No Pain, No Gain

"I don't want you to leave me, Mom."

     "I'm so sorry, my little one, but this is for the best. For both of us."

     "What am I supposed to do without you?"

     "Nabile, when you get a chance to change your life, please take that chance. I promise that something will come along and open a door for the better. You may go through pain and difficulties along the way, but I promise that it'll all work out in the end. I promise..."

     That was the last conversation that the little pink Ixi could remember having with her mother. Every day, she was on the lookout for something that would somehow change her life, but it wasn't exactly something you could find laying around, or more in her league, steal.

     The young Ixi, not even measuring three and a half feet tall, reached her paw up and above the wooden food cart to grab the closest Tchea fruit...

     BAM!

     Nabile's head felt like it was spinning so fast that it would've flown into orbit if it could. Her eyes focused in on a smirking red Lupe with the blueberry and banana flavored fruit resting nicely in his paw.

     "You must be crazy to just jump in like that," Nabile pointed out to an obvious fellow thief in disgust. She knew better than to act without thinking.

     The Lupe rolled his eyes. "Oh please, every good Scarab knows that you need to be quick on your feet-"

     Nabile had her gaze locked on the shopkeeper as the Lupe was talking. She interrupted his tirade by pulling him to the ground once she saw the head of the shopkeeper turn in their direction.

     "Hey, what was that for?" the Lupe whined. Nabile put a finger to her lips, gesturing for him to be quiet. Her eyes peeked over the food cart to see the vendor had thankfully turned to speak to another nearby merchant.

     "Just me saving your hide," she remarked sarcastically. "By the way, that was going to be my lunch."

     The two of them stood up now that they were safe from any trouble. Nabile was shocked to see that she was barely an inch taller than the Lupe. He wore simple worn cargo pants with a mixture of patched and unpatched holes here and there, and a plain sand colored vest with equal wear and tear.

     "The name's Tomos," the little Lupe chimed. "You look pretty tough for a girl, so how about you take this as an offering and not beat me up?" He split the fruit in two uneven pieces, eyeing the larger one but hastily handing it to Nabile anxiously.

     "And what in Neopia gave you the idea that I was going to hurt you?" She complained. The two walked behind a stack of heavy crates to conceal them eating their pilfered lunch.

     Tomos shrugged. "I dunno. You're just kinda..." He looked up as if he struggled to see the top of her hair.

     Nabile snorted. "Really now? I'm not that tall."

     Tomos raised an eyebrow quizzically. His blue eyes quickly lit up, and he stood on the tips of his toes to be able to see over her head.

     "There," he proclaimed with a proud grin on his face.

     Nabile couldn't suppress her giggles. "You're a real funny one. My name's Nabile, by the way."

     "Pleasure to meet you, Nabile!" Tomos lowered back to his normal height and shook her paw without warning. The two sat on the sandy ground side by side. "So, you got a family? How long you been stealing? Let's have a nice chat, one thief to another!"

     The young Ixi was confused. "I'm a thief?" She asked as if she had just discovered a deep, dark family secret.

     "Well, yeah," Tomos answered like it was supposed to be obvious, "you said this is your lunch, right? Thieves steal to live."

     "But that wasn't..." She was flustered. "It's more like a lifestyle, you know?"

     "Lifestyle... I like you already, kid." Tomos said like he was all grown up. "So, family. Got any?"

     Nabile started to feel like she was being interrogated. "Sort of... My mom kinda left me when I was three."

     The Lupe had eyes filled with sympathy. "My dad left me here when I was a baby. I can't even remember what he looked like." His eyes stared blankly at his bitten half of Tchea fruit.

     Nabile leaned over and gave him a well needed hug. "I'm really sorry, Tomos. I know how you feel."

     "How long ago was it, that your mom left?"

     She stared through a crack in the wooden board above them. Tiny beams of sunlight crawled through to greet the pair.

     "Five years."

