Jhuidah and the Cooking Pot

     Her friends didn't notice her disappearance. The faerie ran towards the stranger, eager to see what kind of face the dark cloak hid. But she never got the chance to. As soon as the young faerie had reached the stranger, the cloak swept around her and she fell unconscious.

     "Curious brats," the faerie heard the stranger mutter when she opened her eyes. She took a close look at the mysterious stranger... or should she say... faerie? It really did sound like a faerie's voice. The stranger had narrow shoulders and a slender body, telltale signs of a faerie. The young one decided that it had to be a faerie who had brought her here.

     What was 'here'? The young faerie looked around, and saw a huge amount of tropical plants. Then she spied what would be her life's work. A big, green, mean pot shone in the bright sunlight.

     "Welcome to Mystery Island," the stranger said.

     "Mystery Island?" the young faerie repeated, mystified. "What's a Mystery Island?"

     "It's a place where you'll be staying." The cloaked faerie took a look at the little one, and continued. "This is your destiny."

     "Destiny?" the faerie repeated, confused. No way! Did she really have a destiny, a faerie that hadn't even entered the prestigious Faerie Academy? But then again, she was different. The young faerie remembered how the others had teased her because of the color of her skin, the weird wings and the fact that there was always a flower in her curled hair for some reason.

     "Yes. You are Jhuidah, and you are destined to be the guardian of the Cooking Pot."

     "Jhuidah" the young one said, tasting the name on tip of her tongue. Mysterious, exotic... Yes, it was a good name. She smiled a kind smile at the stranger, for Jhuidah had only been taught to be kind. "And what do I do?"

     "You'll be learning how to work with the Cooking Pot," the stranger said.

     "Great!" the faerie said cheerfully. She had never encountered anything like this. Her old world had been filled with happiness, joy and the occasional bickering, but she was oblivious to the true evils of the world. "But... What about you? What is your name?"

     "My name I will not give so freely," the stranger said. "I'll be your instructor, so please call me the Instructor."

     "Ah... I see!" Jhuidah smiled. "So, what do I do with the pot?"

     "That's for you to discover," the Instructor said with a mysterious smile and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

     Jhuidah shook her head with a puzzled look on her face. "Secrets, eh?" she muttered as she walked towards the Cooking Pot.

     The pot was in a color of deep green, and faint red glowed beneath. Jhuidah supposed that it was the fire that would keep the pot cooking, since it was called the Cooking Pot. She noticed a big spoon, which was probably used to stir the contents of the pot. Beside the pot were a few white skulls, and with a shudder the young faerie wondered if any daredevil adventurers had attempted to cook using the pot.

     "You're the only one who can do it. You and you alone..." the whisper came from the winds, but the young faerie realized that it had to be her Instructor. She smiled again, thinking that the pot wouldn't be so bad after all.

     With a determined face expression, the faerie stopped in front of the pot and looked at it. She inhaled, feeling that there might be a spirit of the Cooking Pot. Then she bent down on her knees and faced the pot, reaching out her hand.

     "Hi Mr. Cooking Pot," the young faerie said in a childish way. "I'm Jhuidah and I'll be your guardian. Let's be good friends, okay?"

     The pot didn't feel so agreeable. It spat out several smoke puffs, forcing the poor faerie to cough several times and wipe her teary eyes before she could function normally. She looked at the Pot, wondering why it was mean to her.

     "Aww... I thought we were friends," she said, putting one hand on the spoon. The spoon immediately flew up and hit her head several times, making the flower on Jhuidah's head wilt. The faerie wasn't a slow girl, and she quickly realized that the Pot wanted to be alone.

     "But you won't be alone," the young faerie said, patting the pot and attempting to make it less hostile. "Because I'll be with you!" The Pot shivered a little, and more smoke found its way to Jhuidah's nose.

     Jhuidah sighed. This Cooking Pot seemed like an impossible case. Her hopeful self wouldn't give up, and she sat down on the ground to watch the sunset.

     "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked the pot as they watched the beautiful red sun disappear at the end of the horizon.

     Jhuidah managed to convince the Cooking Pot that she wasn't such a bad person during the next few weeks. 'Taming' the pot wasn't so bad, but then the Instructor appeared and said that she had to cook in the pot.

     It was hard to find things to cook with in Mystery Island. She managed to get several kinds of fruits from the ground, but the better ones hung in trees. One day Jhuidah decided that she would climb a tree and see if she could get a fruit.

