Keith and Dash: Part One

Also by springsteen0991

Before any of you start reading this, I guess I'll do some explaining behind this project between Guy and I. It basically follows the lives of two Neopets who don't know each other at all, yet are complete opposites. The only difference is that they each go through the same day, except that, based on their outlook on life, their perspectives of their day is altered slightly, and so is the ending. This story basically plays with the idea that it's up to each Neopian to have either a bad or a good day, depending on their P.O.V. in life.

     I hope you enjoy reading these similar, yet different, stories. I know it sounds cheesy, but maybe this might remind you to begin each day with a smile instead of a frown. Either that or you could just eat a stuffed frog and know that the rest of your day is going to be much better than that experience.

The Tyrannian Plateau was a most excellent place, Keith the yellow Korbat had decided. From the instant he woke up in his nice, quaint little cave, he could hear wonderful music and happy Tyrannians calling excitedly to each other right outside. He flew off of his comfortable straw bed and twirled for a moment in mid air before landing on the nice, cool ground on which he started off each day.

     Keith loved his cave, especially the way the clean walls curved into a dome above him. The floors were made of a sturdy rock and his chair and bed were in top condition, by his standards. He always thought that if someone took the time and effort to make a piece of furniture and sell it, it had to be good enough, right? And besides, life was too good to worry about things like that. Next to his bed was a stone cabinet full of gold trophies: Keith was talented and skillful at most games; if he wanted to win something, he simply would.

     The Korbat flew out of his cave in one swift move. He flew straight towards the sun, taking in as much of its warmth as he could. After he was finished with that, there was only one thing left for him to do.

     "I need to figure out what I want to do on this fine sunny day," Keith said to himself, "I could perhaps beat everyone at Pterattack again...no, that's getting old."

     Keith flew down to the ground and paused a moment, thinking of the possibilities for activities he could participate in that day. He had plenty of neopoints clutched in one hand, so money was not an issue. He had always been an extremely lucky Korbat, and everything always seemed to go his way. He could go play Grarrl Keno and win for sure, or perhaps buy some more furniture to fill his cave. Visiting the petpet shop to look for a new companion was always an option, too. Or maybe....

     "I should go try my luck at the Wheel of Monotony!" he exclaimed. He flapped frantically for a moment, then rose into the air and soared straight for the wheel, full of energy. The Tyrannian wind was blowing in his direction, making his flight easy. The entire world seemed perfect as he glanced down at the many happy pets below him.

     Upon arriving, Keith immediately noted that the Tyrannian Quiggle did not seem too thrilled to see him, but said to him in a nice enough tone, "Welcome, would you like to spin the wheel?"

     "Sure would," Keith replied with a grin, knowing the wheel would surely land on something great. He had already won two Tyrannian paint brushes from it, which he sold with ease and added quite a bit to his ever-growing bank account.

     The Quiggle then rolled his eyes to Keith's slightly cocky tone, but the Korbat took no notice; he never did. If people were in bad moods, then that was their own problem, because he felt great. "That'll be one hundred neopoints, please," the Quiggle said.

     Keith handed the neopoints over to him, watched the wheel spin for about thirty seconds, then decided it would be a rather long wait and that he shouldn't have to waste his valuable time when there was more he could still do. The Quiggle told him he could come back when it had finished spinning, and with that, the Korbat flew off to the Tyrannian Jungle.

     Keith was flying leisurely through the comfortably moist air of the Tyrannian Jungle in no time. The weather was perfect for growing the beautiful plants native to Tyrannia, and keeping the climate at a smooth and relaxing temperature. A delicious aroma wafted in and out of Keith's nostrils, tempting him to buy one of the Tyrannian delicacies although he wasn't very hungry.

     He reached a turning point, where he would have to actually decide what to do while he waited for that good old wheel to stop spinning. He could have an exciting time in the Lair of the Beast, or try his luck with the Tyranu Evavu game.

     "Tyranu Evavu sounds like the best option, though," Keith said to himself as he flew towards the game area. A Tyrannian Usul greeted him with a pleasant 'Ugga gax ugg' as he waved hello to her and a Tyrannian Blumaroo.

     "I'd love to play a game or two of this," Keith replied, as if he knew what the Usul had just said. He handed them some Neopoints in a care-free manner and in return they set up a small foldout table with a pile of cards on it in front of him.

