Big Brother Blues Two

It had been about two years since I had lost my younger brother, Twilight. He was a young, slightly annoying baby Gelert. I got annoyed with him, and my owner noticed, and felt the same way. But my owner got so angry with him that eventually, she left him at the pound, and I never saw him again. I tried to find out if he had gotten adopted or not, and after about a month of trying to track down Twilight, I learned that he had been adopted by an ignoring owner, and had soon gotten sick and was unable to move, and perhaps even breathe. Since then, I have always grieved over Twilight. I missed him every day. And I had changed a lot over those two years. I was once a perky, spoiled fire Lupe, but I was painted again, and this time, my owner Becka painted me mutant. I wanted to be mutant because I was going through some serious pain when Twilight left. Not only had my looks changed, but my personality had changed completely. I was no longer greedy or selfish. I now had years of attitude adjustments, and now, I was responsible, bold, and wise.

      To make things a bit better, Becka had finally let me run her shop. I loved to run the shop; it gave me a chance to prove what a salesman I was and how I could put great bargains on rare items. Our shop had to be the most popular in all of Neopia. Sure, most people would be happy that heaps and heaps of neopoints were flooding in by the second, but not me. There was always this empty feeling inside me, and I hated it. I knew that it was Twilight. But since he had gotten sick and his owner was too careless to do anything, I knew that Twilight had to be dead. There was no other option. Twilight was definitely gone.

      One cold morning in September, I was standing behind the counter, watching as the customers browsed through the hundreds of shelves that were positioned against the walls. Nobody was really buying anything that day. I sighed, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. It was so boring that day. I watched as a Christmas Kougra brought an item to the counter, and they quickly paid for it and left. Nobody else bought anything for the next three hours. There had to be at least fifty pets still in the shop, and each one left without buying. And by the end of the day, all that was left in the shop was an electric Gelert and a white Lupe. Eventually the white Lupe left, leaving the Gelert the only one in the store, besides me. The Gelert had to have been browsing for at least four hours, glancing over at me every minute and a half. And at last, the Gelert snatched up a red Gelert plushie and tossed it onto the counter. I quickly said, "That will be three hundred neopoints, please."

      The electric Gelert squinted at me. He brought his head back and paused for a moment before asking, "Are you Kobai?"

      I stared at him as he set a sack of neopoints on the counter. "Yes, I am... if you knew me before, that was probably when I was fire," I replied. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

      The electric Gelert's eyes were filled with shame. A sorrowful frown planted his face. "You don't remember... do you?" he whispered quietly, his head slowly lowering in sadness.

      I stared at him, and an awkward silence swept over the both of us. "I'm... sorry... I don't." I took the neopoints and handed him the Gelert plushie.

      He stared at me, with wide eyes. He hardly opened his mouth to reply, "Oh... well... okay." With drooping ears, he wandered away and into the cold, breezy night, leaving me alone and confused.

      The next day, I decided to buy myself a treat before our shop opened. I wandered through the snow-covered streets, walking in and out of many stores. With a sack of a thousand neopoints, I was buying chocolates and other tasty treats for myself. Then I finally rested my eyes upon a small, beat-up looking shop. A tattered sign was hung above it, and I couldn't read the name of the shop. Curious, I wandered inside. It looked horrible inside. There were lit candles and many different potions lined the walls. The brown wallpaper was peeling, and dust layered the floor. I saw spyders making webs as I observed the ceiling, seeing many cracks and holes. Ignoring the ugly features of the shop, I sorted through the different shelves and found a healing potion. I guess I should buy it, I thought. This shop really needs the money. I grabbed the potion and made my way to the counter. There, I saw the electric Gelert. "Y-You!" I yelled by mistake. Shocked by seeing him, I instantly dropped the potion, making it shatter into millions of tiny shards of glass. I slapped my paws over my mouth and whispered, "I'm so sorry!" Great... I had to make the shop look worse, I thought with dismay.

      "It's fine, it's fine," the Gelert sighed, grabbing a broom and sadly sweeping up the shards of glass. He stared at me and asked, "What are you doing here? Aren't you too good for this shop?"

      Fury blazed inside me. I curled my lip and growled, "What is that supposed to mean?"

      The electric Gelert chuckled a bit, shaking his head. I would've beat him up if it wasn't for the lost look in his eyes. He laughed, "It means nothing... nothing at all."

      I blinked a few times, realizing something that made me feel so stupid. I asked, "What is your name?"

      The Gelert hesitated, clenching the broom handle tighter. I could tell that he was thinking of an excuse or a lie. He looked at me, then looked away, saying, "Xylorn... my name is Xylorn."

      I squinted at him. Xylorn... what an odd name. It certainly didn't fit the guy. I was about to ask more about Xylorn, when suddenly, a large, chubby boy walked out from the back room and towered over Xylorn. He glared at him and scowled. "What's going on here?"

