Follow the Stars: An Aisha's Story - Part One by muas |  |
An Aisha is Born
I NEVER WAS very graceful or serene, though you often hear of Aishas' elegance.
In fact, when I was first created, I was afraid I would be sent right back to
where I came from, I caused so much havoc. I had nothing to be afraid of, though
those first few days were, indeed, scary. I am writing this many years after
those first incidents, and I have grown; my writing skills have improved from
what would doubtlessly be an intelligible mess had I written this then. Nevertheless,
I write truthfully. This is the story of my life.
The first thing that I remember
is being on a soft bed just my size. I was very young, but I was alert, and
paying attention to everything. The wall was directly ahead of me, and I could
hear through it. (That is, at least, one thing I have in common with other Aishas.)
A female voice on the other
side was saying, "Let me see. An Aisha... female... yellow. But what shall I name
her?" She tried out a few names, but apparently they had all been taken. Finally,
she said, "Muasaum," and such an unusual name wasn't in use. After she verified
she wanted a female, yellow Aisha named Muasaum, I heard a door opening to my
left.
This was the first time I looked
around, and I suddenly realised I was not alone. There were other Aishas in
this room, my age, all on soft beds like myself. I was in a group of other yellow
Aishas under a sign saying 'female'. Other, 'male' yellow Aishas were to our
right, and Aishas of other colours were scattered around us. I was momentarily
mesmerised by this sight and didn't notice that a strange-looking creature had
entered the room.
I did notice, though, when
he stopped right in front of me and stared right into my eyes. He was large,
with a long trunk he used for a mouth, and a strange jewel in the middle of
his forehead. Of course, as I later learned, he was an Elephante, but I did
not know it at the time. All I knew then was that he was a scary thing different
from anything I knew.
So, as is the normal reaction
of yellow Aishas when faced with this type of ordeal, I meowed, louder and louder.
"Don't cry," he said, which did little to keep me quiet. "Come on, you're going
home soon!"
I gulped. What did he mean,
home?
He picked up a blanket and
then wrapped me in it. I was almost completely engulfed--I could barely see--but
what I could see looked confusing. More creatures of every shape and size, and
a few that resembled myself, walked through the halls on apparently urgent business.
A few carried bundles in which baby Neopets like myself were cradled, just as
confused as I was.
He kicked a door open with
his foot and we were in another room--the Lobby. Standing by a desk was a teenage
girl with brown hair and blue eyes, and around her were what I later knew to
be a Tyrannian Elephante, a Checkered Gelert, and a White Lupe. My siblings.
I stared, quietly, at them, and they stared back. He handed me to the girl.
"And here is your 50 Neopoints,"
said the Elephante, handing over a sack. She took it in her free hand and tucked
it in the blanket next to me, while I continued to stare. Then, with the pets
trailing behind, she led them outside.
She sat down on a bench and
then set me down on the ground for the first time in my short life. I gazed
around, looked into everyone's face for a few moments, and then grinned widely.
I suppose I must have liked what I saw, and they liked my smile. Everyone grinned
back.
"Your name is Muasaum," she
said to me, and I nodded, but still did not say a word; I was assessing the
situation. "I am Muas." Then, she pointed to each pet and said their name. The
Tyrannian Elephante was Juega, my new sister; the Gelert and Lupe were Klaue
and Reizend respectively, my brothers. Klaue, I later learned, was quite used
to new arrivals, but it was quite new for Reizend and especially Juega, the
youngest.
As they talked to me, I began
to feel safer and more inclined to talk. And boy, did I talk! I was extremely
hyper in those days. I talked so fast, Reizend had a hard time following me,
and none of them could give me answers quickly enough. But in those few minutes,
I learned that I was the newest pet, that we were pretty well-off, and that
I was really, really hungry.
I also managed to accidentally
scratch Klaue's nose, shred a bit of Juega's fur, knock over a passing Blumaroo,
bonk my head on the bench, and almost causing a riot on the streets. Muas just
laughed, and apologised to the people I injured. Then we headed for the closest
food shop, while I was delegated to waiting outside.
I waited quietly, trying not
to make any more moves or cause any more havoc, until they emerged. Reizend
carried sweets; Klaue, vegetables; Juega, meat; and Muas, an assortment. I sampled
each, and it was from Muas' choices that I found my favourite food, the omelette.
I adored it; Muas laughed and said she was happy to give me all the omelettes
I could stomach.
As I ate, Klaue teased me with
stories of mutant pets and the Pant Devil until I almost began to cry; than
Muas said, "That's enough, Klaue."
