The Fabulous Four - The Beginning

“She's not back yet.”

      “So?” I asked, not even looking up from my book.

      “So? SO?”

      “That's what I said,” I replied, flicking my green Wocky tail.

      “Don't you know what that means?”

      I put down my book and looked at the green Kougra. I was used to my younger sister's dramatic outbursts. Usually they were about her newest (and undoubtedly wackiest) way to find Jelly World, which any normal Neopian knows doesn't exist. She just wouldn't give it up, though.

      “I don't know, SF, but I'm sure you'll tell me.” She started to open her mouth, but I interrupted her. “And if you mention the word 'jelly', you are SO gonna get it,” I growled.

      SF rolled her eyes. “Why would Mom look for...” She stopped, seeing my annoyed glare. “I mean, that's not it.”

      “Then what is it?”

      “I think Mom's gonna adopt another pet!”

      This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Mom wouldn't do that without at least telling us.”

      “She didn't tell us when she went to adopt Geli.”

      “Uh, yeah, she did. You just weren't paying attention.”

      “Was too!”

      “Was not!”

      By this point we were yelling. Geli, our younger blue Gelert sister, walked into the room. “What's up?” she asked, in her sweet, youthful and naïve way.

      “Mom's adopting another pet!” SF screamed, going way overboard.

      “No, she's not,” I replied calmly.

      “Are you sure, ACbaby?” Geli said, in a small voice.

      “Yes I'm sure,” I said, then looked at SF. “And even if she did, would it be so bad? You were worried when she adopted Geli, and looked how that turned out. You couldn't ask for a better friend.”

      SF looked straight at me. “I got lucky with Geli. Who knows, the next one could end up like you!”

      Before I could respond (by that I mean throw a book at her head), the door opened. Our owner, catloverusa, walked in, a big smile on her face. “Acbaby777, Shadowfighter777, _G_e_l_I, I have a surprise for you! Guess what I did!”

      SF gave me an 'I told you so' look. All I could think was, Mom, you didn't...

      “I adopted a new pet!” she said excitedly.

      Our reactions were varied, to say the least. Geli was excited, I was shocked, and SF was, well, herself- which means trouble.

      “Mom...” SF started to whine, but one look from Mom silenced her. She stepped out of the doorway, revealing a blue Eyrie.

      “Her name is sibora_shine, but you can call her Sibora for short. She's a little older than Geli. Right now, she's a little shy, like Geli was when she first came here, so I'm just going to take her to her room. We'll do introductions at dinner.”

      Being the sensible one, I had to ask, “But where will she sleep? We have an extra room, but not an extra bed.”

      Mom, who usually thought ahead, said, “Hmm, forgot about that. I'll just get a straw bed until we can get something more permanent.” At that point, I realized what happened. Mom must have gone to the pound, just to look, and ended up seeing Sibora, felt a connection, and adopted her on the spot. She did the same thing when she got Geli, the difference being that we were forewarned that time.

     Since Mom created SF and me so close together, the two of us never had that problem. We have a ton of other problems, but I wasn't upset when SF came home. At least not that I remember. I was too young to realize what a pain she would end up being.

      “Alright then,” Mom said, snapping me out of my thoughts, “I'm just going to...”

      Mom never had a chance to finish her sentence, because right at that point SF burst, words flowing out of her mouth like a waterfall. “Mom, how could you do this to us? Another pet? What on Neopia were you thinking? What makes you think that we want another pet, or that you can even afford it? We're not the richest Neopians around, you know. And the worst thing is you didn't even bother telling us! Do you think we would like THIS kind of surprise?”

      By the time SF was done, she was screaming. Her whole body was shaking from her anger. She wasn't the only one affected, though. All the excitement on Mom's face had gone. Instead, her face had fallen further than I ever had seen before. She hung her head, unable to look any of us in the face. Geli was in the corner of the room, whimpering, afraid of SF since none of us had ever seen her this angry before. The one who was most affected , however, was Sibora. She stood perfectly still during the entire rant, never moving, most likely out of shock. Now, though, it had all sunk in. “I... I... I shouldn't have come here,” she said, tears in her eyes.

      “You're right, you shouldn't have,” SF growled.

      Tears were now flowing freely down Sibora's face. “I knew this was a mistake!” she cried. Then, before anyone could stop her, she ran out of the house, and down the street to Neopia Central.

      Mom was too shocked to speak. All she could do was look at SF, disappointment apparent in her eyes. SF couldn't care less. She ran off to her room and slammed the door. I could hear her collapse on her bed.

      Finally, Mom found her voice again. “Well then, I...” She couldn't say anymore. She collapsed onto the floor, sobs shaking her entire body. At that point, I knew two things: first, that I had never been this mad at SF for one of her stupid stunts, and second, that I was the only one that could do anything about it.

      I looked at Geli, who was still hiding in the corner. “Geli, you stay here with Mom. I'm going to find Sibora and see if I can smooth things out.”

      “What about SF?” Geli asked, clearly hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with her.

      “Leave her alone. Mom will deal with her.” With that, I was off.

     -------------

      I found Sibora exactly where I thought I would: sitting on a bench in the middle of Neopia Central, watching pets and their owners walking around, going from shop to shop. I took a seat on the bench next to her. “Hi,” I said.

      She looked at me, realizing who I was. “Hi.”

      An uneasy silence hung in the air. Neither one of us talked or even looked at each other for a few moments. Finally I broke the silence. “Sibora, I'm really sorry for how Shadowfighter acted. She usually isn't like that. It's just that...”