      Fear shot through Xylorn's eyes. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, looking over at me and then at the boy. "I, uh, accidentally spilled a potion when this Lupe paid for it..." Xylorn lied, staring at me at the corner of his eye.

      I was scared when the boy lifted his finger in the air and began to lecture Xylorn about being a good salesman and other stuff that got me pretty confused. The boy also threw in a few cruel words, like that Xylorn was a failure and that's why he was abandoned and left alone. I almost wanted to step in and help the Gelert, but something in my mind told me not to. If the boy knew that Xylorn lied, he'd lecture Xylorn more. Xylorn kept blinking, and I could tell that he was straining to keep the tears back. The boy put his face right in front of Xylorn's and growled, "I painted you and saved your life. Don't let me down again." With that, he stormed away.

      Xylorn sighed and finished sweeping up the glass, mumbling angrily under his breath. I was astonished... did Xylorn just lie to keep me safe? I asked, "Why did you lie?"

      Xylorn looked up at me, sorrow sweeping over his face. "I... wanted you to be alright," he replied honestly. With his head hung, he wandered back behind the counter and asked, "So... would you still like to buy something?"

      I hesitated, then tossed a bag of neopoints of the counter. "No... but keep this anyway. I appreciate your sacrifice... thank you," I said quickly, then darted out the doors.

      The rest of the day I was working at the shop, and it was oddly more busy than the day before. Every moment that I was working, that Gelert was on my mind. Why was he so nice to me? How did he know my name? Did I know him? I had never met any electric Gelerts in my life. I tried to push those thoughts off my mind, but it was impossible. They swarmed around my head until it was time for me to head home.

      When I was walking home, it was pouring rain. I would've preferred snow; it was worse to have millions of little raindrops hitting your head every second. I scurried around the sharp corners and darted down the empty streets. I rounded the corner towards my house, when I suddenly froze. I saw Xylorn, a red and blue scarf around his neck, standing outside our house and looking up at it longingly. The usual 'I'm lost' look was shown in his eyes. Even though it was raining, his eyes were red and I saw real tears streaming down his face and making rivers on his cheeks. "X-Xylorn..." I called. The instant I spoke his name, he turned and looked at me. "What are you doing here?"

      There was a long pause that seemed like forever. I frowned at him, but he kept a straight face. Then, Xylorn grinned. "Because you can never get rid of your own brother."

      My heart suddenly stopped and I thought I was going to pass out. Thoughts and memories swarmed inside my head, and a shiver raced up my spine. "Twilight!!" I screamed, running over to him, ignoring the fact that I was nearly slipping on the snow-covered ground and the raindrops beating on my head had nearly numbed me. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him the biggest hug I had ever given anyone. I had to hug him for about a minute until he finally hugged me back. I was surprised that it was him. The last time I saw him, he was an annoying, young baby Gelert. Now, he had matured and been repainted electric. When we pulled away from each other, I smiled. Then my smile lowered as I asked, "Xylorn? Why did you tell me that your name was Xylorn?"

      Twilight sighed. "Well, you didn't remember me. When you told me that you didn't remember, I figured that you didn't care about me anymore. I thought that you wanted to forget about me. So I wanted to stay out of your life, and by lying about my name, I wouldn't be involved or ruin anything else."

      I frowned. Why would Twilight think that? Didn't he know that the whole reason why I was struggling was because of his loss? I replied, "Twilight, you would never ruin my life! You made my life better. And plus, how was I supposed to remember you when you used to be a baby Gelert, and now you're electric?"

      Twilight grinned bigger than I had ever seen him grin. "That may be true... but then how did I remember you?"

      I paused and stared at Twilight. He was right. Even though I had changed too much, personality and looks, he still remembered. If he didn't remember, then we might have never been reunited ever again. I felt a tear in a mixture of the rain stream down my face. I opened my mouth and tried to say something, but I couldn't. The joy and surprise in my heart made my mind rush. Several times I tried to talk to Twilight, but nothing came out. After a while, I just hugged Twilight again. All I needed to say - and all I wanted him to know - was that I missed him and that he was the most important person in my entire life.

      Since the day that the two siblings were reunited, they could never be separated again. Although Becka was stunned that Kobai had found Twilight, which she really didn't want him to, she still allowed them to see each other daily. As for Twilight's owner, he let Twilight see Kobai whenever he finished the chores around the house and shop. Kobai's happiness rose every time he talked with his brother as they filled each other in on what they had been missing for the last two years. The brothers never left each other's side... even when they had become old and unable to move, they still sat together and talked, even if it drained most of their energy. They didn't care about pain or money or anything else in the world - all they needed was each other.

The End

Author's Note: Thanks to my readers who encouraged me to write this sequel, and to my Gelert Xylorn for letting me use his name!! =)