"This place is always so crowded..." Brea mumbled, her eyes traveling across the wide and busy paths of Central Neopia's market. She was weary of people still, and not as trusting as she once had been, so the crowds made her uncomfortable and nervous.
Aerik reached over to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, the other set firmly on Iomegyn's back so that he didn't misplace her in the bustle of the crowd.
"Bray, I know that times in the prison were hard...I was there too. But you can't let constant mistrust destroy your chances in this world. People aren't as bad as you've made them out to be." He gave her a wide grin before stopping at a small market stall to eye the owner's wares.
Brea shook her head softly. Aerik had a disconcerting way to say things that were profound and wise while still keeping a light mood, a skill that she had certainly never learned. She was intense by nature, but rarely showed her intense side to anybody but her closest and most trusted friends. Brea fell into step beside Aerik as he continued on past the stall before freezing at the misplaced sound of a loud, high-pitched cackle.
Through the crowd of people bounced a strange man that looked rather like a mix between a jack-o-lantern and a clown with a huge, canvas bag hanging around his shoulder. He stopped bouncing in front of her, looking at her with large, black eyes, before grinning and reaching into the bag.
"A deserving person you are!!" He cackled, letting out a giggle and shoving an item into her hands before bounding off again, continuing to laugh on his way. Brea looked into her hands with wide eyes, quickly realizing that she held a skunk paint brush.
"What are the chances?" She asked, shaking her head as she looked at the brush. Without another seconds thought she held the brush out to Aerik, placing it in his hands and nodding towards Meg. "Looks like you aren't going to have to wait until Christmas!"
Meg bounced excitedly, giving a few short, happy barks, but Aerik frowned and pushed the brush back in her direction.
"Brea, I can't take this...it's much to expensive to be given for no reason. Sell it! You'll have enough NP to feed yourself for a few years straight!"
Brea shook her head and set her face stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You'll take that brush or all kidnap Meg and paint her with it myself, Aer. And I'm dead serious, so don't think I'm joking."
Aerik looked at the brush again, his eyebrows drawn together in thought. He allowed his eyes to wander down to Meg, who was staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes, before sighing his consent.
"Fine, fine. I'll run her by the Rainbow Pool and finish up my shopping. We can meet at the Wishing Well in and hour or so, but don't worry about buying deserts and drinks...Meg and I'll cover it. Thanks, Bray!" He gave her a smile and a wink before wandering off, quickly getting lost in the bustling crowd. Brea smiled after him, happy that she could make he and Meg so happy without it costing her a cent. After they had wandered out of sight, Brea glanced around the market and allowed a frown to shape her features. Nothing to buy, nowhere to be for an hour, and nobody to talk to...
Finally, after a few minutes of just staring around, Brea decided to go wait at the well, which was usually decently free of people, and just relax for a few minutes. She always got high-strung after walking in the market for too long, and it wasn't particularly enjoyable for her...so she didn't see much reason to bother. The walk to the well was a long one, but there was plenty to see around the wide streets of Neopia Central, so Brea didn't get very bored. She was surprised to see a Horus soaring in the air, with no owner in sight, as she passed the pizza parlor.
Maybe his owner's not a flyer, and is walking beneath him somewhere. She shrugged, mostly to herself, and continued on her way, but before long she was surprised to see another petpet that had no visible owner...a small, fly-like Zebba, with huge red eyes and stubby arms held out in front of him like a zombie. No one else seemed to notice either of the tiny creatures though, so Brea decided not to stress about it.
Finally, she reached a small pathway that led off into the forest...it ended at a clearing that was centered around a huge, stone well, and Brea was pleased to find that it was completely void of people. She leaned against a large tree and closed her eyes, savoring the sounds of the forest and the lack of 'industrialized' noises. Her mind wandered back...
"Mum!" An Australian accented voice declared. "If you keep bringing home poor strays we won't have enough food to go around!" The fire Scorchio that was speaking frowned at the newest addition to the family, a fire Moehog that had just been picked up from the pound.
"I'm old enough to help earn my keep, Aussie." The moehog snapped, crossing his hoofed arms over his chest.
"Who are you calling Aussie, ya YANK?" The Scorchio growled, his eyes narrowing into slits.
"Firestormdragon, Raziel_Draven...stop it!" Brea commanded. "Both of you will be..."
Her reverie was suddenly interrupted by a high-pitched British voice crying,
"Enkou! Enkou!"
