A Snow Faerie's Vacation

     A slender index finger adorned with bright blue nail polish traced over a map of Neopia. Faerieland, Haunted Woods, Lost Desert, Krawk Island, the different lands seemed to jumble together in an indiscriminate manner in the mind. The owner of the index finger was none other than Taelia, the most well known Snow Faerie in all of Neopia. Her cold gaze fixed upon the giant map that took up the entirety of her desk. It was an odd sight, if anyone had been around to actually see it. It was unusual to see the faerie outside of the comforts of her flawless igloo, much less peering over a map of Neopia with such far lands in mind. The farthest any Neopet has seen Taelia go was the occasional trip into the Ice Caves, or perhaps down to the Happy Valley if she was in a particularly adventurous mood.

     It seemed that even petpets knew this basic bit of Neopian knowledge about the Faerie, for the Snowbunny who constantly hung around the igloo was sitting on top of the map, her head tilting to the side curiously as if to say “Are you actually thinking of leaving the igloo and venturing outside?” Taelia looked up from the map to see the Snowbunny and her cold gaze melted.

     “Don’t look at me like that! I know what you’re thinking. But I think I’m going to do it this year. I’m going to pick a nice warm place and try to have a summer vacation just like everyone else. I don’t want to be the secretive, hermit Faerie who never leaves her igloo and just makes everyone else bring me what I want. I’m going to venture out.”

     Magma tilted her head slightly as if in doubt.

     “I can be adventurous you know” Taelia reinforced, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than Magma.

     The Snowbunny remained silent but instead looked down at the map. She studied the map before pressing a paw upon Mystery Island.

     “Oh you’re a genius Magma! Why didn’t I think of that place before? All of those Neopets are always wishing they were there when they come here to do my quests. It must be good if so many Neopets go there, right?” Magma did not say a word but simply hopped off of the desk and began to search for her petpet sized suitcase.

     “And to think I was almost considering Moltara” thought the Snow Faerie as the soaring heat and humidity reached her upon her first footstep in Mystery Island. Magma sat upon Taelia’s shoulder equally as uncomfortable as Taelia, who by now was carrying both of their suitcases looked around for the infamous tour guides she had heard so much about. As if he had sensed the aroma of a newcomer, a small coconut-like fellow with a sunny disposition raced up to greet her and beckoned Taelia and Magma inside his tourist chariot. Taelia’s normally cold and unemotional gaze melted as excitement and intrigue took their place. Magma began to jump up and down on Taelia’s shoulder excitedly as her paw pointed towards the beach as they raced off towards it.

     The beach was crowded with so many Neopets, many of them previous quest seekers of Taelia's. There were so many familiar faces that the embarrassed Snow Faerie resorted to putting on a pair of frosty white sunglasses to conceal both the sun and the unwelcome stares. Magma didn’t seem to want to wait. She dashed off, expertly laying out two towels in a perfect spot under the shade of a tree. Once their bags secured their towels, Magma wiggled her tail as she pointed towards the waves.

     Taelia looked around nervously. “Err...I don’t know. Maybe we can just lay here in the shade for a little while and work on a tan?” But Magma wasn’t buying it. The little snowbunny was much tougher and demanding than she looked. She pointed towards the waves once again and dashed off towards the crystal clear water. The Snow Faerie rolled her eyes and followed behind closely. Truth be told, she was quite nervous. It can be hard to be a Snow Faerie trying to have a relaxing vacation away in one of the most tropical climates in all of Neopia. Her notoriety for being a hermit faerie hidden away in her igloo for most of her days was beginning to take it’s toll on her as the stares and whispers reminded her that being seen in Mystery Island of all places was almost scandalous for the closeted Faerie.

     She stopped at the water’s edge. As she looked around, different species of Neopets were enjoying the waves as younger ones splashed in the shallows. After a nudge from Magma, the Snow Faerie stepped into the water. Immediately, tourists and locals alike stood stuck as the water was turned into ice, leaving whatever part of their bodies were submerged in water stuck. Taelia stood frozen with embarrassment as several Neopets who had been surfing in the middle of a wave fell onto the frozen ocean with a thud.

     Magma nodded in approval. For a Snowbunny, this was a much better alternative to a salty lukewarm body of water under a blazing sun. But Taelia shook her head and grabbed Magma before apologizing and quickly removing the single foot she had managed to get into the water.

     “Maybe we will have better luck at beach volleyball” suggested the Snow Faerie sheepishly as Magma shook her tail trying to be supportive.

     Taelia walked towards the net of a volleyball game that was in progress. As the two groups battled aggressively back and forth the Snow Faerie waited, unsure of the right time to ask to join in. Magma, being the loyal yet mischievous petpet that she was, stood behind one of the players causing the Tonu to trip and miss the ball. Taelia took the opportunity to introduce herself and ask permission to join the game. Both teams seemed to go wild at the idea of having a faerie on their team. After flipping a neopoint to settle which team she’d join, Taelia waited for the volleyball to be served. She was finally beginning to feel like she could be adventurous. Perhaps the incident with the beach was just a rocky start. Perhaps she could move to a tropical place where the people fought over who could have her on their team. Living in one place like Terror Mountain was so boring and typical. Perhaps….

     Her thoughts were interrupted as soon as her slender faerie fingers made contact with the volleyball and turned it into a snowball. The poor fire Usul on the other side of the net did not have time to block the cold burst of slush that landed on his face. Everyone gasped and looked back to the Snow Faerie who had already made her exit.

     A trail of tiny snowflakes was the only proof she had ever been there….

     “This is what we should have done from the start Magma. Who needs a beach anyway?” Taelia questioned as she waited in line with the Snowbunny to get a closer look at Techo Mountain. The tour guide insisted she did not leave Mystery Island without seeing one of the greatest wonders in all of Neopia. But Taelia did not know how much longer she could wait in line in such a tropical climate. Taelia placed her hand on the edge of the mountain to steady herself and take a peek at the end of the line to estimate how much longer this would take. Suddenly all of the Neopets in front of her in the line began to run in the opposite direction in a frenzy. The Snow Faerie looked around for the danger before Magma pointed her paw in the direction of the avalanche that had just formed on Techo Mountain.

     The first and only avalanche or even snow to appear on Techo Mountain was talked about constantly for the rest of Taelia’s trip, much to the annoyance of the Snow Faerie.

     “Okay Magma, let’s do one more thing before we head home.”

     The Snow Faerie grabbed a ticket and presented it to the Tiki Tack Man. She couldn’t leave Mystery Island without playing the much talked about raffle game.

     Her eyes lit up as the Tiki Tack Man ruffled behind the counter and presented her with a bag of neopoints. “YOU’RE A WINNER!” He shouted in congratulations. “You also win this….” He ruffled in his bag once more before pulling out a bottled faerie.

     Taelia’s eyes widened in horror. “A BOTTLED FAERIE?! IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A PRIZE?!”

     After much talk with the tour guides of Mystery Island over the ethics of some of their tombola prizes, Taelia headed to the top of the only mountain she had ever made home.

     Upon opening the door of her igloo, she drew in the dry air of the peak of the mountain and felt the sting of the harsh winter weather on her skin. Yet this all felt warm and welcoming to her.

     Perhaps she wasn’t adventurous or adapt to tropical climates. Perhaps she liked her igloo and enjoyed sitting inside receiving Neopets who sought quests.

     But the more and more she thought it over, the less of a problem she saw with any of it.

     “Nothing like a vacation to make you miss home huh, Magma?”

     The End.