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The Blumaroo bounded off, mug in mouth, from his forested
shelter, hopping as only a famished neopet can as he races towards breakfast,
until he reached a shelter that looked like a cauldron. But instead of a witch,
it was manned by a beautiful creature with wings and an apron, stirring a brew
that smelled of vegetables and some curious odor that the Blumaroo soon labeled
as "Chokato."
"Thank you, miss Soup Faerie, you are so good
to me," said the Blumaroo gratefully as the Faerie ladled the broth into the
mug.
But the mug had not been created to hold Chokato
soup; in fact, it had very poor insulation indeed, and soon it grew so hot that
the Blumaroo screeched and threw it to the ground. "Bad mug! Bad, bad! Owww!
Bad soup, too hot to eat!" And he jumped around in circles, looking for somewhere
to cool his overheated hand as the mug once again found itself rolling across
the ground.
"Aw, poor little dear… I see people come in
here all the time with those mugs. I should put up a sign, I suppose," sighed
the Faerie as she returned to ladling soup. She filled another cup full of fresh
vegetable soup for the wounded Blumaroo, who cast an evil eye towards the mug
as he feebly sipped his precious broth.
"You bad, bad mug… you BAD MUG!" He was yelling
again, and he shouted, "Get it away! LEAVE ME IN PEACE!! GET IT AWAY!"
The Faerie gently picked up the mug and laid
it on the ground next to her cauldron, where it remained even as the Blumaroo
hopped back to the pine tree under which he loved to nap.
In fact, the mug remained on the ground all
day, until the line died down and the Soup Faerie put the cauldron back in the
kitchen and cleaned up the shelter for the night.
But she had not forgotten the mug; in fact, she
knew just what to do with it. As she touched it with her delicate fingers, it
was suddenly heavier and thicker; and when she touched it again, it was instantly
filled it with steaming soup. Lifting gently off the ground, the Faerie clasped
the newly-insulated red mug in one hand and a dark green mug in the other, and
she and the mugs were soon soaring above Neopia and through the clouds.
They passed over a castle with turrets and red
flags, near which there were thousands of purple- and black-clad Neopets armed
with swords and… muffins? But the soup Faerie paid no heed, and gracefully descended
towards a thickly forested area with a single hut in the middle, towards which
crowds of item-bearing Neopets were flocking.
She entered the hut and looked around, but could
not find what she was looking for.
"Illusen! Illusen?" she called out, turning
about the hut in fruitless search. "Ah well," she said to herself, "I'll just
leave it here. Can't be delayed, now can I!"
She tenderly put the green mug down on a table,
and flitted back into the air with the newly-insulated red mug in her hand,
and to the Neopians below she seemed to be the most delicate creature in the
world carrying a precious parcel to the worthiest destination.
Sailing over the seas, the Faerie and her red
delicacy soon reached the cloudiest haven in all Neopia, where fluffy white
puffs of evaporated water mysteriously held up fountains, towers, castles, turrets,
and one rather large, brightly-colored wheel.
But the Faerie seemed to know exactly where she
was going in this cloudy mess; in fact, she was headed for the one cloud that
was a little darker than all the rest-and with good reason.
Upon landing, she was greeted with no more than,
"So, THERE you are, at last! Have you brought me my evening snack?"
"Yes, yes, Jhudora, ma'am," she replied weakly,
handing the mug to a Faerie robed in deep purple with flowing hair of a similar
hue. In fact, everything about the Faerie was deep and dark, with the single
exception of her emerald-colored fingernails, which were clawlike and frightening
in the mauve mist.
"Illusen doesn't know you're here, does she?"
she bellowed at the ever-generous soup Faerie
"No ma'am; no, she doesn't."
"You're not bringing her soup too, are you?"
The gentle Faerie hesitated for a moment, which
she instantly realized to have been a mistake. But it was too late.
"You… you… YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE!" And
with that, the monstrous purple Faerie hurled the hot soup onto the gentle soup
bearer, still clenching the handle of the mug with her terrifying lavender hand.
The soup Faerie wanted to scream in pain, but
she restrained herself, hoping that by keeping her cool she could counteract
Jhudora's hot rage. Without a word, the tender soup Faerie soared up into the
clouds, leaving Jhudora with the mug.
"I can not believe it… I just CAN NOT BELIEVE
IT!" she screeched. "How DARE she do a favor for that… that… ooh, I can not
even say it!" She slammed the mug against a table and clenched her fist.
"And now I have no soup to eat, and I AM HUNGRY!"
She turned towards a line of cowering Neopets that had been watching the scene
from across the room.
"You! Yes, you, blue Kougra! I AM FAMISHED!
GET ME A RED APPLE AND I WILL REWARD YOU! YOU HAVE SIXTEEN MINUTES AND 40 SECONDS
LEFT!"
The Kougra scurried off, leaving Jhudora to stew
in her own hunger. She sent pet after pet on missions to find her food, and
once all the pets had gone, she was again alone with the mug, and most impatient.
