You're Too Little!!!

     Youji_Kyrin's little tan paws plodded unsteadily down the hall. The baby Ogrin looked around again for his owner. "RAYE-RAAAAYE!"

     A Halloween Peophin appeared in the doorway, followed closely by a Faerie Xweetok. Elphaba_Reborn had her hooves clapped over her ears. Crystal_Kole smiled sweetly at her baby brother. "What's wrong, Youji?"

     Youji stood on his hind legs and put his paws on his hips. "I'm BORED."

     "Naturally," said a smooth voice. Fickle_Changeling, Raven's lab pet, appeared behind Kole, pushing her out of the way. Today he was a White Acara, and he crunched an Organic Red Apple noisily.

     "You're ALWAYS bored," Fickle said smugly.

     "Elphie," whined Youji. "I wanna play games with you today! Puh-leeeease?!?"

     Elphaba shook her head, her hat flopping over one of her blue ears. She set it back quickly. "I am sorry, Youji, but today's "Game of the Day" is Jubble Bubble, and you can't swim yet. I have to go before it becomes too crowded to play."

     She kissed her baby brother on the cheek and walked away in her strange Peophin way. Kole watched her go. "Bye Elphie!" The Xweetok looked back at Youji, flapping her wings from impatience. "Maybe Raven'll let you hang with her. I've gotta go see if I can find any Chokato lenders on the boards! Seeya, Youji!"

     Youji sighed and his ears drooped. He looked up at Fickle hopefully. "Don't even ask," Fickle said, biting into his apple. Youji growled, his few teeth showing from beneath his lips as he tried to make himself look as scary as possible.

     "You guys never let me do ANYTHING! Kole gets the boards, Raven hangs at the Trading Post, Elphie plays games, and you work at the shop! What about me?!?"

     "You're too young to help us raise Neopoints," Fickle said bossily. "Kole and Elphie feel bad for you, but you're painted Baby and you'll never be old enough. What good are little brothers anyway? Get over it."

     Youji began to bawl like the baby he was and Fickle looked around anxiously. "Gotta run before Rayyy... Hi... Raven."

     The owner of the four pets was standing in the doorway, her dark eyes regarding the crying Ogrin and guilty-looking Acara silently. Raven picked up Youji and he stopped crying, aside from an occasional sniffle.

     "I think you'd better head to 'The Den of the Ninjas' before I ground you, Lab Boy," Raven said in her dangerously soft voice. Fickle yelped and ran off to his post.

     Raven set Youji down gently and set her lavender gaze on him. She tugged at his right ear and made him giggle. "What's the matter, Kii-Kii?" she murmured, using his pet-name.

     "I want to help you make Neopoints," Youji said dully. "But Fickle is right. I'm too young."

     Raven cocked an eyebrow and brushed back her black hair. "Since when is Fickle ever right? Look here, young one... you may be too young to play the games Elphaba likes, or to work at the boards like Kole does, but you're never too young to help me. Fickle only got his job because he tries to cheat at everything else."

     Youji sighed. "But I can't do anything!"

     "Don't be silly. You help me with my dailies every single day." Raven sighed and took her hair tie off her wrist, pulling her short hair into a Uni-tail.

     She looked at the downcast Ogrin thoughtfully. "Maybe there IS something else we can do together," she said mischievously.

     Youji's head snapped up and his mouth slipped into a crooked grin as he waited for her to continue.

     "You've heard of Faerie Quests, right?" Youji nodded. "Well," Raven continued, "there are five other quest givers aside from Faeries. There's Taelia, the Snow Faerie, who will give you a quest just for going to visit her at Terror Mountain."

     "But why can't she get them like the other Faeries?" questioned Youji.

     "She lives in an igloo. She asks for expensive items, but gives a lot of Neopoints and a good item in return."

     Youji growled. "I don't wanna go to Terror Mountain."

     "Alright then... there's the Chef at the kitchen on Mystery Island. We could help him out, too. What do you say?"

     "Nuh-uh."

     "The Esophagor?"

     "No, I don't think so."

