Seeking Summer: Part One

      “Ye betcha.” The Eyrie winked at me. “I’ll be back ‘round six.”

      “All right,” I called back cheerfully as he took flight. As soon as I turned around, my good mood faded.

      “Uurgh, Icecreamy, why couldn’t you have picked a better carriage driver? This one was TERRIBLE. I JUST washed and brushed my fur today, and now it’s RUINED!” Angrily smoothing her fur, my sister glared at me.

      Whoa, sorry. I should back up a little. First of all, I am Icecreamy, a blue Gelert, the only boy in my family. I have an amazing owner, Elizabeth. My nice, calm, and normal sister is QueenKiya; she’s a blue Xweetok. And the lovely sister you just heard talking was none other than SummerSunLover, a striped Kacheek.

      Now, back to my story...

      “Calm down, Summer,” Elizabeth said soothingly. “It’s just a bit of wind. It’ll go back to normal.”

      Trying to hide a laugh, I turned, pretending to be very interested in the Wheel of Excitement up ahead. Summer is such a drama queen. Every minute of every day, she’s worrying about how she looks.

      “B-b-but I NEED to look nice,” Summer wailed as we walked. “I-I don’t want the faeries to see me like this!”

      Kiya calmly adjusted the pale blue bow perched atop her head. “Summer, you look fine. And besides, there are no faeries around.”

      Summer glared again. “But there COULD be faeries nearby! They can appear out of thin air! I thought you would know that, Miss Perfect!”

      Kiya adopted a serious expression. “Careful, Summer, Fyora’s behind you.”

      Summer gasped and whirled about, ready to greet a queen that was, no doubt, still in her castle. Summer searched around for a few seconds before she realized she’d been tricked. Eyes narrowed, she slowly approached Kiya, who was smirking in triumph. Summer had a very angry look about her, one I recognized from a few days ago, right before she tackled me.

      “Oh, Summer, leave her alone!” I snapped. “This ridiculous conversation is only happening because of you and your obsession over yourself!”

      Summer now rounded on me. “No, both of YOU leave ME alone!” she shrieked. “I’m sick of being part of such a calm family! All of you are always so reasonable! I DON’T LIKE REASONABLE PEOPLE!” she finished with a shout.

      Kiya actually began to look a little alarmed. “Summer, relax. Let’s just think about this for a minute.”

      “SEE! That’s what I mean! I’m sick of this!” Summer stomped away angrily, into the depths of Faerie City.

      I spun around to see a crowd of staring Neopians. I gave them a weak smile. In a flash, Kiya was at my side.

      “It’s all right!” she called confidently, like a queen addressing her subjects. “She does this all the time. Go back to your daily lives, now!”

      The crowd slowly separated, and my sister and I walked back to Elizabeth, who looked completely shocked. She called my name, almost in a daze, and I approached her.

      “Icecreamy, please follow Summer. I don’t know if she’s serious about being sick of our family. I don’t want her to leave, I really don’t.”

      “Why don’t you let her make her own choices?” I asked hopefully. “Would it really be such a loss?”

      “Icecreamy, please!” Elizabeth’s dark brown eyes were serious. “Summer was my first pet. I don’t want to lose her!”

      “Fine,” I grumbled, turning on my paw. I was only going after Summer for Lizzie. Personally, I wouldn’t mind at all if Summer left. We could be a much happier family.

      *

      “Summer! Summer!” I called as I passed through the maze of shops. “SUMMER!” I saw her striped tail whip out of sight behind a building.

      I set off at a trot, chasing after her. Having four legs instead of two, and being a fast runner, I caught her quickly, diving and grabbing her tail.

      “LEAVE ME ALONE!” Summer flashed around, face pink. “Get away from me, Icecreamy! I don’t need you, not Kiya, not Elizabeth, not anyone!” She stormed away.

      I carefully considered my options. For one, I could go find Lizzie and Kiya, and say that I hadn’t found Summer. Nah. That would just cause Lizzie to break down into tears. For another, I could wander the shops for an hour or two, then go back to my family and say that Summer knocked me out with a garbage can lid, and I had only just awoken to find her gone. No, that wouldn’t work either. What if Summer decided to come back, and told them that I hadn’t bothered to look at all? Lastly, I could go after her. Not that I wanted to do that at all. I was sure we’d be much better off without her. Besides, what if she really DID knock me out?

      “I’m gonna regret this,” I muttered to myself, racing after her.

      *

      I turned a corner just in time to see Summer trip and fall over a particularly puffy cloud. I took advantage of her fall by leaping into the air and landing on her back.

