Wishes by Moonlight by smurfafied1800
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A handsome Darigan Lupe strode through the mountains, trailing
at the back of the group of Lupes. This Lupe wasn't normal, or regular in his
pack. He gave you the idea of a Darigan Lupe, due to the enormous wings on his
back. But, the colour of his fur was almost black, not the same purple like the
normal Darigan Lupe. His eyes were a grey icy colour and his claws were razor-sharp,
even sharper then those of a mutant Lupe. This strange Lupe's name was Caeson.
The "Darigan" Lupe was only loyal to his pack
because he had no where else to go. Without his pack, he was dead. Most of the
Lupes there were white or brown. Caeson was very different, and in his case,
difference was a terrible thing.
"We'll camp here for the night," a white Lupe
shouted. His name was Rann, or "Mighty Leader." The only way of getting his
attention was to bark at him or bite him, which wasn't always the best idea,
seeing that he was strongest Lupe in the pack. Rann marched over to a brown
Lupe and kicked him up.
"Find the nearest water," he spat at the quivering
Lupe, "then take the Hunting Aid to go and find food," the small brown Lupe
whined pitifully, then ran off as fast as he could go. Rann snickered and turned
to the other Lupes.
"We're in enemy territory. If one of you makes
a single whimper I'll make you wish you were never born. Remember, I'm only
waiting to get rid of the unwanted." With that, he turned and went back to his
bed. His mate, a white Lupess named Naguel gave him an impressed look and followed
him to the resting spot. Caeson shot him a hateful look before turning and taking
his leave.
"Where are you going, Lupe?" Rann snapped, lying
down. "No one goes anywhere without my permission." The moonlight (that's what
he's painted, I guess) Lupe cast him a disgusted look and said,
"I go wherever I please, Rann," he sneered,
"I don't need some sniveling leader's permission to take a walk." Rann glared
at him but said nothing. He knew about Caeson's fabled strength, and he didn't
want to humiliate himself in front of the pack. With a flick of his tail, Caeson
turned a corner and disappeared behind the cliff. With an angry roar Rann smashed
the nearest rock nearby. The whole pack jumped up in surprise.
"Didn't I tell you to get food?!" he screamed.
"Beat it!!" The rest of the Lupes ran, howling and whining in scare. Naguel
paced in front of her mate nervously.
"That Lupe is the only problem with your rule,
Rann," she said. "You must dispose of him." Rann nodded and wiped a sweaty paw
over his face. Naguel always seemed to know the answers to his problems.
"But how?" he asked, his voice dripping with
nervousness.
"Challenge him," she said, her voice dripping
like honey. "And when he least expects it, cheat. You've done it before." Rann
nodded, the idea was very pleasing. The only Lupe that could defeat him, lying
dead on the ground. He wanted it to happen. He would make it happen. Caeson
would beg for mercy before the end...
"Rest now," Naguel oozed. "You'll need it."
Rann nodded.
"Rest..." he mumbled, curling himself up. When
his eyes were completely closed, she snickered evily. "The only way to win in
Neopia," she said to herself, "Is to betray, lie, and kill." With that, she
lay down and went to sleep.
~~~~~~~
Caeson sat on a high peak and sighed. Life was
so hard, yet so boring. Every day was a test of survival, but the only thing
that really happened was walking, scavenging for food, and more walking. He
wished that something would happen...something that happened for the better
of the pack. Rann starved and beat the hopeless Lupes, he even took the best
portions of food for himself. The same went with his mate, Naguel. That prissy
Lupess did nothing but strut around, feeding lies and cheats to the pack. Whenever
Rann had a problem, Naguel would solve it with her treachery. Caeson just wished
they were gone like wind.
"If only..." he muttered to himself. "If only..."
The moonlight Lupe growled just thinking about the two self-obsessed Lupes.
He wished that a new Lupe, someone strong, brave, and willing to help would
come along...
"Why isn't that Lupe you?" a voice asked from
behind Caeson. The Lupe whirled around and came face-to-face with a faerie,
fire, by the looks of it. The faerie's eyes were a bright orange colour, and
her hair was deep red. The dress she wore was different from that of an average
fire faerie. It was a sapphire blue colour with lavender streaks on it. Caeson
raised an eyebrow.
"It can't be me," he said simply. "I wouldn't
be right." The faerie smiled mischievously.
"Why don't you?" she asked. "Why don't you fight
Rann? Are you scared? Much as I should suspect. You pets are all the same! You
talk of glory and helping others, when the only real thing you do is stand by
and watch the heroes." Caeson looked down at his paws, shamefaced. The faerie
glared at him, obviously not approving. Finally, the Lupe said,
"If you help me, I'll fight Rann."
The faerie grinned, and held out her hand. "Name's
Firling," she said.
Caeson put his paw in her hand. "Caeson," he
said. Firling smiled.
~~~~~~~~
Rann was growing very impatient by now. He had
a full plan (thanks to Naguel), but that stupid moonlight Lupe wouldn't show
up! The sinewy Lupe took an enormous bite out of the nearest scrap of meat,
causing it to spurt all over the place. The other Lupes timidly watched their
leader, and in some of their bold brains, they hoped that when Caeson got back,
he would thrash Rann. Caeson had always listened to them, despite his attempts
to be rough and tough. They had always respected the strange Lupe. He had saved
the pack on many occasions, and Rann had taken the credit.