     "Brain Tree?"

     "Eew, no way!"

     Raven sighed and raised her palms in defeat. "What about Edna the Witch?"

     Youji's eyes twinkled. "The witch?" he echoed. "Who's that?"

     Raven smiled triumphantly. "Let's go to the Haunted Woods... I'm sure she'll have a quest for us... "

     ---

     "Are we there yet... are we there yet... are we there yet... are we there yet..." Youji drawled on and on. Raven had her "Twisted Roses" CD blasting in her ears. She tried her best to drown out the whining Baby Ogrin's voice, but he finally caught her and tugged the sleeve of her Haunted Woods Team Jersey.

     With a sigh, Raven turned off the CD. "Yeah?" she murmured innocently.

     Youji_Kyrin scowled. "Are we there yet?"

     Raven shook her head, used to the little Neopet's impatience.

     "Where are we, anyway?" asked Youji.

     Raven looked at the nearby Haunted House game. "We're very close now, I think," she said thoughtfully. "We're in the Haunted Woods, anyway."

     Youji turned his eyes downward. "Fickle really hurt my feelings..."

     Raven's eyes softened. "He does that," she replied gently. "Don't worry, it'll catch up to him."

     "Hey! Hey, you with the Baby Ogrin! Yeah, you!"

     Raven sighed. "What?" She turned to find a teenage boy about her age grinning madly at her. A mysteriously hooded Neopet was at his feet.

     "What's your name?"

     "Raven," she replied curtly. "What do you want from us?" Youji clutched at her leg nervously.

     "What's your NEOPIAN name, stupid!"

     "Oh, how polite. It's _Ninjamasta_. Is that all?"

     "Oh, no! I have an offer for you! I couldn't help over-hearing and it sounds like this 'Fickle' could use some punishment!" He held out some sort of Transmogrification Potion. Raven couldn't tell by looking at it exactly what it was, but the very thought of giving it to her beloved lab pet sickened her.

     Her eyes narrowed in anger. "I believe that's my job, and I do it quite well." The boy shrugged. But before he could retaliate, Raven heard someone else.

     "Get lost, stupid lackey!" said a familiar voice. "Go on, shoo, get lost before I call for help!" The boy looked around wildly and ran off, his hooded Neopet racing after him. A Neopet dressed like a witch approached Raven and Youji. "Sorry about that, he's working for Sloth and always trying to... to... oh, hello Raven!"

     The Neopet raised her hat with a blue hoof. Youji squealed and hugged the Peophin and Raven laughed. "Hey, Elphaba. What are you doing here?"

     "Castle of Eliv Thade. Bring in three thousand Neopoints daily. I was just about to play. Oh, here..." Elphaba reached for a bag at her side and dumped the contents into Raven's hands. "There's 6k there. Gotta be sure to play Jubble Bubble when it's 'Game of the Day,' especially when I'm not bloated."

     The busy Peophin raised a hoof in farewell and rushed to the game. Youji grinned. "I betcha Elphie brings more Neopoints home a day than Kole, Fickle, and you combined times five!" He held up four fingers.

     Raven nodded. "On average. Unless something lucky happens."

     "Where's Edna the Witch?"

     Raven pointed to a tower a little ways off. "We're almost there. We can't really spend too much on her, because her rewards are Spooky Foods, usually cheap ones like Squishy Brain Wrap and Eye Candy."

     Youji wrinkled his nose. "Eww, that's icky!"

     Raven nodded.

     By the time they approached the door, foul odors had already made Youji's eyes water. Raven coughed. "It's not gonna be much better inside," she choked out. She pushed open the door and Youji rushed in.

     "EDNA!" he screeched. Raven stumbled back, fighting back a laugh. It was just like Youji to ignorantly rush into things, but the stench made her grateful for that. "EDNA!" Youji yelled again.

     "What, what's all this noise, pesky little... oh, hello!" Edna smiled, and even though she looked rather scary, Raven could tell she wasn't as bad as people said. Youji took in a deep breath and suddenly belted out the long story.

