Pony: Yay! Here's chapter fifteen!
Disclaimer Dude: Pony doesn't own Neopets.
The Tale of a Lupe and a Faerie
Chapter Fifteen: The Kitchen Pirate
"Hey!" Blaze exclaimed as the Soup Faerie zipped out of the pot. He dropped the wooden spoon into the cauldron and raced after her, calling back at the children, "Come on, kids, let's get her!"
The children dropped their spoons in unison, charging from behind the lupe and after the fleeing faerie, whooping like savage natives.
She reached the door and threw it open, losing seconds before she could reach the outdoors. Once outside, she flew around the exterior of the house, looking for a place to hide. There wasn't much available besides the obvious: bushes, trees… well, a tree would have to do it. Thanks to her wings, she flew straight up into a tree and alighted in the crook of it, trying to scrunch down in the leaf cover as much as possible.
"Where did she go?" Flamo asked as he, and the rest of the befuddled group, halted once they were outside, and scanned the area for the Soup Faerie.
"Let's split up and look for her," Blaze suggested. The children scattered, searching for the missing faerie in various possible hiding places. The lupe's nose had caught her scent in the air from her path of flight, but he would see if the kids could find her. He walked over to the tree where the faerie was hidden in and sat down on his haunches, keeping his eyes on the little tykes.
The Soup Faerie glared down the tree trunk at the lupe's red-furred head, and muttered quietly enough that the kids wouldn't hear "darned nose" and slumped down into the crook of the tree she had chosen and crossed her arms over her chest. The youngsters, scattered to the four winds, were rustling through bushes and bumping into each other creeping around the corners of the house looking for her.
The high-pitched call of "Miss Sewp Faewie, whewre are yew?" could be heard from behind the cottage, making the red lupe chuckle. Flamo and Zeek crawled around separate large shrubs while Daisy peeked around nearby trees. It was at least five minutes before the first gave up. Minga trudged around the side of the house, flippers hanging nearly to the ground, the picture of dejection. She stopped in front of Blaze. "I can't find hewr anywhewre," she said despondently, and flopped on the ground.
The red canid patted the little bruce's head reassuringly. "Don't worry, Minga. Maybe the others will find her."
Zeek and Flamo were walking through the little patch of woods beside the house, crawling through bushes and weeds. At one point, Zeek cried "Hey, look at this spyder!" and distracted Flamo from the hunt. Daisy made a disgusted noise and wandered over to Blaze, as well. "Where did she go?" she said, sounding confused.
Blaze resisted the urge to point out the faerie's location. Perhaps giving them a hint would help them find her. "Well… you guys searched low, maybe you should start searching high." The lupe smirked.
The faerie tried to think small, invisible thoughts while Blaze did his best to give her away. 'The wretch,' she thought at him with mixed annoyance and amusement.
Below, Daisy had her head tilted her head all the way back looking straight up into the foliage of the tree. She tipped her head so far back she fell on her bottom. "I dun see anything."
"Keep looking, guys. Look really hard," Blaze instructed with assurance lacing his voice.
Minga looked up into the tree, squinting into the leaves and branches. "I stiwll down't see…" she began, but didn't finish as her eyes caught sight of the bright yellow of one of the faerie's wings. "Thewre she is!"
"Fudge," said the faerie by her way of swear word, and swung her feet over the branch, giving up the pretense of hiding. Daisy spotted her as well and called Flamo and Zeek over. They all stared up at her and she looked down at them, chin in her palm. "You've spotted me, but how do you plan to get me?"
Blaze watched with amusement as all four of the children ran straight up to the base of the tree, jumping up and down repeatedly with their paws reaching out above their heads, trying to somehow climb up the trunk. None of them could jump or climb high enough to reach the first branch, but they gave it a good shot. Zeek even tried giving Minga a boost to see if she could get higher that way, but just ended up falling in a heap with the pink bruce on top.
The Soup Faerie gave her victorious pirate laugh. "You'll never get to me!"
"Get her, Blaze!" Flamo shouted, pointing his paw directly at the Soup Faerie.
The lupe laughed, glancing up at the faerie, mentally calculating the distance from his height to her. "Hmm, I'm not sure even I can reach her."
"Muahahaha! Even your champion cannot capture the great Kitchen Pirate Captain!" The Soup Faerie stood up on the branch and struck a pose.
"The great Kitchen Pirate Captain better be careful. I wouldn't want her to fall out of the tree," said Blaze as concern found its way into him when the faerie stood up on the outstretched bough.
"Bah, the great Kitchen Pirate fears nothing, especially not falling out of trees. That's what she'd got wings for," she directed that to the kids, winking.
"Nothing, huh? Are you sure she doesn't fear lupe pirates?" Blaze smirked deviously, backing up before making a running leap up the trunk only to fall short on height, sliding down and landing on his rear.
