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The large Techo dragged the young blue Shoyru harshly
by the arm down a long corridor and into a room of what seemed to be jail cells,
barred and full of abandoned, sickly looking Neopets. The Shoyru cried out to
her previous owner that looked at the Shoyru only a moment as she was being
dragged away before turning and walking out. "NO! Master please, don't leave
me!" she screamed as tears blinded her and she struggled frantically to escape
the Techo's grasp, gasping as he squeezed her arm all the harder to try to end
her struggling. The Techo threw her brutally into a dark cell and she fell inside,
hitting her head against the back wall and falling to the floor before slipping
into unconsciousness.
The Shoyru awoke and sat up from her uncomfortable
position on the cold floor. She rubbed the back of her head where it hit the
wall as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She took a good look at her surroundings,
still feeling rather shaken up from everything that happened. "Good morning,"
a raspy voice said from the other side of her cell. The Shoyru jumped as her
eyes darted to the dark corner where the voice came from. A silhouetted form
moved ever so slightly, and the frightened Shoyru could now tell it was another
Shoyru in the cell with her.
"The name is Shallern… what's yours?" the other
Shoyru asked, his voice a bit clearer now, but still rusty from lack of use.
The young Shoyru stuttered her reply, her voice
barely above a whisper, "S…S…Suraksha."
Shallern smiled kindly, having seen many Neopets
come and go from his cell since he had first been abandoned and remembering
clearly how scared he felt at first. "Well, I wouldn't worry too badly, Suraksha,
most Neopets get out of here pretty easily if they are photogenic enough." Suraksha
quirked a brow curiously, "What do you mean?" Shallern shifted slightly and
turned his eyes to look out of the bars, "Go look through the bars," he ordered
softly. Suraksha stood, walked over to the bars and peered out. She noticed
a camera being moved back and forth to the different cells by a machine built
onto the ceiling of the room. The camera would lower from the ceiling and focus
into random cells. The Neopet inside the cell that was being focused on by the
camera would flash their cutest smile, the others in the cell would look as
pathetic as possible, since it was not hard to do in such a dreadful place.
Suraksha watched the camera move from cell to cell, then looked back at Shallern,
her eyes making her confusion obvious. "There are prospective owners looking
at the pictures that camera is taking," Shallern informed her, "If you can make
yourself look good enough, the people will check your stats and most likely
adopt you."
Suraksha sat down on the stone floor, leaned
back against the back wall of the cell and looked over at Shallern, just barely
able to make out his red coloring through the deep shadows.
"If you know the secret to adoption, why do
you not get up and try to impress a prospective owner?" Suraksha asked. Shallern
coughed into his stubby paw before answering.
"I am starving and weak… I can hardly move from
this place, let alone get up and pose for a camera."
Suraksha sat looking at him for a few moments,
then said, "I'll stay here with you."
"NO!" screamed Shallern.
Shallern moved himself to a sitting position,
leaning against the wall for support, his young, mature voice weak, but assertive.
"Believe me, you don't want to stay here! Nothing
is worth staying here; not compared to the life you're capable of having! Get
out of here if you can!" Suraksha sighed softly, her mind already made up.
"You've been abandoned enough. I'm not going
to leave you here, knowing you cannot get out too, so I'm staying until I can
find a way to get you out too!" Shallern shook his head quietly,
"You really don't know what you're getting yourself
into…"
Days passed slowly as the two Shoyrus sat in
their cell, content in each other's company and grateful for the other's friendship
and conversation, but suffering from hunger and lack of movement. The camera
would lower down and peer into the cell, but Suraksha always hid in the shadows
of the corner of the cell, unwilling to leave Shallern, yet unable to think
of a way to ask a prospective owner to adopt him as well. Days passed into weeks
and still no ideas came, all the while Shallern's already frail condition grew
worse and his coughing became more severe and frequent. Suraksha watched her
friend slowly slip farther and farther away but didn't know what to do about
it.
One morning Suraksha awoke late and sat up, glancing
over at Shallern, finding that he was still sleeping.
"Shallern?" she tried.
No response.