She muttered to herself bitter words of hatred until, at long last, the blue
Kougra returned.
The Kougra was not a moment too soon. He darted
through the door, huffing and puffing, feebly holding a red apple out to the
dark Faerie
"I should have walked to get it myself!" she
cried, biting into its juicy goodness and savoring it in her mouth before she
swallowed and continued to speak. "No matter… come back tomorrow and I will
see if I have another quest for you. Oh… and before I forget…here's a little
something for you. In fact, here are two little something for you-a poisonous
lollypop, and a cursed mug that I never wish to see again. Now BE GONE!"
With that, she flung the lollypop at the Kougra,
but it shattered on the floor before it reached him. With an angry scowl, she
flung the mug in the same direction, and the nimble pet caught it in mid-air
and ran off of the cloud; and those who saw him were awed by his speed.
Once far from the terrifying cloud, he examined
the mug, and found himself puzzled. "Wow, look at this thing… it's… it's… what
is it? Aren't these those garage sale Chias on here? What are they called… Mika
and… and… hmm. Well, no matter, I guess I'd better bring it home with me, at
any rate. It's not every day that you get something like this from Jhudora,
now is it?"
The Kougra sleepily trudged home, and it was
morning by the time he arrived at his native island. He passed under several
palm trees and opened a small door near a mountain that seemed to be shaped
like a reptile. The Kougra said good morning to his Spyder and went straight
to bed, leaving the mug next to the eerie Spyder on his table until he awoke
later that day.
When he finally arose, he immediately remembered
the mug, and picked it up from the table to see what use he might be able to
find for it. It was very heavy, he noticed; almost suspiciously heavy, in fact,
but it was empty, and he could think of little use for such an item.
"Might as well bring it to the pot… you never
know the potential of stuff like this," he said to his Spyder, as he stuffed
several small bits of food from his kitchen into the mug and carried it outside.
The air was thick and warm. It was dusk, and
the sun was setting over the mysterious island, casting rays of pink onto the
already-crimson mug. The Kougra approached a cauldron-the second that the mug
had visited-but this one was quite unlike the first. Instead of a tall, apron-clad
Faerie, there was a much shorter one with a grass skirt and a flower in her
hair. And the cauldron was anything but inviting-in fact, the red smoke that
arose from it was downright frightening.
"Welcome, stranger!" said the Faerie "I am Jhuidah
the Island Faerie This is my magical cooking pot."
"Yes, I know, you tell me that every time…"
"If you place suitable gifts to Pango Pango
inside it he may bless you with a very rare spectacular item."
"Yes, I know! I've been here like a hundred
times!"
"Be warned though, if your offerings do not
please the god he can be extremely vengeful!"
"Okay, okay, I think I get it. Look, I have
this mug here, and I was wondering if I could maybe throw it in with a few different
kinds of food, like this strawberry flavored…"
"Choose wisely what you would like to give to
the Great Pango Pango then close your eyes. Wish for something very, very special
and then stir the pot three times in a clockwise direction."
"Is this some kind of joke? Look, just let me
put this stuff in the pot…"
"When the liquid settles, Pango Pango will give
you a great reward."
The Kougra paused, anticipating for Jhuidah to
continue her familiar speech.
"No, that's it… I'm done," she announced. "I
have to say that every time, you know? That's just how they programmed me."
"Um, okay… whatever. Listen, can I just throw
this stuff in now?"
"Yes, but remember… make sure that they are
different items, Pango Pango likes variety!"
"Arrgghh!" The Kougra rolled his eyes, less
than amused by the Faerie He tossed the mug and the food into the brew. Grey
steam rose up, and the water began to boil… but nothing happened.
The Kougra didn't wait for Jhuidah to say it;
he went right ahead without her. "Yes, I know, looks like Pango Pango isn't
very happy, never mind, wrong combination, etcetera etcetera, items back, the
end see you later. Oh, but actually, how about you keep the items… they're all
soggy now."
The frustrated Kougra trotted off, leaving Jhuidah
speechless (literally) to pull the mug and the soggy food out of the pot.
"They never learn," she said to a green Techo
standing nearby. "You can't make any combinations with this mug… it's useless!"
She mindlessly tossed the mug on the ground in front of the Techo.
The Techo, who was next in line, casually threw
a few brightly-colored bottles of sand into the pot, and seemed quite pleased
with the swirly, colorful sandy mess that was created from her ingredients.
She strained the sand out of the pot and turned
to Jhuidah, her arms barely able to hold all the dripping sand. Seeing the mug
on the ground, she felt a sudden burst of inspiration, and she funneled the
sand between her fingers and through the top of the mug. As confused pets looked
on, she smiled knowingly, placing her pet rock on top of the sand and closing
the lid, happy that her beloved petpet finally had a home.
"You know, that wasn't an actual recipe," Jhuidah
said. "Now you just have really nasty looking, wet sand."
"Well… I think it's beautiful."
And with that, she walked complacently home,
mug in hand.
The End
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