Dawn of Darkness: Part One by supergirl309 |  |
Introduction
It was raining. Huge drops plummeted rapidly down from
the sky, creating a veritable wall of water. A tall silver Kougress splashed
through the streets of downtown Neopia Central, a small white Aisha running
along at her heels. The Kougress clutched a tiny green Kougra in her arms. Her
breath came in ragged, labored gasps.
She stopped, and spun around. The white Aisha
ducked behind her back leg, trembling. Through the heavy torrents of rain, she
could just make out seven dark shapes racing through the rain. The vibration
of many heavy paws pounding on the wet pavement broke the uneven rhythm of the
falling rain.
The Kougress bit her lip and glanced nervously around
the street. There was not a soul around, save her small family and her pursuers.
She glimpsed a dim alley turning off from the main street. She glanced again at
the dark shapes. They were coming closer... fast. She took the Aisha's paw and
ran into the partly concealed entrance of the alley.
She ducked behind a pile of soggy cardboard boxes
and sat the Aisha down on the concrete ground. She gripped her shoulders tightly
and began speaking in a low, serious tone, "Sirasine," she said quietly, "there
are some things about tonight... things I'll not tell you now. Maybe you'll
know someday when you're older." She took a deep breath. The pounding of pawsteps
was drawing nearer. She could feel Sirasine's shoulders trembling beneath her
paws. She took a deep breath and continued, "Sirasine, take care of your brother.
Someday, I'll find you, and then we can be a family again." There was a far
off look in her eyes as she said this. She shook herself out of her trance and
turned to Sirasine.
She slipped a wide gold bracelet from her left paw
and fastened it around Sirasine's neck. "Don't forget me," she whispered. She
set the tiny Kougra down on the ground by Sirasine's paws. "Goodbye Brak," she
whispered in its ear. Then, she leapt into the air and landed on a rooftop of
a rundown building. She turned and looked at Sirasine again. "I'll find you again
someday," she called.
Sirasine, eyes filled with tears turned her eyes
up. "You promise?" she sniffed.
"I promise," the Kougra called back, just as seven
huge black Eyries charged past the alley, spotting the Kougra atop the building.
They shrieked and screamed, the sounds blending together into one chilling, ear-splitting
shriek. The Kougra took one last look at Sirasine and Brak, then leapt from the
top of the building and fled for her life.
...She broke her promise to Sirasine. She was
never found.
***
It had been six years. Sirasine, the Aisha, had all but forgotten about
that rainy night so many years ago, almost forgotten about the mother she'd
practically never known. After living in that alley, waiting, for almost three
years, she'd given up and brainwashed herself into believing the events of that
night had never occurred. She had decided Brak was better off not knowing what
had happened, not that Sirasine really knew either. She didn't expect to ever
find out either. But one day, while walking down the streets of the Neopia Central
Bazaar, trying to spot something they could swipe for their lunch, something
happened that (as cliché as it sounds) changed their lives in a very
permanent way.
"Look," Brak hissed to his sister, pointing to
Hubert's Hot dog Stand, "it looks like that Mynci's on lunch-break or something.
We can sneak up, grab a few 'dogs, and he'll never know they were gone by the
time he gets back."
Sirasine smiled her thin, unreadable smile. "Mm,"
she said with a nod. "That should work."
Slowly, the two pets snuck up to the stand. Sirasine
cursed beneath her breath. A group of thirty or so pets had just strolled into
the Bazaar. "Namby-pamby school kids on some idiot field trip, I presume," she
muttered, lip curled. She had gone to school for only a year. She'd liked it
a lot. But that was back when she could afford things like school and food.
Now, she regarded school kids as wussies. She had become bitter and hard during
her years living on the streets and reduced to stealing to survive.
She growled and grabbed Brak by the shoulder.
"New plan, Brak," she said, obviously irritated. "You go distract that band
of goody-goodies, and I'll grab some 'dogs." Brak nodded. "Now go!" Sirasine
hissed.
Brak, the greed Kougra, stumbled forward and strolled
casually over to the school group. Trying to act inconspicuous, he casually
snatched a broken wristwatch from off the ground and tried to reassemble it
behind his back. When he reached the school group, the watch was borderline
watch-like. He decided it would have to do.