      She screamed, the loudest scream I’ve ever heard. Then again, she probably didn’t know who I was.

      “Summer, be quiet!” I hissed. “It’s me!”

      She craned her neck, trying to see me. “I thought I told you to LEAVE ME ALONE!”

      Two Air faeries were now hurrying towards us. “What’s the problem here?” one, a tall blonde, asked.

      “I’m her brother,” I rushed to explain. “She ran away, so our owner sent me after her, except she doesn’t want to come back...”

      Summer struggled under me. “I... I... no... but...”

      “Is this true?” The second faerie, a thin brunette, peered down at us.

      “I... I... no!” Summer squirmed, trying to get free.

      “Wha....? Yes, yes it is!” I protested.

      The faeries looked at one another, and then sighed in unison. “Look, just sort this out, will you?” They turned and pranced away.

      The two of us sat there in silence, Summer lying helplessly under me, who was perched awkwardly on her back.

      Summer broke the silence by yelling, “GET OFF ME!”

      “Do you promise to come back?” I questioned her. “Lizzie needs you!”

      Summer paused, then said, “Fine.”

      “What...? Really?” I was shocked. I had been expecting a much larger fight, maybe involving some screams and sticks.

      “Yeah. Just for Lizzie.”

      *

      “Okay, let’s get out of here.” I turned in the direction of the way we had come.

      “Icecreamy, you are sooo clueless. We came from this way!” Summer nodded her head in the opposite direction.

      “Uh, Summer, we’re supposed to go THIS way.” I pointed towards the city.

      “Whatever.” She marched past me. “It’ll be your job, then, to explain why you lost me. When the whole point of you coming after me was to bring me back.” Summer put her paws on her hips.

      “Summer! Won’t you just listen to me for once?! We came from THAT way–” I thrust a paw out – “And the way you claim is the right way is... is the wrong way! Don’t you know that’s the bad side of Faerieland?”

      Summer paused mid-step. “The bad side?” She turned. “What’s the bad side?”

      “Summer, YOU are the one that’s clueless! Lizzie has warned us so many times not to go into that part! That’s where all the dark faeries are!”

      “Oh, Icecreamy, that’s all lies! You just want me to go your way! I, for one, am going this way, into the ‘dark side’ – She did air quotes – “and whether you choose to follow me or not is your decision.” She flounced away.

      I moaned. I was positive that she was going the wrong way. Don’t you agree? This was wrong. All wrong. She’s older than me, and I’m always the one looking out for her! Which I really shouldn’t do anymore, since we always end up in a difficult situation.

      An image of Elizabeth flashed into my mind. A tearful, sobbing Elizabeth. The Elizabeth I knew I would have to face if I came back without Summer. So I, against my will, cautiously followed my sister.

      *

      “Summer! Summer!” I hissed quietly as I walked. “Where are you?”

      “Why are you whispering?” Summer asked loudly, appearing in front of me.

      I yelled in surprise, then quickly covered my mouth. “Summer! Keep your voice down! The Dark faeries will hear you!”

      “Hear me?” Summer actually began to look a little nervous. “They’ve already heard you!”

      “This is not the time for your attitude,” I snapped. “We need to get out of here! And you need to –“ I stopped short. A long, dark shadow had appeared over the two of us.

      Summer screamed and clutched my neck. I mouthed wordlessly at the shadow, which belonged to a Dark faerie.

      “Hello there,” she said in a sugary sweet voice, bending over us. “You seem to be lost. Let me help you.”

      “N–no, we—we’re fine, thank you,” I squeaked.

      “No, really.” The faerie laughed, grabbing Summer’s arm. “I’ll take you back to my house for some food, shall I?”

      I gaped as Summer was dragged along, all the while making furious motions at me. I knew that I could run for help, but that was so far away. There weren’t exactly any reliable people in the area. And what if something happened to Summer in the meantime? No, I decided, I had to follow them.

      *

      Crawling carefully between clouds, I scanned the scene for a faerie and a struggling Kacheek. Nothing.

      I slumped against a cloud. This was all my fault. I should have ran for help. Not that I couldn’t do that now, but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Summer in the clutches of an evil Dark faerie.

      “No, it isn’t my fault,” I said aloud. “It’s Summer’s! All hers! If she had believed me for once, we would be sitting on a nice cloud with Elizabeth and Kiya eating Cherry Faerie Bubbles!” I lowered my head. I had to do something, and fast.

      Leaping up from my hiding spot, I saw rows of deep purple houses. Which one belonged to Summer’s captivator?

      Suddenly, a thump on the back of my head led me to see stars, and everything went black.

To be continued...