The Lupes heard a soft padding sound and knew
Caeson was approaching. Some of them perked up their ears sensitively, and some
brave ones stood up. Rann snarled and those brave ones sat down, looking dejected.
Caeson rounded the corner and came face-to-face
with Rann. The white Lupe snarled meanly at his opponent, who he had thought
he caught off guard. However, the moonlight Lupe had been expecting a cheat
like this for some time. He smiled, and Rann looked at him confusedly.
Rann's hesitation came at a great price. In
a fast whirling movement, Caeson knocked the pack leader over with his sharp
claws. Rann stared at the blood tainting his cheek, and growled hatefully. He
charged at Caeson, just missing his shoulder. It was scraped badly, though.
Caeson let out a small whimper, but kept on fighting. Now, the war between the
two Lupes had begun.
Caeson and Rann circled each other, the traditional
way of beginning a fight. One of the Lupes would lunge first, and then the fight
would go to the death from there. Rann made the first move, charging at the
moonlight Lupe with eye-blurring speed. Caeson just barely dodged the attack,
due to his wounded shoulder. He opened one of his wings when Rann was only a
little ways behind him, causing the white Lupe to fall to the ground- hard.
Any normal Lupe wouldn't broken his neck or worse, but Rann wasn't pack leader
for nothing. Despite the bruises that now shown through his fur, he picked himself
up and charged again.
Caeson was ready this time. With a sweep of
his paws, the moonlight Lupe spread out his hands, creating a dark-flame wall.
Rann slammed into it, and the Lupes gasped. No Lupe in centuries had been able
to learn abilities! Even if they had managed to stumble across a faerie, the
leader always destroyed it.
"Scum!" Rann screamed, "It is against our laws
to use abilities!"
"I don't care what you think, Rann!" Caeson
retorted, with a sneer, "You can't control me!" Rann roared in fury and charged
again, but this time he was too slow. Caeson held his paws up, creating two
balls of shadow-flame at the end, and hurled them at Rann. The Lupe fell to
the ground, stunned. Everyone gasped, including Naguel. Within moments, she
had flung herself across the fighting ground, and she pinned the unsuspecting
moonlight Lupe to the ground.
"Take him!" she screamed. "Take him and kill
him! He's all yours!" On the inside, Caeson screamed. Rann walked over this
time, and raised his sharpest claw, preparing to strike Caeson's unprotected
throat. Just when he was about to kill the Lupe...
A loud thud came to Caeson's ears, and both
pairs of paws were removed from his body. The Lupe picked himself up quickly,
hackles raised. He was prepared for an attack, but this wasn't what he expected.
Another Lupe, one just like him, stood, snarling
at Rann and Naguel. This one was a female, Caeson could easily tell due to the
white moon-sign on her forehead. Caeson gaped, but the Lupess said in a beautiful
voice,
"I've been searching for you everywhere! I'm-"
but she was cut off by Rann working his claws into her back. The Lupess howled
in pain, and Caeson couldn't take seeing the only Lupe like him being hurt.
With an angry roar, he threw himself at Rann. His whole body seemed to be covered
in black flames. Rann cowered under Caeson's glare. He whimpered sadly. Caeson
lifted a claw, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't kill a helpless
Lupe.
"Get out," he said in a snarl. Rann nodded,
still terrified. He slowly got to his paws, and crawled away. Caeson turned
to the Lupess.
"Who are you?" he asked quietly. "Chayla," she
said quietly. "I was supposed to find you and return you to your real pack."
Caeson was stunned. A real pack? With Lupes just like him? It would be wonderful...but
what about the others? He looked at the miserable Lupes. He was about to explain
when-
A searing pain ran through Caeson's back. He
knew who would sink his claws into him. Rann was back. Ignoring the pain and
growling fiercely, the moonlight Lupe rolled over, nearly squashing Rann. The
roll pushed Rann far...nearly shoving him off the cliff. The Lupe's only means
of hanging on were the rocks he clung desperately onto. Before Caeson knew what
he was doing, he raced over to the edge.
"Grab on," he said. "Hurry." Rann was too proud.
With a slash, he knocked Caeson's paw away...and lost his grip on the edge.
With a howl, he fell. Caeson looked at Chayla, tears in his eyes. She was about
to smile when something knocked into her... it was Naguel. The brown Lupess
went into a frenzy, making a desperate attempt to push the moonlight Lupess
off the cliff. Caeson roared in fury and charged Nauguel. Black fire gleamed
on both of his paws, and he severely burned Naguel's brown fur. The Lupess yowled
in pain and let go...to join her mate at the bottom of the gorge. Her yowls
were only heard for a small amount of time, and then they ceased.
"There are sharp rocks at the bottom of that
gorge," Chayla said grimly. "They'll never survive." Caeson turned to her and
said,
"I need to know more, Chayla. Where are the
other Lupes like me?" Chayla ceased my questions by holding up her paw.
"I'll tell you all later," she said. She looked
at the pack and smiled. "But as for now, you have a pack to look after."
A fire faerie watched from a nearby cloud and
smiled. Everything would be alright now. She wouldn't have to worry about anything
happening to that pack that meant so much to Neopia. The last pack was safe
in Caeson's paws. She didn't have to reveal anything yet. She didn't have to,
now that she had given Caeson his special powers. It didn't matter though. Powers
weren't an essential. It was kindness, love and wishes.
Wishes by Moonlight.
The End
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