Avman
Buteo the green Acara was in class at Neoschool, just like she remembered. But what she couldn't remember was the teacher's name or what he was teaching. She remembered the clock ticking by like grey salmon hitting a waterfall endlessly. In fact, all the neopets in her class looked like salmon. Their features were not really fishlike, but their eyes always seemed glazed over, they were all very dull colored, and they always seemed to be flapping their mouths incessently.
The exception was Damien, a Darigan Lupe. With an eerie air, he would sit in the back of the class,listening hungrily to every word the teacher said and never blinking his pupiless, glowing eyes. He was huge with a deep purple coat spotted even darker on the legs, his black wings arched menacingly behind his head. Such an expensive pet upset the schoolchildren. They wondered why he didn't go to a private school. His well-offness was taunting in itself.
Buteo spent every school day sitting in veiled fear and unable to concentrate. What if I was eaten? She would often break into a cold sweat thinking of all the horrible ways she could die, keeping one eye on Damien all the time. Every time he sneezed she jumped. The few times he walked past her hair would prick up. When she got home she was rubbery in relief. It was on one such draining day that the teacher was putting the graded papers in each pet's box. They were cubby holes similar to the mail boxes in a post office. Buteo was eager to see if her studying paid off. When the bell rang she grabbed her paper and ran out.
Stamped on the paper was a huge, red "D? How could I gotten that?" She exclaimed in frustration. She thought she had known the material. Then she noticed the handwriting: awkward and skritchy. Written with a claw dipped in ink was the name Damien.
"Oh, no. The papers must have been switched. She shoved the paper into her backpack and walked down the hall. Damien usually goes this way after school, she thought. Maybe if I approach him quietly and make no sudden movements... She began to shake. No, no, no. It won't work. A murderous monster is he! Why, get within ten feet and he'll snap his white teeth and stain them with your blood! She backed up slowly, fighting against the crowd she was once floating around in. Soon as she reached the door, she shoved it open and walked in the direction of home. She thought she saw a flash of purple behind her, maybe a whiop of a tail or a flap of a wing. There was nobody else on this street. She began walking faster, and the brisk clack of claws on the concrete sped up as well. Four legs, and a quiet panting. Damien! She had saw his D, and now she had to be killed. She grabbed the straps of her backpack and sprinted like a startled antelope. She ran and ran until she passed the florist at the end of the block. The sounds dissapeared.
Sorry, Damien, but you're not having me for dinner," Buteo chuckled and straightened her floppy horns. When she got home she put her backpack in her room and got cracking on today's homework. Her brow knit in thought over the day as she glossed over another way to solve for x. Why had that rabid wolf waited until today to try and kill her? She would have to ask her mom later if she could transfer schools. It ws just too much for her weak constitution. Before she knew it, it was time for bed. She pulled the fleece blanket under her chin. It was so dark she couldn't tell whether her eyes were opened or closed. "When does mom get back home?" she groaned, listening to the night sounds outside.
She was halfway into the arms of Morpheus, the god of sleep, when an enormous din crashed her awake. Buteo jumped out of bed and ran to the back door. Slowly, she opened it an inch and peeped out. "What..." she whispered in disbelief. Picking himself up from a pile of upturned garbage was a strange man. His body, arms, legs, and head were made of colorful rounded squares and flashing letters. He looked like a street in Neopia Central at rush hour. "Who are you?" Buteo asked.
"Why don't you tell me who you are first?"
"B..buteo."
She opened the door and stepped outside.
"My name is Avman."he dusted himself, looked at the unsettled garbage cans, and pulled something lack out of the pile of refuse. He put it on and Buteo realized that it was a jacket. It made him look eerily like a floating head.
"Av..." Buteo realized that he was made out of chat avatars, the blinky little images used at the Neoboards. His head was a Sloth avatar, his laternlike jaw grinning evilly. "You're...you're a bad man, aren't you?" Avman chuckled and turned his head, buttoning his jacket. From the side, his head was as flat as a 2-ply napkin. When he turned back his face had changed to a grinning Meowclops. Buteo smiled. Obiously he was just a harmless joker. "Now, I'm here for a reason," he said, and his face changed to a Defenders Lupe. Buteo paid obediant attention. "That Lupe in your class." "Damien?" "Yes. go to his house and return his paper." He changed into an inage of dung with the words, "I'm smelly"
"Why? Why should I do as you say? Besides, Damien is a huge, stupid..." Avman turned into a cool blue Chokato. "...Stupid, deadly beast.I mean, sir, I..."
