Tales from Koi: Amberrianna

      “Mom, Fire’s a boy!” I called.

      “Oops, sorry, Fire. I forgot you were here,” Purple replied shamefully.

      Then we jumped off our Sparkling Faerieland beds.

      We heard Fire squeakily walking off his Regal Shenkuu Bed. He was fascinated with Shenkuu once we told him the stories about it, and how it was said to be the wisest place on Neopia. His whole room was Shenkuu themed, while Waneena's and mine was Faerieland, with posters of Jhudora and Fyora. Waneena liked Fyora, while I thought Jhudora was way cooler; she’s evil and all, but she never bothers anyone. I often swim up to her cloud to talk to her and help her with her quests. Unlike insane rumors, she isn’t making a potion to poison Illusen, she helps the Soup Faerie!

      When we arrived at the living room and sat on the Disco Print sofa, Fire asked why she was going out.

      “Well, it’s a surprise, but let’s just say there’ll be an extra hand around house.” She winked.

      After Purple left, we went crazy with the ideas.

      “I hope she’s getting me a petpet!” Fire smiled. “Perhaps a Gikerot!”

      “I bet she is finally getting us a nanny! I hope it’ll be a Nimmo, they are so nice!” Waneena gushed.

      “What if she gets another pet?” I suggested quietly.

      “No way!” Waneena shook her head.

      “She said she’d wait until Poogle Day so she could get one. Oh no! What if she adopts one and pounds one of us so she can get a Poogle?” Fire stressed.

      “She wouldn’t pound any of us. Especially you, Fire. I think she’s trying to get a morphing potion for you,” I declared.

     ***

      “Kids, I’m home!” Purple called, laughing.

      “PIZZAROO PIZZA!” Fire shrieked, and stampeded into the kitchen.

      When I arrived in the doorway, Fire stood gaping at a seat in the kitchen.

      “What is it?” I pondered. I side-stepped around him and stared.

      Sitting in my chair was a Yellow Xweetok. She had burning amber eyes and a chocolate pelt with buttery neck fur.

      I carefully approached her, “Hi. My name is Nodia, and I think that’s my seat. Sorry.”

      “My name is Amberrianna and I think this it my seat now, Gills.”

      “Gills? My name is Nodia... and that’s Waneena and Fire.”

      “Got it, Gills, Prancy, and Christmas,” Amber insulted us.

      “Um, Purple!” I shrieked.

      “MOMMY! THE FISH IS BEING MEAN TO ME!” Amberrianna wailed.

      “Nodia, stop! By the way, Waneena, I bought another Shenkuu bed. You have to room with Fire now. Amber is with Nodia and will take your Faerieland bed.” Purple grinned innocently.

      “NO!” Waneena and Fire shrieked in unison.

      After a lunch of eating and the floor, I stomped up to our room, only to see Amberrianna tearing my Jhudora posters to shreds.

      “Please stop,” I begged. “Those are my favorite posters.”

      Her eyes narrowed. “Mother said I should do anything I wanted to make myself comfortable. So I’m getting rid of your entire room theme and replacing it with Haunted Woods furniture.

      “But what if I’m not comfortable?” I sobbed.

      “Deal with it.” She smirked.

      I flung myself out of the room and into Fire’s. I bolted the door once I was inside.

      “What’s wrong?” Waneena asked as she hung up her Fyora posters on her side of Fire’s room.

      “S-she t-tore d-down- m-my Jhudora posters!” I wailed.

      “I’m so sorry, Nodia. We have to tell Mom.” Fire put his hand on my shoulder.

      “We can’t; she believes Amberrianna more than us!” I cried.

      “Well, the posters are pretty cheap. You can ask Purple to buy you some more,” Waneena suggested.

      “She’s replacing our Faerieland theme with a Haunted Woods one,” I sobbed. “I haven’t been there since my owner abandoned me! I hate it there! I had to limp to the pound by myself. DON’T LET HER DO THIS TO ME!” I sobbed, clinging to Waneena.

      “Okay, this is it. This girl is NOT going to hurt you like this!” Waneena stormed out of the room and into mine. I crept behind her to listen.

      “What do you want, Prancy?” Amberrianna asked.

      “I want to talk to you.” Waneena frowned.

      “Then talk.” Amber smirked, hanging up a Brain Tree poster.

      “You don’t even know about Nodia’s history. When she was around eight, her owner abandoned her in the Haunted Woods with Kikoughkela. Then she had to limp to the pound, hoping to get treatment. That’s when Purple found her. She surrounds herself with things she likes, and never goes trick or treating because she hates the Haunted Woods,” Waneena explained.

      “I am so sorry, I didn’t know,” Amberrianna mumbled.

      “It’s okay.” Waneena shrugged. “Can you get her stuff back, though?”

      Amberrianna nodded. “I’m sorry for being mean to you guys... when I feel like I don’t fit in, I think I have to push someone out.”

      “Amber, you’ll always fit in with our family. We’re a mixed and matched bunch, and it always takes a while for us to adjust to a new sibling.” Waneena smiled warmly.

      She pushed me in and Amber apologized.

      “I’m sorry, you seem like the type to like the Haunted Woods. I wish I had never been so mean, Nodia.” Amber hung her head.

      I lifted it. “I’m not one to hold a grudge.”

      We moved our furniture back in the room and began to talk.

      “Did she adopt you from the pound?” I asked.

      “No, she created me.” She had roses in her neck and head fur. I had placed them there.

      “Thanks for taping my posters back together.” I grinned.

      “I actually kind of like Jhudora too. I think she’s really just misunderstood,” Amber informed me.

      “Why do you like the Haunted Woods so much? It’s so creepy!” I shuddered.

      “To me it seems interesting. The Brain Tree is so wise, and Edna’s sweeter than people give her credit for,” she explained.

      “It’s like how Fire likes Shenkuu because it fits his personality; you’re like that too. You have a hard shell but a gooey inside,” I mused.

      “I guess that’s true.” She pondered the thought.

      “You know, I treated Waneena the way you treated us at first. When you’re first adopted or created, you feel like a new Neopet. The feeling causes you to try and take control,” I confided.

      “That’s exactly how I felt!”

      “Then, when Waneena was morphed into a Uni before I became a Koi, I was so jealous! Just because she got something before me!”

      “What were you guys before Purple morphed you?”

      “I was a green Acara, and Waneena was a yellow Kacheek.”

      “If you could be morphed again what would you want to be?” she asked.

      “A baby Acara. They are so sweet-looking, Purple always tries to save up for a paintbrush, but she never manages!” I giggled.

      “Maybe someday,” she mused.

      “I hope. She’ll probably paint Waneena, though. She wants to buy a spotted paint brush for her,” I added.

      “Don’t let down your hopes. Maybe she’ll even paint you faerie, then you can see Jhudora every day.” Waneena suddenly appeared in the doorway.

      We chatted like we’d known each other all our lives, and I felt like we had.

The End

The first of many adventures featuring Waneena, Nodia, Fire, and Amber.