Pirate_Star is no one's pet that I know of, but probably will be after this
story. That is the same with all the others used. If there is a user named MM_57,
don't bother them because I had no idea that there was a username out there
with that name. Also, I don't mean to offend adoption guilds, but I speak from
the experience of being in one. I personally don't support adoption guilds because
I don't see the point in them. If you do, you do. But I'm just saying I don't
and I don't mean to offend anyone.
I AM PIRATE_STAR, "owned" by MM_57. However, me being "owned" by her is not
exactly the way to describe our relationship. I haven't seen MM_57 in 2 years.
Maybe more, but I no longer have my calendar. It's lonely here, as well, being
MM's only pet that she ever created and to be locked in a one-room NeoHome that
way for 2 years makes it increasingly so. I'm a green Eyrie, by the way, and
I am unable to stretch my wings. Why? I lived off the extra food in our NeoHome
for a year, and I hadn't flown since the beginning. I eventually broke one of
the three old windows surrounding the room and went out to steal food and old
toys from more fortunate Neopets.
I remember my life as a Tatsu, as well, not
just an Eyrie. The form MM_57 first saw me as. I've changed now to an Eyrie,
of course. I used to hope she'd come back and find me completely adorable but
any hope I had has long since fled me. If she does come back, who's to say if
she'll like me or not?
Anyhow, my life was miserable. But I don't ask
for pity, I don't look for it, I simply accept things as the way that they are.
I knew I could not sink any lower. However, it was the day I saw the door handle
of the NeoHome turn that my heart began to thud, my eyes opening wide, my thin
body shaking with excitement. MM_57, older now, opened the door slowly, swatting
away cobwebs. The spiders even knew better than to live here anymore.
Her dirty blond, highlighted hair was in perfect,
shining order. She wore a tight, small shirt that had 'Angel' across the chest
and tight, flared-out blue jeans. Her face seemed dunked in make up. She looked
bored with everything. When she saw me, she did not run over to hug me and tell
me she loved me like she had two years ago. Her mouth simply fell and her eyes
widened and her head tilted as if to say, "That's Pirate_Star?" She sighed and
rolled her eyes, fanning herself with a packet of papers she had in her hand.
"MM! MM_57! I've missed..." I said, jumping
to my feet. I paused as she held out the papers she held in her hand to me in
complete boredom. "...you." My eyes filled with tears. They were disowning papers.
"That look is so, like, not good enough for
me! And that name - Ugh! What was I thinking? Pirate_Star? Of all things." She
groaned. "Come on, you ugly hairball." She was about to grab the scraggly feathers
around my neck with her carefully manicured hand, but then just 'psh'ed and
put her hand back to her side. She strutted down the street far enough ahead
of me to make it look as if I she had no idea who I was.
The tears fell, one after the other, imprinting
themselves deep into the heart and core of the planet Neopia. Poisoning its
roots as MM_57 now poisoned my heart. Ugly hairball? She used to call me a beautiful
star! I gave out a heart-wrenching sob at that thought, but MM_57 didn't even
bother looking back.
Finally, I saw the stark white adoption building
and MM walked in as if she owned the place, her blond highlights and glittery
make up shining in the adoption center's bright lights. I whimpered and begged
her softly to rethink the idea but she only 'hmph'ed and said, "In your dreams,
fuzz ball!" And handed Dr_Death the disowning papers, not even bothering to
lift me up to the Techo.
Dr_Death looked down at me. "Come on, I'll show
you to your kennel." The graying Techo led me down rows and rows of "kennels".
Only the painted or high-leveled pets were being adopted. I knew I would be
there forever. I hung my head and sobbed silently. How could MM do this to me?
Dr_Death pulled out some keys from his white
coat's pocket and unlocked a larger cage for me. I stepped in and laid down,
putting my head in my paws, folding my wings tightly against my side. I closed
my eyes and cried, falling asleep with only the comfort of my tears.
When I awoke, it was that of a gentle nudge
from a kind-looking red Uni. She smiled and told me those fateful words, "You've
been adopted."