The little ones ran for cover as soon as Blaze raced toward the tree, and then fell down giggling when he slid back down and landed gracelessly on his butt. The Soup Faerie giggled behind a hand, then resumed her haughty expression. "You, sir, do not scare me in the slightest. If we were on my ship, I'd make you walk the plank."
He gazed back up at the faerie and he gave her a heartwarming puppy face to the best of his ability. "Would you really make me walk the plank, miss Kitchen Pirate?" The children released more giggles upon seeing the face on the large lupe.
She nearly melted at the sight of the puppy eyes, but turned her nose up again and closed her eyes. "Of course. I'm the big, bad Kitchen Pirate. I am immune to puppy eyes."
The large lupe dropped his puppy eyes as he pulled himself up onto his four feet again, then met the faces of the children. "Looks like she wins, guys. I guess we'll have to leave her in the tree forever."
"Hey," she said, indignant at being written off so fast. "You guys wouldn't last a minute without the Soup Faerie. Who would give away soup without the Soup Faerie around? Don't you want to know where I've hidden her?"
"Hmm… I guess you're right. None of us could possibly last another day without the Soup Faerie," said Blaze. "Where have you hidden her?"
"Yeah! Where's the Soup Faerie?" Zeek nodded, pressing the lupe's questioning that was followed by the agreeing nods from the remaining children.
"I can't just TELL you," she said with a shake of her head. "You have to give me something for the information. It's only fair, since I won."
"What dew yew want?" Minga asked.
"Hmmm," she hummed, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "I could ask for gold dubloons, but that's what all the pirates want. I think I want… a blueberry muffin from the Bakery down the road! You have to get me one and put it under this tree. You won't see me, because I'll be hiding. But, as soon as you bring the muffin here, I'll give the Soup Faerie back without a scratch."
"But, I don't have any money, miss Kitchen Pirate. Couldn't I just make a batch?" the lupe asked, tilting his head thoughtfully.
"Nope. It must be from the Bakery. If you don't have any money, I suggest you go play some games to earn some." She crossed her arms over her chest sternly, but smirked at Blaze. The lunch rush was coming up soon and she needed to make some more soup.
He looked back to the children, giving them a nod and motioning them to follow him as he began walking. "You kids heard the Kitchen Pirate. Let's go play some games so we can save the Soup Faerie!"
The Soup Faerie watched them leave, then sat listening until she could no longer hear the high chatter of the children or Blaze's baritone answering, and then waited a few more minutes to enjoy the sweet fall afternoon in quiet. She hadn't been completely alone since Blaze had shown up days ago, and while she wasn't antisocial, it was nice to have a little peace and quiet, and some space to think. She pushed herself out of the tree, flitting to the ground silently, and strolled back into the Soup Kitchen to start the soup for the lunchtime rush.
XXX
The lupe trotted along the cobblestone path that lead him and the quartet of children trailing behind, practically skipping. Their walk eventually lead them to a game of Meerca Chase. The young ones giggled as Blaze, who had never actually played the game and took some time to get use to, kept on crashing the little meerca into the red neggs that sprouted from the surface like spring flowers. He did get the hang of the game, and they were able to earn enough neopoints to buy a blueberry muffin from the Bakery. The eager little tykes jogged ahead of the lupe as they directed themselves back to the Soup Kitchen, anxious to see if the "real" Soup Faerie had been returned.
By the time the kids returned, the lunch rush was past, and the Soup Faerie had just enough time to think of a crafty way to allow them to recover the "real" her. She was just cleaning the last bowl when she heard them coming up the way. Or particularly, she heard Flamo say, exasperated, "Are you suuuure we can't have a nibble? Pirate Kitchen Captain won't know if we just eat a liiiiittle."
"We can't do that, what if we don't get miss Soup Faerie back then?" protested Zeek, the voice of reason this time.
The Soup Faerie raced for her bedroom, taking a chair with her. She left the door slightly ajar, then fluttered over to the closet, placed the chair inside, sat in it and shut the door. Then she started tying herself to the chair, ankles first, then waist, then used a bit of magical help to tie off the knot around her wrists behind the chair. And then she waited, listening quietly.
"The Kitchen Pirate is very clever and I think she'll know if someone has taken a nibble out of the muffin," said Blaze as he stopped at the doorway. "I'll put the muffin under the tree while the four of you look for the Soup Faerie, okay?"
The children nodded, and split up to search the cottage for the sought faerie. The lupe left momentarily to place the muffin under the aforementioned tree. A lone pawkeet perched in the tree, eyed the muffin, and swooped down to devour it once the red lupe disappeared into the Soup Kitchen.
The Soup Faerie smothered a girlish giggle within the closed closet when she heard Blaze send the children in as he delivered the ransom muffin to the tree. She could hear the kids scurrying around, calling out her name and making enough racket she worried they were making a mess. After a few minutes of letting them flounder, she called out, "Help! In here!"
