Author's Note: In a burst of insanity, I, Flare, the fifteen-year-old Newsies fanfic author and huge slacker, have decided to post the Neopets fanfics that I wrote almost four years ago, when I was eleven. Yes, you read that correctly: eleven. And I haven't changed a thing. I'd still love reviews, just being the huge review junkie I am, and I will add to preserve some dignity that I still like these stories and think they're worth reading for Neopets fans. But do just keep in mind that if I ever decide to write anything else for Neopets, it should (hopefully) be quite a bit improved.
And without further ado, I give you the story that was one of my "huge" obsessive projects in my younger days. (grins)
Galleymyst's Story
Part One: Marina
Hello, reader. I am enchanted to meet you. My name is Galleymyst, or "Myst" for short, and my beloved owner, HauntedMoon, has asked me to tell you my story.
I must confess, while there are a few things I happen to excel at (such as fighting, swimming, rowing, navigating, and tying knots), I fear that storytelling has never been among my greatest talents. However, HauntedMoon feels that my tale deserves to be told, and due to her support and that of my dear sisters, IsadoraMoonChild and Twlight414, I am able to bring to you today the story of my life.
It all started, you see, with a girl named Marina.
The memories of NeoPets happen to go back a bit further than those of humans, which is why my earliest memory is of opening my eyes only seconds after I was first created.
The first thing that I ever laid eyes on now comes to mind in vivid detail: a rough, worn face, a mane of untidy sandy-colored hair, two big shining blue eyes, and the most joyous of smiles. I took my first breath, and my nostrils filled with the scent of salt and fish...the scent of the sea. And the first sound I ever heard was the sound of that voice, strong and gentle and loving, saying to me...
"Welcome to the world, Galleymyst. I'm Marina, your owner, and I love you already."
I smiled and snuggled into Marina's arms, and she stroked my yellow fur and whispered in my ear, "Yes, I do, and I will always love you...forever, for always, unending."
And I felt exactly the same way about her.
With Marina, I felt that I was the happiest pet in Neopia. I was her only pet, and she was as kind to me as any pet could wish for his or her owner to be. She was not rich; indeed, she was rather poor. She could never afford to buy me any expensive books or fancy toys or powerful BattleDome weapons. But that was fine with me. I never wanted any of those things; all I wanted was what Marina could give me. And, oh, what she gave me!
She showered me with affection from the moment I was created. She never failed to keep me well-fed on delicious, healthy low-cost foods, or to keep me bathed and groomed (although she never touched her own untidy mane of hair), or to tell me, every single night when she tucked me into bed, that she would love me forever, for always, unending.
Although we didn't have many NeoPoints, the life which Marina and I led together was far from boring. Marina, you see, was a sailor. She wasn't just a sailor; she loved the sea with a passion. It was like a part of her. You, dear reader, probably think my name rather strange. Well, even that was a product of Marina's love of the ocean and of sailing. She named me "Galleymyst" for the ancient Roman ships called "galleys" and for the beautiful silvery-white mist that swirls over the ocean after a storm.
Marina and I lived in a NeoHome right by the sea, and there was never anything in the entire world that girl would rather do than sail; she'd have done so all day, every day, if she could. Marina's father, a ship captain who was lost at sea when she was ten years old, had been the one to teach her. She still had his little boat, and it was her most prized possession; she loved the feeling of the wind whipping back her hair; the tangy smell and the salty, fishy taste of the sea; the cool, refreshing spray of the water on her skin.
She would always take me sailing with her, of course, and I grew to love the sea just as much as she did. It was Marina who taught me most of those talents that I mentioned at the beginning of this story; talents that any respectable sailor should possess.
Anyway, as you can see, Marina and I must have been the happiest pair in Neopia. The only dent in our otherwise perfect happiness was Marina's growing frustration as she tried again and again to get herself hired as a sailor. No captain seemed to want to hire a girl of her age and status. It was the only thing Marina truly wanted: to be a real sailor. And really...although it hurts me deeply to say it...she wanted that more than she wanted me.
You see, one day, the rare occasion occurred that Marina left me home alone. She was going down to the wharf, where a ship was coming to deliver a cargo of PetPets. She'd heard that one of the sailors was getting on in years and planning to retire, and she was hoping that the ship's captain would hire her in his place.
