A Yurble stole my cinnamon roll! Circulation: 149,520,230 Issue: 285 | 30th day of Running, Y9
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Lost With Isaerios: Part One


by jeanaet

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“It’ll be fun!” Jeanie said encouragingly. I rolled my eyes and did not reply, coloring in the picture of a Poogle that Jeanie had brought home from the Marketplace. Nexy, my baby Yurble brother, was on his stomach on the floor, drawing a detailed picture of a faerie Draik flying over Meridell. The colors sparkled in the light of my office. “What do you think?” Jeanie urged as Nexy looked up at me and offered the pink crayon in his tiny paw.

      “Boo,” he said in his tiny baby voice, wiggling his short claws expectantly. I sighed and handed him a blue crayon.

      “Jeanie, I haven’t even gotten over the last vacation you dragged me on, and now you want me to go on a tour to the highest elevations in Neopia? Are you kidding? You know I hate heights!” I said impatiently, coloring one of the clouds of the Poogle purple.

      “Aile, don’t be selfish! You have seen all of Neopia while your brothers have seen practically nothing,” she said with a frown. “Think of poor Isaerios, he was in a enchanted sleep in Paraiso for a hundred years!” I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

      “Great example, Jeanie, I really want to do this for Isaerios.” I shook my head and handed another crayon to the baby Yurble on the floor.

      “Well, what about Trohanex? Poor baby hasn’t been out of Neopia Central in ages,” Jeanie said. My reply was interrupted by sudden yapping. Jeanie, Nexy, and I all whirled around to see a flustered Ditsy dash into my office from the Game Room. Yapping fearfully, she leaped into my lap. We saw the cause of her fear screech to a halt as he entered. I have never seen a Drackonack look so sheepish. Nexy’s face hardened.

      “Bad ‘Os!” the baby Yurble scolded his petpet. The blue Drackonack bowed his head and crawled over to his owner. Trohanex firmly picked up his petpet and forced him into his lap. Aros curled up and my baby brother continued his drawing. The excitement over, I picked up Haelee and set her in her petpet basket that was on my desk. She curled up and pretended to sleep, while actually peeking from under her eyelids at the bully in Nexy’s lap.

      “Come on, Trohanex wants to see the world!” Jeanie repeated with a slight whine in her voice. One of her fingers absently twisted a brown curl.

      “Trohanex has his whole life to see Neopia; I’m busy,” I said, crunching up my drawing and throwing it in the bin. Jeanie sighed.

      “I hoped it wasn’t going to come to this...” she said with sadness.

      “Come to what?” I asked, actually not quite caring. I opened up one of my fan mail letters.

      “Dear Ailemea, I love your writing. My Vacation is my favorite. Tell Haelee I said hi! Sincerely, -ERASED FOR THE SAFETY OF MY FANS-.” I read the letter quickly and then set it down, grabbing a fresh piece of paper and my pen. The pen looked like a quill and was my favorite.

      “You’re going,” Jeanie said.

      “Going where?” I asked. Thanks for reading! Ailemea the Blue Xweetok. I signed my name with a flourish and folded the letter into an envelope. I turned and offered the letter to Jeanie, who was looking at me sternly.

      “You’re going,” she repeated, taking the envelope and leaving the room. I watched her go with a grimace. Because, frankly, I knew she meant it.

      Books landed with a bump in Nexy’s suitcase as I helped the baby Yurble pack in my bedroom. Nexy was on my bed petting Aros and chattering away in his baby language that only I could understand. I had decided that it was a day to wear clothes, and I was wearing Oreh and Isaerios’s Christmas presents. Isaerios had given me a pretty pink skirt he had gotten from the advent calendar. He probably would’ve given it to one of his lady friends if it wasn’t called ‘My Sisters Frilly Skirt’. Oreh had given me the pink earmuff and scarf set that he had gotten from the advent calendar. Let me tell you, it was really hard to feign happiness. I had been wishing that Oreh would be a girl when he got my present, but the lab hadn’t been in the Christmas spirit. But hey, pink goes well with my blue fur.

      I tucked Nexy’s Winter Blechy Hat in beside his books for when we were in Terror Mountain. He adored it for some reason that I couldn’t fathom. Aros’s petpet bed had a tiny place in the bag all by itself, and when I had finished packing everything else, I called the Drackonack. The petpet leaped out of Nexy’s lap and hurried into the bag where he curled up. I patted his head and placed Nexy’s Sleeping Tonu Plushie beside him.

      “Be nice; it’s his favorite,” I warned Aros as his eyes sparkled malevolently. He sighed and stared wistfully at the well-stuffed Tonu. I smirked and zipped up the suitcase. When I turned around, I found Haelee belly up on my bed, snoring loudly. Nexy was watching, rather bored. I poked her awake.