"In there!" exclaimed Daisy, her small yet, sensitive ears picking up the Soup Faerie's feigned cry for help, and gestured for the others to follow her into the bedroom.
Blaze arrived in time to witness the pack of little ones hurry into the faerie's room, and he followed them, entering through the doorway just as Minga squeaked "Down't wowrry, miss Sewp Faewie! We'wll get yew owt" and all four of them grabbed a hold of the closet door and opened it.
The Soup Faerie winced slightly at the sudden light, since her eyes had already adjusted to the dark. Her eyes stung, and she decided to let them well up a little as she looked down at the little guys, endeavoring to look pathetic. She even stuck her lower lip out a little and let it quiver. "Thank goodness it's you! I thought I'd be locked in here forever."
"Are you okay, miss Soup Faerie?" Zeek asked as he and the other children tugged on the various knots that bound the faerie to the chair.
As the little ones went to work on the knots around her wrists and feet, she nodded. "I'm fine. Good thing you came and found me, though. I was afraid I'd be in here forever." She had left the knots loose on purpose, so it didn't take very long for even the children to untie her.
"Did the Kitchen Pirate hurt you?" Flamo asked.
Blaze stood back, peering into the closet with an amused smirk. His eyes met the faerie's and he gave her a wink, willing to go along with what ever she had to say.
Over the heads of the kids as they concentrated on the ropes, she stuck the tip of her tongue out at the lupe with a conspiratorial smile. But her voice was quiet and meek when she spoke. "Nope, just my pride. What did you guys do to scare her off?"
Blaze brought a paw to his mouth, suppressing a laugh as the Soup Faerie responded with her childish antic. Daisy was the first to speak up. "She told us to bring her a muffin and she would give you back."
"Really? Just a muffin?" She pouted. "I'm only worth a muffin."
"Nah, you're worth a lot more than that," Blaze piped, deciding to assist the children in unwinding the ropes, starting with the faerie's ankles. "You're priceless."
The faerie snorted too softly for the children to hear, and leaned forward when he crouched to unwind the ropes, whispering, "Flattery will get you everywhere, sir," before leaning back. The kids managed to get the Soup Faerie's wrists loose, and she pulled them free with a sigh of exaggerated relief. She snatched up Zeek and Minga and hugged them. "Thanks, you guys. You're my little heroes."
The little ones beamed proudly, Zeek and Minga returned the hugs that the faerie had given them. Blaze let out a soft whine and his puppy face returned. "Hey, what about me?" he whimpered, resting his head upon the faerie's lap after the kacheek and bruce hopped off of her.
The lupe's broad, warm muzzle settled in her lap called up all kinds of warm and happy feelings, and she smiled a silly little smile down at him, then slipped her fingers through the long fur of his cheeks and ruffled his ears. "You're my hero, too." She gave in to the urge to give him a light kiss on the nose, and there was a chorus of "ewwww"s from the boys, and some giggling from the girls.
He felt light-headed and warm and fuzzy inside. He tilted his head slightly, giving her left arm a few licks before gazing back up at her with the same expression she held. "And you are mine."
The Soup Faerie put on an expression of surprise and confusion. "Moi? But I'm just a little soup faerie. Nothing heroic about that. You guys had to come save me."
The kids stood tall and Flamo said, "Yeah, we played hard to get that muffin for the Kitchen Pirate!"
Blaze chuckled, turning his attention to the little ones. "Oh, but there is. Getting up early every day to feed pets that would otherwise go hungry." The lupe's gaze shifted back to the Soup Faerie. "She kept me from going hungry." He was careful with his words. He didn't want to use the phrase 'starve to death' in front of the children. They were still at a tender age, and why unnecessarily take away a part of their innocence? He hoped the faerie would understand how important she was in his eyes, and how important she was keeping thousands of pets fed and alive.
Zeek went very quiet, but he nodded, and finally said, "She always gave me food when I was hungry."
The other kids looked a lot more serious than usual. "I down't wike being hungwy," Minga piped up. She wrapped her flippers around the Soup Faerie's leg.
The little faerie felt her heart turn over. "How could I not feed noble pets like you guys?"
"You feed the grumpy ones too, right?" Flamo asked, his thoughts trailing back earlier to the grarrl who had swung his tail at him.
"Of course. Everyone gets hungry, even grumpy pets. It's easy to be nice to nice people. It's harder to be nice to grumpy ones, but it's just as important." She couldn't resist getting in a little life lesson for the children. She was still ruffling Blaze's fur, enjoying the silky smooth warmth. "That's not heroic. That's just being a good person. You guys rescuing me from the evil Kitchen Pirate was heroic, because it means I can keep feeding pets. And speaking of that, didn't you guys want to help make soup? We should be getting ready for dinner!"