With a Little Help From My Friends

     "How’s that for ‘Inexperience,’” Derlyn said as she plopped the trophy down on the restaurant table.

     “I don’t know. How’s this for ‘poor scoring’ or ‘poor speed?’” Loryche asked as she placed a slightly smaller trophy on the table.

     “Ya ya; rub it in,” Prytariel said as she rubbed a bruise from the last match against Kreludor.

     “What’s wrong, Prytariel? Got little bruise there?” Derlyn asked with a self-satisfied grin. “I am sorry about that by the way, even if I don’t act it,” she said, laughing.

     “Somehow I don’t quite believe you,” Prytariel laughed.

     “Are Mirsha and Keetra coming? I need to thank Mirsha again for teaching me how to shoot with the faerie ball,” Loryche said as she glanced around at the empty restaurant. The female captains had agreed to meet one final time to celebrate the success of their training plan but, due to the fans, they had been forced to meet the very last night before returning home, when most of Neopia was already asleep. In short, they were forced to meet in the dead of the night like schemers and plotters when really they were just friends meeting over a nice late night snack.

     The fact that they were friends still shocked Prytariel sometimes. When she had first brought the idea of training together to the rest of the female captains she had hoped for them to become training partners, nothing more. Somehow things had proceeded far beyond that. It was interesting training with the other teams, but it was even more interesting getting to know her fellow captains. They went from being her enemies on the field, her competition, to a teammate, a friend. Now when Prytariel looked at Loryche she didn’t see just another Chomby trying to score against Minae. Instead she saw her neighbor, the Chomby from Tyrannia who had two brothers and a younger sister who wanted to be just like her when she grew up. Similarly, Derlyn was no longer just another annoying, great scoring Gnorbu. Now she was the Gnorbu who grew up wanting to be a writer for the Neopian Times but changed her mind after writing an article about a previous Altador Cup.

     “I don’t know where they are,” Derlyn said, breaking Prytariel’s reminiscing.

     “I heard Keetra has already started training with her team. She wasn’t entirely happy with their rank and I heard she is already making her team pay for it,” Prytariel said, “but I have no clue where Mirsha is. She told me earlier she would be here.”

     “Well hopefully she shows up soon,” Loryche gazed at the door as she spoke before glancing nervously at the clock on the wall.

     “So when are we training together this year?” Derlyn asked, grinning at the irony.

     “Oh wait, you actually want to train with us? Are you sure? Should we wait to see what you say after they interview you?” Prytariel couldn’t help teasing Derlyn a little; after all, it was Derlyn who was initially hesitant to agree to the teams training with each other.

     “Har har. I admit it was a good idea. Happy?” Derlyn said with a slight shake of her head.

     “I don’t know… perhaps if you proclaim to all that I am the best player in all of Neopia,” Prytariel wasn’t sure if she was pushing her luck with all this teasing.

     “I already proclaimed that you were one of the best; isn’t that good enough?” Derlyn said, evidently fine with all of Prytariel’s teasing.

     “You did? When?” Derlyn’s widening grin made Prytariel realize, just a second too late, that she had fallen into a trap.

     “When I bruised you during the Cup; I only bruise those who I have to actually play 100% against.”

     Wait a second…. I don’t have a bruise!” Loryche’s indignation played out on her face and, if it hadn’t been for the sparkle in her eyes, it would have made Derlyn feel slightly bad. However, the sparkle let her know she wasn’t seriously hurt and instead they all broke into laughter.

     “Seriously though, when are we going to train together again?” Derlyn asked earnestly.

     “I am all for starting in a month; I promised my team some time off,” Loryche said.

     “Works for me,” Derlyn said as she and Loryche both turned, in unison, at Prytariel.

     “Well,” Prytariel hesitated, “how about we meet in three months? I promised Minae that she could have time off to visit family.”

     “I guess that works,” Derlyn said, visibly disappointed.

     “I mean… you can’t break a promise, so I guess I understand,” Loryche looked as dejected as Derlyn, and Prytariel felt a twinge of guilt.

     They sat and chatted for another hour or so, hoping Mirsha would show up, but they eventually went their separate ways. As Prytariel walked back to her room, the guilt from earlier in the night returned.

     “It wasn’t really a lie,” Prytariel said to herself when she was safely back in her room. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror. “Minae is visiting family after all.” No matter what she said though, Prytariel knew she was fighting a losing battle. She had lied to her friends. Minae was only visiting her family for a week. The truth of the matter was Prytariel’s plan had worked out great but not quite good enough; she didn’t have a trophy. Prytariel knew it wasn’t entirely fair, in fact it was a little petty of her, but she was upset that she hadn’t gotten a trophy. After all, it had been her plan to train together in the first place; shouldn’t she have something to show for it?

