Piper of Dreams

I don't own Neopets.

This story takes place after my still incomplete series "In This Together" and involves the little Gelert from that fic, but you don't need to have read it-- or, indeed, any of my work-- to understand "Piper of Dreams". I'd love feedback on this, as I'm hoping it will be a 'Times story some day.

Chapter I:

Melody

They said, much later, that a young homeless Aisha had been the first to go.

She was a green Aisha, not much more than a kitten, and with huge emerald eyes that had long ago ceased to see the use of crying. No-one knew why she'd been out alone on such a cold night, with neither an owner for shelter, nor a sibling for love, nor any toy or petpet to cling to for comfort. Perhaps she'd run away from home; perhaps she'd been thrown out. Perhaps she was so small that no-one saw her and thought to take her to the Adoption Centre—which, although bleak, would at least have been protection from the elements. At any rate, she was young enough, or unlucky enough, or maybe ill enough not to remember her own name.

Her paws left soft imprints in the snow that covered the streets of Neopia Central. She only made a sound when she spotted some morsel of food half-frozen on the ground: a sandwich or candy twist that some more fortunate Neopet had dropped and not thought to pick up, or a discarded slice of omelette. Then she would mew in unexpected delight, the sound barely audible, and run to pick up her latest find. What she craved most she had no hope of finding; instinctively she made the most of all she discovered.

As she searched the streets this way, she paid no attention to the sound of music on the snow-swirling wind. What was it to her if an eerie melody was floating toward her, making her bedraggled ears twitch? A handful of spine-tingling notes was not going to shelter her from the wind, or help her to find her next meal…

And yet, even as that thought crossed her mind, she looked up from her contemplation of the snow. To her surprise, she saw a house ahead of her which looked quite wrong for this part of town; an elegant, sumptuous three-storey mansion, with lights blazing from the windows and the sounds of clinking glasses, the notes of a piano, a roaring fire, reaching her through the open door. Who would leave their door open and unattended like that? The kit lifted her head and smelt the odour of hot chicken and spices, something she would never have even dreamed about on the street. The piano played a melody that seemed to touch her half-frozen heart, drawing her ever-closer.

Abruptly, she reached a decision. One look inside wouldn't hurt, since the door was open anyway. She wouldn't touch the chicken, or come near the piano. Just one quick look. They couldn't possibly be angry at her for that. She pulled her frail body up onto the step and padded towards the glow.

No-one noticed her absence that frosty night, any more than they had her presence. Nevertheless, she was the first.

There would be others.

..--...

Rickaira the Gelert stretched and yawned. He'd slept until late in the morning, and now the pale winter sunlight was shining on his furry form as he lay in bed. Today was a Saturday; no Neoschool, only relaxation and play. He heard a soft crooning noise, and realised that his sister's Alkenore was curled at the end of his bed, enjoying the warmth just as he was. Ricky sighed in contentment.

He remembered the bad dream that had woken him at three in the morning last night, the one about the Aisha in the snow. His sister had calmed him down as she always did, stroking his head with her delicate lavender-coloured paw, until he fell asleep again. The dream had not returned that night, and Ricky was glad of it.

"Sis? Are you awake?" he called, swinging his paws down from the bed. The fluttering of wings downstairs confirmed that his sister was, indeed, up and about.

The Gelert looked out of his window at the snow. A cloud hovered to the west, suggesting more was to come. He wondered if his sister would have to go on a shopping trip today, and whether he could persuade her to stay home. He'd heard that the snowstorms were getting worse.

As he caught sight of a long-eared, four-pawed figure outside, he froze in panic. Then his heartbeat slowed as he realised it was a pretty Cloud Aisha, obviously on her way to the Clothes Shop to buy a new scarf and mittens—not the lonely, unhappy creature of his nightmares.

Ricky shivered. Why was a simple dream causing him such pain?

...---...

Lila Starr, a royalgirl Acara, was bored. She sat on a bench in Neopia Central's most beautiful park, watching the snow fall. Already snowflakes were catching in her elegant veil and silver-beaded necklace.

A few feet away from her, a green Kacheek and a pink Yurble were playing together, building a model Elephante with its own snow petpet, and a worn red scarf tied on for the trunk. They laughed together, occasionally pausing to hurl a hastily made snowball. Lila watched the happy, carefree siblings with mounting sadness. Tears stung her pretty, dark eyes. Because Lila was lonely.

Again and again, she'd pleaded for a sibling. Again and again her owner, a stockmarket Neomillionaire who loved her like a daughter, had told her no. "There's too many pets in Neopia already without my creating another," he'd sighed. "And I couldn't afford to give another pet everything you've got. There'd only be jealousy between the two of you."

