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The Golden Quill: Part Five


by ewagon

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"Worthless piece of sludge! Get out of here, you aren't welcome!"

      The small girl with huge purple eyes looked up and cried. Her wings were bent and tattered. Her dress was full of numerous holes. Her purple eyes carried the weight of hard times.

      A harsh voice snapped the young faerie's mind back to the present, "I told you to get out of here! Or don't you understand plain English?"

     The faerie backed up shamefully and ran away, tears streaming down her soft face. She had been without money for two weeks. She got her food at the money tree, when she wasn't trampled by the pets and humans who were in a frenzy to receive anything free.

     She had made the mistake of asking the owner of the Food Shop for a job. The yellow Chia made very clear the fact that he didn't want or need any help.

     Fyora was, at this point, very desperate. She had no money or food. Neither did she have any means of earning money or food. She was walking through Neopia Central one day when she accidentally walked into a blue Kougra.

     "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to walk into you."

     The Kougra shrugged off Fyora's apology. "It's no big deal. I'm just on my way to the pound."

     A look of pity overtook Fyora's visage. "I'm so sorry that you're going to the pound."

     The Kougra laughed. "No, it's not like that. I'm going to bust out my sister."

     "You're breaking out your sister?"

     "Yeah. She doesn't want to be any more than I did. I just got out a bit faster."

     "Do you need any help?"

     "Why do you want to help? You aren't going to try to adopt her or anything, are you?"

     "Well, I was hoping that I might be able to be paid. I've got no neopoints, no food, and I can't get a job anywhere."

     "If you can help get my sister out, we can get some food for you. We might even be able to scrounge together some neopoints. Sound fair?"

     "Sure. Hey, what's your name?"

     "You can call me Xaz. When we get to the pound, you'll need to know that my sister's name is Zax. Now for our story. You're my human owner. You're looking for my sister so that you can adopt her too. Oh, hey, what's your name?"

     "Xaz, do you realize that I'm a faerie, not a human? And my name is Fyora."

     "No way, you are?"

     "Weren't you wondering why I have wings?"

     Xaz shrugged. "Not really. You wouldn't be the first human I've seen that wore fake wings."

     "Let's go get your sister out!"

     ~*~*~*~*~*~

     "What do you mean she's not here?"

     The pink Uni behind the counter glared at Fyora. "I mean she's not here. She escaped a week ago. Not long after you, Xaz."

     Xaz looked up at Fyora. "I think we should leave."

     The Uni glared at Xaz. "Yeah, I think you should."

     Fyora and Xaz walked away from the pound.

     "Ok, now what do we do, Xaz?"

     Xaz smiled. "We go to our spot."

     "Your spot?"

     "It was our spot before be got sent to the pound and it's our spot now that we're out."

     "Where is this spot of yours?"

     "Follow me."

     Xaz led Fyora through the crowded streets of Neopia central and to the back of the School Supplies shop. She knocked on the back door of the shop and walked in.

     "Hey, Zanie, why didn't you tell me that Zax escaped?"

     "Sorry, Xaz, but I didn't know where you were."

     Fyora watched the exchange between the blue Kougra and the blue Techo.

     "Am I the only one here who's confused?"

     Xaz and Zanie laughed.

     Xaz chose to answer Fyora. "Zanie is our best friend. We started hanging out here after we lost our parents. Zanie took us in and we've been best friends. I didn't realize that Zax had escaped, but once I found out that she had, I knew she'd be here."

     Xaz looked at Zanie, "So, when can I see my sister?"

     "How about now?"

     Fyora, Xaz, and Zanie all looked at the back entrance and saw a red Kougra standing in the doorway.

     "So, Xaz, who's your new friend?"

      Xaz tackled Zax and the two siblings both fought to bring Zanie down with them. Zax finally won and she and Xaz laughed about the situation.

     "Zax, this is Fyora. Of course, you already know Zanie."

     "Duh! Where have you been, Xaz? I escaped two days after you did. How did you get out, anyway?"

     "If I told you that it'd ruin all the fun."