The idea of having an owner again didn't appeal
to me, but I followed the Uni anyway. She led me to a 20 or so year old man
with messy brown hair. He kept checking his watch and tapping his foot as if
he had somewhere more important to be besides at the adoption center adopting
an 'ugly fuzz ball' of an Eyrie like me. I hung my head and looked up at him
with my eyes. He immediately smiled warmly, but I saw through the act. He patted
my head. "All right, Pirate_Star. The papers have been filled out - you're now
owned by the Great Adoption Guild of Neopia!" He cried as if it were the greatest
thing on Earth. But I know about those adoption guilds. Eventually, they forget
about you. The people who take care of those accounts filled with Neopets don't
have the time or don't feel like feeding them and they never play with the pets.
Sure, maybe they'll paint you or train you, but that's it. I knew that none
of his precious guild members would want to adopt me.
I walked out glumly and we passed houses and
houses until we got to a small cottage, maybe only about four rooms. The man
opened the door and ushered me in. Inside was a green Techo (GreatFlower_748
- a male, sadly), a red Zafara (Dashem_37) and a blue Grarrl (Tumpakook). The
man muttered a 'welcome' and closed the door, locking it tightly on his way
out. I looked at my roommates' faces and they all seemed just as sad, or more,
even, than I myself.
We exchanged hellos and names before settling
down into one of each of the four rooms. GreatFlower guarded us by sleeping
in the room by the front door, but I didn't see why he needed to. If any hacker
tried to come in they would only find a Newbie Pack and 200 NP, the same goes
for Money Tree ghosts and the Pant Devil.
I was in a straw room, with a bed of straw,
as well. I yawned and curled up like a cat, snuggling against the scratchy material.
It was then that a hesitant, small figure crept into the room. It was Dashem,
the red Zafara.
"Pi... Pi... Pirate_St... St... Star?" He stuttered.
I raised my head with a soft grunt. "Yes?"
"Do you... do you think he'll come back?"
"I... don't know." I said softly, looking at
the ground.
He shivered and walked over to my bed. He had
a purple blanket in his hand and one of his fingers in his mouth. It occurred
to me that he was barely even an hour old yet. He crawled in with me and snuggled
up against my fur, using my fluffy mane as a pillow. I put a comforting arm
around the Zafara and sighed. "I hope he does come back." The Zafara said softly.
With a little yawn, Dashem fell asleep.
Although my little roommate slept, I whispered,
"I hope he does, Dashem. I really do."
***
He did come back, the very next day. He walked in with a smile and four leashes
and collars and a backpack stuffed with unknown objects. We pets were filled
with attention, running up to him happily. He grinned broadly, what a cheesy
smile he had. "Come, Neopets." He said with mock-happiness. "We're going for
a walk." He snapped the collars around us and snapped the leashes on the collars.
He yanked us out the door and down the streets of Neopia Central.
I made it my personal job to stay close to the
little Zafara, Dashem, and keep him safe from harm. The Grarrl, Tumpakook, was
obviously a veteran of Neopets, but he seemed to have been through this all
before. The Techo, GreatFlower, was at least level 2, more than the rest of
us. He walked with an untrusting gait, always in a battle stance. It was as
if every shadow was an enemy to him. Tumpakook simply stared straight-ahead,
looking neither left nor right and refused to speak.
I faintly recognised the Rainbow Pool as we
got to it. The man dropped our leashes at the pool's side and flung off his
backpack. Unzipping it, he brandished four paintbrushes. Two striped and one
skunk. "These are for you!" He said happily and dipped the first striped paintbrush
into the Rainbow Pool's waters and approached Tumpakook. Stroking him with the
brush quickly and hastily. He did the same to GreatFlower with the other striped
paintbrush. Then he motioned for Dashem to come forward. The baby Zafara was
reluctant until I gave him a nod to move forward. He went forward cautiously,
flinching at every movement as the man painted him skunk. "That wasn't so bad,
was it?" He asked, but didn't wait for our answers. Not that we had any. He
picked up the leashes and dragged us away again.
This time we took a train to the Lost Desert.
"Since you, Pirate_Star, didn't get painted, I'll take you to Coltzan's Shrine."
I was pushed up against the Shrine and I looked up at the giant stone monument.
I gulped.
