Gypsy Gift
The next couple days were all about preparation. Roberta and Tor combined their neopoints, which brought them all a tidy sum. Demona was angry because Tor would not let her hold on to her share. Thomas was not given his entire share, but he at least had something in his paws.
Demona and Taunt were given the honorary duty of packing for the trip. What were they packing?
Food.
Demona had an eye for the best. She raided the kitchens without paying any mind to the rioting cooks outside the locked doors. Though Meridell castle had foreign food in order to make up for what the kingdom lacked, that was not the case in Brightvale. Almost all the food they own is grown and made within their own kingdom. Though Demona can respect that, there is one problem that leaves her with:
Most of Brightvale's food, if not all of it, is fruits and vegetables.
However, she did find some food from Meridell, probably to accommodate the tastes of travelers. So along with bowls and cups she packed a lot of Chunky Meaty Stew and Extra Creamy Soup, because it would be the last thing to go bad since it is canned. To go along with those, she picked up some Potato Stuffed Peppers, Jipple Pears, Passionberries, Dewy Apples and her personal favorite to keep for herself: Magenorbs and Magenorb Juice.
As Demona prepared their food for travel, Thomas went from one place to the next, gathering other supplies and packing only what was needed. In his own bag he carried his favorite books, most of them scrolls full of spells for him to try. He has a special talent for Fire and Light spells. However, he also practices the other elements, including some Dark spells. Though Dark magic isn't usually allowed for mages in training, he bought some scrolls under Roberta's name and keeps them close. He packed those with his other books.
That wasn't all he did behind Roberta's back. He also knows a Gypsy trader that travels abroad who is coming to Brightvale today. This trader packs fast though, so he memorized her times of appearance and sometimes learns a trick or two from her. She is not a 'legal' merchant per say, but she does otherwise abide by the law and therefore is not hunted down for a bounty.
He made his way out of the castle and through the square. He did not duck into shadows to avoid detection or hop from roof to roof. He just walked casually by different stalls, waving at friends and bragging whenever an admirer of a couple days ago talks to him. When he finally reached his destination, he grinned to himself. There was a little tent just inside the wall, with a nightstand out front. The entranced was closed, so he approached the nightstand.
"And what might I do for you?" whispered an alluring voice. "Perhaps there is a wish I can grant you."
"I know your powers," he answered. "After all, you've shared a few secrets with me." The tent entrance opened a crack and he went inside. Immediately he was in a large carnival tent full of strange knick-knacks, food, Petpets and more.
"Ah, a regular," said the Mutant Zafara behind the counter. "Oh, and not just that, but my personal favorite!" She made her way around the counter with a grin showing her off-colored, broken teeth. "What can I do for you today, dear boy?"
"I assume you know about the black clouds?" he inquired.
"Oh, of course I do hun! They get in my way of business, they do. I pass through as a neutral party, so they don't bother me, but those they reside over have no will to buy my wares! Oh, what's a traveling merchant to do? I may stay here longer just to make my quota!" She sniffed a couple times before walking up to the Petpet cages.
"Well, I'm going on a quest to get rid of them. Hopefully when they're gone your business will pick back up."
"Oh how wonderful!" she cheered, her voice cracking a bit. "Well then, I guess the reason you're here is to buy supplies. Perhaps you have time to learn a nifty little trick too, if you're not in a hurry." He spent about an hour picking and choosing until he had the supplies he needed.
"Alright, this'll do," he said, and he pulled out his money. "How much?"
"For you, hun? Oh please, a mere two-hundred neopoints aughtta do for ya." He paid her the money and put down his goods.
"Now, I think you promised me a trick," he reminded her with a smile.
"Of course I did! And I'll teach you one. Here, watch me closely." He did. She made a few motions with her paws but did not speak a word. The more she did, the faster she got, and the less of her he saw. Suddenly she disappeared completely.
"Amazing!" he praised, watching the spot she disappeared from. "Absolutely amazing! That will certainly come in handy." However, he got no response. Nothing moved around him as he waited for her to speak. "Um, hello? Hey, can you hear me?" He walked over to where she was a moment ago and reached out to find her. No one was standing there. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned on his heels. At first, no one was there.
"Ha!" said the merchant, and she appeared in the blink of an eye. There was no other sound and no glimmer, she just popped back into view. He yelled and fell backwards, landing on his tail.
"Whoa!" he said, regaining his footing. "H-how did you do that?"
"It is very simple," she stated with a smile. "However, the trick is this: When you're invisible, you can not make a sound. The moment you speak, scream or even whisper, you will appear on the spot."
"It was amazing! Show me how to do that!" And that is what she did. There were only five hand-motions that needed to be done. The trick was that they had to be done in sequence every time and needed to go by very fast after picking up speed. That was the hardest part for him. He could do it in sequence, but doing it repeatedly and gradually faster was like a tongue-twister: only easy after a lot of practice.