It was very early in the morning, I was still asleep, and Marina didn't want to wake me. So she took all of her NeoPoints, which she had been saving for as long as I could remember-Marina never did consider herself above bribery-and went without me. I was sleeping deeply, and did not awaken until I heard the door slam with a resounding bang and Marina take the stairs three at a time.
The door to my room burst open, and Marina raced in and dove onto my bed. At first I smiled, for her face was lit up with obvious joy. But then she turned to look straight at me, and I watched as her smile wilted, her eyes filled with sorrow, and she hung her head.
"Myst," she whispered, reaching out one hand, worn and calloused from wooden oars, streaked with ocean salt, and rested it ever so gently on my cheek. "Myst...the captain said he'll hire me."
With a little shriek, I leapt to my feet. My face bloomed into a smile the size of the ocean. I let out a whoop and threw myself at Marina, licking her face all over. When I finally got over my initial excitement, I fell back on the bed, laughing with joy.
"Marina, congratulations! That's WONDERFUL news! It's what you've always wanted! It's going to be so much fun, living on a ship, and..."
I trailed off. A tear had just spilled from one of Marina's midnight-blue eyes and was coursing down her cheek. I was shocked. I had never seen Marina cry before, not even after all the brutal and unjust rejections she had received from various ship captains...so now that she had finally been accepted, why was she crying?
Gently, I licked the tear from her cheek and lifted her chin with one paw. I peered into her eyes as two more tears slid down her face. "Marina," I whispered, my excitement forgotten, "what in Neopia is wrong?"
Marina sighed. "Myst," she said softly, putting her arm around me, "the ship doesn't allow NeoPets."
My mouth dropped open. I was too shocked to speak.
"I begged and begged," Marina hurried on. "I pleaded on my knees! I told the captain you were my only pet, that you were gentle and sweet and perfectly well-behaved, that you barely ate anything, that you were not a single speck of trouble. But he wouldn't give in. It was like begging a boulder to move. Finally, I told him that if you couldn't come with me, I wouldn't take the job. And..." She took a shuddering breath, "...he said, 'Well, you can't have the job, then.'"
I finally found my voice. "And!?"
She put her face in her hands. "And I...I said I'd get back to him. And he said it had better be soon, because the ship would sail in two hours."
I knew what I had to do. I knew it perfectly well. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life, but it was my only choice. I couldn't make my best and only friend in the whole world give up her lifelong dream for me. If I did that to her, things would never be the same between us. It was my happiness or hers...and I chose hers.
"Marina," I said, "being a sailor is your dream. You need to follow your dream, no matter what. You need to take that job."
Marina hugged me...long and hard. I hugged her back, and we hugged and rocked for a long time without saying anything. Marina did a lot of crying, too, but I wouldn't let myself cry. I knew that if I cried, even one tear, Marina would never be able to take that job. And she had to. She just had to. It was her last chance to achieve her dream.
Then, finally, Marina let me go, and she told me that she hadn't needed the NeoPoints to bribe the captain. She knew there was nothing else she would ever need them for...Marina could always find a way to get the essentials, like food and clothing. So she had spent them all at the wharf and bought me a present, which she selected from the ship's cargo. Now it was to be a goodbye present.
Standing up and wiping a sleeve across her face, Marina left the room and returned a moment later with an adorable, fluffy green bundle with a big red bow around his neck.
"This is Greenox," she told me. "He'll take care of you until a new owner adopts you, Galleymyst. I know you'll get the best owner in the entire world."
She was the best owner in the entire world, I thought. I didn't want any other owner. But I held tight to my new little Christmas Doglefox as Marina scooped me up and carried me downstairs, out the door, across the beach, and into town, and very gently, with trembling arms and barely held-back tears, deposited me behind the barbed-wire fence of the Pound.
"Remember, Myst," she whispered fiercely in my ear, "remember that I still love you...forever, for always, unending."
And then there was the far-off sound of a foghorn, and Marina kissed me on the head, and it was my turn to cry as she turned and walked back across town, back across the beach, down to the edge of the sea.
Far in the distance, I could just make out the dark, looming shape of a ship, rocking back and forth amid swirling white mists on the crooning waves of the sea.
It may have been my imagination, but I thought I saw a tiny figure board that ship, and as it pulled away from the dock, I thought I saw her hand waving...waving goodbye.
I never saw Marina again.