      “It's okay,” Sibora interrupted. “You don't have to apologize. I'm not wanted. I get it.”

      “Sibora...”

      “No, really, it's okay. I'm used to living in the pound. It's not as bad as everyone says.”

      “Really? Because Geli said it was horrible, and she was only there for a few days.”

      “Well, it's better than the alternative.”

      I looked at her. “What alternative?”

      She looked me straight in the eyes. “Living in a home where I'm not wanted.”

      “Why would you think we wouldn't want you?” But I already knew the answer.

      “It's just like my last home,” she said, sighing.

      “What do you mean?”

      She looked down at her feet. “When I was first created, my owner was a young boy. I was his only pet. We were very happy together, but eventually he couldn't spend enough time in Neopia to adequately take care of me. So, he asked one of his neofriends, who already had three pets, if she could take me in. She agreed. However, she was one of those stuck up owners who worried about looks only. Her other three pets were painted, and constantly made fun of me. Finally, one of them broke an expensive vase, and they all blamed it on me. I was put in the pound that afternoon. I was there for a long time, watching others get adopted. No one wanted me, because that woman had told the pound that I was a trouble maker and a bully.” She looked up at the sky, tears in her eyes. “When the pound closed, I lost all hope of ever being adopted. Even when it reopened, I still had no hope.” Now she looked straight at me. “Your owner, your mother, was the first one to actually stop and look at me. When I saw her, I knew she was a kind person, and for the first time since I was locked up in that cell, I had hope. When she adopted me, I was happier than I had been in a long time. It was too good to be true. I knew that something had to go wrong.”

      “So when SF acted up...”

      “All I could think about was those other pets. I figured that it would end up the same way.”

      “So you left.”

      “Yeah.”

      We were silent once again. Finally I spoke up. “Despite SF's outburst, we're really a nice family. A little bit out there, but nice. SF was just being over dramatic, which is usual for her. I think she was worried about what you would be like. It didn't help that Mom didn't forewarn us.” I looked her straight in the eyes. “If you're willing to give us another try, I'm sure that we can work something out with SF.”

      “I'd love that.” She looked at me, a huge smile on her face. It was the first one I ever saw from her. We hopped off the bench, and started to head home when Sibora spoke up. “Why was Shadowfighter worried about me?”

      “She thought you would be like me.” We both laughed.

     ----------

      When we got back to the house, SF was sitting on the front porch, drawing on a piece of paper. When she saw us, she put down the paper and started to say something, but I interrupted her. “SF, haven't you done enough for one day?”

      She glared at me. “Save it, ACbaby. Mom's already mad at me. After you left, she came to my room and chewed me out. I have never seen her so mad. Anyway, I'm in enough trouble without you adding in your two cents worth.” She looked over at Sibora, her glare gone. “Sibora, I'm so sorry. What I did was wrong. I never meant to get so upset. It's just that, well...”

      “What?” I asked. “That Mom didn't forewarn us?”

      SF shot me a glare before continuing. “Well, yeah, but I was really worried that...” Her voice got very soft “...you'd be one of them.”

      “One of who?” Sibora asked.

      “You know, a bully.”

      Sibora smiled. “Trust me, I'm not a bully. In fact, I was worried that you guys would be bullies.”

      SF smiled. “Despite my earlier behavior, I'm not a bully. Neither is Geli. ACbaby, on the other hand...”

      “Hey!” I said. “I'm definitely not a bully.”

      Sibora smiled. She then noticed the piece of paper that SF had been drawing on before. “What's that?” she asked.

      “Oh, this?” SF said, holding up the paper. “It's a map. I'm plotting a course to Jelly World.”

      I rolled my eyes. “SF, how many times to I have to tell you...”

      Sibora interrupted. “Cool! Can I help?”

      I looked at her in shock. “You do know that Jelly World doesn't exist, right?”

      Sibora waved her paw at me. “They only say that because no one has ever found it.”

      I looked at her, then SF, then her, then SF again. “SF, I can't believe it! You've known her for all of two minutes and you've already corrupted her!”

      Just then, Geli came outside. “ACbaby, Sibora, I'm glad you guys are back. Mom said to tell you guys that supper's ready.”

      “Cool. And after supper, we can figure out where Jelly World is.”

      Sibora smiled. “I'd like that.”

      Geli jumped up and down. “Can I help? Please? PLEASE!”

      SF and Sibora laughed. “Sure,” SF said, then turned to me. “ACbaby, do you want to help?”

      I glared at her. “Why would I want to look for something that doesn't exist?”

      “So, that's a no?”

      “That's a 'never in my life' kind of no.”

      “Fine.” SF shrugged. “It's your loss.”

      I looked at the three of them. “You're all insane, you know that?”

      They all smiled. “You won't be saying that when we're all rich from the discovery,” SF said, a twinkle in her eye. “Come on guys, let's go eat.”

      As I watched the three of them head inside, I started to think about what had happened throughout the day. Today, despite some difficulties (all of which evolved from a certain green Kougra) we added a new member to our family. Now I have three crazy siblings to look after. Sibora seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, at least until she agreed to help SF look for the non-existent Jelly World. Hopefully she wasn't as bad as the others, though. Time will tell.

      “ACbaby, come on, your supper's getting cold,” Mom shouted.

      “Yeah, hurry up before we decide to eat it!” That was from SF.

      I smiled.

      So it begins.

The End