The Adventures of a New Big Sister: Part One

     How could she do this to me? HOW?! Wasn't I good enough for her? Wasn't I - a Neopian Times Writer - good enough for my owner?

     I forced myself to stop thinking these things. He is already painted; Jeanie will never get rid of him now... I thought. Then I sighed. At least he's blue.

     ~~~

     I guess I should start by telling you about myself. My name is Ailemea. I am a blue Xweetok and I have a petpet Ditsy by the name of Haelee. I like being an only pet. I'm deadly serious. ONLY PET. My two favorite words to describe myself. That's why after the hurt of Jeanie bringing home the baby Yurble left, I started feeling VERY VERY angry. I knew I had to get back. I stood up and walked to my window. I knew exactly who to ask.

     Lightning and thunder rumbled as I planned the next day.

     ~~~

     I woke up early the next morning and brushed back my fur smoothly. I applied some pale blue eyeshadow to some parts of my fur and then applied brown lipstick to my lips, to pronounce. I finally declared myself perfect. Picking up Haelee, I exited my room.

     There he was. The baby Yurble was crawling around on the floor with a little grin on his face. I froze. He froze, too. I trembled and Haelee nuzzled me comfortingly.

     "Nexy, you little imp " Jeanie said with a little laugh from downstairs. She had just reached the top when she saw her two pets staring at each other. She gulped. "Aile, this is your new brother - Trohanex. Your Uncle Rex helped me name him."

     Uncle Rex? I thought. Traitor. I was speechless; I hadn't wanted to come face to face with the monster this soon. I forced my confidence back into me. "So?" I said, slightly hoarse. Jeanie frowned.

     "What do you mean 'so'?" Jeanie said, a bit indignantly. She picked up the baby and the Yurble giggled.

     "I'm going out, see you later," I said, ignoring the question. I dashed down the stairs and out the front door. I could hear Jeanie yelling after me and chasing me down the stairs. Quickly I looked into the sky and let off a shrill whistle. A shadow Eyrie flew smoothly out of the clouds and in front of me.

     "Mystery Island," I informed him, climbing onto his back. He looked confused.

     "Not Meridell today, Miss?"

     "Not today. But don't worry - I know the fare for Mystery Island." That seemed to settle him and he leaped lightly off the ground and pulled us into the sky with his powerful wings. Jeanie had just flown out the door yelling after me. The Eyrie glanced at me, but continued to fly. Onward to Mystery Island.

     I had him land lightly in front of 83444 Harbour Lane. I jumped off and ran inside after giving him his money. I passed my Uncle Rex and ran straight into my cousin's bedroom. I glanced at his empty bed and checked behind the door.

     "Belgarath?" I called. I looked under his desk and in his closet. "Beeellllggaaraatthhh..."

     "What?" I jumped and whirled around. There sat my cousin, a red Lupe, sitting on his bed.

     "Don't do that!" I cried, frightened. He smirked. I sighed. "I need your help." His face grew serious.

     "What is it?" I took a deep breath.

     "Jeanie came home with a new pet yesterday. I checked our bank account and found it six hundred thousand Neopoints lighter." Belgarath sighed.

     "I knew it would happen sooner or later," he said. "What did she create?"

     "A baby Yurble. She named him Trohanex - with Uncle Rex's help," I replied.

     Belgarath sighed and slapped his forehead with a paw. "Dad dad dad..." he muttered under his breath. Then he looked at me again. "Well, that makes for a prickly situation, doesn't it?" he said with a little smile at his words. I did not laugh at his joke.

     "This is serious; with a baby in the house I won't be able to get any writing done. Also, I won't get NEARLY as spoiled."

     "Maybe that's a good thing..." Belgarath muttered.

     "What was that?" I snapped.

      "Nothing."

      "Are you going to help me or not?"

      "What do you want me to do, Aile?"

      "I dunno... talk Dino into eating him?"

      "Rex got mad at him and stopped feeding him. He doesn't exactly need to be talked into..." Out of nowhere a red Grarrl leaped into the room upon hearing his name. His eyes fell on Haelee and his eyes glittered. Haelee stared back, oddly her eyes were shining just as brightly. Belgarath and I watched with interest.

     In the blink of an eye they jumped at each other. I yelled out for my Ditsy, Belgarath roared at his brother. Then the dust cleared and we found the Grarrl giggling as Haelee happily licked at his face. We stared.

     "You want THAT to eat your baby brother?" Belgarath asked. I groaned miserably.

     After about ten minutes of peeling Haelee and Dino apart, Uncle Rex entered the bedroom. He was frowning at a paper in his hand.

     "Belgarath, do you know what happened to these Chias?" he asked, confused. Then he began to read off the names and with every name the red Lupe became paler. Before Uncle Rex finished Belgarath was taking my paw and dragging Haelee and me out of his room. It must've been then that Uncle Rex noticed we were gone because he yelled after us. Belgarath dragged me out into the garden and pushed me into a very big thorn bush. It was hollow within. Belgarath sank down with a sigh.

