Dear diary,
This is the tale of my brothers and me. I'm Kiadra Ishtar Shadowflame, by the way, and my older stepbrother's name is Brooklyn Ishtar Shadowfox. Though our names may sound similar, we are not of the same family. We were both adopted into the same one in Egypt about 12 years ago. We are quite strange to many people, because we are part fox, but before I tell you more, you must know my story.
A car pulled up in the driveway, my new brother was finally here. I was 6 years old, unaware and carefree. I didn't know much back then, but I knew the moment that I saw him that my life would never be normal again. He was wearing a black hoodie with an orange dragon on it, baggy black jeans and several spike bracelets. I couldn't believe that he was only 7! The social worker led him up to the front step and walked back to the silver minivan. As he walked up the stairs I noticed that his hair was as orange as the dragon on his hoodie. " H-h-hi." I stuttered, he raised an eyebrow, and then it hit me. I had a crush on him.
The family that we lived with were extremely nice. There were three of them. A kind mother named Akura Ishtar; she was quite pretty, with blonde hair down to her waist and a good tan. An extremely bossy teenage girl with short black hair and a bad attitude, plus a little blonde boy about my age with beautiful violet eyes that put me into a trance every time I saw them.
I think that the two people who got along best were Brooklyn and I. We figured out that we aren't so different from each other. Well first of all, we were both orphans, we love soccer and football and we had both been home schooled. I learned that he was pretty skilled at archery, was practicing to be a swordsman and loved to eat pickled onions. He learned that I was also training to be a skilled swordsman, and also loved pickled onions. We would play all day long in our small house, but as everyone knows, happiness cannot last forever.
" Hmmm, blue or pink. What do you think, honey?" I shrugged. We were going to a fancy party for step mom's work, and she had to look absolutely perfect. I was wearing a frilly black dress with several mesh holes in it and my hair had a small, black butterfly clip.
" I don't know, the pink." I said, rolling my eyes at her. CRASH!
" BROOKLYN!" screamed mom, dropping both dresses and racing to the doorway.
" Why do you think that it was me, mom!" Shouted Brooklyn, using his cute, little innocent voice, I couldn't help but smile.
" Well, what's broken?"
" Your favourite china vase," He said slowly, " Did I mention that I didn't do it?" I laughed at this, but when I saw mom's face, I immediately stopped. I thought that fire was going to shoot strait out of her mouth! Mom ran out of the bedroom and started to scream at Brooklyn. I didn't see what happened, but I sure heard it. Mom yelling her head off, Brooklyn shouting through tears, the door slamming… and then silence.
I walked into the room and searched it, but something was missing.
" Mom, where's Brooklyn?" I asked, a puzzled look on my face.
" He's gone." She said, tears forming in her dark eyes.
That night I couldn't sleep. I was waiting for Brooklyn to call mom and ask for her to stay and protect him from all of the monsters he insisted were in his room. Waiting for him to come to my bedroom telling me that he was afraid of the dark and wondering if he could sleep in my room. I knew he was gone but I didn't want to believe it. I missed his happy face pyjamas that came too far up and his old, worn teddy-bear that mom kept telling him to get rid of.
I cried myself to sleep eventually; I thought that it would be okay in the morning, but boy, was I wrong. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and saw his toothbrush sitting right next to mine. I set the table for breakfast, and I almost put his plate in his usual spot. Later in the day I was going to walk the dog (Brooklyn's old job) and went up to his room to ask if he would come with me, only to find all of his stuff in cardboard boxes. I couldn't hold back my true emotions. I fell to the ground, knocking over a box on my way, Brooklyn's teddy dropped down right in front of my face. I must have sat there crying for hours, holding my brother's bear tight to my heart. I could not let go of him, not then, not ever.
12 YEARS LATER
" Hey, Kialey, over here!" I called, running to a large oak tree.
" Yeah, what?" my newfound sister walked up to me. I put a finger on my lips and pointed to a small deer. I nodded and we each took out our weapon of choice. Her's was a large spear and mine double swords.
Later that night Kialey and I were cooking the fawn over our little fire, when- oops, I guess that you guys will need an explanation before I go on. So, about ten years after Brooklyn ran away (after I grew my ears, tail and learned how to transform to a fox then back to a human), I couldn't take it anymore. I packed my stuff, said goodbye to my family, and headed out the door. I have been searching and searching for my brother in many strange, dangerous places ever since. About two and a half years after I left, I met up with my unknown, un-identical twin sister, Kialey.
So, we were cooking the deer when I heard a rustle in the bushes behind me. I turned to Kailey and saw that her ears were perked up and she was sniffing the air, meaning that she had heard it as well. " The scent is very familiar." She exclaimed, looking deep into the forest. I nodded, following her lead and gazing into the thick wall of bushes and trees.
" It's really close," I whispered, " in those shrubs, I think." I pointed to a large cluster of low bushes. I stood up and started to quietly sneak in their direction, I looked back and saw Kailey right behind me. I gave her a thumbs-up and crawled closer to the shrubs, and pretty soon we were directly on top of the plant that was making the noise. I put my fingers up and counted down from three. On one, we both reached into the bush and yanked out whatever was in it.
" AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" I jumped back in horror. It must have been a terrified hyena to make a noise like that!
" AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" it shrieked again, louder this time.