A bloodcurdling scream emitted from the distant
sands. Our caretaker groaned as he checked his watch. I blinked and looked back
at the others. Our owner seemed impatient and angry, Tumpakook seemed bored,
GreatFlower seemed angry with me and Dashem was shivered and was curled up into
a ball with his inseparable blanket, his finger jammed in his mouth. I stepped
away from the Shrine. The owner snatched up the leashes angrily, mumbling about
Coltzan's uselessness. We were then dragged back to the NeoHome and dumped back
in. Locked and no cared for.
I tried to speak to the others, but GreatFlower
wasn't willing to talk to me, and Tumpakook too worn. I stuck along with the
little baby Dashem. We played games like tic-tac-toe by taking some of the straw
from my room, laying it out on the traditional game squares in his wood room
and carving our X's and O's in the wood. It wasn't like our owner would care.
Dashem beat me two times out of three, giggling as he did so. I admit I, nearly
three years old, was a little peeved that a Zafara, who was only a day old,
was beating me. But it was good to have Dashem as company, better than Mm's
treatment. I began to get content to my new life, even if I didn't have a real
owner.
***
It was three days later, and GreatFlower was taken away to be adopted by a
member of the adoption guild. Then Tumpakook. A spunky Lupe named Dorventy who
was painted white by The Owner filled their spots. The next day, a Grundo was
taken in and painted faerie. She was adopted right away and I wasn't aware if
the spot was filled or not because two days after that, Dashem was taken.
Even though The Owner had locked the door, I
rammed it with my body. Dorventy, not even caring what it was about, helped.
Eventually, the door was shattered from its hinges. I thanked the Lupe Dorventy
and ran after Dashem and The Owner. He didn't see me, and I was glad. I ran
to the side of the adoption building, pressing myself up against the cool painted-white
brick sides. I waited for Dashem to come out with his new owner. I was impatient
as I watched The Owner walk out whistling. I was angry when they didn't come
out until minutes later.
The woman carrying Dashem was full grown, older
than The Owner. Her hair was a straight, dark brown and her eyes were a swirled,
hypnotising hazel. Her shirt was a baggy white one that had a picture of a strange
creature on it that I had never seen before. She wore regular, straight blue
jeans, but I didn't notice these until later. I concentrated on Dashem. I bolted
towards the woman, falling to the ground and grabbing her leg, almost pulling
her down with me.
"Please! Take me, too!" I cried, tears welling
in my eyes.
Dashem's eyes lit up when he saw me. "Pirate!"
He cried. "Pirate! Pirate! Pirate!" He struggled in the girl's arms until she
was forced to drop him and he ran over to hug me.
The girl was astonished. "I would have to ask
your owner..."
"It's the same one as mine was! Yup!" Dashem
cried, squeezing me tightly.
The girl blinked. "All right, I'll ask him."
She motioned for us to follow her as she marched
down the streets. Dashem rode on my head, happily singing, as I would jump over
fallen branches far out of our war just to make him giggle and laugh as he flopped
backwards.
The woman managed to catch The Owner before
he locked the NeoHome "Sir," she said importantly, straightening herself up
and puffing out her chest like a vain Pteri. "I would like to adopt this Eyrie."
She motioned to me with Dashem, the skunk Zafara on my head.
The man stifled a laugh. "That fur ball? He's
level 1 and unpainted! Why on Neopia would you want him?"
The girl grinned out of the corner of her mouth.
"I like his face."
***
So, it's been a month since them and I'm finally three years old. Dashem's
not as childish anymore, but he still likes to ride around on my head. My new
owner's name is Gytinya and her Neopet, a striped, high level, Battledome-loving
Kacheek, was named Tavarri. Tav was the only female Neopet, but she wasn't a
prim and delicate flower like the female stereotype is. She was always the one
to push us in the mud and jump in after, the one who would take the dare to
eat a wild Spyder crawling around on our lawn. (Gytinya made her drop it out
of her mouth before she could eat it*, though, much to
Dashem and my disappointment.) I'm very happy here, and Gytinya assured us she
has no intention of leaving Neopets. She even raised Dashem and my level. Dashem's
level 5 now and I'm level 8. Not to mention that I have a snazzy new colour
- purple! Gytinya says it's "plainly sophisticated" which fits my intelligence
level, which is now that of an Ultimate Genius! I suppose things do really get
worse before they get better. But this - this is better than better. I love
it here, and no other home would suit me. For once in my life, I am truly content.
The End
*No, I do not promote eating Spyders. | 
