An Unlikely Bond

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     An undersized green baby Ixi was weeping, salty tears pooling around her glossy ebony hooves. Not because she was saddened, but because it was vital to get herself damp. And tears were soothing water. Soothing, soothing water, washing away the heat and comforting her chapped skin. In actual reality, she was a tiny bit sad, but not nearly in the least a sufficient amount to make her cry.

     She was lying in the dappled shade beneath the Money Tree, trying to descend into the inky depths of sleep in the cool grass. She was in a distant land, an impossible seeming distance from her home, and a rather skittish in this new, landlocked region. Her mother had been lost at sea while captive on a pirate ship. She had been kidnapped by some of Neopia's most feared pirates, though luckily, the petite baby Ixi was ignored and forgotten.

     She had dived in the sea to try to follow, but had been caught in a tremendous storm, which had swept her to her present location. She just prayed her mother was out of harm's way. Her unfamiliar father, well, there was no reaching him at this point. Her brothers and sisters, if they were more than mere figments of her imagination, would be with her father, far away. Absolutely unreachable.

     A blue Aisha plushie landed with a sigh of fabric in the thick grass at her feet, the only visible donation within reach. That was strange; most Money Tree donations were snatched within milliseconds. Still, a companion was a companion, no matter how small or insignificant. As she reached for the tiny plushie, she heard a frantic voice, "No, please don't take that!"

     To this day, years later, the Ixi still doesn't know why she halted. But she did halt, and the plushie was deftly scooped up by the filthiest blue baby Uni the Ixi had ever seen. When you think of how fresh and tidy your average Uni is, this wasn't all that dirty. The plushie was carefully placed in a bag on the Uni's back, like it was riches from a palace treasury, or a relic of miraculous power.

     "Thank you so much, I was sure you were going to take it," the Uni gushed, "and I really woul-what exactly are you?"

     With some pride, the Ixi announced, chest puffed out, "I am an Ixi from Meridell."

     "Meridell, you mean that boring little kingdom I see from the sky?"

     "Meridell is not - okay, maybe it is a bit boring," the Ixi admitted grudgingly, with a scowl.

     The Uni continued, without pause, "I've never been to Meridell, it's not really my kind of place, too down-to-earth, not to mention woodsy. You can barely see the ground from the sky, and therefore could barely see the sky from the ground. I hate the ground. I like the air a lot better. I was born on a cloud after all. I like open air places like this. Beaches are nice too. Someday I would like to live by the sea. Like Tawnia. I want to be an island Uni like her someday. And gather seashells. And frolic in the foam and spray. Roo Island would be nice. It's small and not too crowded. I would have plenty of room to run. And I'm sure there are seashells there. And King Roo is awful nice. He's never mean or unhappy. Not since that Dice-A-Roo came to be. I wonder if I'll ever discover the mysteries behind Count Von Roo. He seems to be hiding something. I wonder what. It would be a grand adventure. Why are you crying?" the Uni finally ceased her chatter to question.

     "To get myself wet," responded the Ixi, indignantly.

     "Why do you want to be wet, and why are you crying instead of going to a fountain or a stream? And how did you get here from Meridell? And why-"

     "ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTIONS ALREADY!!!!!"

     The Uni was effectively silenced for perhaps half a minute.

     "Okay, I got here because I swam. I'm crying because I want saltwater. And I want to be wet because my father was a sea Ixi. AND NO MORE QUESTIONS. I at least get to ask some of my own."

     "Okay."

     "Firstly, why aren't you spotless? All of the Unis I've ever seen were like that. Second, why are you so obsessive about that plushie? And third..." The Ixi paused before sheepishly muttering, "You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat, would you?"

     The Uni snickered and pulled a Tchea fruit out of a bag slung over her back. She dangled it in front of the Ixi's face, grinning at the Ixi's tortured expression, until the Ixi speared it with one of her horns, dripping mouth-watering juice all over her face. The Uni sighed dramatically at the Ixi's lack of common sense and used her elongated horn to remove the fruit from the Ixi's stocky one. Not caring what it was, the Ixi ate. As she did, the Uni replied to her questions. "I'm not spotless because I don't want to be. And if you were wondering, the flowers and seaweed in my mane are from Mystery Island. I was collecting seashells with Tawnia. The dust on my face is from Faerieland. It's faerie dust. And the sand on my hooves is from the Lost Desert. I was visiting the shrine. King Coltzan gave me that fruit. I obsess about the plushie because it is my only possession."

