Oresetes Icetalon: Part Two by battlesunn |  |
Oresetes was awakened to the sharp tugging on his left
hear. He whirled around in shock, and saw two other kits pulling violently on
his ear. He squawked in pain and lashed out with his hefty tail. He managed
to catch a red male a glancing blow on the cheek. The red kit scurried back
in surprise, his eyes wide with fear. Another Eyrie, a yellow one, leapt in
front of him and growled threateningly at Oresetes. Oresetes stood up, his hackles
rises. He flared his wings to make himself look bigger and stood, paws akimbo,
snarling and spitting at the assaulting kit. The yellow Eyrie whimpered and
curled up in ball, covering himself with his wings. All the other kits ran over
to the back of the room, trembling in fear. Oresetes smirked, and turned his
back on them. He walked over to a small bouncy ball, the only toy in the room,
and immediately popped it with his beak, a display of pure impudence and defiance.
None of the other kits dared challenge him. Oresetes stretched luxuriously and
lay down his head, keeping one eye wide open. He slept peacefully, and went
about any business alone. No other Eyrie would have anything to do with him,
they were all far too afraid.
***
Julie was a girl of thirteen, clad in baggy, faded jeans and a tie-dye T-shirt,
with her sandy coloured hair falling into her eyes. She grinned as she looked
up at the Create-a-pet building, covered with hoards of potential owners. Julie
snorted, and began her descent into the building. Even though it was mobbed
with people, Julie sported a bright green badge pinned to her sweater that read,
"DSL high speed Internet connection" --So she was able to cut through the crowds
quite easily and swiftly. She had been mentally going over her plans for Neopia,
"Get one pet. Play the games, get a shop, train the pet, paint the pet, give
it a good name and petpage..." Julie had heard stories of the people that were
quick to adopt four pets, they always ended up poor and hungry. Well, Julie
was most certainly not going to be like that! She was going to be successful
and happy, and so would her pet. Now, which one to get? There were so many!
Now Julie understood why people got sucked into adopting four. They were all
so cute! She loved the Aisha's grin, the Zafara's ears, the Kougra's stripes!
Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. There, above a particularly large
stockhouse, was a picture of an Eyrie. His long wings stretched to their full
extent, his beak wide open and his tail elegantly curled. She instantly knew
that this was the one. She grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper from the bin tacked
to the outside of the stockhouse, and began hastily filling in her requirements.
"Gender... Male! Colour, uh... blue! Likes exploring
the land, would approach with caution... Hmm... Now all he needs is a name!
Let's see, how about... Gryphon! Oh, no, that's taken. Maybe, Hermes? Darn,
that too." She scowled. "Oh forget it! I'll just call him Flyer10002892."
Viciously she shoved the form into the slot,
and watched with grim satisfaction as the mechanical arm inside the stockhouse
began moving around, searching for an Eyrie kit that would fill the requirements
that had been programmed into it...
***
Oresetes had firmly established his role as the head Eyrie in the stockhouse.
For one thing, he was slightly older and larger than the other kits, and, being
born wild, he had been infused with the natural instincts of a free Eyrie, meaning
he was stronger and more intelligent. He was given a constant wide berth, which
made him a natural selection for that claw, who had been programmed to find
a blue, male Eyrie. Oresetes was a blue, male Eyrie. The young kit didn't even
have time to screech out in alarm as the claws cold, metal prongs closed over
him. Their beaks wide open in surprise and astonishment, the kits watched as
Oresetes was hoisted up op over their heads and deposited unceremoniously down
a long chute, which rocketed him safely into Julie's arms. Julie squealed in
delight, cuddling Oresetes tightly. The Eyrie's eyes roved furiously around,
searching for a way to escape the... THING that held him captive in it's grasp.
Oresetes snapped at her arms, flapping his tiny wings. Julie seemed to think
that this was, "cute."
"Aww! Ooh... What a sweet widdle Eywie!"
Oresetes shuddered as his owner carried him
far away from the only place that he had been happy in, and closer to the strange
new world that would be his home for the next long while.
***
"Ffff... Fflli... Ier. Flyer!"
It had been two weeks since that fateful day
when Oresetes, or Flyer, had been landed with Julie, and Oresetes was finally
beginning to say his first words, his name, of course. Julie grinned from ear
to war and swept Oresetes into a huge hug. His blue feathers disheveled, Oresetes
squawked out in alarm as Julie squeezed the breath out of him. He clawed vainly
at the air, gasping, but Julie didn't seem to notice. At last, Oresetes was
freed. Julie deposited gently on the living room carpet and went off to do some
shopping, trusting the Eyrie on his own. As soon as she was gone, Oresetes dashed
into the kitchen and grabbed a neocola and a bag of crisps. Sighing, he flopped
down on the couch and flicked the TV channels until he reached the Gormball
championships. Oresetes only pretended to be a baby Eyrie, the truth was, he
had been miraculously gifted with perfect speech two hours after his homecoming.