"You think he's deadly."
"Yes." "Has he ever done anything to prove that?"
"His teeth are as big as butcher knives!" she gasped desperately. "Has he ever done more than sneeze in class?"
Avman changed to the quiet, calm face of Illusen.
"You judge too much by looks alone. In just this one conversation you've..."
She realized how she had changed attitude every time the face changed. "I'm sorry." She looked at her feet."I just assumed...I mean..." She scratched her ear. "I'll go return the paper."
Buteo didn't feel like returning it in front of her class mates. That would be too awkward. Fortunately, Damien's name and address was in the phone book.
"Prrrt..." went the yellow Kacheek, playing with a wooden train set. "Hey, brother. Do you think dad is ever coming back?"
"You...you mean our owner? No, I don't think he is."
The Kacheek studied the train. "I'm hungry."
"There's an omelette left. You can have it."
"You don't want it?"
"Naw."
The doorbell rang. "Who could that be this late at night? No, you keep playing. I'll answer it."
"Damien?" It was Buteo. Damien looked shocked, his glowing red stoplight eyes were wide open.
"I got your paper on accident." She said quietly, offering it to him.
"Oh thank you." He tok it and walked in. "Let me get yours. You can come in."
"Hi! Said Jef, waving. Buteo smiled. "I didn't know you had a brother." she stated, looking curiously at the bare brown walls.
"I was adopted."
"Someone took you in, then trained you and painted you Darigan?" She whistled. "You're lucky."
"No. My owner zapped me like this at the lab. He didn't like it and abandoned me. Then I was adopted, I guess just to show off to my owner's friends." He looked over at the Kacheek. "I used to be a gelert. Anyways, soon after our owner left and we never saw him after that. That's why I go to public neoschool, so I can get a job and feed me and my brother." He found the paper on the table. "Oh. Here you are."
Buteo was silent. She realized that Damien's eyes were not blank sheets of glowing red. Someow, they went straight to his bare soul. It was something unseen, but it was there.
"Oh, thank you." She smiled. Buteo was about to walk out the door when she stoppped. "Damien, would you like to study with me?"
Damien smiled.
Buteo the green Acara was in class at Neoschool, just like she remembered. But what she couldn't remember was the teacher's name or what he was teaching. She remembered the clock ticking by like grey salmon hitting a waterfall endlessly. In fact, all the neopets in her class looked like salmon. Their features were not really fishlike, but their eyes always seemed glazed over, they were all very dull colored, and they always seemed to be flapping their mouths incessently.
The exception was Damien, a Darigan Lupe. With an eerie air, he would sit in the back of the class,listening hungrily to every word the teacher said and never blinking his pupiless, glowing eyes. He was huge with a deep purple coat spotted even darker on the legs, his black wings arched menacingly behind his head. Such an expensive pet upset the schoolchildren. They wondered why he didn't go to a private school. His well-offness was taunting in itself.
Buteo spent every school day sitting in veiled fear and unable to concentrate. What if I was eaten? She would often break into a cold sweat thinking of all the horrible ways she could die, keeping one eye on Damien all the time. Every time he sneezed she jumped. The few times he walked past her hair would prick up. When she got home she was rubbery in relief. It was on one such draining day that the teacher was putting the graded papers in each pet's box. They were cubby holes similar to the mail boxes in a post office. Buteo was eager to see if her studying paid off. When the bell rang she grabbed her paper and ran out.
Stamped on the paper was a huge, red "D? How could I gotten that?" She exclaimed in frustration. She thought she had known the material. Then she noticed the handwriting: awkward and skritchy. Written with a claw dipped in ink was the name Damien.
"Oh, no. The papers must have been switched. She shoved the paper into her backpack and walked down the hall. Damien usually goes this way after school, she thought. Maybe if I approach him quietly and make no sudden movements... She began to shake. No, no, no. It won't work. A murderous monster is he! Why, get within ten feet and he'll snap his white teeth and stain them with your blood! She backed up slowly, fighting against the crowd she was once floating around in. Soon as she reached the door, she shoved it open and walked in the direction of home. She thought she saw a flash of purple behind her, maybe a whiop of a tail or a flap of a wing. There was nobody else on this street. She began walking faster, and the brisk clack of claws on the concrete sped up as well. Four legs, and a quiet panting. Damien! She had saw his D, and now she had to be killed. She grabbed the straps of her backpack and sprinted like a startled antelope. She ran and ran until she passed the florist at the end of the block. The sounds dissapeared.
