Leaving Behind

      With a tired sigh, Cherry stretched out her short arms and enjoyed the calm of the evening. "I could fall asleep right here," she muttered and laid down on the sandy ground of the beach. "The training was hard but it was worth it."

      She looked up into the sky, which slowly changed its colors from a bright blue to a soft orange. A warm breeze went through her hair.

      "Hey!" she heard someone calling from behind her. Cherry sat up in surprise and turned around to the person who called her. "Do you wanna get caught by the next tide?" the Acara asked, who walked towards the Chia with a grin.

      "No," Cherry said and yawned. "I just wanted to enjoy the nice outlook before I go home."

      "You can see that everyday," she said, raising her eyebrow. "What's so special about it?"

      "I dunno," she muttered. "It just is."

      The Acara sat next to her, down on the white, warm sand. This part of the beach was quite far away from the mainland and with the path being hidden by palm trees and all kinds of exotic plants, it was unlikely for the frequent tourists of the island to find this spot. This made it even more special for Cherry, it felt like her very own beach right next to her home.

      She almost fell asleep if the groaning of her friend next to her wouldn't keep her awake. "Why is everything so stressful lately? I mean, we get almost twice as much homework in school and the lessons in training school became so much more difficult." She stretched her arms tiredly. "Like, I would have to become a professional battledome fighter. Or a scholar. Hey, maybe a fighting scholar!"

      "Haven't you heard the news, Cora?"

      "What news?"

      "The summer tournament?"

      Cora rubbed her chin for a moment, deep in her thoughts. "That... doesn't ring a bell."

      "That's why the trainer increased the difficulty of our training. He's gushing about the tournament since last friday."

      "Well, the training and all of that isn't so important to me. I mostly do it for my owner." she said defensively. She looked up and looked into Cherry's pouting face. All of the sudden, the Acara broke into laughter.

      "Hey, what's so funny?" Cherry asked, confused.

      "I'm so sorry, but really, your face looks sooo funny when you're frowning." It took Cora some effort to suppress her laughter and keep a straight face. "I didn't meant to insult you. I know, you love your training and want to become a Police Chia someday. But training and fighting... how do I put it... it's just not my cup of tea, I guess."

      "Have you ever thought about telling James about this?" She slept over at Cora's home sometimes and her owner, James, always seemed like a reasonable and friendly person.

      But the red-colored Pet next to her just shook her head with lowered ears. "All of this means so much to him. Also, I began with those training lessons two months ago. If I stop now... I mean, I could do it, but..." Cora fell silent for a moment, still thinking about it. She apparently pushed the thought away and her smile returned onto her face. "But what about you? Are you going to enter the tournament?"

      Cherry smiled broadly and her eyes shone with joy, despite how small they were. "Of course!" she exclaimed. "I've heard some of the older students are going to join in on the fun. Then I can finally get some real competition." She raised her paw into the air, as if she'd vow victory to herself.

      "Yeah, I'm sure you can do it. I'll cheer you on when it's time," Cora said and stretched out her fist as well.

      The small Chia wandered in the dark along the wooden path. On its sides there were all kinds of thick bushes, beautiful flowers and huge trees. She could walk the way from the beach to her home in her sleep, but there were always the torches that'd lead her the way in case it was too dark to see anything in the forest.

      "I'm sure Gwen will be mad at me," Cherry thought about her owner with a queasy feeling in her stomach. "She doesn't like it when I'm late for dinner. But I just forgot the time." she thought.

      In the distance she could already see the small hut in which she and her family lived. It wasn't big and it was quite a distance away from the mainland, but it was still her home. And she loved it.

      Cherry opened the front door carefully and looked around. She saw light coming from the kitchen and heard the chinking of plates. "Well, looks like I'm still on time for dinner. Even though it's been dark for a while," she murmured and left her shoes next to the front door, so she wouldn't spread the sand in the house. Even though they lived on an island, Gwen absolutely hated sand in her living room or - even worse - in her bed. It was nice as long as it was outside.