     "That was close, I was afraid he might catch me that time."

     "What happened to the Chias?" I asked curiously. Belgarath glowered at me.

     "I made a salad." I blinked and released Haelee. She went to sniff at the walls of their hideout. Belgarath suddenly watched the Ditsy with interest.

     "Haelee, come here," he called the petpet. The cardboard trotted over and nuzzled the Lupe. Thoughtfully, the Lupe thwacked her over the head. She squeaked and glared fiercely at him, bearing inch-long fangs. Belgarath grinned.

     "Aile, I have the perfect solution to your baby problem."

     ~~~

     I stepped tentatively into her Neohome. Haelee was sleepily dozing on my back. Belgarath peeked around my shoulder. Silently, we with our two petpets (Belgarath's Angelpuss had been dragged along) slunk silently up the stairs. We passed Jeanie's room, her snores coming loudly from within. Our sights were set on the room that Jeanie had been building for the last week. It was right across from mine and next to Jeanie's.

     We crept into Trohanex's room and placed our petpets on the edge of his crib. We then pulled the baby Yurble masks over our faces and taunted them severely. Haelee started to bear her fangs and Gato's claws extended from her paws. We hurriedly shoved them into the crib. Then we ran from the room and slammed the door shut. Yowling and hissing came from within. Then a loud wail erupted. Belgarath and I dashed into my bedroom.

     "This isn't going to work," I hissed at my cousin in crime. "Haelee isn't that temperamental."

     "With you as her owner? Noo," he whispered back. It was then that we heard Jeanie running down the hall. We peeked through the crack in my door and watched as she plunged into Trohanex's room.

     "Gato?" she cried in surprise. "Haelee?" The rustling stopped. Jeanie appeared a second later, the baby Yurble in her arms, our petpets following her with confusion. "Aile, Belgarath! Come get your petpets, please." We stepped guiltily out of my room - remembering to leave the Yurble masks behind us - and snatched up our petpets. They and the Yurble weren't in good shape. Jeanie glared at us.

     "I don't know why Haelee would do that," I said softly. Jeanie rolled her eyes.

     "Go fetch an Eyrie, we're going to the Healing Springs - you're paying the fare by the way," Jeanie said.

     "What ?" I cried indignantly. "The fare to Faerieland is more than a thousand Neopoints "

     "And we're going to need two if we are taking Gato and Belgarath," she said. I groaned, but I went outside and whistled twice. Two Eyries glided down in front of me. One was the shadow Eyrie from earlier.

     "Twice in a day, Miss?" he asked curiously.

     "We're going to Faerieland," I informed him, climbing onto his back with Belgarath behind me. Our petpets sat in our laps. Jeanie had just come outside, and she climbed onto the other Eyrie with Trohanex in her arms. The Eyries lifted into the air, our Eyrie a bit slower than usual with two pets on his back. I closed my eyes tight so I didn't have to watch as we flew higher and higher than my usual height. A couple thousand feet up in the air wasn't anything, but going ten thousand feet up in the air was.

     After almost an hour we reached the Healing Springs. Jeanie slid off and walked straight to Nereid. She smiled pleasantly.

     "Oh, it's the blue Xweetok and her owner again," she said. "I fixed that hole, you know. And who's this?" She cooed as she took the baby Yurble from Jeanie. I glowered.

     "Trohanex, my new Neopet," Jeanie said with a smile. "We're here to heal these petpets and him." Nereid looked over the petpets and then her eyes landed on me.

     "And how does the Xweetok feel about her new baby brother?" she asked.

     "Are you sure you fixed that hole?" I asked, staring at the pool through which I had fallen hopefully. Jeanie gasped but Nereid laughed.

     "Don't worry about it, it takes some pets awhile to get used to new siblings once they've been an only pet for awhile," she told Jeanie.

     "Do they usually try to have their petpets kill the new sibling?" Jeanie asked weakly. Nereid's eyes widened and Trohanex struggled.

     "I wasn't trying to kill him," I argued. "Just... I don't know. Get rid of him. It was Belgarath's idea."

     "What? " Belgarath yelled. We then leaped into a furious argument. The faerie and my owner watched with interest. Only our petpets watched the baby Yurble silently crawl away, approaching one of the healing springs. Belgarath and I started shrieking indignantly - louder at least. Meanwhile Trohanex had reached the spring and was giggling as he ran his paw through the water. Then without warning he fell with a splash into the spring. Everyone jerked around just in time to see him disappear.

     "Don't worry, nothing bad can happen in the Healing Springs," Nereid said, starting for the spring. Then I heard it. A faint wail getting farther and farther away. I ran ahead to the spring.

     "Umm, Nereid?" I asked. "Are you sure you fixed that hole?"

To be continued...