" DON'T KILL ME! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I covered my ears and stared at the squirming figure on the ground. When I looked at closely, I noticed that it was a human. Kialey was watching the person as if it were a diseased monkey with ants in its pants. I started to laugh, who wouldn't? Then I saw that he was wearing a small, silver locket identical to the one that I had given to Brooklyn.
" Hey! Stop squirming, monkey-boy!" I shouted at him, he stopped immediately. When I got a good look at him, I saw that he was very familiar. " Dude," I demanded, " where'd you get that locket?" I locked my dark eyes on his.
He thought hard. " Hmmm, I think I got it from my sister," he said, staring at the beautiful, starry sky, " then again, I might have stolen it from some rich guy." I sighed and raised my eyebrows. I motioned for him to hand it over; he obediently gave me the locket. When I cracked it open, I found an unexpected surprise waiting for me.
" Seriously- um, what's your name, boy?" I ordered, scratching my head.
" Oh, right. It's Brooklyn." He said, running his pale fingers through his wild, orange mess of hair. My jaw dropped, I gaped at him in disbelief.
" Yours?
I tried to speak, but I was at a loss for words. " U-u-u-u-m, I-I'm, er, K-k-kia-kiadra." I stuttered, shutting my eyes tightly. Oh my god I thought, he- it- just maybe…tears ran down my face. Thinking of the horrible memory hurt me so much. Kialey put her arms around me as I wept.
" Wait, what's going on here?" he asked, craning an eyebrow, " Why are you crying like that?" he was obviously concerned.
" It's… nothing." I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes. He shrugged and closed his eyes. He was asleep in minutes. I was about to do the same, when I noticed a thick, orange tail coming out of his pants. A fox tail.
In the morning, I woke up early. I heard someone speaking, so I pretended to still be asleep. " I pray that I will find her again." It was Brooklyn. " I miss her so much, dear God, bring her back to me." His words were so passionate; I could barely believe such words coming from his mouth. " Thank you so much." He sighed and laid his head on the ground, I heard him lightly snoring beside me. I then decided to go wake up Kialey and take her hunting for breakfast. I went over to her and shook her violently, handing her spear to her.
" Time to get up, lazy." I whispered, trying not to disrupt Brooklyn.
" Breakfast time." I motioned for her to follow me into the forest.
We got back about an hour later; Brooklyn was waiting by the small fire pit. " Where were you?" he asked sternly, staring harshly at them with his sea-green eyes. " I was so worried." He picked up a small stone and hurled it at my head. It hit me hard with a loud clunk.
" Dude, that wasn't very nice," I snapped back, " and by the way, you sound like my mother." I gave Kialey a high five. He rolled his eyes and snatched a baby deer from my hands. He stuck out his tongue at me and turned on his heel. I pushed him playfully and he landed right on the deer, its blood spattered all over his face. I was about to chuck a nearby skunk at him when I remembered that I wanted to ask him some questions. " Um, I have to ask you something." I mumbled, sitting down next to him " It's a personal thing."
" Okay." he said slowly. " Shoot"
" Alright, first of all, were you adopted?" I asked. He nodded quickly.
We must have sat there asking and answering questions for two hours. When I reached the end of my questioning, my mouth was open wide, almost as much as my eyes. He had answered every one correctly.
" Brooklyn," I said, grabbing his shoulders in a strong grip, " I think- no wait, I know," he raised his eyebrows at me. " You… you're my brother."
He gazed into my eyes and brushed his rough hand against my cheek, " I knew that I would find you." He said happily. " Somewhere, somehow, I knew."
Since I had found my brother, I could now return to modern civilization and my old family, but first we had to find it. We walked for many days and eventually came to a village of monks. " Hey," Kialey exclaimed, "Why don't we ask that guy for directions to the nearest city?"
We all agreed to her idea.
" Dude, wait up!" I yelled to the brown haired teen, " Could you please give us directions to the nearest town or city?" he whipped around then looked to see who was shouting at him, I waved and caught his eye.
" Oh, sure. You just take that path out of the village and it will lead you to Domino City." He said, pointing at a wide dirt road. We thanked him then jogged over to the path.
When we reached Domino City, I ran to the nearest payphone, put in a quarter and dialled my family's number. One ring, two rings, three… finally someone answered. " Hello?" it was my stepbrother, Marik. " Who is this?" he asked suspiciously.
" It's me, Kiadra." I said excitedly, " I found him." There was a high-pitched scream from the other line.
" Hurry home!" then he hung up.
It was really late when we got back, about two in the morning. As soon as we reached the foot of the stairs the door flew open. " Thank the lord you're back!" screamed my mom; she grasped Brooklyn in the hardest hug ever. " I thought that I'd never see you again! I am so, so sorry!" she started sobbing and Brooklyn returned the hug.
" I missed you too, mum." He said, tears rolling down his cheek. " I love you so much, and I almost lost you."
We took the reunion inside and Marik ran down the steep steps, tripping one the second one. We all laughed and his face turned as red as a cherry. He got up and said hi to Brooklyn. It was great to be back together again, I loved all of my family and I made sure that I would never loose any of them again.
This is where my story ends. I am off to Marik's wedding, and we have to be there early. Well, Brooklyn's calling me, so I'd better get going, see you next time!
Kiadra Ishtar Shadowflame