The Lone Ranger of the Night
All alone...In the middle of the night, this funny, creative, blue Aisha is thrown out by its owner to live in the streets. With only a hat made out of an old neopian times to keep out the cold and rain, the blue aisha sits underneath a darkened sky. Tears fall down, as the Aisha weeps. The stars twinkle, and the moon appears from behind a wall of storm clouds, its milky blue light is cast upon the abandoned pet. The blue Aisha looks up. "You are not alone, poor friend," a voice says to the Aisha. "Nor, are you lost. Look to us, the stars will guide you to where your future lies." The Aisha clambers to her feet, and begins her journey as a wanderer, roaming to places her old friends could never have dreamed of. A lone ranger, with friends of the night...
Under a sky full of stars, a Blue Aisha, the Lone Ranger of the Night, sits on a cliff above the ocean. The milky glow of the moon reflects upon the water, transforming it into a sea of midnight blue and white. In the water, bubbles form right below the Lone Ranger of the Night; she leans over to observe the occurrence with curiosity.
Out of the water leaps a majestic figure, a teal blue Maraquan Aisha, its head tilts up, as it's fins flip back and forth in an elegant dance, it twirls and swirls in the air as it dives headfirst back into the water with a small 'plop!' The Lone Ranger sighs as she gazes upon the magnificent sight. "I wish I could be a Maraquan Aisha," she breathes. "I would dive in and out of the water all night; the moonlight would cast a milky, translucent glow upon my fins. Then I would go down into the depths of the sea, and play with the creatures and neopets unknown to humankind, and neopets of the land." She sighs again.
The Lone Ranger gazes back into the water, upon the reflection of the moon, Kreludor. The craters aren't visible, so The Lone Ranger searches for the specks on the reflection that might be the moon base, constructed for research and scientific reasons. Perhaps even people and neopets could live on the surface of the moon! "I would hate to live on the moon," The Lone Ranger tells herself. "It would be cool to bounce around, but I can't stand the thought of being on a planet without the wondrous depths of the ocean. I love water - especially at night. I love the way the moonlight hits the glassy surface just right, to create a milky glow, a mysterious, eerie, translucent light, reflecting upon the waters unknown." The Lone Ranger takes a deep breath, and sighs once more.
Ripples cross the reflection of the moon, as a red dorsal fin sticks up out of the water. The creature swims faster, gaining up on a darkened figure - the Maraquan Aisha! The thing chasing the Maraquan Aisha swims closer to the surface of the water, close enough that The Lone Ranger can identify it as a red jetsam. The Red Jetsam starts biting and slashing at the struggling Aisha, tearing and slashing at her tail fins, forcing her towards the shore.
A shriek fills the midnight air. The Maraquan Aisha hangs limply by her waist in the Jetsam's mouth. "That's enough!" The Lone Ranger stands on her feet. "You have no right to harm that Maraquan Aisha! I will avenge my fallen sister."
The Lone Ranger dives into the water and swims towards the Jetsam. Holding the Maraquan Aisha protectively in his mouth, the red jetsam backs away and slaps his tail through the water, as if daring his opponent to challenge him. The Lone Ranger pulls out a Rainbow Gun, and starts firing rainbow light at the Jetsam. In blind confusion, the Red Jetsam drops his prey and starts thrashing wildly in the water. Without her opponent knowing, the Lone Ranger slips into the water and grabs the Maraquan Aisha, using all her effort to pull her sister to shore.
The brilliant bright light of the noonday sun blinds Aeries, as she lies upon the shore of a tiny, undiscovered island. "How did I get here?" her small, sweet voice murmurs.
Aeries looks beside her, and finds a small blue Aisha, curled in a ball, shivering. She strokes the Aisha's cheek with her fin, murmuring soothing words of comfort.
The blue Aisha wakes up to see that the Maraquan Aisha is awake. She sighs with relief. "Are you all right? Why was that Red Jetsam chasing you?"
The Maraquan Aisha laughs, "that was Pesto, he's a friend I know. I know you worried, but did have a reason to attack me. I snuck into his home and stole his Mutant Jetsam Plushie and destroyed his Speed Devil trophy." She laughed with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "It was worth it - especially because I got to meet you! I was going to win the Speed Devil race, but Pesto decided to concoct a potion to make him faster - the little cheater."
"So, what's your name? Mine is Aeries."
