A Change in Style

     She had never felt so focused, so on top of her game, deftly dodging her teammate Zax from the left and continuing to run full speed. With a final kick, she sent the Yooyu flying towards the goal. She slid to a halt, watching the Yooyu soar through the air – such grace! Such finesse! Never had such a professional-looking kick been made in all of Moltaran history!

     Mor Gollog stood in front of the goal, patiently watching his teammates run the ball around. He watched with a steady eye as the Yooyu flew through the air, purposefully raising his left hand. Seconds later, the Yooyu landed smack in the middle of his palm, stopping immediately.

     Tulah’s face fell. She buried her head in her hands and let out a growl of frustration.

     “It was a fine kick, Tulah,” their goalie rumbled in his stony, level voice, allowing the ball to roll out of his hand and back onto the field.

     “But you blocked it without even thinking!” she snarled, giving the Yooyu another kick in frustration.

     “Hey!” Vere Polnicek barked, quickly running across the field to her Petpet, which squeaked in meek protest. “I know we’re supposed to kick them in the game, but watch it!” She shot a stern look at Tulah.

     “Ugh... I’m sorry, Vere.” She rubbed her temple, sighing heavily. “I didn’t mean to.”

     Vere scooped up her Yooyu and smiled sympathetically at Tulah. “I know you didn’t,” she said, placing a reassuring hand on the Acara’s shoulder.

     Tulah managed a shaky smile, and looked up just in time to see a tawny brown Kougra approaching them. Their captain, Aldric Beign, had been watching the play from the sidelines; Tulah winced, realizing he must have seen her throw a fit, too. He held a clipboard in his hands, which he was focusing on it as he walked, looking up only once he had reached the group.

     “Hey guys,” Aldric said. “Something wrong?”

     Vere shook her head. “Nope. We just finished running the drill, is all.”

     Aldric nodded, and turned his attention to Tulah, who was still stewing in her embarrassment over behind the others. “Tulah? Anything to add?” he asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

     Tulah grit her teeth, managing to face her team with a bright smile. “No, captain. Everything’s fine.”

     Aldric tapped his chin thoughtfully, and shrugged. “Whatever you say. Anyway, practice is over now. You all did excellent today, but don’t forget, we’ll be here same time tomorrow.” His expression turned serious. “We can’t afford to slack off, especially not now.” The rest of the team nodded. They didn’t need reminding; they would be there. They had just applied for representation in the fifth annual Altador Cup. Though they hadn’t received word back one way or the other, they couldn’t afford to take any chances, not with an opportunity like this. To have their team represent Moltara in front of Neopia would be an opportunity beyond anything they could possibly imagine.

     After a moment of heavy silence, Aldric smiled and waved at them, as if to shoo them out of their daze. “Now go on, head home! You guys deserve a break.”

     While the rest of the team marched off the field in good spirits, Tulah lagged behind, staring at her feet. She sighed. “It wasn’t even that big of a deal,” she thought to herself, “so why does it bother me so much? Why this time?”

     Tulah was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed Aldric walking up beside her, not until he tapped her on the shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

     “You sure you’re doing alright today, Tulah?” Aldric asked, genuine concern crossing his face. Tulah considered deflecting the question again, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to her captain’s face.

     “I... I just feel like I’ll never be good enough. A team is only as good as its weakest player, right?” She shook her head mournfully. “We’ll never make it to the big time while I’m here.”

     “You feel like that?” Aldric was genuinely astonished, and a little upset. “Tulah...” He paused, stopping in his tracks. An idea sprang into his head, and he turned around. “C’mon,” he said, looking in the opposite direction. “Let’s go for a walk.”

     Tulah stared at her captain in disbelief. Aldric was already walking, and he glanced over his shoulder, seemingly surprised that she wasn’t following him. He motioned for her to join him. With a sigh, and a mental “I can’t believe I’m doing this”, Tulah broke into a jog and joined him.

     xxx

     “Aldric, please. We’ve been walking forever. Can you tell me where we’re going now?”

     Aldric just smiled a mysterious smile. “Aw, we’re almost there. Why spoil the fun now?”

