It was a bright morning on the first day of Hunting. In the NeoHome of tklotl,
three pets were doing their usual activities in the living room. Doldey, a brown
male Acara, was reading his worn-out copy of The Neopian Encyclopedia K-J,
being careful not to see the last page (Doldey had figured that since if he
finished the book it would disappear, if he never finished it, it would never
go away). Kistaki, a skunk female Usul, was quite literally beating the stuffing
out of a miniature Punchbag Bob doll. Rhaiie, a Halloween female Nimmo, was
teaching her PetPet Esfe how to laugh maniacally. Three pets and their PetPets
(Kistaki had Tikala, a Wadjet. Doldey had Teppic, a Warf), just doing their
normal things.
Their owner, tklotl (or TK as she preferred to be called), opened the front
door and walked in. Her pets didn't notice her until she called out, "Hey guys!
Guess what? You've got a new little sister!" Three pets reacted in three different
ways.
Doldey let out a piercing scream of "WHAT?!"
Kistaki said, "Cool!" and proceeded to rip the head off of her doll, and Rhaiie
looked up from her attempts to make Esfe more suitably evil. "Species, colour,
name?" she queried.
"She's a blue Kyrii named Elmarithial. Kistaki, you should take more of an
interest in things besides the Battledome. Doldey, stop screaming. Let me explain
things to you before you make immediate judgements."
Doldey stopped screaming, but still looked desperate. "Mum, you can't do this!
Me' n 'Teppic are the only boys in the house! I mean, even Tikala and Esfe are
girls! Now you just go bring in another sister? I'm the only kid at school with
nothing but girls at home! And we're not ready for another sibling anyway! You
could have at least TOLD us."
TK sighed. "Doldey, you didn't give me a chance to explain. All of you, stop
what you're doing and listen, all right?"
"All right," they chorused reluctantly.
"Okay. I was walking through the marketplace, looking for some good deals….."
TK looked around at the stalls surrounding her. One offered bargain prices
on all things vegetarian. Another exclaimed that it was a proud sponsor of the
Night Pack Lupe Clan Guild. None of them were really very good, mostly owned
by newbies. She headed over to another section of the marketplace. Here, the
shops were bigger, older. The shopkeepers didn't have flamboyant wallpaper or
hordes of dolls. The signs were small, and didn't brag quite as much. Smiling,
she chatted with some of her friends there on the rising prices, overcharging,
and general economy of Neopia. The people here were wiser in the ways of shopkeeping,
and were on good terms with frequent customers.
After buying some candy for her pets, TK wandered a bit. Browsing the shops
as she usually did, she noticed three stalls right next to each other. Their
stock was average, not too expensive. Affordable, at any rate. They had some
new items. Between the three of them, there was an entire Lab map--and at a
good price.
TK shifted her position nervously. She had enough money to get it. But would
her pets like it? No, she thought. They like what species and colour they are.
Still, when am I going to find a bargain better than this? I'll just have to
get another pet…
Fitting the pieces together, TK hastily crammed the completed map into her
backpack. Things like this cost a lot of money, even at a good price. Theives
might notice that she bought something expensive, and she didn't want that to
happen. Casually, she walked out of the marketplace and into the main part of
Neopia.
While the marketplace had been busy and bustling, the rest of the city was
fairly quiet. Owners took their pets on walks through the various parks. People
drifted around, some heading to the Adoption Agency, some heading to Pet Central.
There were a lot of buildings here, but they were spaced out, with wide roads
between them. Bushes and benches were on the sides of the roads. There wasn't
a lot of noise. TK had always liked it here.
Opening the door to the Create-a-Pet Station, she walked in. At a desk in front
of her sat an attendant. "Welcome!" she said cheerfully. "Would you like to
see the pictures and descriptions of what pets we have to offer?"
"Yes," replied TK. The attendant held up a sheet. "I assume you already know
the names, because I've seen you before. Is this your third pet, tklotl?"
"Actually, my fourth. I got an Acara from the pound."
"Ah. Then you are aware that you can only have four pets?"
"Of course I am, I'm not a newbie."
"Good point. So do you know which pet you want?" TK looked over the paper.
Lingering her eyes on the picture of the Krawk, she reached a decision.
"I'll take a Kyrii."
"Follow me, please."
The attendant directed her to a room with an incubator, a basket of eggs,
and another attendant. "Welcome. Please select a gender and colour." TK picked
up an egg. It was dark blue, and had a female symbol marked on it. She handed
it to the new attendant. Wordlessly, he placed it in the incubator. After a
few minutes, it cracked open, and a tiny blue Kyrii stumbled out. "What do you
wish to name your new pet?" the attendant drawled. "Hmm. How about…..Elmarithial."
Writing down the birth records on a piece of paper, he handed her the baby and
pointed to the door.
Once outside, TK wrapped the newborn Kyrii in a blanket. It was so small! She
remembered when she had first adopted Kistaki. The little ball of fur had charmed
her heart out so much, she'd decided to get another pet just the next day. Rhaiie,
however, hadn't stayed cute. As soon as she could talk, she'd demanded that
both her and her Huggy, Esfe, would be painted Halloween. And Kistaki had lost
her charm the first time she saw the Battledome. Doldey was already too old
to be considered adorable.
Looking down at the sleeping pet, TK whispered, "You'll always be my special
girl, even when you aren't one anymore. Even when you're not a Kyrii. I'll always
love you, Elmarithial."
"...and then I came back home. So she won't always be a sister, Doldey. That's
why her name is so odd--its gender-neutral. Now you can voice your opinions."
Doldey went back to his book. "Fine with me. Just don't give her any of my
things." Rhaiie cast a sideways glance at the open backpack.
"You could have told me you were going to buy a Lab map, mother," she said
softly. "I could have gotten the scientist to let you have a free pass… you
wouldn't have to pay anything."
"I don't doubt that you could have, Rhaiie. Two reasons why I didn't: One,
I didn't know when I left that I was going to buy it. Two, I'd like us to be
a normal family, and that means no taking advantage of the fact that you're
on very good terms with a side of Neopia that people usually stay away from."
Kistaki tore the arms off of the miniature Punchbag. "I'm just curious, Mum.
I heard the Lab can make you stronger. Will Elmarithial be able to beat me in
a fight eventually?"
TK smiled. "Eventually. So you'd better train harder."
Kistaki's eyes grew as wide as saucers, and then she let out a battle cry and
threw the doll so hard against the side of the room that the wall dented. "I
really wish you'd stop doing that, Kistaki."
Three days later…
"Hey, Kistaki, want to race?" called Elmarithial.
"Sure!" Kistaki yelled back. "You know I'll win!" Laughing, the two started
running. Kistaki got off to a good start, but Elmarithial zoomed around the
house so quickly that the Usul was forced to leap aside to prevent herself from
being run over. TK watched in a mixture of happiness and sorrow.
"Little Ellie grew up so soon," she murmured. "Now she's the fastest NeoPet
in her school. And she isn't even a girl anymore! Doldey's happy, he's got a
brother now. Kistaki's getting along well. As for Rhaiie... well, she doesn't
seem to be unhappy, at least. But I wish.... I wish maybe she hadn't turned
into a full-grown NeoPet so quickly."
Watching them, her sorrow melted away. How could you find anything wrong with
your pets? TK even loved Rhaiie, evil little schemer that she was. Walking back
into the house with a smile on her face, she went to see how the PetPets were
doing.
The End | 
