Somebody's Waiting to Take You Home: Part Three by missjessiegirl |  |
Dancer folded his violet wings against his sides, and the
experienced Faerie Kougra, along with his terrified Red Lupe pup passenger, plummeted
with incredible speed towards the thick clouds of Faerieland. They tore through
smaller clouds, and the pets below them screamed and leapt away as the Kougra
hurtled towards them. At the last possible moment, Dancer threw his racing-striped
wings up and braked furiously. And for the 2nd time that particular day, though
she would do it many times in the future, Jem the Lupe pup flew ungracefully over
his head and crashed without harm into the feathery soft clouds.
"Ow. Do you have to be a stunt man every time
you land?" Jem complained, rubbing her head gingerly with a crimson paw and
wincing at the pain from the bruise. For she had crashed head first into a huge
magenta fashion ramp, which Faerie Pet models parade up and down on while showing
off their outfits, or in this case wings.
Dancer grinned saucily, showing off his fangs. "Yup." He gestured grandly
with a humongous violet paw towards the Faerie Fashion ramp. "Here's the opportunity
of your dreams. All those people over there could probably use a pet to love.
Just pick one that you like. It's like shopping. See ya." He flapped hard and
lifted himself in the air.
The Faerie Kougra was about to zoom off into
the sky, when Jem called to him, slightly annoyed. "Wait a minute! Aren't you
going to help me?"
Dancer smiled gently, and just replied, "It's
your journey, Jem. You need to make it on your own. Trust your heart." Then
he folded his wings and tore through the enormous cloud which Faerieland floated
on. Then, he was gone, leaving only memories.
Jem stared at the hole that his body made in
the cloud, which rapidly filled itself in with whatever clouds are made of.
She was disappointed and slightly afraid to go on by herself. "I wish he would
have stayed," she said to herself, "but he's right. Only I can do this."
Without letting herself take the second backward
glance that her brain wanted, she trotted swiftly towards the platform where
Faerie pets were flying up and down the long walkway, which was roped off to
keep away uncontrollable fans. The pup ducked under the ropes and stood in the
middle of the aisle, her paws sinking into the plush red carpet. She was unsure
how to begin.
Jem scanned the audience, looking for owners
who looked kind and were without pets. But before she could get a good look,
a Faerie Kau was at the head of the aisle, flapping her wings vainly to the
cheering crowd. The Kau snorted in disdain when she saw the frozen Lupe pup,
and rose into the air. The Kau swooped down onto Jem, and lifted her into the
air. "Get out of here, pound pup," the Kau muttered angrily. With a shove of
the Kau's powerful hooves, Jem went flying through the air to land on the clouds
on the left of the aisle.
Jem climbed shakily to her feet, feeling slightly
dazed and angry. As she got up slowly, the ground seemed to drop from beneath
her. Throwing her head up in panic, she saw an elegantly carved sign next to
the patch of cloud that read, "Do not walk here. Thin cloud." Jem had just enough
time to read this, before the clouds gave out and the Lupe dropped with a yelp
through the clouds.
This time though, no kind Faerie Kougra was
there to save her. She fell quickly through the air, scrabbling to get a hold
on something, despite the fact that nothing was there to hold onto. "HELP!"
screamed Jem, twisting wildly in the air. The house roofs rushed up to meet
her, while Faerieland rose and disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, a blue, rippling blob appeared beneath
her. "It's a... poOOL!" she screamed.
WHAM! All of Jem's breath was knocked violently
from her lungs as she crashed into the water surface. Water may look fragile
at first, but when you're dropped onto it from a great height, it's about the
equivalent of hitting a concrete floor. A hard one.
As she gasped for breath, blackness edged at
the corners of her vision. The Red Lupe sunk under the surface of the water,
completely unconscious. She would have drowned, but at the instant she hit the
water and was knocked unconscious, a thin Shadow Gelert was walking out to the
pool, a shadow-colored towel draped over her back, and dragging a floaty duck
toy behind her with her long, agile, prehensile tail. The Gelert stood there
and gaped, her mouth hanging open, at the sight of the Lupe who had just done
a swan dive into the pool in her backyard. She loosened her tail grip on the
floaty duck and ran, frantically screaming, "MOMMY!" into the house. A large
wave of pool water overflowed from the Lupe's impact and swept up the duck.
The duck was temporarily crushed, so it went under the water, and by pure luck,
surfaced right under the unconscious Lupe, keeping her afloat.
When Jem awoke groggily a few seconds after
the Gelert slammed the door shut, it felt like she was being rocked by someone.
"Wait a minute," thought Jem. "She wasn't being rocked by a human or Neopet,
but by (she looked down)... WATER!" The pup felt a surge of panic race through
her nerves and flailed wildly, helplessly. Little did Jem know that she had
just discovered her chronic fear of water, born from the moment when that Zafara's
foot had connected with her body in the Rainbow Pool. All she knew was a blind
fear that gripped her like a puppet and controlled her actions, and her thoughts.
With a mighty crash, she fell from the floaty duck and into the gently rippling
pool, screaming for no sensible reason and thrashing like a mad thing.
She was under the surface. The chlorine water
crashed onto her shoulders, mercilessly forcing them down into the dark depths
of the large pool. The Lupe fought desperately in her uncontrollable fear, hating
the crushing power of the water. She longed to be free of the pressure, wanting
horribly to escape the pain and fear. But in the end, it was her fear that saved
her. In her fright, her adrenaline that every being is born with rose to surface
and also raised her power, enabling her to fight the pressure and swim to the
surface, despite being new-born and small.
To be continued...
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