Ninja Faellie Diaries: Part One

Part One: A loss of Focus

     ~*~

December 1st, Month of Celebrating

     Dear Diary,

     I’ve decided to keep a diary to write down my ideas and thoughts. I refuse to put the year, though, just in case I want to look back and read and I think to myself, ‘has that much time really passed?’ No thank you. My name is Ello, and I’m a pink Faellie. I belong to Chris the starry Shoyru. I love my Chris very much, though I’ll never say that to his face because he’ll think I’ve gone soft. In fact, I hope my current hiding place for this book is sufficient, and no one will find it. If they do, I deny everything. Except my name being Ello, I don’t deny that.

     I should probably stop rambling. Even with a pen in my paw I talk to myself! Anyway, today is the first day of the Month of Celebrating, and already Neopians around our neighborhood are putting up Christmas lights and decorations. Our neighbor Jeff the Hissi even bought an inflatable snowman. Well, he did have an inflatable snowman, until I accidentally popped it with my sharp teeth. It was an accident! So Chris and I are gearing up for the cold and we’re venturing to Happy Valley to buy Jeff a new snowman. I’m sorry, Jeff.

     ~*~

      Ello put down her rainbow notebook, locked it shut with a silver key, and stuffed it underneath the dirty clothes hamper. She then flew out of the bathroom, and zoomed into Chris’s room, where she saw her owner dressed in a green scarf and red winter hat. “Hey, dude,” the petite Faellie greeted him. “Ready to go?”

     “There’s supposed to be a blizzard in Happy Valley! A blizzard!” Chris exclaimed. “That’s going to be some tough flying weather.”

     “You’ll get over it,” Ello replied. “So let’s get a move on. We should’ve left an hour ago.”

     “Whatever,” Chris huffed. He opened the window of his bedroom, flapped his starry wings, and flew out, Ello following closely behind him. The two flew over the sandy beaches of Mystery Island, waving a quick hello to the Tombola Man. Chris hated the cold; that was one of the reasons his three sisters, their petpets, and he and Ello lived in Mystery Island. No worries about getting snowed in, and easy access to the Training School where he could fight to his heart’s desire.

     The two soared over the ocean, figuring taking the quicker route over the scenic route was better. “Did you see that fight between Chia Clown and Chiazilla? The right hook was epic!” Chris exclaimed. He and Ello were talking about their favorite subject: wrestling.

     “That was epic,” Ello agreed, smiling. “I also loved the fight between Space Faerie and Balthazar. That should go into the archives. Totally something to read about in Neopedia.”

     “Yeah,” Chris agreed, smiling as well. The two continued to talk about their favorite Battledome moments, until they finally arrived at their destination of Happy Valley. “How’d you pop the inflatable snowman anyway?” Chris asked Ello, as they walked around Happy Valley.

     She shrugged. “Who knows. I’m always causing trouble, whether I mean to or not.”

     “Yeah, well, I’m no perfect little Angelpuss either.” Chris grinned. “I got grounded the whole Month of Swimming, remember?”

     “Oh yeah, now I remember. You just had to pull that lever in the Space Station, didn’t you?”

     “It’s a lever, Ello! I was born to pull levers like you were born to push buttons!”

     “Yeah. Buttons. Hey look, there’s someone having a garage sale. Let’s go see if they have what we’re looking for!” Ello exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Chris’s paw and dragging him towards the spot she saw.

     Tables and tables of Christmas themed junk were all around the yard of a blue Bruce. “Welcome, welcome.” The Bruce smiled invitingly. “Go on, have a look around. Don’t forget to visit the Advent Calendar!”

     “You know what’s annoying about Christmas?” Chris asked Ello when they were rummaging through a basket of neggs.

     “What, you’re always on the naughty list?” Ello teased, sarcasm clear in her voice.

     “No,” Chris corrected. “I just don’t get the huge hype about it. I don’t understand the shopping, the long lines, the decorating, any of it! I know the true meaning of Christmas is being with the family and enjoying your family’s company, I’ve got that concept, but that’s not appealing to me.” The Shoyru sighed. “Isn’t that weird? Christmas doesn’t appeal to me!”

     “Ah come on, Chris, there’s got to be a reason you don’t like it,” Ello said. “Is it because you never get the toys you want?”

     “No. I got that magic wand I wanted last year. I don’t know why, Ello, I just don’t like the holiday season.” Chris walked over the merry Bruce that was waving to all of his customers. “Excuse me; do you have an inflatable snowman for sale... preferably one that’s bite proof?”

     ~*~

December 2nd Month of Celebrating,

     Dear Diary,

     We managed to get Jeff his new snowman. He was so happy we bought him another one, he invited Chris and me inside his house for hot chocolate. Everything was going great... until I accidently broke his mom’s priceless and irreplaceable vase. Yeah. Let’s just say Chris and I aren’t going anywhere near Jeff or his fuming mother for a while...

     ~*~

     “I still don’t understand how you broke Mrs. Beelee’s vase. She’s had that since her childhood,” Rachel the striped Xweetok said. She was Chris’s younger sister, and was probably the most mature of the family.

     Ello groaned. “I feel bad enough; can you please not bring it up?”

     “Fine, fine,” Rachel agreed. “I’m just trying to figure out how you break a vase.”

     “It’s easy. If you own something precious to you, I’ll break it. You know why? Because I’m Ello. Ello the no-good, troublemaking Faellie.”

     “Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Jessica the red Usul smiled, being another sister of Chris’s. “It was an accident, and accidents happen sometimes in life.”

