The New Brother

     The family room was brightly lit with decorations of all sorts, most of them obtained from the Advent Calendar. Still, as cozy as the room was, something wasn't there. Something made the room feel empty. It was the plain fact that Ella, the pets' owner, was gone. Of course, she had plainly stated she'd be right back, but that had been two hours ago.

     "Relax," replied Sapphire calmly. The Usul fixed her red ribbons in her ears and sat back down on the couch. "She didn't say where she was going, but she'll be back soon." She then strolled over to the kitchen to raid the refrigerator.

     "I think I should go out and look for her," Pinky said, frowning at Sapphire while she left. The red Uni wasn't used to her owner's absence. Pinky could easily be described as the responsible one and she too, was getting worried. Of course, she didn't show her siblings her fear, but inside, she felt as if she could fall apart.

     Pinky tip-toed over to the door and cautiously opened it. She was struck with a cold blast of snow. As she struggled to open the door, she called out, "Blake, help! It's getting in the house!"

     The Lupe rushed over to help his sister. With the combined force of the two pets, they managed to close the door.

     Pinky plopped on the floor and allowed two tears to rush down her cheek. "Ella..." she whispered to herself and ended up in tears.

     Blake patted his sister on the back. It was a bit awkward for Blake to comfort his sister, when (believe it or not) Pinky would comfort him in his times of need. "Ella will come home soon..."

     The Lupe's voice trailed off as he slowly fell asleep. He dreamt of Ella, cold, alone and afraid. She sneezed and sat in a pile of snow. Shaking and shivering, she got up and tried to walk, but she was too weak and fell in the snow. Suddenly, a Grarrl approached Ella. Faster and faster he came until...

     Chirka! Chirka! Chirka!

     "Huh?" Blake awoke with start. He looked around and saw nothing except a blinding light in his eyes. Obviously he had fallen asleep out in the family room.

     Chirka! Chirka! Chirka!

     The noise was loud and whatever was making it came closer. Blake stood up, and stood his ground. "Pinky, wake up," he motioned to his sister. The Uni blinked and didn't move.

     CHIRKA! CHIRKA! CHIRKA!

     A strange... Neopet?... jumped on Blake and began gnawing at his fur. Blake, who attended the Swashbuckling Academy quite often, sprang in the air and shook the strange thing off of him. He then pinned it into the ground.

     "Don't hurt him!" a voice yelled. It was Ella.

     "Ella?" Blake questioned.

     "Yes! It's me! Don't hurt Monsoon!" A girl with black hair and hazel eyes galloped into the room. She was covered with snow and had an alarmed look in her face.

     "Monsoon?"

     "Monsoon?" Pinky asked sleepily, slowly waking up from her deep, troubled sleep.

     "Monsoon?" came Sapphire's bouncy voice from her room. She bounced into the family room with no sleep in her eyes. Blake looked at her with frustration, knowing that she had slept like a baby.

     "Yes, Monsoon. That's my name, please don't wear it out," the thing that Blake had pinned said. He pushed Blake off of him and brushed snow off of his blue fur. He was cold and shivering, so he had been with Ella all this time.

     "His name is MonsoonPrince, but you all can call him Monsoon," Ella explained slowly. "He is your new brother."

     "But what exactly is he?" Sapphire asked rather rudely.

     "I am a Xweetok, the newest species of Neopets," Monsoon explained calmly.

     "You all will treat Monsoon just as you treat each other," Ella said. She looked sharply at Sapphire, knowing she would treat Monsoon the worst, as Sapphire was spoiled and vain.

     The house was silent for a moment, as all the pets all stared at each other. Ella felt the tension between the pets and said, "Pinky, why don't you give Monsoon a tour of the house?"

     ~*~

     "Here is the library," Pinky pointed out. They had been doing the tour for at least an hour and a half. Monsoon always had questions about everything. Like in the bathroom, he asked, "Why is there a toilet in there if it's called a bathroom? No one I know bathes in a toilet. You should have a separate room called the Toilet Room." When they went to the Storage Room he asked, "Why do things need to be stored? Why not just sell the things or store them in your Safety Deposit Box?" Now Pinky braced herself for another ridiculous question, but surprisingly he didn't say anything. He walked into the room, transfixed at all of the books placed upon bookshelves.

     "Have you read all of them?" he whispered.

     "No... no not yet," Pinky murmured. She was a bit surprised at his question. "A pet like him like reading? I never would've guessed," Pinky thought to herself.

     "May I..." Monsoon started.

     "Yes?" Pinky pushed.

     "May I come in here sometime and read some of them?" he asked timidly.

