Blessed With the Stars

by nidoramy

"My owner says she's going to get me a Faerie paintbrush for my birthday, which is next week."

Ari the purple Poogle's boastful voice rang throughout the playground at recess time. A few pets oohed and aahed as she began listing more things she planned to receive. It was an ordinary day at Mystery Island Elementary. Ari was having her regular boasting time, as she sat on a stump and looked down upon the other pets who listened to her intently. A crowd of painted pets surrounded her.

A yellow Shoyru approached Ari, a shy smile on her face. "Gosh, Ari. You're so lucky."

Ari stared down at the Shoyru, sniffing snobbishly. "Who're you?" she asked rather rudely.

The Shoyru hung her head a bit. "Umm, my name's Ghardi."

"You're...yellow. Are you going to be painted anytime soon?"

Ghardi smoothed the dirt with her foot as she stared at the ground. "Well...my owner says she doesn't want to paint me because of my pretty yellow colour."

"Can she afford it?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Right," Ari said, and the painted pets who stood around her smirked and gave the yellow Shoyru a few rude glances. "Your owner is probably poor. And we don't accept poor pets into our gang."

Ghardi was slightly taken aback by this. She wrung her paws and hung her head lower, obviously crushed.

Deraxyl, also a yellow Shoyru and Ghardi's girlfriend, watched all of this from a distance. Filled with anger from what he just saw, he stomped up by Ghardi's side and glared angrily at the Poogle. "Exactly what gang are you talking about?"

Ari, who had been too busy examining her paws, looked at Deraxyl out of the corner of her eye. "Unpainted pets like you don't need to worry over such things. I am the leader of the Paintbrush Gang. Only painted pets allowed." The painted pets, obviously the gang members, nodded in agreement.

"What makes painted pets better?" Deraxyl nearly had a snarl in his voice when he asked this question. He was too angry about his girlfriend getting her feelings hurt, but he knew his bravery would wear out in time.

Ari sniffed, something she always did when she found something stupid. "Silly, pitiful Shoyru. We have higher status. Everybody loves us. When we get dumped in the pound, we don't have to worry. Some person will ogle at our pretty coat and adopt us on the spot. In other words, WE ARE BETTER."

Derax had nothing to say after this, because most of what she said, except for a few parts, was true. A few of the gang members snickered at his stunned silence. Ghardi, who stood behind him, watched all of this quietly. She would have tried to defend him, but there was nothing she could say either.

Another, unfamiliar voice came onto the scene. "Would you leave them alone already?"

A silver Kougra brushed past the two silent Shoyrus, and stood in front of Ari. In a way, she looked like a selfish princess sitting high on her throne. This thought made the Kougra snarl at her.

Ari didn't seem insulted at what the Kougra said. Instead, she put a paw to her chest and drew back, as if in pleasant surprise.

"Why, who might *you* be?" Her voice had become sickeningly sweet.

The Kougra's face was tightened and angry. "Jamahl," he replied.

"Oh, Jamahl! Your silver coat is so nice. Would you like to join my gang?"

Deraxyl felt like he would throw up. No one could ever get past Ari's sweet talk. She always managed to squeeze them onto her side. He was shocked, though, at Jamahl's reply.

"No. Not now, not ever. I wouldn't dare join a gang whose only purpose is to make them feel superior above others, and whose only foundation is that of the members' arrogance and self-pride. When all that gives them this superiority is a pretty coat of paint. I'd rather eat toenail soup than be forced to."

A few of the gang members gasped and began to talk amongst themselves in low murmurs. Ari simply stared at Jamahl. Her voice turned cold. "Fine then. You've lost your one and only chance to get into this gang, as well as my favor."

"Good," Jamahl muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Ari to hear. She must have as well, because she leapt off of her stump and left in a huff, with her members trailing behind.

Ghardi smiled at Jamahl. "Thank you for defending us like that. It was really nice of you."

Jamahl flashed a smile. "No prob. Those jerks don't have the right to make others feel inferior, when they really aren't. Don't listen to them."

"Why shouldn't we?" Derax replied. "I mean, what she said was pretty much true."

Jamahl looked saddened. "I know. Deep down, no pet is better than the other. It's how the owners react to it. If they thought painted pets were stupid, it'd be you guys who would start your own gang. There's really no way we can control it. But, it's not the paint coat that affects those guys. It's the feeling of superiority they get from it. You don't need the coat to have the feeling, however. I'm not saying you should act superior to others...you should just feel the confidence. I felt that feeling before I was ever painted silver. I felt pretty inside. That's what's important."

"Wow," was all Ghardi said. "How'd you learn all this?"

Jamahl smiled a secret smile. "A friend. A very good friend. I used to feel like you. But they taught me that. And I was forever blessed."

Both Shoyrus gave him puzzled looks in return. Jamahl, still smiling, turned around and began to walk away. "Well, good-bye."

Before they knew it, he was gone.

***

Deraxyl walked home alone, past the shops, thinking.

"What was all that mumbo jumbo Jamahl was talking about? I really didn't understand him..."

A flash of blue and yellow caught his eye. He immediately stopped at the nearest shop window and turned around.