     "Lost Desert, Faerieland?"

     "No one knows about the Lost Desert. It can only be seen from the sky, and Faerieland is where faeries live. It's also where I'm from. I fled from there. I hate large families. I have at least six sisters and eight brothers."

     The Ixi slurped up the last of the messy, juicy fruit. She then inquired with a grin, "I've heard Unis are pretty fast; care for a race?"

     The Uni met her dangerous gaze with an outlandish light in her eyes. "You. Are. On."

     "From here to the Soup Faerie," declared the Ixi. "On three. One, two, and, THREE!"

     The two were off like pet rocks on Opposite Day. Some pets and their owners paused in their activities to watch the two burn past them. No pets have ever been that swift. They were just about neck and neck, when directly in front of them loomed a outsized ridge in the earth. The Ixi laughed. "There's absolutely no way a Uni can jump that high. You'll have to go around."

     The Ixi leaped, but was amazed to see the Uni leaping too. Each was straining to reach the crest... The Ixi barely made it, hooves clattering on the peak, skidding across, halting just at the edge. The Soup Faerie was dead ahead, nearly close enough to touch it seemed. She could make it with one proper spring. Effortless. A silhouette passed over her, scaring the daylights out of her. She peered up. To her utter amazement, the Uni was high above her, and not landing. 'She's flying!' thought the Ixi.

     Before she could even jump down, the Uni was gracefully landing at the finish line. With a smug expression on her face, the Uni glided to the stunned Ixi, and alit just next to her. She carefully folded her wings away. "Okay, you got lucky this time. Now as your reward, I will tell you my name. It's Aroriani, but please call me Rory."

     "If you call me Rose. My full name is Rosieallaba."

     "Gotcha, Rosie," smirked Aroriani.

     "Of course, Rina," grinned Rosieallaba.

     The two laughed, and jumped down. Inside the Soup Faerie's home, the Soup Faerie smiled. "Hello, Rose. You made a friend, I see."

     Rosieallaba piped up, "Yes, I-"

     She was interrupted rather rudely by Aroriani. "She's not my friend. I'm just waiting for the opportunity to beat her."

     "You meanie, I beat you fair and square!"

     "I would have beaten you if you hadn't flown!"

     As the two squabbled, the Soup Faerie smiled, "Well then, Rory, I suppose some soup might strengthen you."

     Disclosing no more, and only smiling at Aroriani's query, she ladled two bowls of soup for them. They both lapped it up noisily. As they ate, the Soup Faerie pulled out a brush and began to untangle their fur. Rosieallaba's was especially difficult. As she finished with the brush on Aroriani, she noticed, "You have a few black and red streaks, is your mother a fire Ixi?"

     Aroriani nodded, and continued eating.

     "Who is your father?"

     "A sea Ixi. My mother said he is very kind and misses us very much. Someday, I will find a way to go down there and find him."

     The Soup Faerie smiled, and set a hand on each of Aroriani's horns. Aroriani felt a weird tingle pass through her body, and for an instant she knew something, but then it faded away, like a forgotten memory, a butterfly, forever being chased on a summer's day. Aroriani looked confusedly at the Soup Faerie, who turned away. From a small box, she drew a bead, which she placed in another box. Rosieallaba piped up, "Miss Soup Faerie, could you continue reading that story? Please?"

     "Of course, Rose." She beckoned the two into a back room, which was extraordinarily clean and had a rug, a bed, a chest of drawers, a lamp, and a bookshelf. From this, she took a small peacock book, and, sitting down, began to read. To an audience of snores. She set aside the book, and gently carried the two small pets outside and laid them gently under a tree where they slept. This was how my owner found them. She first took Rosieallaba home, and then as soon as possible came back for Aroriani. And that was how a Uni from Faerieland and an Ixi from Meridell and Maraqua became friends. To this day, Rosieallaba strives for an Island Paint Brush. And Aroriani is ever searching for the pieces of the secret lab map to give her excellent stats to defeat Rosieallaba and to one day awaken her sea blood and give her the chance to search for her father and for her brothers and sisters that she never knew. One can never discern what lurks beneath the waters of Neopia.

The End