Origins: The Fire Within -- Part One by zyranyx |  |
The girl's breathing was rapid and shallow. Across one
of her confused and disoriented silver eyes was a deep cut, which would later
become a permanent scar. Her ears hinted of a slightly elfish background as
she stumbled across the hard, cold ground of night-time Neopia Central. A beautiful
yet simple sword hung at her waist, held by a thick silver belt that wrapped
around the waist of her white and silver robes, which contrasted sharply against
her long, black hair. Although her steps seemed unsteady, she held herself with
the poise of one born with a fierce pride.
***
Yakynaza was a very unordinary Lupe in many ways. First off, his fiery coat
had blue-painted flames (save for his tail, which was made up of real fire for
some reason), an unfortunate result of falling into the Rainbow Pool when his
fire coat was still wet. Secondly, instead of the hard, black eyes of most Fire
Lupes, Yakynaza had pale blue, almost silver eyes, which could appear hard and
cold when he was angry or soft and frightened when he was sad or scared. Right
now these eyes were closed. It was nearly half past midnight, and the Lupe stirred
as he dreamt.
***
"I have been waiting for you…" a voice hissed. Yakynaza turned around. The
figure was clad in a long, black cloak, and though his covered face didn't reveal
who he was, the figure was roughly about the height and size of a Chia. Yakynaza
would have laughed in real life if someone was dressed so strangely, but he
couldn't. This person or pet seemed to radiate fear and malice, and chilled
Yakynaza to the bone.
Whimpering like a puppy, Yakynaza backed away,
only to find the rough, stone wall blocking his path. He looked around. The
room was cold, damp, windowless and dark. There was no definite ceiling, only
darkness. Yakynaza suddenly realized that he too was dressed strangely, in royal
robes fit for a king, and a golden crown with a flaming emblem on the front.
These robes seemed to radiate courage and pride, and so Yakynaza stood straighter
and more defiant.
"Who are you, what do you want?" Yakynaza whispered,
his breath coming out as vapour, it was so cold.
"You stole my pride, my blue blood!" the figure
shouted.
"I did no such thing!" Yakynaza answered, indignant.
"I don't even know you!"
"You stole my birthright, you pitiful excuse
for a Lupe!" The figure was getting angry, the fear and malice radiating from
it turning into ruthless anger.
"What did I do?" Yakynaza was getting angry in
turn. The figure's eyes glowed red and he lowered his hood. Yakynaza gasped.
"You were born…" the Fire Lupe hissed, inch long
claws coming down on Yakynaza's neck.
***
Yakynaza woke up screaming. Zyranyx, along with Yakynaza's brothers Xyanar
(a Faerie Poogle), Uryohs10 (a fire Shoyru) and uryohs11 (a fire Scorchio),
came running into the room. Zyranyx had a medieval torch in her hand, probably
grabbed from one of the torches on the walls in their Haunted Woods NeoHome.
"Yakyn! What's wrong?" Zyranyx asked worriedly,
her silver eyes looking strained. In the flickering light of the torch, the
scar on her left eye appeared twice as obvious as it did in the daytime. Yakynaza
stuck out his tongue with the use of her pet name for him.
"Nothing's wrong," Yakynaza said, not wanting
his owner to worry. "I just had a nightmare." At this uryohs11 sniggered, and
Uryohs10, giggling, said, "You better check if our little bro wet the bed, Mom!"
"Why you little -- " Yakynaza launched himself
at Uryohs10, but zyranyx used herself as a shield between the two. "Take that
back, Uryohs10!" Yakynaza growled.
"Aw, ickle Lupeykins, can't you take a joke?"
Uryohs10 rolled around on the floor, laughing. A rank smell filled the room
as a fart bomb fell out of his pocket and exploded.
"That's enough, you two!" Xyanar said in a commanding
tone of voice, and used Psychic Blast to make the fumes of the fart bomb evaporate.
Yakynaza and Uryohs10 despised being bossed around by the small Faerie Poogle,
but as he was the strongest pet of all of them, they didn't mess with him.
"Now, Yakyn, tell us about your dream," Zyranyx
said, putting a comforting hand on Yakynaza's shoulder. Yakynaza didn't know
why, but his owner seemed to exude a powerful magic. Yakynaza paused, shooting
a warning glance at his brothers, and then told every detail of his dream to
zyranyx.
By the end of the tale, even the Uryohs Twins
were open mouthed. Zyranyx looked thoughtful and contemplative, then put a hand
on the top of Yakynaza's head, petting him while she thought about the dream.
Finally, she stood up.
"I have had dreams like those before, and they
usually mean some kind of warning," Zyranyx told him. "Go to sleep, and tomorrow
we'll go to Tyrannia!" This cheered Yakynaza greatly, for he loved the prehistoric
land. He also felt a strange connection with the volcano, but he didn't quite
know why.