     The Tyrannian Blumaroo nodded to the Korbat and put two cards out from the pile. One was face up. A Ten. The other card next to it was face down. The object of the game was for Keith to either guess "Tyranu," which meant "More," or "Evavu," which meant "Less," about the card that was face down. Obviously, since ten was a pretty high number, Keith grinned and said confidently, "Evavu."

     The Usul and Blumaroo pulled up the face down card, which turned out to be a Six. Keith felt extremely euphoric about his first win, but as it turned out, he continued to guess correctly and push his luck with every card.

     After a small period of time, Keith had already been fortunate enough to have guessed enough cards correctly to have earned a silver trophy. It was there waiting for him, unless he managed to lose the game and guess the next card incorrectly. He was, after all, only a card away from the gold trophy and there was no doubt in his mind that he would win it and add it to his collection.

     "Ugg," the Blumaroo grunted as he pulled out a King and a face down card.

     "Oh, easy!" Keith proclaimed as he saw the card. With a King, you simply always said Evavu. And so he did.

     What happened next made Keith gasp in horror for the first time in his entire life. The face down card was an Ace.

     "Ugga sorag," the Tyrannian Usul managed to say past a shocked expression as she handed him his silver trophy. Then she and her Blumaroo friend simply removed the cards from the table and walked off, leaving Keith all alone with his pitiful silver trophy.

     "I...wanted...the gold trophy," Keith said through gritted teeth. "I am the most unlucky Neopet to ever walk the face of Neopia. What did I do to deserve this? What?" he cried to the Tyrannian sky.

     All his life, Keith had gotten everything he had wanted, when he wanted it. Things always fell into place no matter what, and if he tried hard at something or pushed his luck, he had always been bound to come on top.

     But not then. Oh no, not then. For the first time ever, Keith had gotten second place. His constantly positive mood simply vanished that very moment, and he threw the silver trophy far away, as far as it could possibly get from him. He never wanted to see it again.

     "I am never going to play that game again. It's just not worth it," Keith mumbled to himself. "In fact," he realized, "no game is really worth playing if I can't always win."

     The Korbat shot a final mean look to the Tyrannian Usul and Blumaroo that had ruined his life. He remembered that he had wasted one hundred neopoints on that stupid wheel that would probably never give him anything he wanted. All he wanted to do right now was pout.

     As he flew up into the stuffy Tyrannian sky, he began to notice little things like the climate -- too hot, and the air -- too humid; and he wondered why the sun used to feel good on his skin and how he had ever thought the air was cool and refreshing. How had he not noticed how much he hated Tyrannia before? The whole place was dreadful in every way he could think of.

     "I even live in a cave!" Keith shouted as he headed towards the wheel. He paused, then continued, "I've learned a lot about myself today. I don't live in a paradise, my life isn't perfect; in fact, my life is completely unfair. I hate it."

     He ranted like this to himself the entire long, draggy way to the wheel which he now wished he hadn't spun. It would save his miserable self a lot of trouble.

     Then, he saw the Tyrannian Quiggle standing by the Wheel of Monotony below him. He quickly swooped down and nearly crashed into the Quiggle. He wouldn't have cared if he had.

     "Hurry up and tell me what I've won," Keith spat.

     The Quiggle looked confused, and thought, Isn't this the same Korbat that had stopped by earlier and been confident, but polite to me? What horrible tragedy could have put him in such a bad mood? But he gave it no more thought, and pointed to what the wheel had landed on without a word.

     Keith's face turned maroon with anger as he saw it had landed on the panel that teleported you to the volcano up north of Tyrannia. "No!"

     "Sorry about this..." the Quiggle said to him. Keith blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of nowhere. He glanced around, and sure enough, he was right next to a seemingly dead volcano. It radiated heat from the inside, though, which made Keith's already too-warm skin prickle. There weren't any pets in the area as far as he could tell, and he was fine with that. He hated people.

     Keith's sorry excuse for a home was miles away from the volcano. He now knew for sure that the world had turned against him. There was no way he would ever be positive about anything again, and this was now one of the only things he knew for certain about his future. He flapped his wings, up into the gloomy, lifeless air, and proceeded back towards his cave. Not that he was excited about returning to it.

     Today couldn't have been worse.

To be continued...