      A familiar but rare smell in the air caught her attention. "Is that... casserole?" she thought. Her worry about being late was instantly replaced by the joy of having her favorite dish as dinner. Happily she skipped through the corridor and entered the small kitchen. Her owner and her younger sister, a small Aisha, already sat at the table and ate a portion of steaming casserole. "Hey!" Cherry greeted her family casually and took a plate out of the cupboard.

      Gwen, her owner, turned around to her. "Hi, Cherry. Did you have a nice day?" she asked and her voice sounded surprisingly happy.

      "Sure. My teacher praised my at school. He said I've improved greatly over the last few weeks," Cherry told with a smile. "You sound as if you had a nice day as well. You don't look tired for once."

      Gwen nodded and rubbed her hands together, as if she'd suppress excitement. "Yeah, I had a great day! You'll never guess what offer I got today."

      "An offer?" Cherry thought "Is she talking about the trading market? Or a new job offer? She always says her current job would give her a 'burnout' sooner or later. Whatever that means."

      Gwen winked at her. "Come on, guess it."

      "You just said I'd never guess it."

      "Just try it."

      The Chia rubbed the back of her head and thought about all the things that could make her so happy right now. "You... finally got the Faerie Paint Brush for Angel?" she asked and looked towards her little sister. The yellow Aisha shook her head, but her grin didn't leave her face.

      "What else... a new job?"

      Gwen's smile grew wider "Yes, but that's only one half of the good news."

      "Oh, congratulations! You really deserve--"

      "We're going to move!" Gwen said, not able to hold in the excitement any longer.

      "Wait, what?!" Cherry asked. The happiness she felt for Gwen fell immediately. At first, she felt nothing, as if she didn't fully comprehend the words of her owner. But the longer those words sunk in, the more she felt panic rising in herself. A strange mixture of panic, confusion and anger. "Did... did I misheard you? We're going to move?"

      "Yes. To Neopia Central," Gwen answered and jumped from one leg to the other, as if she'd do a happiness dance. "It was quite a coincidence that I got the job there. And one of my friends told me of the house next to her and that its empty for quite some time. After a few calls, I bought it! We're going to have a bigger house and more money to spare--"

      "We can't move!" the Chia yelled. She was even surprised herself about her sudden outburst.

      "What do you mean?" Gwen said and raised an eyebrow.

      "What about the training school?" Cherry asked and stood up from her chair. "I-I mean, how am I supposed to go to training when we're living so far away from Mystery Island? And what about my friends... and the tournament... and.... and...." By now, the Chia started to sob.

      "But... These are good news," Gwen said quietly and kneed down to Cherry. "I know, it'll be hard for you to leave Mystery Island. But think about all the good sides! We finally have more money! I can buy Angel her Faerie Paint Brush and I can get you the bicycle you always wanted. And I can spent more time with both of you. Trust me, it'll be the best decision for all of us."

      "No," Cherry said and got suddenly angry. She stepped back from her owner and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "It's the best decision for YOU. You just don't care about me! I love the school and the training, I love the beach and its gorgeous sunsets, I love spending time with my friends here! This... this is my home! And I won't give it up for some stupid bicycle!" Without waiting for any response, Cherry stormed out of the room. She didn't care what her owner would now think about her. She just wanted to be alone for a moment to calm down.

      "It's just so unfair!" Cherry complained. She has spend the last hour in her room walking in circles and talking to her favorite Kacheek Plushie. "What about the training school? And when we move to Neopia Central... I can't train here anymore. How am I supposed to stay fit? Jogging? Or by training outside on my own? But without my teacher, how am I supposed to know if I'm doing everything right?"

      She stopped walking for a moment and threw a look to her plush toy. It laid on her bed and smiled at her, like it always did. Normally, this would calm the Chia down a bit, but this time she didn't want to calm down. She wanted to hear some encouragement or at least the words of someone who'd understand her emotions.

      Cherry sighed and felt awkward all of the sudden. "Yeah, right. You're not alive," she muttered.

