"YOUR TICKET, MA'AM." Kai handed over her slightly bent boat ticket.
"Thank you ma'am. You are staying in room C21."
Kai stepped into the very beautiful cruise ship.
It was air-conditioned, as it felt much cooler in here than in the humid Mystery
Island outdoors. As she browsed around, she noticed an open cabin. She peered
in and the room was beautifully decorated with ferns and expensive paintings.
She looked at the gold-plated room number. A10. "Hmmm, my room must be on a
lower deck," Kai thought. She walked down the stairs and saw another opened
room. The room was a bit less decorated and a little smaller in size. She noticed
the room number on this door, B12. "I'm one floor away," she said to herself.
She went down another flight of stairs. You could hardly feel the air-conditioning
down here. The rooms were very close together, meaning they had to be small.
Kai padded down the narrow hallway and found her room - C21. She opened the
door and, well, there was her room. Not the prettiest of rooms, but it had a
bathroom and a bed and a window. Kai could tell her owner didn't care where
she stayed, as long as she made it to Gelertia. But Kai was satisfied anyway.
Kai took the book she was currently reading up
on the top deck. She sat in a bench facing the sea. She read two pages, then
set the book down. She began to think about life in Gelertia. Would she ever
find friends like Fiola?
Another Gelert sat down next to her. She looked
about the same age, except she was blue. "Um, I can sit here, right?" she asked.
"I don't mind," Kai answered, scooting over
so the other Gelert could have more room to sit. "Are you going to live in Gelertia
too?"
"Yeah, I've never had an owner before and I refuse
to go to the pound, so I'm moving somewhere for ownerless Gelerts. I'm going
to live in the Fancy Third apartments."
Kai took out the piece of folded paper Ms. Craugh
had given her earlier that day. "Hey, I'm living there too! In room #233!" she
exclaimed.
"That's cool! I'll be living next to you in #232.
What's your name by the way?"
"Kai, and yours?"
"Temora."
Kai and Temora walked around the perimeter of
the boat deck at least twice, talking about their lives previous to going to
Gelertia. Kai mentioned Fiola and how they had been friends forever. She also
mentioned how many times she had been abandoned. Temora was shocked. She had
never had an owner; Temora had lived in the cities of Mystery Island in cardboard
boxes.
Kai went to bed that night with a warm feeling
all over. She knew everything would be all right; that she'd have at least one
friend when she stepped onto the soil of Gelertia. She felt more secure with
a friend somewhere on the same cruise ship.
***
"Oh it's morning!" Kai yawned as she rubbed her tired eyes with her furry red
paws. She looked out her window and saw the sun rising in the purplish-blue
morning sky. She heard a knock on her cabin door. She opened it and Temora stood
there. "Hi Temora," Kai said sleepily.
"Kai, you hafta see!" Temora said she she pulled
Kai out of the room. Kai smiled. Temora reminded her of Fiola pulling her to
lunch to see the Glamour Negg. They went up the numerous flights of stairs and
looked ahead at the sea. Terror Mountain was fully visible, jutting into the
beautiful sky. West of it was another mountain, but much smaller. "Kai, that's
Gelertia!!!" Temora cried. She was just as excited to go to Gelertia as Kai
was.
A couple hours later the ship began to slow down
as it neared land. Kai had nothing to pack up. Temora on the other hand did.
For being homeless, she had gotten a lot of things, probably from the Tombola.
Kai's owners had never let her go there. Kai had to help Temora push everything
into her small leather suitcase. Then Kai found a pair of Sandals under the
bed. "Are these yours Temora?" she asked.
"Yep," she replied with a groan as she pushed
more stuff into her bag.
"Why do you need Sandals?"
"Because I like 'em." That was a typical Fiola
answer.
"You know what, Temora? You remind me of Fiola,
my Chia friend."
"Kai, you remind me of the only human friend
I had in the city. His name was Mr. Klarcis and he was funny and nice like you."
The loudspeaker on the ship turned on. "We will
arrive on the shores of Gelertia in ten minutes. Please finish gathering your
things together."
Kai and Temora closed up Temora's suitcase and
Kai put her backpack on. They went up on the boat deck to watch Gelertia come
into view. A couple other Gelerts were also watching, along with some Lennys
and Myncis. They were tourists. The land was snow covered but nevertheless beautiful.
Kai and Temora never saw snow on Mystery Island and they both thought it was
splendid. The dock came into view and the many Gelerts waiting on land cheered.
Kai felt right at home already.
"Temora, I really need to shop for clothes.
A simple jacket won't keep me warm here."
"Me too. Do you have any money?"
"Some. I have like 1000 in my bank account. I'll
buy you some stuff too Temora."
Temora and Kai rode the elevator downstairs to
the apartment lobby and went outside. Gelertia was true to its name. There were
Gelerts everywhere and of all different colours. And most all of them were friendly,
waving hello or even shaking your paw when they didn't even know you.
They both went to Beauty-full You and tried on
some thicker jackets and long sleeved shirts. Kai got a couple shirts and a
coat and so did Temora. In Gelertia you couldn't buy pants because they were
too expensive to make for the Gelerts (and with tails also). The two Gelerts
laughed and told jokes at the Tall Tail Coffee Shop and were having a great
time.