     Tomos counted his fingers several times, trying to add up the numbers properly. "Aw, man!" He moaned. "Everybody in the Scarabs is older than me! It's not fair!"

     Nabile jumped at his sudden change of emotion, but tilted her head when she thought about what he shouted. "Scarabs?"

     Tomos looked shocked. He leaned over and scanned her arm, and was astonished to see nothing but fur. "You mean, you haven't joined the Desert Scarabs yet?"

     "I've never even heard of it," she said.

     "How could you not know about the Scarabs?" Tomos shouted unbelievably, "it's like a club for kids like us! There's a bunch of adults there, but they're actually a really cool bunch of dudes! They were the ones that took me in as a baby and taught me everything I need to know to survive! And they bring food for the younger kids so we don't have to be in danger-"

     "Then, why were you out here to get your own food?"

     He gasped dramatically. "Nabile, where is your sense of adventure?" His voice had a tone of disgust. "Anyway," he continued, "we all play Pyramids together every Friday, and we had a bonfire last week to celebrate someone's birthday, and then tomorrow me and the other kids are gonna build a fort, and-"

     Nabile was astonished by his description, but was even more astonished that there were others like her out there. "So it's like a home... for kids like me?"

     "Well, yeah," Tomos said, "I mean, we're way too young to survive on our own out here.

     Nabile glanced over at her friend's arm. There appeared to be some sort of symbol that looked somewhat like the Lost Desert's famous scarab.

     "What's that?" She pointed to his arm.

     "Oh, this?" He glanced over at his familiar marking. "This is the symbol of the Desert Scarabs! Everyone gets it when they first join. It kinda hurts when they do it, but it's over really fast and it's totally worth it!"

     "Do... do you have to get it?" Nabile asked anxiously.

     "Of course!" Tomos stated proudly. "To push through the pain of something like getting a marking is the proof that you have the strength to live the life as a Scarab!" He always said Scarab as if it was the equivalent of being someone of royalty like Princess Amira.

     Nabile felt as if Tomos was the thing that her mother spoke of five years ago. The Desert Scarabs that he talked so highly of sounded like a place that could change her life. She could almost hear her mother's sweet voice telling her that this was the exact path in life she was supposed to take.

     "Hey, Tomos?" she asked with confidence. "I want to join the Scarabs."

~*~

     Tomos had led Nabile down an alleyway that not even she had seen before, and she knew Sakhmet like the back of her paw. The pair walked down a small set of stairs, and the environment changed from the sunny desert into a hallway lined with torches as the only light source. Nabile certainly hadn't seen this part of Sakhmet.

     "What do they use to draw the marking, anyway?" Nabile questioned.

     "I don't know, I think it's some sort of super hot metal, like what they use to make weapons with in Meridell. They ask you to keep your eyes closed, so I'm not sure. I definitely felt some burning sensation going on though."

     Nabile's eyes widened. She cringed and shuddered. This was certainly not what she came for.

     "I'm not sure if I want to do this."

     Tomos' jaw dropped. "WHAT?" He screeched. "You can't just quit right now! We're nearly there anyways! Trust me, it's totally worth it!"

     Nabile wanted to join the Scarabs. She truly did. She just wasn't ready for physical pain. She didn't want to take a path in life that would require sacrifices yet.

     Then she remembered her mother's words. "You may go through pain and difficulties along the way, but I promise that it'll all work out in the end."

     She inhaled deeply. "Okay. I'm ready."

     It only took a few more minutes to arrive in a dimly lit room with a red Zafara that appeared to be in her teen years sitting at a small table, reading an old issue of The Neopian Times. She looked up at the sound of footsteps, and gave Tomos a playful smirk.

     "Well, lookie here, the Scarabs' official trickster is in the house!" she cheered, closing the tattered issue.

     "You're reading, Zina? That's gross!" Tomos teased.

     "Oh, come on kiddo," the Zafara said with a laugh, "you all need to learn to read at some point! Plus, squirt, there's some pretty good stories in here."

