Well, for as much as I know, this is saying something-no html comments- It seems to me that SassiKat and I were the first ones to invent this strategy. You know...using the marks to find important information. So, if you think that this was a great idea, and you want to use it too, PLEEZE give SassifrazKitty and I some credit! At least link back to her userlookup or this page! Thanx, and enjoy the story!
I guess you would be wondering how I came to be the lovely Kougress that I am.
»Well, I was born in a barren cave, deep in the middle of the Tyrannian Jungle.
I didn't have any brothers or sisters...I was an only cub.
I remember my dad..."Pop", I called him.« He raised me...yup...haven't heard THAT ONE in a while have you? A female cub being raised by her father! He was a great warrior. He fought in many battles and was even general of a small team of Kougras once!
»Well, my mother was very sick, and she died shortly after giving birth to me. Therefore, my pop had to raise me. He told me that my mother and he knew, from the instant I opened my eyes, that I was different. Probably 'cause I got one blue eye and one purple! **Read my Attributes section if you don't know this bout my eyes already!** My dad said that my eyes always glittered with a hidden mischief. Alas, HE WAS RIGHT! Hehe! My dad couldn't help but call me "Trouble"! I was always poking into things and getting lost in the jungle.
So one day, my dad gave up on trying to keep me at home. Instead, he decided to teach me to fight and to fend for myself. He was a warrior, so why shouldn't I be?«
I learned great skills and knew mostly how to fend for myself. I could catch small game like that, and could fight off most anyone who came around.
But, my father and I got into some major trouble sometimes.
Once, for instance,we were confronted by a huge pack of hungry Tyrannian Grarrls. They chased us for hours, trying to get a snack!
They finnaly got tired and we were able to evade them and return to our humble home.
»Another time, the front end of our cave crumbled in. Humans did it. They stomped all over the top of our home with their huge, clunky, Unis and Elephantes. I don't believe that they were after us... it seemed to be the time of the Kacheek hunt and they were trailing a sly one. Well, anyway...our shelter had caved in and we were trapped, we dug and clawed at the huge boulders for days...with no results. We finished off our last rations in the first two days of our struggle...we didn't know it would take so long. We didn't eat for weeks...we were slowly starving to death in our own home. It was the most horrible feeling in the world! We finally became so weak that we couldn't even try to dig anymore. We just lay there, by the crumbled doorway, yelling for help.
Then, one night, something extremely odd happened. I awoke in the middle of the night only to feel a strange tingling sensation travel up from the tip of my tail to the top of my ears. Is this what it's like to die? I thought to myself.«
I looked over to my father...he was so thin...I thought that that was what I must have looked like too.
»Then, as I stared lovingly at my father, my vision blurred. A misty blue-green light filled my eyes. I heard voices...people talking.
But she is so precious..."
Yes, but this is her fate."
No...it can't be...not her...not now"
*silence*
Bless her with-"
The voice was cut short and let out a muffled cry.
NO"
But she could be great and powerful!
*pause*
Ack! She is fading! Please help her!"
Don't let me die!' I cried inside my head. 'Oh, don't let me die! I will do anything!'
The voices stopped.
Please help me...and my pop...please...'
*Whisper* "She can hear us..."
Ah-ha! So she IS great then! I told you!"
*Whisper* "Shush! Quiet! She is still listening!"
Good! Don't you understand?! We MUST help her! She could even be more powerful than you and me...maybe...if we just help her!"
Exactly!! She must not be powerful...no one will ever be more powerful than ME!!"
There was a huge flash of black light in my eyes. Then another flash, of green-blue this time, and a cry of "NO! Stop! What is wrong with you?! STOP IT!"
Then something huge slammed into my body. I screeched in pain but no sound came out. I slid across the floor from the thrust of the hit, and I slammed with tremendous force, into the blocked entryway.
There was a third flash of light, this one was greenish-blueish-black. Something sharp peirced my skin and drove deep into my hip. My whole hip burned and the voices continued fighting.
