Jhudaberries: Part Seven by twayblade807 |  |
Ixi, Skeithena, Ghicaccio, Fluffy, and Luperusse woke
up before sunrise. Pants On Fire, Ghicaccio's Moltenore, refused to wake up.
"Ghicaccio, how do you wake that Moltenore up?"
Ixi was on a dare from Luperusse, and was poking the Moltenore for the twentieth
time (Luperusse had dared Ixi because when Luperusse was a stray Lupe, he had
poked a Black Moltenore for fun. As a result Luperusse's tail had been singed
by the Moltenore's fiery breath and been shouted at by the Moltenore's owner
for about fifteen minutes). Luperusse and Skeithena had been arguing about the
dare for a few minutes earlier, because Skeithena didn't like the idea of poking
a poor little Moltenore. Luperusse, however, called Ixi a Scaredy-Aisha, which
was what made Ixi start the poking. This made Fluffy literally roll on the ground,
laughing.
"No, you don't poke him, you gotta tickle him,"
said Ghicaccio. She tickled Pants on Fire, who instantly bolted awake. Ixi poked
the Moltenore for the fiftieth time to complete his dare.
Pants didn't seem to mind being poked. He just
yawned and said, "Well, have any of you geniuses worked out how to get past
the Snowager?" Most Petpets could talk, but they rarely did, so the Neopets,
including Ghicaccio, jumped slightly.
"Yeah, it's involving you," said Ghicaccio. "No,
I'm not joking," she said, noticing Pants' mouth opening. "I came up with one...
just when you asked, Pants."
"Snowager, scared of fire... " said Skeithena,
in a dazed voice. "Snowager, short-sighted... oh Ghicaccio, that's clever! You're
going to use Pants on Fire to trick the Snowager?"
"Yeppers, as a distraction." Ghicaccio seemed
to have forgotten to be cute, in her fear for DellaNeve. "Ixi, you're going
to wave Pants around and say that you're going to burn the Snowager's tail."
Fluffy frowned. "Ixi get blasted, methinks,"
she said gravely. Ghicaccio privately wondered if Fluffy pretended to be cute
like she herself did with Anna. There were a lot of advantages to being --acting--
cute, after all.
"I'll have to take that chance, I think," said
Ixi bravely.
Ghicaccio was slightly annoyed. "Stop interrupting,
thanks. Anyway, yes, we'll have to take that chance. I have a feeling that the
Snowager will be scared stiff though, it's logical." When Ghicaccio was acting
'cute' she hardly looked capable of logic. "Fluffy and I will run in. We'll
manage because we're small. You, Skeithena and Luperusse, can fly in. After
you finish distracting the Snowager, Ixi, you're going to have to... fly in
sharpish. And make sure your wings don't get iced." She paused. "Sounds good?"
"Yeah, sounds good. Let's go now."
Ixi rushed into the cave, carrying the Moltenore
and dancing around. It would have been quite funny, if the situation wasn't
so serious and risky. Ixi trotted around, and told the Snowager, "Hello, I'm
going to burn your tail with my fireball if you're not careful!"
The Snowager narrowed his small eyes. "I say,
little Ixi... " While he was talking, the other four Neopets were tiptoeing
into the cave "... I won't blast you with my icy breath if you don't melt my
tail. Honest. Go on, back out... slowly does it... "
"No, no! I'm going to burn your tail, burn your
tail!" Ixi was continuing his comical dance. Luperusse, Skeithena, Ghicaccio
and Fluffy were nearly past the Snowager.
Ixi decided that his job was done and he flew
quickly towards the rest with his Faerie wings. The Snowager, though slightly
confused, seemed to sense what they were up to, and fire an icy blast in their
direction -
"PANTS ON FIRE!" screamed Ghicaccio. Ixi was
holding on to Pants On Fire, but the Snowager obviously realised that Pants
was not really a fireball. Mercilessly, he shot a blast at Ixi, who howled and
let go of Pants. The Moltenore, being unable to fly, fell like a stone, with
Ghicaccio wailing his name.
Pants didn't say anything, but gestured for them
to go. Luperusse shouted, "We'll get him back, but we'll be Chocolate
Brucicle if we don't go now!" His point was illustrated even better as a blast
of ice narrowly missed his ear.
They left the Snowager's part of the cave, and
descended into the dark tunnel, three of them flying, two of them walking, one
of them sobbing over her Petpet who had been lost to the Snowager.
***
"We have today, and tomorrow, and then we - including Della - will be pretty
ice statues," Ghicaccio said worriedly, the next morning.
"We know," snapped Luperusse, in his impatience.
"I know you know," said the Baby Lupe quietly.
They arrived at a fork. They were unsure. Ixi
broke the silence by saying that they should go on the left fork, which was
large, and big enough for the Snowager to slide through. Luperusse and Ghicaccio
agreed with Ixi. "A large tunnel looks safer than the little one over there,"
said Ghicaccio, never minding to state her opinion.
Skeithena, however, said that the small tunnel
would be better. Fluffy agreed with her. "Fluffy agree with Skeithy,
Skeithy bigger than you," said Fluffy, sticking her tongue out at the other
three NeoPets.
"Don't start an argument here, Fluffy," said
Skeithena gently. "It's not the time." Then, louder, she said, "I'm going to
sound harsh, but you guys should use your brains. Jhudora said that Della was
in a place where the Snowager definitely wouldn't reach him. Wouldn't it make
sense that he'd be in a place that led from a smaller tunnel?"
The others agreed (this made Fluffy stick her
tongue out even more) with her, and they continued along the icy tunnel, silently
worrying.
***
The tunnel went steeper and steeper, and the NeoPets knew that they were going
underground. The Neopets were very hungry, ("Fluffy want Chock-lick Brucicle!")
but they knew that if they got out of this, with or without DellaNeve, the first
thing they'd do would be eat. Even Ghicaccio, used to her usual meals of gourmet
food and meals costing at least ten thousand Neopoints (usually far more than
that), longed for even an omelette. Luperusse went so far as to drool for a
Chia treat, which, under normal circumstances, would be the last thing that
he'd ever eat.
Ixi, deprived of food, began to feel gratitude
for his owner working hard for him, to earn Neopoints - for delicious food.
He remembered the treats that she used to give him every now and again.
What a shame that she wouldn't be giving him
those treats anymore, Ixi thought - because Jane was leaving in three days.
***
After a long hour of walking, they reached yet another fork. Luperusse
said everyone's thoughts aloud. "This is probably the twentieth time we've reached
an annoying fork in this stupid labyrinth," he snapped grumpily.
"Labyrinths can't be stupid, and anyway, it's
only the sixteenth time," corrected Skeithena.
Fluffy declared, "Split up, too many forks much
easy-wrong... " She waited for the approval of her older and therefore wiser
(in her opinion) companions.
She received this approval. "Yes, that's a good
idea," said Ixi. "Let's split up, then."
After a bit of arguing, Luperusse, Ghicaccio,
and Ixi went on the right fork and Skeithena and Fluffy went on the left.
They waved goodbye. "We'll, see you later...
that is if we do see each other later... if you get what I mean," said Ixi awkwardly.
To be continued...
Find out the outcome of this adventure next issue :) Meanwhile, feel free
to Neomail
me with any comments, complaints, questions, suggestions, or just to have a
friendly chat! Thanks and have a nice day :)
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