"SHALLERN?" she tried again, her heart plummeting,
fearing the worse of the situation as she crawled over to his listless form.
She could hear that he was still breathing, but his breaths were harsh, as if
his whole body was fighting to do so. Suraksha looked around the room frantically,
then ran to the bars and cried out between them.
"HELP!" No one answered her plea. She crawled
back over to him and sat beside his form, crying. As she cried, she heard a
familiar whirring noise outside the cell. She quickly looked up to find the
camera had lowered in front of the cell. Suraksha wiped at the tears that had
trailed down her cheeks then quickly ran up to the bars and in front of the
camera. As the camera focused, Suraksha mustered every bit of strength within
her and posed beautifully with an endearing smile as the camera took her picture.
***
Maeve was new to Neopia and was out to find her first Neopet she had researched
a little about the whole process and decided to adopt an abandoned pet rather
than creating one. She walked into the adoption agency and was greeted by a
beautiful red Uni.
"May I help you, miss?" she asked.
Maeve looked up at the Uni behind the counter
and smiled, "I'm looking for my first pet, any suggestions?"
The Uni chuckled quietly and replied "All the
pets here would be thrilled to have a good home, would you like me to show you
a few?"
"That would be great," Maeve said.
In no time, Maeve was presented with pictures
of pets of all different species and temperaments. She had to shake her head,
the weight of such a hard decision closing in on her thoughts. Finally, right
when she was about to give up on ever deciding, one pet caught her eye. It was
a picture of a young blue Shoyru with a beautiful smile and wonderful pose,
yet a strangely vulnerable look in her eyes. Maeve smiled fondly as she looked
the picture over one last time, then looked up at the Uni, "I'll take this one."
Suraksha was checking on Shallern's condition
when she heard her cell door's lock click and the door squeak open. A red Uni
stood at her door and smiled down at the young Shoyru, "You've been adopted,
little one, come with me please." Suraksha nodded and followed the Uni obediently
down the corridor and into the adoption room.
Suraksha squinted her eyes as she stepped into
the light. The Uni looked back at Suraksha with a smile, then looked to Maeve.
"Miss, I'd like you to meet Suraksha. Suraksha,
this is your new owner."
Maeve smiled to Suraksha kindly, "It's a pleasure
to meet you."
Without giving a thought about her manners, Suraksha
ran up to Maeve and latched on to her leg, rambling on about everything that
had happened: about how she met Shallern and how sick he was and many other
things in her panicked state. With tears now flowing freely, Suraksha desperately
begged for Maeve to adopt him before he died.
Maeve bit her bottom lip as she listened, not
quite comprehending all the babble that was escaping the little Shoyru's mouth,
but catching enough to realize that she had a friend that she wanted to come
with her. Maeve picked the small Shoyru up and patted her back softly to calm
her.
"All right little one, lead the way to your
friend," she said as she set Suraksha down. Suraksha ran past the counter and
down the corridor, leading Maeve and the red Uni to her cell where Shallern
would surely still be. Maeve walked inside the cell that Suraksha indicated,
and gasped softly as she saw the other little Shoyru laying there. Maeve gently
picked Shallern up and looks to the Uni "I'll take him too."
Many months later, Shallern and Suraksha sat
comfortably in large beanbag chairs in the living room of their new NeoHome,
both sitting contentedly, reading a new book. Shallern was now painted handsomely
with a fire paintbrush and Suraksha with a starry paintbrush. Shallern glanced
over at Suraksha, who had her nose buried in her book. Suraksha, catching him
looking at her from her peripheral vision, set her book in her lap and glanced
over at him. Shallern smiled at her, a sparkle in his eyes. Suraksha grinned
in return.
"What is that look for?" she asked him curiously.
"Have I ever thanked you for sticking with me
all those months ago?" he asked seriously.
Suraksha chuckled softly "There was never a need,
having you as a brother was enough." Shallern looked out the window, remembering.
"I'd have been lost if it wasn't for you."
Suraksha smiled warmly, "None of us choose to
live this life, and none of us can really choose who does and does not leave
our life, but I do know one thing, we have to be devoted to someone, or there'd
be nothing worth living for."
The End
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