Predictions and Prophecies
By Drizzle117
Chapter One
Sunil Nevla was startled out of an easy sleep by a skunk running up to him and screaming in his ear, "I FOUND IT!"
The blue banded mongoose leapt about two feet in the air out of his bed, amber eyes wide, his chest heaving in and out before slowly turning to face the grinning grey skunk that was now staring at him, rose colored eyes full of pride. "Pepper," he panted, placing one hand to his chest. "Don't – do – that – again!"
"Sorry," Pepper chided, beginning to walk in a circle around Sunil, before proceeding to excited hopping. "But lo-ok what I found!" With a wild motion, the skunk proudly brandished a worn rubber chicken, some of the paint peeling off of the sides. Any other pet would have nodded awkwardly and said, 'Great, Pepper…' but the mongoose had an entirely different response.
"Wait, you mean you found it? Was it…" he could hardly get the next words out, his voice was so choked up with excitement, and when Sunil ended up yelling them, Pepper did too, their eyes locking.
"Under the chair!?"
The skunk cheered. "Yes, yes it was! And it was all thanks to your psychic abilities, Sunil! If it hadn't been for you, I still would have been missing it! Then I wouldn't be able to perform for Penny's birthday party this afternoon!"
Sunil's head was spinning. When Pepper had come up to him that morning, breathless, face flushed, and rose colored eyes almost in tears, he had immediately asked what was wrong. She had replied in a choked up tone that she had lost her rubber chicken, the one she needed for their panda friend's birthday celebration later on. Pepper had wanted to know if the mongoose could use his 'psychic abilities' to find out where her chicken had gone.
Sunil had been doubtful at first – but the skunk's eyes were so sad, her expression so wistful, that he just couldn't ignore it. Concentrating hard, the mongoose magician had seen a chair in his mind's eye, and nothing else. He had told this to Pepper, who had smiled gratefully and left to begin searching.
He hadn't thought his abilities had worked.
But apparently they had.
"Everyone!" Pepper chanted, making a fantastic leap up to the windowsill of Littlest Pet Shop and grinning down at the others, who were just now assembling. "Guess what?"
"What?" several voices called back; Sunil could make out (in particular) Vinnie, Minka, and Buttercream, who all seemed excited to hear.
"Sunil just used his magical amazing-tastic abilities to find my lost rubber chicken!" The skunk flicked Penny, who was in the front row, under the chin with said object and grinned. "The show for your birthday, my friend, will go on!"
Vinnie and Minka cheered; Russell smiled and nodded, Zoe grinned and said, "I told you he has mad skills!" while Buttercream hopped up next to Pepper, her eyes shining as she looked down at the rest of the pets.
"So are you saying sunny Sunily wheely can find magical-wagical items with his tip top diddly bop super cool psychic abilities?" she chirped, not unlike a young bird that could not stop tweeting.
"Well…" Sunil felt his face grow red; he quickly began to scratch the itchy fur on the back of his head. "I wouldn't say I could find anything…or predict anything…but I could sure try…"
"Aw, Sunil, don't be modest!" Pepper reached down and surprised the mongoose by snatching his hand and pulling him up to the windowsill with herself and Buttercream. Her rose colored eyes seemed to smile, and with a final heave, the mongoose was in the spotlight of the sun.
The skunk grinned at him playfully, still holding his arm, and lifted it in the air. "Sunil can find or predict anything! He's the best magician there is! Right, Sunil?"
The mongoose began to stutter. "Um…I wouldn't say the best…"
"Ooh, ooh, Sunil!" Penny suddenly gasped from the front row, her purple-grey eyes shining. "Can you predict something for me? Since it is my birthday and all…" She glanced at the floor shyly, blushing, and then looked up with hope in her large, round eyes.
How could he say no to a face like that?
"Er…I suppose I could try…"
Sunil didn't know why he was saying this…perhaps it was the fact that Pepper and the others believed in him so strongly. Maybe it was the fact that Penny's face had just lit up like the Christmas tree Blythe and Mrs. Twombly set up every December. But he had to try.
First placing one paw on the panda's forehead, the blue banded magician placed the other to his temples, closed his eyes, and thought. He thought as hard as he could, about nothing in particular. And his mind became flooded with thoughts that he did not intentionally mean to have…
…he saw a panda shrieking with delight as she opened a birthday present, and hugging tightly the one who gave it to her…
…then dancing about the pet shop with bright, shiny ribbons that smelled faintly of bamboo…
…and then blank.
"I…I saw you enjoying a birthday present," Sunil said, removing his paw from Penny's forehead. "You loved it…I think it was bamboo-scented ribbons…"
At that precise moment one of the pets in the crowd let out a sharp gasp that was abruptly cut off, as if the speaker didn't want to be identified by the crowd around him or her. It felt as if the world was rushing around Sunil. Had he…had he gotten it right?
