Part
I - Slavery
In a land of zafaras far from Neopia, today was like any other day. My brother Nikokyn and I were in our usual places in the service of our dictator. As a striped zafara, my place was in the kitchen preparing great feasts, most of which were angrily thrown to the side once served to the picky tyrant. My brother washed dishes, for that was what white zafaras were told to do. Our lives as slaves were miserable, and we often discussed escape attempts during the few moments we were able to spend together each day. We were afraid to execute any of our plans however, since the penalty for trying to escape was often close to crippling.
One evening after I had completed four consecutive rejected dishes, I dragged myself to my cabin outside the mansion in shallow hopes I would have a full night's sleep for once. Closing the door behind me, I flipped on the light. I gasped at the sight that met my eyes. Nikokyn was asleep on my floor, fresh bruises adorning his frail frame. I hurried to him and kneeled down, brushing his long fur from his eyes.
"Niko?" I whispered, shaking him. He opened his eyes, squinted at the light, and attempted to sit up. I put my arms around him and held him close for a moment, happy that he was alive.
"What happened?" I asked, finally releasing him. He took a few pained breaths and locked his eyes with mine. His words were quiet, but the message was strong and clear.
"We have to get out of here."
I nodded, but knew the penalties for getting caught in an escape attempt. My need for a better life was always lined with an edge of fear. If we succeeded, our lives would improve beyond anything we had dreamed of. On the other end of the spectrum, if we failed...
I tried not to think about it. Seeing my brother beaten again for things he was not responsible for drove the consequences out of my mind. He was right. We had to leave this all behind. Nobody deserved a life like this.
We waited a few days for Nikokyn's health to return, then put our plan into action on a moonless night. We gathered every bit of black fabric we had available and tied them into makeshift cloaks to hide the brightness of our fur in the dark. I made my way to Niko's cabin and made sure he was ready. He smiled at me beneath his cloak, and I knew it was time to go.
Our cabins were all bunched together within a small fenced in area outside the mansion, so escaping meant either having a key to the gates and somehow getting past the guards without them noticing, or climbing the fence on the other side and swimming across a river to escape into the woods beyond.
We had neither a key to the gate nor a way to just walk by the guards, so we aimed to swim for our lives and hope to lose any pursuers in the forest. We pulled our cloaks up to hide as much fur as possible and set out across the field to the fence. The lack of moonlight kept our hopes of not being seen alive as we crept closer to the edge of the field. The fence was high and the top was adorned with barbed wire, but we were both willing to sustain a few scrapes for freedom. I reached out to begin my climb but stopped short at a yell a little ways behind me.
I turned and looked back in the direction from which we had come, and saw two figures running toward us. We had been spotted, but not yet caught. My heart raced and I used the adrenaline to scale the fence as fast as I could, my brother keeping the pace beside me.
At the top, the barbed wire caught my cloak. I struggled to pull it free, but the more I pulled, the more I got stuck. I untied the knot that held it on and left it behind, knowing I was in full view now. I tried my best to ignore the pain from the wire in my paws, and looked around frantically for my brother. He was still keeping up, and having better luck with the barbed wire than I was, as he still had his cloak. Once over the top, we both jumped down to the other side, narrowly missing being grabbed by the guards who seemed intent on keeping hot on our tail. I grabbed Nikokyn's hand and began to run toward the water. There were more guards on the way on this side of the fence, and if we didn't get moving we would be caught for certain.
The water was cold and murky, but I didn't hesitate at the edge. My surroundings went from a warm summer's night to a cold slimy chill as both of us dove into the stream and were carried with the water. I tried keeping my head above the water, but submerged myself each time one of the guards would spot me and yell to his comrades.
It was a long way downstream, but the water pushed us along faster than the guards could run and we eventually lost them. While still following the current, we attempted to make it to the other bank close to the forest beyond the water.
"They've probably got more guards waiting at the end of the river for us," Nikokyn pointed out between breaths. I agreed, and we put our remaining strength into resisting the current and reaching the other side.
Tired, cold, and wet, we finally hit land and wearily dragged ourselves into the shelter of the trees. I was afraid to fall asleep in case we were still being followed. I told Nikokyn to rest and I stood watch. We took turns watching for the remainder of the night, but nobody came. At last, Nikokyn woke me as the sun began to shine through the canopy.
"We're free," he said, smiling. I matched his grin and reached up to hold him tight. There was nothing that could match the happiness I felt at that moment.
We began moving that afternoon after spending the morning collecting food for our journey. We turned Niko's cloak into a sort of bag and used it to store various fruits and berries we found at the edge of the forest.
The best way to go was definitely into the trees, since staying where we were was definitely too close to the river where we might be seen. We began walking, unsure of our destination, but happy all the same.
After a while of walking, I began to notice our surroundings changing. Where there had been plenty of food and life before, there were only sickly shrubs and dried up plants. The trees were becoming more gnarled and leafless, and there were fewer animals, if any. It was almost frightening how the forest had changed since we started walking, and I could tell Nikokyn could feel it too.
"Maybe we should go back and pick a different route?" I asked. We were both clearly uncomfortable in this place. I felt threatened, but I can't say why. There was nothing moving around us; it was like the calm before the storm. We were both uneasy but we pressed on. Going back was not an option, and I knew it even before I had suggested it.
The sun had begun to dip beyond the horizon, but it was almost impossible to tell through the darkness of the forest even in the daytime. We were both exhausted, but too afraid to fall asleep. We stopped to rest in a small clearing, but neither of us expected to get any sleep out of it. We had traveled the entire day after our escape however, so eventually our exhaustion caught up with us and we fell into a dreamless slumber.
Part
II - The Power of the Clouds
I was awakened the next morning by the sound of snapping twigs nearby. Instantly alert, I quickly awakened my brother and scanned the trees around us. For a moment nothing moved, then almost out of nowhere came another zafara. For a moment I thought she was one of the guards come to capture us, but she was not dressed as a guard.
Her
fur blazed red and her eyes glowed yellow within pink, as if she had a lack of sleep. An impressive set of wings were partially covered by a long navy blue cloak, the hood pushed back in folds about her neck. She stood for a moment, simply glaring at us, then finally spoke in raspy tones.
"You're in my woods," she said without changing her -disallowed_word-Adoptables I've picked up throughout Neopia)
-Farewell-
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