Not the Same

     A red Ogrin turned to a yellow Ruki behind him and muttered “Well, well, someone’s not a morning person.” The Ruki hushed him, worried that Jhudora might overhear and punish them. The Ogrin rolled his eyes, bored. He, like most of the other Neopets in line awaiting quests, had been waiting outside for an hour. Jhudora seemed to take forever to get up and get ready for a new day of barking orders.

     A Zafara stepped forward in front of Jhudora. “Miss Dark Faerie? What is your wish?” The tall Faerie glared down at the quivering Zafara at her feet.

      “What do I wish? Get me the Neopian Encyclopedia F-J. I’m bored; I’d love to read about myself.” The Zafara nodded and skirted off to quickly fetch the book. Jhudora whipped around and walked inside her house. Draped over her throne sat a wish list hundreds of pages long. It contained names of spell ingredients, recipes, meals, snacks, books, and potions. She returned outside and pinned the list to her door. “Instead of knocking on my door and asking my what I want, it’s right here. These are all of the items I need. Unless it says two, I do not need doubles and if I get two, you will be punished. Now get out! All of you!”

     Neopets whipped out pads and pens and scribbled down an item or two on the list. Some conversed with each other to confirm that they were not getting the same thing. They hopped off in various directions – some to Faerie City, some to Neopian Central, but most to the Shop Wizard. That poor JubJub was going to feel even more overwhelmed than usual.

     Unfortunately, a young yellow Kacheek missed Jhudora’s speech about what she desired and walked up to the tall purple door, knocking softly on it. “Hello? Is anyone home? If not, I can come back later; that’s okay.” He waited. After a few moments, he heard a growl. It was quiet and deep, but it definitely sounded like a growl. Well, so far as the Kacheek knew, Jhudora didn’t keep any Lupes or Grarrls around for protection. “Uhh... Miss Jhudora?”

     Suddenly, the door flew open and a shiver ran down the Kacheek’s spine. It had become very cold. He slowly looked up at the glaring, enraged faerie towering above him. “What... in all of Neopia... possessed you to knock on my door? Can’t you read? I posted a sign! Imbecile!”

     Scared, the Neopet mumbled a response resembling “I didn’t see the sign, I’m sorry.”

     “Excuse me? I didn’t ask for a response. I give out quests for no reason. I need items and I don’t want to bother getting them myself. I also don’t want to be bothered. I placed a sign outside my door so no one would come knocking bothering me and here you are all peppy and grinning asking what I want? I want you pesky Neopets to stop bothering me and go away. I wish I could be like any other Dark Faerie and go up giving out quests rather than bored Neopets looking for a lollypop or a petpet coming to me asking what I want. I’d rather give pets endurance than having to waste a third of the items they give me in creating rewards! Which, by the way, most often get sold in shops or thrown into their Safety Deposit Boxes. So, you little Kacheek, who asks what you can get me, I want you and all the other Neopets to go away and leave me in my peace, unless you are getting my items! If you have such a problem, quest for that Earth Faerie who refuses to even live in Faerieland, where she came from! People wonder why, people miss her? I don’t! I’m quite happy. She can stay with King Skarl!!”

     The Kacheek’s lip quivered slightly. “Aww,” sneered Jhudora. “Are you crying?” The Kacheek nodded, running away crying for Fyora and Illusen. Crying for kindness. “Pathetic,” snapped Jhudora, walking back into her castle. However, the Kacheek was still close enough to hear Jhudora’s stinging words, and sat on the edge of a nearby cloud wondering if this was what was to be expected of all Faeries, even the queen herself.

     Later on in the day, that same frightened yellow Ruki stopped by empty handed, and loudly knocked on Jhudora’s door. “Jhudora!!” she yelled. “Jhudora!!!”

     Annoyed, Jhudora looked up. Honestly, how rude can people be, go knocking loudly on my door like that! Can’t a Faerie get a moment to think? She opened the door and stared at the Ruki in front of her. “What? Why must you be so rude as to go clamoring on my door?”

     The Ruki stood confident, no longer frightened. “Rude? Rude?! You call me rude? Fine, I don’t care anymore. I’m finished. I’m not doing your quests anymore and I don’t long for your rewards anymore. You are mean for no reason. Just because you are a dark Faerie gives you no excuse to be cruel!” Then the Ruki stormed off, leaving Jhudora in the dust.

     “Fine!” Jhudora called to the Ruki who was no longer there. “I don’t care! I don’t need you! I have so many other Neopets waiting on my hand and foot, why would I need you?” Then, she felt a tugging on her dress and looked for the cause of it. The red Ogrin stood in front of her. But behind him stood every single Neopet that had been there earlier. There was not enough room on the cloud so the Unis and faerie pets were flying instead. They all held their quest items in their mouth, except for the Ogrin. A yellow Aisha plushie sat at its feet.

     “You don’t need all of us! We’re sick and tired of you being rude. There’s requesting items, like what other faeries do, but you order! You yell! You command! Well, we’re through! See how well you do without help from any of the people who do your quests! We don’t want to help someone who is rude to us! You’re all alone now, Jhudora; let’s see how well you do on your own.” And with that, the Ogrin kicked the plushie off the cloud, landing it directly into the Money Tree.

     But then every other Neopet standing on the cloud did the same thing. They all threw, kicked, or spit their quest items off of the cloud safely into the branches of the Money Tree. Then they all turned their backs on Jhudora and left her there on the cloud, by herself.

     However, she spotted the young Kacheek standing wide-eyed, staring at her. He had seen the entire thing. She walked over to him, but he walked backwards for every step she took towards him. Jhudora sighed. “Go away. I don’t want you here.” But it wasn’t a yell, more of a request. The Kacheek did not move. She found this interesting. He was afraid of her, but not her words. “Come here, little one, I won’t hurt you.” The Kacheek violently shook its head. She wanted to be nice, just this once. Just to see...

     Jhudora kneeled to his height and raised a thin purple finger, motioning for the Kacheek to come towards her. He took two steps forward and stopped.

     “Little one, why have you stayed? Why haven’t you left with the others?” The Kacheek just stared. “Why do they go and do quests for my sisters, the other Faeries, and not me? Do you know?” The Kacheek didn’t move. “You expect me to yell at you or zap you, don’t you?” He blinked once. Jhudora sighed again. “Just go. I’m sure your owner is wondering where you are anyway.”

     At that moment, a green Uni flew by and stopped at the cloud, talking only to the Kacheek and ignoring Jhudora. “Come on, Jeff. Mom wants us home for dinner. She hasn’t seen you all day; she’s worrying.” The Uni picked up Jeff, the Kacheek, and flew away. Jhudora walked to where the Kacheek was a second ago, and watched the Uni until its green wings were no longer in sight.

     The infamous Dark Faerie stood on the edge of her cloud, staring at the bustling Faerie City in front of her. The city she had isolated herself from ever since she set up her quests. For the first time in her entire life, Jhudora longed desperately to be part of the chaos, the noise, the commotion. Sighing, she felt loneliness wash over her as she turned around and walked back towards the towering, solemn, empty castle, closing the door quietly behind her.

The End