"I hope I get some ribbons," the panda chirped, grinning at him with her large grey-blue eyes. "I've been wanting a new set for a while now…" Penny squealed and clapped her paws together. "Oh, I just can't wait any longer! Let's eat the cake now – we're getting the sweets from Sweet Delights!"
"They should be over here any minni-tinni minute!" Buttercream added in, and the rest of the pets cheered. Sunil did too, but only half-heartedly. Why did he feel as if his stomach had just sunk to his feet? What if…
What if he was a better magician than he had thought?
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Biiiirthday dear Penny…Happy Birthday to you!"
As the panda blew out the candles on top of her bamboo-rimmed cake, the eight pets around her and one human cheered and clapped, congratulating Penny on her new age. Pepper, Zoe, and Minka hugged her, their faces all full of wide smiles, while Russell and Vinnie nodded. Buttercream was right there too, hopping around and grinning, while in the back Sugar Sprinkles plucked out the tune of the song on her guitar.
"Now it's time to open presents!" Minka cheered.
Penny received a wide variety of presents, from chocolate-dipped bamboo from Pepper to a small figurine of herself from Russell and Minka (he had crafted it, she had painted it). The last present was in a large box, wrapped with golden tinsel and tied with a bow so elegant the panda simply untied it; she did not rip or tear it at all.
Sunil watched with anxiety as the panda reached in…
…and pulled out a pair of elegant, bamboo-scented ribbons.
Her eyes lit up with delight; she grasped them and sniffed them and nuzzled them continuously, then, for effect, Penny gave the ribbons a little twirl. Letting out a maniac giggle, she jumped up. "Who gave me these? They're wonderful!"
No one said anything at first, but Sunil quickly noticed which of the pets gathered was blushing the most. This was something he had not been able to identify in his vision, and now he was fascinated.
Sugar Sprinkles plucked out a major scale on the guitar and smirked. "Uh, Vinnie? You look a little bit…red, if you know what I mean…"
Penny whipped around. "Vinnie, was it you?" Before he could answer, she had snatched the poor lizard up and squeezed him tightly, causing Vinnie's eyes to bug out. He rapidly waved his arms in the air, trying to say something. With a giggle, the panda dropped him and twirled with her new ribbons into the center of the pet shop.
"Well, Sunil," a voice next to him remarked nonchalantly, making him jump. "You've done it again."
Pepper smiled at him, still watching Penny dance and hum with pleasure. Sunil sighed – he had to stop getting nervous when she snuck up on him like this. "Yes," he mused nervously. "Yes, I have."
"I told you you were a good magician."
Sunil didn't answer; he just watched Penny, who was now performing pirouettes and long, graceful leaps. Pepper cocked an eyebrow before continuing. "You're a lot better then you thought. What exactly is holding you back?"
The mongoose wasn't sure what he quite wanted to say. He wasn't sure people would appreciate what he said? He didn't know if he could get it correct all of the time? What was there to say, out of so many options?
The skunk was waiting patiently, so finally he said nervously, "I-I'm afraid that pets will not like what I have to say, even if it is true."
"You mean…bad predictions? How do you know you can even have bad predictions? All of the ones so far have been positive," Pepper pointed out nonchalantly.
"Yeah…I know…but still…" Sunil didn't know what was holding him back, but something was, and he just couldn't seem to get it out.
"Silly Sunil," Pepper smiled, getting to her paws. "I'm going to go play cards with Russell and Vinnie now. You think about your powers, 'kay?" She hopped away on all four paws in quite a peculiar fashion.
Sunil sighed and looked at the ground. Was he really just over-worrying? Because he hoped so…he really, really hoped so. Closing his amber eyes, the mongoose concentrated, just to see what he could pull out of the depths of his mind.
"Why did you have to see that?" Zoe sobbed, the Spaniel teary-eyed on the floor of the day-camp, while Pepper and Russell glared at him and Vinnie and Minka stayed noticeably far apart. Penny sat in the corner, sniffling miserably.
Pepper's rose colored eyes were flashing with hatred. "Did I say that all of your predictions would come true?" She made a loud huff and turned her nose away. "Well, I hope I was wrong!"
Wrong…
Wrong…
Wrong…
Sunil's eyes snapped open, wide with terror. Was that true? Was he really going to see a vision that would make his friends angry at him. Oh, oh, he hoped not…
…but it was a prediction, a prophecy, even. If it was to come true…
…the mongoose shook the thought out of his head. That wasn't going to come true, right?
…right?
AN: My first pure LPS chapter story thing! It'll be about Sunil and his magical abilities, and how they tumble out of control…it'll throw some romance in there just because I'm a shipping maniac at times XD ^^" and I hope that you like it! It'll be fun to write…I know how most of it will turn out…heehee.
Also, who can guess what the title is a reference to? I'll give you a hint: it's another cartoon show I'm very fond of ;)
Reviews, as usual with my work, are highly appreciated! I really hope that you like this story – I'm very proud of it so far. :D
~Driz