Zur’s Zombie Roomate:Part Four

      "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO? ANYBODY HOME?” Zur scratched at the door with his hooves in an attempt to lure someone over who could open it. “I need to talk to you about Virag Kigyo! He’s-”

      The door opened, and Zur immediately faceplanted into the dusty, tile floor. “Ouch!” he whined and coughed a good handful of dirt out of his lungs. When he opened his eyes, he was in a beautiful, antique foyer lit with candles (as Prigpants and Swolty’s shop was) and decorated with the most gorgeous furniture in all of Neopia.

      “What do you want?” Zur heard a jittery voice mumble from behind the open door. He looked in the direction of the door, only able to see a long, sulky, grey tail petruding from the hiding place. A moment later, a little eye could be seen near the tail, and the face of a tiny Wocky appeared. “He looks harmless, Mommy. He knows Daddy’s name, so he must be friends with him!” She started to walk over to Zur, only for a clawed fin to quickly snatch her by the back of the dress and pull her back. “N-No! He’s not from here!” There was a moment of hesitation. “And since you’re not from here, how do you know Virag’s name?!”

      Zur got to his hooves and took a step forward to try and see the family. This only caused them to slink farther back into the dark. “Cause he’s here! He came to Neovia with me!” he choked out. The poor Gnorbu then spent a good half hour trying to explain everything to Mrs. Kigyo and her children. The children seemed excited to hear that their father was back. Their mother believed none of it.

      “Have you no sympathy?!” she wept and clawed against the door that she hid behind. “We have lost something precious that we have still not fully healed from… and ALL YOU CAN DO IS JOKE ABOUT IT!”

      Without warning, Mrs. Kigyo leapt from her hiding place and lunged at Zur, revealing a large set of Jetsam teeth that she intended to attack him with. Zur managed to get out of the way just in time and shoot out the door. “I’m telling you the truth! I swear!” he cried as he watched her slink out the door after him. Her brown hair covered her grey face and red eyes in a menacing shadow. Her Wocky and Acara children peeked out the door, remaining inside of the house. “Mommy! What if he’s telling the truth?” the Maraquan Acara asked and clung to his sister. Mrs. Kigyo shook her head and held up her hand to them, silently telling them to stay inside. “They aren’t,” she growled, stepping into the street that Zur stood in. “He is a lier, and I’m not letting him get away with it!” She lowered herself to all fours and lept at him again, causing Zur to take off in the opposite direction.

      “I h-have to find V-Virag!” Zur huffed to himself and tried to keep his tail out of the Grey Jetsam’s snapping jaws. “Where is Virag? Where is BEJIMIN!?”

      Zur made a hard turn to the right that Mrs. Kigyo struggled to follow. He started screaming for Bejimin and Virag in pure hope that they could hear him and save his life.

      Bejimin, who was trying to yank the missing Aisha out of the Apple Bobbing tank, heard his cries. “Zur?” she shouted and spun around to look for him. The first thing she saw was the poor little Gnorbu running down the road with a ravenous Jetsam. Instead of be terrified, she couldn’t help but feel as though she expected for this to happen. She brought her palm to her face.

      “We’ve barely been here for half-an-hour and you’re already in trouble?” she mumbled as Zur catapulted behind her.

      Mrs. Kigyo didn’t stop. She didn’t even slow down. She was fully intending to completely ram them over, so Bejimin had to think fast. The very first thing that she saw was the Apple Bobbing tank with only Virag’s legs and tail sticking out of it. Without thinking, she grabbed it and lifted it in the air with the strength of a true Darigan. “Sorry, Virag! Sorry, Ma’am!” she screeched and threw the tank right at Mrs. Kigyo.

      The tank hit her right on the face and broke on impact, causing both Neopets to go flying in their opposite directions. Mrs. Kigyo flipped onto her back and barely missed hitting her head on a rock. Virag, being less physically stable, crashed onto the ground and sent all of his limbs flying.

      “Mommy!” Bejimin and Zur looked up to see the Wocky and Acara children running to their mother to make sure that she was alright. Mrs. Kigyo sat up slowly and covered her left eye, which was now purple and swollen. “Annie. Mordaki. I thought I told you to stay in the house,” she grunted as the children clung to her. The chipper Wocky girl buried her face in Mrs. Kigyo’s shoulder. “We wanted to make sure you were okay!” she squealed in a shivery voice. The Grey Jetsam sighed and clutched them, tightly. She couldn’t be mad at them for worrying about her.

      Bejimin and Zur ran over to Virag and quickly tried to put him back together. “You okay, Virag?” Bejimin asked when he had all of his limbs back. The Aisha shook the Apple Bobbing water off of his fur and nodded quickly “Uuuuurrrrrahhhhhhh.” He got to his feet, only to notice the little family that was all too familiar to him.

      “Ggggggggggggggrrrrrrrruuuuhhh…” Virag stayed still and stared at them with a look of complete disbelief. He stared until the family took notice of him staring and stared back with the same amount of disbelief that he had.

