A Struggle for Freedom

     Danny_9 was one of the rare pets, that actually had his color from the start. Both of his parents were Darigan Gelerts. Then more than that, they were Darigan's minions. He never got to know them because of that very fact. He was taken straight to the leader and placed before him. Lord Darigan gave him a thorough look over to try to determine his rank and stats. Danny's tail wagged rapidly, as he was unaware of what was really taking place

     "Good this one looks like he'll be a strong addition. Plus he's hyperactive, so that might come in handy. Take him down immediately and start training him," Lord Darigan ordered his minions.

     "Yes sir," a Darigan Hissi said.

     The Hissi was to become a mentor to the young Gelert and teach him everything he needed to know. She took him into the training room. Danny found out quickly that this was not going to be fun and games. As a matter of fact, it did not seem good. He went along with the training program for about one year. He was able to gain some strength through that. He was able to get up to the level most pets would classify as a ten. That was about the time that he found out what was really going on. They were going to attack Meridell, followed by other places. He was not up for that. He knew it was not right. That very night he tried to escape.

     It was not a very thought out plan. It was mainly get out of the castle and then run away as fast as he could. He was not even thinking he could fly faster than he could run. He ended up getting caught caught halfway to Meridell and dragged back in before Lord Darigan.

     "Sir, this Gelert was found trying to escape Darigan Citadel!" the Acara that caught him said.

     "He what?" Lord Darigan asked, angry.

     "Yes, we told him why we were training him so hard, like you said. Then tonight I saw that he slipped outside. He was trying to get away. Luckily, I was able to catch up to him and bring him back."

     "Tattletale. Your are a big tattletale!" Danny yelled at the Acara. He struggled to get away from the pet's grip.

     "No one runs away from me! Once you become a part of my Darigan minions there is no escape!" Lord Darigan yelled at the young Gelert. "Now tell me why did you try to escape?"

     "Because everything your doing is wrong. Your trying to take over another kingdom. Just expand your land, by taken unclaimed land in Neopia. There is plenty of that around. You don't have to take someone else's place."

     "Take this boy down to the zapper. Maybe that will give him a complete attitude adjustment." That was when Lord Darigan, grabbed Danny by the throat. "Now listen to me, boy. If I have anymore problems out of you, that is it. You do not defy me. Now take him out of my sight!"

     Once Danny's throat was released, he was taken down to what they called the zapper. That was meant to turn any pet into a Darigan and it would change their personality completely. They got Danny hooked into it and fired away. The only problem was that because he was already a Darigan. Because of that, it did not work on him. Though he knew better. He acted as if his personality changed. He knew he was going to have to come up with a better escape plan.

     Fourteen years passed before he was confident enough in his ability to escape without getting caught. He had gained up the minions trust. During that time, he did have to do several things he did not want to. He had to capture a few neopets and take them back to the castle. Then if anyone showed up to stop him, he had to battle them. Sometimes he would act like he lost the battle, and release the pet. Though most of the time, that did not work out. He had to work with another minion. They knew him too well for him to put on the act of losing. He had to take items from stores, especially when it came to food and him eating. Most of the time, the food there had something in it to keep the minions loyal. He would act like he ate it. Then get rid of it when he got the chance.

     Finally, an escape attempt came up. He was given guard duty by himself. He was to stay up all night and patrol the perimeter of the castle. He did just that for awhile. Though late into the night, he started to sneak off. That was once he was sure Lord Darigan and everyone was asleep. He silently flapped his wings to get airborne. His wings gave off little to no sound. He did not stop until he was in Neopia Central. He found an ally to land in and set up camp. After all, He was tired from being up most of the night. He stretched out and got some sleep.

     The next morning, he got up and was energized. The freedom finally catching up to him. It felt great. He started to explore Neopia Central. Unfortunately, his freedom did not last long. He happened to run into Dr. Death. The Techo was out looking for homeless pets to take back to the pound.

     "Good morning. Fine day, isn't it?" the Techo asked.

     Danny, of course, was leery of him. After all he had just escaped from Lord Darigan. He still responded to him since he was not a Darigan pet. "Morning. It really is."

     "What are you doing out this early?"

     "Don't I have a right to be out anytime that I want to?"

     "Of course, I was just wondering. Most pets are not even stirring yet."

     "I'm just an early riser and like to get out and run."

     "You live around here?"

