Why Not Spike?

     But the look on Spike's face as he was taken out the door of 494991 Bread Street, Neopia Central, made Leven feel almost... bad. 'It'll pass after a while,' the Christmas Pteri had told himself. 'Once Spike's gone, I won't have to worry about all of those threatening glares, and I can get more friends 'cause they won't be scared away by a Pirate Faellie attack. Yeah, life'll be better from now on!'

     Life was not better from then on.

     After a few hours, the feeling of guilt had already grown instead of fading away like Leven believed it would. 'I'm Christmas and he was Pirate! We didn't belong together!' he told himself. 'In fact, I can't remember a good day we had together!'

     And that's when it hit him.

     Every day with Spike ended up a good day, or at least fun in some way.

     It had been an exciting day when Spike arrived. Fang had gotten a great deal for the little Pirate Faellie, and she had already begun thinking of names on her flight home from the Trading Post. Upon arriving at her cozy little Neohome, she had thought of the perfect name.

     "Spike?!" Leven exclaimed as the Faellie was handed over to him. "But why Spike?"

     "Why not Spike?" Fang replied, smiling down at the Petpet. "Besides, he looks like a Spike to me."

     "Fine, if you insist..." Leven replied, and he stormed off to his room. Spike glared after him, very tempted to throw something at the door he had disappeared behind.

     "Don't worry about him, little guy. He'll warm up to you." Fang gave Spike a pat on the head, then headed off to prepare the supper for that night.

     Over the next few days, Spike had definitely made an impression on everyone. He had claimed the only garden by throwing rocks at anyone that came near it, and he had built his own home, a little wooden box that looked oddly like a birdhouse. He had even made a little wooden sword out of the extra planks he had after building his home.

     Boring days were made eventful by the little gray fuzzball floating around, muttering in his own language. Of course, all that anyone could understand from him were tiny, 'Arr's. Trying to figure out what the little guy was saying would last into the night. Even when meeting Neopets that were outside the family, he made a lasting impression.

     Like any Petpet, he did defend Leven in the rough times, scaring off even the toughest Grarrls. The bond of Neopet and Petpet was growing, despite how unnoticeable it was.

     It was very obvious how much Leven had grown to like Spike, even when Spike was cold toward him. Spike would never let Leven pat his head or hug him or anything of the sort. However, whenever Joizem, one of Leven's Pteri-pals, came over, Spike was very social. Leven never seemed to mind it, though. He had even considered giving Spike to Joizem at times, though he could never do it.

     So why, then, did he let Spike go when a cooler, newer Petpet was offered to him? Not even he himself knew. All of those adventures, all of the Neopets he met, Spike by his side the whole time... He couldn't even imagine what kind of users were trying to snatch him away at a cheap price at that very moment.

     With a sigh, the Pteri looked down at the Yooyu he received. It had fallen asleep, curled into a ball. "Your name should be Trust, since I just shattered my closest friend's," he murmured, putting a wing over the newly named Trust. He stood, roughly picking Trust up in his wings and carrying it toward the porch. He sat there, waiting patiently for Fang's return.

     It was night before Fang came back, a bag full of Neopoints in one hand. Leven, who had dozed off, was awakened by a shake from Fang. "Whatcha doin'?" the Red Shoyru asked.

     Leven opened his beak, then closed it at the sight of the Neopoints. "Y-you already sold him?" he yelled, devastated.

     "Well.... Yeah. You didn't want him, remember?" Fang crossed her arms, looking at the Yooyu that was curled up next to him.

     "Well, we gotta get him back! I don't want Trust! I want Spike back!" And with that, the childish Pteri burst into tears and cried like a toddler that had just broken its favorite toy.

     Fang was slightly confused by the fact that Leven didn't want trust, but it soon dawned on her that he must've named the Yooyu. "So you're just going to give up the poor little Yooyu that just got its new home? What would you think if you were taken in, then thrown back out onto the streets?" Fang sounded more sympathetic than she meant to.

     Leven quieted down, his gaze lowering. He sniffled, thinking about all the days he spent with Spike. About the look that was on the Faellie's face as he was taken away to be sold. "D-Did you at least make sure he got a good home..?"

     Fang's face softened. "Oh, Leven, of course I did! I wanted to give Spike a wonderful home, one where he would be taken care of, and loved through his whole life! That's why I sold Trust to one of my closest friends instead of Spike. I know Trust will be taken care of and loved, and after a while, Trust and her new owner will be just like you and Spike are."

     Leven looked up quickly. "Spike's still mine? Where is he?" The Pteri stood quickly, disturbing the Yooyu that had nestled next to him.

     "Oh, he went to bed hours ago. He's in his birdhouse out back," Fang said, carefully picking the Yooyu up and petting it. Leven rushed off of the porch and out of sight around the house. With a smile, Fang headed off to deliver Trust to her new owner.

     Leven slowly crept across the dark, grassy garden toward where a wooden birdhouse was sitting on the ground, hidden within deep grass. He peered inside the Faellie-sized hole on the front of it, the gentle breathing of the little Pirate becoming louder.

     Spike jerked awake, flipping around to give a one-eyed glare to whoever disturbed him. The Faellie's expression softened as he saw his owner peering into his cozy little home.

     Leven sat back, allowing Spike to crawl out of the birdhouse. The Faellie flew up to eye level with Leven, giving him a stern look. After a few moments, the Faellie flew forward, putting his tiny arms around the Pteri's neck in a hug.

     Stunned, Leven only returned the hug, his wings covering Spike's gray body. It was only a few mere seconds before Spike jerked away from his owner, giving a look that said, 'speak of this to anyone and I'll rip every feather out of your body, one by one.'

     Leven smiled at the fuzzy creature. "I won't tell anyone, Spike, I won't tell anyone..." he murmured.

     And neither of them ever noticed the sneaky Red Shoyru peering through a window with a camera and a grin on her face...

The End

Joizem belongs to master_writer122688 and was mentioned with permission.