The Lonely Kadoatie

     Luma pokes the arm of a Xweetok and asks, “Hey, why’s it so busy today? Is something wrong?”

     The Xweetok looks up with wide eyes and says, “Haven’t you heard? This Kadoatie doesn’t want our food!”

     Luma and Ice share a look of confusion before making their way to the front of the crowd to see the poor thing. A white Kadoatie, named Mew, sits staring out at the Neopets before her with the saddest eyes. Every few minutes, another Neopet tries to give her food, whatever they have, anything they can afford to offer. She doesn’t move an inch, curled up against the back of the cage. She’s not interested in eating.

     In the Kadoatery, this is unheard of. Every single Kadoatie seeks food, no exceptions. Red Apple, Kadoatie Biscuits, Faerie Kale - you name the food, they’ll probably ask for it. Sure, some Kadoaties have expensive tastes, which can come as a surprise, but Mew was different. There’s no item listed underneath her cage at all; there’s nothing she seems to want. There are thousands of foods that the Kadoaties have asked for! It could take days to figure this out.

     Ice and Luma head back outside where they have room to breathe. They must find out how to help little Mew. No one wants her to be sad the whole time her owner is away…. The duo puts their thoughts together to come up with a plan.

     There are many food shops nearby, so Ice and Luma decide to start with those. “I’ll go to Pizzaroo, the Fresh Food Shop, and the Chocolate Factory. You can start with these other places,” Luma recommends, pointing out a few other food stores on Ice’s crudely drawn map of Neopia Central. “Surely Mew wants something from one of these places, let’s just buy as much as we can and try them all!”

     Ice wasn’t quite sold on this plan - Kadoaties can be quite picky with their food and would never ask for Chocolate or something Baked - but they thought this was their best idea to start with. They would both spend the next hour buying as many different foods as they could, then they would meet back at the Kadoatery and see if any of them caught Mew’s attention.

     They both rush from shop to shop, picking up a variety of foods. After scouring every shop on her list, Luma rushes back to the Kadoatery with her bag almost bursting. Ice is already waiting near the entrance, looking at Luma in shock at how much she was carrying with her.

     “How much did you spend on all of this…?” Ice asks in disbelief.

     Luma ignores his looks and replies, “It doesn’t matter, I can always sell these if none of them work... I just wanted to cover all of our options!”

     They shuffle back into the stuffed Kadoatery and wait for their opportunity to try and please her. Each Neopet would step up and present a portion of food, eventually taking it back and moving away as it ultimately failed to entice Mew.

     Ice finally takes his turn, handing over a healthy food; Mew looks at the item and then back at Ice dejectedly. Ice continues through his selection of food with no luck. Frustrated and impatient, he goes outside while Luma takes her time with her massive assortment of items. She tries fifty different things, from Chocolate Balthazar to plain Pizza to Seaweed Bacon. Luma was certain that Mew would want something she offered, but the Kadoatie simply sits and watches. The volume of food catches Mew’s attention, at least, but there is nothing that holds her interest. Already pondering other options, Luma hastily stuffs the food back into her bag and caught up with Ice.

     “Let me guess, she didn’t want any of it,” Ice mutters, seeing that Luma’s bag was still completely full. “Let’s go home, I’m sure someone else will figure it out. Sometimes it takes those Kadoaties forever to get hungry anyway.” Without hesitation, he begins to walk away from the Kadoatery.

     Luma wasn’t ready to give up just yet, though. “Wait, wait. What if Mew doesn’t want food at all? I know all the Kadoaties get hungry eventually, but maybe that isn’t why Mew looks so sad. There are so many more types of items we can try!” She immediately pulls out her bag and starts searching for anything that might interest Mew, and Ice follows her lead. They end up with a variety of books, toys, spare clothes… a bit of everything.

     They go back in and present each of the items to Mew - opening up the books for her, demonstrating how to play with the toys, showing her the clothes. Mew sits still. Despite their best efforts, Luma and Ice can hardly even get her attention at this point.

     Without a word, Ice pushes his way back through the crowd toward the exit. Luma rummages through her bag one last time, then she goes to catch up. Both of them hate having to leave Mew without figuring something out, but it seems that they are out of options. At this point, they both need a break, and they start their voyage back to Krawk Island in silence.

     As they walk toward their NeoHomes after disembarking, Ice spots a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, something near the edge of the woods around them. He walks off the path they’re on and into the trees, looking between the trunks and bushes until he finds something. A white Weewoo peeks her head out from behind a tree, looking up at him nervously. Ice doesn’t move but waits patiently for the bird to hop over to him. This Weewoo doesn’t seem to have a home; there are no other pets around, and her feathers look ruffled and messy. Ice opens his arms to the Weewoo, offering to take her with him. She lets out an excited chirp and jumps onto Ice’s shoulder, and he makes his way back to Luma with his new friend in tow, grooming the Petpet as he goes. Luma waited patiently for him to return; he’s always up to something. She looks excited to see the Weewoo as he steps back onto the path.

     “A white Weewoo! She’s so cute, but where exactly do you plan to keep her? Don’t you already have a Petpet?” she asks.

     “Oh, she’s not for me,” he replies, starting to walk in the opposite direction from their homes. It takes her a moment to figure it out, but it seems their travels may have been worth it all along.

     Luma, Ice, and their new friend travel all the way back to Neopia Central to check on the gloomy Kadoatie one last time. As they walk into the Kadoatery, the crowd of Neopets still trying to help her notice something - Mew is suddenly sitting up and looking over to the entrance. She watches Luma and Ice intently as they come up to her cage, looking wide-eyed at the white Weewoo. Ice pops open the cage door and lets the little Weewoo hop in with Mew, and her sign immediately changes:

     Hoorah!

     You’ve made Mew a very happy Kadoatie.

     Thanks for doing a good deed!

     (Also, in case you were wondering, you have now helped 900 Kadoaties in all!)

     The Neopets surrounding the cage begin to clap and cheer, watching the happy Kadoatie play with the Weewoo. It was tough and it took time, but everyone can leave the Kadoatery happily, knowing that Mew is finally enjoying herself.

     Almost all Kadoaties will be satisfied with one of Neopia’s countless foods. Sometimes, though, they just need a friend.

     The End.