     "Fine then. I won't tell you how I got out"

     ~*~*~*~*~*~

     "Zanie, I've been here for almost a year. I love helping you run this shop. It really is great! It's just that I don't feel like I'm doing enough to help you. You feed me and give me a place to stay. All I do is help make sure that your shop stays stocked. I really don't feel like I'm doing enough around here."

     Zanie laughed and shook his head. "Fyora, you're great. Zax and Xaz like you, so that's good enough for me. You really are a great help here. It's a big shop, so there's plenty of room for everybody."

     "I just don't know what to do. I don't even know what to say. I think that this is my lowest point. I feel even worse than I did when I left Faerieland and found out that the queen's advisor had sabotaged me."

     Zanie gave Fyora an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

     Fyora told her story to Zanie. She told him all about her upbringing and what happened to her at the Prestigious Faerie Academy. Once her story was done, Zanie was speechless.

     "Fyora, I'm so sorry for everything that you've been through. I wish there was something that I could do to help."

     Fyora laughed bitterly. "Short of reversing time and stopping all of this from ever happening, I don't think you can do anything."

     Zanie smiled. "You may be wrong. Hold on; I have something in mind."

     Zanie walked into his personal office and walked out of it carrying a gold box. Around the gold box was a shiny brown ribbon. He walked over to Fyora and held it out to her.

     "Fyora, I don't know what's in this, but whatever it is, it's meant for you. When I opened this shop, this box appeared mysteriously one night. Attached to it was a note that said 'When the owner of this box comes, you will know.' I've been keeping it for many years. Fyora, you are destined to own whatever is in this box."

     Fyora smiled thankfully and hugged Zanie. "Thank you, Zanie. Thank you so very much. I'd be honored to open it with you, Xaz, and Zax watching."

     Once all the pets were assembled, Fyora opened the box. She slowly ripped away the brown ribbon and opened the gold box. Inside was a golden quill. The odd thing about the quill was that although it was clearly pure gold, it was lightweight and it was also clearly a real feather.

     "Zanie, I really don't know what to say. It's beautiful. I love it. I'd like to buy a notebook from you, if you don't mind."

     Zanie laughed. "If you plan on writing in it using that quill, the notebook is on me."

     Later that night, Fyora poured out her thoughts and feelings. Her words were detailed and she discovered feelings that she didn't even know that she had. When she was finished writing, she allowed Xaz, Zax, and Zanie to read it.

     ~*~*~*~*~*~

     "We've got to get back at that Maricia. What she did to Fyora was horrible! Fyora was just a little girl!"

     "Hello genius, Fyora still is a little girl."

     "You know what I mean. Fyora didn't do anything wrong. Leeana was wrong to, but she's just a clueless pawn. It's all Maricia's fault!"

     "I wish I could help you guys, but I'm afraid that I can't. I have to stay here at the store. You two, however, could probably go and help her."

     "We probably could. We're great battlers, so we can protect her!"

     Zanie looked at Xaz and Zax. "I can do you one better... sort of. If you're going to Faerieland, you'll need to fit in."

     Zax gave Zanie an odd look. "Yeah, it'd help, but I won't be able to afford a faerie paint brush, I dunno about Xaz."

     Zanie chuckled. "You can't, I can. In fact, I can afford two of them."

     Xaz stared at Zanie. "You have got to be kidding me! We can't let you spend those kinds of neopoints just to paint us faerie!"

     Zanie laughed. "It's too late; I already did. So if you don't use them, they go to waste. Would you really want me to have wasted those neopoints? You two are leaving right now to be painted faerie."

     Xaz grimaced. "I'm thankful, don't get me wrong, but faerie? That is so girly!"

     Zanie sighed. "A blue Kougra would stand out way more than a faerie Kougra. Believe it or not, there are male pets that are also painted faerie. You wouldn't be the first or the last."

     Xaz laughed. "Ok, you're right. To help Fyora, that'd be worth it."

     Zanie couldn't help chuckling."That's what I thought. Now let's get you two painted faerie, shall we?"

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» The Golden Quill: Part One
» The Golden Quill: Part Two
» The Golden Quill: Part Three
» The Golden Quill: Part Four
» The Golden Quill: Part Six
» The Golden Quill: Part Seven



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