It was deeply ironic, Lila thought. Her owner worked hard to give her everything she could ever want: jewellery, toys, battledome weapons, grooming items, petpets, clothes. She lived in a house that was more like a palace, in a room that thousands of Neopets could only imagine. Her stats were impossibly high and her intelligence well above average. But the one thing that her heart desired, she couldn't have. Lila Starr would always be an only pet.

Brushing away the angry tears, she looked back at the two Neopets. But they were no longer there. In their place, an Aisha was standing.

She was a tiny Neopet; not painted, or groomed, or even particularly beautiful. But in that moment, Lila felt that the Aisha was waiting for her, Lila Starr Acara, to be her sister and best friend. She would be loyal, loving, sensitive, playful, a sibling to be treasured for life. And Lila's owner could not possibly say no this time.

Jumping to her paws, Lila ran towards the Aisha, who moved shyly away so that the Acara had no choice but to follow…

...---...

Ricky sat at his typewriter. In Neoschool he was not the keenest of writers, but this was something different; a letter to his penfriend.

Dear Novella,

Has the snow fallen in Meridell? Here, the whole city is covered in it. Sis went out to fetch the groceries earlier and she had to wear her scarf and pawboots .I'm not going to be such a fool as to go out there today .It's pretty to look at when you're on the right side of a window, i.e. the inside.

Anyway, Sis came back with some odd news….

"A young man named Jake Hauser says he's lost his girl Acara."

The Faerie Bori flopped onto the couch, shaking snow out of her wings. The shopping bags lay on the floor where she'd dropped them, spilling groceries, magazines and petpet-food.

"Lost his Acara?" Ricky asked, scratching his ear with a hind paw. "You mean someone stole her while he was moving house? Or maybe she turned invisible?"

"No, I mean lost," his sister clarified. "She just vanished. He checked the census, but she's still Royalgirl, and down as belonging to him. Nobody's seen her, though."

"Well? Maybe she ran away," Ricky shrugged, but his sister shook her head.

"Didn't you hear about the emergency measures? In this weather, they've got checkpoints on all the main roads for any Neopet that's going on a journey, so that if they don't check through one a search can be mounted—and none of them recall a royal Acara. And she had no reason to run away. She was one of the happiest pets in the city, he says, and there was no problem between her and Jake…"

Ricky gazed at her in unhappy contemplation. He remembered how he had once helped his penfriend, a white Ixi, to run away from home. But that had been for a real, important reason, not the whim of a spoilt Royalgirl Acara. "So what's this Jake Hauser going to do?"

"He's sticking up notices all over this quarter of Neopia Central. That's how I met him at the bakery," she replied, flicking the last melting snowflakes from her fur. "The Patrol Pterii have been told, but I don't think they have any more idea what to do than he does."

Ricky nodded. "Well, I'll tell all my friends to look out for her, if she's still missing by Monday."

"If school isn't cancelled." The Bori girl sighed. "Darn these snowstorms…" Suddenly she frowned. "Ricky, I declare, I forgot the treacle. You couldn't dive out and get some while I make dinner, could you? Only I can't make ginger crunch cookies without treacle, and I thought we'd make some for the neighbours this afternoon."

"Crunch cookies?" Ricky considered. "Well, I s'pose that's worth going out for. Get me my boots and scarf…"

...---...

"Snow Faerie. Huh! Doesn't mean I have to like this weather."

Taelia shovelled another scoop of snow away from her doorway. The magical heat of the shovel turned the snow it touched into cold water, but more was falling even as she worked. She didn't dare stop for a meal, or even a mug of tea. She couldn't know when some Neopet would call at her door, seeking her advice or shelter from the cold.

"Taelia!"

A voice distracted her from her thoughts. A young Light Faerie was fluttering up the path, calling her name.

"Taelia! Taels! I've got news for you."

Taelia put aside her shovel, smiling. "What is it, Miranette?"

"Fyora wants you, as soon as possible! You have to have your portrait redrawn!"

"My portrait?" Taelia was confused. "What do you need that for?"

"Are you ready for this, Taels?" Miranette giggled. "You're going to be written into the Book of Heroes! Can you believe it?"

"Me?" She was unable to speak for a moment. "Me, a Hero of Neopia? There's got to be some mistake."

"No mistake." The Light Faerie laughed again, her high, good-natured chuckle sounding almost musical. "Come on, Taels. Don't worry about this place. Fyora is sending someone to keep house while you're away."