Brea's purple eyes snapped open, and for the third time that day she saw an apparently homeless PetPet...a small Baby Fireball zipping quickly across the clearing. Without a thought, Brea bounded over to it and scooped it into her arms, hoping that it wasn't ACTUALLY made out of fire. It looked up at her with wide black eyes, but was completely silent, glancing every couple of seconds towards a full bush nearly right next to where Brea had been standing.
Brea's eyes narrowed, and she looked around the clearing suspiciously, her slightly pointed ears perked. Just as her fears were calmed, she picked up the drifting sound of whispers, coming from the same bush that the fireball seemed fixated with. She walked quietly to it, noticing that the whispers had ebbed away quickly, and, fast as lightning, reached into the bush and grasped the first thing her hand came in contact with, yanking it out unceremoniously.
It was a fire moehog.
"Not the pound!!" He squealed, his British accent clear. "Please, anything but that! You can't split us up!"
"Calm down, kid! I'm not going to take you to the pound, though I would appreciate if you told me what your doing hiding by the wishing well." A bird-like screech drew her attention for a moment, and she spied a Horus with a curling Egyptian tattoo around his eye glaring at her from a thick, overhanging branch.
"And for that matter," Brea said, looking from the Horus to the Baby Fireball. "Which one of these is yours?"
"Well..." The moehog looked around suspiciously, apparently debating whether to trust Brea or not, before finishing his sentence. "I'd be glad to tell you, if you'd just let me down. It's not exactly comfortable being held up by your hair, you know." He looked up, to where Brea's hand was tightly wrapped in his flaming mane.
"Ohh...right!" Brea carefully placed him on the ground, keeping a tight hold on the fireball, who was squirming dangerously. "I'm Brea." She said, hoping it prompted him to introduce himself.
The moehog sighed softly, glancing at the bush he had been pulled out of and then resting his gaze on Brea.
"I'm Rayzial." Brea visibly cringed...he reminded her to much of Raziel_Draven, one of her lost pets, and the one that had had the most similarities to her. Rayzial forged ahead, oblivious. "The fireball is Enkou, my petpet. And that..." He motioned towards the Horus, which was gazing at them with sharp eyes. "Is Praier."
Brea raised an eyebrow at the revelation.
"You have two petpet's?"
Rayzial again glanced around, and lowered his voice to a near whisper.
"No, I don't. But I swore I wouldn't tell. They'll send us to the pound, and he wouldn't survive there. He certainly wouldn't survive without me. Promise you won't make me go!" Rayzial's eyes were drawn to the bush as a rather unhealthy moan escaped whatever was in it. Just as Brea began to agree, she was again interrupted, this time by the same zombie-looking Zebba that she had seen earlier in the market. He was walking around the clearing, mumbling. As he drew closer, Brea finally deciphered his words.
"Brains...must find brains for ze mistress!!" It walked around the clearing, ever repeating the phrase.
"Brains!!" It came face to face with Rayzial, blinking it's large eyes, before turning on it's heels and continuing on. "Need brains!" Brea rolled her eyes, dropping the fireball in front of the moehog and seizing the Zebba by it's furry blue mane.
"This a friend of yours too, Raze?" She asked sarcastically, pointing at the fly-like creature.
"Brains. I need zem."
"I'm aware, fly boy. Why are you in such desperate need of brains?" Brea was beginning to get a little bit frustrated with how confusing things were becoming, and she wanted some answers. Right away.
The Zebba squirmed around to look at her before replying.
"For ze mistress." Without another word, he twisted around a bit Brea's hand firmly, causing her to cry out in pain and to loosen her grip. He took the opportunity to fly off quickly, still mumbling about brains and mistresses.
"What a little fricking idiot-brat!" Brea nearly screamed, clutching her hand in pain. "If you knew that freak of nature then I'm not sure I want to know ANYTHING else about you!" Rayzial's eyes widened, and he shook his head quickly.
"Only Enkou, Praier and Seyriff!" He declared. The Horus let out an unhappy screech. The Enkou's eyes widened considerably, quite a feat since the eyes were already nearly half the size of his body. And Rayzial clapped his hoofs over his eyes.
"I shouldn't have said that."
Author's Notes~ Ahh...finally have some Neopets in the story! Lessee...next chapter will have an explanation of a few things, including who Seyriff is, why he and Raze are strays, and so on. The Zebba will be popping up through the next few chapters a bit, but won't really become a big part of the story until...later. Yeah. I've decided that the final cast (The major characters and major-supporting characters) will consist of 11, not including petpets since most of them won't have a huge impact. 3 humans, the rest Neopets...3 lupes, 1 moehog, 1 aisha, 1 gelert, 1 eyrie, and 1 acara. Thanks for the reviews so far, and sorry this chapter took longer ^_~