Quest for Wings: Part Two

     "And where do you ask for directions?" the pet wondered. Fortunately she saw a bunch of air faeries just further down the roa-- Oh, the way of the air was so confusing! Frost sighed as she tapped her little cloud. She pointed towards the faeries and they were off. The Poogle reminded herself that there was no such thing as 'down the road' in the air. She realized that it was just like swimming, where you could move up and down in addition to the original four directions.

     "Excuse me!" Frost called out when they were close enough to the faeries. The beautiful breezy air faeries stopped, turned around and looked at her. The Poogle felt nervous, being scrutinized by those deep blue eyes. Suddenly she regretted her decision, wondering if she had any right at all to call out to them like that. Well, what had been done was done.

     "Do you know where Misty Breeze is?" the Poogle asked. She noticed that some of the faeries frowned.

     "No," one of the air faeries quickly replied. Her hair was wild and the look on her face was a mix of fear and evil.

     "Don't lie," another faerie said. This faerie's voice was colder than standing in a blizzard on Terror Mountain.

     "Of course we know," a third faerie said sarcastically.

     "You'd better not go there," the first faerie said. "The Misty Breeze... home of that uber-faerie. You're just looking for trouble." She was about to speak again, but the other two faeries quickly shoved her away into the group, and the Poogle could hear muffled cries.

     "Go to the east. Fly until you see mist hovering all over the place. When it gets real windy, that's when you've arrived at the Misty Breeze," the third faerie said with a smile on her face.

     "True to its name," the second faerie said. "Good luck, little buddy."

     Without waiting for her reply, the group of air faeries flew off. Frost shuddered. Not all air faeries were friends... She marveled at this discovery and told the cloud to fly eastward. She relaxed and started to think about that meeting. It had been scary how those air faeries silenced one and another. Perhaps this quest wasn't such a good thing after all...

     "Well, it's not like I can quit now!" she said out loud. "I already decided on a quest, and there's no way to chicken out of a quest." Frost remembered the quests that she had done for the faeries, and that gave her strength. If... If she could fly in the sky all by herself, then it was worth all the trouble.

     Again, the Poogle felt an urge to stretch and touch the sky. She held up her paw and let some of the rays shine on her face. Frost smiled. This was wonderful, and even though the meeting seemed like a bad omen, she wouldn't give up!

     Suddenly she noticed that the sky was growing darker. The Poogle shuddered, feeling the cold seep through her bones and marrows. She looked at the blue sky that was in a shade of deep lavender. Frost patted her cloud, urging it to travel faster.

     She had to admit that she was a little bit scared. The dark would make it hard to navigate, and she hadn't forgotten that she had only been in the air for one day. Frost felt something wet and sticky surround her as the cloud floated.

     It was mist! She was feeling hopeful as the cloud carried her further and further into the mist. Soon she could only see what was in front of her, because the mist was so thick.

     "Hmm... Have I reached the Misty Breeze yet?" she wondered. "It sure is misty, but no winds..." Just as she thought that, Frost felt something tugging at her cloud. She turned around and saw a flurry of leaves. The Poogle smiled. She was finally here!

     Frost looked around. The winds now carried her little cloud, as if they wanted her to go wherever they went. She spied a hovering castle, but couldn't really place her finger on what material it was made of. The Poogle decided to not think of that, since there were other, more important issues to think of.

     She was so busy pondering over what she would say to Vraira the Air Faerie, and she didn't notice the powerful blast until it was too late. The wind took her by surprise, and the Poogle shrieked soundlessly as she fell from her cloud. She went completely cold inside and realized that it wasn't safe. No, it wasn't safe...

     Fortunately the obedient cloud flew down and caught her. Frost was scared at the speed with which she had fallen down. She shuddered as the cloud gained altitude. She had to make sure that this wouldn't happen again.

     Her heart was still beating rapidly when she reached the castle. There were a few more fierce winds, but now that she was aware of the danger, she managed to avoid them.

     Frost told the cloud to carry her around the castle, but she couldn't find any doors or windows. The castle had a ghastly feel to it, and the Poogle feared that she wouldn't be able to get in. She was just about to scream and see if anything would happen when she saw the blurry gray thing in front of her.

     It was too late. Frost felt dizzy as she sunk down on her cloud. After a minute she realized that she had smacked her head into the gray thing that was there. The Poogle squinted and glared at the item, before she realized that it was a magic key with wings.

