The REAL Petpet Rescue

     Oh dear, how rude of me! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rike, and I’m an Ixi. My sister lmprint is faerie, and also an Ixi. How wonderful it must be to have wings! I say grey is probably the most fitting color for me, looks wise. I would have really liked to have had wings, but I am stuck with a fluffy little tail instead! It’s no wonder that I have droopy ears and a somber expression, really, is it.

     I heard a clattering in the front room. My owner was home! I was then somewhat deafened by loud banging, crashing, and finally a thudding noise, as my owner set down whatever it was she’d purchased. I slowly wandered out, feeling a little alarmed at all the racket going on in there. On my way there, my sister flew past me with a look of alarm on her face also. I cursed again at my lack of wings as I reached the front room after my sister, who was already pawing her way through the bags my owner had set down.

     She pulled out a blue Gnorbu wool jumper, a Flotsam sweater, wool gloves, and some Kacheek ear muffs. What in the world was all this? We’re in the middle of the spring, what do we need all this stuff for? It’s not winter – the weather is only getting warmer. Wondering if my owner had finally lost her marbles, I cautiously asked the obvious question.

     “What’s all this for?” I said, looking at my owner in confusion.

     “I promised an adventure, did I not?” my owner asked, grinning at me.

     I hate it when people answer a question with a question. Especially when it tells you nothing by way of an answer!

     “Where are we going?” I queried, deciding to try a different tactic.

     “Somewhere out of this world!” my owner chortled, still refusing to answer my question.

     I eyed her suspiciously as she stuffed all of her purchases, along with some food, drinks and various other items into a backpack, handing it to lmprint. The only good thing about not having wings – I didn’t have to carry anything on our outings. I guess the logic was that lmprint didn’t get sore legs on the outings we went on; therefore she had to carry everything. Whatever the logic, I wasn’t complaining, nor questioning. I was quite happy with this arrangement.

     Finally done with the packing, my owner yelled, “Okay you two, let’s go!” then turned around, noticed we were both right behind her, bored at having been ready to go for the last ten minutes, and smiled sheepishly at us.

     We followed her out, and lmprint chatted excitedly with my owner about what we were going to do. She was playing guessing games about where in Neopia Central we were headed. She listed location after location, store after store, until finally I broke my silence to inform her that my owner had meant we were leaving Neopia Central. She’s great to look at, but lmprint really isn’t that smart yet.

     “Rike is right, lmprint,” my owner said, nodding at me. “We’re headed to Terror Mountain for the day,” she finished, finally giving us an idea of where we were going. I watched my sister’s ears drop, and her tail fell between her legs. She stopped flying and walked slowly beside my owner.

     Though my appearance didn’t change, I was almost excited! Terror Mountain! This could actually be interesting! Maybe I could participate in some snow wars! Or perhaps, we’d actually get to head to the mysterious realm that is the top of Terror Mountain, a place where neither lmprint nor I have ever seen! As these thoughts raced through my mind, we arrived at a boat. Here we were stuffed into jumpers, sweaters, scarves, gloves and ear muffs.

     “On the boat you go!” my owner said cheerfully. Barely able to move with all that winter gear on, I stumbled onto the raft with lmprint, who was now unable to fly as she was too tightly wrapped. I would have laughed at her, but I wasn’t sure who looked more ridiculous, her or me! I think she had the same thought, because she grinned at me and reached over her hoof to mine giving it a gentle squeeze. She likes to pretend she is brave, but I could see she looked quite afraid.

     For what seemed like hours, but was in reality only about twenty minutes, we floated along the ocean. The weather was getting colder and colder – which was quite surprising for such a short distance from our home. On the horizon I could see what appeared to be an iceberg at first glance, but as we got closer I could tell it was Terror Mountain. It was then that even I started to feel nervous; the mountain was absolutely huge!

     We finally hit the shore, and lmprint, my owner, and I all thanked the captain, and stood for a moment staring up at the beauty of the mountain. Then, forgetting her fear for the moment, lmprint spotted a slushie store and immediately trudged towards it as fast as she could, given the bundle of clothing she was lost under. My owner laughed and dragged me along also. Personally I was wondering why in the world anyone would want a slushie in weather like this!

