"Oooo! Please! Please! Plleaaasee!"
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!"
Fiona screamed loudly at the tiny Faerie Ixi
latching herself to her leg. Hearing this sudden outburst, the Faerie Ixi squealed
with delight and hopped around on her two back hooves, creating loud clomping
noises as she did so.
"YAY! WE'RE GOING TO THE TOY STORE! TOY STORE!
TOY STORE!" the Ixi sung with a piercingly high shriek before galloping down
the busy street, weaving in and out of the confused shoppers as they tried to
make their way down the congested Neopian Central streets. Her frazzled owner
watched her run away and then began chasing after her, gasping and panting for
air as she tried to keep up with her energetic pet.
"KAISORI! SLOW DOWN KAISORI!" Fiona screamed,
but the blissfully happy Kaisori ran ahead, stopping only once she reached the
outside of a large purple building adored with a yellow Kacheek holding a sign
that read TOYS.
Fiona slowly staggered over to Kaisori, wheezing
loudly as she gasped for air. The Ixi turned towards her owner, not a bit winded
and began to chatter excitedly.
"Fiiooonnnaaaa! What toy can I get?! What toy?
Huhuhuhuhuh--?"
"Any toy, just pick one, we need to get home
very quickly," Fiona said quickly, as to not have to hear any more of the Ixi's
hyper questioning.
Kaisori slowly entered the toy store and glanced
around at the isles packed with toys and games, gleefully wondering which toy
she would buy. She raced through the isles packed full of toys and dolls, thinking
the whole time what type of toy she would buy.
A yo-yo? she thought.
No, breaks too easily.
Some dice?
Boring and so easy to lose!
A Faerie doll?
Too rare and expensive!
A plushie?
Yes! A plushie! A tiny little plushie was the
ideal toy! She could play with it, take it everywhere, it was a brilliant idea!
Kaisori galloped down the plushie isle, looking at the dolls stuffed onto the
shelves. A Techo plushie here, a Lupe plushie there, none of the stuffed pets
really appealed to her. She sat down and rummaged through a large pile of plushies
on a bottom shelf, hoping to find something to buy.
Nothing! None of them seemed like the perfect
plushie for her...
Kaisori sighed, ready to admit defeat, until
she noticed a strange plushie at the bottom of the pile. She reached a purple
hoof in the pile and pulled out a simple Babaa plushie. It didn't appear to
be a rare, or special plush. Its soft woolly fur was dusty and full of dirt.
The light yellow fur was tinged with black dirt, and it had an odd array of
patches sewn haphazardly on to its body. Although it was horribly worn out,
it didn't bother the small Ixi in the least bit. Something about the plushie
had a warm, comforting feel to it.
"It's so soft and snuggly!" she cooed, hugging
the Babaa close to her. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but something about
it was just so familiar, so safe…
"Baaa"
Kaisori turned around on the spot, looking around
wildly.
"What was that?" she mused, perplexed. It sounded
like a petpet, but petpets weren't allowed in the toy store!
"Baaa"
It sounded like a Babaa, but Kaisori didn't see
any around her, unless… She peered at the plushie in her hands. It appeared
to be your normal, everyday plushie except it was… well… alive!
"You're ALIVE!?" she shrieked. The Babaa smiled
and nodded happily, snuggling deeper into the Ixi's arms. But how?! Plushies
weren't alive! They were just stuffing and cloth! Not fur and life!
"Wow… you must be a SPECIAL plushie! Wait till
Fiona sees this!" Kaisori squeaked as she ran to the front of the store to find
her owner.
"We're home!" Fiona announced as she opened the
door to her NeoHome. Inside a fire Lupe was lazily playing with a Doglefix while
a desert Aisha was deeply immersed in a book by the fireplace.
"Hello Fiona," the Aisha said politely, "did
you finish your…"
"GUYS! I FOUND A REAL LIVING PLUSHIE! IT'S SOOOO
COOL!" Kaisori hollered as she ran into the house, galloping around her siblings
while waving the stuffed Babaa around insanely.
"Kaisori... are you… okay?" the Aisha asked warily
as her sibling stopped prancing and looked over at her.
"OF COURSE! But sis! You HAFTA see my plushie!
It's ALIVE!"
"KAISORI!" Fiona screamed as she laid her head
in her hands. "You've been saying that plushie was alive for the past hour,
but its impossible! Plushies can't be alive, they are just that! Plushies!"
"But... but... Fiona! It was alive! Really!"
the Ixi whimpered pathetically.
"Uh-huh… sure Kaisori, whatever," the Lupe said
sardonically as he tossed a ball to his Doglefox. Kaisori huffed up and clomped
off to her room, still holding the Babaa in a tight embrace.