     Pinky smiled at his question. "Well of course!" she replied. "In fact, I'd like a partner to read with. It's a bit lonely in here with no one to read with. Well, with Blake training all the time and Sapphire... well, being Sapphire... they never have time to read."

     Monsoon smiled. "That will all change!" he exclaimed happily.

     ~*~

     After the tour, Monsoon decided to take a tour of Neopia. He was just about to leave when Blake pounced him.

     "Gotcha!" Blake laughed. He got off of Monsoon and dusted him off. "Sorry pal, but that was payback for this morning! Nobody attacks the great Blake and gets away with it!"

     "I guess I deserved that," Monsoon said while smoothing out his fur.

     "Hey, what was that sound you made before you attacked me? Was it... chika, chika, chika?"

     Monsoon laughed. "Nope. You pronounced it wrong. It goes chirka, chirka, chirka! It's a Xweetok battle cry that sends their enemies running for the hills!"

     "Hey, will you teach me how to do that?"

     "Sorry, only a Xweetok can master that battle cry, but you can work on your own original battle cry!"

     "Will do," Blake said, then held out his paw. "Sorry about the misunderstanding earlier," he said. Apologizing was not easy for Blake to do, but Monsoon would be with him forever, and he didn't want to start out as enemies.

     "It's alright," Monsoon said and shook Blake's paw. He then turned to leave. Before he could, Blake called out, "You want to help me practice before my big battle tonight?"

     Monsoon stopped and said, "You bet I would!"

     ~*~

     "Two down, one to go," Monsoon said to himself. "I need to make friends with Sapphire to be a complete part of this family." He was now in front of Sapphire's bedroom door. He took a deep breath and knocked twice on the door.

     "Who dares knock on the door of Princess Sapphire?" the Usul asked.

     "Monsoon," Monsoon said nervously.

     A few moments of silence passed. Then Sapphire said, "Enter."

     Sapphire was right at the doorway, so when Monsoon opened the door, Sapphire stood right at his face.

     "What do you want, home wrecker?"

     "Home wrecker?" Monsoon stammered. This wasn't going as planned.

     "You heard me. I said, home wrecker. Who do you think you are? Coming into our perfect family and messing everything up? I had the perfect life, Monsoon, until you came in. Now I'm not the youngest, and the youngest is always spoiled and given whatever they want!"

     "But I ... didn't know..."

     "That's right. You didn't know about how no one in this family likes you. Pinky and Blake only pretended."

     "But they..."

     "Who cares what they said? They lied. We all wish you never came into this family and we all wish you were never born. You've ruined our lives!"

     Monsoon fell to the ground and sobbed. Sapphire smirked. "See how it feels? See how it feels for your life to be a living nightmare? Go back to where you belong. In the Create A Pet Center. Or better yet, turn yourself into the pound. I'm sure someone who actually wants you will take you into their home."

     "But I like this family..."

     "But no one likes you! Why don't you just get with the program and leave!"

     "Fine," Monsoon stated through tears. He grabbed a Green Backpack lying on the floor, stuffed food in it and jumped out the window. He ran faster than he had ever run before. He could hear Sapphire's voice screaming, "And don't come back!"

     "Don't worry," thought Monsoon. "I won't."

     ~*~

     That night, Monsoon had an awful time getting to sleep. When he finally did, he had a strange dream.

     A Light Faerie had approached him when he was standing alone in the darkness, she said, "Monsoon, do you know me?"

     Monsoon shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

     "Why, of course you know me! I'm Ella!"

     "Ella? You can't be Ella. Ella is... I mean ... was my owner."

     "I still am, dearie, and I'm worried sick about you! The pets and I have been searching everywhere for you!"

     "But Sapphire told me that they all hated me. They had all pretended to like me."

     "That's not true at all! Once they all got to know you, they all loved you! You should never listen to a word Sapphire says. She's very vain and always jealous of someone."

     "So, you all don't think I'm a home wrecker?"

     "Heavens no! Now as soon as you wake up, rush straight back home! We all are waiting for you!" With that, the Light Faerie tapped Monsoon on the head and he instantly awoke.

     Monsoon raced back home. He ran even quicker than he had when he left, knowing that something good awaited him at the end of the journey. Finally, he flung the door of his house open.

     "Monsoon!" his family cried out with glee. They all hugged the tired and dirty Xweetok with joy and happiness in their hearts.

     That was when Ella said, "Monsoon, no matter what, you will always be a part of this family, no matter what anyone says. As long as I have breath in my body, you shall live with us."

     ~*~

     Ever since then, the family lived happily in their little home. Sapphire was now careful about what she said to Monsoon, and all of her grooming products had been taken away. Of course, she still was as spoiled as ever, but who knows, maybe she'll change. But one thing's for sure, Monsoon realized that there really is no place like home.

The End