     "I have two sisters, Kole and Elphie, and a brother, Fickle, and they get my owner Raven lotsa Neopoints every day and I wanted to help but Fickle said I was too young so Raven told me we could go on a quest and I picked you and then we walked and walked and Raven was ignoring me cuz she was listening to music and then a jerk tried to change Fickle to a Mutant and Elphie chased him away so we came here and it stinks really bad and we want to do a quest for you!" He gasped for breath and flopped on his back. Raven giggled. Edna grinned.

     "Oh, well, all you had to do was ask for a quest, little one," said the witch happily.

     "Now she tells me," mumbled the exhausted Ogrin. Raven picked him up and followed Edna to her cauldron.

     "What do you need?" Raven asked hesitantly, eyeing the bubbling goop in the pot cautiously.

     Edna held up a book. "I am making a Rainbow Egg of Cybunny Transforming, and I need Crispies to finish it up."

     Raven brightened and held her Baby Ogrin at arms' length. "Youji, run to the Shop Wizard and get the cheapest Crispies you can find."

     She handed him 200 Neopoints and he grabbed them eagerly. He saluted and said "O-kay, Raven!!!"

     He darted off and Raven watched Edna throw random items into her pot. "You are the first to take one of my quests in a very long time," Edna said at last. "People don't like Spooky Foods as much as they used to."

     Raven nodded sympathetically and opened her mouth to reply when a very sweaty Ogrin burst through the door, clutching Crispies and a small piles of Neopoints in his paws. He handed the change to Raven and gave the witch her Crispies, which she instantly tossed in the cauldron.

     "Perfect!" Edna cackled. "Here you are, sweetie." She handed Youji a small blue plate with a ball of pink flesh on it and he shuddered. "And here's a little extra for being so fast."

     She gave Raven a handful of Neopoints. "Thank you," Raven and Youji said in unison, and they left quickly, finding themselves running to Monster House to get away from the stench. "Good job, Youji," Raven murmured, stroking his head gently.

     "It's just a stinky old pink blob," Youji sighed, putting the blue plate on the ground. Raven's lavender eyes widened and a smile spread across her face.

     "And this 'stinky old pink blob' is more than Elphie makes in a day," she laughed. "It's a Snorkle Snort. It's worth a fortune!" She embraced Youji firmly.

     "I did good?" Youji asked meekly.

     Raven nodded. "Let's find Elphie and go home." Raven carefully put her Neopoints and Youji's reward in her Dark Faerie Backpack and picked up her baby before heading back to Monster House.

     LATER THAT DAY

     "You lucky little bugger!" Kole giggled, ruffling the tuft of fur on Youji's head, her blue and cream-coloured tail swishing back and forth. "Wait until Fickle is forced to put THAT in 'The Den of the Ninjas!'"

          Youji blushed and Elphaba smiled at him. The three giggled madly as Fickle_Changeling rushed into the room, strutting around as a handsome Royal Kougra. "What do you think?" he gushed.

     Elphaba rolled her brown eyes and Kole shoved a paw in her mouth to keep from laughing. Youji looked at his brother innocently. "I think I have something for you to put in 'The Den of the Ninjas,' and don't try to back out of it. Raye'll throw a fit if you donate it."

     Fickle scoffed. "What is it? A Blue Ixi Plushie? Something worthless?"

     "Nope," said Youji smugly. He gave the Snorkle Snout to Fickle and got a gasp in return. Speechless, Fickle walked toward the Den, holding the snout gently as if terrified he'd drop it.

     Kole nudged her little brother with her paw. "Nice work, little guy." Elphaba nickered her agreement and Youji grinned.

     "I hope Fickle realizes that anyone can be the guard of that shop," Youji said, clapping his paws together. Kole nodded.

     "It's Neopets like you that get stuff for the shop," the Faerie Xweetok said fondly.

     "I can do anything Fickle can," Youji cheered. "What good are big brothers anyway?"

The End

Note from the Author: All of these pets belong to me, and though Fickle will change around, these pets are mine!!! Mine, I say!