Memory by coalfire_nightdragon |  |
Shirukuba the golden Shoyru was practicing archery in a
small, deserted park, about 10 minute's flight away from his NeoHome in Neopia
Central. It was a fairly nice day, although rather cold. As he expertly shot down
an apple from a nearby tree, he felt a breeze stirring; and as he took aim and
shot again, his arrow was blown off course by the now strong wind. He wondered
how on earth the wind could get so strong so fast, and he looked to the sky to
see that the puffy white clouds had turned into a single, black monster, causing
a premature night over the entire town. Rain began to fall thick and fast, and
lightning flashed across the sky. Shiru hurried around the park, gathering his
arrows, half blinded by the dark and the rain. He found the last one and took
flight as a crash of thunder slightly deafened him. He was buffeted about by the
intense wind of the gale, rain driving into his eyes and making it impossible
to see where he was going. His only guide back home was instinct and memory; he
could no longer tell up from down. It took considerably longer than it usually
did, but finally he crash-landed into the back yard of the NeoHome. He staggered
forward into the sliding door, shoved it open, and literally fell inside. He pushed
it closed again and the storm was abruptly cut off.
"Coalfire, I'm home!" he called as he went into
the kitchen, "Coalfire? Goldstar? Sharrie? Where is everyone? Oh, what's this?"
Shiru found a hastily scribbled note on the counter:
Shiru, I'm taking the girls shopping, and
Duke is visiting a friend. Stay home until we get back. ~Coalfire
Now Shiru started to worry. His family was out
in the storm, and he was alone. He sat on the sofa, trying not to think about
what could happen, but the harder he tried not to think about it, the more the
thoughts crept in. What if they hadn't gotten to shelter? What if one of
them had been injured? What if they had gotten lost in the wind and rain?
So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the blackout for a
few minutes, but when he did, he groaned, because the fuse box was in the attic.
Even on a bright and sunny day, the attic was slightly creepy. Now it was pitch
black and storming. Resolutely Shiru trudged up the stairs and groped around
until he found the pull-down ladder. He gazed up into an even darker black than
what was already around him, shuddered, and cautiously climbed the ladder. He
stuck his hands out in front of him and stumbled in the general direction of
the fuse box. After a short bit of whamming into boxes and stubbing his toes
on various objects, he found an open space that meant he was right near his
goal. However, there was a small box that he didn't know about, and subsequently
tripped over, spilling the contents and causing a rather nasty lump on Shiru's
head, which had slammed into the fuse box.
"Well, at least I found it," muttered Shiru
to himself. So, rubbing his head, he flipped a few random switches, and when
this didn't work, whacking it repeatedly. Slowly the lights flickered back on.
He turned to see what had been in the box, and saw just an old photo album and
some of Coalfire's knickknacks. He picked them up carefully, not wanting to
break any, and they were soon all packed back in. When he picked up the album,
however, a photograph fluttered out. He stuck the album into the box and picked
up the photo to look at it. It was a fairly old color shot, and showed Coalfire
smiling and cradling a very tiny, very young red Shoyru in her arms. It took
a few seconds for Shiru to realize that he was looking at a much younger version
of himself, and when he did, it brought back such a flood of memories that he
shook his head as if to clear it. Still staring at the picture, he made his
way downstairs and sat on the couch. Memories that had lain forgotten for so
long welled up inside him, fleeting through all of his conscious self; he returned
to the day of his birth, so long ago.
***
The young Shoyru opened his eyes for the first time, held by a young boy.
He looked around curiously, wondering where he was. He saw something walking
beside the boy, a creature that was blue and furry and walked on four legs.
A Lupe, his mind answered for him. The boy and the Lupe kept walking until they
reached a small, two-room cardboard house. The boy went inside and shut the
door, then laid him on the dirt floor.
"Your name is Shirukuba, and you are my pet.
I am your owner, and that's all you need to know about me. This is your house,
and you'll share a room with Deathstar. He's my Lupe. You aren't to leave the
house unless I'm with you. I'm going to the Money Tree, so just stay in your
room and don't come out until I get back."
Then the boy carried him into the other room,
which contained a straw bed and a beanbag chair, on which the boy set him down.
Then he left, leaving Shirukuba alone with his thoughts.
***
Shiru was jolted out of his memory by a particularly loud rumble of thunder.
He remembered all too well the first few days of his life. He was left home
a lot, rarely fed, and never played with. His owner never saw anything beyond
making Neopoints. He had jumped for every single 'easy money' claim he saw.
Finally, it got the better of him, and he gave his password away to supposedly
get paid 100k, and he lost his account.
***
Shirukuba was frightened when the stranger
came. He was rough and mean, and he took all the money and all the items, even
the junky ones. Then he came back, and took both Shirukuba and Deathstar to
a big, grey building. Once inside, he took them over to a yellow Techo and filled
out two complicated-looking forms. Then he left, and the Techo took the two
of them through a door behind the desk. On the other side of the door were rows
and rows of cages stacked on top of each other. They were put in different cages,
and the doors clanged shut. After a short period of time, lots of people came
in, and started taking pets out of their cages and out the door to the world
beyond. Many just wandered around, not really looking at the pets, quickly trying
to grab any painted ones that came in. No one looked twice at the tiny, thin,
ragged red Shoyru that lay in the shadows of the cage. He spent five days there,
growing weaker and hungrier. Even though they were fed, he never ate much. Then
she came, holding the paw of a young Christmas Zafara, searching intently through
the cages of pets. When she reached his cage, she took one look at him and her
heart melted. She lifted him out and paid the smiling pink Uni at the front
desk. She carried him out into the light.
***
Here Shiru smiled as he remembered how kind Coalfire had been to him. She
had gotten their picture taken that very day; it was the picture he was holding
right then, in fact. Then she had painted him with a Golden Paint Brush that
one of her friends had given her. He had been fascinated by his shiny new color,
and had spent hours playing with sunbeams. He remembered getting his petpet
Gwaihir, he had been so happy.
***
Shirukuba was out on a walk with Coalfire. He kept running ahead, and she
was worried every time she lost sight of him. Then he decided to play a trick
on her and hid in the bushes the next time he rounded a corner. He giggled silently
to himself as she walked right past, yelling his name. He was about to jump
out and surprise her when he heard a pitiful chirping coming from behind him.
He ran out, very frightened at the strange noise, and attached himself to Coalfire's
leg. She had panicked at his vanishing, and almost crushed him with a hug at
her relief that he was safe. Then he told her about the noise, and they went
over to have a look. Coalfire parted the bushes to reveal that the source of
Shiru's fear was only a tiny Beekadoodle with a broken wing. Coalfire scooped
it up and carried both of them home. After the petpet's wing had healed, Coalfire
gave it to Shiru, since he didn't have a petpet yet. He liked the name she picked
out: Gwaihir, the wind lord.
***
The sound of a door opening startled Shiru, but he relaxed as he heard Coalfire's
voice. He noticed that the fury of the storm had waned while he had been remembering.
He ran to the front door, where two thoroughly wet Zafaras and one soaked human
got out of their borrowed rain gear. Coalfire explained that they had been in
the book shop when the storm hit and had to wait an hour and a half for it to
be safe to go out. They had needed to borrow some of the Nimmo's rain gear,
which they had to return as soon as the rain stopped. She asked him what he
had been doing this whole time.
"Oh, just remembering."
The End
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