     Tulah rolled her eyes, but didn’t press the issue. Soon, they crested a hill, and a lake of magma came into view, spread out in the small valley before them. No, it wasn’t quite large enough to be a lake, Tulah decided. It was more like a... pool.

     “The Magma Pool? You brought us to the Magma Pool?” Tulah asked, the gears slowly starting to turn in her head. “Surely he’s not suggesting...”

     “Yup,” Aldric said, as he slowly crept closer to the pool. Soon, a tall, Magma Tonu came into view – he seemed to guarding the entrance to the pool. Or at least, he was supposed to be guarding the entrance to the pool. “Look – he’s sleeping,” Aldric pointed out.

     “He is.” Tulah realized his plan, but it was already too late.

     “C’mon, c’mon—“ Aldric tugged on her shirt sleeve, and before Tulah could protest, they dashed behind the sleeping guard.

     “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Tulah said, shaking her head in disbelief. They approached the edge of the pool cautiously. The molten magma boiled and coursed below them, causing their fur to glow orange in the light. Tulah looked down at her hands. Her fur was Red, as she had been for her entire life; Aldric was hardly any fancier, sporting a plain Brown coat. There was something enticing about the way the light from the Magma Pool reflecting off their plain fur.

     “It... it’s hot,” Aldric commented. Tulah couldn’t help but laugh. He punched her gently in the arm, rolling his eyes. “You know what I mean!”

     “Do you want to jump?” she asked, finally.

     “Do you?”

     “I-I...” she stammered out, unable to answer. Their eyes were trained on the glowing magma. It was crazy. It was stupid. It was probably going to be the most unpleasant experience of their lives. And yet... there was something so enticing about it, like it was calling them, just begging for them to take a swim. Changing those colors now would be... life-changing.

     Aldric took her hand that was hanging limply by her side. She jumped slightly at the touch, looking up at him. The magma reflected in his eyes, and she was startled; for the first time there was literally fire in his eyes as he grinned at her, his smile all pride and confidence.

     “I’ll do it,” he said. “But you have to jump with me. Count of three?”

     She grinned wildly and nodded.

     “One... two...”

     “Three!”

     Tulah closed her eyes tightly as she took the plunge.

     It was thicker than any water she had ever swum in, the heat pressing against her body, trapping her. She felt suffocated; any attempt to move around or swim caused the magma to enclose around her limbs and weigh her down. For a moment she was truly terrified, unsure of where she was, or if she could ever get out again, when suddenly she broke the surface. Cool air swirled around her, and she felt her face start to harden. Tentatively, she opened her eyes.

     Aldric was treading magma a few feet away from her. But his fur was no longer earthy brown like she remembered; instead, he was charcoal black. There was a spider-web of cracks crossing over his face, revealing a glowing, magma core.

     He grinned at her. “You look amazing.”

     Tulah flushed - or at least, she thought she did, but she was floating in a pool of boiling magma at the time – and pulled her hand up. Her fingers were cased in dark rock, and she could see a bright red glow radiating from her fingers. She turned her gaze back to Aldric. “You look... awesome,” she replied.

     The Kougra motioned for her to follow him to the edge of the pool, where he managed to pull himself out of the magma with only a little bit of trouble. He stood up and offered his hand to Tulah.

     “Well... we did it,” she said, as he helped her out of the pool. The finality of their decision was really setting in now. “Now how are we gonna tell the team?”

     Aldric pretended to brush some dirt off of his clothes, which were miraculously unscathed from their dip in the Magma Pool. “You know, I think it’s really going to speak for itself.”

     Suddenly, the slumbering Tonu gave a heaving snore, snapping awake. He blinked sleepily, and caught sight of Aldric and Tulah. “Hey, you two!” he yelled, brandishing his spear at them. “What do you think you’re doing back there?!”

     Aldric’s eye widened in shock. Tulah grabbed him by the wrist and together, they took off running in the opposite direction.

     xxx

     “Where in Neopia are Aldric and Tulah? Practice was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago,” Vere complained. She, Zax, and Mor had congregated on the Yooyu field within five minutes the next day, and it was so unlike Tulah or Aldric to be late that they assumed they must have all been incredibly early, rather than assume either of their teammates were late.

