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Another world, painted in soft pinks and mint greens and
lavenders. A sweet, gentle melody played on the breeze. It was a song so familiar,
so endearing, and yet so mysterious and frightening. That voice… Neopian words
could not describe that voice. It belonged to no one but itself. It was as sweet
as a flute and as bold as a trumpet and as mystical as a harp and as real as a
drum. Those simple notes wound around Sapphire, through her feathers, ruffling
them like wind. They stroked the Eyrie's tiny ears with friendliness like an energetic
Doglefox puppy. "Sing with me," it whispered. "Come, and we can make
beautiful music together."
Okay, Sapphire thought. She knew the
lyrics and the tune for the dream had taught them to her, made them a part of
her mind and heart and soul. But as soon as she opened her beak to sing, the
dream shattered. So fragile it had been. All of those pastel colors melted into
oblivion, and she felt herself falling after them. Falling… falling… falling.
She tried to open her beak to scream, but no sound came out. She was mute, and
she was falling…
SapphireCloud777 the blue Eyrie awoke with a
start, sweat dripping down her face. A single terrified squeak emerged form
her beak. Good, she thought, I'm not mute. I'm still Sapphire, here
and alive in my solid, warm bed.
Still, the dream scared her. She had had the
same dream every night for a week. It was as if someone were trying to tell
her something; something she absolutely had to know. Something essential.
It wasn't uncommon for Sapphire to be afraid.
Nearly everything scared her, everything from Spyders to dark faeries to (for
some odd reason) the Easter Cybunny. What I need to do is find my courage,
Sapphire thought. Then nothing will stop me from being the best I can
be.
Gradually, she drifted back into an uneasy sleep.
* * *
The next day, Sapphire came home from school and poured a bowl of NeoCrunch
cereal for herself. It was the same old routine every day. She'd eat the NeoCrunch,
then go to her room to do her homework. Then, she'd play with her Usuki dolls
for an hour. Then it would be time for supper. After supper, she's play with
her siblings and later, she'd go to bed. Sapphire's schedule was so predictable,
one could tell time by it.
What she didn't expect was a very abrupt change
in her life.
"Sapphire! Sapphie!" Sapphire's brother EmeraldFlame555
the green Scorchio burst into the room, making Sapphire jump and bang her paw
on the kitchen counter. "Guess what?"
"Unless the sky is falling, don't greet me with
that sort of enthusiasm again." Sapphire muttered, rubbing her injured paw.
Her slightly dull-witted brother looked up.
"No, it looks intact to me. But then again, who can tell. It might start falling
any day now."
"So, what was it you wanted to tell me about?"
"Well, you know how I'm always flat-broke? I
never have any Neopoints to spend! I decided to start a band." He held up his
guitar, the one instrument he had ever loved to play.
"You mean you're playing a rubber band?" RubyRainbow333
the rainbow Uni asked, plucking at a rubber band and filling the room with annoying
boingy sounds. "Because if not, I pity whoever listens to you play that hunk
of string and metal you call a guitar."
Emerald stared at the slightly bent and rusty
instrument. "All she needs are a few repairs and a paint job. She sounds fine."
"To you, maybe," Ruby muttered. Ruby was the
eldest in her family and she loved to joke with her brother. They have always
been close because they go through every trial and tribulation together. At
home, one rarely sees one without the other.
"Don't insult the band, sis," Emerald said.
"Because you may be a part of it. Well, you can if you want to. I know you play
the piano. We could use that."
"Me? Part of a band?" A dreamy, faraway look
came into Ruby's eyes. Then, she took Emerald's claws in her hoof and shook.
"You have a deal, Em."
"In fact, we can make this a family affair!
I know that Amethyst plays the drums."
AmethystSkye111 the purple Peophin nodded his
head in agreement. "Very well, actually."
"Now all we need is a singer." Three pairs of
eyes darted towards Sapphire.
"I… I can't." The shy Eyrie hung her head in
shame and dashed out of the room, weeping.
Sapphire's owner Ridergirl333 came into the room.
"Sapphire?" she asked, her voice little more than a whisper. "What's wrong?"
"Emerald, and Ruby, and Amethyst… so brave…
the very thought of a stage… thousands of cheering fans… all going to be let
down… It's horrible, Ridergirl!"