     "Close by."

     "I'm DD. What's your name?"

     "Danny_9. Nice to meet you."

     "Same here. Well, I might see you around."

     Danny watched as he walked off. He didn't think anything about that. He wondered off to see what he could find to eat. He was unaware that the Techo had a device where he could just enter a pets name that would bring up the name of their owner or if they did not even have one. It was not long that other pets were coming at him ready to capture him. He fought against them and was gaining an advantage. He was clearly stronger than they were. That was until one of the pets got some powder and blew it into his face. Almost instantly, Danny was feeling a bit sleepy. He continued battling despite that and trying to chase back sleep. He finally could not resist the powder. Once he was out like a light, the pets easily captured him. They got him back to the pound and into one of the cages.

     He woke up in the cage and trying to figure out what was going on. He noticed that the place was open and that a curtain surrounded his cage. He noticed humans were coming in to look, but never seemed to see him. He tried to speak up, but even then no one looked his way. That night some sort of curtain was opened. He asked the other pets about it. The reason was that he was a 'stuck pet,' as they called it. During business hours the curtain would be down and was soundproof. It made it look to the outside that it was just an empty cage. There was only a certain way they would be able to find him.

     He was in there for about a week, before an escape plan came up. It was night once again, so the curtain on his cage was back up. He was not sure how, but one pet got out. That one quickly started going around to get other pets out. Each of the others also headed out determined to get all the pound pets out of there. He waited patiently before one came over and got his cage opened up. He had to stretch when he got out. Then followed the group out the door with the rest.

     Though that was as far as he stayed with them. He broke off in his own direction, knowing bigger groups drew attention. Danny tried to fly off, thinking no one was around. Though a blueish colored goop inside of an orb was thrown at him by a guard. Once it made contact with his wings, it burst open and the goop touched his wings. A numbing effect fell over them and he could not feel them. He could not fly with that feeling either. He had to stick with running. He went through the marketplace, being chased by the guard. He managed to knock over a table and get away from him.

     It was not long after that the paralysis of his wings wore off. Danny started to move them again, and suddenly a terrible pain washed over them. They felt broken in every possible location. He slipped around to the hospital to have Doctor Gelert check out his wings.

     "What is bugging you today?" Doctor Gelert said, as soon as he came in with Danny.

     "It's my wings. Both of them feel broken," Danny replied.

     "Have you been into a battle recently?"

     "Yes."

     "Okay, I'll check over them and see what the problem is." He started to stretch out Danny's wings. He was trying to see if there was anything broken. "They do not appear broken, but there is some sort of blue substance on them. I'll take a look at that."

     "Alright."

     Doctor Gelert pulled a few quick tests on the goop and was able to figure out what it was. "It seems to be some sort of pet-made goop. It will paralyze the wings at first, then it will cause wide spread pain in them. You will not be able to fly and the pain will continue until you get the antidote."

     "What's the name of it, and I'll go to the pharmacy."

     "I'm afraid it's not from the pharmacy. You are going to have to go back to where you got the goop and get it from there. They should have something to stop this."

     "Thanks, Dr. Gelert."

     Danny was not wanting to go back to the pound, but he had no choice now. He figured now with the escape that was going on would be his best bet. There would be minimal staff around. He started back to it. Once he got there, he noticed that guard again, and he could see he was a Xweetok. He was obviously waiting for Danny to return.

     Danny was going to have to think fast. He could not become a stuck pet in the pound once again. He used his quick wits, and a little bit of training from his Darigan days. He grabbed the first pet that he could find which was a rainbow Peophin known as Chazwin. He was not going to harm him. He just needed to secure that he would not go into the pound again.

     After a bit of a going back and forth between the Darigan Gelert and the Xweetok, Danny was able to strike a deal. He was able to get the antidote he needed, as well as how to use it. Then he took Chazwin out of sight of the Xweetok and let go of him.

     "Sorry you got tied up in that mess back there. I was just doing what I had to do. There was no way I was letting them put me back into the pound! Not when there not going to let me have a chance at an owner. Go back there, so the Xweetok knows you are okay. Plus they won't send someone else after me."

     With that, Danny left the scene. He really did hope that the Peophin would have went back to show he was okay. Last thing he needed was for the Defenders of Neopia to be breathing down his neck. He had to get away from them. He got back to Doctor Gelert, and got him to give him the antidote. After that he headed back out in the streets and waited until dark. This time he flew off to Mystery Island and was able to find a hiding place.