"Okay!" Yakynaza smiled his trademark crooked
grin, and went back to bed as the others went back to their rooms, except for
zyranyx. Yakynaza heard his rocking chair creak as she sat down in it to watch
over him for the night.
***
Yakynaza had no idea where he was. He didn't recall ever being here, yet there
was a strange feeling of familiarity about the place. A true architectural master
must have made the reddish stone walls, for they had been shaped as though molten
lava had flowed down from the ceiling and naturally formed the beautifully curved
columns and the wide hallways. It was a truly beautiful place, sweet and simple
without the gaudy decorations of most palaces (for that was what Yakynaza thought
he was in), and it felt warm and inviting. Yakynaza realized that to most pets
the heat would be excruciatingly hot, but he suddenly felt as though he was
a separate species of pet, and that the heat to him was a pleasantly warm breeze.
"Where am I?" he asked to no one in particular.
He expected no answer, but a vaguely familiar voice sounded behind him.
"You are in Reino de Lobos," a high-pitched,
flowing voice said. Yakynaza turned quickly. A figure in white robes and a long,
silver cloak stood there, unmoving, looking relaxed but alert. Her hood was
pulled up over her eyes, and Yakynaza could only see pale-skinned cheeks and
a chin, with unsmiling, serious lips. She raised her right hand, which was as
pale as the rest of her, and the colours of the world he was in began swirling
around like the wind. Yakynaza screamed and fell into the darkness.
When he woke up, it was night. He only knew this
because the torches that were on the walls were out, and it was dark. He wandered
from room to room, traveling through the halls, searching for a point to why
he was here. Something caught his eye. A burst of bright flame, silent as shadow,
bounded through the dark halls. He quickly followed it, coming face to face
with the Fire Lupe with the blazing tail from his other dream; only this time
the Fire Lupe was wearing robes of royalty. Yakynaza gasped and waited to be
silenced.
But the Fire Lupe didn't seem to notice Yakynaza,
who was standing about a foot in front of him. Instead, he looked from left
to right as though checking if anyone was watching. Seemingly seeing no one,
the Lupe crept silently across the hall, up three flights of stairs, down another
hall, and entered a large room. Yakynaza tailed the Lupe just as swiftly and
stealthily.
The door creaked open, and Yakynaza saw that
it must be the king and queen's bedroom, for a large, king size bed was stationed
there, as well as expensive furniture and a baby's crib. The Lupe cursed under
his breath. Yakynaza stared as the Lupe went over to the monarchs' bed and meditatively
hummed with his eyes closed, his forepaws simultaneously going into the same
strange position. With a cry, the Lupe opened his eyes and brought each of his
forepaws down on the royals' necks in a martial arts-type chop.
"NO!" Yakynaza screamed out. He didn't know why
he wanted to defend the king and queen so, but something in his heart seemed
to have a faint recollection of them…
It was too late. The king and queen ceased to
breathe. The killer Lupe turned on the baby's crib, which contained a tiny Fire
Lupe puppy. Yakynaza heard him curse again, and realized that a Lupe puppy has
very little neck when it is born, so the killer Lupe could not perform the fatal
chop that had put an end to the puppy's parents. The Lupe cursed again, tripping
on something, then smiled.
He had found an item. Not just any item, but
a yellow paint brush. No, it wasn't the most expensive paintbrush, nor one that
looked the most appealing on a Lupe, but the killer acted as though it was a
Hidden Tower item. The Lupe began painting the baby Lupe yellow, hiding it's
beautiful, pure, fiery colour. The puppy squeaked quite suddenly and opened
his eyes. Yakynaza gasped. The puppy's eyes were silvery blue.
The now yellow puppy desperately tried to escape
the killer's paws, but wasn't fast enough on his feet; the killer Lupe grabbed
him harshly.
"Now you will pay!" the Lupe hissed to the puppy.
"You have robbed me of my birthright, and my pride, brother. Now you shall be
destroyed!" Clamping a paw over his brother's tiny muzzle, the Lupe ran out
of the room. Yakynaza followed, shaken by what he saw.
The killer ran to a large pool of lava, where
he threw the puppy into the swirling, molten rock. Yakynaza, forgetting that
he was a mere phantom in this world, launched himself into the lava after the
puppy. Strange, how he couldn't feel the heat. A ringing filled his head. He
clamped his paws over his ears as the ringing grew louder, and louder…
***
"Yakynaza! Wake up!" Someone was calling Yakynaza, who groggily opened his
eyes. He realized that it was his alarm clock that was ringing, and it was 7:00:00
a.m. NST. "Yakynaza! Yakynaza!"
It was Zyranyx. "Yakynaza!" she continued, shaking
his shoulders. "Yakyn, it's time to wake up! We're heading out for Tyrannia
after you eat breakfast."
To be continued...
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