      Even with the differences of being a zombie, Virag was easily recognized.

      “Daddy!” The children shot to their feet and ran to him. Virag quickly dropped to his knees and held his arms out to catch them. “Aaaaannniiiee! Mmmmorrrddakkiiii!” he moaned as he caught them and allowed himself to be tackled to the ground. “We knew you’d come back! We knew it!”

      Eventually, the children allowed him to stand back up just in time for Mrs. Kigyo to run into his arms as well. “VIRAG!” she shouted, completely choked up on her tears of joy. “Y-You’re here! You’re actually here!” she sobbed. All three of them hugged him as tight as possible. “We missed you so much!”

      Virag groaned happily and shed a single tear of his own. “Aaanniiee… Mmordakii…Zzzen… Mmmyy ffaaammmiiiillyyyyyyyy…” He let out a small sigh of relief. All that he had wanted, his family, was finally in his arms again.

      “Aaawwww.” Zur felt his heart warm at the sight of the reunion, and his voice got Virag’s attention. He turned his head towards them. “Tttttttthhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaannnnnnnkkkk yyyoooouuuuuuuuuuuu.” Zur and Bejimin grinned ear to ear. “Anytime!” Bejimin yipped.

      Zur tapped his hoof against Bejimin’s leg to get her attention. “Stay here. I’ll be right back,” he bleated. “There’s a few other Neopets that need to see him.” Bejimin nodded, and Zur took off towards the tailors’ shop again.

      Soon he returned with the flabbergasted Prigpants and Swolty trailing behind him. “Mr. Kigyo!” Prigpants shouted as soon as he saw the undead version of his boss. Virag jumped at the sound of his voice. However, he didn’t put on a “glad to see you” face. “Yyyyyyyyooouuuuu,” he hissed and trudged over to them. He knew what they had done. They had left him to defend himself, and he had not forgotten.

      “Yyyyyooouuuuu!” Virag raised his claw to attack them, only to be stopped by Zur just in time. “Wait! I know that you’re mad, but they came all the way here because they have something to tell you!” He managed to push Virag back a few steps. “Can you please listen to them for a second?”

      Virag growled and glared at the tailors. Then he stood up straight and crossed his arms, curious of what they would say for themselves. Mrs. Kigyo and the children came up behind him to listen in.

      “S-Sir…” Prigpants took off his top hat and held it nervously in his wings. “Ever since you were lost at the hands of the townspeople, we could do nothing but blame ourselves. We… We’re…” He started shaking, and Swolty interrupted. “We’re sorry, Mr. Kigyo! We were cowards and we left you behind! Is there any way you could forgive us?” He put his hands together in a plead, and Prigpants followed his lead. “Yes, yes! We’re so sorry!”

      Virag raised an eyebrow, taken aback by their sudden apology. He had spent years hating them, not even wondering if they felt guilty for their act. He looked back at his family, and they all looked at each other. Then the little Maraquan Acara walked up to him and wrapped his tentacle arm around his father’s hand. “They did say sorry,” he whispered and blinked his wide, adorable eyes.

      The Aisha looked back at the tailors and then softened his expression. “IIIII… IIIIII fffforrrggiiiivvve yyyyooooooouuuuuuu.” He held out his hand and the tailors both grabbed his hand to shake it. They repeatedly thanked him as if he had blessed them with their lives and shook his claw until they accidently popped it off.

      As Prigpants and Swolty thanked Virag, Mrs. Kigyo turned to Zur and Bejimin. It was different for Zur to see her without being threatened by her massive teeth. She actually looked beautiful and welcoming. “Thank you for bringing him back. We’ve missed him for so long,” she purred. Her Wocky daughter ran up to them and grabbed their hands. “You brought my daddy back! Thank you!” She turned to the Grey Jetsam. “Can they stay for dinner, Mommy? It’s the least that we can do!” squealed the little child. Mrs. Kigyo giggled. “I don’t see why not. What do you say? Would you two like to stay for dinner?”

      Bejimin and Zur looked at each other with a smile. “That would be wonderful, Ma’am!” Bejimin said.

      And so, it was settled. Bejimin, Zur, the tailors and the Kigyo family all returned to the Kigyo household to have a lovely celebration dinner. There were meats and pastries and all that you could ask for. Zur and Bejimin didn’t want to leave, but they knew that they’d have to get home. Ex and Canna were probably getting worried.

      “Ready to head home, Zur?” Bejimin asked as she pulled her hoodie on to leave. Zur bounded over to him. “Yeah, I’m ready.” He turned to the others. “Bye, bye, everyone!” he chirped. “Goodbye!” everyone shouted as one.

      Just before they walked out the door, Virag grunted and ran over to them with the full intent of embracing them before they left. The two laughed happily as they were tightly hugged by their zombie friend. “We’ll visit you often. I promise!” Zur said happily as he slowly pulled away and went back over to his family.

      Then the two headed on their way, back to their home in the Lost Desert where the storm had finally cleared up and all was normal again.

     The End.