The River

      Tandra, a red Shoyru, looked up; she had been walking while staring at the ground. She saw a white Kyrii standing next to her. The Kyrii had gold loop earrings piercing her large ears. Her hair had been slicked down until it looked like she had no hair at all. The Kyrii wore a dress that was too long for her. It was dark blue with strange golden patterns. She wore a belt that looked to be made out of pure gold! The clothes were much different than Tandra's dirty red shirt and ripped blue skirt.

      "Did you hear me, Child?" the Kyrii asked while Tandra was still staring at the Kyrii's clothe, transfixed.

      "No, I'm not lost. I'm just taking a little walk in the woods," Tandra finally replied.

      "Does your owner know you're out here?"

      "Yes; I take walks in the woods all the time."

      "Would you like to come with me, Child? I can show you something you've never seen before."

      "I don't know. My owner says to never go with strangers." Tandra started shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot; she wanted to get away from that strange Kyrii.

      "We can go ask your owner if you want. This is something you must see."

      Tandra's owner was out playing games in Neopia Central, but she didn't want the Kyrii to know that.

      "I think my owner will be fine with it. They would want me to see something so important."

      "Great, then follow me, Child."

      The Kyrii started running. Tandra was forced to unhappily run through the forest in Meridell. Tandra hated running or any other kind of physical activity, except walking. Tandra was a shy book worm. She only had one friend who had moved to Kreludor. The only way she communicated with that friend was by letters, so she had no contact with other pets her age; school was too easy for Tandra. Tandra's owner was nice, but they were usually out playing games. Tandra was used to not talking to anyone. Even talking to this strange Kyrii was difficult for her.

      The Kyrii and Tandra ran for what felt like hours, even though it was probably only twenty minutes. Tandra saw the Kyrii, who was by that point far ahead, run through the trees into a light area. Tandra broke through the trees in the same spot to see a bright light, the sun. Tandra's eyes were used to the dark forest so she had to adjust to the bright sunlight. When she did she saw she was in a small clearing. The grass was all dead and brown. Trees made a circle around the clearing. Running right through the middle of it was a small river, which the Kyrii knelt by, staring into its watery depths. Tandra slowly walked up to the Kyrii. She started to kneel by her, but just as Tandra was about to glance into the river the Kyrii pushed her away. Tandra rolled away, landing at the edge of the trees. She stood up, brushed some dirt of her skirt and shirt, and walked back to the Kyrii.

      "Why did you push me? I could have hurt myself!" Tandra demanded.

      "It was for your own protection. If you had looked into the river without my spell cast on it, you would have died, or worse," the Kyrii calmly replied.

      "What's worse than death?"

      "Many things are, Child. One is being sucked into that river and facing the evil within it."

      "If this river is so evil, why did you bring me here?"

      "It is only evil without the proper spells cast on it. When I cast the spell on the river, you can look into it. The river will show you what you truly are."

      With that, the Kyrii walked over to the river. She started chanting words in a language Tandra had never heard before. The sky seemed to darken as the Kyrii started chanting the strange words louder and louder. Tandra wanted to scream, but her voice seemed to be lodged in her throat. All Tandra could do was watch and listen as the Kyrii screamed the words and the water in the river turned into a spout and shot high up into the air. The Kyrii raised her arms up as she finished her last chant of the words. The water spewed even higher. She slowly started to bring her arms down. The water started going back into the river at the same speed as her arms. When the Kyrii's arms were at her side, all the water was back in the river, speeding along as normal, and the sun shined as bright as ever. The Kyrii turned around and beckoned for Tandra to come forward. Still in a state of shock, Tandra slowly moved towards the Kyrii.

      "You may now go look into the river. I cannot look in there with you because the river would then show half of you and half of me. If your face is completely black when you look in, it means you are pure evil. If your face is completely white, you are pure good. Nobody is either pure evil or pure good, though. Some people are almost pure, but never completely. Whichever color is dominate is the one you mostly are. Go look, Child, and good luck."

      Tandra walked up to the river. She knelt down beside it, her face turned towards the trees. She slowly moved her head so that she was facing her reflection. Tandra gasped as she saw her face, not red like it normally was in the mirror, but almost completely black with only a tiny sliver of white at the end. Numb, she walked back to the Kyrii.

      "What did you see?" the Kyrii asked.

      "My face was almost completely black," Tandra said quietly.

      The Kyrii nodded solemnly. "I had a feeling that might happen. There is something you should know though. All..."

      "How could this be?" Tandra shouted. "I'm a good girl! I help petpets who get stuck in trees, I carry old ladies' groceries home, I mind my own business, and I always remember to say please and thank you. How could I be almost completely evil?"

      "Child, you did not let me finish," said the Kyrii. "Your fate may be to be evil, but that does not mean you have to be evil. Do you know who Dr. Sloth is?"

      "Yes."

      "I took him to this same spot when he was your age. He was almost completely good! Look where he is now!"

      "But what does that mean?"

      "It means that even though you are evil at heart, and that is the truth, you do not have to be evil. You can let your true emotion get to you, and you can end up like Dr. Sloth, or you can bury that evil under layers of goodness. It's your decision, Child; you may do whatever you want to and whatever you feel is right. Goodbye, Child, I hope to see you again some day."

      Before Tandra could say another word, the Kyrii had vanished into thin air.

      "Goodbye, I will make the right decision," Tandra whispered; she somehow knew the Kyrii could hear her.

      And she walked away from the river, back into the woods, and back to her home, where she knew no temptation of evil would ever get her. She would not listen to her heart. She would go against it and be good.

The End