Tyran's Journey

     Tyran looked down at his paws and sighed. It had not been long since he had been turned Mutant, and already people were teasing and avoiding him like he was a monster.

     "Mutant isn't the best color to paint a Kougra, according to the Survey Shack," people would say loudly when they knew Tyran was listening. The Mutant Kougra had been through so many insults it was time for a change.

     Tyran raced back to his Neohome, where his mom, Elizabeth, would be waiting. As he burst through the front door he could hear his little brother and sister arguing over something.

     "Mom? Mom? Where are you?" Tyran called. He swung his powerful head from side to side to get a good look of the room.

     The two Gelerts on the floor finally stopped yelling at each other, and the male said, "Mom is upstairs, drawing pictures of me and Sorren for the Beauty Contest."

     "Thanks, Jugac," Tyran said, and dashed up the stairs, bursting through the doors to his mom's room.

     "Mom," he began, but Elizabeth put her hand over his mouth.

     "This is about being Mutant, isn't it?" she asked calmly.

     Tyran nodded uncomfortably. "Yes," he confessed.

     "What's wrong?"

     "Nobody likes me, not even my friends. They all think I'm a monster of some sort, and I've come to agree with them."

     "Nonsense, Tyran!" Elizabeth reassured him. "I like you, and so do Jugac and Sorren."

     "I've made up my mind, Mom," Tyran announced. "I'm going to run away."

     Elizabeth stared at him, wide-eyed. "Tyran, are you telling me the truth?" she breathed.

     "Yes, Mom, I am," Tyran informed her. "In fact, I'm going to start packing up right now."

     Elizabeth said nothing more. She turned and went back to her work, her eyes watering already.

     Tyran felt bad about leaving, but he knew he had to. He couldn't stay in Neopia Central, where he would be taunted and teased for the rest of his life.

     Tyran packed his toys, his clothes, his books, and everything he could stuff in his backpack and suitcase. He put some Scarab Cookies, Green Apples, Organic Carrots, a Koi Kelp Wrap, and some Stale Bread into his lunchbox, which he strapped onto his backpack. Tyran felt heavier not only on the outside, but also on the inside as well as he dragged himself down the stairs.

     Jugac and Sorren gawked at him. "What are you doing, Tyran?" they squeaked in unison.

     "I'm running away to a better place," Tyran informed them sadly.

     "But there's no better place but here, at home with us!" Sorren cried. Salty tears slid down her pale yellow face.

     "Jugac, go get Mom," Tyran ordered. Jugac gave a salute and zipped up the stairs, a flash of blue racing upward.

     A few moments later, Jugac returned with Elizabeth, whose eyes were red from crying.

     "I may be leaving," Tyran breathed, "but don't think that means I don't love you, because I love you all."

     Tyran said his goodbyes, and wandered out onto the streets of Neopia Central. Before he had drunk that silly Kougra Transmogrification Potion, when he was a green Gelert, he had always tried to keep an optimistic attitude. But now, the world seemed dark and cold.

     Tyran walked toward the bank, where he would gather all his Neopoints and stuff them in his backpack.

     The bank teller backed up a little when Tyran reached the counter.

     "What may we do for you, sir?" he asked warily.

     "I'd like to withdraw all the Neopoints from the bank account under the name 'Tyran'," he told the teller.

     The green Skeith nodded and brought out all the 15,236 Neopoints that Tyran had saved over the years.

     "What's your pin number?" the teller questioned.

     "1498," Tyran answered, "and also I would like you to close the account for now. But if I ever come back here and give you the pin number, reopen it, please."

     "We don't reopen accounts to anyone," the Skeith replied testily.

     "Fine," Tyran scowled, "just close the account, then."

     The Skeith handed him the Neopoints, and turned to a number pad. Tyran saw this as his chance to escape and raced from the bank as fast as he could, running farther away from Neopia Central, until he reached the Neopian Harbor.

     Tyran found an old shoebox, took off the top, and wrote on it, 'Mutant pet with no place to go. Please help.'

     Almost everybody at the Harbor ignored Tyran, and those that didn't made a face at him or frowned at him. Some even leaned down to their children, "Stay away from that Mutant pet, honey. You never know what he'll do to us."

     Tyran wanted to shout, "I won't do anything to anybody!" as loud as he could, but bit back his words. It hurt to have people think you might hurt them for no reason.

     "You say you need help?" a voice whispered.

     "Ahh!" Tyran yowled, and leaped around to find himself face-to-face with a Skunk Lupe.

     "I have a boat," the Lupe continued, "and I can take you to a place where you will be liked by all."

     "What place?" Tyran asked. Even though he was desperate, he knew that he shouldn't trust everyone that walked up to him.