      “Why aren’t you packed?” I demanded. She looked clueless. “For the trip? Terror Mountain, then Faerieland, then a hundred other destinations that have the misfortune to be high up? Don’t you listen?” Her eyes widened and she squeaked at me. “Yes, Haelee, Terror Mountain.” She whined pitifully and curled up on the bed. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah whatever, if I’m being forced into this you’re going down with me; now get packed!” Sadly, the Ditsy began to toss things into a tiny bag.

      Jeanie entered the room, her brown hair twisted into a bun on her head, and Isaerios, his Shadow Xweetok fur glimmering with fresh grooming, on her heels. “The Eyries are here, Aile. Where is your luggage?” I pointed, surprised she hadn’t seen it. She groaned at the mountain in the corner of the room next to my wardrobe.

      “No. Aile, I said one bag, not fifteen!”

      “Sixteen actually,” I corrected with a phony smile. “And these are all necessities.” Incredulously, Jeanie opened one of my bags and shook her head, muttering something about ‘why her’. She pulled out one of the many numerous pink pillows that populated my office.

      “The necessities include the furniture?”

     I glowered and snatched the pillow away, stuffing it back into the bag.

      “We are talking about the highest elevated places of Neopia, Jeanie. Plushies won’t do it this time.” Jeanie checked another bag.

      “Ailemea, you packed your bathtub!” She almost sounded tearful.

      “I am not going to bathe in the snow!” I said simply. She sighed and turned to Isaerios who was watching with a glowing smile. I wanted to punch him but I didn’t think Jeanie would appreciate it. I settled with a deep glare.

      “Isaerios, take Nexy and his bag down. Aile and I will be down in a little while,” Jeanie said. The shadow Xweetok smirked and picked up Nexy, grabbing the Yurble’s bag with his other paw. The two soon disappeared downstairs.

      “Okay,” Jeanie said, turning back to my luggage. “Let’s get started.”

      After about thirty minutes of arguing and fake tears, Jeanie and I finally went downstairs with one bag of my things. Some snacks, a couple of plushies, and extreme necessities (e.g. clothes, makeup, clean water). We loaded ourselves on the backs of the Eyries. Much to my joy (for any of you readers that didn’t catch that, that was some serious sarcasm), Haelee and I were partnered with Isaerios and Teagy, Isaerios’s Snoogy. Oreh, being a heavy Robot Blumaroo, was by himself except for his Island Polarchuck. I slightly pitied the Eyrie he rode, much as I love Oreh.

      Isaerios secured his paws around my waist, Teagy and Haelee in my lap. As the Eyrie lifted into the air the shadow Xweetok whispered in my ear. “How do you even manage to pack sixteen bags?” I suddenly prayed for some freak accident to remove Isaerios from the saddle. No such luck. I leaned forward to talk to the Eyrie. He was an old friend; he’d worked with us many times.

      “Do you think you could possibly accidentally knock my brother off?” I asked quietly. He smiled, beak forward.

      “Sorry, Aile, but your owner told me specifically to ignore any requests that you might have that regard Isaerios,” he said. I sighed and sat back ruefully. This was going to be a long trip.

      The pea Chia that greeted us at the landing pad on Terror Mountain had a cheesy smile and a fake cheery attitude. I disliked him instantly. He wore a red cape and seemed to think very highly of himself.

      “Welcome to the tour of the highest elevations of Neopia!” he cried as we unloaded the Eyries and thanked them for their assistance. They took off and he continued. “I know that you must be tired so first I’ll show you the neolodge. It was just finished last month and has actual beds. My name is Peewee, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.”

      “Do you get many jokes about your name?” I burst out. I couldn’t help it – curiosity killed the... Lenny? Acara? Who cares. It killed somebody but it never killed me. Peewee looked at me with an annoyed glare. Jeanie bit her lip and glared at me as well.

      “Too many to count, Miss...?”

      “Ailemea.” I introduced myself.

      “Ailemea the Writer. The Blue Xweetok with the sharp tongue and soggy Ditsy.” He nodded. (Don’t ask me how he managed it; I never really understand how Chias nod without necks.) “Yeah, I’ve heard of you.” Promptly, he turned his back on me and walked away. I grinned and picked up Haelee who was giving off indignant squeaks at being called ‘soggy’. I waited a few minutes for him to get more than a few feet away from me. Like I said, he was a pea Chia. They don’t exactly have the largest foot-span.

      Our tour guide led us to the new neolodge and to our rooms. Once again, I was paired with Isaerios. Jeanie was still mad at me and refused to listen to my complaints. The only up side to it was that it made him miserable, too. Trohanex frowned pityingly at me and disappeared into the room that he was sharing with Jeanie. At least I wasn’t rooming with Peewee. Poor Oreh.