Ridergirl took a seat on her Eyrie's bed and
hugged her tight. "There, there. I know exactly how it feels to have people
counting on you. There are so many people I could let down everyday. My parents,
my teachers, my friends… sometimes responsibility is so hard."
"It's so scary, too," Sapphire wept.
"This is your first taste of the real world,
isn't it little Sapphie?"
Sapphire nodded in agreement.
"Well, you may walk on that stage. You may stumble
and fall; you may shatter the microphone into a thousand pieces. You may forget
the lyrics or remember the lyrics and sing terribly. Your siblings may be very
disappointed in you.
"The chances of this happening my be slim or
they may be great. But if you follow the path you're following now, if you give
up hope before its seed takes root, do you know what your chances of disappointing
your friends are?
"Certain."
Then, Ridergirl looked around. "Wait right here,
Sapphire. I'll be right back." Then, she dashed off.
Ridergirl raced to her room and tore through
dozens of dresser drawers and jewelry boxes before she found what she was looking
for. A mahogany jewelry box, so shiny that you could see your reflection in
its wooden depths. Beautiful carvings adorned its surface. On the front, carvings
of a tiger crouching by the riverside. On the either side, noble stags pranced
boldly through the twin forests, antlers standing proud. On the back, a lone
wolf howled her mournful song to a full moon. On the top, fairies danced in
complex, elegant patterns, weaving their web of magic into the box's contents.
Then, the human girl opened the box and lifted
a precious amber necklace. The light reflected off of it, making the perfectly
round stones blaze with a hidden fire. Although they had been sitting in the
box, untouched for almost a year, they didn't feel cold as other stones might.
It was as if that mysterious fire warmed them, warmed their box, keeping them
cozy until next a human should pick them up.
And they blazed with more than just fire. They
blazed with memories too. It had been the night her eighth-grade chorus was
to perform on stage. The nervousness, the nauseous panic inside Ridergirl had
been too great for words. She slipped into her dress and her mother had clasped
this necklace around her neck. "The courage lies inside you," she had said.
"Find it and grab it, and cling to it with all your might."
Silently, Ridergirl closed the box and wondered
if she were doing the right thing. Sapphire needs me, she thought. But
I need these stones too. But Sapphire needs me more. I have an obligation to
her as her… owner? No, parent.
She returned to Sapphire's room and snuck up
behind the blue Eyrie, then she fastened the Amber Stones to her Eyrie's feathery
neck just as her mother had done for her that night. While she was fastening
it, she told Sapphire the story about the concert. "Just remember," she concluded.
"The courage lies inside you."
"Thank you so much, Ridergirl." Sapphire stroked
the Stones lovingly. "Thank you."
* * *
"Thus starts our first band practice," Ruby announced. Emerald, Ruby and Amethyst
had brought their instruments into the backyard to practice because Ridergirl
didn't want a racket in the house. "Are there any questions?"
"What are we going to name our band?" Amethyst
asked.
"I sort of like 'Emerald's Band'."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "You're kidding, right?"
"What about, 'The Dancing Peophins'?" Amethyst
asked.
"Bad idea. I know! 'The Rockin' Uni Lovers!'"
Ruby cried.
"You're dreaming, girl," Emerald said.
Then, an idea popped into Sapphire's mind. A
wonderful idea. But no, Ruby and Emerald and Amethyst probably wouldn't like
it.
Then, a stray ray of sunshine peeked out from
between the branches of the tree that they were under. The ray caught Sapphire's
necklace, and fire blazed within the stone. It was almost like magic.
"I think we should have something original,"
Sapphire said. "Something that reflects a bit of ourselves."
"What did you have in mind, Sapphire?" Ruby
asked tartly.
"The NeoJewels."
There was a tense moment, one of those awkward
pauses. Sapphire wanted to scream, to shout, to jump up and down and run around
in circles. Anything to break that awful silence. But she kept her beak shut
and her paws firmly planted on the ground. Then, she braced herself for the
tidal wave of criticism.
"That's excellent, Sapphire!"
Ruby, Emerald and Amethyst hugged Sapphire,
cheering for her. "Good idea!" "You rock, girl." "Way to go, Sapphie!"
For that moment, Sapphire felt as though she
were on top of the world. And nothing could get in her way.
To be continued...
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