The Secrets of the Soup Faerie

Fryorica hovered fifteen feet above the ground with the rest of her squadron. She listened to Dynora, the faerie squadron leader, relay orders.

     “Section 1, split up and circle around the back of the enemy. Section 2, head around the right side and stop them from entering the woods. Section 3, stay with me. We’ll charge through and catch them in a pincer movement.” Dynora started flying off toward a distant line of enemy.

     Fryorica and nine other faeries flew off after her. Tethica, her only friend that was also in the army, flew beside her. “This is your first time, right?” she asked.

     Fryorica nodded. “I hope I do okay.”

     “Oh, you’ll do fine. Dynora has never lost a faerie- she’s won every battle that she fought. The only thing that you might have a problem with is the fighting –it is much more different than training. On some missions, we just charge through to knock them out and destroy their supplies to discourage them, but on this mission, we knock them out to take them prisoners of war.”

     Fryorica nodded again, but her insides were squirming. She had never actually fought anything before; when she had joined the army, she had thought that she was just going to do some harmless patrol duty. Now, here she was, flying off to ambush a camp of rebellious Scorchios. She shrugged off her doubt. After this, she could return home a hero, and her mother would finally be pleased.

     Fryorica grimaced. Her mother, the legendary Terrisa, was the best warrior on the field, second only to the Battle Faerie. She had been pressing Fryorica to join the army ever since her thirteenth birthday. Now, Fryorica was sixteen, high time to do something. She had joined the army, and her mother made arrangements for her to be placed in Dynora’s squadron, the best of the best, but also the harshest.

     Several Scorchios were now visible on the horizon. Dynora gave orders to fly lower, only three feet off the ground. She and the other faeries pulled out weapons and flicked the safety catches off. Fryorica did likewise, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, and her conscience. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but she was in the middle of a war, and casualties were unavoidable.

     Dynora suddenly stopped, a mere twenty yards from the enemy Scorchios. She nodded to her squadron, and Fryorica and the other nine faeries quickly aimed their weapons at individual enemies. Dynora raised her head and shouted to the sky, “Fire!”

     Fryorica closed her eyes and pulled the trigger of her weapon, praying silently that she missed. She couldn’t tell if she had hit anybody, but several cries of shock and hurt came from the Scorchios that the rest of her squadron had hit. Fryorica’s stomach flip-flopped. She felt so sorry for them, but she was in the army, and she had a job to do.

     Dynora’s squadron flew closer, and now it was apparent that the Scorchios were getting out their weapons. Suddenly Tethica, flying two feet away from Fryorica, gave out a loud cry and toppled to the ground, her wing bloodied and torn from a Scorchio shot. Fryorica stared at her wounded friend, feeling awful –now she was pretty certain that she was not meant for warfare at all.

     Above Fryorica, Dynora cursed and sent one of her faeries to help Tethica. The faerie flew down and dragged Tethica off, moving her away from the battlefield. Dynora signaled to the rest of her squadron, and they moved into the Scorchio camp for close combat fighting. Fryorica hurriedly put the safety catch back on her weapon and pocketed it, and, like the rest of the faeries, drew a long, magic sword for close fighting.

     She shakily swung it at a big male Scorchio, and he parried it with a sword of his own. She flipped her sword over and quickly swung it at his sword from a different angle, performing a move that her mother had shown her a year before. It worked. The Scorchio’s sword came spinning out of his hand. The Scorchio looked, dumbfounded, at Fryorica, terror and shock written all over his face.

     Fryorica hesitated. Dynora had said not to show any mercy when knocking the Scorchios unconscious, but Fryorica really didn’t want to cause anybody any pain. She glanced quickly around her and drew a hidden stun gun, one that would make him unconscious but not hurt him. She hurriedly put the gun’s setting at three, the setting that would do him the least harm. She took aim and fired at the Scorchio, who was running for his sword. He stumbled and fell to the ground, not moving except for the steady rise and fall of his chest.

     Fryorica looked around her, searching for Dynora. She found her battling with a young Scorchio, and Dynora was winning. Fryorica watched as Dynora shattered her opponent’s blade with a strong downward swing, and saw with horror that Dynora was smiling. Fryorica looked away with shock as Dynora took a swing with the flat of her sword at the Scorchio, aiming to knock him out with a lot of pain.

     Fryorica was shaken very badly. She had joined the army because it was necessary, but she didn’t think that anyone actually liked fighting. It absolutely tore her up that Dynora enjoyed war, even if it was capturing prisoners and not killing them. Fryorica couldn’t take it anymore- she had to leave, and leave now.