Juega suddenly realised she
had to do something, called a "Lab Ray". I didn't know what she was talking
about, so I asked Muas after she had left. She patiently explained that the
Lab Ray was a machine that could change a pet's stats, level, colour, species,
or even gender. Muas had spent lots of NP going to the Ray and Juega had volunteered
to be what some Neopians refer to as a "guinea pig". This caught my imagination,
and I asked eagerly, "Could I go to the Ray tomorrow? Just to try? Please?"
Just as Muas was going to reply,
an Elephante came lumbering up. This pet was a strange colour: purple on one
side, and orange on the other. "Yes?" asked Reizend politely. "What do you need?"
At this, the Elephante promptly
burst into tears. "Don't you recognise me?" it cried. "I'm your sister! Juega!
Oh, look at what the Lab Ray has done to me!"
We looked. We tried to stifle
giggles. We attempted to console her. But there was no way to do so; she hated
her Split look. She insisted it made her look ugly and that it just was not
right for Elephantes. And yet, she further demanded that Muas not buy a paint
brush to change her back, because "what if the Lab Ray just does it again tomorrow?"
Muas conceded her point.
Then, Muas asked me, "Do you
still want to do the Lab Ray, knowing it can change you into a colour you may
not like?"
I was undeterred by Juega's
plight and said, "Yes! Of course! I would love to. I mean, this only happened
just this once, right? What if something really good happens? Or if I get painted
Faerie, or Robot?" (During Juega's absence and Muas' quick tutorial on the Lab
Ray, Klaue and Reizend had shown me what Robot and Faerie pets looked like.)
Muas finally consented to letting
me try it; I would be willing to bet all my Neopoints that she did so just to
stop me from annoying her further. With that settled, we headed home, Juega
occasionally sniffling over the loss of her beloved Tyrannian coat.
When we got home, after looking
over the nice, cozy Mystery Island cottage, I asked to be excused so I could
explore. Since no one else wanted to come with me, I headed into the twilight
to play by myself. I discovered that Muas had a nice garden and green grass
growing; I amused myself looking at the flowers for a bit. When I looked up
from this, I saw a blue, plump figure moving stealthily past our yard.
"Hey!" I called, hoping maybe
this person could be a new friend.
It froze, turned, and I saw
gleaming eyes. I realised that this was the Pant Devil Klaue spoke of. "Hello
there, young pet," he said, with a twisted grin. "You certainly have very good
eyes, don't you? Listen." His voice turned from sugary sweet to tough as nails.
"I'm on the run from, well, the law, if you know what I mean. You probably don't.
But, you've seen me. Listen, I'll give you a toy if you promise not to tell
anyone you saw me."
I was almost frozen on spot,
but I managed to nod. "Okay, I promise," I said, more to get him away than to
get a toy.
He grinned, reached in his
sack, and pulled out a soft plushie. He tossed it to me, and I caught it easily.
By the time I looked up again, only wind remained where he had been.
Without even examining the
plushie or playing with it, I ran back inside. "The, the, the pant devil!" I
cried. "He was out there!"
"Klaue, were you teasing her
again?" asked Muas with a glare at the Gelert, who shook his head innocently.
"No! He wasn't! I actually
saw the Pant Devil out there!" I cried, angry with Muas for disbelieving me.
"Wait, Muasaum," said Juega,
from the corner. "What's that in your paws?"
I looked down and saw, for
the first time, what type of Plushie it was: a purple Poogle. And it seemed
to glow around the edges, an odd effect that had me mesmerised I almost didn't
react when Juega came plowing into me, knocking me down and holding the plushie
between her massive feet.
"Wha? Juega, what--" I tried
to say, but I was stopped by what happened next. She was holding the Plushie,
as I said, and moved it from foot to foot. Then she seemed to glow--the same
glow the Plushie had moments earlier--and got... smaller. Yes, I saw her shrink
before my very astonished eyes. The orange on her right side receded until she
was all purple; she lost her trunk; her eyes grew smaller... until she was a
Poogle.
"WOW!" was all that I could
say as I moved to Muas' chair. "What happened to you, Juega?"
"I saw that was a Magical plushie," she said, "which change the pet into the
species represented. I didn't want you changing so I grabbed it quickly." She
looked down at herself. "Well, this is better than Split!"
Yes, as you may have understood
by now, Juega was in fact not disturbed in the least that she had changed colours
and species completely. She was, actually, extremely happy that she wasn't Split
anymore. The Plushie, once it had performed its magical duty, reverted back
to a normal Purple Poogle Plushie and now retains a place of honour on a shelf
in my bedroom.
To be continued... |
