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Untitled Document
Grifylite was special. He knew he was. He had been told
so the very moment that he entered Neopia.
His owner was a girl of about sixteen, and she
had always adored Eyries. She had had three of them, and then one day, she decided
to create a fourth. She brought along her oldest and favorite pet; a burly electric
colored Eyrie with incredible stats. He was her battling pet, and had never
failed to win a match.
She flew to the Create-A-Pet center, riding on
the back of Meldrake. (That was the Eyrie's name) --He was a swift flyer, and
they had soon reached the snowy white building. The girl, whose name was Melody,
slid off of Meldrake's smooth feathered back and walked into the Create-A-Pet,
her Eyrie in tow.
She knew where she was going, as she had been
to the Eyrie wing of the center many times. She cut swiftly through the crowds
of Newbies milling in the halls of the center, smiling as she watched new Neopians
strolling down the halls, their new Pets in their arms. Melody stopped in front
of a large, glass dome. The dome contained thousands of Eyrie eggs, some red,
some blue and some green and yellow. Melody sighed happily and scratched Meldrake
behind his ears. The Eyrie purred lazily, his hooded eyes resting on the multitudes
of eggs in the chamber. Melody smiled at him.
"What color should we get, Drake?" she asked,
twirling a lock of her honey brown hair round her finger.
Drake shrugged, flexing his massive wings expressively.
"I dunno. It doesn't really matter, does it? You already have the paint brush
ready."
Melody grinned, jamming a hand into her pocket
and pulling out a handsome skunk paint brush. "I suppose you're right. Okay,
I'll just close my eyes and jab at a button."
Drake chuckled, shaking his mane in bewilderment
as he watched his owner place a hand over her eyes and clumsily press a bright
red button. She opened her eyes and smiled.
"Red! Okay Drake, here he comes..."
With a small pop! A dull red egg came down a
small chute to land with a thunk in the container below. Melody snatched up
the egg, cuddling it in her arms. Drake cocked his head and tapped the egg with
a paw.
"How long does it take to hatch?" he asked, peering
at the egg through his narrowed eyes. Melody shrugged.
"It depends. You took about ten minutes, but
your sister took nearly an hour!" Melody replied, setting the egg on a nearby
table. Drake frowned.
"I hope it doesn't take too long. I've got a
Battledome fight with Tyron at two..." Drake trailed off, Melody wasn't listening
anymore, she had seated herself in front of the egg and was concentrating heavily
on it, as though willing it to hatch. Drake rolled his eyes, flicked his tufted
tail impudently in the air and sat down next to his owner, staring at the egg.
About five minutes later, the egg began to shake
and wiggle on the table, the baby Eyrie inside was moving around and tapping
his beak against the shell. Suddenly, a beak pushed its way through the egg.
Only the beak wasn’t the normal yellow orange color, but a shiny bronze. The
feathered head that followed was a dazzling gold. The Eyrie kit flopped onto
the table, its small wings unfurling. Drake gasped. Its wings were silver!
This was one strange Eyrie. It was supposed to
be red, but it wasn't. It had a bronze beak, a bronze mane and a bronze tail
tuft. Its wings were dazzling silver, and the rest of its body was a creamy
gold. The baby Eyrie shook its copper mane and opened its eyes. They were a
vivid, sapphire blue. Drake couldn't believe his eyes. He had never seen anything
like it. He glanced at Melody, who was staring, open mouthed, at the glittering
kit.
"Melody..." Drake whispered. "He's so... weird!"
Melody glared at her Eyrie before sweeping the
kit up in her arms and smoothing back his golden feathers. His bronze tufted
tail wagged happily from side to side at the attention.
"He's not weird Drake, he's special."
She turned her gaze back to the now sleeping, kit that had nestled into her
arms. She smiled fondly. "We'll call him Grifylite."
Drake snorted as he bored his gaze into the kit.
He wasn't that great. He just happened to be oddly colored, that was all. He
remembered when the first white Usul had appeared in Neopia; everyone ha been
raving about a rare, albino pet. Grifylite was nothing special; he was probably
just the first specimen of some new Paint Brush. He snapped out of his reverie
by the piercing yell of his owner.
"Come on Drake, shake a tail!"
With a reluctant sigh, the lightning splashed
Eyrie turned and padded slowly after Melody, a heavy feeling of dread beginning
to germinate in his chest.
***
As soon as Girfylite was brought back home, he became an instant celebrity.