     She flew up several yards into the air, ignoring the battle raging below her, and flew at full speed towards the forest, planning to seek refuge there from war.

     After flying for a few minutes, she alighted down into a small clearing between the forest trees. She sat on the ground and started to cry, horrified about every thought of war. She was a pacifist, through and through.

     She wept until the sun went over the horizon, and even then, she cried. Only when the moon was full over the sky, did she stop, asleep under the forest treetops.

     ***

     The rising sun gently woke Fryorica, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

     As yesterday’s incident came back to her, she stood up, trying to force herself not to cry more. She stood silently for a moment, and then walked through the forest, attempting to take her mind off of things.

     After an hour of walking, Fryorica, hungry and thirsty, stumbled across a stream, and she gratefully bent down to take a drink. When her need for thirst was satisfied, she looked around for food. Soon, she found a large cluster of berry bushes, where she ate with relief.

     After she had filled her stomach, Fryorica leaned against a tree to think. She didn’t want to return to the army, but if she went home, her mother would send her right back. If she tried to find a job at the city, the army would eventually find her, and she really didn’t want to fight.

     Suddenly, the answer struck her. She could just stay in the forest and live until she was ready to go back! She could live by the stream and eat berries, and if she ever experienced any hardships, she could just fly off and take her chances with her mother.

     That decided, Fryorica started to gather wood to build herself a home in the forest.

     ***

Five years later...

     The faerie looked down at the sleeping Xweetok. The Xweetok had stumbled into her house unexpectedly and fell asleep right on the spot. It was a male, about half way grown, and very thin and ragged. The faerie bent down and dragged him into another room, heaving him on to a hand-made bed.

     The bed, like everything else in her house, was made by the faerie over the years she had spent alone in the forest. The faerie had spent so much time alone, that she had even forgotten her name, though she was sure it started with an ‘F’, or something. The faerie didn’t care. Even if she remembered her name, she wouldn’t have used it. Now, she was content with her life, and before she had come to the forest, she wasn’t.

     The faerie closed the door to the room with the Xweetok and entered the only other room of the house, the kitchen. To pass the time over the years, the faerie had come up with a large amount of recipes to cook with, as she had quickly grown tired of the simple food the forest had to offer.

     She made mostly soup, as most other dishes that she made didn’t turn out right. Her soup was actually very good- if she had lived with the rest of civilization, she might have made a living off of it.

     The faerie lifted the stone lid to the cooking pot that held the soup that she was cooking. A savory sent wafted into the air. She breathed deeply and stirred the soup with a wooden spoon. A moment later, she put the lid back on.

     The faerie sighed and sat down on a crude wooden stool to wait for the Xweetok to wake up. She would have gone off foraging for ingredients, but she didn’t want the Xweetok to wake up alone.

     About half an hour later, the faerie lifter her head as the door to her bedroom opened. The Xweetok shyly walked out and scanned quickly around him. “Can you help me?” he asked, in a small and raggedy voice.

     The faerie hadn’t spoken out loud in years, so she had to pause to get her voice back. “I might be able to,” she said slowly. “What do you need?”

     The Xweetok looked longingly at the simmering pot of soup. “I’m rather hungry- could I have some food?” His stomach gave an involuntary grumble.

     The faerie nodded. She got up and ladled out some of her soup into a hand-made bowl. “Here,” she said, handing it to him.

     He accepted it with thanks and gulped it down. “Thank you,” he said. “That was really good. My name is Therrin. What is yours?”

     The faerie hesitated. “I don’t really remember, nor do I want to. You may call me whatever you want.”

     Therrin thought about it. “Since your soup is really good, may I call you the Soup Faerie?”

     The faerie nodded, a smile spreading across her face. “It’s a good name. Can I help you with something else?”

     Therrin looked at the ground. “If it is okay with you, I would like to stay here a day or two, to regain my strength. I traveled for a long time, and I’m exhausted.”

     The Soup Faerie nodded again. “Stay as long as you like,” she said.

     Therrin heaved a relieved sigh. “Thank you, again.” He flashed the Soup Faerie a smile and, avoiding her eyes, dashed outside.

     The Soup Faerie got up and followed Therrin outside, smiling. It would be different and nice to have some company, even if it was just for a day.

     ***

Six months later...

     Therrin and the Soup Faerie sat at a makeshift table, eating in silence. The day after Therrin had come, he had requested to stay another night. The Soup Faerie was delighted, and even more delighted when Therrin asked if he could live with her in the woods for a few months. The two of them got along very well, though neither of them ever mentioned their past.