     "That's Zina," Tomos whispered, "she's kind of an adult, but she likes kids, so she's cool." He changed his tone to a louder, more obvious whisper. "But I never gave her permission to call me squirt!"

     "Well, looks like I'll just have to go back to calling you fun size," Zina teased, which Tomos responded to with a groan. "So who's your friend you got here?" She asked, giving Nabile a warm smile.

     "This is Nabile," Tomos introduced. "She's been a street kid for five years!"

     "Impressive," Zina chimed, "I like you already, Nabile. I can tell you're a tough one. You planning on joining the Scarabs?

     Nabile clenched her paws tightly. "Yes."

     "Double impressive," she said as she walked toward a shelf to pick up a wooden crate. "Tomos, I'll need you to leave while I draw the symbol, okay?"

     "Can't I have just one little peek?" he whined.

     "Hey now, I know you well enough to know that you'd distract me if you were nearby. These are dangerous tools I'll be handling. You don't want me to mess up the marking for your friend, now, do you?"

     Nabile gasped at the thought of something going wrong with dangerous tools.

     Zina leaned over to whisper. "It's all good, kiddo. I do this all the time. I know what I'm doing."

     "I'll stay super quiet, okay?"

     "What's that, you say? You're absolutely willing to do the dishes next week? That's so thoughtful, Tomos!"

     "Fine, fine," Tomos grumbled, "I'm going next door."

     "That's what I thought," she smirked, and pulled a chair to the table from the corner of the room. "Alright, Nabile, I'll need you to sit right here and hold out your arm."

     Nabile carefully took a seat and pulled up the sheer sleeve of her blouse. Her body was trembling in fear.

     "Okay, I'm gonna start drawing the marking whenever you're ready," she started to take out the tools, "you should probably keep your eyes shut since it tends to hurt less that way."

     Nabile tried her best to not think about anything that was about to happen. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes tightly, and nodded to give the okay.

     In the Lost Desert, Nabile often got painful sunburns. This was a hundred times worse. The feeling of a hot, burning metal tip moving across the skin under her fur was more agonizing than walking barefoot on the blazing desert sand everyday. Staying still so Zina didn't mess up was the biggest challenge of all.

     Then, somehow, it felt as if the scalding heat had melted away the pain. The metal point still stung, but it felt as if it started to numb.

     Nabile's thoughts were cleared as she saw the smiling red Ixi she knew when she was so small in her mind. She felt her mother hold her hand tightly, and giving her a kiss on the head.

     "I'm so proud of you, little one," she said in her melodic voice. "Pain can be a difficult obstacle in your path of life, but by overcoming it, you become a stronger and healthier individual. Thank you for being so strong."

     The image of the beautiful Ixi faded as Nabile's ability to feel in her arm started coming back.

     "Alright, you can open your eyes now," a voice called. Nabile thought it was her mother for a moment, but realized that the voice belonged to Zina. She slowly opened her eyes, and looked down at her arm to see the intricate image of a Scarab that looked just like Tomos' marking. The legs of the scarab swirled beautifully from its body, and the little details of the spots made it look all the more amazing.

     "This is wonderful," Nabile said, mesmerized. She touched the scarab symbol gently, and was surprised to feel no tenderness. "You're a great artist."

     "Thanks dear," Zina said with a smile. "I'd say yours is one of my best ones I've done by far. Gosh, I feel sorry for the ones I did a few years back..."

     "A few years back?" Nabile questioned.

     "Oh, yeah, I barely knew how to draw a scarab at the time. If you ever see this yellow Blumaroo named Horace, tell him that I gave you full permission to make fun of his marking. He still hasn't forgiven me to this day..." She burst into hysterical laughter, and Nabile couldn't help but join her.

     Pain.

     It's an essential part of life.

     You may feel the physical pain of a burn, or the emotional pain of change.

     Past pain is something stronger, better, life changing.

     As they always say:

     No pain, no gain.

The End