The Shoyru Tamer: Part One

"The green and purple clouds were swirling everywhere. On top of Jhudora's Cloud was Jhudora herself and…Ray. And then, there I was, standing there, pleading to Jhudora not to take him away."

     "So what happened?"

     "What do you think? It seemed like someone had taped that day of my life and was playing that part over again in my head. Everything was the same."

     "Seriously, what happened next?"

     "No matter how hard I pleaded, Jhudora still shook her head. At one point she grabbed Ray's arm like she did before, and the clouds formed into a tornado that covered the two."

     "And then, when the tornado died away, the two were gone, right?"

     "Right." It was the 20th day of the month of Swimming. The morning's sunlight shone into the kitchen. The girl got up and walked over to the window and pulled down the shades. The sunlight suddenly disappeared and the room was dark.

     Duel Walkers sat at the kitchen table with a sad look. Her owner, Samantha Walkers, walked back over to her seat and sat down before bursting into tears. Duel leaned over to hug her for comfort. "It's okay Sammy. He'll turn up again sometime."

     3 months ago, Jhudora the Dark Faerie had kidnapped Sammy's best friend, Ray Lewis, right in front of her. Ray wasn't heard from since then. Sammy cried even louder. "I don't even feel like going to the catacombs today," Sammy said weakly through her tears. Duel knew that Sammy missed Ray much more now. How? Sammy always went to the catacombs of Neopia Central everyday to chat with fellow Neopian Times artists and writers.

     "Wanna go get a Slushie from the shop?" Duel asked. Sammy thought for a moment, wiped her tears, and nodded.

     *****

     "I'll have a Lime Slushie and she'll have a Bubble Gum Slushie."

     "That'll be 3,670 Neopoints. Here you go." Duel handed the Eyrie the Neopoints and took the two Slushies. She then handed the Bubble Gum one to Sammy and started slurping on her own Lime Slushie. Sammy took her Slushie, but she didn't drink it just yet.

     Duel looked over her shoulder. "Hey Samster, try drinking it before it melts." Sammy was staring up at a poster. Across the top were big, bold, blue letters that read "Shoyru Tamer Training". In the middle was a boy with an Accelerator Helmet that hid away his hair. He was also wearing a normal teenager boy's clothes, and he looked like he was angry at someone. Maybe it's just the mood, Duel thought.

     "It says down here that he trains Shoyrus for 100 Neopoints per day." Sammy took a sip of her Slushie. "Not a bad deal."

      "Yo Sam," Duel said, "is it just me, or does he look familiar? I mean, like we know him or something."

     Sammy thought for a moment, took another few sips of her Slushie, and then shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe we do. Maybe we don't."

     "What else does it say?" Duel asked.

     Sammy was silent as she continued reading the bottom of the poster. "He's known as the Shoyru Tamer, he's got 3 Shoyrus, only trains Shoyrus, and promises that if your Shoyru doesn't gain a level each day you'll get your money back."

     "That all?"

     "Yeah, that's - no, wait, and it also says that he lives at 15015 Summit Strip, Terror Mountain. Hey, that's just down the road from us!"

     Duel thought for a moment. "Hey, it is! Cool, can I get trained? Please?" Sammy folded her arms and smirked. "C'mon! Please?"

     Sammy sighed. "Oh fine."

     "Yes!" Duel cried out. She flew into the air and jumped for joy. "For how long can I go?"

     "Two days." Duel stopped in mid-air and fell down.

     "What?!" she yelled. "Why? It's not like I've got anything to do!"

     Sammy thought for a moment. "Fine, I'll give you four days instead. Happy?"

     "Yeah, well, it's better than nothing."

     *****

     Sammy and Duel walked up to the front door of the Shoyru Tamer's house. Duel was totally nervous about her training. Sammy was totally nervous about meeting the Shoyru Tamer.

     "Go ahead," Duel said to Sammy. "Knock on the door." Sammy glared at Duel for a moment, and then knocked on the door.

     Nobody answered it right away. "Alright, no one's home," Sammy said, turning to leave. Duel grabbed her hair and pulled her back.

     "Not so fast, I hear someone coming." Duel was right. Just then, a Red Shoyru opened the door and looked at Sammy and Duel.

     "You're here to see Tamer, aren't you?" he asked. Sammy nodded. The Red Shoyru went back inside and yelled "Tamer! You've got customers!" The same boy from the poster walked up to the two. He looked at Duel and smiled, but when he looked at Sammy, his eyes went wide.

     "Is something the matter, Mr. Shoyru Tamer?" Sammy asked. He shook his head and his eyes went back to normal.

