I had just returned from a morning shopping trip with Un-eairkagh, as he was
unable to be left alone without destroying stuff. Plus the fact I had just gotten
a hold of a striped paint brush. He was ecstatic, running around and showing
off his new stripes to everyone around. He was so happy he was nice enough to
open the door for me, and I dumped all the groceries on the kitchen table and
started sorting. Aldrai wondered in, took a look at Un-eairkagh's new look,
nodded approval, and started helping me, unlike Un-eairkagh who wondered off
to his room.
"Anyone call?" I asked the red Zafara.
He looked at me and nodded.
"Who?"
He pantomimed playing a French horn. It had been months since I fished him
out of the river, and he still didn't talk much.
"Oh, Melody. She want me to call back?"
He nodded again.
"Okay, finish putting these up and I'll go call."
I picked up the phone and dialed her number.
"Hello?" came FireDarkWolfX's voice from the other end.
"Hey, it's child_dragon. Is Melody there?"
"Yeah, hang on."
I waited while the Gelert handed the phone over.
"Hi child!"
"Hey. Aldrai said you called."
"Yeah. I'm afraid I won't be able to join you in going to the Lost Desert
today."
"Why not?"
"Padiglione's sick."
"That's not good."
"No, it's not. I've got to stay and watch over her, and I don't want your
pets around in case it's contagious."
"Do you want me to take FireDarkWolfX with me?"
"I asked him already, he'd rather stay here."
"Well, okay. You don't mind me going without you, do you? Un-eairkagh really
wants to go, and Aldrai really needs to get out more"
"No, no problem. Have fun."
"Okay, bye."
I hung up the phone feeling a little disappointed.
"So what's up?" Un-eairkagh asked. Apparently his curiosity had won over his
evasion to chores.
"Melody and the gang can't come. Pad's sick."
"Oh no!" Un-eairkagh said sadly. "We should bring her back something from
the desert. Is Sabreur going to come?"
"Nope. He's got work."
"Oh. We still going?"
"Definitely. After the groceries are put up, that is."
He looked at me, then over to Aldrai, who was diligently working, sighed, and
picked up the closest item.
The Lost Desert was as hot and sunny as I had feared. Un-eairkagh was enjoying
the open sands, leaping and running and generally doing his best to get heat
stroke. I was following more slowly, Aldrai by my side. I carried a backpack
with the ever necessary sunscreen, I am very fair skinned, along with some water.
My hair was pulled in a ponytail, and I wore a hat and sunglasses. The desert
was really quite interesting, we had stopped by Sutek's Scrolls and bought one
for Padiglione. Un-eairkagh was now amusing himself by spraying sand everywhere
as he dug a hole in the ground. Aldrai trotted over and peered in. He then looked
questioningly up at me.
"He's just being silly," I explained.
The Eyrie looked up at me angrily.
"I'm not being silly," he protested. "Look, as fast as I dig, the sand slides
back in. Isn't that cool?"
"Well, yes, that's what sand does," I said, fighting the urge to laugh.
Aldrai trotted off again and looked over the edge of the dune we were standing
on. He waved at me and I walked up to see. An oasis was beneath us, complete
with palm trees and grasses.
"Hey, Un-eairkagh!" I called. "Get your head out of that hole and come look!"
He bounded up and looked down.
"Oh, cool! An oasis!" he exclaimed, and took off running down the slope. I
followed more slowly, the sand sliding beneath my feet. Halfway down, Un-eairkagh's
mad dash became an uncontrolled fall as he lost traction in the sliding sand.
I watched, torn between amusement and anxiety as he rolled the rest of the way
down and into the oasis, yelping all the way. I heard a yell, then saw Un-eairkagh
stop suddenly as his kinetic energy was transferred to someone else by ramming them.
"Oh no," I moaned, and took off down the hill after him, in a controlled slide.
Aldrai followed in my wake. I reached the shade of the palm trees in time to
see Un-eairkagh standing up dazedly and another person also picking herself
up. A rainbow Zafara stood nearby, looking quite surprised.
"I'm really sorry," I said to the other owner as she dusted herself off.
"Well it kind of hurt, but don't worry… I don't mind," she said.