He snorted angrily as Brian the Scorchio pulled a sneaky undertail whip and
blasted Ursula Usul, his favourite player, out of the game. Oresetes wished
Julie would take him out for a game of Gormball, but she thought he was just
a little baby Eyrie, only just learning to talk. Oresetes didn't want Julie
to know. That would only cause more attention. It was better if he pretended
to be, well, boring. Then, maybe Julie would spend less time hugging and squeezing
him and more time away from Neopia. It wasn't Julie's fault. She had no real
pets, and her parents weren't around a lot. Oresetes was the only thing that
she really cared abut. Oresetes noticed at once that he was different from other
Eyries, or any pets, for that matter. He had seen them, it was disgusting, really.
All these pets simpering up to their owners, as if they were some sort of toy!
Oresetes snarled as he watched a pampered, island Eyrie giving his owner a ride,
nuzzling her affectionately, and all that bunk.
"Yeah, right," he muttered. "As if that Eyrie
really loves, or even likes that human. If she wasn't coughing up expensive
paint brushes, or..." His eyes narrowed as the island Eyrie's owner presented
him with a faerie Hasee petpet. "Or stupid, overpriced petpets, that Eyrie would
be outta here in a second!"
Oresetes slammed his beak against the couch,
trying to restrain all the pent up rage bubbling up inside him.
"It's not fair!" He howled. "Why? Why am I so
different?! I hate it hear, I want out!"
He took a step back, lowered his head and charged
at the sofa. Despite his efforts, the sofa remained whole and unmoved. It was
Oresetes beak that had suffered more damage. The tip was bent, and a small crack
was dancing up it's length.
"Great." He sulked. "Just great."
His sky-blue paw brushed against the creation
papers that still remained on the table. Oresetes smiled, he had never read
about himself. He pulled the papers up close, and read them.
"Male, blue Eyrie... name, Flyer10002892. Flyer10002892?!!
What is this?" His eyes turned blood-red as he shredded the papers with his
wickedly sharp talons. "I'm a number? Why am I number? I'm not some item that
can be tossed from person to person, I'm an Eyrie! Humans don't have numbers,
why should I? Why didn't Julie name me something better?"
A cavernous roar ripped loose from Oresete's
chest. "I am NOT a number!"
He was just about to flare his wings and go
charging around the house when he heard the distinct sound of Julie, punching
in the password to gain access to the NeoHome. Oresetes gulped, and retreated
to the carpet, curling up in a little ball and cuddling a blue Eyrie plushie
that Julie had bought him close to his mane. He closed his eyes, and pretended
to be asleep, making soft, snoring sounds. Julie chuckled, she was just itching
to tell her little Flyer what had happened while she was down in Neopia Central.
Finally, she could wait no longer. Julie gently shook Oresetes awake and held
him up in the air. Julie grinned, tickling Oresetes under the chin.
"Guess what?" She crooned.
Oresetes rolled his eyes. Why did she bother
asking him questions when she thought that he couldn't talk yet? In response,
he gave a little squawk. Julie set Oresetes down on the sofa, and grabbed her
shopping bag. She set it down in front of the Eyrie, her eyes sparkling.
"I was down in Neopia Central, when I chanced
by a newspaper. They said that a new bunch of pictures had been put up. I decided
to go check them out, because you know what an art fan I am."
Actually, Oresetes had no idea that Julie was
an art fan, but he nodded energetically anyway.
"Well, I was looking at the pictures and what
did I see? My picture! The one I drew! Donna was there, to. She was giving out
the prizes for all the people that had their pictures selected."
Julie grabbed a nearby pillow and hugged it
to her chest. "I got my prize! And look what it was?"
Julie dropped the pillow and snatched up the
bag, drawing out a large, sparkly gold trophy. Oresetes sighed. What good was
a lump of shiny metal in the shape of a Scorchio? You couldn't eat it, that
was for sure. Maybe Julie was planning to melt the trophy down and make Neopoints
out of the gold. Julie reached into the bag again. Oresete's eyes widened. Maybe
the trophy wasn't the only prize. Julie pulled out... A real, live faerie Krawk
petpet! Oresetes gasped. He had watched the Neopian Trading post channel, and
he knew how much those things could go for. Julie sensed his excitement.
"I've already made a trade! I just have to wait
for the person to Neomail me and then--" She was cut off by the loud beep of
her Neomail message box. "Oh that's her!"