     Therrin looked gloomily at the table, and then took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately,” he said, “I think that I should move back to the city.” He watched the Soup Faerie’s face for some emotion.

     The Soup Faerie frowned. “Are you sure?” She had grown to like Therrin a lot.

     “Yes. I think that it is time to face my past.”

     The Soup Faerie sighed. “If you wish. When will you leave?”

     “I was thinking now.”

     “So soon?” The Soup Faerie heaved another sigh. “Very well. I’ll pack you some food.” She got up and slowly packed a small haversack for Therrin, delaying for more time together.

     Therrin watched her in silence. When she was done, he wordlessly accepted the sack. He walked out the door. “Bye,” he said. Therrin walked into the forest, soon disappearing behind the trees.

     The Soup Faerie watched him go in silence. A single tear ran down her cheek. It startled her- she had not cried since she had enter the forest. More tears threatened to spill. She tried to force them back, but they came anyways.

     She walked inside and started gathering her things. She knew that she couldn’t stay here- it was way too lonely now. As the tears flowed, the Soup Faerie flew up, out of the forest, looking back several times. In only a day, her life had changed from one that was happy and with a good friend to one that was lonely and homeless.

     ***

     When she reached Neopia Central, the Soup Faerie wandered the streets, looking for a cheap place to stay. She happened upon an abandoned building, a large stroke of luck. She set her stone cooking pot in a corner, and struggled to get a fire going.

     Once a fire was lit, the Soup Faerie put several ingredients that she had brought from the forest into the pot. She ran to the fountain that was nearby and got water to put into her pot. Using all of her cooking skills, the faerie made a delicious soup.

     As she sat back and relaxed, someone knocked on the door.

     The Soup Faerie stood upright instantly. “Come in,” she said, nervously.

     The door opened slowly and an ancient Lupe walked in.

     “Can I help you?”

     The Lupe smiled. “You can if that soup tastes as good as it smells. May I try some?”

     The Soup Faerie smiled back and gently sat the elder down. “Of course. I would never deny a hungry neopet food.” She ladled some of her soup into a bowl. “Here you go.” She handed the Lupe the bowl.

     The Lupe drank it deeply, sighing, satisfied, when he finished. “That was lovely. Young faerie, you have a true talent. One day, you will be famous throughout Neopia.” The elder groaned and got slowly to his feet. “Now, I am afraid I must go. Thank you very much for the meal- it was great.” He turned and shuffled out of the door.

     The Soup Faerie sighed. The Lupe’s appearance had been odd, but reassuring.

     The faerie sighed again. She was going to have to save the soup for tomorrow, so she could preserve the ingredients that she had brought from the forest. Tomorrow, she would have to go foraging for more food.

     She kicked out the fire and lay down in a corner of the building, but sleep was slow in coming. When sleep did finally claim her, the Soup Faerie’s final though was that she was proud to help all hungry neopets.

     ***

     The next day, the Soup Faerie flew quickly around Neopia Central, looking for a berry bush or some edible mushrooms. However, her search resulted in nothing, only hungry stray neopets. Her heart ached for them, but she could do nothing to help while she didn’t have any food to give them.

     She passed a poster of the Faerie Queen on the way back to the abandoned building. When she saw it, it gave her a great idea.

     ***

      The Soup Faerie flew to the Queen’s castle in Faerieland, hundreds of miles away from Neopia Central. The journey took her two days to complete, but she was determined. When she finally arrived, she was allowed a court with the Queen herself.

      The Soup Faerie she would make soup, every day that she was able to, for the starving neopets. All she needed were the ingredients, which wouldn’t cost much, and the soup she made would have a huge effect on Neopia’s society. The Soup Faerie explained to the Queen that she wanted to help neopets that went hungry every day.

      The Queen considered this, and saw the wisdom in accepting. She was, however, cautious. “What is in this for you?” The Queen eyed the Soup Faerie. “You get to help neopets, but you yourself gain nothing. Why would you do this?”

      The Soup Faerie thought about this, although she already knew the answer. “It is rather simple: I want to help them. I made a mistake in my past, a mistake that I can now redeem. My conscience tells me that this is what I should do, so it is what I will do.”

      The Soup Faerie watched as the Queen slowly broke into a smile.

      “I think that your cause is noble enough. I will give you your ingredients. May your days be long and joyful.”

     ***

      A long line of gaunt neopets stretched down the street where the Soup Kitchen was. They all waited for the same thing, a free bowl of soup from the famous and well-loved Soup Faerie herself.

The End