      Isaerios and I were soon in front of our mirrors, rubbing eyeshadow into our fur and fluttering our eyelashes at our reflections. Isaerios and I have too much alike – perhaps that is why I can’t stand him. We determinedly ignored the fact that the other was in the room and went about unpacking our things. Jeanie popped in with Nexy and Aros once and then left to find the restaurant, leaving the baby Yurble to watch our silent war.

      With nothing else to do, I gave Nexy a bath. Isaerios watched from his bed. As I pulled my shampoo from my bag he leaped up and snatched it away.

     “What are you doing?” I growled, snatching at the bottle but he pulled away.

     “You use Superstar?” he cried. “Do you have any idea how expensive that stuff is? Does Jeanie know you are wasting her neopoints?”

      “It isn’t a waste,” I argued. “Superstar is the best shampoo there is. Superstar may be expensive to your bank account, but Peophin is expensive to your fur.” Isaerios laughed.

      “Please, everyone knows Peophin is horrible, but Usul Tail Shampoo is cheaper and better. Easily controlled volume and nice and smooth, with the smell of loveberries,” Isaerios said, showing off his own shampoo bottle. “The ladies love it. Especially the Usul girls.”

      “That’s because it is for their tails, dimwit,” I said, jerking my shampoo out of his paws.

      “You two are pathetic.” Oreh had entered the room and was holding Aros who appeared to have run away. Haelee was in his other paw, looking ragged. “Give me a break – you’re fighting about shampoo.” I glared indignantly at him.

      “She started it,” Isaerios muttered.

      “What?” I shrieked. Angrily, I gave a little squeal of frustration and barged from the room.

      The next day Peewee led us to the top of Terror Mountain. My pink earmuffs were securely on my ears, my scarf tied around my neck. My pink frilly skirt swayed prettily in the bitter wind. Trohanex looked like his head was being eaten by a Blechy and Jeanie was bundled up in about fifty layers of clothes. Oreh and Isaerios didn’t seem to realize it was freezing. The petpets were all hidden in our bags, burrowed into blankets.

      “My friends, welcome to the top of Terror Mountain. We are approximately nine thousand feet up. Faerieland is scarcely higher. You are all excellent hikers. Now, if you want to take a few minutes to record how you’re feeling at this moment, go ahead. I’ll prepare some nice hot Borovan.” Peewee pulled a thermos out of his bag and we all spread out.

      I sat on a log beside a drop off that was familiar to the one that the green Tuskaninny jumps off of. I rubbed my paws together to get some warmth as I admired the landscape. A sound startled me and I turned to find Teagy sitting on the log beside me. The Snoogy blinked up at me with his big red eyes. I smiled and patted him gently. He shivered and snuggled up beside me.

      “Petpet thief!” Isaerios yelled and I leaped around, almost out of my fur. He glowered at me and snatched Teagy from my side.

      “I wasn’t stealing him!” I yelled back indignantly.

      “Why can’t you just be happy with Haelee? Oh yeah, sorry... she’s soggy,” he sneered. Now, don’t get me wrong. I know our fights all look extremely childish. I am not that immature. There is just this look in Isaerios that drives you crazy.

      “At least she isn’t depressed,” I snapped back. “Not that I blame Teagy, you are his owner.”

      “What’s that supposed to mean?” he growled fiercely.

      “You know very well!” I replied in the same tone. We both seethed with anger, frustration, annoyance, and about every other negative feeling.

      “You shouldn’t have come on this trip. I’m surprised Jeanie made you. You’re so selfish and spoiled that it’ll just make everything dull.”

      “Jeanie brought me so that you wouldn’t drive her mad!” I countered. Isaerios laughed.

      “Jeanie doesn’t need me to drive her mad, Aile. You do fine. The only thing that confuses me is why she didn’t abandon you when she got Trohanex. Anything is better than you!”

      This was too much. All my power in my hind legs gathered and I tackled my brother. I was confident in my attack – I am the Battledome fighter in the family. But, I was blinded by rage. Literally. I failed to notice our surroundings as I attacked Isaerios. We tumbled over. And over. And over. Before I knew it we were clinging to each other and screaming our heads off as we tumbled off the edge of the cliff.

      It seemed like an eternity before we landed in a snowdrift. Numbly we rolled out and looked blearily around. The trees around us were unfamiliar and I didn’t recognize anything. Isaerios groaned and stood wearily. He froze as he looked around.

      “Oh no,” he said.

      “We’re...”

      “Lost,” he finished. I have never agreed more with him in my life.

To be continued...

Hello everyone. It has been a while, but I had this idea lying around. I hope you like it. =] Send love and hate!!!

 
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