Julie typed some words into the Neomail screen
and pushed the send button. She turned back to Oresetes.
"Don't worry, Flyer. This is an official trading
post trade, except you don't actually have to go the trading post for it."
Oresetes watched with growing fascination as
Julie walked over to a strange device, somewhat like a long, clear tube. Julie
placed the Krawk petpet in the portal and hit the "transfer items or Neopoints"
button. The Krawk petpet disappeared. It had been replaced by six bags of Neopoints,
(Each containing one hundred thousand) Julie gave a whoop and danced happily
around the room. They were rich! Julie picked up Oresetes and the Neopoints
and ran off to the rainbow pool, skipping and singing. Oresetes groaned, he
didn't want to be painted! He didn't want to look like one of those spoilt,
pampered pets that he saw everywhere. Julie glanced quickly at the pictures
of all the Eyries, and then it was off to the shop wizard, to buy the paint
brush. Oresetes hardly had time to breathe as Julie ran off in all sorts of
directions. She seemed determined to get him painted as soon as possible, maybe
so that she wouldn't look like some poor "commonfolk." At last, Julie finally
found a shop with the desired paint brush, and then she ran all the way back
to the rainbow pool again. Oresetes stared at the water uncomfortably. He didn't
really like the water, it was too... Wet. Eyrie's didn't make very good swimmers.
Still, Julie tossed him into the pool and practically whipped the brush over
him. Oresetes didn't? even know what colour she'd picked. Finally, it was over.
A speckled Chomby handed him a mirror. He looked at himself, and cried out in
shock! An electric Eyrie? What was she thinking? He didn't want to be... electric!
"Ooh! You're sooo cute!"
Oresetes muttered something that I cannot repeat
here, but he muttered it under his breath, so Julie didn't hear. Or if she did,
she didn't show any signs of caring. Instead, she grabbed Oresetes and dashed
off to the create-a-pet centre. Oresetes' heart leaped. Why was she coming back
here? Was she returning him? Was she allowed to return him? She wasn't returning
him. Instead, she was getting a new pet. Another pet. This time, it was a Kougra.
A Kougress, to be exact. Yellow in colour, though that didn't last too long.
As soon as Julie had created little Tirmee, as she had been named, it was off
to the shop wizard, to purchase another paint brush. Julie made a beeline to
the shop wizard, she didn't need to stop at the rainbow pool, because she had
already decided what colour she wanted. Island. That paint brush had been pretty
expensive, but Julie managed to find one for only nine hundred and ninety nine
thousand Neopoints, so they didn't have to tangle with that annoying unbuyable
system. One month later, Oresetes one room NeoHome had expanded to a twelve
room mansion made out of silver. He had three siblings. Tirmee the island Kougress,
Krallen, the striped Peophin and Zekkle, the cloud Bruce. All had begun speaking
within an hour of their birth. Julie was not too pleased with Oresetes, who
still hadn't said a word. She sat down in front of him in their modern style
living room, and stared into his eyes.
"Flyer, I know that you can talk. I know that
you could've talked a long time ago. I know that you've been lying to me, by
not speaking. I want you to explain yourself, now. So talk!"
Oresetes sighed. He knew now that the jig was
up, and he would have to come forward.
"I always could talk, from the second you created
me, really. I just didn't want to."
"Why?"
"You... you were smothering me. I needed space,
I figured that if I tried to be as boring as possible you might... want to...
leave... Neopia."
Julie's normally passive face became one full
of rage. Oresetes had never seen her so angry.
"Okay then, if you don't like it here, if you
don't like me, fine. You can go. I'm finished with you. You're going to be...
abandoned."
Oresetes gasped, suddenly, he began to have
flashbacks. A nest, a mountain, flying, a mother... His mother... Leaving him,
abandoning him. His father, He said... "Oresetes... Oresetes Icetalon" That
was his name. Not Flyer. He was a free Eyrie, he wasn't going to be abandoned
again.
"No."
Julie narrowed her eyes. "What?"
I said no. I'm not going to be abandoned again."
"What do you mean again? I was your only owner!"
Oresetes turned a flared is wings to their full
extent. "No! I never had an owner! I was born in the wild, and I will return!
I was free! That's why I'm different from other pets, I tasted independence!"
He reared up on his hind legs. "My name is Oresetes
Icetalon! And I will return to the wild forests!"
Oresetes pumped his massive wings and rose into
the air, travelling farther and farther away from his bewildered, ex-owner,
shading her eyes and looking upward as she watched the huge, electric blue Eyrie
in his full glory, soaring through the sky on a direct course to Terror Mountain...
To be continued... |