Though it was past midnight Kaisori was still
awake. She sat in her room that night quietly looking over at her the stuffed
Babaa and frowning. It hadn't moved at all since that afternoon, and she began
to wonder if she really did imagine that lived after all…
"Maybe someone who knows magic can help me tell
if it's real or not," Kaisori wondered aloud. She thought about it as she picked
up the Babaa and stared into its plastic eyes. What had she to loose anyway?
She could go to the high street and maybe Kauvara from the magic shop could
help her!
Kaisori silently unlatched her window and jumped
out, flapping her large fairy wings to slow her decent to the dewy grass below.
"Don't worry Mr. Babaa! I'm sure Kauvara will
help us!" Kaisori whispered to the Babaa. It simply smiled its sewed on smile
blissfully before the two started off.
As the Ixi walked along the abandoned streets,
she started to realize how late it was, and how afraid she was. Kaisori started
to recall the stories her friends had told her about the monsters that lurked
around the area at night, waiting for innocent Neopets to come their way…
What if I run into them? Will they try to
attack me? Kaisori whimpered silently to herself as she pondered these questions.
Regardless of the fear that lurked inside her, she trudged on.
As her hoofs began to ache, Kaisori started to
wonder what time it was. She was sure that it was past her bedtime. Moreover,
she was sure she was horribly, horribly lost. Nothing around her looked familiar
as the tall trees loomed above, blocking out the night sky, making the night
darkness even more foreboding. She felt alone and vulnerable at the moment,
the Babaa providing a some comfort, but not much.
"I-I want to go home. It's too scary out here!"
she cried to herself, hugging the Babaa close to her, tears splashing down its
woolly coat. Kaisori cried, but soon stopped when a bush behind her began to
rustle and shake violently.
"HAA HAAA!"
Kaisori screamed in terror as a large blue blur
shot out from behind the bush and swooped down upon her. The Pant Devil leered
evilly as it floating disturbingly close to her face.
"Awww, is the wikkle Neopet all alonnnee?" it
crooned cruelly before giving a sinister cackle. Kaisori shivered and tried
to back away, but then horrid monster only advanced closer towards her.
"G--GO AWAY!" she stammered as she tried to swat
at the Pant Devil. But it simply dodged the ill-placed attack and moved even
closer towards her.
"Oooo! A plushie, I like plushies!" It grinned
sinisterly before latching on to the leg of the stuffed Babaa, trying to snatch
it away.
"NO!" Kaisori screeched at the top of her lungs
as she tightened her grasp on the Babaa. She grabbed a nearby rock, hoping her
aim was as good as she thought it was, and threw it with all her might at the
monster.
SMACK! The rock made a sickening crack
as it hit the Pant Devil smack dab on the top of its head. The monster snarled
and reared on Kaisori.
"WHY YOU LITTE TWERP, YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" it
roared, swatting at Kaisori. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for its cold,
steely claws, but they never came…
"GERROFF ME! GERROFF!"
She opened her eyes to see her plushie, sinking
its teeth deep into the Pant Devil's arm, a determined glare in its glossy,
plastic eyes.
"WHAT IS THIS!?" the confused monster hollered,
disturbed by the living plushie. Kaisori seized the opportunity and launched
a kick at the Pant Devil, hitting it square in the face. The monster bounced
backwards and landed in a heap, glaring at the two.
"I'LL BE BACK!" he screeched madly before floating
off into the night.
Kaisori sat there stunned. That was the Pant
Devil! She could have been really hurt, or possibly even worse. She was lucky...
"Baa…"
Her eyes snapped down to her petpet. It waggled
its plushie tail happily, staring up at her with adoring, plastic eyes.
"I'm sorry for thinking you weren't real Mr.
Babaa. You'll always be my plushie friend!" she smiled, holding the stuffed
Babaa in a tight hug, feeling its warm wool next to her face.
"BYEEE FIONA! I'M GOING OFF TO PLAY!!" Kaisori
yelled down the hall, as she ran out of the house the next morning. Fiona smiled
and went into the Ixi's room with the intent to tidy it up a bit.
As she cleared the floor of clutter and toys,
Fiona looked over at Kaisori's desk to see the plushie Babaa sitting atop it.
Fiona picked it up and placed it lovingly on the bed, smiling at the rag doll
plush. After finishing with the room, she turned to the door, ready to start
cleaning the other rooms of the house.
"Baaa..."
She stopped in the doorframe of the room, looking
around wildly. It sounded like a Babaa, but there was no Babaa in the household…
She cast a wary eye over at the plushie lying
on the bed, her eyes growing wide.
"Your just a bit tired, plushies aren't real…
we all know that," she coaxed herself as she stumbled out of the room, missing
the plushie's happily smirk at her confusion.
The End
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