     The key fluttered and Frost reached out, trying to grasp it. As if it knew what she was doing, the key flew out of the way and Frost almost fell of the cloud again. She grumbled and chased the key. However, that little annoying item wouldn't give up so easily. It made good use of all possible directions to move in, and the movements were unpredictable.

     Frost felt jealous. Here was a dratted key that had wings, and she didn't! Shaking with anger, she steered the cloud forward, rushing at the key and crashed into it. The key's wings moved weakly, but they were broken. Slowly the key fell down, right into the Poogle's paws.

     She gave a huge grin of satisfaction as she looked around. Sure, she had the key, but where did it fit? Frost recalled that she hadn't seen any doors or such. She clasped the key tightly, hoping that a door would appear out of nowhere when she heard a poof behind her.

     "This is private property," a cold voice called out behind her. "And you're trespassing."

     The Poogle froze. She gulped and turned around to see a beautiful Air Faerie floating behind her. This Air Faerie was different from those that she had seen before. Playful breezes tugged at the long strands of golden hair, her blue lips seemed frozen and the attire... It was splendid! Vraira the Air Faerie wore a flowery dress with many waves, simple yet elegant. The shade of blue varied from top to toe and seemed like an optical illusion.

     "Sorry," she stuttered. "B-but can you help me?"

     "With what?" the faerie asked with a frown. A twitching eyebrow signaled that she was quite ready to kick the intruder out of her area. Seeing this, Frost realized that she didn't have a lot of time. This wasn't one of those helpful, kind air faeries. No, Vraira was a completely different type, of ancient blood and long forgotten.

     "Can you grant my wish?" the Poogle asked. This was what she had traveled so far for, this was her goal and she wouldn't give up just because the faerie happened to look a little bit grumpy.

     "What wish?" Vraira said curtly, glaring at the pet. She was fully aware of this day in the Faerie Calendar, and even if she didn't want to, she'd probably have to...

     "I wish for wings," Frost said dreamily when she realized that the Air Faerie was relenting. She relaxed and continued, "Wings to carry me far and away, wings on my back so I can fly on my own..." the Poogle trailed off as she watched for the faerie's reaction.

     Vraira grumbled. She muttered a few words as she flipped open her calendar. Yes. Curse the Faerie Queen to come up with a stupid day like this, the grant-the-wishes day. Oh well, she would have to grant this request. But not that humbly like the Queen expected her to.

     "Well, since I'm feeling nice today," Vraira said sarcastically, "I suppose I might just as well as grant your little puny wish." Without waiting for an answer, she raised her wands and started to mutter some words. Despite the fact that it seemed easy, the Air Faerie was nervous under her breezy exterior. She gave an evil grin as something appeared in the air.

     "Close your eyes," she told the Poogle. For just a split second Vraira stopped and wondered what was wrong with her today, but she decided to finish the task that she had started. She could just imagine the gossip at the next year's Faerie Festival if she didn't complete something that she had started. They'd all be calling her tacky... Feeling angry and panicky, the Air faerie grasped the item and chucked it towards Frost. The Poogle felt a whooshing sound, and then it happened.

     The Poogle was glowing of light. She felt ticklish as something cold ran down her. Frost could almost sense that something was growing out of her back. When she looked again, she noticed that she looked different. She was striped, just like before, but the stripes were in a different color. She could also feel some appendages on her back. Frost turned her head and saw that those appendages were wings!

     Oh, joy! The Poogle smiled happily as she moved her new wings. When she looked around again, she saw that Vraira was gone. Oh well... Frost touched the delicate wings with her paws. She had thought that she would be getting wings like those of Beekadoodles or Eyries, but she was wrong. These wings were so much better. They were like a faerie's wings, and fluttered beautifully that way too. She touched them again in amazement and tried to fly, but fell down on her cloud.

     "I guess I need some practice," the Poogle said. She looked at the castle, feeling grateful and joyous. "Too bad I didn't get to thank her..." With those words, Frost started to fly back to her world with the new faerie wings.

     As she flew, she realized that she was just like a faerie, floating in the air. Well, with the exception of magic. Now she felt complete. Her quest for wings had been successfully completed. It would be fun to join Chris and Pat in their aerial games. Full of hope, the Faerie Poogle flew off towards the other end of the sky.

The End