      She dragged herself to her bed and fell onto the soft mattress. "Why is she doing this? I'm sure she could find a nice, new job on Mystery Island as well. Or doesn't she like the island anymore?" she wondered aloud.

      Suddenly she heard a soft knock on the door. It wasn't a loud or hard knock, but a very soft one, as if someone threw a ball of cotton against it. "You can knock harder. The door won't break apart," Cherry yelled with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She already knew who was on the other side of the door.

      Slowly, the door was opened and the small, yellow Aisha stepped inside. "...Sorry," she said "I thought it'd be impolite to be so loud."

      Cherry shook her head slightly. It always confused her how different she and her sister were. And sometimes, Angel's overly shy and soft way to act annoyed her. "It doesn't matter," Cherry said and tried to get away from that topic. "What do you want?" She made clear in her voice, that she was not in the mood to talk. Cherry wasn't overly harsh, just more dismissive than usual.

      Her voice made the Aisha wince slightly. "So... you're still mad at us?"

      "'Us'? No, just at Gwen. You didn't decide to move away," Cherry said and raised an eyebrow.

      "I know, you just sounded as if..." Angel said and her voice became too quiet for Cherry to hear the rest of her sentence. Both pets looked at each other for a moment and no one said anything. "Why are you mad about this?" Angel finally asked.

      Cherry suppressed a groan. "Because I like my life here!" she said. Her gaze wandered around the small room. "This is not just the house I live in. And not the beach I walk on. Everything... is just my home. Sure, we'll have more money when we move, but why not being happy with what we have. We wake up with a beautiful sunset over the beach every morning. The weather is always nice and the people are relaxed... So why should I be so happy about moving away? About trading all of this for rain, stressed people and... I dunno, a hot dog stand close by?"

      Angel looked down on her hands and seemed to think for an answer for a moment. "Well..." she started "You said you'd like Neopia Central. Remember, when we were there last year?"

      "Yeah, on vacation. It was nice and seeing snow for the first time was amazing," Cherry admitted. "But it was only a vacation. I never said I'd want to spend the rest of my life there."

      Both pets were quiet again. "Was I too harsh to her?" Cherry wondered in her thoughts and felt bad all of the sudden. "What do you think about it?" Cherry asked.

      Angel looked up in surprise, as if she expected her older sister to be still mad or shoo her out of her room. "Oh..." she said "I... don't really mind."

      "Really?"

      The Aisha nodded. "Actually... I think Gwen really needs a change in her life. You know how early she has to get up. How late she leaves from work. How tired she is all the time."

      The more Cherry thought about it, the more she felt the guilt twisting in her stomach. "I didn't thought about it like this," she sheepishly admitted. "But why didn't she look for a job on the island instead for one so far away?"

      "She tried. For a while. Maybe it's... destiny... that everything went more smooth in Neopia Central than here."

      Both sisters went quiet for a moment. "You know," Angel said "There are some things I'm going to miss as well, but... my home is where my family is. And when Gwen wants to move, I'll follow her."

      Cherry was surprised by her answer. "Where the family is?" she repeated.

      Angel nodded again with more enthusiasm. "A-and think about all the good things. We could... go on adventures."

      "Adventures?"

      "Yes, like... helping faeries. Or we can become detectives and solve mysteries. Or maybe--"

      "Angel? Can you come for a second?" They both heard the yell of their owner.

      "Oh, I have to go..." Angel said and walked out of the room.

      After she closed the door behind her, Cherry smiled softly. "Adventures? You can barely walk five steps without tripping over a pebble. Or talk to someone without fainting. And you still dream about adventures? That's so typical for you." she muttered and relaxed on her bed.

      Nothing but blank, cold steel met her eye. The longer Cherry stared into her empty locker, the more she felt empty inside. All of her belongings where stuffed into the bag right next to her. Her schoolbooks, her old, worn notebooks, pictures of herself with her friends. Everything that was important to her in the course of the school year.

      "I wonder who'll be the next person to use my locker?" she thought absentminded. "Will it hold many more books and pictures? Or worn-out socks of someone who loves yooyuball?"

