Be sure to check out Kamikatze24's comic, Brother 'n Sister.
I grinned to myself as I stepped out of Spectre's Spectacular
Casino and into the night. The evening's haul of Neopoints rested snugly in
my 'do, and I couldn't help but hum happily as I swaggered down the path towards
home. After all, Heilley the Skunk Kyrii had lived up to her reputation as the
sharpest Cheat! player in Neopia, so why shouldn't she swagger a bit?
I would've made it home a lot sooner if it hadn't
been for the Bronze Point, a tavern that was a cheap knock-off of the Golden
Dubloon on Krawk Island. I glanced towards it as I walked by, and on impulse
I decided to go in and get something to drink I pushed my way through the swinging
door and let it flap slowly behind me as I scanned the bar for a likely perch.
It didn't take long for my sharp Kyrii eyes
to spot one, and I hopped up to order a man-o-war. Then I turned and took a
closer look at the probable reason for the bar stool being so vacant. A red
Kyrii was slumped in the stool next to mine, and his hairdo was shot. I mean,
totally knocked out, trashed, vacated, you name it, it was gone. I knew right
away that he was in a very bad mood. A Kyrii that lets their 'do get that bad
might as well be in sackcloth and ashes, shouting 'unclean!' to anyone that
gets near them.
I took a sip on my drink, tapped him on the
shoulder, and started the conversation. "Hey, guy, what's wrong?"
"Buzz off," he grunted.
I laughed. "Now do I look like a Buzz to you?"
He shot a bleary look at me, then squeezed his
eyes shut and looked again. I grinned at him as I watched the mental calculations
behind that stunned look. An attractive member of the same species and opposite
sex has just spoken nicely to you. Put your best paw forward, dummy!
"Ehh, sorry, ma'am, I was just... thinking."
"Must be pretty depressing thoughts to get that
look on your 'do--or should I say in it? Why don't you let me in on the secret?"
He laughed bitterly. "That's the trouble. It
isn't a secret. Look, can you see the bite marks on my belly?"
I blinked and looked down at his brown and cream
fur. "Uh... no."
"Funny. You're one of the few that didn't ask
me about it back when it was first mentioned. Chankyton, how are you doing after
that giant Pteri flew off with you? How's the bites Chanky, old man? You didn't
really get bit that hard, did you? It was all a trick, right? Blah blah stinkin'
blah."
I frowned. "Chankyton? Isn't that..... oh! It
is! You're the one in that comic in The Neopian Times."
He groaned and put his paws over his eyes. "She
knows. They all know. Why do I even bother. It's the Times curse on anyone that
gets in it."
"Oh come now, it isn't always that bad!" I laughed.
"I got into it, too, and it's been fine for me. Actually, I got some nice compliments
on my Cheat! article!"
"Cheat!..." he stared into space with a vague
look for a bit. "Ohhh..." a sideways glance at me. "You're Heilley."
"In the fur!" I said proudly.
He started sobbing. "Why? Why? I meet a great
girl and I'm too messed up to even try."
I rolled my eyes. "Hey, cool it guy. It's not
that bad. I'm still talking, aren't I? Besides, even a bad reputation is better
than none."
He shook his head gloomily. "I don't think so.
If I had some way to disguise myself, I'd do it so fast it'd make your 'do spin."
"Ummm... okay."
"Actually," he continued, lowering his tone
and looking a bit sly, "If I had my way, I'd be a desert Kyrii right now. Then
they wouldn't laugh at me!"
I nodded approvingly. "Sounds great, and easy
to do, too. I would've been desert if not skunk, myself. Just have your owner
get you a brush. Hey, throw a tantrum if you have to."
He gave a dramatic shudder. "I wouldn't dare!
Would you?"
He had me there. "Uh... I did try, once."
"Oh yeah? What happened?"
I squirmed a bit with embarrassment as I replied.
"He laughed at me."
His momentary pride melted back into his gloom.
"Yeah well now, see, that's where I got lucky. I talked my owner into letting
me go to the Rainbow Pool but..." he shut his eyes and groaned again. "Little
sisters! They've got to be Sloth's curse on all older brothers."
"Funny. That's what my oldest brother keeps
telling me, too." He didn't hear me, which might have been annoying, but I was
actually getting interested in his situation. It isn't every day that you meet
someone this famous and this miserable, both. At least, I hope it isn't.
"So she jumps into the pool, and causes such
a big scene I have to forget about trying to be desert. Now I'll always be that
stupid klutz that gets bitten, beat on, infected, anything but taken seriously."
"Oh surely not. Maybe you'll get a nice brush
in a random event."
He knocked down the rest of his drink. "Uhh...
don't count on it, sister. About all I do any more is go on the freebie rounds.
Not much lying loose around the Shrine or Tombola. But, um..."
I grinned as he screwed up his courage. "Yeah?"
"Oh, never mind," he sighed. He dropped to the
floor and wandered outside.
I sipped my own drink until I got the evil eye
from the bartender, then did my own disappearing act and headed home. I managed
to avoid trouble, but not by much. My owner can really get paranoid if I don't
show up on time in the evenings. I guess I can't blame him, but sometimes it
can be a real pain.
