Mickey and Laden: Part One

The two were bored. Very, very bored.

Laden, an island Wocky, stared blankly at his Meepit and sighed. "What do you want to do, Mickey?" he asked monotonously.

The Meepit looked up at him and shrugged. "Well, that sure helps me," Laden said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, and stood up from the couch. "Let's go outside," he suggested.

Mickey slowly nodded, and hopped of the couch and onto Laden's back. The two went outside where immediately, they could feel the burning heat. "Holy cheese, what's with the heat today?" exclaimed Laden.

He looked around, and saw no one in sight, which surprised him greatly. Usually, the humans and pets of Meridell were bustling about, doing their daily chores and keeping themselves quite busy. But then, the thought that most of the habitants most likely wanted to keep cool crossed Laden's mind, and he was no longer surprised.

Mickey suddenly jumped off of Laden's furry back and pointed to the park, which was located right across from where they were standing. Laden smiled at Mickey, and simply said, "Sure."

The two ran to the park where, yet again, there was no one. Oh well, it was better this way. Now they had the whole park to themselves. Alongside the park was a cool stream that carried a strong current. The stream led to the ocean outside of Meridell and into the world of the beyond.

Mickey and Laden were feeling quite hot and adventurous at the moment. They needed to cool down, yet have fun at the same time. So, the two decided to dip their feet in the refreshing water of the stream. They both sat down at the edge of the stream, and slowly let their feet soak into the water. A sear of sharp icy pain immediately flew up their spines. The water was much, much colder then they had expected. Laden immediately jumped up, tears already forming in his eyes. However, Mickey was so small that the pain was too much of a shock for him. The Meepit suddenly lost his grip, and fell into the current.

The moment was too quick for Laden to realize what was happening. One moment Mickey was there, and the next moment he wasn't. In a split second, Laden's eyes grew two times their normal size, and he cried out, "MICKEY!!!"

He frantically looked around the stream, and suddenly caught view of a pink tail poking out of the water. Mickey… Laden thought to himself, shocked.

The young pet didn't know what to do. No one was there to help him; he was all by himself. Knowing that he couldn't let his Meepit's life slip away just like that, Laden wiped away the tears that had dampened his cheeks, and dived into the freezing water. The current immediately pushed Laden towards Mickey, making him closer to his Meepit. However, he still wasn't close enough to grab hold of him. Mickey's face suddenly flew out of the water, inhaling deep breaths. His eyes were wide with fear, and Laden knew that wouldn't be able to survive for long. The current continued to bring Laden towards Mickey, but Mickey always seemed to never be any closer. Laden was so confused at the moment. His mind was swirling with dizziness, and his body ached with pain. The Wocky knew that he would most surely die because of this.

All of a sudden, a twisted, wooden branch that was poking out of a tree slammed into Laden's stomach, and flew him out of the water and onto the grass. The island Wocky landed on his head, and instantly slipped into the deep, shadowy world of unconsciousness.

**************

"He's going to make it, don't worry," a soothing voice said.

A sigh of relief escaped someone's mouth. "Thank you doctor."

This is what Laden perceived the first moments that he woke into consciousness. His view was a bit hazy, and he could feel a very sore bump on the top of his head. But other then, he felt okay. The little Wocky slowly fluttered his eyes open, and immediately saw his owner, Jay, sitting beside his bed with a smile on his face.

"Welcome back, Laden," Jay whispered, tears forming in his eyes. Laden could obviously tell that his owner was growing emotional. Jay was always that way.

Laden rubbed his eyes with his paw, yawned softly, and flashed an anxious half-smile back to Jay. "Um…am I in a hospital?" Laden nervously asked.

Jay nodded, wiping some of the tears that had fallen. "Yeah," he softly said. "You've been here for two days. That was a pretty bad concussion that you got."

Concussion?

Suddenly, the memories of the final events before he had become unconscious started flooding Laden's mind. Mickey had fallen into the stream…Laden had tried to save him…

He had not succeeded.

"Mickey!" Laden cried, jerking into an upright position from his bed. "Where is he?!"

Jay stared at his pet for a long pause, and sighed. "H-he's," the boy began, "...gone."

Gone.