     “That’s the spirit, Jess.” Chris smiled, dipping his spoon into a bowl of cereal for breakfast. “Just give Jeff and his mom a few days to cool off, Ello.”

     “Alright,” the Faellie sighed.

     “Hey, has anyone seen my pink hair clip?” Jessica asked.

     Ello shifted uncomfortably. “I might have broken it by throwing a football in the house last week.”

     “YOU DID WHAT?”

     “Uh... it was an accident...”

     ~*~

     Dear Diary,

     I’m not allowed to play football anymore. All because of a pink hairclip.

     ~*~

     Chris woke up on the third day of Celebrating, immediately getting out of his cozy Kauvara inspired bed to get ready for the day ahead. Ello was asleep in her usual spot, which was in her blue moon petpet bed. He smiled when he saw her cute pink fluffy tail sticking out from the bed. After getting dressed in his usual red hat, Chris decided to let Ello sleep in, and went downstairs to get some breakfast. However, if he had looked closer at the tail sticking out, he would realize it wasn’t Ello at all, but merely a tail of a pink Doglefox plushie.

     The real Ello left the house unnoticed twenty minutes ago, while Chris and his sisters were still asleep. She knew she only had a few hours before Chris would realize she wasn’t in her bed, and she was determined to get through with her mission. Opening the wide doors of the Mystery Island Training School, the tiny Faellie maneuvered her way until she came to a bamboo door. Before the Faellie lifted up her paw to knock, an old and wise voice said, “Enter, Ello the Faellie.”

     The wise old Techo Master was in lotus position when Ello entered his training room. Ello and Chris were training under the Techo Master, and the two looked up for him for guidance. It was Chris and Ello’s shared dream to be awesome crime fighting ninjas. “Good morning Sensei,” Ello greeted politely, bowing to show respect.

     The Techo Master nodded, and Ello sat down in front of him, with hundreds of incense candles being the only light between the two. “What can I do for you?” the Techo Master asked, still in the lotus position with his eyes closed.

     “Sensei, I feel I’ve lost my way and my focus. I’ve done things that are not the way of the ninja,” Ello explained. “I would like to know how to regain my focus.”

     The Techo Master chuckled, a mannerism he usually did to all his students. “And what have you done, grasshopper?” he questioned.

     “Well... let’s just say I’ve broken other people’s things.”

     “Please go into detail, grasshopper.”

     “Okay. First, I broke Jessica’s pink hair clip by throwing a football in the house. Second, I broke my neighbor Jeff’s inflatable snowman by accidentally biting it with my sharp teeth. Third, I accidentally broke my neighbor Jeff’s mother’s irreplaceable and priceless vase by sneezing too hard and falling down on it.”

     “Hmm,” the wise old fighting master hummed, “Anything else, Grasshopper?”

     “Uh...” Ello replied awkwardly. “I also kind of sort of broke your lawn gnome out in the sacred gardens.”

     The Techo Master’s eyes shot open. “What?”

     “It was an accident!”

     “Ello, Ello, Ello, Ello.” The Techo Master shook his head disapprovingly.

     “I’ve messed up, haven’t I, Sensei?”

     “Yes, Grasshopper, I had a limited warranty on that garden gnome. Now it won’t matter if I have a receipt or not.”

     “I’M SORRY!”

     “Hush, Grasshopper! It is clear that you have lost your focus. It’s true; you are a very bright, very tough and open minded student, so you can regain your focus. There are two ways to regain your focus; go on a life threatening journey that you might not come back alive from, or you can simply-”

     “JOURNEY! I choose the life threatening journey!” Ello exclaimed, interrupting her master.

     “Don’t you want to hear the other option?”

     “I WANT TO GO ON THE LIFE THREATENING JOURNEY!”

     “Okay, fine! Jeez! Why?”

     Ello shrugged. “There’s something appealing about danger. So what do I have to do, Sensei?”

     The Techo Master composed himself. “You must travel into the deep forests within Shenkuu, and retrieve a Lotus Flower that only grows beneath Shenkuu’s deepest and most dangerous waterfall. After you do that, bring the flower back to me, and if you can complete this, you will have regained your focus. You may bring Chris along with you, if he wishes to risk his life as well.”

     “Eh, all I have to do is tell him there are free fortune cookies and he’ll come.”

     “This is serious, Ello. You must not treat this mission as a game, do you understand?”

     “Yes, Sensei. I understand. Go to Shenkuu, find the deepest and most dangerous waterfall, retrieve the Lotus Flower, bring it back to you, and I’ll have regained my focus.”

     “Yes, very good, Grasshopper. But this isn’t just a test of focus.” The Techo Master’s voice became hushed and serious, “This is a test of a ninja.”

     Ello gasped. “You mean if I succeed I’ll be a-”

     “Yes, Grasshopper, you’ll be a ninja.”

     A sudden feeling welled up inside Ello. She no longer felt like this was a quest, a trial, or even a simplicity of a game. She knew that this was important. She knew that it wasn’t just focus she was after- it was honor. After spending almost her whole life training to be a ninja, this mission could change everything. And she was going to complete it. Failure was not an option.

     ~*~

December 3rd, Month of Celebrating

     Dear Diary,

     I’m going to leave my neohome today an unfocused, trouble making, item breaking, clumsy Faellie. I’m going to return a ninja. A focused, epic ninja of awesomeness. I hope I make it back alive... or at least in time for Christmas.

To be continued...