Somebody's Waiting to Take You Home: Part Four by missjessiegirl |  |
Jem broke the surface of what she thought evil water, gasping
in the sweet air that she hadn't known could go away until now. But the panic
still gripped her mind, making her thrash wildly and not accomplish anything but
get tired. She began sinking again, despite her panicky efforts.
SPLASH! A large Fire Wocky leapt into the water.
Despite the rumours, Fire pets are perfectly capable of swimming very well and
water does not cause them pain. He expertly swam over to the thrashing pup and
snatched her by the scruff of her neck with his sharp teeth. Dragging her behind
him, he swam to the pool edge and pulled her to shore.
Jem quickly scrambled to her feet and stared
at the three pets that were gathered around her. The Shadow Gelert female she
had early seen and been rescued by wore a long, blood-red cape. The Gelert stared
at her threateningly, and raised the charcoal fur along it's back in warning.
A White Ixi female, wearing a pearl necklace, looked at her nonchalantly, then
turned and gazed into the beyond, though there was nothing there to stare at.
The Fire Wocky male that had saved her gazed at her curiously, and padded at
her with a ashey-black paw.
Also, a human girl with roan colored hair and
blue-grey eyes that had whites which stood out noticeably, stood next to the
Ixi, and asked Jem, "Where did you come from?"
"Umm... nowhere," said Jem, rather truthfully
because she didn't really come from any specific place. "I was in Faerieland,
looking for an owner, and I kinda fell through the clouds."
The Gelert snickered, and the girl gave her
a sharp look. The girl didn't ask any more questions about Jem's past, like
most people would, but said firmly, "You'll being staying with us, then." She
turned to her waiting pets. "The Gelert is DancingDeath, we called her Death.
The Wocky is Jeuze, and the Ixi is TheWhiteQueen, we call her Queen, and I'm
arabianfox, aka Jess. And who are you?"
"I'm... " Jem pondered for a minute, since she
didn't know her full name, just her nick name, which she didn't like, anyway.
"I'm Jem. But I don't like that name, and I don't know my full name."
Jess cupped her chin in her hands and thought
for a moment. Death snarled, telling Jem to keep her distance. Jeuze had gone
to sit by his owner, sharing the same thoughtful expression. Queen had lost
interest and was braiding daisies into a wreath, a nimble feat for someone with
hooves instead of paws or hands. Finally Jess looked up and said thoughtfully,
"You are a new pet, after all. And since you don't have a full name, I should
be able to name you. But first, would you do me a favor?"
"What kind of favor?" asked Jem suspiciously,
flattening her ears in distrust and backing up a step.
"Well, I've always wanted a Cybunny, and I have
a Morphing Potion in my pack. When you dove into the pool, I was about to leave
and go to Create-A-Pet to make one. But since you're here, I wondered if you
would let me turn you into a Cybunny. I have money for a Paint Brush, too, so
you could be any color you want." Jess looked at her hopefully, at the same
time taking off her Green Backpack and rummaging through it's pockets.
Jem thought this over. She liked being a Lupe,
having the power and speed of an Kougra, and the courage of a Gelert, yet not
being as trusting as the dog Neopet. But being a Cybunny would mean the ultimate
speed and grace, not to mention the tunnelling skill and persistent, loving
nature. Not as much fire power, but plenty of cunning. "I will, if you let me
agree on my own name," she finally said nervously, still a bit unsure.
"Deal." Jess took out a potion bottle from her
pack. It had a ring of fake fur wrapped around the bottle neck, which had little
hearts like a Cybunny neck scruff. The turquoise liquid inside the bottle rippled
gently and invitingly, asking her to drink it. Jem took the bottle in her paws
and stared into the liquid. She closed her eyes, uncorked the bottle, and drained
the contents without allowing another thought.
There was no warning of the change coming, none
at all. The morphing process, which I'm warning you is disgusting, but painless,
began immediately as she drained the last potion drop. The first thing to change
was her tail. It swooshed back into her spine, and in it's place popped a furry
white cotton ball Cybunny tail. Her sleek Lupe sides shortened and rounded out
into the wide Cybunny rib shape. Her bones became finer in the body and tougher
in the paws, creaking and cracking to make room for one other. She heard her
insides slosh inside her as they became smaller, designed not for meat and bones,
but vegetables and cheese. Two long Cybunny ears sprang from her head before
her own Lupe ones disappeared, giving her an extremely odd appearance.
Most of her back legs were sucked into her swiftly
changing body, leaving the back feet to flatten out and enlarge themselves.
