Thoughts of a Pair of Edible Pets

      Robin the Ixi and his adopted sister Sunset the Zafara, a pair of pets living a forest near Shenkuu, sat in a cave, watching the rain outside. Their suburban section of Shenkuu containing their owner's Neohome was not far from there and the rainfall was comparatively light; most pets would have simply braved the weather. These two pets were an interesting case, however. Robin's body was made out of melty custard, while Sunset's was made out of jelly as brilliantly orange as her name would suggest; in fact, her entire outfit was made out of jelly. If they were to venture out, they would melt and then risk drowning in the mud. Thus, they sat and waited inside the cave.

      Sun broke the silence by asking, "Robin, do you miss going out in the rain? That refreshing feeling?"

      "Kind of... I wasn't very old when I volunteered to be zapped, so I don't really remember it…"

      "I also hear Maraqua is pretty. Neither of us will ever get to see that, huh? Well, you might, if you asked Red to paint you some other color. You'd not have this weakness to water, you'd not have petpetpets nibbling on you, plus you wouldn't have that fear of omelets..." Sun had a curse of sorts put on her a while back as a result of a prior owner injecting her with some kind of magical extract. This gave her the interesting ability to transform nearly anything into jelly and back at will, but also caused her to become painted Jelly permanently, unlike Robin’s comparatively normal situation of having been zapped Custard; never again would Sun know the feeling of rain on her shoulders or the enjoyment of swimming, among other things. She regardless rather enjoyed her condition despite its obvious drawbacks.

      Robin snapped, "Hey! Don't bring up the omelet thing!" He paused for a moment and then continued, "Well, I think I can get over that, plus I’m sure Red knows by now not to serve omelets with me there… Anyway, as I've already gone over, I like the freedom to be able to change my shape... few pets can experience this, right?"

      "Red could paint you Water. Well, whenever that becomes available for Ixis, of course, unless you don’t mind being MP’ed. They're quite a bit more well suited for living life in this world, actually."

      "That's not the same! Well... you know, there's lots of water pets out there; makes me unique. Plus I can brag about taking the challenge of surviving out in the forest as an edible pet, plus, since you're also edible, that means we can share the same experiences, right?"

      "Yeah, you're definitely right about that. Makes me wonder how the universe decided that individuals with bodies like ours should even exist.”

      "Happy accident, maybe? Oh, and hey, going off on a tangent here, but, if Jelly World existed, it probably never rains there, right?"

      "You're making the assumption that it's a fairytale land of sorts. Maybe it does rain and reduce everything to mush. Just imagine the work they'd have to do to rebuild every time. Maybe it would bring them closer together as it would be something they would all have to work together towards."

      "Supposedly there's also a volcano there? What happens if it rains on jelly lava?"

      "It's just a myth, Robin, don't think about it too much."

      Both sat quietly for a while before Sun started talking again.

      "I really do wish we could visit our owner, Red's, Neohome right now... much better than this cave."

      "I always found it to be too hot in there... I have no idea why Red likes it so toasty. You've seen me the last few times we've visited; I get all melty and get custard everywhere. I'm sure it took him forever to clean the rugs."

      "I admit, the heat makes me feel a bit mushy, but he shouldn't mind the mess if it means more company for him, right? Besides, you could always wear some boots or something whenever you visit."

      "Does Red really need the company, though? There's already lots of pets there, like, uhh, Thal, Nan, Art, Trista, Speckle, Coco, Lana, and Steph, assuming I forgot nobody. That’s quite a lot more than ‘three’s a crowd,’ isn’t it?"

      "Well, regardless, I want to see him anyway. What if, you know... he left? Owners do that sometimes."

      "Red wouldn't do that! Why are you so worried about that, anyway?"

      "Well, you know, my first owner, the one who decided that she wanted a Zafara and that her name would be Sunset306, did that. It was back before I got turned into jelly, when I was just a pretty ordinary Yellow Zafara... much like Thal, actually. I didn't see her much, and I feel like I wasted the times when she was there. Perhaps she would've stayed, actually, if I had treated her nicer..."

      "Aww, come on now, Sun, no point worrying about that; it obviously wasn't your fault, she was leaving anyway. Why look at the past, anyway, when you have your nice life now?"

      Sun took her necklace off and held it out in front of her. "She gave me this Candy Necklace, you know. I was very hungry since she didn't stop by too often to feed us, yet I decided to wear it anyway rather than eat it. After I was pounded, I hid it in my fur so that they wouldn't take it away from me, since you may know that they don’t allow customizations in the Pound."

      "Sun, I had no idea you were actually... err, that sentimental. I mean, it's good to remember the past, but... well, fine! We can visit Red if it makes you feel better.”

      The two sat silently for a while longer before Sun decided to get up and find something to do to waste some time. She started to draw a large mural on the cave wall by using her power to turn the wall underneath her fingertips into purple jelly. Robin just sat and watched silently while thinking about what Sun's past life must have been like. Robin had only known Red as his owner, who was always there whenever needed. Despite that, Robin had decided to live separate from him and most of his family.

      After about a half an hour, Sun had covered most of the inside of the cave walls with depictions of herself, Robin, the rest of their family, plus what Robin assumed was Sunset's first owner, as well as what were probably Sun's actual siblings. Since it it was late and the cave was getting dark, Sun began wiping out the drawings on the walls, turning them back into stone. Robin picked a recessed part of the floor in which to sleep due to the fact that he tends to melt when he sleeps. (He actually preferred to sleep in small Petpet burrows, making him the world's only burrow-dwelling Ixi, but this was the best he would get in the cave.) Sun just jellified a section of the floor to make it softer and then lied down on it to sleep. They felt no need to light a fire despite the cold weather; they actually both loved the cold as it helped them hold their bodies together.

      In the morning, the rain had cleared. Sun started poking the now puddle-shaped Robin in order to wake him up out of excitement about getting to meet Red and the others again. The pair left the cave and started on the road to Red's Neohome. Their arrival probably would not be met with as much fanfare as Sun's excitement would seem to imply, but it would still be a pleasant visit at least. Of course, they did both plan on returning to their life in the forest; perhaps, this time, though, they would remember to bring a couple umbrellas and three pairs of galoshes to prepare for the next time it rained.

      The End.