"I don't have a name," Aeries looks at her in shock. "My owner decided to toss me into the streets a couple years ago - for absolutely no reason at all. He gave me a name, but I don't like it - it reminds me of him. They call me The Lone Ranger of the Night, because I only travel during the night, and I travel alone. The stars and the moon are my only companions."
Aeries pities the blue Aisha who identifies herself as 'The Lone Ranger of the Night'. "Do you have any dreams or goals? Anything you want to do with your life?"
"I have one goal. One dream to fulfill. It is to become a Maraquan Aisha." She looks up at the sun, shading her eyes with her paw. "Let's find some shade, it's too hot here."
The Lone Ranger picks up her new friend Aeries and carries her on her back, struggling under the weight. She sets Aeries down under a shady palm tree and lays on her back, watching the branches high above, swaying gently in the breeze.
Her eyes closed, her body fully relaxed, The Lone Ranger takes in the scents of the earth, the scents carried by the winds. She listens to the whoosh of the wind, the swish-swish of the leaves overhead rubbing against each other in the wind. Caught up in the beauty of the beach, The Lone Ranger sighs, and peers over her shoulder to look at Aeries.
She sees that Aeries is not in good condition. The wind had blown her skin dry, and her breathing is uneven and raspy. The Lone Ranger of the Night gazes out of her shady shelter and upon the deserted beach; the cliffs above her show no promise of a safe climb up. She slowly takes one cautious step out into the sweltering sun, to fetch water, and is immediately knocked down by the heat and humidity. Instead of trying to get up, the Blue Aisha lays there in the sun, too weary to move. A tiny voice inside her head screams at her to get up.
'This is it,' she thinks bitterly. 'May my death be swift. My life was worthless. My owner created me to become strong and to battle along side him, as a team. But then he saw a fierce Shadow Jetsam in the pound and wanted the Jetsam - instead of me. He took all my toys and battledome items, and said, Big A, it's time for you to go. I know I created you to play with, and that I would one day teach you how to fight, but now I found a better partner. Someone who is strong, who won't back down on a challenge. I enjoyed our time together, but goodbye. Then he threw me into the street, and slammed the door behind him, in my face. Leaving me with nothing, but a useless newspaper.'
Tears well up in the lonely blue Aisha's eyes. She hits her fist on the ground. "It wasn't fair," she says. "All I wanted was to have fun, to make him happy. But he abandoned me anyway. He didn't even take me to the pound! I was his very first pet, and he threw me away! And look at me now, I'm a great battledomer. I should go right over to him and show him what he threw away! Then I can get revenge!" She clamps her fist into a ball, and hits her palm.
"But no," The Lone Ranger crawls back to the shade and sits down. "Revenge is useless. All those times together, those many years ago, are gone. Forever." A tear slowly trickles down her cheek.
Aeries looks into the lonesome Aisha's face, and strokes the blue Aisha's cheek with her flaky paw, wiping away the tear. "It's okay. It's okay to cry. Feel free to cry your heart out, because you are not alone. I'm here for you."
The Lone Ranger sniffles, eyes glassy, and full of tears. Then the floodgates break and the tears come rushing down, as the lonely blue Aisha cries her heart out, reflecting upon the old memories, knowing that she can never go back to those happy days. She wants to give them up, to break free from them, but she can't, she doesn't know how.
"You must let it go."
Those wise words said by Aeries echo in The Lone Ranger's head. Suddenly, she's filled with understanding. "It was never my fault," she whispers, as the realization comes to her. "It wasn't my fault I wasn't the battledomer my owner wanted. It was my owner's fault for not accepting, nor wanting me for who I am! I can't change who I am, because I'm me, and I'll always be me. And there's somebody who loves me for who I am, and that's you, Aeries! Thank you."
The Lone Ranger snuggles up next to her friend Aeries, for they are like sisters now. They explore the ocean tides together, and pretty soon they start to explore the land as well, learning new things, together. Before, The Lone Ranger's only goal was to become Maraquan, but now, she no longer needs to be. Because she knows who she is, and she doesn't need to be a certain colour to tell her that, because in her heart, she is Maraquan, and she knows it. For she is as graceful in water as Aeries, and when you're that good, who needs to have fins? No longer is she the Lone Ranger of the Night, for she is alone no more. Now, she is called The Spirit of the Sea, for much like the sea she is... And in the moonlight, they say that her paws turn to fins, and her skin becomes teal, as she leaps and dives in the water, while the moon casts a milky, translucent glow upon her fins...