     "I'm sorry, just you seemed awfully familiar for a moment," the Shoyru Tamer said. His voice sounded warped in the Accelerator Helmet, but Sammy could hear a trace of his original voice.

     "I could say the same to you," Sammy muttered under her breath.

     Duel coughed to get the Shoyru Tamer's attention. "I'm Duel. Nice to meet you, Shoyru Tamer."

     "Please call me Tamer," he replied. "Nice to meet you, too." Tamer turned to Sammy again. "So, er…"

     "Dragon Catcher Sammy," Sammy said, introducing herself. "Sammy for short."

     "Right. So, Sammy, how many days is Duel here staying for?"

     "Four days." Tamer nodded.

     "Okay, then at the end of the fourth day, you'll pay for all four days." Now Sammy nodded as Tamer turned again to Duel. "Come on, I'd like to show you around the training grounds. You can come too." Tamer opened the door wide open and let Duel and Sammy in.

     They stared at the large main entrance. Shoyrus of all colors were rushing in and out of the three doors. Tamer pointed to the door to the left. "That's the hallway to the Kitchen, Bathroom, Dining Room, all those rooms." His hand switched to the right. "That there's the hallway to all the rooms. Down there is my room, my Shoyru's rooms, and the Guest Rooms. Duel, you'll be sleeping in Room 2 with 3 other Shoyrus."

     "Cool," Duel said. She pointed to the door in front of them. "What about that one? Where does that lead to?"

     "That, Duel, is the door to the Training Grounds. Out there is all the equipment I need to train all my customers."

     "Where'd you get it all?" Duel asked.

     "It's all imported directly from Virtupets. Plus, all the equipment was custom made." Tamer smiled.

     "It must've cost a lot of money," Sammy said. "Even the non-custom equipment there is expensive."

     Tamer nodded. "Over a million neopoints."

     "Where'd you get it all?" Duel cried.

     "A generous donator," Tamer said. "So, Duel, training starts in the morning, and since it's the afternoon, your training doesn't start until tomorrow. Do you want to stay for the night?"

     Duel looked at Sammy. "Can I stay, Sammy?" Duel pleaded. "Please?"

     Sammy sighed. "Oh, fine. Does it cost anything more?"

     "Usually it'd be an additional 50 neopoints, but for you, Duel can stay for the night for free." Tamer smiled at Sammy. Sammy smiled back.

     "Awesome!" Duel cried. "Hey, don't you have 3 Shoyrus?" Tamer blinked, and he nodded.

     "Oh, right. MD! Sea! Mega! Get in here; I want to introduce you to Duel!" Three Shoyrus flew into the room and landed next to Tamer. One was green, one was red, and the last one was blue. "This is Duel. She's going to be training with us."

     "Ew, what's that black stuff all over your eyes?" the green one said rather rudely. Duel touched her left cheek for a moment to figure out what the Shoyru was talking about. Finally, Duel realized what she was talking about.

     "It's my mascara," Duel replied.

     "It looks disgusting. Neopets that fight don't wear that ugly make-up." Duel's face went slightly red at that comment.

     "Why are you wearing it?" the blue one asked.

     "I'm the lead singer in my band," Duel replied coldly. "We're punk-rockers." The red Shoyru made a motion that looked like sticking his finger down his throat, which made Duel's face go even redder. "Stop it," Duel said quietly. She wasn't loud enough for the others to hear her, so they continued making fun of her mascara. At each laugh, giggle, and chuckle, Duel's face went even redder, until she looked like she had stuck her face in the Rainbow Pool with a Red Paint Brush.

     Duel was speechless. She looked at Sammy for help, but she and Tamer weren't paying attention at all; they were happily chatting.

     Duel looked back at the three Shoyrus. Obviously, they weren't done with making fun of Duel yet, since they were still laughing and rudely imitating Duel.

     Duel's eyes narrowed. "I said to stop it!" she yelled. The Shoyrus continued to mock her. Duel drew back her arm, and then punched the Red Shoyru right in the face. Everything stopped. Passers by froze on the spot, Sammy and Tamer suddenly looked at the scene, and the Shoyrus' laughter stopped. The only noise that could be heard was the Red Shoyru's swearing.

     "Wow!" Tamer exclaimed. "Nice left hook, there!" Duel was still speechless.

     "You ungrateful little…" the Red Shoyru mumbled as his brother helped him up. "Just wait until I get my hands on you…" Duel gulped.

     "I-I'm sorry," Duel choked.

     "…No way I'm gonna go easy on you…" Duel felt like crying. Her eyes welled up with tears. She suddenly flew up into the air and flew down the hallway to all the rooms at top speed.

     Tamer blinked and looked at Sammy. "Did I do something wrong?"

To be continued...