      Chattering students passed her locker, continuing their way to the main door. They sounded happy and made all kinds of plans for the evening or talked about the last math test and how difficult it has been again. A faint frown made its way onto Cherry's face. "I'll have to go to a new school in Neopia Central," she thought. "A new school, new people, a new locker..." Cherry fidgeted with her paws. It was exciting for her in many ways.

      She closed the locker with a last sigh and took the bag with the school supplies from the ground.

      "Are you alright?"

      The Chia turned around to see Cora's sad smile. "Sure. I just need to take my stuff with me."

      An awkward silence hung between the two. "So... you're moving... in an hour?"

      Cherry nodded "Yeah. Gwen has been packing all of our stuff into the moving boxes. She was so busy I didn't even had a chance to apologize to her."

      "You haven't been to the training school yet, right? To say goodbye to them?"

      The Chia looked away in silence. She liked her school mates, but she liked her training mates even more. She knew, they wouldn't forgive her for leaving them without a last word. But Cherry didn't want to leave them. At all.

      "You have to do it now!" the Acara said, taking the paw of her friend and leading her out of the building. Cherry didn't even have a chance to protest. "I'm sure the trainer is already there and maybe the others are there as well." Cherry had mixed feelings about it, but she followed her friend regardless.

      Soon, they reached the training school. And also the place Cherry went to train for the last two years. "I can't believe I'll be here without. But I've heard we'll get a couple of new students after the tournament."

      Only mentioning the tournament made the lump in her throat even bigger.

      "They're all newbies. Well, I'm one to talk, I'm practically still a newbie myself. But maybe--"

      Cherry stopped at once. They've arrived at the inner courtyard, where they usually did their training on the plain ground. Cora looked back at her, confused. But when she saw her friend's expression, she stopped.

      "I can't..." she said, seemingly on the verge of crying. "I now understand why we have to move. I understand how much it means to my owner. And that I can't avoid it. But... all of this here. It still hurts so much to leave..."

      "Who says you'll be leaving forever?" a deep voice said.

      Cherry turned around in surprise. Right at the entrance to the courtyard she saw her teacher, an old Kougra. He was accompanied by all of her class mates.

      "But..." Cherry said but wasn't able to get more out of her throat. "You can always come by," her teacher said, putting a paw on her head. "No, I expect of you to come back. After all, you don't want to miss the tournament, right?"

      Cherry looked up in confusion. "I'm not--"

      "Participating?" Cora said next to her. She took a small envelope out of her backpack and handed it to Cherry. "I knew how much it meant to you, and that it would be your first tournament ever to participate in, so we all thought of something."

      Cherry opened the envelope and took out the paper inside. Her eyes started gleaming when she unfolded the paper. The form to enter the tournament and three tickets for a ferry.

      "Well, we figured it's a long way from Neopia Central to Mystery Island, so we all gave some money for ferry tickets for you and your family. After all, we all want to see you win this--"

      She couldn't even finish her sentence before she was tackled by Cherry. "Thanks!" she said and gave her a hug. "Not only you, but everyone. Thank you so much!"

      Cora smiled, yet a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm glad it made you happy."

      Slowly, Cherry walked down the wooden path to her home. She wanted to bring her bag home first before she'd take a last walk down the beach. There was still so much on her mind.

      The house was mostly empty by now, most of the furniture has been shipped to her new home in Neopia Central. "New home..." Cherry muttered.

      She saw Gwen and Angel through the window, cleaning up the hut for its next inhabitants. Gwen was busy sweeping all of the sand out of the living room while complaining about the heaps of sand that have been under the couch for a very long time. And Angel tried to lift the box with her Usukis, but no matter how hard she tried it, she'd barely lift it. Even though the box didn't weigh more than two pounds.

      "That's so typically of you guys," she muttered and smiled softly. "Maybe Angel is right. I'll miss everything about this place. Maybe even more than I can imagine right now. But I think... as long I'm with my family I can live anywhere.

      The End.

      Author's Note: If you read this it means I've got my first story into the NT! Well, thanks for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it. :)