"Hmmm…another day, huh, girl?" Groggily, I rubbed a half-open eye with one elbow. As I stumbled up and out of my igloo, the occasional golden sunbeam would further coax my eyes open. By the time I somehow avoided crushing my icy adobe's roof while still getting out, I had one goal in mind: to give my new Petpet her daily morning greeting.
My abnormally small feet crunched in the snow. At one point in my life, I would have easily found walking barefoot in the tundra cold, but ever since I moved here, I had gradually adapted to the elements. It almost took a year, but I somehow managed it.
A few meters outside of my igloo lay a small pond. Its waters glimmered a slate gray color, even at the times of year that there was nearly no sunlight. But for the past week or so, it was now home to Kara.
…
Some time ago, I lay soundly asleep in my simple nest. My nest was very minimal; it consisted of snow molded into ice by my body weight by sleeping countless restful nights. If I remembered, I would throw on a blanket, but ever since I moved north, I found that I seldom would keep such luxuries in mind.
Suddenly, I woke up. My eyes gaped open in the deep darkness of the night. I knew my sleeping habits by heart, so if I were to awaken without warning, I would be immediately know something unusual was happening.
Crunch…crunch…SPLAT! A quite heavy object must have stumbled, only to tumble down. I heard something splash into a water source, and immediately deduced that it was my pond's water moving. After all, I have wandered this region before selecting this very area as my home, and there were no water sources for kilometers.
But soon afterwards, I closed my eyes, and attempted to fall asleep. As I was beginning to rest, I heard a rapid series of harsh patters against the snow. I did not dwell on those noises though, as I was asleep soon afterwards.
The next morning, after gathering breakfast, I heard something swimming in the ice pond. With a Happy Negg in hand that radiated with glee like the tropical sun, I looked down at my main water source. Needless to say, I jumped back with shock after I discovered its new inhabitant.
My pond was now home to a dull lilac creature that was clearly not built for the tundra. The petite creature resembled a shrunken dolphin or porpoise overall, but its feathered violet fins and tail fluttered in the water. Gleaming golden eyes curiously stared at my hand holding the Negg, piercing a hole in my soul like a laser beam.
"Okay," I finally relented after some time. "We can share." Tossing the Petpet a chunk of the Negg, I sat back and observed it dance in the water after its breakfast. As it jubilantly chortled, I grinned. It was the first time in months that I smiled.
…
Kara's swimming seemed more awkward today than in the past. Although she appeared to be in quite good health and readily accepted the tomato slice from my sandwich, she seemed to sense something that I could not.
Without thinking about the issue, I continued on with my day. Usually, I would trade food with distant neighbors, but today, I decided to stay closer to my igloo and pond, as well as Kara.
Around mid-day, I saw a clearly foreign figure in the distance. Visitors of any sort were a rarity in either of the Neopian poles, but guests that were not locals were practically unheard of.
As the apparently female figure closed in on my home, I squinted in on her, scouring her for details. She was maroon-furred and had long, narrow, dog-like ears that flopped as she waddled. Although she had a draconian tail like me, she was obviously not an Ice creature like I was, either in paint color or in spirit. Her bare feet swayed strangely as she shivered and walked, clutching on to her sheer rainbow scarf clearly intended for the runways and not Terror Mountain. It was a Zafara, and due to the commonness of her species, I embarrassingly could not tell who she was.
Several minutes later, the Zafara girl was closer, and she began to shout to me. "Hey, Draik-afaik! Remember me?"
Without warning, unpleasant memories and emotions came back to me, one by one, like a leaking pipe. The nickname that the Zafara just then called me echoed back, in that same nasally, high-pitched dog-whistle tone. Confusing mental images flooded my brain; vague recollections of scratchy pink wool blankets in front of a wooden hearth. A yellow-furred Kacheek, rodent-like, large-eared, and fluffy-tailed, gave me a consoling glance.
By the time I remembered the Kacheek, all of my tolerance had been lost. Though I tried to hold back my raging vortex of negative emotions, smoke began to billow out of my nostrils. Without thinking, I harshly hollered "Who do you think YOU are? I don't know you. At ALL. Please leave."
…
The Zafara had stopped advancing by the time she had reached my igloo. However, I had thankfully seemed to halt her flow of asinine questions with my outburst.
After a while, the Zafara approached me. Her gait was by now much more hunched and timid, and her cobalt eyes were dull with fear. "Well, umm…Esk? Is that…what they called you at the Pound? I don't remember really. Everyone just called you 'Draik-afaik' anyways." Her speech trembled and stammered as she searched her brain for the correct words.
Grinning with malicious joy, I evilly chuckled in response. "Ha-HA-ha! I haven't heard my proper nickname in years! But the way you repeated 'Draik-afaik' kind of neutralizes how you used 'Esk' there, girl."
Suddenly, I remembered something I had thought about. "Hey, who are you? And better yet, why are you here?"
The Zafara girl's cream-colored muzzle twitched with laughter. She flung her multi-colored scarf over one shoulder, as she announced "My name is Rocazino. Everyone calls me Roca, though. And I had a question for you…Drai…no, no, Esk, yeah, Esk!"