I woke up that night about midnight, still thinking
about Chankyton. I sighed and sat up, looking outside at the moon and moodily
wondering what could be done. An electric shock raced through my system as a
totally brilliant idea burst into being in my fertile little mind. I quickly
grabbed a Jazzmosis (what else) shirt and hat before slipping out of the house
as silently as my paws could manage. I headed down to the Neotube, and caught
the last one headed south for the night.
All the way down, I had to keep patting down
my 'do. For some reason, it felt ready to crawl with tension. I was the only
one in the car, though, and after I got off I even looked behind me to see if
anyone else getting off showed any interest in me. No one got off--and of course
that meant no interest. I tried to shrug my heebie jeebies off as just nerves
and headed for the Shrine.
As I neared Coltzan's Shrine, I didn't need
any mythical excuse to be nervous. Just the weird auras around the shrine itself
was enough to set any pet's teeth on edge. I walked up to it slowly, eyes darting
around quickly for the transparent figure of King Coltzan. I almost lost it
when he popped up in front of me.
"I will do what I can for..."
"STOP!" I yelled. The ghost recoiled, and quit
talking. "Look, King, sorry for scaring ya, but I don't want your help. I mean,
for me, that is."
He cocked his head to one side. "A pet approaches
me and doesn't want something from me?"
I shook my head. "Just a favour. I'm fine, you
don't need to do anything for me. But I've got a friend, see...."
The wind sighed, and I realised it was Coltzan.
"A pet that wants me to help someone else and not herself," he mused.
"Uh, yeah, is something wrong about that?" I
tried to keep the irritation out of my voice, but if he didn't know I was edgy,
he was blind. (Come to think of it, how does a ghost see, anyway?)
"Just unusual. I have been besieged with millions
of requests since I set out to help all Neopets that needed it. Do you know
how many refuse my help only to ask it for someone else?"
I shook my head.
Another gust of wind whistled by in a sigh.
"None. You're the first."
"Oh. Well, er, if you don't want to..."
He raised a glowing paw. "No, my dear, you misunderstand!
I am intrigued, even touched to find someone caring enough to brave me for someone
else's sake."
I frowned a bit. "Okay. Well if that means you're
wanting to, then I want you to give Chankyton a desert paintbrush."
"Chankyton?" he drawled thoughtfully.
"Yeah. Red Kyrii. Has a Shoyru for a little
sister. Uh... not sure if she'd be along though..."
A soft chuckle sounded, and I looked back up
to see a ghostly wink. "Ah, consider it done, young pet."
"Thanks! I... Uh..." I blinked, because the
ghost was gone. Oh well. I guess you tend to be more abrupt about things like
manners when you're not alive anymore.
I must not have realised how jumpy I was, because
I thought I was doing pretty good. Then there was a tap on my shoulder.
"What was that all about?" MonoKeras asked.
"YYYIIIIIHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
It took a few days to get over the bruised ego
from realising that my cocky older brother really did know how to trail
people without them realising it--even me. And, too, trying to explain things
to my owner wasn't a lot of fun, either. He didn't get hard on me, exactly.
But when your owner looks at your older brother and tells them that they're
the only thing standing between you and danger, and that you can't be
trusted to look after a wet pretzel, much less... oh well. Nuff said about that.
All in all, it was a couple of weeks before
I stopped by the Bronze Point again. I was slurping down another man-o-war as
I scanned the room, looking for Chankyton. I'd just given up hope on him when
the door opened and a desert Kyrii strode in. His 'do was done up in perfect
waves, with the curls trimmed in gold or something and his makeup and mantle...
He hopped up onto the stool next to mine and
grinned triumphantly at my slack-jawed expression. "Hi there, beautiful! You're
Heilley, aren't you?"
I shut my mouth and nodded before finding words.
"Yeah. And you're Chankyton!"
He looked surprised and a bit disappointed.
"Aw, figured me out. I thought sure I'd fool you. How do you like the new paint
job?"
I had to grin at his enthusiasm. "It's great!
You look really pretty now."
"Yes!" He brought a fist down on the counter
in a triumphant thump. "I knew it! I tell you, Heilley, I've been getting compliments
for days now. This is great! No more Mr. Loser for me, no sirreee!"
"No embarrassing questions about your Times
appearances, huh?"
"Nope! No one associates a winner like me with
that loser image. From now on, I'm Chankyton, Coolness Personified!" He frowned
thoughtfully. "Or would that be petified?"
I shrugged. "Not a clue. Does it matter?"
"Nah, not really..." he stopped and turned around.
I realised that there was a Usul standing behind him. She'd obviously tapped
him to get his attention. "Hi there!" he chirped.
"Hi!" she said, grinning shyly. "I couldn't
help overhearing you! You're Chankyton, the Kyrii in that Times comic, aren't
you!"
Chankyton's expression lost a little of its
bounce. "Yeah, actually I am," he replied with as much casualness as he could
muster.
"Thought so. Hey, I've always wanted to ask
you. Were you really so dumb that you didn't see Ryuzoo when she first showed
up, or was that just an act?"
Chankyton's mouth opened and his eyes widened.
The Usul looked concerned, apparently thinking he was going to sneeze. She didn't
know Kyrii expressions like I did. I immediately headed for the floor to get
clear.
"AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!"
The Usul took one wild-eyed look at Chankyton
and fled for her life. Me, I was crouched on the floor under my stool with my
paws shoved into my ears as I fervently wished that Chankyton would at least
find a less painful way of getting rid of his critics.
The End | 