Her front legs became thicker and shrunk, with long fur on the foot pads that
would carry her above the snow in Terror Mountain like snowshoes. Her thick
Lupe pelt vanished, then... POOF! Millions of downy, short white furs appeared,
capable of keeping her as warm and cozy in temperatures below freezing as she
would be in spring. A collar of thick fur with hearts grew quickly from her
short neck. She swept her long whiskers about, which were extremely sensitive.
Her small nose twitched rapidly, and her hind feet thumped in anticipation.
Jem was a Blue Cybunny.
"Ooo-oh-hh, you're ADORABLE!" cried Jess, picking
up Jem and hugging her fiercely. When the human lowered the newly-changed Cybunny,
Death growled and sprang at her, unable to contain the wolf-like instincts that
said hunt small things. Jess yelped and quickly pulled Jem up again, and Death
smashed head first into the bench that Jess had put Jem on before she was changed
to a Cybunny. "You three, go back inside. I'll be there soon." The pets left,
Death rubbing her head and looking menacingly at Jem, promising that this wasn't
the end.
"Can I pick my name now?" asked Jem, wary of
the attention. She flexed her powerful Cybunny back feet and sprang away from
Jess' loving, but annoying grasp.
"Oh, sure." Jess said agreeably, digging in
her pack for the paint brush Neopoints she had brought with her. "Pick whatever
you like."
Jem thought about this. After a few minutes,
she came up with a name that was unlikely to have been already used. The name
meant "Earth Loner" in her native Lupe tongue. "How about Qakaina?" she asked
hopefully.
Jess agreed, "Sure. I doubt any pet is named
that. Now, what color would you like to be?"
Jem, who I shall now and forever more call Qakaina,
shrugged, not really caring. "What colors do Cybunnies come in?" she asked,
for she hadn't yet seen the Rainbow Pool's Wall Of Colors. Jess grinned happily
and led her across Neopia Central, to the big Wall Of Colors, which had a picture
of every pet color combination available. Qakaina sat back on her haunches and
skimmed through the pictures, oohing over the Baby Cybunny and grimacing at
the Disco and Tyrannian Cybunnies. Finally her glance halted on a Cybunny that
was gold in color and spattered with irregular black spots. "I want this one,"
she told her owner firmly.
Jess said that was a lovely color, and the girl
disappeared to the Shop Wizard's starry tent, leaving Qakaina to skim over the
other pet pictures and mingle with other hoping-to-be-painted pets and dreaming
owners. Several minutes later, Jess called to her from a bench beside the Rainbow
Pool. Qakaina pushed through the crowd of users and sped with impossible quickness
to her human's side.
"I got the paint brush," Jess told her happily,
opening a small box lined with purple velvet, revealing a gleaming Spotted Paint
Brush within. "Now you just hop into the fountain, dear, and I'll touch you
with the brush, and you'll have a beautiful spotted coat."
Qakaina shuttered at the prospect of going into
the swirling rainbow waters, though she had thought them so beautiful only that
morning. She shook her head and argued, "No way I'm going in there. No ifs,
ands, or... AAAHHH!" For despite her ranting, Jess had picked her up and dropped
her into the Fountain.
She valiantly fought the panic, but it surged
over her like a tidal wave, and she began thrashing in the water and screaming
her little lungs out. But Jess reached over the edge of the Pool and ran the
Spotted Paint Brush over Qakaina's face. Instantly her white coat turned gold,
and splatters of black splashed around her face and body, as if a giant pen
was dripping right over her. With a heave of her humongous hind feet, the Cybunny
leapt over the edge of the pool and stood with shaking legs, panting for breath
and trying to calm down from the fright. But her coat was newly minted with
black and gold patterns, just as beautiful as the picture on the wall.
Later that evening the pair went home, and Jess
showed Qakaina the new room she had prepared for the new pet she had planned
to create. Qakaina leapt onto the Tiger Bed that Jess had put in one corner
and exclaimed, "Thank you, for everything! I never want to leave you!"
Jess kissed the Cybunny on her spotted forehead.
As the girl was tucking Qakaina into bed, Jess said suddenly, "But Qakaina,
don't forget what happened to the pet that suddenly got everything it had always
wanted."
"What?"
Jess smiled. "It lived happily ever after."
The End
Author's Note: Qakaina, DancingDeath, Jeuze, and TheWhiteQueen are all
my pets on another account called arabianfox. No, Qakaina wasn't originally
a Lupe, I just thought it would be a nice twist to the story if it were a strong,
playful Lupe pup that was terrified of water. Qakaina isn't spotted yet, but
I'm working on it. Please tell me what you thought of the series.
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