A Different Faerie...The Beginning

by IndigoKitten

"No! Don't!" But the Kacheek's plea was not listened to by any of Mewkitten's four blue ears.

"I'll be fine!" the little Aisha shouted down to her friend, "I'll just climb through the branches, get the ball, then jump nimbly down again."

She made her way up the thin, spindly branches of the tree, not really thinking about the edge of the cliff over which the boughs hung. Iland, the green Kacheek, watched anxiously from below. Her friend was just reaching out for the ball...

"Make sure you don't knock it down!" Iland called.

"What did'ya say?" Mewkitten turned around quickly, but as she did so, she lost her footing on the branch! The Aisha let out a shrill cry as she felt herself fall, but managed to grab hold of the outermost branch of the tree. She hung there, whimpering, peering downwards at the ball as it fell down...down ... further still, until it was just a tiny red dot. Iland was anxious.

"Oh! What should I do? Should I call for help? Should I try to find someone? Maybe I could..."

"Get me down from here!" Mewkitten interrupted.

So the small green Kacheek scrabbled up the tree, trembling with fear herself, and not really used to climbing. She had nearly got to Mewkitten, and was about to reach out a paw to pull her back up, when Iland froze stiff. Her eyes glazed as she stared in horror at the land below. She was so high up...and what was that, moving, down there? Something large and brown seemed to have stormed out of a hole in the cliff face, to investigate the small, round, rubber object which had fallen from the sky so suddenly. Perhaps it was a juicy little NeoPet?

"Hey! Don't just sit there snoozing! Help me already!" cried Mewkitten.

"Th...there...there's a..." Iland struggled to get the words out; her fear seemed to be getting in the way of her tongue, "It looks li-i-ke there's a-a... mon-mon-monocerous!"

"What? Where? Iland, just stop gibbering and help me!"

But Iland couldn't. She was paralyzed with fear; afraid to move in case she should fall, and make a tasty snack for the ferocious beast below! The two pets would just have to stay there, until someone came to help them, or one of them lost their grip on the branch...

"Yikes! What happened here?" a tiny voice suddenly came, from mid-air.

"Oh, no! First a Monocerous, and now a Dark Faerie!" Mewkitten eyed the tiny purple creature as it fluttered around her, looking from all angles and wondering what was going on. Iland opened her eyes for a peek at this new threat.

"D-d-dark Faerie? Go...g-go away!"

She was sure that she would now be cursed, as well as falling to her doom and being eaten by one of Neopia's most terrible monsters - this was really rather a bad day for her. The Dark Faerie seemed confused at this outburst. "Er...don't you sort of, um, need some help getting down from there?"

She had a very sarcastic way of speaking, but somehow didn't sound as evil as Dark Faeries usually do. The two pets kept silent. They didn't want help from any Dark Faeries - no doubt they'd end up having to sell their souls, or something. Nevertheless, the Faerie thought that these pets should be rescued in some way, even if they were rather rude. Nobody is really ever polite to a Dark Faerie... Moments later, Mewkitten and Iland found themselves magically back on the ground. The Faerie gave the end of her wand a quick blow, and rubbed it on the back of her sleeve.

"Well...I'll be going, then...." The Kacheek and Aisha exchanged glances, and then Mewkitten called out: "Wait! Please, don't go just yet...we want to thank you!" The Faerie was so startled that her wings actually stopped fluttering, and she fell several feet downwards before regaining their use and flying back to the grassy ground. Presently, she was having quite a friendly conversation with the two NeoPets, and for once wasn't afraid of being captured in a jar and sold. Maybe NeoPets weren't quite so...

"Ah-hahahahahahaha!" a high pitched shriek followed by an evil cackle filled the air, as the sky filled with maroon storm clouds and lightening flashed. There before the two pets and the tiny Faerie, was a slightly larger Faerie. Her hair and skin were of the same purple hue of the smaller, but her face was creased in a malevolent, evil grin; her fists were clenched by her sides; and she exuded an air of power (as well as a rather unpleasant smell).

"What... is... this?" The Uber-Dark Faerie (obviously this was her) spoke her words slowly. She pointed at the smaller Dark Faerie, who knelt on the ground, trembling like an electric toothbrush.

"Were you talking to these..." - the Evil one glanced in apparent disgust at Iland and Mewkitten - "these creatures?"

"Well, yeah, but I -"

"SILENCE! I wasn't finished. Did you 'help' them?"

There was silence. The little Faerie hung her head in shame; her wings drooped at the edges.

"I thought as much. Do you know the penalty for doing good deeds? Wait - don't answer that question. I don't want to hear your pathetic little voice ever again!"

The Uber Dark Faerie drew a long, rather vicious looking wand from beneath her leathery cloak. The wand was a deep maroon colour, and bedecked with darkly coloured gemstones. These glistened, like the eyes of the Uber Dark Faerie herself, so that they appeared to be staring at everyone. At the end of the wand was a kind or orb, which could have been said to be glowing - except that it was taking in light instead of sending it out. Strange, faint moaning noises could be heard from within the orb. Meanwhile, Mewkitten and Iland had been too scared to move, so they had been sitting and watching the proceedings with a kind of horrified awe.

