The Legend of the Sunwing Shoyrus

by holly_the_sheep

Hi! My name’s Zipper9. I may look like an ordinary Silver Shoyru, but I’m a proud descendant of the great Sunwing Shoyrus. Ahhh… the legend of the Sunwings.

Long, long ago, Neopia was under the rule of an evil god named Goth. The land was dry and barren, and it was always night. Few creatures could survive there—but among those few were the hardy Shoyrus. Two of these Shoyrus were named Shade and Halo. They were a young brother and sister, but they both carried the once-in-ten-generations rare silver colouring. The two of them lived in a small colony situated on a high ridge. Every day a few Shoyrus would venture down to the windy, sand swept ground below in search of food for the colony. Then came the day…

Halo and Shade carefully made their way down the treacherous cliff towards the ground. Flying down was too dangerous, as anything in the air would be swept by the powerful wind and dashed against the rocks. When they reached the bottom, the two Shoyrus immediately began their quest for food, digging through the sand and rocks in search of roots—and, if they were lucky, a few disgusting but nutritious grubs. After hours of work to fill their small baskets, they set off through the darkness back towards the colony. And then it happened…

Shade and Halo suddenly found themselves shielding their eyes as a brilliant circle of light shot out of the ground where they stood and rose towards the sky. And then a voice spoke to them, surrounding them—a voice like the wind, and yet different. They listened in awe, in the glory of the light around them.

"I am Ariana," the voice said.

"The goddess of light and the rightful ruler of this land. My brother, Goth, has banished me to the Underworld because of his jealousy of my kingdom. He stripped me of my power—I have spent the last hundred years gathering up enough strength to speak to you, Silverwings."

"Yes," the voice of Ariana said at the stunned looks on the Shoyrus’ faces, "You are the chosen ones. I have waited for a long time for the next Silverwings to be born. And here you are."

"But..." Halo whispered as she noticed the circle of light fading, "Your strength is failing!"

"Yes," Ariana whispered.

"We don’t have much time. My power is running out. Here is what you must do… Gather the light of the stars on your wings, and return here…hurry…good luck." And then the circle of light—and the voice—disappeared, leaving only the sound of the wind in the Shoyrus’ ears.

"Wow," Shade whispered. "Who would’ve known we were born to save the sun?"

"That," Halo confirmed, "was incredible. But now what? What did she mean, "gather the light of the stars on your wings?"

"I have no idea," Shade replied. "But I think… I think we should fly over there, somewhere."

He pointed at the horizon, where a few stars twinkled faintly, the only light in the afternoon midnight.

"Yeah, maybe," his sister said doubtfully. "But what other choice do we have?" And so the pair of them took to the skies, their silver colouring glowing in the darkness.

They flew and flew, gasping for breath, until their wings gave in to exhaustion and Halo crumpled to the ground, closely followed by her brother. They laid there for hours, unconscious, until Halo finally raised her head and looked around for Shade. Then she gasped in surprise as she saw him. He was still splayed out on the ground, but his wings—they glowed bright gold! And she knew, even before she looked up at the sky, what was there.

There they were— twinkling, yet brighter then ever before, the stars shone down on her and her brother. Halo realized that her own wings glowed brightly too just as Shade opened his eyes and looked around in shock at their bright wings. And then they both rose into the air again, and headed back…

The two Shoyrus landed back in the clearing where they had heard Ariana, this time not tired as the stars had given them strength. The circle of light enveloped them again as Ariana spoke. "Good work, Silverwings. You now carry the light of the sun. Now watch…"

Shade and Halo stared at the ground as it began to shake. Two pillars of light shot suddenly out of it, raising the Shoyrus into the air. They then began to spin, faster and faster, and as the light on their wings spun, it gave the illusion of two blinding orbs of light. The orbs suddenly shot out of the pairs of wings holding them, and rose into the sky, forming the sun and the moon. And the light—it exploded out of the ground, surrounding everything in sight, and warming Neopia. And trees, and grass, and flowers—they followed the light out of the ground, growing at a shocking rate until the once barren land was teeming with life. And Ariana spoke from the sky.

"You two have saved the sun, the moon and all the goodness and glory in Neopia. Here is your reward."

At this, Shade and Halo rose into the air.

"You will control the passing of the sun and moon across the sky each day and night," Ariana said. "You will create the sunrise and sunset, and reign in this glory."

"You have saved the light. And for this, I thank you—Sunwings.

It was a good story, isn’t it? And to think that I’m the great, great, great, great granddaughter of Halo or Shade! Pretty amazing… Well, I have to go now, holly_the_sheep wants to go shopping. See-ya!

The End