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Intro
What in Neopia?" You clutch your jacket closer to you as you stumble through the cold streets of Darigan Citadel, looking around nervously from time to time.
You could have sworn you'd heard a male's voice
There it is again. 'Ah, I could ask the same, human. What in the Citadel are you doing here? A Merridellian soldier is not welcome here.' It was so casually how he replaced Neopia with the Citadel, as though it was all that really mattered. Or was he saying the Citadel was one day going to be all of Neopia? You can't say, as he continues. 'You aren't Merridellian, are you? No matter, if you are, you still aren't welcome. And if you are, about so much as me.' Cold laughter follows.
You open your mouth a few times before finding the courage to speak. "I- I don't understand." You look around for the source of the voice.
He sighs, and an aisha creeps out of a side alley. His paws move soundlessly across the hard packed earth, his tail and head held high, though his air of unease is obvious.
He seems Darigan, to you, his violet pelt and dark markings relay the colors that the Citadel hosts, and his black feathered wings surely are a mark of his homeland? "You are not to be trespassing on Lord Darigan's property." He states it in a cold, forbidding tone.
That's just infuriating, what was he doing here, then? You demand to know just that.
He laughs again. shakes his head, smiling slightly as though talking to a young child, who has made a common misconception for their age. "I shouldn't be trespassing either. In fact, I shouldn't even be here. I was banned long ago." He smirks, shaking out his small wings tiredly.
You frown. "What do you mean?" He laughs again.
His head tilted to one side, he murmurs something unintelligible before telling you. "They may not like Merridellian soldiers, but they hate traitors more." His green eyes are rather sad, but he's still smirking.
You repeat the word once or twice. "Traitor?" How can anyone claim this aisha, who seems to hold such pride in the Citadel, can be called a traitor?
He nods. "Not my fault. My family's. Though the majority of them lack morals, they aren't about to argue with Mihn, and she says the family supports Merridell in any wars between the Citadel and them. I kind of don't listen well." He laughed again.
You laugh with him this time, a little uneasily, though. "May I ask you're name?" He shrugs.
It was a moment before he spoke again. "I see no reason why not. I'm Flayeei, nice to meet you, guest." How odd, you don't recall telling him your name…
You shrug off that thought. "Nice to meet you as well...Ah! Guards!" They came from nowhere, and you turn to see wha the aisha will do. He ducks back into the alley way, you following this time.
It was a few moments before you chanced speaking, and even then you could hear the guards' footsteps several yards away. "This is going o be boring..." He frowns.
Then shrugs. "Yes, it is. Maybe you'd like to be entertained?" You nod. "Well, then, I have an interesting story for you..."
Story
Chapter one
I raised my head, all ears twitching simultaneously as I blinked, shaking out my wings. I sat down, shaking out my head to free my fur of dust and dirt.
It was silent for a long time, not even the birds chirping in the trees. I didn't know what to expect, young as I was.
It was the calm before the storm
There was a mighty yell behind me, and I leapt to my feet, fur standing on end and my tail bristling. I saw them, then, a group of Darigan warriors, being met by an army of townsfolk, roaring and snarling in defense of their homeland.
They were fighting, my ears were flat against my head, my eye unable to tack the movements of all the battles at once.
And then I was amongst one.
My dark wings could easily have been mistaken for those of a Darigan pet, but my blue pelt was unmistakably average. And yet I was tackled to the ground, squirming and yowling.
It was several long moments of my twisting uselessly before someone finally realized that It wasn't another of their warriors being attacked. A darigan ixi tackled the other pet to the ground, and all I could do was murmur my thanks, my eyes wide with fear, and run away, the idea that I had never considered before worming its way into my mind.
I was home in two minutes, my fur still on end, and my eyes still alert. Mihneis rushed out of our home, at that point little more than a cottage fit for two. That was all it needed, though.
I recounted the tale while she held me in her arms, murmuring and stroking my fur. Without thinking, I burst out with my idea: "I want to be painted Darigan." Mihneis's reaction was immediate. She sprang to her feet, leaving me to tumble to the ground.