     The wind was so strong I could feel it whipping my clothes against me, and as we neared the mountain, snow began to fall. Still, what my sister wanted, she got – so we stood in line and got her a Chocolate Chip Cookie Slushie. I politely declined – having lmprint kept quiet for a while was good enough for me. I looked around at the signs – to Terror Mountain, ah ha!

     “As if we really needed a sign for that,” I thought. I started heading towards the sign, but my owner called out to me.

     “Rike, dear, you’re going the wrong way!” she called, and I noticed her and lmprint heading towards the Ice Caves sign.

     Where on earth were we going? Not to the top of the mountain, obviously. That was a little disappointing. The weather was getting worse and worse as we trudged towards the Ice Caves. I tried to remember what was in the Ice Caves, and vaguely recalled a visit to the Scratchcard Kiosk some time ago.

     “This had better not be a trip for scratchies!” I thought, with annoyance. At least this place didn’t look particularly scary from a distance, though. Exhausted and out of breath, we all finally arrived at the Scratchcard Kiosk. I stopped, but my owner kept walking right on past the store. All at once I realized there was only one place left past the Scratchcard Kiosk to go - we were headed toward the Snowager’s cave! I felt a lump begin to rise in my throat, as a blissfully unaware lmprint chattered excitedly to my owner.

     We trudged on, and finally lmprint was quiet momentarily, and I hissed at her, “We’re going to the Snowager’s Cave!” with urgency and fear taking over my voice.

     “Yay!” she squeaked. “Maybe we’ll get some great new stuff!”

     “We’re not going there for new stuff,” I replied, staring at lmprint. She stared back at me blankly. “You know we never do anything unless our owner wants a new avatar – and you know the Snowager only gives out the avatar if you wake him up!” I whispered hurriedly, as we were nearing the cave entrance.

     “Oh dear,” she moaned, realizing at last why I was so concerned.

     Our owner was already inside the cave – too late now, I realized. Hoof in hoof, we crept in, preparing ourselves for the worst. Icicles hung from the ceiling, and the walls were rough. This cave was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, though I was having difficulty enjoying its beauty, for obvious reasons.

     We turned a sharp corner, and there was the largest ice worm I’d ever seen, sleeping on a huge pile of neggs, snowballs, weapons, and various other items. A chill passed over my body that had nothing to do with the temperature of the cave.

     “Ah, Ah, ah CHOO!” lmprint sneezed, and it loudly echoed through the entire cave, and the Snowager shot straight up into the air, its eyes narrowing menacingly as they focused on us. The Snowager opened its mouth, as if it was going to spray us with an icy blast of daggers. The look on our owner's face was a combination of hope and fear. Just when I was sure it was all over, we heard a rustling noise, coming from lmprint’s backpack.

     Ickle, our cousin Spireth’s pet snowickle, popped her green head out of the backpack, staring adoringly at the Snowager. In that moment, the two of them seemed to bond, and the Snowager looked over us, nodding to Ickle, then moaned and went back to sleep, obviously no longer considering us a threat.

     Our owner sighed with annoyance, and lmprint and I sighed with relief, as we fled out of the cave.

     “How many times have I told you, lmprint, I pack the bags!” our owner grumbled, looking extremely displeased. I, however, was extremely pleased at my sister’s unwitting genius.

     “Ickle likes the cold, though, Mommy!” lmprint pouted, her eyes filling with tears at having been scolded, as she pet Ickle, who seemed to know just how happy we were with her.

     Our owner laughed and hugged her. “What do you say I take Dryul with me to visit the Snowager from now on?” she asked, as we all knew Dryul was the thrill seeker in the family. We nodded vigorously in agreement, and uttered collective sighs as we headed back towards home, stopping by at the Scratchcard Kiosk on the way back. Naturally, though, I wasn’t complaining! There’s certainly nothing wrong with the nice, safe, Scratchcard Kiosk. I think I’ll insist upon knowing our plans prior to leaving home next time! At least we got out of the humidity for a while, right?

The End