At the same moment, the queen of Gelertia wasn't
having a great time.
"I fear I will die soon!" she cried out. You
could tell she was not a young Gelert - she had dull cloud fur and she had a
couple wrinkles.
"Your Majesty, have no fear," the queen's advisor
said cheerfully. "I bet my life on my Lenny heart and my heart says you'll live!"
Confused, the queen sighed, "I never understood why I appointed you as my advisor..."
"You're ever so funny, Your Majesty!"
"But it's not funny. I will die soon and have
no heir to the throne."
The Lenny grinned sheepishly.
"No, YOU will never be king of Gelertia. We need
a Gelert to do that..."
"Why don't you try to find your daughter, Jahladia?"
"It's hopeless, simply hopeless..."
"Your Majesty, please, we'll find her..."
"Oh, it's been too long. She's probably dead
now. How would I know she's the one if I saw her walking down the street?" The
queen turned around in her throne and viewed the giant picture of herself with
her former husband and her red puppy, Jahladia. The picture was old, as her
husband had been in a skiing accident at the neighbouring Terror Mountain and
her daughter had been kidnapped soon after the picture was taken.
The Lenny had an idea. "Your Majesty, I know
how we'll find her."
Signs began to be posted everywhere. "Do you
think you're the princess of Gelertia? Come to the royal palace and take the
interview. You must be 12 years of age. 'Audition' to be the princess, and soon
to be queen now!" the signs read.
***
Temora had been out walking, meeting new Gelerts everywhere she went, as did
Kai. Temora found one of the signs the queen's advisor had made. "Whoa Kai come
see this!" she screeched.
Kai trotted over to the sign. "Wow," she sighed.
"If only I was a princess..."
"Maybe you are!" Temora said as looked at Kai.
"Come on Kai, you're beautiful, you're pretty serious about most things, you
have good opinions, and you've been abandoned sooooo many times! Those kind
of qualities are always part of those princess faerie tales!"
"They are, that's true," Kai frowned, "but me?
A princess?"
"Come on," Temora pleaded with her huge brown
eyes.
Kai's face lit up. "Well, what do we have to
lose?" she grinned. Temora leaped with joy and they both headed toward the palace.
As they approached the huge castle, they noticed
how many other Gelerts their age were going to "audition" to be princess. Many
of them were painted. A snotty Shadowed Gelert pushed Kai out of her way. "You
know, a princess would be painted if you ever saw one," she said with a pout.
Temora tried to run off to make some smart comment
back at that Gelert, but Kai stopped her. "Temora, you're never gonna be princess
with an attitude like her, so don't even try to fight back."
"You're right," Temora answered.
The castle was absolutely beautiful. Every flower
grew in its rightful place to form a rainbow garden. Every stone inlaid in the
path was cut perfectly to fit. And the palace glowed with a silvery sheen. There
was a large gate ahead with the queen's advisor standing there. He, as a Lenny,
looked quite silly standing among hundreds of young Gelerts.
"The queen will see each one of you in time,"
he assured everyone.
All the Gelerts patiently waited their turn.
Most sat on the ground, though some, including Temora and Kai, were sitting
on exquisitely-decorated wrought-iron benches. About an hour later, it was Kai's
turn.
The queen, though old, had so much beauty in
her grayish cloud fur. "Sit, my dear," she commanded Kai. "Now, what makes you
think you could be my Jahladia?"
Kai stuttered, then spoke. "Um, I've lived a
long and hard life, traveling from owner to owner because no one wanted me.
I never knew where I came from or why I was even abandoned in the first place."
The queen admired the story, but did not admire
Kai. "My Jahladia had sparkling green eyes like me. You have brown eyes, like
all the other Gelerts here seem to have. Go," she ordered.
"Yes your Majesty," Kai said as she left. Temora
was next to go, and Kai knew she would also be turned down. It was no use; they
had only gone for fun anyway.
***
"So, Temora, how'd you do?" Kai asked as the two Gelerts walked back to their
apartment through the woods.
"She didn't even ask me a question! She just
saw my huge brown eyes and was like, 'My daughter had green eyes, go away!'
Geez!" Temora complained. "I never saw a person of such high honour in a country
being so mean..."
Kai felt some sympathy for the queen of Gelertia.
"Think about it. How would you feel if your daughter was lost for so long and
you had no one to pass your throne to?"
"True," Temora spoke, "but she's the queen. She
can give anyone the power of queen, or even king! She's allowed to do that too..."
"It's still not the same," Kai responded back.
All of a sudden a shrill cry came up from deep
in the ravine.
"Oh dear!" Kai cried. "Someone's down there in
the ravine!"
Temora wasn't listening as she was trying to
climb down to help the Neopet in need. Kai soon followed. Temora slipped a couple
times, but made it to the bottom. Kai leaped down and snagged her zigzag tail
on a twig. In a tangle of brush was another red Gelert, fussing about trying
to free herself. "HELP!!! OWWW!" she screamed.
Temora and Kai began pulling away the mess of
thorny twigs and vines to free the Gelert. She finally was able to get out.
The Gelert shook her tail and ears to get rid of any extra thorns. She breathed
a huge sigh of relief and collapsed. Temora and Kai decided to take her to the
apartment where she'd be safe. The Gelertian Hospital was just too far away.
To be continued... | 