How could you?! Have you gone MAD?! ACK!!"
Another seires of flashes, and I felt each one deep within my body.
You'll pay for this, little miss goody-two-shoes!"
The voice laughed an evil cackle.
You don't deserve to be so powerful! Your evil is too great! Down with you!"
A green-blue flash came from one side, and a black one from the other. They met and exploded with a tremendous BOOM that drilled deep into my heart. I screamed this time, as the most terrible and unimaginable pain surged through my body.
Then the world went black.«
I awoke a few days later, a shaman (doctor) Kougra was standing over me. I squinted in the afternoon sun...it was a light that I hadn't seen in weeks.
All better now?" He asked me gently.
Erm...uh...I don't know..." I blinked.
The shaman laughed and my dad rushed over to my side. "You must eat something!" was the first thing my father said to me.
I smiled at him and quickly gobbled up a few fruits. Surprizingly, I wasn't that hungry. I really didn't know why...I was starving just a little earlier.
»When I had finished eating, I hobbled over to my dad. My front right paw didn't seem to work correctly.
So...dad. Er...how did we, exactly, get OUT of the cave? It was kinda' blocked you know." I looked up at him curiously.
Well darling, I don't really know. I saw you smash into the rocks and all that...you must've loosened some of them 'cause you screamed and the rocks came down ontop of you. I was so worried! I crawled over to check on you. You were completely buried in small stones and dirt. There was a large boulder on top of your ear, and another on your right paw. Other than that, you seemed perfectly fine...unconcious, but fine. Lucky for you, the shaman was just around that ridge, and was able to hear my calls for help. He came and tended to you and I."
So...that means that my paw is..." I trailed off.
Broken," my father finished for me. "Well, more like crushed. The Shaman could hardly fix it. Just try and stay off of it for a while, eh?"
Okay..." My eyes wandered around the jungle.
After a moment of silence, I spoke up again.
How long was I knocked out for? I feel like I should be dead right now!"
Oh, well, you were unconcious for a few days...three or four, I'm guessing. Well, I'm just glad you're here now, and not...you know...dead.«
Oh..." I hung my head. It was reeling with thousands of thoughts. "Pop, I think I need some time alone...you know...to think this all over."
Of course, honey!" And with that, I limped deeper into the jungle.
I walked for quite a while. I wasn't worried about getting lost, I had learned all of my tracking skills already.
Well, I walked until I came to a friendly little stream. I sat there, in the jungle leaves, just staring into the trickling waters.
I looked at myself...I looked so different...so much older than the last time I looked at my reflection (and that had been just days before the cave-in).
»I stared at the markings on my forehead. I remembered my dad telling me how my mother had that same pattern of spots. Oh how I wished that she was there with me then.
The water rippled and I was snapped out of my trance. It was only then that I realized how sore I was. The pads on my paws were cut and bloody from digging at the rocks. My right ear was torn in three places, and my tail was missing some fur. All of my joints ached with every breath I took...especially my back and my hips.
Suddenly, a twinge came into my hip. It tickled me and, at the same time, chilled me. I reached over with my head to bite at it, when I stopped short. There, on my left hip, was a strange marking. It was black like my stripes...in fact, it was just like my stripes...only different. The marking seemed to be a pawprint with...the shape of a wing coming out and around it.
I gasped. "What the? How-? Where di-? Who could-? Whatta? How did this get there?" I stuttered to myself.«
Something rustled in the bushes nearby. I perked up my ears and glanced around.
Nothing.
Not her...not now..."
The strange voices echoed inside of my head.
They must have made it! The mark on my hip! It was them! Whoever they are... I shook my head...I was so confused.
How did it get there? What does it mean? I thought that the voices were just inside of my head...but could they have been inside of my...body? Why did I seem so important to them? I have never done anything special...i had never won anything, or set a world record, or defeated a whole army of Grundos and Evil Faeries...nothing...why did they do this to me??