He grinned and struck a pose in front of the
school group. "Why hello, kiddies," he said, sounding much older than he really
was. Truthfully, the pets in the group were probably older than him. But he
acted beyond his years. He held out the watch on his paw. "Could I interest
any of you in buying this one-of-a-kind er, Super Watch200?" he smiled to himself.
He could just imagine Sirasine rolling her eyes and muttering "Show-off".
The teenage pets glanced oddly at him. Uh-oh,
he thought, not working! I need another plan!
He bit his lip. "Well, I can see that none of
you have any use for knowing the time. Heh, who needs it anyway?" He glanced
nervously out of the corner of his eye, and glimpsed Sirasine sneaking up to
the hot dog stand. A bead of sweat dripped down his face. Suddenly, he pointed
to the sky, yelling, "Look! Flying Meercas!" The pets flipped around to stare
at the supposed "flying Meercas", and Brak bolted over to the hot dog stand.
Sirasine had just grabbed two large hot dogs.
She tossed one to Brak. "Run," she hissed.
They ran.
...But they didn't notice the patrolling Chia
Policeman. He grabbed one sharply in each hand, glaring at them. "Little thieves,
eh?" he growled. "Well little thieves, ah hope ya don't mind me arrestin' ya..."
* **
Sirasine glared at Brak. "Smooth," she muttered, "scream, 'Flying Meercas'
and catch the guards attention. Great plan, Brak! See if I ever send you to
be a distraction again!"
Brak grumbled. "I wasn't my fault," he said under
his breath. "She's the one that told me to run!" He snorted. "I ran, I got grabbed
by a Chia!"
The two pets were sitting handcuffed to chairs
at the Police Station. A policeman glared down at them from his seat behind
a desk covered with papers.
The door to the room they were in creaked open
slowly. A tall Darigan Eyrie stood in the doorway. Instead of the usual purple
that Darigan's usually were, his feathers were a shiny black. He glanced at
Brak and Sirasine. A look of relief spread across his face. He sighed. "Thank
Fyora! I've been looking for you for years!"
Sirasine raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me sir,
but do I know you?"
The Eyrie glanced at the policeman seated at
the desk. He coughed loudly. The policeman sighed and got up from his chair.
"I'm leaving!" he said. "But if I come back and you've done something with those
prisoners, I'll see to it that you're the one handcuffed to a chair!"
The Eyrie nodded, running a paw through his mane.
"Don't worry," he said assuringly. "I just need to talk to them for a moment."
The policeman walked out the door, grumbling
under his breath. When he was gone, the Eyrie turned back to Brak and Sirasine.
Sirasine was glaring at him.
"Do I know you?" she repeated.
The Eyrie sighed and rested his chin in a cupped
paw. "My name is Ryussin," he said softly. "You may not remember me, but I remember
you both very well." He paused and ran another paw through his mane. "I was
a good friend of your mother's, you see. So good, in fact, that she appointed
me to be your godfather. I was thrilled by her trust in me, and promised myself
that if anything happened to your parents, I would take you in and treat as
if you were my own children." His expression became grave. "But I was not fully
prepared for what was to come." He sighed and started kneading his forehead
with a paw. He turned mournful eyes on Sirasine and Brak. There was a look of
pity in his eyes, and a glint of something Sirasine and Brak could not define.
Sirasine still looked skeptical. "Well, what
happened?" she asked.
Ryussin sighed once more. "I never truly expected
anything to happen to your mother. But one night, she disappeared! When months
began to pass without word of her, I began to wonder if she was still alive.
And after a year had gone by, I was sure she was dead. But I somehow suspected
that her children -- you guys -- were still alive. So, for five years, I searched
for you. And now," he paused and let several tears of joy leak from his eyes,
"I've finally found you!"
To be continued...
Author's Note: I would like to give a very very HUGE thanks to hermes_the_herald
for giving me the idea for this story. He suggested I write a sort of history
on Brak. It started out as a short story... but I guess you can see it's a little
longer... Happy Reading!
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