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On Blackened Wings

by Yukarangz

The moon was full once again, and its terrifying glow spread across the lands of neopia like a cold, baleful blanket. Setriel was in her element. Being a creature of the night, and bound as she was by the ocean-blue gem that was permanently attached to the centre of her forehead, she craved the coming of night, and especially the full moon.

The sun had set many hours ago. There was scarcely a pet that was awake in the whole of neopia central, and probably not many more in the whole of neopia. Setriel longed for this evening every month, and it came and went every month, but some hunts, as she would call them, were more successful than others.

Setriel was a Halloween meerca. Her eyes were deep-set, and a vibrant amber that seemed to light up any room she entered, and could scare any pet senseless when she was in a rage. Her wings resembled those of bats, and they were shadowy in colour; spanning several feet when they were stretched out to their full length. Most of her body was the same rich, shady black as her wings, excepting her stomach, tail and the fur inside her pointed ears, which were all indigo blue, bordering on black.

Her fangs were yellowing and pointed, and her tongue was long; crimson coloured with a black streak running down the centre, though it was rarely seen. She only opened her mouth when she had to, which rarely happened, even when she was hunting. Her tail was long and whip-like, feathering out at the end in a wide triangular shape.

When it was a hunting night, her eyes usually glowed with a sheer vibrance and enthusiasm that nothing but sheer mania and possession could have caused. This was such a night. She could feel it in the air and in every bone in her body. There was something special about this night.

The shadows in the room were complete, and nothing of Setriel could be seen but for her glowing eyes. Carefully and quietly, she flexed her huge wings, to warm them up for flight, and crossed over to the wide, pane-less attic windows, her usual exit point. With a careless movement of her right arm, she flung open the creaky shutters, spraying dust across the garden to the ground below. She stood there for a moment, as the stars made their first appearance in the dusky sky, and breathed in deeply, absorbing the moment with every inch of herself.

Then, with amazing speed and abruptness, she glided free of the old house, rapidly leaving it behind her. She barely needed to move her wings; there was a decent breeze that night which lifted her for most of her journey. As the breeze died down, Setriel spotted her first victim: A small gaggle of girly-looking pets, chatting about everything that had gone on that day. They were led by a green usul, the tallest of the bunch, and probably the oldest.

The little group had almost reached the usul’s house. The usul chirped a good-bye at her friends, and slammed the door behind her, waving frivolously at her friends, a huge grin plastered across her face.

One by one, her friends started to wander away from her house, chattering and giggling in a girly fashion. Setriel was watching nearby, unseen. Flexing her wings every so often, she followed the group, and watched as they disappeared into their respective homes. Eventually, there was only one pet of the group left, a faerie moehog. The moehog obviously knew her way around, despite looking like she was the youngest of the group.

Setriel chose her moment. A silvery-gray cloud drifted over the moon, obscuring it from view for no more than a second, and Setriel sprang. Her eyes ablaze, Setriel leapt upon the Faerie and tackled her to the ground. The moehog let out a yell of fear and surprise, and her hooves flailed pathetically as Setriel searched her for anything she might be carrying.

After a few seconds, realising there was nothing to steal; Setriel flew off again, leaving the moehog crumpled on the ground, breathing hard. The moon was in full view once again.

Disappointing. It had been going so well, too. The sky was getting lighter already, and Setriel had to prepare to go back to her home. She landed on the nearest red-brick rooftop, and preened her wings lazily. She felt unusually drained, despite having a slow night where hunting was concerned.

The moon was brighter than ever as it started to sink, growing more obscured by the increasing light as time drew on. Setriel looked directly at it, and the pale white light reflected in the crystal, winking back at the moon and the stars. It was then that she wondered.

Was she doing the right thing? This wasn’t her at all... she was sure of it. Though she could remember nothing that had happened to her before obtaining the crystal, she knew that life had been quite different then. She wondered if her life had been better then that it was now.

The light of the moon seemed to collect in Setriel’s ocean-blue crystal, causing it to glow silver, and for a moment, she was happier than she could remember being. A hint of a memory returned to her; a flash of light, a being with pure-white angel wings, and a crystal as red as the flames at the heart of neopia.

Then, sure enough, it was gone again. The moon had vanished behind a tall mansion a short distance away, and Setriel decided to head for home. She felt that the night had earned her something, despite her ‘hunting’ failures. She was getting closer to knowing the truth about her crystal, and what it represented. That was more important than anything else, more important than the trinkets and worthless pennies she stole from travellers and passers-by.

She stretched her wings as wide as she could, and launched herself into the air once more. The birds were starting to sing their tunes; dawn had arrived at last. Without looking back at the rooftops, or at the spot where the faerie moehog had been, she sped off back towards the dark attic where she spent her time during the day.

As the sun was rising, its thousands of colours trailing after it like a welcoming committee, Setriel shot through the attic window like a cannon-ball and landed in a heap on the floor. She was relieved to be back in time. If the sun had touched her, it would have been the end. She couldn’t survive sunlight.

She paused to catch her breath, then turned her train of thought to the evenings events. Who was the being with the flaming gem and white wings?...

‘The opposite of you.’

She jumped backwards, and saw a silhouette in the window. For some reason, the figure terrified her. She knew it was the same one she had seen in her vision, and she knew that whatever it was, the words it spoke rang true. She could see the beautiful gem, shining through the shutters of the windows. She could make out the shapes of the creatures’ feathered wings.

She took a deep breath, and moved a few inches closer to the window, intending on getting a better look at the creature that bore the gem. But as soon as she did so, she realised it had flown.

Setriel slumped. It seemed that she would never know the truth... and if she never knew the truth, she would be like this forever. She collapsed head first on the rags in the corner of her room, her mind racing. After some time, she found herself getting tired. Knowing it would do her no good to stay awake, she let herself drift into a deep slumber.

Just before her mind disengaged and she fell into the land of dreams, she heard the voice again. This time, it surprised her less, and she registered that the voice was deep and soothing.

‘You will know... soon enough. Setriel...’

All related images and material are (c) 2005 Neopets , Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. 
Content was created by members of The Neopian Orphanage.
Site design (c) 2005 wtrswoopes. Site graphics (c) 2005 vegetarewlz.