Kertsi sat down at her desk. She wanted to write her story. She needed to write her story. If she didn't, she would forget everything, repeat her mistake, and end up hating Cutie Pie again. The red Aisha sighed at the thought of her younger Kacheek sister and the trouble she had gotten in.
The trouble you got her in, you mean. Kertsi reminded herself as she picked up her pencil and started writing…
Kertsi woke up to the sound of crying. It must be her little sister, Cutie Pie, for it came from her mum's room. She could hear Trista groan and slide out of her bed to comfort the baby Kacheek. Kertsi scowled and looked around her, as though trying to remember where she was. She was in their new neohome on Terror Mountain, on the couch in the living room. Her other sister, Poppukoon, was snoring on the rug oblivious to Cutie's wailing. She wished their rooms would hurry up and get done so she and Poppukoon didn't have to sleep in the living room anymore. Trista's bedroom was the only one done so far, and she and Cutie slept in there. Kertsi stuffed her fists into her ears as the wailing continued. Sometimes she wished they had never adopted Cutie. Eventually, the sobbing quieted down and the red Aisha was able to fall back asleep.
The next morning, Kertsi had just finished the omelet and was preparing to go out when Trista popped her head into the living room.
"Kertsi? Poppukoon? Could you do me a favor?" She asked. Kertsi elbowed the blue Kyrii to make her look up from her book before Trista continued. "I need to go out; could you watch Cutie for me?"
Kertsi groaned. "But Mo-om, Poppukoon and I were going to go out too!"
"Then take her along." Trista suggested, handing Cutie to Poppukoon.
"'Course we'll take her, Mom!" Poppukoon assured her mother. "Don't worry about a thing."
Trista gave Poppukoon a quick, grateful smile and was out the door before anyone could say anything else. Kertsi mumbled incoherently under her breath before Poppukoon, with Cutie in one arm, dragged the Aisha out of the house.
Soon they were standing outside in the knee-deep snow on Terror Mountain. Good thing they had bundled up nice and warm, otherwise they would freeze. Poppukoon handed Cutie over to Kertsi.
"Watch Cutie, I'm gonna go check out the Garage Sale. I'll be back in a minute." The blue Kyrii said, trotting off to the Garage Sale before Kertsi could protest.
"Great." Kertsi muttered. "Now I've got to watch you by myself." She glared at Cutie, who in turn just gazed up at her.
"Kewtsi, I'm hungwy." Cutie whimpered.
Kertsi sighed. "Alright, but you stay here, okay? Stay right here, and don't move." She commanded the baby Kacheek. When Cutie nodded, Kertsi put her down on a stone cleared of snow and headed off to Super Happy Icy Fun Snow Shop to get chia pop for her little sister.
Soon she was heading back with a super sour shocker chia pop for Cutie, and a lime snow puff for herself. She trudged through to snow to the spot where she had left Cutie.
"Oh no!" She gasped, almost dropping the snow puff when she caught sight of the spot. "I i thought /i I left Cutie here. I'm sure I did! Only… where is she?" It, indeed, was the spot where Kertsi had left her little sister to wait; only Cutie wasn't there anymore. "Um, ma-maybe Poppukoon has her?" The hope in her voice was plain, even though she doubted Poppukoon had even come over here.
A moment later, Kertsi burst into the Garage Sale, gasping for breath. She braced her hands on her knees, then looked around frantically for Poppukoon.
"Poppukoon!" She gasped, finally spotting her sister and hurrying over.
Poppukoon had found an old copy of the Neopian Times and had been reading it when Kertsi interrupted her. She now looked up at Kertsi, a bit annoyed having been interrupted from her reading. "What?" She asked crossly.
Kertsi ignored Poppukoon's annoyance. "Is Cutie here with you?" She wondered hopefully. Poppukoon shook her head.
"I left her with you, remember?" She reminded her sister.
Kertsi gulped. "I-I know. Except, well…" She took a deep breath. "Cutie said she was hungry, and so I left her on a rock that wasn't snowy to go get her a chia pop. When I came back… she was gone." The red Aisha confessed. Poppukoon stared at her, her expression going from annoyed to shock to concern.
"You-You left her there? Just like that? By herself?" Poppukoon gasped. Kertsi nodded. Poppukoon groaned then immediately took charge. "First, we go back and look for clues." Kertsi nodded once more and they headed back to where Cutie first disappeared from.
"Hm…" Poppukoon examined the boulder where Cutie had last been seen. "Not many clues, are there?" She muttered to herself, crouching down to get a better look at the footprints in the snow. "Say, Kertsi, you were carrying Cutie, right? Well, up until you set her down anyway."
Kertsi nodded and crouched down by Poppukoon. "Well, yeah. She would sink up over her head if I didn't. Why?"
Poppukoon pointed to the varying footprints around the boulder. "'Cause I see Aisha prints, and Kyrii prints. And… Kacheek prints. Look." As she named each type of footprint, she pointed to them. Then she gently ran her finger in the snow next to a set of unknown footprints.
"What? You actually know the difference between them all?" Kertsi asked in surprise. Well, actually, she shouldn't be too surprised. Poppukoon loved reading and studying and did it every second that she could.
"Yes, I do. But now isn't the time to discuss my academic achievements, Kertsi." Poppukoon sighed. "Pay attention to the matter at hand."
Kertsi frowned, she didn't exactly like her younger sister telling her what to do, but right now finding out who took Cutie, where they were, and why was more important than her pride. "So, then the neopet who kidnapped Cutie is a Kacheek?"