The cameras, and The Neopian Times reporters attached to them, just couldn't
get enough of the strangely colored Eyrie. While Grylite was presented with
endless gifts, luxuries and attention, Drake and his other siblings were shunned
back into the shadows. It didn't bother Drake's siblings, Meliau the cloud Eyrie
and Tybalt the white Eyrie, as much as it bothered him, but they were still
rather miffed about it. While Grifylite went off with Melody on his many photo
shoots or interviews, the three Eyries would often hold small pity parties with
each other. They were doing just that on that stormy day in the month of Celebrating,
alone in the house since Melody and Grifylite were gone again.
"It isn't fair. Grifylite got a brand new Ganuthor,
and I got a Purple Abominable Snowball," Meliau said with a sigh. Tybalt nodded
his great, feathered head in agreement.
"Yes, Melody used to read to me all the time,
but now, it seems as though the only things that she reads are articles about
Grifylite," the white Eyrie sighed sadly, ruffling his snowy colored feathers.
Drake snorted.
"I used to get training courses all the time...
I used to battle at the Dome' all the time, too. Now, thanks to the Golden Goose,
I spend all day watching Gormball, getting flabby and weak." There was a rumbled,
"Hear, hear!" after this statement, and then, after griping about their sixteen
karat brother for another ten minutes or so, they broke off and went their separate
ways. Drake retired back to the couch, a permanent groove beginning to form
in the spot that he always lay in. Meliau wandered around the house, staring
wistfully out the window, pausing only to glance disgustedly at her abominable
snowball, which had melted into a thick purple puddle again. Tybalt retreated
to the dark recesses of the basement, searching forlornly around the moldy bookcases
for some unread story, some unfound treasure.
Grifylite looked upon his fame much differently
than his siblings seemed to think that he did. Quite contrary to what they believed,
the young Eyrie absolutely hated his stardom, and wished fervently that he could
just be a normal Eyrie, like Drake or Meliau or Tybalt. But what the glimmering
Eyrie missed even more than a set of normal feathers was friends. He had none;
he had been discouraged from playing with the other young Pets, as his owner
thought that they might try to steal his unique feathers. The young Eyrie was
scheduled for an interview later in the afternoon, but in the meantime, he was
free to do as he wished. (As long he stayed in the NeoHome, of course).
Grifylite decided to go down the stairs and into
the Rec Room, where he was certain his siblings were. The Eyrie folded his shimmering,
silver wings against his golden feathered back and trotted down the narrow staircase,
sniffing as the dust penetrated his large, bronze beak.
He rounded a corner and saw, to his relief, all
three of his siblings, lounging in the dank room. Drake was sprawled in a Yellow
Beanbag Chair; his electric blue feathers contrasting sharply with the banana
colored fabric. Meliau and Tybalt were playing Ping-Pong at an old, cracked
table, the paddles chipped and worn and the ball squashed. Upon seeing their
despised brother, the three Eyries stopped what they were doing and glared icily
at him. Drake got up off his chair and sauntered coolly over to Grifylite.
"Well, well," he said, his yellow eyes blazing.
"Look what we have here, the emperor of all Eyries!" Drake spat, his tufted
tail swinging. Meliau fluttered down to stand in front of Grifylite, her periwinkle
blue coat rippling under her tensed muscles.
"Go away, Grifylite! We don’t want you here!"
she hissed, Tybalt nodding in agreement from behind her. Grifylite whimpered,
lowering his golden head sadly. "Please," he pleaded, his sapphire blue eyes
glistening. "I don’t want to look this way, it’s just how I was born. I didn’t
mean to mess up your lives…"
Drake glared at his brother before grabbing a
torn out article from The Neopian Times. The Eyrie grasped the clipping in his
claws, a cruel sneer stretching across his navy beak.
"This is one of your little interviews. Shall
I read it out loud?" he asked, though Grifylite knew that he was going to read
it out loud even if he said no. Still, he decided to persist.
"No! Don’t read it!" he screeched, covering
his reddening face with his wings. Drake snorted, and began to read the article.
"A legend has been born into Neopia. Melody,
a young owner, had no idea that the little Eyrie egg that she got from the Create-A-Pet
Center would turn out to be so extraordinary. Grifylite, an Eyrie of approximately
two hundred hours, was born not with the red feathers that were expected, but
bright gold, with dazzling silver wings and a bronze mane, tail and beak. He
certainly stands out from his regular siblings, who are also Eyries. Their names
are Drank, Nelliow, and Kymalt…" Drake trailed off, his talons crunching
the paper in fury.
