The Story of FireHorn50

by firebird2312

FireHorn50's heart was pounding hard, making his blue scales throb rhythmically on his chest. Just to make sure he wasn't mistaken, the small Shoyru reread it. He was right. The Battledome had opened. This was what he had been born for, and he knew it. He had been training hard, or, at least, as hard as he could given his owner's severely limited finances.

"Firebird2312!" yelled the ecstatic pet to his owner, who was just waking up, "The Battledome! The Battledome! It's here!"

"Wha...?" murmured the sleepy boy, stifling a wide yawn.

"The Battledome!! It's open!" repeated the Shoyru, bouncing up and down on his owner's stomach.

"Ooof! Gerroff me," grumbled his owner, stretching and sitting up.

"Get up! Get up! The Battledome!" exclaimed FireHorn50 in excitement.

"Really? Yes! I can't believe it! Finally!" cried Firebird2312, forgetting to be tired, "Let's go!"

The boy and his pet dashed to Neopia Central, where the battle arena was. Pets were everywhere battling each other with all the strength they could muster, using their expensive weapons with gusto, and having a great time of it, and their owners watched anxiously to see if their pet would emerge victorious.

"C'mon!" cried the Shoyru, leading his owner to the gates.

"Wait! FireHorn... are you positive you want to fight? It's awfully violent, and your weapons are... well..."

The truth was, FireHorn50's defence and attack items couldn't exactly be called weapons. The majority of his armory had been salvaged from the Money Tree, and some of it had come from heaps of rusted items that lay about the dumps of Neopia.

"I know!" said the Shoyru hurriedly, "I don't care! I want to fight!"

"But your stats..." protested Firebird2312 lamely.

"I can win! I know I can!" retorted the small blue pet defiantly, crossing his small arms over his chest.

"All right," said Firebird 2312, hoping his decision was for the best and his beloved pet wouldn't get too seriously injured, "You can go. But be careful!"

The pet marched off to the gates of the crowded stadium, and was quickly partnered with a formidable looking Skeith.

"Heh heh heh," laughed the Skeith in a very raspy voice, "You are going DOWN!"

"Am not!" said Firehorn50 bravely.

"Are, too," disagreed the Skeith, grinning from ear to ear as Skeiths do, "I've never lost a battle in my life, and I don't plan to lose to a pip-squeak like you."

"Firehorn50 and Skeith_Magic_Killer, Arena #12 Is Clear!" said a voice over the loudspeaker.

The two pets walked off toward the arena. The match began in Firehorn50's favour. He used his Level One Bubble Beam to stun his opponent. Then he turned one of his magical abilities on full blast, losing the Skeith five hitpoints.

Then it was the Skeith's turn. He used what looked to Firehorn a sword ablaze with fire, though he couldn't see how. WHAM! THWACK! The Shoyru saw a nasty gash appear in his side, and it stung, and lost him ten hitpoints. Then the Skeith turned on an ability that Firehorn50 had never seen. It was a mysterious one, that didn't even appear in the list of all abilities.

To stunned to counter-attack well, he weakly turned on a pitiful water ability and shot his rainbow gun. The Skeith, protected by a powerful charm, was not affected. Laughing triumphantly, he finished the helpless Shoyru. He threw a stone snowball at the damaged pet, and watched in amusement as the small blue dragon crumpled and fell under the force of the stone.

The next morning, Firehorn50 awoke with a throbbing head and his side bound in thick bandages. Looking around, he observed he was in a hospital by the sterile white walls and curtains. Through blurred vision, he saw his owner sitting worriedly by his bed.

"What happened?" murmured the Shoyru lethargically.

"Oh, you're awake! Thank goodness. Skeith_Magic_Killer hurt you pretty badly," replied the Shoyru's anxious owner.

"Oh," was all the humbled Firehorn could muster. He'd lost! He had been so confident of his victory... what had happened? Then, he replayed the scene of yesterday's battle in his mind. He groaned, the recollection was painful.

"I've got to fight again!" he cried, "I've got to win! I know I can!" His owner sighed.

"I don't think so. Your hitpoints are less than 2/15, and they are rising unusually slowly. I don't want a frail pet like you injuring yourself again." Firehorn gaped openmouthed at his owner. He had to be joking.

"Not fight? Ever?" he gasped, astonished and bewildered. His owner shook his head sadly, and the Shoyru realized this boy wanted him to fight and win as much as he himself.

"I'm going to find you some HealthShrooms. They'll cost me a lot, but it'll be worth it," Firebird informed his pet.

He got up, and hugged his pet lightly, stepping back as his pet winced.

"I'll be back in a few hours. I may be a day or so." Then the boy quietly left the room.

Dejected, the Shoyru fell back into a troubled sleep, filled with nightmares of the Skeith laughing as he attacked him. Meanwhile, Firebird, the Shoyru's owner, was out in Neopia, looking for shrooms. In and out of the marketplace stalls he went, always coming out empty-handed, for whenever he tracked down the elusive items they were far too expensive.