     “Calm down, Vere. It’s not like the captain to cancel practice without telling us, so I’m sure he has a perfectly good reason for running late,” Zax said. “But...”

     When he trailed off, Vere started to look nervous. “But what?”

     “Well... you don’t think Tulah is still sulking from yesterday, do you?”

     Vere opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself. “No...” she said slowly. “No, surely not. I mean, that’s not like Tulah.” But Vere did not succeed in convincing herself that what she was saying was true. She groaned in annoyance. “Oooh great... now Tulah’s going to quit the team, and we’ll have to find a last minute competitor, and then we’ll never get accepted into the Altador Cup! Not at this rate.”

     While Vere was ranting, Zax took the time to pick up a Yooyu and practice bouncing it on one foot. “You do realize that’s kind of a worst case scenario, right?” he asked, not looking at her when he spoke. Vere rolled her eyes and snatched the Yooyu out of the air.

     Zax crossed his arms and started to protest, when he noticed two figures approaching in the distance. “Look, here they come now. You can relax.”

     “But... that doesn’t look like Aldric and Tulah to me...” Vere said, voice brimming with worry. Certainly, it was a Kougra and an Acara walking down the field, but their fur was so much darker than Aldric or Tulah’s. And they seemed to be radiating some kind of heated, orange glow. How could it be their teammates?

     But as the pair came closer, there was no mistake.

      “Oh... my.” Vere’s mouth hung open as she stared at the newly painted duo. Zax nearly mirrored Vere’s reaction. Only Mor remained more or less unfazed.

     “Why so surprised, team?” Aldric asked, unable to keep a straight face. “We are Team Moltara, are we not?”

     “Well, yeah,” Vere said, still gaping at their new paint jobs. “But you jumped into the Magma Pool? Why? All for... our little Yooyuball team?”

     “Vere, Vere, you’re not looking at the big picture,” Aldric chastised, his grin growing impossibly wide. “I saw Tulah yesterday after practice, and I thought, ‘I need to do something to get her out of her slump. Something big—a change. Maybe a change in style?” He glanced meaningfully at Tulah, who was smiling like never before; Aldric was brimming with confidence and pride for his friend. “It seems to have worked. And besides...” he continued, “How could we have our team represent this fine land without a single Magma-colored member?” He suddenly produced a piece of parchment from his pocket, embossed with a golden sun emblem – Altador’s symbol.

     Vere’s eyes widened and she snatched the piece of paper out of his hands. “Oh, no way,” she said, examining the notification thoroughly, until she was satisfied it was the real deal. “We’re in?”

     “We’re in,” Aldric confirmed. “Moltara has official representation in Altador Cup V.”

     Vere made a noise so gleeful it couldn’t be expressed with actual words, and came out as a high-pitched sort of squeal. “We’re in! We’re in, I can’t believe it!” She leapt up and down, turning to Zax and high-fiving him in excitement. Tulah stared.

     “Mor? You’ve been awfully quiet back there,” Aldric said, turning to face his goalie.

     The Moehog was leaning against the goalpost, his arms crossed, staring out into space, deep in thought. Suddenly, he began to chuckle, a grin crossing his face. “It’s a good look for you. Very intimidating. It will look good when you’re staring down your competitors.”

     Aldric threw his head back and laughed. “That’s the spirit!” he cried, clapping Mor on the shoulder. “Now, come on, everyone. We’re running late as it is! Let’s get to practicing. We’re practicing for the big time now!”

     With that, Vere and Zax ran out onto the field, cheering all the way. Mor made his way into the goal, and Aldric turned around and looked at Tulah, who hadn’t moved yet. “Coming, Tulah?” he asked, momentarily worried that maybe, maybe he hadn’t quite gotten through to her.

     Tulah bent down, her face obscured. She picked up the Yooyu at her feet, and as she stood up, flashed Aldric a brilliant, Magma smile. “You know I am.”

The End