"They spelled out names wrong, and insulted
us. They called us ‘regular’, as though we are beneath you. And we aren’t, your
color makes you no more or less special than anyone else." Meliau and Tybalt
nodded silently in agreement. Grifylite lowered his head, a thick pearly tear
sliding down his sleek golden feathers to land with a plop in his dully-shining
bronze mane.
"I’m sorry," he whispered, eyes trained on the
ground. He raised his head slightly, locking eyes with the scowling Drake. "Please,
I want you to help me."
Tybalt snorted. "With what?" he asked, sneering.
Meliau growled. "More importantly, why should we help you?" Tybalt snorted,
and flared his magnificent, pure white wings.
"I saw we run him out of the house, that would
help him!" he roared, rearing up on his hind legs. Meliau screeched in approval,
clacking her lavender beak. They were about to advance on the cowering Grifylite
when Drake came skidding in to stand between him and his enraged siblings.
"No! Let him speak," Drake said, growling low
in his throat. He looked so dangerous with his feathers ruffled and his eyes
blazing that Tybalt and Meliau stepped down, sitting reluctantly on their haunches.
Grifylite smiled weakly at Drake, though he did not return it. Instead, he glowered
down at the young Eyrie and nodded curtly.
"Well, go on, then. Say your piece."
Grifylite took a deep breath, and began his speech.
"I want you to help me run away. But… I don’t
want to look like this. I know that Melody has a skunk Paint Brush in her Safety
Deposit Box, and I want you to paint me with it. Then," he choked slightly on
his words. "I want you to help me get to the roof of our house and dawn tomorrow.
Then," he sighed heavily. "I will fly away and find a new home."
Drake, Meliau and Tybalt all gasped with shock.
Drake was the first to speak, in a tone laden with disbelief. "Why?"
"Because…" Grifylite began, concentrating very
hard on the floor. "I don’t really belong here. You were here first, and if
I don’t go, then you’ll never get the attention that you deserve."
"But why don’t you just paint yourself and stay
here?" Meliau asked.
"Because then Melody would be very angry at me,
and you. If I paint myself and run away, then you can’t be blamed. It will just
look like I took the brush and scarpered."
Tybalt bowed his snowy head in remorse. "I am
deeply sorry for my earlier actions, Grifylite. You truly are a noble Eyrie,
and did not deserve to be treated in the way that you were."
Drake placed a huge, blue paw on Drake’s golden
shoulder. "If it is what you want, Grifylite, then I will help you."
Grifylite stared into his brother’s eyes, the
strength and determination that shone in them telling Drake the answer before
the Eyrie even spoke.
"I am."
***
The painting had gone off without a hitch. Drake, who knew the Safety Deposit
Box combination, simply went in and retrieved the brush, then carried it back
to the Rainbow Pool, where Grifylite was waiting. Drake, the brush clasped firmly
in his beak, dipped the tip into the water. Instantly, the liquid turned from
a crystalline blue to a mass of swirling black, gray and white. Grifylite took
one last look at his unique feathers, and leapt into the pool. When he re-emerged,
he was skunk colored. The first stage of the plan was complete, though the next
part would be the hardest.
Accompanied by Drake, Meliau and Tybalt, Grifylite
stood on the edge of the roof, prepared to jump off and take flight, soaring
away from Melody, his publicity, and, unfortunately, his siblings. Grifylite
said goodbye to each one of them in turn. Meliau cried hysterically, the tears
pouring down her orchid feathers. Tybalt bowed sombrely, not showing his face,
and Drake, with no hesitations, threw his arms around Grifylite’s dark gray
neck and hugged him tightly. He released him, and stared at him, a serious expression
on his face.
"Goodbye, Grifylite. May good fortune follow
you forever, and may your new home be a good one." The electric Eyrie craned
his head in the direction of the sun. "The sun is beginning to rise. You should
be on your way…" he trailed off, unsure of how to continue. Grifylite smiled
sadly.
"Goodbye Drake, Meliau and Tybalt. I will never
forget you, and maybe someday I’LL visit. But until then, may your feathered
always be ruffled by cool spring breezes and your wings carried by arm summer
thermals."
Grifylite gave his siblings one last nod, and
then spread his massive wings, soaring gracefully in the direction of the rising
sun until he was no more than a small, black speck on the horizon.
The End
Author’s Note: Grifylite is currently enjoying a nice, calm life on my other
account, Zigzagbart, though all the other characters are works of fiction. Feedback,
hate-mail or compliments are welcome, and encouraged!
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