Sorry, Damien, but you're not having me for dinner," Buteo chuckled and straightened her floppy horns. When she got home she put her backpack in her room and got cracking on today's homework. Her brow knit in thought over the day as she glossed over another way to solve for x. Why had that rabid wolf waited until today to try and kill her? She would have to ask her mom later if she could transfer schools. It ws just too much for her weak constitution. Before she knew it, it was time for bed. She pulled the fleece blanket under her chin. It was so dark she couldn't tell whether her eyes were opened or closed. "When does mom get back home?" she groaned, listening to the night sounds outside.
She was halfway into the arms of Morpheus, the god of sleep, when an enormous din crashed her awake. Buteo jumped out of bed and ran to the back door. Slowly, she opened it an inch and peeped out. "What..." she whispered in disbelief. Picking himself up from a pile of upturned garbage was a strange man. His body, arms, legs, and head were made of colorful rounded squares and flashing letters. He looked like a street in Neopia Central at rush hour. "Who are you?" Buteo asked.
"Why don't you tell me who you are first?"
"B..buteo."
She opened the door and stepped outside.
"My name is Avman."he dusted himself, looked at the unsettled garbage cans, and pulled something lack out of the pile of refuse. He put it on and Buteo realized that it was a jacket. It made him look eerily like a floating head.
"Av..." Buteo realized that he was made out of chat avatars, the blinky little images used at the Neoboards. His head was a Sloth avatar, his laternlike jaw grinning evilly. "You're...you're a bad man, aren't you?" Avman chuckled and turned his head, buttoning his jacket. From the side, his head was as flat as a 2-ply napkin. When he turned back his face had changed to a grinning Meowclops. Buteo smiled. Obiously he was just a harmless joker. "Now, I'm here for a reason," he said, and his face changed to a Defenders Lupe. Buteo paid obediant attention. "That Lupe in your class." "Damien?" "Yes. go to his house and return his paper." He changed into an inage of dung with the words, "I'm smelly"
"Why? Why should I do as you say? Besides, Damien is a huge, stupid..." Avman turned into a cool blue Chokato. "...Stupid, deadly beast.I mean, sir, I..."
"You think he's deadly."
"Yes." "Has he ever done anything to prove that?"
"His teeth are as big as butcher knives!" she gasped desperately. "Has he ever done more than sneeze in class?"
Avman changed to the quiet, calm face of Illusen.
"You judge too much by looks alone. In just this one conversation you've..."
She realized how she had changed attitude every time the face changed. "I'm sorry." She looked at her feet."I just assumed...I mean..." She scratched her ear. "I'll go return the paper."
Buteo didn't feel like returning it in front of her class mates. That would be too awkward. Fortunately, Damien's name and address was in the phone book.
"Prrrt..." went the yellow Kacheek, playing with a wooden train set. "Hey, brother. Do you think dad is ever coming back?"
"You...you mean our owner? No, I don't think he is."
The Kacheek studied the train. "I'm hungry."
"There's an omelette left. You can have it."
"You don't want it?"
"Naw."
The doorbell rang. "Who could that be this late at night? No, you keep playing. I'll answer it."
"Damien?" It was Buteo. Damien looked shocked, his glowing red stoplight eyes were wide open.
"I got your paper on accident." She said quietly, offering it to him.
"Oh thank you." He tok it and walked in. "Let me get yours. You can come in."
"Hi! Said Jef, waving. Buteo smiled. "I didn't know you had a brother." she stated, looking curiously at the bare brown walls.
"I was adopted."
"Someone took you in, then trained you and painted you Darigan?" She whistled. "You're lucky."
"No. My owner zapped me like this at the lab. He didn't like it and abandoned me. Then I was adopted, I guess just to show off to my owner's friends." He looked over at the Kacheek. "I used to be a gelert. Anyways, soon after our owner left and we never saw him after that. That's why I go to public neoschool, so I can get a job and feed me and my brother." He found the paper on the table. "Oh. Here you are."
Buteo was silent. She realized that Damien's eyes were not blank sheets of glowing red. Someow, they went straight to his bare soul. It was something unseen, but it was there.
"Oh, thank you." She smiled. Buteo was about to walk out the door when she stoppped. "Damien, would you like to study with me?"
Damien smiled.