Xer and Crox

      Xer crouched low on his branch, and looked down. His favorite spot to be was hiding between the leaves in the Money Tree where he could watch everything that was going on in Neopia Central. He had been spending more and more time up there as of late as he had been searching for something.

      “Oh Crox, maybe we should just give up.” Xer whispered. Clutched between his paws was a well-loved Alien Aisha Plushie. “I really wanted Alien Aisha Ears like you, too!” Xer sniffled, and pulled Crox in for a hug. He buried his face into its head, and cried softly into the fabric.

      “What are you doing?”

      The sudden voice startled Xer out of his tears, and looked up to see a Baby Acara looking directly up at him from the ground below.

      “I don’t think you’re allowed up there. The ghosts will be mad. And don’t even get me started on the Money Tree…” The Acara let his words trail off, but he smiled. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but he seemed amused. Then, without warning, he began to climb the tree. He was sitting beside Xer so quickly he didn’t even have time to react to what was going on. Someone had seen him?

      “So, what are you doing?” The Baby Acara asked again. He stared at Xer, waiting for his answer. Xer stared back. The Acara had a large purple bow around his neck, and was carrying what looked to be a tombstone. A sword was secured to his back by some string.

      “Um, I… I’m not doing anything!” Flustered, Xer looked away. He pulled Crox in for a hug. “Go away.”

      “That’s rude.” The Acara laughed. “Hey, that’s a cool toy! Can I see it?” He reached out for Crox, but Xer pulled to the side.

      “No, he’s mine. Go away.” Xer turned around, and took a deep breath.

      “Yoink… oops!” The Acara pulled Crox out of Xer’s hands in one big pull, but lost his grip and the plush fell to the ground.

      “No no no” Xer cried as he quickly climbed down from the tree. “Please be there, please”

      But the Money Tree was empty.

      “I’m really sorry.” The Acara was looking at his feet, his head hung low. “I didn’t mean for it to fall…”

      “What’s your name?” Xer surprised himself with the question but realized he didn’t even know who this Acara was. This Acara who came out of nowhere and in mere minutes lost his only possession.

      “Saynomie. Or Say.” The Acara mumbled.

      Xer looked around. They were standing at the foot of the Money Tree. Once in a while items would appear out of nowhere, and would vanish just as quickly as both pets and humans alike swooped in to get something that caught their fancy.

      “Say, please leave me alone.” Xer said. And with that, he began to walk away.

          ----

     Say looked around the Money Tree nervously, not sure what to do. He had found that Alien Aisha Plushie the Baby Kougra was so upset about, but he couldn’t find him anywhere. And he didn’t even know his name! How was he supposed to return it to him?

      Say had felt terrible the previous night about having dropped the plush. He hadn’t actually expected to be able to pull it from Xer’s grip, so when it slipped out it surprised him as much as it did Xer. But he had watched the Kougra sulk off into the night, and Say knew he had to do something about it. So as soon as he got home he asked if Tally could help him look for it. Without a second thought, she had grabbed her coat and they went off into the night.

     ----

      “Are you sure it’s around here?” Tally asked, standing at the bottom of the Money Tree and looking up. “I don’t see anyone up there.”

      “He was there yesterday.” Say said. He was perched on Tally’s head, holding on for dear life as she looked up into the leaves of the tree.

      “Maybe he knew you would come back for him.” Tally looked down at her hands where the Alien Aisha Plushie was. “And it sounds like he doesn’t want to see you.” Say had shared what had happened the previous night when they had been out looking. Tally hadn’t commented much on the events, just that he shouldn’t have grabbed the toy. Say already felt terrible about it, but Tally bringing it up as well made him feel even worse.

      “Here, I’ll go take a look”. Say jumped off Tally’s head and began to climb the tree. As he reached the leaves he could hear yelling, and the faint sound of Tally trying to distract them.

      Xer hadn’t heard the yelling from below, as he had been asleep in the branches of the tree. Tally had been right in that he didn’t want to see Say, so he had climbed higher up than he had before. Xer didn’t want to give up his favourite spot because of some Acara, and figured that even if Say had shown up he would be safe. Except, he hadn’t realized how annoyingly persistent Say was.

      “Hey, I found your toy!”

      Xer sleepily opened his eyes and looked around. He inwardly groaned when he saw Say a couple of branches over from him.

      “I told you to leave me alone.” Xer mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

      “But I found it!” Say shouted again, and bounced over to the branch Xer was on. “I looked all night, and I found your toy!”

      Xer slowly raised his head. He couldn’t comprehend what was being said. Say found Crox? But how? Anything picked up from the Money Tree was fair game. As soon as Crox hit the ground yesterday, it no longer belonged to him, but to whoever picked it up. But here Say was yelling that he had found it?

      “Oh jeez, follow me!” Say smiled, and jumped down and out of sight. Still mostly asleep, Xer slowly made his way down the tree. Maybe Say thought he could replace it with a new plush of the same kind? But he would be able to tell right away if it wasn’t his. And he would yell at Say and storm back up the tree when he saw it was a fake. But what if… nah, it’s impossible.

      Xer reached the bottom and turned to see Say perched on some girl’s shoulders. Say had a giant smile on his face, but the girl looked almost sad. When she saw him looking at her, she crouched down so she was at eye level.

      “I’m sorry for all the trouble Say has caused you.” With that she held out her hand. Sitting in her palm was an Alien Aisha Plushie. It was torn and dirty, and looked well-loved.

      Xer could feel his face growing warm, and with shaky hands he reached for the plush. As soon as his fingers brushed it, he knew it was his. He pulled Crox in for a hug, and buried his face in the top of its head. And he cried. The tears wouldn’t stop and he sobbed into Crox’s head for what seemed like hours. The whole time the girl and Say stayed beside him under the tree.

     The End.