Sympathetically smiling, Rocazino raised a paw in explanation. "You know, even from a distance, I could tell that your days at the Pound troubled you. But we miss you, so I…we…all raised money to by you that Petpet back there in that there pond."
Quite revolted at Roca's implications, I scampered over to Kara's pond and sat down cross-legged. "What…really? I was the only one of my race there, so everyone though I was…'special', like some sort of sideshow freak." I then turned my head away from Roca and closed my eyes.
…
A golden-furred Kacheek girl gave me a meek grin. Her coat was well-maintained for a Pound pet, she and sported a powder pink bow in her tail fluff. The youth looked genuinely concerned when I told her of my troubles.
"Wow…" the Kacheek's voice trailed off into silence. "Why do the others think you're a freak? It might be cool to be part of such a small species, but it doesn't change who you are inside at all."
I gazed into the girl's dark brown eyes. Out of the Pound pets that I genuinely knew, Kara was my only friend. She was very demure and lacked confidence, placing her fairly low on the Pound's pecking order.
On the other hand, I was the most unusual one in the entire pound. Though I had a bad habit of being snarky and snappy, everyone ignored that as they simultaneously tried to be my friend and badly tease me. My reactions to such incidents did not make those other than Kara like me very much; yelling, breathing fire and having nostrils overflowing with smoke did not go well with a primarily mammalian social crowd.
But one day, Kara seemed even less confident than usual. She stammered even more than usual that day, and seemed less responsive overall.
That evening, as I prepared to lay down on my modest cot in front of a fireplace, I spotted Kara running towards me. In a rush, I draped my woolen pink blanket around my wings, and headed over to Kara.
"I…I'm so sorry I…I couldn't tell you this before…Esk, bu-but I'm being adopted. I-I've already met with my n-new…owner, she's really nice. I-it's been on my mind all day, ever since I learned I was chosen." My poor friend Kara was sweating nervously as she confessed what she had been hiding from me all day long."
Puzzled, I peered in Kara's general direction without saying anything. "Goodbye?" I harshly spoke, still confused as to whether or not she would stay the night.
"Goodbye and goodnight. But here, I…have something for you..." Grabbing her tail with her stubby arms, Kara gracefully plucked her favorite bow out.
After Kara placed her beloved belonging in my claws, she rushed back off to her own cot. I had no idea if she ever did stay the night, but all I knew is that I regretted not truly saying goodbye.
Following Kara's adoption, I felt no need to stay at the Neopian Pound any longer. Somehow, I managed to escape, and I headed north for Terror Mountain, as I knew no one would search for me in such a remote region. My scales gradually turned to Ice as I dwelled in the tundra, and I was never expecting to be found. Until now.
…
I opened my eyes, and I stared at Roca for a moment. Her intentions were genuine, just like Kara's.
Jumping up from my sitting position, I glanced at my Petpet Kara. I had not had her for very long, and though she did keep me company, I realized that she was by no means necessary, especially in such a frigid region as Terror Mountain.
"Roca…thanks." For the second time within a week, I smiled out of positive emotions, not negative ones. "I'd like you to…have two things."
Rocazino held a paw up to her muzzle in shock. "R-really? There's no need, I swear!"
I rummaged behind my igloo, and found my backpack, which I seldom needed now. Deftly, I placed my hand inside of it, and felt around for something silky and flat.
Soon, I had grabbed the object. I retrieved it, and giggled to myself. Kara's bow shined a pale rose color in the dim light of Terror Mountain. I then quickly crumpled it in my hand, not to arouse suspicion on Roca's part.
Clearing my throat, I made eye contact with Roca. "First off," I spoke, "I'd like you to have the Delfin back. I have no real need for her, and I doubt she can survive much longer up here."
Roca nodded as I continued. "Secondly…" I bowed my head, and I noticed my eyes were beginning to water.
I approached Rocazino, and handed her the ribbon. "Thi-this was my best Pound friend's favorite ribbon. Her name w-was Kara. She ga-gave it up to me before she got adopted by her owner."
The Zafara girl cradled the ribbon in one paw. Then, Roca gazed at me with concern. "Oh, Kara? Was she a Kacheek? I think I saw her just before I trekked up here."
Placing a hand on my back, Roca made a familiar hushing noise. "Don't cry, Esk. It's okay…", she cooed.
…
As unlikely as it seems with her discomfort with the local terrain, Rocazino must have felt sorry for me. It has been roughly a month since I saw Roca approaching me for the first time, and she decided to live in Terror Mountain too, becoming my closest neighbor.
Roca banged on my still too-small igloo's roof. "Wake up, Esk!" she cried. "Kara needs to be fed!"
Just as I exited my nest, I noticed that Roca seemed to have adapted to the cold just as I had. Roca's fur color and consistency appeared not to change, but she now wore a thick coat that I had purchased for her and snowshoes on her feet.
Roca then bent over to give my Petpet some of the egg salad sandwich bread that she held. At that moment, I noticed something extraordinary.
Blinking, I made sure I was seeing things correctly. Alas, I was. Unlike me, my new friend Rocazino not just cherished Kara's bow. She actually wore it on her tail.