Eventually, Iland gathered the courage to whisper to Mewkitten: "Wh ... wh-what d'you think she's gonna do with tha-that ... thing?" Mewkitten said nothing, but stared at the wand, which the Uber Dark Faerie was now pointing at the small Faerie. She glanced from that Faerie's pale, frightened face, to the vengeful visage of the Uber Dark Faerie, who was raising the wand above her head, ready to cast some sort of evil spell... Mewkitten and Iland both wanted to cry out; both longed to shout something, anything, which would prevent their new friend from being harmed - but they couldn't. And they didn't have to.

"STOP!" A dazzlingly bright light filled the air, as the dark skies cleared; storm clouds turning to snowy white; and then parting to reveal bright azure sky. Something tiny, and sort of opalescent was fluttering downwards, towards the group assembled on the grass.

"Your Majesty!"

The Uber Dark Faerie appeared suddenly humble, hiding the wand beneath her cloak again, and bowing deeply.

"Is that who I think it is?" Iland whispered to Mewkitten.

"It depends on whether you think that's the Faerie Queen or not!" was the Aisha's hushed reply. The Faerie Queen gave the Uber Dark Faerie a stern glance. The Dark One excused herself, saying she had other work to do, and then flew away as fast as she could (but looking back at the smaller Dark Faerie with a glance that seemed to say, 'I'll get you next time!').

Mewkitten, Iland and the small Dark Faerie were left staring in wonder at the Faerie Queen, who looked wisely back at them. Nothing was said for a while; only the sweet song of the birds could be heard. Soon, one of them gathered enough courage to speak.

"Er, thanks, your majesty," said the Faerie, peering up through a curtain of her glossy purple hair, which cascaded from her bowed head. The Queen smiled.

"Ah, but it is I who should be thanking you!" the NeoPets, and the Faerie, looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"You know, my dears, it is above and beyond the call of duty, for a Dark Faerie, to take care of NeoPets By risking your freedom to rescue those who might have captured you in a jar, you have done a good deed, and for this you shall be rewarded - not punished, as your Dark mistress wanted. I will give you one wish, which I shall grant - providing it is a sensible one."

The little Faerie looked contemplative for a short while, and then made her request.

"Well ... I've never really liked being a Dark Faerie - I'm not to good at that whole evil thing. So I think I'd like to be a different type of Faerie, if that's possible."

"A most admirable request," smiled the Faerie Queen.

"So, which type of Faerie would you like to be?"

However, this was something that she could not decide on. "Be a Fire Faerie! They're really cool!" Mewkitten urged.

"No! Earth Faeries are much more peaceful and gentle!" retorted Iland.

But still, the small Faerie couldn't decide.

"That's all right, my dear!" the Faerie Queen told her, waving a slender, elegant hand in the air.

Suddenly, bright, twinkling sparks seemed to come from the ends of her fingers; in pastel shades of all the colours of the rainbow. A sweet jingling noise filled the air. The Queen muttered some strange words, in a soft and quiet voice, and the coloured sparkles surrounded the tiny Dark Faerie. Iland was scared, and covered her eyes, but Mewkitten watched in wonder, as the Faerie was transformed before her eyes.

When the magic had finished, the ex-Dark Faerie lifted her hands, staring at them as if they were some creatures from another world. Gone was the bruise-purple flesh, and in its place, soft and lightly tanned skin. Her hair was shiny and black, but retained a purple sheen at the roots. It was also longer and curled a little at the ends. Dull, heavy, Dark Faerie clothing had been transformed into light, wafting, pinky-red fabric layers, with a satiny softness, and a slight translucency. And, instead of leathery, bat-like wings, she could now fly with a dainty lilac-coloured pair, that were thin and glowed with sunlight, like stained glass windows. The Faerie was overjoyed. But one thing still puzzled her.

"What type of Faerie am I, then?"

The Faerie Queen beckoned to her, saying: "I have a special job in mind for you, and a name, too, but I must whisper it so that no-one else hears."

When she had heard what the Queen had to say, the Faerie clasped her hands in glee.

"Oh, thanks, Your Majesty! But - must I never return to my former home?"

"I am afraid not, my dear - but I know what you are so reluctant to give up, and I can reassure you that everything will work out fine for you both."

Mewkitten and Iland were both terribly puzzled at this. What was so important to the Faerie, back at her home? What was her new job going to be, and what was her new name? They didn't know the answers to these, but what they did know was that it was time for their new friend to leave them. She had work to do, they guessed.

"Um, good-bye, then," Mewkitten said, sadly, "Thanks again for saving us, and stuff. Good luck."

She was trying to be friendly and appear happy for the Faerie, but anyone could see how her ears drooped. Iland struggled to hold back tears.

"Wait! Before we go, I have one last thing to do. Think of it as a gift from us, and a promise that we shall meet again..." the Faerie Queen smiled as she made this speech, and drew from behind her back...

"Woah! A brand new ball!" the two pets cried out in unison, "Thanks, Your majesty!"

And with that, the two Faeries flew away, up into the air, and out of sight. Mewkitten and Iland sat on the grass, grinning. It hadn't been such a bad day, after all. But little did they know that their adventure was really just beginning....

THE END ... OR IS IT?

(Authors Note: I am in the process of writing a longer story, which this one is a prequel to. It will answer those questions which Mewkitten and Iland wanted the answers to, and I hope it will be better than this one. That one will be illustrated, too, and will feature a character of my own invention whom some of you may have seen on this site before! If this story is published, and you are a fellow Neopian who is reading it, then please Neomail me to give me your comments. I really need people's opinions so that I can improve my writing. Thank-you)!