»A-HAH!! Gottcha!"
Something poked into my skin, and a net was thrown around me.
I had been caught! Never, in my life, had I expected something like that to happen. I had never let something like that happen! All of my training! My ears had always saved me from danger in the past! Why didn't I hear them?
I clawed and gnawed at the terrible net that bound me.
A human man looked down at me a laughed. "Poor, stupid Kougra," the man shook his head mockingly. "Should've been paying more attention!"
A female human stepped up beside him and helped to drag me away.
Poachers! I screamed in my mind. I must get...help...help...must help...call for pop... I was floating...drifting away. I didn't even get a chance to yell for my father...the Tranquilizer had taken effect.
I opened my eyes sometime later. I was bouncing around in the back of a huge truck. Other NeoPets surrounded me, all of them were tranquilized...oh, how I wished that I could've helped them then...
I bit and tore at the net until it came loose enough in one spot for me to slide through.
I walked to the back of the truck...I wasn't sure how I was going to get out...then, the truck stopped.
I heard the poachers get out and walk around toward the back doors of the vehicle.
I crouched down low.
The doors swung open.
I pounced.
I sprang right into the man's face, sending him backwards and into the snow.
I slashed and bit at him with terrible rage. Alas, I had not been paying attention to the woman...she came out behind me, pistol in hand.
The shot was fired.
I turned to face the sound. I watched the bullet drive into my hind leg with pinpoint accuracy.
I felt a burst of strength rush though me, and I leapt at the female. I flew into the air and knocked her down too.
I was ontop of her, ready to defend myself. I felt the cold barrel of the gun press against my side.
I tried to swipe the pistol from her hand, with no luck, I wasn't fast enough.
She shot. The bullet went deep into me, into my chest.
I trudged through the snow...I was almost sure that both poachers were dead. Now I just had to get to someplace where someone could help me.
I limped slowly around for what seemed like years, and struggled to breathe. I really didn't know how I was still alive.
Finally, I saw a town off in the distance. I'm saved! I thought happily. Oh, was I ever wrong.
I was almost into the town when I felt the weakness overcome me. I fell to the ground.
Don't worry...you'll be okay"
A voice spoke to me inside my head.
You have the power...you are very strong willed."
The greenish light filled my eyes once again.
No...I...I can't make it...just leave me to die...' I thought meekly.
I cannot...I am not controling you, and I cannot leave you."
Why not?'
I believe that it is the mark that you bear. It's holding us here."
Us? Who is "us"?'
You heard us fighting...we are here now...with you until the mark goes away. It was an accident, the mark was. But now it has us. We are you, you are us. We are bound together and we shall not perish. There is nothing you can do...you have our power and we have yours. You cannot die...at least...not yet..."
I woke quite sometime later. Warm air surrounded me, and the smell of food filled the room.«
I lay on a huge cushion inside someone's house...a humans house.
Bandages were wrapped tightly around my leg, paw, and chest.
I got up and walked slowly through a door and out into a hallway. I could hear someone talking at the end of the hall.
»I cautiously padded out into a kitchen.
A human girl stood in front of the stove, stirring something in a pot.
She stopped talking and looked at me. Her eyes widened.
I spotted a slender, red Gelert and a muscular, blue Lupe sitting in a far corner. They both stood when they noticed me.
The Lupe growled and his fur bristled as he slowly approached me.
I narrowed my eyes and growled back.
When he was not a foot away, he barked a menacing bark.
I met his challenge with my paw. I slashed his nose with my claws and hissed at him.
He backed off...then smiled. "Glad to meet ya" He said, licking his muzzle. "I'm Villiic and that'd be Shawnodesse" He nodded his head toward the Gelert in the corner.
Someone touched my back. I turned, quick as a flash, claws out. I stopped short, my sharp claws just barley an inch from her nose.
She didn't even seem phased. She just looked into my eyes. I looked back. I lowered my paw and continued to gaze at her. We must have stayed like that for ten minutes.