     "Misfit Island," the Lupe told him. "In fact, I'll tell a little story about it."

     Tyran nodded and listened as the Lupe told him about Misfit Island.

     "Well," the Lupe began, "at one time, I was Mutant like you. Nobody liked me, not even my family and friends. So I decided to go here and head back to my homeland, the Haunted Woods. Everybody ignored me, except an Orange Korbat, who told me his story of Misfit Island.

     "I decided to go. After all, I couldn't get to the Haunted Woods if no one would take me there. So the Korbat took me to his boat, and we set off.

     "We sailed across the Great Neopian Ocean to a small island filled with.... Mutant pets! I was astounded. There was a small harbor, which we put the boat in. I saw boats with colored pets going out of the harbor. It was paradise!

     "I stayed there for a while, eating as much as I could three meals a day every day. Then, after a week of staying on the island, the Korbat came and told me that I could go back to Neopia Central at last.

     "At first, I don't want to back, but then the Korbat told me what was in store for me. I would be painted any color I wanted. So I got painted Skunk and sent back here. Now I bring Mutant pets to the island to make their dreams come true."

     "Wow," Tyran mused, "that's one heck of a story."

     "You bet," the Lupe laughed, "and you are going to live it. Follow me."

     Tyran followed the Lupe across the Harbor. The boat was small, yet just big enough for two pets to fit in.

     Tyran and the Lupe climbed in. Tyran was about to say thank you when he remembered that he didn't know the Lupe's name.

     "What's your name?" Tyran asked.

     "Randy," the Lupe responded, and the boat sailed off into the distance.

     After a day of sailing, Randy shouted, "Land ho! I can see the island!"

     Tyran shot up from his sleep and gazed out past the boat. In front of them was a small harbor.

     "Welcome to Misfit Island," a Rainbow Chomby welcomed them as the two stepped out on dry land.

     "Let's find you a hut," Randy said, guiding Tyran through the rows of straw huts that lined the island.

     "This one should do," Randy announced, opening the door to hut 43.

     Tyran walked inside, and gasped.

     The hut was fully furnished. A fireplace, a couch, an armchair, everything!

     "Enjoy your stay," Randy told Tyran. "And don't forget- you only get six days."

     Tyran nodded as Randy closed the door. Then, he decided to explore the hut.

     Tyran found out with delight that he would have his own room. Back at Neopia Central he had to share a room with his brother and sister.

     Tyran enjoyed lunch that day, which was a Koi Kelp Wrap and an Organic Apple. For a welcome treat he was given a box of Milk Chocolate Chias.

     "This is the life," Tyran told himself as he sipped his lemonade. "I wish the family could be here to see this."

     The thought of his family saddened Tyran and made him look forward to the final day.

     Six days had passed since Tyran had come with Randy to Misfit Island. At noon, Tyran would get painted his dream color and go home.

     At 12:00 noon exactly, the doorbell rang. Tyran opened the door to see Randy standing there.

     "Let's go," he said, and the two pets headed towards the place where pets got painted.

     "Here we are," Randy announced when they got to a small pool that had the colors of the rainbow.

     "What is it?" Tyran asked.

     "The Dream Pool," Randy explained. "Just get in, think of what color you want to be, and presto! There you are! Then we can supply you with 20,000 Neopoints and send you on your way."

     Tyran climbed in the pool, thought hard, and felt a wave of happiness surge through his muscles.

     When Tyran got out, he smiled at his new color.

     Instead of a metal eye and huge ears, Tyran had a lei on. Instead of being navy blue, his stripes were white.

     "An Island Kougra!" Randy exclaimed.

     Tyran was given 20,000 Neopoints and sailed back to Neopia Central.

     "Goodbye, Tyran!" Randy called as he sailed off.

     Tyran raced back to his Neohome. He knocked on the door, ready to surprise his family.

     Elizabeth opened the door. "Who are you?" she asked. "Have you found Tyran?"

     "Yes," Tyran replied.

     "Where is he?"

     "You're looking at him."

     Elizabeth's eyes went wide. "Jugac! Sorren!" she called, "your brother's back!"

     Jugac and Sorren raced to the door and gave Tyran a big hug.

     "I'm back," Tyran announced, " and I'll never doubt who I am ever again."

     ***

     A sad Mutant Blumaroo sat at the Harbor. He wanted to get out of Neopia Central, away from the teasing.

     "Need help?" a voice asked.

     "Who are you?" the Blumaroo stammered, staring at the Island Kougra in front of him.

     "I've come to take you to Misfit Island."

     "What's Misfit Island?"

      "I think you would understand better if I told you a story," the Kougra mused.

     "Go ahead."

     "Well," the Kougra began, "it all started with a Transmogrification potion...."

The End