The household was starkly quiet. Unusually so, in the opinion of Sander, but it was a welcome break from the usual hubbub.

The fire Eyrie stretched on the couch with an issue of the Neopian Times. He was leafing through the newspaper, searching for the Editorial, when his sister's voice startled him.

"Did you see her leave this morning?"

Sander sqwacked in surprise and blinked, as Adie, the electric Eyrie with new and unprecedented stealth skills sat by his side.

"See who, you skulking delinquent?" Sander snapped and got back to the Neopian Times.

"Vulpis!" Adie replied unpleasantly. "She left this morning! With Trix! For Mystery Island!"

"...And?" he asked distractedly, not so much out of interest as much because he wanted this conversation over and done with soon. He, personally, could not see any reason his owner could not take Trix, their other sibling, on a trip to Mystery Island, but Adie seemed to have found some fault with that.

"Are you aware that Vulpis received a Neopian Times White Weewoo Plushie for her contribution to Issue 250 of this esteemed publication?" Adie continued, pointing to Sander's newspaper.

"Yeees."

"Are you aware the aforementioned plushie is worth more than our collective paint jobs, lab ray maps, Petpets and training put together?"

Sander sighed and raised his gaze to look at Adie. "So what's your point, my verbose little bratling sister?"

"My point? My point is that she's probably in an exotic resort, splurging all her newly-acquired wealth with TRIX!"

"My, my." Sander chuckled. "Has this infantile tantrum been brought on by jealousy?"

"Jealous? Of course I'm jealous! As should you be!" Adie jabbed a talon in Sander's direction. "Trix is now officially Vulpis' new favourite pet! We've been pushed out of the way!"

Sander sighed yet again. "Listen, you paranoid wingding, I have better things to worry about than your imagined slights. Now scurry off and clean the Petper litter, or something."

"You're not even worried!" she yelled, amazed.

"Of course not, you featherbrained simpleton," he snorted. "I am very much assured that Vulpis favours me greatly, so I need not worry that I'd been replaced by Trix, of all people."

"Pff. Conceited little snot. I can see you're worried. I bet as soon as Vulpis gets home, you'll offer to give her a foot massage."

"Absolutely not!" the fire Eyrie retorted in a horrified fashion. "A back rub, at most!"

Adie grumbled unhappily.

"Where's Shaduinn, anyway? Don't tell me she's taken him too!"

"I think he's been cleaning the attic for the past two stories."

"...What!"

"Nothing."

Adie hmph'd and started pacing around the livingroom while Sander ignored her. Or tried to, at least.

"You know--" Sander started saying, trying to stop Adie's unnerving and highly distracting activity.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, stricken by a sudden idea. "I'm going to Mystery Island! I'm retaking my position as Alpha-pet of this household!"

And with that, she dashed towards the door, while Sander shook his head in pity. It was a bit too late now to tell her Vulpis hadn't sold the Weewoo Plushie and wasn't, as of yet, a millionaire.

But then again, it had been terribly fun to see Adie squirm, he thought as he chuckled and returned to reading the Neopian Times.