She stuttered for several moments before she formed words, and her outraged tone was obvious. "You're insane, Flayeei." She shook her head.
If frowned, I'd expected Mihn of all people would understand, and yet here she was, scoffing my ideas. "Why, Mihn?" I moaned, fluffing up my fur.
She sighed. "Guess. Could it be that we're Merridellian?" I hadn't considered that.
I sighed. "Fine." I looked to the ground, disappointed.
There was an odd silence. "I'll…consider the idea." I grinned, rubbing myself against Mihn and wrapping my tail around her legs. "Whoa, whoa, you aren't a cat, Flayeei. Stop this madness, now." I smiled, stepping back as Mihenis had directed, my fangs glinting in the light.
Chapter two
Shortly after I turned seven, Mihn still hadn't made up her mind. Four years later, and she had no idea whether she would let me be Darigan.
She had other things on her mind now, though, anyway. The little xweetok named Kelphook had entered my life, her tail swishing, her crimson eyes bright. My younger sister, already three years old when Mihenis took her in, was causing quite a problem. Learning to fly had been difficult for me, and I knew it would be more so for Kelpy, she had more than one pair of wings, after all.
And the war between Meridell and the Citadel was still going on, they were recruiting children now, as young as twelve, and I couldn't hide that I wanted to join them.
Not after what I had done right in front of Mihn. A group of Darigan warriors were stopped, pacing and murmuring angrily to each other, their hands hovering over their sword hilts, glaring at anyone who happened to walk by. Amongst them was an aisha, his collar winging from his neck, spiked with the gold D dangling from it.
They were outside of Merridell, if only slightly, and they gave no reason for the villagers to attack. Though they did get some rather nasty glares, I noticed.
Mihn walked past, me trotting at her heels, and then I stopped dead. "Flayeei? C'mon…" She stopped as she saw me staring at the collar.
The aisha saw too. He laughed, walked over to me, ignoring the muttering behind him and Mihn's rude words as he drew closer, took off his collar, and clipped it around my neck.
I looked up at him, my eyes shining and a half smile on my face. He had nodded and returned to the group of warriors.
For the next several months, the collar had attracted stares, insults, and the occasional angry villager's threats.
It had not been hard to ignore these things.
What had been hard was when Kelpy turned four, and she too realized the war was going on. She looked at my collar, then looked up at me, helplessness shining in her eyes as she then looked at Mihn, strongly opposed to anything Darigan.
I couldn't stand times like these, when the family was divided with me at the center of the chaos.
On my eighth birthday, at dinner, Mihneis had stood, her face emotionless and blank. Looking at the ground, she said what I had hoped to hear the last five years. "Flayeei, I'm saving. Saving for your paint brush. A darigan one-" My triumphant exclamation cut her off.
I was gonna be Darigan.
Info
Full name: Flayeei Jeran Neis
Nicknames: None
Gender: Male
Species: Aisha
Love:...Is that really your business?
Age: 18
B-day: June 23
Personality: Protective-easily amused-understanding.
Pelt color: Beige, Violet, black, white, indigo
Wings: Feathered black wings, small
Petpet: Flaii, the nuk
Awards
COMING SOON…again.
Toybox
New design:
Old design: 
Mihn's art
Art by others
Linkage
Leaving
It was hours later, and it just occurred to you that the guard had left. You stand, and Flayeei does the same, his face curious. "You're leaving?" His tone was odd, one of curiosity with a little hint of sadness, it suddenly makes you feel bad about leaving him in a place where he was so unwelcome.
But you nod, shrugging. "I'm sorry, but I've got things to do, places to go..." His face makes you stop, but you shake your head and continue. "Yeah, so. Maybe I'll see you around. Maybe not." And with that, you leave, departing into the dark cold, leaving an aisha who doesn't look quite so sorry about you leaving anymore.
He's smirking, and the way he says goodbye as you leave, probably the last thing you'll ever hear from him, has that same tone of when you first met him, dark and oddly amused.