     He stayed in the woods for three weeks. That was when he saw that rainbow Peophin again. Only this time he was accompanied by a human. He stayed hidden, hoping they would just pass by. He was afraid the person was from the Defenders and was looking to arrest him. Once they left he came back out of hiding. It was an hour or so after that the same person saw him. He missed out on the conversation that followed. He was actually unaware that he had been seen.

     "Oh cool. A Darigan Gelert!" she said.

     Chazwin looked over and recognized this one immediately. "Oh no not that one! That's the one I was telling you about when I went past the pound!"

     "Really. I wonder if he has a home yet."

     "Don't you dare go ask. He's a menace to himself and everyone around him."

     "Oh, come on. Everyone deserves a home and a chance."

     "Please don't."

     The girl went over to Danny. She was happily looking at Danny. Chazwin groaned, though he followed. He had a really bad feeling about this. Though that was about every situation he got into. At the time, Danny did not know they had seen him. That was until the girl came over to him.

     "What do you want?" Danny asked, backing up.

     "Just wanted to know if you had a home or not. I'm Angel."

     "Why do you want to know?"

     "If you don't have one, I'll adopt you. I have taken in all the pets I have."

     "How can I trust you?"

     "Don't worry, you can."

     Danny took a chance to try to trust her. He hoped that he was not making a mistake. "Fine, no I don't have a home."

     "Okay. I will take you in. No pet needs to go without a home."

     Danny followed as they went back to Neopia Central. He recognized the way to the pound and was wanting to run. Though for some reason he kept following. Turned out Angel was just getting the adoption papers to officially make him her neopet. Of course the Xweetok guard was there and wanted to get him back for everything. Though with an adopter there, he could not. After all of that, Danny finally got a home.

     For the next year, Danny could not have been happier. He was able to come and go whenever he wanted to without any danger of the Techo catching him again. he did look over his shoulder for any of Darigan's minions, as he knew if they could catch him he would be in serious trouble. He spent most of his days in the Battledome trying to get even stronger. He thought if he was strong enough they would not try to catch him.

     It was sometime after that year mark, Danny went to Meridell to explore. Well actually his owner took him, as that was one place he would not visit. He was really on edge considering Darigan Citadel was close by. While he was there, he overheard some of Darigan's minions talking, and hid. Something they said caught his attention, and he listened to their conversation.

     "What are we going to do about that Danny_9's sister?" one of them asked.

     "I don't know. She acts too much like him though. He's already made a mockery of all the minions and Lord Darigan," another said.

     There was one last one in on the conversation. "I overheard Lord Darigan talking that something needs to be done about Flairein so she does not have the chance to humiliate us, like he did."

     After they were finished talking they headed off. They did not know that Danny had overheard everything. That night he went on a rescue mission to save his little sister. He was not letting them repaint her and then use the zapper, if that was the plan. He made sure everyone was asleep in the Citadel again. He flew over the wall and slipped into the castle. There were some Darigans that were awake, which he battled. He easily knocked them out and put into the holding cells. Along the way, he had to battle a few more times. He soon located her. Like him, she had been Darigan Gelert from the start. She appeared to be around one year old. He got her out of the castle, and headed to Neopia Central.

     "Who are you?" Flairein asked him.

     "Have you heard of Danny_9, the traitor?" Danny asked.

     "Heard about him? That's all they talk about sometimes. I've heard he's one minion that has made a mockery of them. He was a rebel and went against everything they taught him. He even ran away into the night. He's my hero! I can't tell them that, though I think they may have found out."

     "That would be me."

     "Are you serious?! You're Danny_9! So coool!"

     "Yes. You're going to like this even more. I'm your big brother."

     "How do you know?"

     "I overheard some minions talking and they used your name. Then they said that she was my sister."

     "Sweeet! Uh, would you be mad if I told you I don't like being Darigan?"

     "Not at all. What would you rather be?"

     "Baby pet!"

     Danny had enough neopoints with him at the time. He was able to get her a baby pet brush and took her to the rainbow pool. He got her painted into a baby. After that, he lead her back to his home. Angel was more than happy to take the little Gelert in as well. Danny could not have been happier. He promised to take care of his sister and keep her safe from anything and everything.

The End