Desperate, the boy spent some of his dwindling Neopoints to catch a ride to Faerieland, where he hoped the magical creatures would take pity on his pet's position and maybe heal him. When he got off the magical transportation cloud, he took stock of his surroundings. A breath-taking city stood before him, filled with marvelous little faeries flitting around, playing tag with each other and teasing one another, unaware of the hardships Firebird2312 was having.

"Excuse me!" called the boy, hoping to nag a faerie's attention.

One heard him, and left her friends to meet him face-to-face. "Hello," she said in a voice that sounded like windchimes, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," pleaded Firebird2312, "My Shoyru. He is badly injured, and I am afraid it's taking him a mite too long to recover. It's worrying me."

"Oh!" said the faerie in her magical voice, "Just find the Healing Springs!"

"The what?" asked the boy, confused. What were they? Healing Springs? But the faerie, he noted with dismay, had left. Sighing to himself, he loped around the city, not seeing anything resembling ‘Healing Springs' for quite some time.

Then, just when the boy was beginning to lose hope, he saw before him a marvelous sight. There stood an immense fountain, spouting water of pink and silver that sparkled in the warm sunlight. Along the edge sat a life-sized Water Faerie with magnificent golden hair and liquidy-blue eyes. The boy noted her scaly blue fin, which was rather frightening, for he had never seen a mermaid, though he had read about them in books. The faeries translucent wings were folded gently on her back, and the faerie was indulged in a thick novel.

"E-excuse me?" said Firebird2312, hoping he didn't offend the creature.

She turned her eyes to him. "Yes?" she said, in a voice that could have enchanted a tree stump.

"Erm... are these the Healing Springs?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound nervous.

"Why, yes!" exclaimed the faerie, "Would you like me to heal one of your pets?"

"Oh! Would you?" said Firebird.

"Of course! That is what I do!" she said, smiling at him.

"I would like Firehorn50... my only pet... to be healed!" he declared hopefully.

"And he shall!" said the Water Faerie, waving her hands in the air.

He heard the tinkling of chimes, and he assumed his pet was back to full strength.

"Th-thank you!" he cried, "What can I ever do to repay you?"

"No," she said, holding up a hand, "My services are free. However, do not take advantage of them, or you will be most sorry."

"I won't - I'd never - Ever - " stammered the boy.

"All right. You can leave now. I'd like to continue my book, if you don't mind," she said, laughing, shooing him away with her hand.

"Thank you again!" said the boy as he left, "Thank you so much!"

"Think nothing of it," the faerie told him, turning back to her book.

Heart content, he spent his remaining Neopoints to return to Firehorn50. When he returned, he saw his small pet was out of the hospital bed.

"Left," said a Gelert garbed in a white lab coat, "Said he felt fresh as a daisy. I protested, of course, but he would have no objections."

"Oh, wonderful," muttered Firebird2312 to himself, "That creature better not be anywhere near the Battledome."

"Did you just say something?" inquired the Gelert

"Yeah, I said I hope he hasn't gone to the Battledome."

"Oh, gracious, he said he was off to kick some bottom. I believe that would indicate his destination is as you fear," responded the Gelert

Cursing, the boy raced out of the Hospital and ran to the Battledome, but it was too late. His pet was no where in sight. Meanwhile the healed Shoyru was facing his opponent, a ominous looking Koi with a missing eye.

"Harharhar," laughed the Koi, "I shall beat you to your destruction!"

"Shall NOT!" yelled Firehorn50, turning his feeble ability on full blast.

Then, with triumphant shout, he blasted his red frost cannon in his stunned opponent's face. He looked at the scoreboard. The Koi's hitpoints were dwindling, at 8/14. The Shoyru knew that it was not his attack item that had aided him, it was his strong fighting spirit.

"Arrr," said the Koi weakly. He brandished a dreaded Fire Sword at Firehorn, but the Shoyru downsized himself and dodged the weapon with all his speed.

"Hmmmph," muttered the Koi. With another loud battle cry, the young dragon fired his rainbow gun while using his ability Spark.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" cried the Koi, falling to the ground. The scoreboard showed Firehorn's hitpoints at 13/15, and the Koi's 5/14. The Koi slowly swung his sword again, and Firehorn used the same ploy to escape the horrid blade. Then, the Shoyru yelled as he finished his opponent off with his Frost Cannon.

"I won!" cried the Shoyru triumphantly as he helped the wounded Koi to his feet.

"Arrr, yer a strong lil' snapper, young one," commented the Koi, groaning a bit.

"Sorry," said the Shoyru, "I didn't really mean to hurt you. I just wanted to win."

"Tis okay by me," said the Koi weakly, "Think nothin' of it. I would've done th'same."

Then the victorious Shoyru ran to his owner, who was searching worriedly about the stadium for his missing pet.

"FIREHORN!" yelled his owner, running to embrace his pet.

"FIREBIRD2312!" yelled the Shoyru back, running to his owner's outstretched arms.

"I won!" panted the blue dragon, burying his face in his owner's shoulder.

"Amazing!" gasped Firebird2312, "I don't believe it!"

"Yes, I won!" repeated the Shoyru happily.

"Let's go back home and celebrate!" said Firebird.

"And we shall!" agreed the Shoyru, allowing himself to be picked up in his owner's arms.

The End