     Prytariel packed her bag and was about to walk out the door when somebody knocked. Who could that possibly be, Prytariel thought.

     “Prytariel? It’s Mirsha. Are you awake?”

     Prytariel weighed the options; if she answered the door it would be even longer before she could leave, but if she didn’t answer the door the guilt would overwhelm her. She already felt enough guilt so she opened the door.

     “Hey, Mirsha; where were you tonight?”

     “Sorry, I got held up doing an interview for some Neopian Times article. Is that a bag? I didn’t think you were leaving tonight,” Mirsha said, gazing innocently at the bag in Prytariel’s hand.

     “I, um, have to go home early to visit family,” Prytariel managed to stutter out. She had never been a very good liar; the lie she told Derlyn and Loryche earlier had been rehearsed in Prytariel’s mirror for at least a week before she told them it.

     “I thought your whole family had come to watch you play this year?” Mirsha asked as Prytariel cursed Mirsha’s memory.

     “Ya… they did… but they all left tonight so I was going to go with them so I can celebrate with them at home,” Prytariel said, hoping this lie would work.

     “But doesn’t your family live all over Neopia?” Mirsha’s kind and honest look broke Prytariel.

     “They do. I’m not really visiting them. I just need time to train on my own,” Prytariel finally admitted.

     “But training together was your idea originally!” Mirsha’s shocked and pained expression was the very reason Prytariel had lied to Derlyn and Loryche. She felt like a villain, like Jhudora or Dr. Sloth. Betraying a friend was one of the worst things Prytariel could think of doing, and what she was planning was a betrayal.

     “I still want to train with you guys, I just need to go on a journey and learn more information to give myself an edge. I need to bring a trophy home. You understand, don’t you?” Prytariel knew that out of all the female captains only Mirsha stood a chance of understanding; she was the only other female captain who hadn’t won an Altador Cup.

     “I do, and I won’t stop you, but I have to ask,” at this point Mirsha hesitated, “can I come with you? I am in the same boat as you, symbolically speaking; I need a trophy too.”

     Prytariel tried to think of a reason to say no, and she came up with quite a few, but in the end she realized one thing: Mirsha was right.

     “Of course. We’ll go together.”

     “So… what’s the plan?” Mirsha asked an hour later as they got on a boat to leave Altador.

     “What Yooyu gave you the most problems during the Altador Cup?” Prytariel asked, already knowing the answer.

     “The Darigan Yooyu; it gets me every year” Mirsha responded instantly.

     “Exactly. That one defeats me every year too. Every year we all have issues with the same Yooyu. I heard a rumor that there is someone in Darigan who knows the secret to the Yooyu and my plan is to go and train with him until I have mastered it. I am hoping that will give me the edge I need to win the Altador Cup next year.”

     “You aren’t going to share what you find with Derlyn, Loryche, or Keetra,” Mirsha said and Prytariel knew it wasn’t actually a question; Mirsha was stating a fact and she knew it.

     “I need a trophy,” Prytariel said, trying to justify what she knew was a betrayal of their training agreement. They both stood on the deck watching the water until the sun came up, and then they finally went below deck and fell asleep.

     It wasn’t until they reached Meridell and were walking towards Darigan Citadel that Prytariel realized she had no clue where the master of the Darigan Yooyu was.

     “I guess we will just have to ask for help,” Mirsha said naively. It took them about an hour to realize that nobody had any clue who they were talking about and, more importantly, they realized that everyone was a little like Layton Vickles.

     They stayed in Darigan for about a month, asking around and trying to get help. Finally Mirsha decided to go and get them lunch one day so Prytariel was wandering around Lord Darigan’s Chambers, trying to remain unnoticed, when a Darigan Skeith approached her.

     “I hear you be lookin’ for the secret to Yooyu balls?” the Skeith said under his breath. “I’m not sayin’ nothin’ but if you go down the corridor to the right, take the third left, then the second right, and then the fifth left, you may be findin’ the answer you be lookin’ for. Be quick about it though, he won’t be there for long,” and then he quickly walked away, all without making eye contact with Prytariel.