     She walked towards the tree, feeling nervous but confident. She had managed to be friends with the hostile Cooking Pot (who wasn't so hostile anymore, by the way), so this couldn't be harder than that. But still... Jhuidah reminded herself that she had a fear of heights, and bit her nails as she came closer to the tree.

     "Go for it, Island Faerie," the Instructor's voice whispered from the wind. Jhuidah smiled, feeling encouraged. She grabbed the tree and started to climb up the trunk, hoping that she wouldn't fall down. One, two, one, two...

     Finally she dared to open her eyes, and from the top of the tree Jhuidah saw the whole Mystery Island. The Island was bigger than she had thought. There were mountains, little bubbling streams, villages and even boats! The faerie smiled as she grabbed the fruit and slid down the trunk.

     When her feet reached the ground, she felt safe. She was amazed at herself, for doing such daring things. That tree had changed her perspective. Jhuidah had thought that her current little world consisted only of her and the pot on a secret island, but now she knew that she was wrong. There were other people here, even though it felt like it was only her and the pot.

     With her hands full of fruit, the Island Faerie started running back to her dear Cooking Pot. She dumped all the fruit inside the pot, and whispered the magical words that would ignite a fire under the bottom of the Pot.

     "We aren't alone," she said to the pot as she stirred the fruits around. "Even though it may feel like our little place, there will be others to come."

     The Cooking Pot released some smoke and Jhuidah coughed. "Well, it is true." She stopped stirring and fell on her knees, looking at the pot with a soft and fond expression on her face. "Don't worry... I won't leave you. I'm already appointed to you, so I can't even if I wanted, and I don't want to." She smiled, got up and started stirring again.

     But the Pot wasn't so easily convinced. It spat out all the fruits, refused to cook and made trouble. Jhuidah sighed. By now she had realized why the Instructor had chosen her for this task. Despite that, she didn't feel patient. But she had to be nice and act wisely, or the Pot might blow the rest of her fruits up.

     The Island Faerie went off to retrieve her fruits. She put them inside the Pot and tried to cook again, patting and whispering to it gently as if it was a pet.

     "Good job," someone said. Alarmed, Jhuidah turned around and saw that it was only the Instructor. "You have fulfilled your task. The Cooking Pot will be open to Neopia in a week or two."

     "So it's not only us..." the Island Faerie whispered to the Pot. She looked at the Instructor, and her voice shivered as she asked, "So I... I won't be needed here anymore?"

     "That's right," the Instructor said coldly, reaching out a hand. "Don't you miss your friends? Don't you wish for a normal life?"

     "I do..." Jhuidah whispered. She looked at the Cooking Pot. It was sitting there, looking lonely. The fire under the pot was diminishing. "But," the Island Faerie said, turning her head around and looking at the Instructor, "I can't leave."

     "I'm afraid that..." the Instructor started. The tears on the ground convinced her. She sighed, walked up to Jhuidah and squeezed her shoulder.

     "I see," the stranger said, for in that moment the Instructor was a stranger to Jhuidah How could she be so cold and ask Jhuidah to leave when the Island Faerie had taken care of the pot for... she didn't know how long it had been... With a twitch, Jhuidah realized that she had spent almost all of her life with the Cooking Pot. There was no way she would leave the poor thing by itself!

     "Congratulations," the Instructor said. "You passed the test, and you may now be the official Island Faerie, the Guardian of the Cooking Pot." The cloaked faerie raised her left arm and glittery things appeared, falling on Jhuidah "These are your new powers. Use them wisely." With that, the Instructor disappeared in a gust of powerful wind.

     Stunned, Jhuidah stared at the spot where the Instructor had been standing just a few seconds ago. Then she felt the Pot's movements, the familiar stirring and smiled. Yes. It was all right.

     The Island Faerie stretched, sensed the powers inside her as she heard footsteps. Jhuidah whirled around and saw a group of curious Neopians coming, eager to try out the new thing in Neopia, the Cooking Pot that she had worked with so long.

     With a gentle smile, Jhuidah introduced her companion, the Cooking Pot. Those owners and pets nodded politely and tried their items out. They laughed and enjoyed the Pot. The Island Faerie secret shook her head as she watched the excited Neopians leave. Then she bent down and polished the Pot, whispering words of encouragement. The new future seemed bright, but they mustn't forget the past, which bonded them together. With the sun setting behind them, the pot and the faerie were ready.

The End