There it was. A Paint Brush of the Stars. It was beautiful. He had seen what Shoyrus looked like painted with this. Their glossy blue coats, dotted with brilliant stars that seemed to shine on their own. Derax had never been interested before, but now...

Ari's words echoed through his mind. "We are better..."

A longing entered him, and right then and there he knew. He knew he wanted to be painted Stars.

***

It was a quiet dinner that night at Deraxyl's home, just as most dinners were. Benekah, his Aisha sister, was too busy gobbling down her omelette to notice the quiet. Amy, his owner, was simply eating. He knew this was the right time.

"I want to be painted Stars."

A new type of silence settled over the tiny Neopian family. Benekah finished swallowing a bite of her food. "You *what*?!" The thought of either of them getting painted had never entered their household.

Deraxyl glared at her angrily. "I told you. I want to be painted Stars!"

Amy looked at him for a second, and then finally replied. "Derax, I don't want to waste our money on a paintbrush. It's too expensive. Plus, I'd miss your colour. It would be hard to get used to."

Derax turned stone cold. "I don't care. I want to be painted Stars."

"Why?" Benekah asked.

Deraxyl was too embarrassed to explain that he wanted to be painted so he'd be accepted into a higher status. It was foolish when he thought about it. But he didn't care.

"Deraxyl, listen. I don't want you to be painted."

"It's not fair!" Derax suddenly slid out of his chair and rushed into his room, shutting the door rather loudly.

Benekah smirked. "Be thankful you have at least *one* easy NeoPet in this house."

Amy simply rolled her eyes.

***

"It's not fair," Deraxyl repeated to himself over and over, as he lay on his bed and looked out the window. There were many stars in the sky that night. It only reminded him more of the paintbrush. Groaning, he rolled onto his side. His own sulking finally lulled him to sleep.

***

"Deraxyl."

Deraxyl's eyes slowly opened. He knew right from the start it wasn't a dream. It was too real. He shot up in his bed.

"Deraxyl." The voice was mysterious and deep. Yet it was kind. It seemed to surround him.

"Yeah?" Deraxyl replied in a weak, quivery voice. "Who's there?"

"It's time for you to be blessed," was all the voice said in reply. Deraxyl gasped when his window suddenly opened with a snap, and a cold breeze rushed past him. A strange black mist crept over the sill, causing him to shiver. He was frozen with fear, and watched as the mist, like a writhing snake, crawled up the side of his bed and coiled around him, until he was completely surrounded.

Almost immediately, Derax began to rise from the ground. He tried to stay calm as the mist carried him across his room and out the window.

The chilly night air didn't seem to affect him as the mist carried him upwards in one giant swoop. He noticed that the mist was always around him, and seemed to be carrying him. As they rose above the wispy silver clouds of night, the many shimmering stars came into view. It was a beautiful sight. Deraxyl felt he didn't want to leave. For an hour they soared, him and the mysterious presence, over Mystery Island and the houses that rested there. Through that time both he and the presence talked little.

Finally, Deraxyl felt himself being lowered to the ground. When his feet finally touched soil, he looked ahead to see he was standing right in front of his house. A strange feeling had flooded into him. It was breathtaking and overwhelming. The mist uncoiled from him. "Good-bye, friend. You have been blessed...with the stars. The blessing will forever stay with you." In the blink of an eye, the mist vanished.

Deraxyl felt strange. He lifted up his paws, and bathed in the moonlight he nearly fainted from the sight of them. They were blue! He looked at his stomach. They were dotted with stars! The inside of his wings were a deep orange. He was painted Stars! But there was no way...no paintbrush had touched him. Yet he was Stars.

Filled with joy, Deraxyl ran to the window of his room, which was still open, and slipped inside. The light in the hallway turned on just then, and Benekah walked into his room. "Derax, you okay?" she asked sleepily. "I heard talking outside."

Deraxyl simply grinned.

"What? What is it?"

"Don't you notice anything different?"

"Umm...no."

"What, I'm pai-" Deraxyl stopped in mid-sentence to look at his paws, which he had gestured with while he was talking.

They were a creamy yellow in colour.

Deraxyl's eyes widened. "But-I-uh-"

Benekah rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Go back to sleep."

Once she had left the room, Deraxyl examined his yellow paws. He could have sworn...maybe it was the moonlight that had been playing tricks on him. No, it couldn't have. He had clearly seen stars.

But the same feeling that he had felt when the mist dropped him was still there. As bright and clear as ever. He still felt the feeling...inside. The words of Jamahl came back to him.

"...I felt that feeling before I was ever painted silver. I felt pretty inside. That's what's important."

The good friend...the blessing. It all came together. He still didn't know exactly what had happened. But he didn't care. He didn't care what that presence was, or where his paint coat had gone. He didn't need an outside paint coat. Because this paint coat was permanent inside of him. The feeling was still there.

"Blessed with the stars," Deraxyl said in a whispered voice. Feeling contented, he fell into a deep sleep.

The End

Author's Note: I know... This story was very... weird. Sorry if some people couldn't understand it. I was partly trying to explain about paintbrushes, and how being painted doesn't necessarily make a pet better. The mysterious presence I won't explain just yet...because it might appear in another story of mine. ^_~ Feel free to Neomail me any opinions on the story, too. I love to hear from people who've read it!