|
It was Sunday. Many days has passed since Gioacchino the
mutant Kacheek, Jon the red Eyrie, and Yoko the white Aisha had left Polly's island.
"Show me the way to go ho-oooomee," sang Jon,
very off-key, from his perch on the mast.
Gioacchino looked out at the bleak ocean. Yoko
sat in the corner of the boat, playing sadly with her Usukis. They were running
out of food, water, and supplies. They were also down to their last sugar bunny,
and everyone was too polite to eat it.
It had begun to rain again. Thunder rumbled
in the distance. The waves began to get taller and taller. "Jon! Hey, Jon!"
called Gioacchino. "Get down, and help row!"
Jon fluttered down from his perch, and grabbed
an oar. Yoko began to cry again. "Typhoon!" she cried. "We're all gonna die!"
"Hey, leave the pessimism to me," said Gioacchino.
"Help us row!"
Yoko reluctantly went over to Gioacchino, and
helped the poor little Kacheek row. However, the waves were far to great for
the three to overcome. The little boat swayed in the fierce winds, and Jon dropped
his oar into the waves.
"Oh, yippie," he mumbled, watching the piece
of wood float away.
"Look!" cried Yoko. "The sky is changing colors!"
Indeed, the sky was acting very oddly. A tornado-like
whirlwind of cloud was heading their way very quickly. The air surrounding the
whirlwind was changing colors, from sky blue, to a light pink, to a leaf green.
"It's going to hit us! Collision course!" yelled
Gioacchino. "Red alert, red alert! Does this boat have a red alert?" he asked.
Jon looked at the small flashing light bulb
on the mast. "Actually, it does."
"Well, then! Move us up to red alert!"
"Are you sure?" asked Jon. "It does mean changing
the bulb."
It was too late to change the bulb. The small
vessel was thrown into the mass of wind and water. Yoko, Jon, and Gioacchino
all held on for dear life as the boat was hurled up into the air by the whirlwind.
Everything was airborne for at least a minute, and then the boat landed with
a thud in an unknown area.
Yoko opened her eyes. "Now where are we?"
"Hello, Yoko!" said a chirpy voice. "You and
your brothers have been summoned to my humble home. Welcome, and make yourselves
comfortable."
The three looked up. It was a Faerie speaking.
She had fair skin, framed by her long tresses of golden hair, and a light colored
dress that seemed to float in the breeze. She smiled at them all. "I am the
Air Faerie," she said. She waited for a response, but received a stunned silence.
"I want to help you."
She beckoned the three stunned creatures into
her castle in the clouds. They sat on fluffy pink armchairs, and the Air Faerie
made herself comfortable on a golden throne. She smiled at them all. "You do
know what this is all about, right?"
Jon shook his head.
The Air Faerie sighed. She waved her hand, and
familiar voices echoed throughout the hall.
"Well, if they wanted to, they could play. Hey,
Gioacchino! Yoko! Wanna come and play with us?"
"Can I be Prom Usuki?"
"Umm, no, but you can be the Light Faerie or
something if you want, Yoko."
"Well, yippie! Can I be the Water Faerie, guys?"
"If you want to, I guess, Gioacchino."
"It was sarcasm, Tchaol. I don't want to be
a dumb Faerie. They're all stupid. Including the Water Faerie. Especially the
Water Faerie."
The voices faded into a stunned silence. "Do
you understand now?" said the Air Faerie. "The storm that night was out of an
act of revenge. The Water Faerie is very angry with all of you," she said.
"I didn't do anything," said Yoko. "It's all
his fault!" she said, pointing at Gioacchino.
"Yeah, he's the stupid one!" yelled Jon.
"Okay, so it's mostly him," admitted the Air
Faerie. "The Water Faerie is very stubborn, but she was willing to forgive you
three for Gioacchino's comment. Well, she was, until Gioacchino got into a spot
of trouble with the Water Faerie's Meowclops."
Gioacchino stared at her. "That was the Water
Faerie's Meowclops?"
The Air Faerie nodded.
Gioacchino slumped back in his chair, as Yoko
and Jon looked at their brother for an answer.
"So the point is, don't insult the Faeries,"
said the Air Faerie. "I'm much nicer than the Water Faerie, so I'm not going
to punish you with floods or tornadoes that send you far from home. What I am
going to do is help you."
Yoko looked at her sadly. "How? We're trillions
of billions of miles from home! We'll never get back."
"Yes, you will," the Air Faerie said. With that,
she took a small brown bag, and took a deep breath. She breathed out, filling
the bag with air. Taking a small green ribbon, she tied off the bag, and handed
it to Gioacchino. "Here, take this. These are the eastern, southern, and northern
winds. Without them, you have only the western winds, which will blow you directly
to Neopia Central. Now go, and remember: never open the bag!" she called.
"Yes! We won't! Thank you!" cried Yoko, as she
and her brothers left the cloud. They boarded their boat, and a gust of westward
air hit them. Jon smiled. "We're going to be home in time for the Daze of our
Lives marathon!" he said.
Many days passed as the boat headed back to
Neopia Central. The west winds hadn't failed, yet the stomachs of the three
creatures were growing hungrier by the second.
Jon dragged himself over to the small pile of
food. "Empty can of prune juice, empty can of fish ice cream, what's this? A
grackle-stuffed turkey?" Jon grinned triumphantly, and took a large bite of
the bag of air.
Immediately, a gusts of winds hit the boat,
sending it flying backwards. The three held on for dear life as the boat sailed
for miles backwards, non-stop.
"Jon!" yelled Gioacchino, holding onto the mast.
"What?" Jon asked innocently.
"You know how you said I was the stupid one
back at the cloud?"
"Yeah? So?" said Jon.
"Well, we're even!" cried Gioacchino.
Meanwhile, back at 63994 Neopia Avenue....
Erika dug through closets. She looked under
beds, yet her pets were nowhere to be seen. "Jon! Gee! Yoko!" she called down
the halls.
Nobody answered.
"What... what if they ran away?" she asked a
Snowbunny, Airax, and a Mongmong. "What if they decided that they hated me and
packed up and left?"
The three petpets didn't answer.
"Well, I'll show them! I'll hate them as much
as they must hate me! C'mon guys! We're going to the Adoption Agency!" she cried.
The Mongmong and the Airax exchanged nervous
glances. The Snowbunny hopped into what it thought was a pile of snow and said,
"Plllrrr!"
To be continued...
| 
