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A Different Kind of Egg


by kayzee_vs_world

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Nestled away in a field there was a herd of Draiks, all together, excitedly chattering. Each was a mother, expecting an egg. A Draik egg was like no other egg; Draik eggs were very rare and important, and the birth of a Draik was extraordinary. Draiks were magnificent creatures and unlike all other Neopets. The mothers were terribly excited, and could not wait to lay their eggs.

     A Draik, Kyria, tottered back and forth on her long tail, starring at the ground and focusing on a piece of grass. Good friend Prytha, nudged Kyria tenderly and said, “What’s wrong, Kyria?”

     Kyria shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just so excited for my egg! Aren’t you?” she smiled happily.

     Prytha nodded. The sun was falling in the sky, and Kyria’s shadow grew longer. “I think I’m going to settle down to sleep,” she announced, “and hopefully wake up in the morning to my beautiful egg!”

     Agreeing, Prytha curled up into a ball beside Kyria and rested her orange head on the grass, quickly drifting off into a deep sleep.

     The call of a Pteri echoed through the fresh morning air, and pierced Kyria’s ears. She awoke abruptly, rising to her feet unconsciously, feeling something smooth and round brush up against her tail. Kyria closed her eyes and smiled, turning around to where the item that had brushed up against her lay. She opened her eyes and gasped. Before her lay an egg! She had never laid eyes on a Draik egg before, being a Draik herself. Kyria grinned and prodded Prytha. “Wake up, Prytha! Wake up!” Prytha rubbed her eyes and rose to her feet, tottering sleepily. “I laid an egg, Prytha! Look how beautiful it is!” Kyria exclaimed.

     Prytha looked around in search of her own egg. “Look! I have an egg, too! Mine is blue. What colour is yours?” she cried, cradling the egg in her short Draik arms.

     Kyria wrinkled her brow in confusion. “What colour?” she repeated.

     “Yes, silly!” Prytha laughed. “What colour is your egg?”

     “Ummm...” Kyria pondered. “It’s... grey, I suppose. Yours is blue?” she questioned. “Let me see it. I don’t believe you.” She quickly hid the egg behind a tall tuff of grass.

     Prytha laughed and showed Kyria the egg. “It’s blue, silly. Let’s see yours. I’ve never heard of a grey Draik egg before!”

     Kyria looked at Prytha sadly and looked around briefly to make sure no one was watching. Then, ashamed, she took her grey egg out of the grass and held it up for Prytha to see.

     Prytha gasped. “Oh, my! What’s wrong with it?! Something’s wrong with it!” she yelped fearfully, backing off.

     “Come back here and don’t talk so loudly,” Kyria scolded. “There’s nothing wrong with my egg!” she declared, even though she could hardly believe herself.

     “I think you should show your mother, Kyria,” Prytha advised wisely. “She would know what to do.” Kyria nodded gloomily, picking up the murky coloured egg and carrying it in her claws carefully, in order not to scratch the shell.

     With a powerful flap of her wings, Kyria was up and soaring through the sky, with Prytha on her heels. Together, they flew over the field full of mother Draiks and over towards the mountains. Kyria kept her eyes peeled for a cave in the side of the mountain, home to her mother. “Down there!” cried Kyria, pointing with her tail, for her arms were busy clutching onto the egg. The Draiks descended into the valley and flew into the cave, perching themselves on the edge of the mountain. As Kyria stepped into the cave, she was reminded of home.

     “Mom?” Kyria called out. “Dad?” From the shadows emerged Kyria’s parents, who looked happy to see her.

     “Kyria!” they cried out in unison, racing towards her with outstretched arms looking for hugs. Kyria hugged them warmly and said hello, but wanted to announce her news.

     “Mom and Dad, I’ve laid an egg,” she exclaimed.

     Her parents were giddy with pre-grandparent happiness, but searched their daughter’s face for excitement.

     “But I think something’s wrong with it,” she continued, holding the egg up to her parents to show them. “It’s grey, and I don’t know why. Aren’t most eggs supposed to be bright, or at least not dull coloured? I’m worried!” she wailed.

     Kyria’s mother frowned and bit her lip thoughtfully. “All I can advise you to do is to take it to the Draik Nest with all the other mothers and see what happens. I’m sure your egg will be fine, despite its colour. I have seen a grey Draik egg once before...” she drifted off, tenderly handing the egg back to Kyria and smiling lovingly.

     “What if my egg doesn’t hatch?” Kyria whined.

     “You could always wait until next year,” Prytha added in attempt to make Kyria feel better.

     Kyria hung her head in misery. “I don’t want to wait until next year. I just want my egg to hatch and be all right... Well, thank you, Mom and Dad,” Kyria said, snapping back to her senses. “I’ll come visit you after I take this egg to the Draik Nest. Wish me luck!” Kyria pulled Prytha back to the entrance of the cave after saying goodbye to her parents and took off, making her way back to the field.

     “I told you that your mother would know what to do,” Prytha said reassuringly, placing a hand on Kyria’s shoulder. “All we can do is wait, now. Tomorrow, let’s take our eggs to the Draik Nest so they can hatch. How does that sound?”