The word was unbearable for Laden to hear. His little Meepit was gone. Gone forever, never to be seen again. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be. But it was…

Tears started to well up in Laden's eyes, and the poor Wocky began sobbing hysterically, pain and grief churning in the pit of his stomach. Why had this happened to Mickey? Why? He didn't deserve one ounce of it.

Laden wept and wept for what seemed like hours, but in reality, he wept for five minutes. The only thing Jay could do was comfort his pet, and try to make him feel better. But of course, nothing worked. Without Mickey, Laden felt lifeless. Mickey was simply everything to Laden…

**************

4 Days Later

It was now Tuesday, and Laden was at home drawing more missing posters for his Meepit, Mickey. He already hung about a dozen posters in his neighborhood, but until now, he had heard nothing. Of course, Laden still carried tons of hope, and he would not give up until he found out whether Mickey was dead or alive.

Laden quickly glued a picture of his Meepit onto one his posters, and shuffled the dozen more posters that he made during the day.

He stood up from his chair, and headed towards the door, when suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring. "Laden, can you get that?" Jay yelled from upstairs.

"Okay!" Laden yelled back. He swung the door open, and standing there was Raymond, one of his friends from the neighborhood.

"Hey Laden!" Raymond, an electric Grarrl, exclaimed.

Laden did another one of his half-smiles, displaying that he wasn't in one of his best moods. Raymond realized this. "I heard what happened to Mickey," He nervously said, "and it's really terrible. He was such a nice petpet, and it just sucks that he's…" Raymond didn't dare say the last word.

Laden kept quiet, staring at the ground. An awkward silence ensued for a moment. Then, Raymond spoke again. "Um, I'll keep you updated with any news that I hear."

Laden nodded, sniffing. Raymond sighed, and walked away from Laden's home. Laden gazed out into the sky, and whispered, "Oh Fyora, please, please, please just bring Mickey back to me." A salt-ridden tear rolled down his cheek, and fell to the ground.

Laden subsequently began walking around his neighborhood, attaching the posters to trees, walls, and the outside of fences. He could see a few pets from far away look at his posters, and then walk away, which diminished the hope that he carried. But still, he continued on, and in no time at all, he was done.

The Wocky began traveling back home, where he prayed that someone would come soon and give him his Meepit back. Suddenly, he heard a voice call out, "Laden, Laden! Look what I found!"

Laden swirled his head around, and caught sight of Raymond, who was running at him with something mysterious in his hands. "Look what I found!" Raymond gasped once more. He opened his arms slightly more, and lying inside was…a blue Meepit!

Laden gasped, and immediately cried out, "It's Mickey!"

Raymond stared at his friend as if he were insane. He said, "No, no! This Meepit is blue! Yours was pink!"

"B-b-ut.."

"It's mine, Laden. Not yours."

Laden blinked, and stared at the Meepit who was staring back at him with wide, oblivious eyes. He then noticed that the Meepit had a big scratch over his forehead, and a few bruises on its arms. At first, a feeling of despair entered Laden's mind, but then, heated jealousy began taking over. All of this wasn't fair. Raymond was NOT supposed to have a Meepit, he was! He was the one who lost his petpet, so he should have been to one who had gotten one back! Why did Raymond get a Meepit and he didn't?!

Of course, Laden knew not to say this in front of Raymond. All he did was calmly ask, "What's his name?"

"Well, I was thinking of naming him Imkey."

IMKEY?! Mickey thought furiously. THAT'S MICKEY WITH THE TWO FRONT LETTERS SWITCHED AND THE C TAKEN OUT! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?!

"Um, don't you think you could come up with something more original then that? What about Yuilardo?" Laden suggested, not displaying any range of emotion.

Raymond thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Nah, sounds too weird. I'll stick with Imkey. It sounds cool."

Laden clenched his teeth together, and balled up his fists tightly. His anger was almost at its boiling point, and it would soon surely explode into a fit of rage.

All of a sudden, a rather bizarre thing occurred. Imkey struggled and let himself go from Raymond's arms, and jumped onto Laden's back. At that moment, Laden could feel that it was Mickey sitting on his back. That warm feeling was there; it was always there when Mickey was sitting on his back.

Raymond look confused for an abrupt second, and then quickly snatched Imkey away. "Don't do that, Imkey!" he said sternly. "You could have gotten hurt!"

Laden's mouth slowly opened in awe. Raymond noticed this, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I-it's him, it's M-Mickey. I know it is…"

To Be Continued…