A Lesson

     "Late for what?" he moaned sleepily.

     "Don't you remember? Toakoe said that he would teach us for an hour," Mozae said, putting some things in his backpack and picking up his snowickle.

     "Oh yeah, I forgot." Randy yawned as he got up from his bed.

     Mozae was a starry Lupe, and was best friends with Randy, a blue Kougra. They were on a vacation at Mystery Island, where they happened to meet a kind, wise old Gelert, named Toakoe. Toakoe said he would teach them some fighting skills for free. Toakoe had given them a piece of paper with his address written down on it.

     Randy tried to get ready as quickly as possible. He grabbed his backpack and a Tchea Fruit for a snack to go, and headed out the door with Mozae. They walked at a swift pace down the sidewalk, Mozae's snowickle trotting at his side. Randy glanced at Mozae's shiny, eye-catching, starry pelt, then at his snowickle, and then sighed to himself, as he looked down. Randy had always been jealous of Mozae. It seemed like Mozae always got the better of things. Randy wanted to be fire badly. Randy's owner didn't have enough neopoints to paint him or get him a petpet. The only reason he was going on vacation was because Mozae's owner had paid for it.

     "What’s wrong?" Mozae asked curiously, when he saw Randy's sad expression.

     "Oh, nothing," Randy replied, trying to look happy.

     Mozae then looked down at the piece of paper with the address written on it. "Well, it should be right around this corner," he said, looking up.

     When they turned the corner, their jaws dropped. They stared in awe up at the beautiful mansion. It was the biggest, most fancy house they had ever seen. It had a golden gate with a cursive T on the front of it.

     "Wow," they both said together, still looking up at the giant mansion.

     They gulped and walked slowly toward the giant gate. As they got closer, it suddenly made a great creaking sound, and opened slowly. The two pets stepped slowly through the gate and on to the pretty path that led to the front door, admiring the scenery. There were beautiful flowers, and a small pond that made a relaxing, bubbling sound. Finally, they made it to the front door. Before Mozae could reach for the doorbell, the door opened suddenly, revealing a kind, old, yellow Gelert in a red ancient robe.

     "Hello, hello," he said in a kind tone. "Please come in." He smiled. So the two pets stepped inside the mansion.

     The inside was even more astonishing than the outside. Toakoe led them up many staircases, ascending them effortlessly. Right when the two pets thought they were going to faint from too much walking, they reached a door at the top of the highest staircase. The Gelert opened the door to reveal an outside arena on his flat roof. They all stepped onto the roof. Randy peered down below at the ground. It looked very far away, and he became a little sick inside.

     "What if we fall?" Randy asked fearfully.

     "You won't. In all my years of teaching, no one has ever fallen. Just stay away from the edge," he informed him. "Now let us begin."

     The two set their backpacks down, and Mozae set his snowickle on his backpack, whispering something to it.

     "I shall begin your lesson by giving each of you a gift," Toakoe said, revealing two figures wrapped in black silk.

     Randy and Mozae exchanged excited looks.

     "Lupe, come forward," Toakoe said, motioning for Mozae.

     Mozae walked slowly up to Toakoe.

     "I see a fighting spirit within you. This gift will help you strengthen your talent," Toakoe said, while handing him one of the items in black silk.

     Mozae looked at Toakoe, who nodded, and then curiously unwrapped the black silk. His eyes widened when he saw what was under the smooth silk. A glowing, sharp fire dagger gleamed in his paws, with precious jewels arranged orderly on the blue handle. A large smile sprung across his face.

     "Thank you sir," Mozae managed to say, still not taking his eyes off the dagger. With that, Mozae went back to where he was standing before, a feeling of happiness filling him.

     "Come forth, Kougra," Toakoe said, motioning for Randy. Randy walked up excitedly to Toakoe.

     "You have a defending soul, and you would do anything for the ones you care about. This gift will help you to defend in times of need," Toakoe said, handing the other item wrapped in black silk to Randy.

     Visions of super-powerful, cool weapons and armor went through Randy's mind, as he almost ripped the silk while taking it off. His huge smile of hope quickly faded into a look of disappointment when he saw that the item for him was just a plain, old wooden blocking shield. The Kougra tried hard not to show how disappointed he was, but it was very difficult.

     "Thanks," he said, though he didn't mean it. He then walked sadly back to where he was standing.

     Mozae and Randy spent the rest of the afternoon learning new skills and techniques. Every once in awhile, Randy would glance at Mozae's glowing fire dagger, and the glance would turn into a stare of envy. Soon it was time to go.

     "Thank you, Toakoe!" Mozae shouted, waving goodbye as the two pets left through the golden gate. Randy didn't say anything.

     "Keep practicing, and good luck in your battles!" Toakoe shouted back.

     On the way back, Mozae carried his snowickle, while singing a happy tune. Randy just stared at the ground. This time, Mozae didn't notice Randy’s sadness. He was too busy thinking about what type of techniques he would use in his next battle.

     They finally got home to their condo, which they had rented. They set down their backpacks.

     "Phew! What a day! I'm gonna go wash up and go to bed," sighed Mozae.

     "Okay," Randy said plainly.

     Randy sighed. He looked over on the table where Mozae had left his dagger. It was still glowing. Oh, how Randy wanted it. He walked over to the table. Randy picked it up, and felt the smoothness of the blade.

     I'll just take it, he thought. No one will ever know. It should be mine anyway. I deserve it.

     A greedy smile came across Randy's face, but then, it turned into frown.

     No, no, I can't do that. Mozae is my best friend. He has never stolen anything from me. How selfish I am, Randy whispered to himself.

     Randy yawned. He decided that he would just go to bed. Mozae went to bed shortly after.

     A knock at the door awoke Randy from his slumber. He yawned and stretched, looked at Mozae, who was still sleeping, and then got up to see who it was. He opened the door sleepily. Randy’s sleepy expression turned into a surprised look, when he saw who was at the door.

     "Toakoe! What are you doing here?" Randy asked curiously.

     "I saw how you didn't give into your desire to steal Mozae's dagger." Toakoe smiled.

     "But how could you see m-" Randy was cut off.

     "And so I have another gift for you," Toakoe said, as he handed a box to Randy.

     "Oh no, here we go again," thought Randy, as he rolled his eyes.

     Randy opened the box, and to his astonishment, it was not a worthless item. His eyes grew wide, and his jaw dropped at what he saw. A Fire, Fire, Your Pants On Fire Paint Brush! Randy couldn't believe it. He looked up to thank Toakoe, but Toakoe was gone. Randy hugged the paintbrush tight.

     "Thank you," Randy whispered.

The End