     Kyria grumbled. “It sounds fine.” Prytha could sense that Kyria was upset and nervous, but didn’t really blame her. All Prytha could do was hope for the best and comfort Kyria. While she needed to be a good friend, Prytha did the best she could to hide the excitement about HER egg. The trip to Kyria’s parents had very well been tiring, and the two Draiks went to bed a little early that night, Kyria nervous and Prytha excited.

     Prytha woke up the next morning and found herself wrapped around the blue egg. She stood up slowly and yawned. It was still very early, and the sun was just rising. “Kyria, you have to wake up. It’s morning now,” Prytha mumbled. Kyria thrashed about and stood up abruptly. “No one else is awake yet, but I think we should go to the Draik Nest now and avoid the morning rush,” Prytha advised. Kyria nodded and picked up her grey egg in her claws and cradled it carefully, laying her face upon its cool shell.

     “It’s going to be okay, my little Draik,” she whispered. “You will be fine and play with the other baby Draiks, and you will grow up to be big and strong. I love you.” Prytha looked at her friend with pity and sadness in her heart.

     “All right, then, let’s go,” said Prytha, holding her egg in her arms, trying to cover the blue pigment in an attempt to make Kyria feel better. In utter silence the two walked towards the Draik Nest, watching the sun rise in front of them. The sky turned peach and it was morning. Prytha looked over her shoulder at Kyria, who was rocking her egg back and forth.

     At last the Draik Nest came into view, and Prytha ran over to the cave as fast as she could without dropping her egg. “Come over here, there it is!” she cried excitedly.

     The inside of the cave was damp and musky. Prytha laid her egg down on one of the rocks and found a patch of ground to sit on while she waited. Kyria was clutching her egg, and didn’t want to place it on the rock. “You can do it, Kyria,” Prytha cooed. “That’s the only way a Draik egg can hatch.”

     Kyria closed her eyes and placed her egg on the rock and stepped back. “Why is my egg grey?” Kyria asked to no one in particular. “Why can’t my egg be red, or blue, or green, or yellow?”

     The two Draiks sat in silence for several minutes. Kyria bit at her claws nervously while Prytha rocked back and forth in her spot. Suddenly, she stopped rocking and froze. “Was that a crack?” she whispered to Kyria.

     A cracking sound rang through the cave and bounced off the walls. Prytha rushed to her egg with wide smiling eyes. The top part of the egg flew off, and inside the egg sat a little blue Draik.

     “MUAAAAAAAAAAH!” he cried. Prytha gasped and held the slimy baby in her arms delicately. Kyria looked afraid.

     “Why hasn’t my egg hatched yet?!” she yelped. “What if my egg never hatches? When will it hatch, Prytha?!” she asked fearfully.

     Prytha secretly rolled her eyes and turned to Kyria. She was annoyed. “I don’t know! Your egg will be fine, okay?! Stop asking me because I DON’T KNOW,” she breathed, returning her attention back to her egg. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kyria moping.

     “I’m sorry.” Kyria hung her head.

     Feeling bad for being so hard, Prytha whipped around to face Kyria. “Oh, don’t be. I’m sorry. Just don’t worry about your egg, Kyria; it’ll be fine, and should be hatching any moment now.”

     While waiting, Kyria watched Prytha, who was cuddling her baby Draik. She listened to the little gargling noises the Draik was making, and closed her eyes sadly. It had been a long time since she had set the egg down. It was not going to hatch.

     A cracking sound broke Kyria’s train of thought. It couldn’t be! Kyria jumped up and ran to the rock, putting one claw over her mouth in astonishment. The egg had split and continued to move. All of the sudden, the top portion of the egg was pushed off from something inside the egg, and Kyria’s face lit up.

     Inside was the prettiest little girl Draik Kyria had ever seen! She was pink and had big wide eyes, with delicate little claws and a long magnificent tail. A gorgeous smile spread across her face, and it matched that of her mother’s. Kyria beamed and picked up the little Draik, cradling it in her arms happily. Beginning to run, Kyria called, “Prytha! I’m going to show my parents my baby!”

     “All right!” shouted Prytha so Kyria could hear her, for Kyria was already quite far away. “I’ll fly to my parents’ house, too. I’ll see you back in the field! Congrats!”

     Kyria swooped down into her parents’ cave and called, “Mom! Dad! My egg hatched after all!” Two over-excited grandparents raced over to their daughter and took their granddaughter into their arms.

     “Oh, my, she’s pink!” exclaimed Kyria’s father. “She’s adorable, Kyria!”

     Kyria’s mother held the baby Draik with her little arms and smiled. “She is gorgeous! What are you going to call her?” she wondered.

     Kyria pondered the thought for a while. “I think I will call her... Magenta, for her astonishing colour and unique personality. She’s young still, but I know she will become something extraordinary.”

     The family talked for an hour or so, and then Kyria announced that she had better return to the field. Just before Kyria left, her mother said, “You know, Kyria, Magenta looks just like you.”

     “I suppose she does,” Kyria replied and flapped her pink wings. With that, she soared up into the sky.

The End

 
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