Kahlindia's Name

      She hopped out of bed and went to the bookcase at the corner of the room. She thought that a little reading would do her some good and get her mind off of the things that disturbed her. Not just the other day, an Usul, a foreign Usul, had wandered her way to Neovia for a little visit in the merchant square. Kahlindia had been doing some errands around the woods and was crossing the square for her final run for the day. She happened to see the Usul, who happened to look very confused at the moment, and went over to greet her and welcome the Usul to the woodland.

      At first, the foreigner seemed to be very friendly, but a manner of speech does not depict the ways of the heart and mind. The Usul explained that her name was Ruby, and that she had traveled near and far in search of one simple item: a green eyrie plushie. Kahlindia giggled to herself at this, for she was a green Eyrie. Kahlindia suggested that she check the shop wizard for the answer, try the trading post, or the auction house. The Usul thanked her for her advice, and asked her name in case she was ever in the woods again and needed some help.

      Kahlindia answered in a normal tone of voice, but soon it lowered when she realized that the Usul was barely holding back cackles and snickers. Kahlindia stopped her speech and looked to her left and right, then to the back of her, then faced the Usul and asked what was sooo funny.

      The Usul replied by saying, “Your name is so... How do I put this lightly? Just too plain strange! How am I supposed to remember it! Gosh, I don’t even want to remember it; it wasn’t worth my time talking to you. I’ll just go find help elsewhere, if you don’t mind.” And without a come-back from the Eyrie, the Usul turned her back and walked away, leaving Kahlindia with long, sorrowful thoughts about her name.

     She decided to search all over to find the meaning of her name; at least all over the Haunted Woods. Her first stop was Edna’s tower. Edna was busying herself boiling up a rancid potion in her big black cauldron when the little Eyrie arrived. Edna greeted her and asked what she came for. Kahlindia burst out with the whole story and raised the question of what her name meant. Edna raised her eyebrow and asked what she would do for the answer. Kahlindia looked at the cookbook Edna had on her stand. When she had come in, Edna had put what seemed to be bright red algae, so she looked for the thing that was next on the list.

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     The Eyrie was worn out from a day of searching, fetching, and of answers with no answer. She had tried almost everyone in the woods: Edna, the Brain Tree, the Esophagor... Her paws were tired from her long tread through the woods, and her head hurt from the long and hard thinking for the answer for the Brain Tree’s question. So she decided that the best thing to do now was to go home and wait for tomorrow when she had to go to Shenkuu for some more errands. After all, all the neopets she had net there so far were very smart; certainly one of them would know what her name meant.

      When she got home, her owner Robin was picking up Kahlindia’s toys from the living space floor. She laid them in a neat row on Kahlindia’s bed and stared at the nice clean Neohome that was laid out in front of her. Robin noticed that her pet was home from her hard day and came to welcome her back. Then Robin noticed that Kahlindia looked as glum as glum could be. She had her sit down on the couch and explain herself. By the end of her story Robin let out a long sigh and started to giggle like only Robin could giggle. Kahlindia narrowed her eyes at this, wondering again about what was so funny.

      Then Robin said, “If you wanted to know what your name meant, why didn’t you just ask the person that gave it to you!” Robin then continued her funny laugh.

      The Eyrie’s mad look then faded into one of sheer confusion. Why hadn’t she? It would have been the smarter thing to do. Then a smile slowly started to appear on Kahlindia’s face, then she started to laugh as well. Though her journey was all and vain, at least at the end of the day she could finally get her answer.

      So the question remains... “So, what is my name?”

      “Your name.” The smile on her face rapidly growing to the maximum length.

      Although it was a confusing reply, it was the best one she had gotten all day, and she was satisfied with it. Her name was unique, and it was indeed her name and her name only: no one else could ever have it.

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      A week later a Kyrii was walking down the street of Neovia, with her friend, an Usul named Ruby. Robin and Kahlindia were once again out on errands and happened to cross the pair. At once the Usul gave a great long glare, then burst right into a stream of exploding laughter. Kahlindia and Robin just stared at her for a while. The Kyrii looked very embarrassed because of her friend, and started an attempt to pull her up off the ground. Ruby batted her away.

      "Remember when I told you about that Eyrie with the silly name?"

      "Um, yeah?"

      "Well, that's her!" Ruby shot her finger forward in a point at Kahlindia.

      The Kyrii just stared, then made a second attempt to pull her friend up. Again she was batted away. Apparently feeling neglected, the Kyrii narrowed her eyes and looked at Kahlindia and Robin.

      "I'm sorry for the way she's been acting toward you. My name's Jack."

      Kahlindia accepted Jack's apology for Ruby, then looked at her and smiled. Jack, a name that should be used on a boy, used on a girl. That was unusual. Kahlindia then looked at the still laughing Usul. She had made fun of her name, but was friends with a girl Kyrii named Jack. Jack smiled.

      "And she makes fun of your name!"

      Kahlindia and Jack started to giggle themselves. Robin waved for Kahlindia to come on. Kahlindia waved goodbye to her new friend and raced after Robin before she was out of sight. When she finally came into step with Robin, her owner said, "So guess this means you don't have such a weird name after all."

      Kahlindia nodded and looked back to see Jack walking away from the scene without Ruby. The Usul was still in her fit of laughing. It amazed her how long the Usul had laughed, not even noticing the absence of her friend.

      Bottom line, names aren't important, as long as you got one.

The End