"Yup, or they leave Kacheek prints, anyway. So I assume they're a Kacheek." Poppukoon informed the red Aisha. She was about to stand up when she noticed a piece of paper on the ground, almost invisible against the heaping mounds of snow. She picked it up and then stood. Kertsi stood as well, brushing the snow off her pants. "What's this?" Poppukoon murmured aloud. She unfolded the piece of paper and read the note. Her eyes widened in shock and she passed it to Kertsi so she could read it as well.
"I have your kid," Kertsi read, "If you want her back, come to Coltzan's Shrine in the Lost Desert with two-million neopoints. Only the Kyrii and Aisha are to come, and no one else. You are to tell no one. No friends, no family, and especially not the Defenders of Neopia." She almost dropped the note in shock after she read the letter. It was not signed.
Poppukoon took the note from her older sister and tucked it in her pants' pocket. "We have to tell Mu-"
"No." Kertsi cut her off mid-word. "We will not tell Mum, got that?" She fixed Poppukoon with a no-nonsense stare.
"Well, but, don't we need to…" Poppukoon stammered, and then stopped. "Alright, you're the boss. What i do /i we do then?"
Kertsi opened her mouth, then closed it again and repeated the process, making her look somewhat like a hungry Koi. "I… don't know." She admitted finally.
"Well then, I say we go back to the neohouse anyway and figure out something there." Poppukoon suggested with a smile. "'Sides, I'm getting really cold out here."
Kertsi laughed. "Alright then, Poppukoon. Let's head home."
Soon the two had arrived at their neohome and were seated in the living room, discussing what to do. Fortunately for them, Trista wasn't home yet. Kertsi and Poppukoon were kneeling by the coffee table. Neither had taken off their jackets, since they hadn't bothered to start a fire in the fireplace. Poppukoon had laid the letter out on the coffee table and was resting her head on her hands as she stared at it.
"I don't see what else we can do, Kertsi." Poppukoon finally confessed. "It clearly says only we are to come."
Poppukoon winced as Kertsi banged her head on the table. "I know, Poppukoon." She groaned. "I know we have to go alone, and who knows what Mum will do when she finds out Cutie's gone."
"Well, first she'll be furious, and give us the worst punishment she can think up. Then, she'll be depressed, sobbing, cheerful but fake, and angry in turns." Poppukoon mused.
"You're not helping." Kertsi informed her, glaring up at her sister. Poppukoon just grinned. "Anyway, back to the subject at hand." She sat up again and turned her attention back to the ransom note.
"Okay, first off, we know we have to go alone. Second, we know we can't bring the two-million neopoints since we don't even have half that much." Poppukoon traced a wrinkle on the table absently. "So we have to go alone with out telling Mum."
Kertsi nodded. "Uh-huh. And we also have NO IDEA WHERE THE LOST DESERT IS! AND, WHAT WILL WE DO ABOUT THE EXSPENSE OF TRAVELING?!"
Poppukoon, mostly used to her sister's outbursts by now, waited till she had calmed down before putting forth her suggestion. "There's a map above Mum's desk, in her room. Plus, did you forget? Mum gives us an allowance each week. You asked me to keep half of yours, so you didn't spend it." She gently reminded her.
Kertsi blinked. "Oh yeah." Was all she said. Poppukoon chuckled, stood, and led the way into their Mum's room. Once they were in the room, they made a buzzerline for the Icy Desk. Poppukoon pushed back the rolling chair and climbed on the desk, trying to ignore the fact that the desk was made of ice and therefore incredibly cold. She pulled down the big Neopia map from the wall and rolled it up.
"Alright, the banks should be…" Poppukoon headed back into the living room and handed the map to Kertsi to hold. She picked two piggy banks off the mantle of the fireplace and held them both upside down over the table. She shook them both hard until they didn't clink anymore. The banks were set aside, and Poppukoon and Kertsi started counting the neopoints piled up on the table.
"Fifteen-thousand." Kertsi sighed. "It's not very much."
Poppukoon scooped the neopoints into her hands. "No, not for traveling across the world." She agreed. "We could take some from Mum's bank, and pay her back when we get back." She suggested.
Kertsi shook her head. "No, we're already stealing her map, remember? So we aren't taking her neopoints. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky along the way and find some more." Poppukoon reluctantly nodded her head and they made their way into the entryway, where they each grabbed a bag.
"We'll each carry half of the neopoints, and one will hold the map, the other will hold the food." Poppukoon said, dumping her half of the neopoints into her bag while Kertsi did the same. Poppukoon volunteered to carry the map, and they stuffed a few extra jackets and scarves into their bags. They had grabbed a few omelets and jellies from the kitchen, since they didn't dare take anything else, and Kertsi sealed them in plastic bags and dropped them in her bag. Poppukoon suddenly remembered something and ran into the kitchen, emerging with four water bottles.
"Four?" Kertsi asked, accepting two of them.
Poppukoon nodded. "We'll drink from one, and the other keep at the bottom of our bags, just in case. Plus, we can fill one with snow and drink from the other while it melts, then switch."
Kertsi nodded her understanding and was putting her hand on the doorknob when they heard a whine behind them. They spun around, ready for it to be the kidnapper behind them. Both breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed it was only Kumo, Cutie's Magaral, Taiga, Kertsi's Tigermouse, and Jelly, Poppukoon's Blobagus. They obviously wanted to go with their mistresses on their journey. Kertsi smiled at Taiga as she braced her paws against Kertsi's legs.
"Sorry guys, but you can't come." She told them. "You have to stay here and keep Trista company while we're gone." Though it was reluctantly, the petpets backed off to let the girls leave. Kertsi opened the door and they headed out on their mission.
Author's Note: This story was originally intended for The Neopian Times on The neopets in here are from my old account, which no longer exists. I appreciate constructive critisism and the next installment will be up next week.