Un-eairkagh heaved a sigh of relief, perceiving himself to be off the hook.
I turned to scold him, and was instead splashed with water as he dove into the
oasis. He resurfaced near the middle, paddling happily. The scolding would have
to wait till later.
"That's Un-eairkagh," I said to the other girl. "He's quite uncontrollable."
"Obviously," she replied with a wide grin. "This is Netsuko." She motioned
to the rainbow Zafara. "My name is Sakuko."
"I'm child_dragon, and this is Aldrai," I said, looking at where he was last.
I was astonished to find him shyly approaching Netsuko. He timidly introduced
himself, and the two started a conversation. I just stared, totally blown away.
"What's the matter?" Sakuko asked.
"I don't know. Aldrai never talks, even to me."
"Strange… he must have… what was it, anyway?"
"Ahh," I said, nervously, lowering my voice. "Aldrai's had a rather traumatic
experience, I'd rather not talk about it with him in earshot."
"I understand completely."
I heard Un-eairkagh climb out of the oasis behind us, and turned just in time
to witness him shaking off. I shrieked as a shower of water soaked Sakuko and
I.
"Un-eairkagh!" I yelled angrily.
He stared at my dripping face, a little surprised, then let out a terrified
squeak and took off into the air.
"Will he land anytime soon?" Sakuko asked from beside me.
"No," I said, disgusted at my pet's behaviour.
"Go after him," Aldrai suggested from behind me.
I looked at him in surprise. "Come again?" I asked.
"You know. It's okay, I told Netsuko."
I took a deep breath to calm myself.
"Told her what?" Sakuko asked curiously
"Watch, and don't freak out. The Faerie Queen gave me this ability after an
unfortunate turn of events involving an exploding lab."
I shifted into my white Eyrie from. There was a gasp from Netsuko, but Sakuko
didn't seem very surprised. I was a little miffed at that. Isn't shape shifting
impressive enough?
"See?" Aldrai said proudly.
I ignored them both and scanned the sky for Un-eairkagh. He was much easier
to spot now that he was mainly white and no longer blended in with the sky.
I leaped into the air and quickly gained altitude. Desert air is awesome for
flying. Un-eairkagh must've seen me coming, for he went into a steep dive away
from me. I quickly followed, the wind whipping through my feathers. He's
gonna pull up at the last minute, I thought. I smiled to myself, and flared
my wings right above him. There was a startled yell, then Un-eairkagh banked
sharply away, trying to avoid a mid-air collision. He lost too much altitude
too quickly, and without enough lift the keep him from colliding with the ground.
There was a poof of sand, and I landed gently, shifting into my half and half
form.
The Eyrie was picking himself up and shaking the sand out of his feathers,
giving me dirty looks. I ignored him and folded my wings against my back. Sakuko,
Aldrai, and Netsuko came running up, Aldrai looking quite pleased with himself.
"That looks fun," was all Sakuko said.
I scuffed at the sand self-consciously, twitching my tail. "You've got to tell
me the whole story. C'mon we can wander around while you tell it."
We explored for the rest of the day, finally parting at nightfall. Aldrai
was off a ways, saying bye to Netsuko. I said my goodbyes to Sakuko, and Un-eairkagh
and I started home, followed by a reluctant Aldrai. We reached my house just
as the last of the stars came out.
"So, Aldrai," Un-eairkagh said. "Got a girlfriend now?"
Aldrai gave the Eyrie a stern look and went inside.
"Leave him alone Un-eairkagh," I warned.
"Oh quit it. I know you're jealous too," he said sourly, stalking inside.
"I'll get a boyfriend one of these days," I said mournfully to no one in particular.
Then I too followed him inside.
To be continued…
Feel free to Neomail me, I encourage it. I like feedback. Sabreur is really my
brother, you can Neomail him also, though I ask you to go easy on that. He's in
college right now, and I'd rather not have him mad at me for getting a ton of
Battledome challenges, etc. Melody is also real, my best friend. She's in college
too, her NeoPets name is horngodess, but I wouldn't suggest bugging her, she has
a very demanding major and hardly any free time. Sakuko is also real, she's a
really nice person. | 
