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The Techo clutched the paint brush to her chest, backing
into a tree. The fight was beginning to get ugly, and she had her loot. A thought
flashed through her head that if she escaped now, she could easily get 2 or 3
hundred thousand Neopoints from that brush on the black market, and she'd never
have to worry again.
Think of it... a warm bed for every day of the
week... food, toys... water... luxury growing on a tree...
Oxxy opened his eyes with a great deal of effort
and was greeted with a sharp, piercing swipe on his side. He began to whimper,
desperately dragging himself away from the Lupe.
"Please... just leave us alone!" Oxxy cried
out, curling into a ball. "I'm not a fighter... I'm no good at fighting. Please...
just leave us alone!"
The red Lupe suddenly seemed to come to his
senses, and he snapped his head upward, focusing his eyes on the Techo. A sadistic
grin curled onto his lips, and he took a step past where Oxxy lay.
"I'd gone and forgot about you, little lady.
I ain't goin' NOWHERE until I get my hands on that Paint Brush of yours," he
said, bearing his fangs.
The Techo frowned with annoyance at Oxxy. Thanks
a lot, kid.
"'Anywhere', you mean. You're NOT going ANY-where,"
she said sedately.
"You're darn tootin' I'm not. Now hand it over."
"Come and get it."
Oxxy, meanwhile, had rolled over with a great
deal of pain, and stared in wide-eyed shock at what was unfolding before him.
He'd never been in so much pain, it was as if the Lupe had poisoned claws. He
shook his head at the prospect of seeing or feeling more pain, and before he
knew what he was saying, he was crying out...
"Just give him the brush! It's not worth it!
Please... just give..."
The Techo was momentarily distracted by his
pleas, and it gave the Lupe just enough time to land an amazing punch square
in her jaw, knocking her against the tree. She managed to hold onto the Paint
Brush, and stumbled to her feet, still gripping the paint brush like there was
no tomorrow.
Oxxy didn't understand it... after that story
she'd told him, why did this Paint Brush mean so much? He cringed as the Lupe
attacked her again, yet she got to her feet... again, still holding the brush.
"Give him the paint brush!" Oxxy screamed.
The Lupe struck her again and again, yet she
wouldn't let go of the brush. Over and over again, one painful swipe after another,
until she was nearly unconscious and her hit points were well below zero.
"I suppose this is just fine, you greedy little
lizard. When you're dead, I'll get the brush either way," the Lupe laughed.
"You... you're one to lecture me on being...
greedy..." the Techo whispered.
Oxxy gasped as he heard the conversation, and
he knew that with one more swipe, this could be it. He struggled to get to his
feet, praying that his weak legs could hold him up.
He knew that this wasn't the way the Techo wanted
things to end... not here, not now! If she let the muggers get away with her
Paint Brush, it would be just like the girl who she had attacked so many years
ago... and it began to make sense to Oxxy now. She was holding onto the brush
because she didn't want to perpetuate her behavior as being okay... in her own
way, she was channeling the spirit of the little girl, using every bit of her
will to make sure that she would do her part to see that it wouldn't happen
again... at least not under her nose.
The Lupe raised up over the Techo, teeth bared,
claws ready, and he began his final assault just as Oxxy rose to his feet with
a sudden burst of speed and leapt onto the Lupe's back, scratching and biting
as hard as he could until the Lupe fell over backward.
The Techo's eyes widened as she realized what
had happened, and in her stunned shock, she let go of the paint brush and didn't
even bother to watch it fall to the ground. She pushed herself to her feet and
watched in amazed silence as Oxxy furiously fought the red Lupe with strength
he didn't even know he had...
...all over a Paint Brush? She lowered her head
in shame and looked with contempt at the Paint Brush on the ground, the cause
of so much misery and grief. She'd only held on to the Paint Brush in the hopes
that she'd somehow be able to outlast the Lupe's attack, at which point she'd
make her exit. How unbelievably selfish could she be?! Here this kid... this...
Oxxygyn, just risked his life to save her... and why? She'd never done anything
for him. They'd just met... they couldn't be more different. She felt tears
stinging her cheeks again, and heard Oxxy whimper in pain as the red Lupe took
a bite out of him. The Techo took one final look at the Paint Brush and picked
it up with one hand, running as fast as her bruised legs would allow her.
She collided with the red Lupe and his back
leg, which ripped a stinging gash in her shoulder. She cried out and chucked
the Paint Brush over his head. The red Lupe immediately stopped his attack and
looked at the sky incredulously. Without hesitating even a minute, he let Oxxy's
limp body go and he took off, chasing after the Paint Brush like an obedient
dog playing fetch.
Oxxy and the Techo collapsed in heaps of pain
and misery, panting and trying to get their bearings back. After a couple minutes
like that, Oxxy turned his head over and looked at the Techo, still panting.
"Hey... *pant pant* are... are you okay?" he
asked.
She opened her eyes, and rubbed the surrounding
area with one hand.
"I've... uh... I've felt better," she said quietly.
"Yeah. Me too," Oxxy replied.