"Now that you have a new trick to throw at those clouds, I have another gift for you." She went over to the Petpet cages and pulled out a crate with a strange blue otter of a Petpet. "This here's a Lutra, and he's a royal pain in my rear to take care of. When he's not sleeping he has far too much energy for me. Kinda reminded me of you, so here you go." She put the little Lutra on the ground. He yawned for a moment, having been awakened from a nap, and then began to stretch. He was holding a little yellow orb of sorts, like a toy ball. As soon as he was done stretching, he looked around with wild curiosity. The moment he spotted Thomas, he just knew the Red Lutari was his master. He stuffed the yellow ball into his mouth and scurried over to him. He crawled up Thomas' leg and sat on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek and making muffled chatter.
"He's awesome!" Thomas praised, holding him in front of his face. The Lutra made some more muffled sounds before sliding out of his grip, crawling along his arm and sitting on his head. "And he's fast!"
"And he's a little thief," the gypsy warned. "He loves shiny objects and can hide small trinkets in his cheeks. Also, he's a water pet, so make sure he has the occasional opportunity to swim."
"Thanks a ton!" he shouted, and he ran out of the tent with his things and his new Lutra, which he promptly named Skitzo.
"Alright, so we have enough food, then?" Tor inquired, looking at Demona's rather full pack.
"Yea," she replied with a shrug. "They had some Meridell food too, so I packed a lot of soup and a few fruits and veggies and what-not." She put down the food pack and stretched, tired from avoiding the angry cooks. They never did know who snuck into the kitchens, but they probably did not have a long list of suspects.
"Good, then I think we're set. Roberta went out to find Thomas, because he seems to have disappeared." The wheels in Demona's head began to turn.
"Do we really need him, though?" she asked innocently. "I mean, he's still in training and Roberta's a full-fledged mage, so what do we need him for?"
"Roberta won't leave without him," Tor sighed. "Just try not to kill each other on the way. Roberta and Thomas will be using magic to carry us to Faerieland. Since Thomas is the one carrying you, I suggest you be-"
"I don't need to be carried!" she interrupted, her tone incredulous. "I have wings, you know. I can fly up to and down from Darigan Citadel ten times each, so I think I can fly there by my own power!"
"Fine," he growled. "Be stubborn about it. But if you get exceedingly tired, don't blame me, because you'll be carrying your luggage as well as my own."
"No prob," she retorted, turning her back on him and stomping out the door. "I can do it myself." Tor face-palmed. What is he going to do with her?
Meanwhile, Roberta found Thomas near a flowing river, playing in the water.
"Thomas!" she yelled. He stopped flailing and splashing to look at her furious face. "What are you doing? We're supposed to be getting ready!"
"I got all the stuff," he defended, "but I found something really awesome!" He grabbed Skitzo and picked him up, holding him out for Roberta to see. "Isn't he amazing?"
Roberta gave an impatient sigh as she walked up and took the Petpet from his hands. She looked at him for a moment as he held his yellow orb to his chest and curled his bottom two legs upward a bit. He looked absolutely adorable. Her eyes softened as its charm seemed to affect her.
"He's so cute!" she praised. Skitzo gave a happy chirp of sorts as it slid out of her grip and jumped onto Thomas' head. However, she gave him a suspicious look. "Wait, is that a Lutra?"
"Um, yea," he answered cautiously.
"Lutra's are native to Mystery Island!" she cried. "How did you get him? Who around here sells Mystery Island merchandise?" Thomas had already thought of an excuse, but it suddenly seemed very feeble. But, it was all he had, so he tried it anyways.
"I found him in the river," he lied. "Honestly, I came over here to, um… Well…" He intended her to add the words 'goof off' at the end of that sentence, and judging by her expression that's exactly what she did. "Anyways, he was swimming around and I jumped in after him. We played a bit and I gave him some food. Now he just follows me around, see?" He picked him up off of his head and put him on the ground. When he got out of the water and walked to his pack, the little Petpet followed like a little lost puppy.
"Oh well," she sighed. "Fine, he can come with us. You have our things, right?" Thomas nodded quickly. Satisfied, Roberta turned on her heels and walked back to the castle, her apprentice not far behind with the bags.
"Alright, are you ready?" Roberta asked.
"Yea, I'm ready," Tor confirmed. Suddenly he was lifted into the air, weightless and unable to control which way he moved. For a moment his mind panicked, but he quickly regained composure. "Wow, this is great!"
"Whoa," Demona praised sarcastically. "Really impressive, you made him float. The day you learn how to fly the old fashioned way will be the day you impress-" Before she could finish speaking, she was shot into the air like a rocket. Screeching into the night, she could not move her limbs as the wind blew them back and the magic fire burned bright and hot behind her.
"You know," Roberta said to Thomas as she turned to face him, "I don't think I'll be angry with you for that." Thomas grinned and the three of them drifted upwards, far behind the screaming fireball that was hurtling quickly over to Faerieland.
Sorry it's so short, but I didn't think that adding the entrance to Faerieland really fit into this chapter. These short chappies might appear from time to time, but not often enough to become annoying. Besides, shooting Demona into the air at about 150 mph was a perfect ending to this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!