationship ended with Hiss and Howo coming to an understanding that it was over. But before the two would officially part ways for their lives without each other, Hiss asked for the ring once more. So Howo took the engagement ring from off of her finger, and though it initially appeared that she'd be giving it back, she dropped it on the ground and crushed the band under the heel of her shoe, kicking the remnants into the gutter.
Howo and Fiona both apologized for their actions (Howo more so than Fiona) and the problem was resolved.
Before she parted ways with Fiona and Hiss, Fiona asked Howo if they could possibly meet up again another day, which Howo somewhat reluctantly agreed to. When she waved goodbye, Hiss only gave her an indifferent "Yeah, bye," before leaving her behind, destroying any bit of love Howo ever had for him.
That's fine and good, but why did Howo crush the ring? Couldn't she have just refused to return it or sell it or something?
She could have, and had actually considered doing one of those. But she knew she absolutely was not going to give it back, because she felt Hiss would have gotten out of the relationship with no consequences. She didn't want to hurt Fiona, but she wanted Hiss to pay for his actions. So what better way than to crush the ring to pieces right in front of him? No better way, obviously.