     Prytariel knew she should have gone to get Mirsha, but the Skeith had said she had to be quick and she attempted to rationalize her decision to not go back for Mirsha. She would tell her the secrets she learned later anyways so really it wasn’t important to go get Mirsha, and with that thought Prytariel ran off to follow the Skeith’s directions. His directions led her to a dark room, so dark that she couldn’t see anyone inside.

     “What do you want,” a voice rasped from somewhere within the room.

     “I heard that you know the secret to using the Darigan Yooyu… I was hoping you could teach me,” Prytariel said, suddenly feeling nervous and unsure of herself and her cause.

     “I will tell you want I tell all who come seeking help: know yourself, know your friends, know your enemies, know Neopia,” the voice said with a feeling of finality. Prytariel backed out of the door, convinced this voice clearly belonged to a crazy person and began the long walk back to Mirsha.

     “Let’s go home,” Mirsha said when Prytariel told her about the day she had had. “It has been over a month and we know nothing more than what we did before. It is time to throw the towel in and go train with our friends. At least we know that will help us.”

     Prytariel knew Mirsha spoke wisely and they left that night, dejected and no wiser than they had arrived.

     By the time Prytariel returned to Terror Mountain she had about two weeks before she had told her teammates practice would resume. She spent her free time wandering around the Mountain and she found that she kept reflecting back to the strange voice’s words. They didn’t make any sense and yet it seemed like it held the answers to everything she needed to know.

     Know yourself? I know myself. I am Prytariel, Altador Cup player, captain of the Terror Mountain Team, cousin, sister, friend. I know who I am.

     Know your friends? Images of Mirsha, her confident and companion for the past two months, Derlyn, Loryche, and Keetra came, unbidden, to her mind.

     Know your enemies? Layton Vickles.

     Know Neopia? That was the thing that stumped Prytariel. She gazed at her surroundings. She knew Terror Mountain like the back of her hand. She knew what hours the Snowager was sleeping and when he was, rarely, awake. She knew the Shop of Mystery that restocked when it felt like it, at its own pace. She knew the people of the land and their calm, unhurried nature. Suddenly it hit Prytariel: she knew the Snow Yooyu. Like the people of Terror Mountain, the Snow Yooyu traveled at its own pace, just a little slower than others. As long as players knew this, they were able to score with the ball. THAT was what the voice meant. Now she just had to figure out the land of Darigan in order to shoot the Darigan Yooyu.

     “Alright! I am ready to get some practice in. I can promise you all that you will see some great moves out my newly improved team” Keetra said as she glared at her team, begging them to not disappoint her.

     “Before we begin, I have something to tell you all,” Prytariel said as she gazed at her friends. “The reason we met this late wasn’t because of Minae,” Prytariel gazed at Mirsha and her supportive look inspired Prytariel to continue, “It was because of me.”

     Prytatiel told them the full story of where she had been since they last departed each other’s company. She had just reached the part of the voice in Darigan Citadel when Keetra interrupted.

     “Clearly that was a dead end; look, it’s not that this story isn’t fascinating, but I would much rather be practicing.”

     “But the voice was right.” Prytariel saw Mirsha look at her suddenly.

     “You found something?” Mirsha asked.

     “It wasn’t until I got back home and thought about it that it hit me,” Prytariel said, trying to explain. “What do you think of when you think of Layton Vickles?”

     “Confident,” Mirsha said, trying, as always, to remain kind.

     “Overly sure of himself,” Derlyn said, hitting a little closer to the truth, as Loryche nodded in agreement.

     “Cocky,” Keetra said, saying what they all were thinking.

     “Exactly!” Prytariel looked so proud but all the other captains still seemed confused. “What is Layton’s constant phrase? ‘I could score’” but before Prytariel could finish the others had chimed in:

     “’without even looking’” they all said in unison.

     “Exactly! Think about it and it makes perfect sense. He always scores with the Darigan Yooyu because he looks away from the goal. If we do the same thing, I bet you we would score,” Prytariel said, only confident in this solution because she had been practicing it for the past week.

     “I have to try this,” Keetra said as she ran to the practice field, Loryche and Derlyn close behind.

     “What happened to not telling anyone and going for the trophy?” Mirsha asked once the others were safely out of earshot.

     “I want my trophy and I am going to get it, but I want to get it the right way, going against the right people,” Prytariel said as she smiled at Mirsha.

     “I knew you’d figure it out eventually,” Mirsha said with a chuckle.

     “Figure what out?”

     “It’s just a trophy. A nice trophy, don’t get me wrong, but it is still just a trophy.”

     “I guess I always knew that, I just had to know myself and know my friends.”

     The End.