Finally, she spoke. "Welcome, friend."
Friend?" I growled back. "I've never even met you before!" I glared at her.
Well," Her eyes narrowed. "I'm SassiKat, known to most as SassifrazKitty." She lowered her glasses and peered over them.Now we have met...friend."
Hmmpfh! You don't even know my name!"
And I bet you won't tell me what it is," She cocked her head. "will you?"
No." I turned and headed toward the door.
Alright. Have fun out there...on your own...all alone! You don't even know where you are!" She called after me.
Darn." I said sarcasticly as I clawed the door.
Obviously, I would be of much assistance to you. I could show you the way home...and I could open that door." She smiled a bit and walked my way.
Well, I guess I could stay for a while...but just until I finish healing all of the way!"
I turned, and SassiKat patted my back.
Aykji's the name, and survival's my game!" I said, grinning slightly.
Good. So you can survive long enough to tell me your story." She smirked, leading me into her bedroom.
Fine." I answered.
I lived with her for a few weeks, while I healed. In that time, she had managed to tell me how she found me, buried in snow, and took me to the Water Faerie to be healed. She said that, sadly, even the magical Water Faerie couldn't totally heal my wounds. Sure, she stopped the bleeding, and helped to keep me alive (well, that is, if I can even die!), but she had bad news to tell SassiKat.«
I was still unconcious. The Water Faerie floated through the waiting room to SassifrazKitty. The Faerie Looked grim. SassiKat hung her head, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
I regret to be the bearer of bad news...so...I also have some good news to tell!"
SassiKat lifted her head.
The good news is that the Kougra you found, will survive."
SassifrazKitty smiled.
»Yes, I could save her, but...I could not retrieve the second bullet. The one in her leg is gone...but the one in her chest will always remain. It is wedged in quite a pequliar position between the lungs and the ribs. It just barely missed her heart."
Her foot is badly damaged, and I am afraid that it will have to be amputated at a later time..."
AMPUTATED!?" SassiKat screamed. Silence fell through the lobby, and plenty of strange looks were directed at her.
Yes, yes, but don't fret! It's really not that bad!"
Though...something else is odd too...I can't realy figure out what it is. You see, she was starved, battered, bruised, cut, and everything else you can imagine. But...somehow...she is still alive. Something is protecting her...I can feel its prescence when I am near her."
Good luck with her, and gooday."
So SassiKat brought me home.
When she told me that story, a shudder passed through my body.
So...when exactly is my...operation?" I asked.
Whenever you want." She smiled.
Great! How's tomorrow sound? This thing is KILLING me!" I exclaimed jerking my paw into the air.
Tomorrow it is, then!"
I later found out that all of the bones in my paw had been crushed, and there was a large blood clot in there too. Believe it or not, I was actually relieved to have it gone.
It took me a while to learn to walk without my poor paw, but I got the hang of it.
Then, on my first Christmas, something truly wonderful happened.
We were all sitting around the tree, practically buried in torn wrapping paper. I sighed, Shawnodesse and Villiic each had gotten one more gift than I had.
I growled deep in my throat. Suddenly, I caught a movement in the corner of my eye. SassifrazKitty stepped through the door, holding a square package, wrapped tightly in the comic section of the Neopian Times (my favourite part!).
She placed the parcel in front of me. I tore into it, my eyes gleaming.
Cardboard and paper scattered everywhere, I stared at the contents of the gift.
A shiny, silver paw stared back at me.
I thought you'd like a replacement...you know...for that foot you lost." SassiKat said quietly. "The Water Faerie can put it on for you in a couple days...that is...if you like it."
It's...it...it's the most wonderful thing I've ever seen. It's the best gift I've ever gotten!"
I licked her hand in joy.
She stared at me lovingly, then gave me a huge hug. And, for the first time in my life, I purred.
From that moment on, I knew that she was meant to find me and that we were meant to be together.
And I've been living with her ever since.«
