The Second Brother

     A soft whine came from behind the large oak tree in the front yard as a small golden paw edged nervously forward, followed by a Lupe’s fearful face, then the rest of his yellow body. The young Lupe had his ears pressed against his skull in fright, his eyes wide and glassy.

     Flame breathed through his mouth heavily, a menacing growl sliding out from between his clenched fangs. Dagger sobbed quietly, pressing his belly into the ground as his frame quaked in fear.

     “How many times,” Flame growled, “do I have to tell you NOT to play with your ball near my statue?!”

     No response.

     “This statue took me months to build! How inconsiderate can you get?” Flame ignored the fearful look in his youngest brother’s eyes, suppressed the feeling of guilt for causing such an innocent pet to feel scared.

     “I’m sorry,” Dagger whispered softly. “I-I didn’t mean t-to. I’ll m-make you another s-statue if you like.”

     “Just get out of my sight,” the fire Lupe grumbled, waving his paw. His youngest brother, relieved, turned on his tail and dashed into their shared neohome, slamming the door shut as if in closing it, he could prevent the murderous Flame from entering.

     Flame muttered something under his breath, staring after the shut door. Younger siblings were such a pain, sometimes. He wondered why they even existed. A twist of pain knotted in his stomach at the thought. He instantly dismissed it.

     Glancing from Dagger’s abandoned ball to the prickly bush in the distance, Flame gauged the distance. Smugly, he mused about Dagger’s fear of the prickly bush and thought about punishing him by throwing his favourite ball into the midst of it. His paw edged towards the evil, bouncy piece of plastic.

     “Don’t do it,” a voice cautioned him from the shadows.

     Whipping around, Flame’s hackles rose and he narrowed his eyes at the invisible intruder. Lurking behind yet another one of those huge oak trees in their neohome, he saw a bulky shape shifting. From the general build of the creature, despite the robe and hood cloaking the figure, Flame could guess it was a Lupe.

     “You should never act out of anger,” the voice continued, as if conversation with the land lord of a house he had never visited or known was perfectly normal.

     “Who are you?” Flame growled.

     The figure stepped out from the shadows, his face hidden beneath the hood. Flame noticed the two husks curving out threateningly from the Lupe’s mouth. He moved with a wary gait, his large Tyrannian paws leaving slight indentations in the lush grass.

     “My name is of no importance,” he answered, “but my warning from before is.”

     Flame snorted. “Yeah, right. You wouldn’t be saying that if you had a little bugger of a brother like I do.”

     “I do.”

     “Well, then you should know perfectly well how irritating it can be.”

     The Tyrannian Lupe paused thoughtfully, cocking his head to one side. “I have a story to tell you. It just may help you think more carefully about your actions.”

     “Right,” Flame snorted, plopping himself down onto the grass. He stared grumpily into the distance, his tail swishing in irritation. The cloaked Lupe hesitated before slowly lowering himself next to the fire Lupe, his cloak lifting faintly in the breeze. Once settled, he launched into his tale.

     “Many years ago, three Lupe brothers lived together in their neohome. Two were fifteen years of age – mature by Lupe standards- whilst the remaining brother was merely a young pup. All was fine with their family until their owner disappeared one day. The eldest brother, a dashingly kind Lupe decided that he would continue running the family, despite the absence of their owner.”

     Flame blinked, looking at the cloaked Lupe. He sounded as if he would fit perfectly into this story. The Lupe cast him a sidelong glance but ignored his confused eyes.

     “For a few weeks, everything was fine. Of course, being siblings, it was inevitable for a fight to break out amongst the two elder brothers. It happened one afternoon, just before a huge storm was destined to strike, the youngest brother taking a nap inside.

     “The two elder brothers were arguing over whose duty it was to pick up the groceries from the nearby food shop that week. The eldest brother claimed that he had gone shopping last week whilst the second eldest brother vehemently denied that, saying that he had.” The Lupe shuffled slightly, resting his head on his paws.

     “In the end, the eldest brother won over the argument and sent off his brother to the store, both retreating in sour moods and temper. As the brother left, the storm finally struck, bringing with it rain and thunder.

     “The brother fought against the gale, battling his way to the food shop, cussing his brother along the way, unaware that a peculiar event was taking place at their home...”

     The Tyrannian Lupe looked at the fire Lupe, silently observing the paling of the Lupe’s fur, the widening of his eyes. Had it not been the fact he had seen him moving earlier, he would’ve guessed he was a statue. Shrugging, he continued.

     “The eldest brother, trapped in his neohome with his youngest brother, was visited by a stranded dark faerie who had been forced to take shelter in the storm. He grudgingly helped her, having nothing better to do, and was surprised to find that the faerie wished to grant him a wish.

     “The Lupe considered everything – what items he wanted, a new colour perhaps, but it was the hatred for his brother that spurred him on to make his choice.”

     Flame swallowed nervously. “What did he choose?” he whispered, absorbed into the tale woven by the mysterious Lupe.

     The Tyrannian Lupe looked straight into Flame’s eyes. “He chose to make his brother vanish.”

     Flame’s jaw dropped slightly.

     “So, as the brother was returning from the food store, he was met by a dark faerie. The dark faerie appraised him quietly, and then demanded, ‘Are you the second brother of three Lupes, abandoned by their human?’

     “’Yes,’ the Lupe stammered, his eyes seeking out protection anywhere away from this dangerous faerie. ‘What do you want?’

     “She smiled wickedly, a dark orb of magic springing from her left hand. ‘It is not what I want,’ she said with a smirk, ‘but what your brothers want. And they don’t want you anymore.’ Without a warning, she cast the spell, sending the Lupe through a vortex, erasing him of his previous life.”

     He paused in his story, broodingly staring into the front yard of the opposite neohome. Flame stirred impatiently, curious to hear how the story would end. “So what happened?” he murmured.

     The Lupe sighed wearily. “Because of his elder brother’s hatred and rash decision, the second brother was forced to travel alone for several years, seeking refuge wherever he could. But as you know, Lupes do not travel alone – they travel in packs. The brother felt terribly lonely but was too afraid to return to the home where his banishers lived.” The Lupe sat up, rearranging himself into a more comfortable position.

     “Did anything happen in the end?” Flame asked curiously, desperate to hear a happy ending to such a morbid tale.

     “In the end, the brother summoned up enough courage to return to his home. Weary and deprived of affection, he took himself back to the place which he had yearned for in the past few years of traversing the empty plains of Neopia alone. No more is known about the story - whether the brothers accepted him back willing or whether he was removed yet again remains a mystery.”

     Flame sighed, shaking his head. He glanced up into the sky; feeling betrayed by the sun and clouds which seemed a much happier place than his heart. “How can a story be so real?” he whispered, more to himself than anything else. “How come you don’t know whether the brothers accepted him back or not?”

     The Lupe smiled faintly, reaching up and unclasped his cloak, letting it fall away from his face for the first time. Flame gasped and gawped as he assessed the face beneath, recognizing the face that lay beneath the mask of passed years.

     “That’s up to you, brother.”

The End