"Well, if that's how it is…" Taelia murmured a quick spell to lock the door, then spread her wings to follow Miranette. "Hope I'm not too late."

The two figures drifted into the distance, leaving Terror Mountain behind.

...---...

"Closed? Awww, man."

Ricky kicked the shop door with his forepaw, as if that would magically cause it to open. "I come all the way out here and the shop is closed. At twelve o'clock! What's with that?"

Picking up his sister's shopping basket, he set off on the journey home. "And that means no ginger cookies, either. How much worse is this day going to get?"

The smell of scorched sausages reached the little Gelert's nose as he walked. Perhaps his sister wouldn't mind very much if he spent the money on a hot-dog instead. After all, he was hungry, and lunch wouldn't be ready for a while.

To his annoyance, the hot dog stand was deserted. Hubert was nowhere to be seen. But a single sausage lay in the pan that still sizzled on the cart; burning as he watched, it was rapidly turning an ashy black. After a moment's thought, Ricky snatched the sausage out of the pan and chewed it happily. After all, Hubert wouldn't be very pleased to find a charred hot dog stuck to the pan when he returned.

"Sis, the shop was closed," Ricky called, padding into the house. "Sis?"

There was no reply. Ricky threw down the basket and ran into the kitchen. "Sis? What's up?"

A set of dishes and spoons lay on the kitchen bench. Ricky's sister had evidently started making dinner, but got no further than the very start of the recipe. Now, she was sitting in the middle of the floor, a piece of paper clutched in her paw.

"Sis? What's that you've got?"

She looked up, apparently noticing him for the first time. "Oh, Ricky! I didn't see you there." Her eyes were alight with happiness as she pointed at the paper. "You've got to hear this!"

"What?" Ricky pulled back a chair, annoyed by the lack of food.

"I got a letter from…" She paused. "Oh, you won't remember her, Ricky. A very important Lupe. She used to be the leader of a- a society I was in… Then we had… a disagreement and I had to leave." Her smile returned, lighting up the room. "But now she's written me a letter! She says she was wrong to condemn me and she wants me back!"

"That's fabulous, Sis!" Ricky slapped his sister on the back with one paw.

"So… I've got to go!" The Bori leapt into action, picking up her bag from its hook on the wall. "Ricky, fetch me some Neopoints. And a fur brush. And some fur gel. And a ribbon for my ears. And my Alkenore. And…"

"Sis, you can't go out now! You haven't made dinner." Ricky looked at her in alarm. "We were going to have soup! And crackers and neowaiian bread and chocolate pudding afterwards and anyway how long are you going to be gone?"

"I don't know." She shrugged dreamily. "Maybe a few days? A week?"

"A week? Sis, what are you saying? Who's going to take me to school? Who's going to make dinner while you're gone?" The young Gelert was pacing the floor in anxiousness now. "Who'll answer the mail and feed the Petpets and write angry letters about beauty contests to the Times?"

"I'm sure you can sort all of that out." Now she was packing the last few items into her satchel and hooking the strap around her neck. "Don't make such a fuss, Ricky. You know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Pausing only to brush a huge amount of lilac blush over the distinctive bright-blue smudges on her fur, she flew to the door. "See you, Ricky!" Then she was gone, sailing out into the falling snow without a cloak as if it was the brightest of summer's days.

"Sis?" Ricky realised there was no use in calling after her, and slammed the door with a sigh. He had never known his sister to be so thoughtless and impulsive. Was she like that before I was born? he mused. Maybe I've never known how childish she can be.

He noticed the letter, still lying on the kitchen table. Maybe if he read it, he would at least get an idea where she was going— for she'd even neglected to tell him that detail before flying off in her happy daze. Picking the paper up in one paw, he began to read.

To The Occupier:

Your payment for this month is now due. Please make cheques payable to I. M. A. Shark, or deposit the required amount of –5000NP— directly into the National Neopian account held in the company's name.

If you wish not to continue with our services, please Neomail at the earliest opportunity quoting reference number SHRK-10-250.

Yours faithfully,

Isadore Maxwell Armstrong Shark

President, Sharky Insurance

Unsure that what he'd read could be real, Ricky read the simple letter twice more. When he was certain of the message's content, he scrutinised it more carefully, searching for any evidence of a possible code or a hidden meaning. He could see none.

The letter was an insurance payment demand. Nothing more.

Pulling his scarf from its hook, Ricky rushed to the door and out in the snow.

"Sis? Sis?"

There was no reply. Only, from somewhere far away, an echo of a melody.