The Techo rolled onto her side so that she was
facing Oxxy, even though that was the side where she was bleeding. He caught
her eye and curled up a bit so that they were able to look at each other face
to face.
"I can not believe I threw that Paint Brush
away," the Techo panted, smiling a little.
Oxxy didn't say anything for a moment, and then
he pushed himself so that he was lying on his stomach, head on his paws.
"You saved my life just now," Oxxy said sheepishly.
The Techo frowned.
"Did not. You saved mine."
"Did not!"
"Oh you did too, you moron," the Techo snapped,
rolling her eyes.
"Well so did you!"
"Okay, so now we're even," the Techo stuck her
tongue out.
"Well that's good... what do we do now?" Oxxy
asked.
"Well, personally I think we should-- AUGHH!"
the Techo suddenly cried out, doubling over in pain.
"What's wrong?! What is it?" Oxxy exclaimed.
"Ohhh... OWW! It's where that stupid Lupe got
me! Oh maan..." she shook her head, looking at the blood she had lost. "This
isn't good."
"Oh no... oh no! We have to do something!"
Oxxy cried, trying to push himself to his feet.
"No... no, it's no good. You can't get anybody
to come out here," she said, rubbing her shoulder.
"I... I'll find somebody! I'll get a doctor!"
"You'll get a doctor for a pet that doesn't
have an owner? Good luck on that one, genius," the Techo sighed, rolling her
eyes.
"I'll get some bark... some leaves... something!
I'm not gonna let you..."
"Let me what? Die? Kid..." she chuckled sadly.
"What did I tell you? I'm already dead."
"No you aren't!" Oxxy screamed desperately.
"You're NOT dead! You're NOT nobody! You're somebody good... and brave, and...
and..."
"And I don't exist, kid. I don't exist. But
you might."
"What do you mean?! Don't talk like that!" Oxxy
cried.
"The paint brush... uggh, it landed in that
tree up there. The red Lupe totally missed it."
"No! Shh, no... please..."
"Now, shut up! You don't have much time, he'll
come back, and his stupid lackeys are going to wake up soon. You can get the
Paint Brush and get out of here! You can have your own life..."
"Stop it! Please, stop it!" Oxxy pleaded, tears
streaming down his cheeks. "You can't die!"
"Now listen! Listen to me... when I said I had
it all figured out? I was wrong, kiddo... I was wrong. There's more to life...
there's SO much more to life than just... stealing... and eating. You gotta
have... oh, kiddo, you gotta have someone to love you, too... and with that
Paint Brush, maybe you will. You can't let people ignore you. You can't let
yourself get thrown around... you gotta find someone to love you, kiddo. You
HAVE to," the Techo coughed weakly.
"I can't! I won't leave you!" Oxxy wailed.
"Then you're gonna end up JUST LIKE ME! Kid,
please... you gotta do better... PLEASE... you gotta do better."
"No! Please... don't..."
"You gotta do better, kid. I'm counting on you.
I'm gonna come back as a real ghost and if you aren't... you aren't with somebody,
and happy..." she coughed again.
Oxxy shook his head, sobbing.
"If you aren't happy, I'm gonna knock your block
off, you understand?", she said.
Oxxy whimpered weakly, putting his paw on her
shoulder, on the same side he'd put it before.
"Please... kiddo... be happy. Make sure this
never happens again... to anybody..." she whispered.
"I... I don't want you to go... I never even
knew your name."
"Kiddo... you wouldn't be able to pronounce
it..." the Techo said, smiling with her last few breaths.
Oxxy stared at her with devastation, and he
somehow managed to form the last few words that anyone should hear.
"I... I loved you..." he choked out, sobbing
miserably.
He said the words, and she had a smile on her
face as she left Neopia.
***
Oxxygyn the blue Lupe became Oxxygyn the ghost Lupe on exactly his 50 day
birthday. Zikkios paraded around on Oxxy's back for almost the whole day, announcing
to anyone who would hear that Oxxy was one special Lupe and everyone had better
pay attention, one day they were going to take Neopia by storm.
Zikkios had come into the picture exactly a
week after Oxxy left the woods with his ghost paint brush, and in such a short
amount of time, they'd grown to be the closest friends you could ever come across.
Oxxy found himself becoming more adept at fighting, although losing was still
difficult for him, and he seemed to lose quite often around Zikkios.
When he asked himself the day he painted himself
exactly why he chose to use the brush instead of selling it or doing something
else, he got a lot of arguments from both sides of his brain, as well as his
better half, Zikkios.
"We could be RICH, Oxxy! Neocola spurting out
our ears, Oxxy. Out our EARS. Why do you wanna do that?!"
"It's just a little something someone once told
me, Zikki. Something about... standing out, not letting myself be ignored...
and not letting it happen to anyone else either."
Zikkios shook his head and frowned. "You never
did make any sense, Oxxy. Hey, wanna go out back and have a go at it? I promise,
I won't be so hard on you this time."
"Well, good, I should hope not. I bit the dickens
out of my tongue last time."
***
The End
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