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Description

Part 1
Please note that this story is a continuation of our event 4's which can be found here [link] and here [link]
Next: [link]
Team Varekai:[link]
Team Slow Melody:[link]
Collaboration

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“Was it nice, Pen, to be back in the desert?” The hippopotas that was walking beside Paulie looked up the the small pidove that was perched on the stantler’s head. While her voice was delicately tinged with sadness and longing, her eyes were bright and curious.She could have easily been upset that her friend went to the desert home they had in common, and didn’t think to invite her along.

But no. It wasn’t Persia’s way to be envious. She’d already lost one friend by letting her temper get the better of her, and there was no way she’d lose another that way.

“Yes. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed the feel of warm sand beneath my feet, and the hot desert winds, and the view that never ceases to steal your breath away... It was so good, being back, even if it was only for a day.” The pidove had a faraway look in her eyes, and a serene little smile stretched across her beak.

Beneath her, Paulie paled and lowered his head a little more. Neither Pen nor Persia noticed, they were too busy dreaming of their desert home. It was all the stantler could do to keep from whimpering. No matter what Penumbra felt, Paulie really didn’t see where she was coming from. There were so many beautiful things he had seen during his travels with his father, and beside them, the desert that his two friends loved so much paled into insignificance.

A pristine mountain peak breaking through the clouds. A river running swiftly, always changing. Exotic plants and flowers growing wild. Forests so vast, with trees so tall that you couldn’t help but feel small when you walked beneath their branches, where the canopy was so thick that only thin beams of sunlight could trickle through the leaves. Landscapes covered in snow and ice, where there was no wind to bite at your ears, where sound sometimes travelled for miles, and sometimes was swallowed up. These were the sights that stole the breath from his lungs. It was vistas such as these that were etched into his heart, never to leave him.

Perhaps he might have considered the desert-lands in a different light, had he not succumbed to dehydration and nearly been a hungry krookodile’s next meal.

“Paulie?” It was Meranda who noticed that the stantler was struggling. “Are you alright?” Her attention drifted from him as she turned her head away, shivering in a sudden blast of frigid air, closing her eyes for a moment as snowflakes danced over her. “Well, that’s odd.” The shelllos peered ahead of them, as if hoping to find an answer to a question she hadn’t spoken out loud.

“H-hey, Meranda? What do you mean?” Persia, who had been trying to walk where the snow was thinnest, shied away from the sudden swirling gale of snow, and now turned to gaze at her friends with wide eyes.

“Lovely weather we’re having!” Meranda cried out with a big smile on her face, watching as more snow began to fall. She turned to the hippopotas and spoke in a quieter voice. “Oh, I just wasn’t expecting the weather to change like this. I was sure I heard from someone that we were in for a sunny spell.” She noticed Persia’s discomfort, and moved over to stand beside her. “Come on, let’s get home. I’m sure it can’t get much-” Another icy blast of wind swept over the four friends, and it left Meranda spitting out snowflakes.

“Paulie, I don’t like this!” Penumbra crouched low between his horns, trembling with cold, and fear.The wind ripped at her feathers with such ferocity, only strengthening as time went by, and it seemed to come from all directions, buffeting her relentlessly. She kept her heart-shaped rainbow stone safe, nestled in the wing that was pressed against Paulie’s head as she crouched even lower.

“W-we have to get to shelter!” Paulie struggled to be heard over the howling wind, and lifted his head, hoping to shelter his little friend better.He moved forwards, dragging his hooves through the thickening snow. It was hard enough for him to walk smoothly on flat surfaces, but this freak snowstorm really made it difficult. Tired as he was, from the perilous trip to the desert, it was only a matter of time before his strength failed him and Penumbra both.

Twice he stumbled, and twice he was steadied by Meranda and Persia.

“W-w-w....” Paulie could faintly hear the hippopotas stuttering beside him, and squinting, he realised that she had stopped. Poor Persia was crouching low in the snow, as if she were trying to get away from the storm. A closer look showed that she was trembling, just like the little pidove was. Eventually she got the word out. “W-w-water!”

“C’mon Persia, we h-have to keep m-moving!” Meranda was there beside her friend, encouraging her in a way that only the shiny shellos could. She turned her back on the biting wind, her head near the hippopotas’s head, sheltering her from the brunt of the icy onslaught. “It’s okay, Persia, you’ll be okay. Just l-look at it this way - it’s not water yet! But, if w-we don’t get moving, it s-soon will be!” The shellos smiled as her friend nodded and the light of determination glinted in both of their eyes. Turning, they faced the storm together, side-by-side.

Unfortunately for Paulie, the third time he stumbled, exhausted and half-blinded by the snowflakes that bit at his skin, gravity pulled him down. He could do nothing but cry out as he felt Pen scrabbling for a hold, and a cry of fear ripped away from her beak as the gale picked her up and carried her away. He floundered and struggled to raise his head. He desperately looked around for her, but, apart from Meranda and Persia, the landscape around them was bleak. Paulie turned as he heard a gasp behind him. Meranda and Persia were there, huddled together.

And in their eyes, Paulie could see the emotions that filled his heart. Crippling fear. Hopelessness. Sadness... No, it was more than sadness. It was the heartbreaking feeling that Penumbra must have felt in the desert, when he was too weak to run from the krookodile. It was a dread, plain and simply. The fear of possibly losing someone you loved. The agony of losing a friend. There was a sudden, burning flare of hope within him, that pushed him to his feet, and sent him stumbling several more paces, before he tripped again, his chin coming to rest on freshly fallen snow.

There, just in front of his nose, something glittered, glowed. It was Pen’s Heart Stone. Persia had said that some believed they reflected the emotions of the heart. As Paulie watched it shift into shades of blues so dark that they were nearly black, he figured it must be true. His eyes, a sky blue, filled with tears, but he refused to let them fall.

“Pen...” He mumbled the word as he felt Persia and Meranda huddle either side of his neck. He flicked snow off his ears, and with effort, raised his head. And he cried out in the blizzard, his voice wavering slightly, but ringing out clear and strong for just one moment before the wind carried it away.

“Penumbra!”

----------------------------------------------------------

OK guys! Here starts the epic adventure of two merchants!

Art is by your's truely
Written by !

This will be ulternating between our two profiles so keep a sharp eye out for each new part!

Index:
1:here 2:[link] 3:[link] 4:[link] 5:[link] 6:[link] 7:[link] 8:[link] 9:[link] 10:[link] 11:[link] 12:[link] 13:[link] 14:[link] 15:[link] 16:[link] 17:[link] 18:[link] 19:[link] 20:[link] 21:[link] 22:[link] 23:[link] 24:[link] 25:[link] 26:[link] 27:[link] 28:[link]

Description

Part 1
Please note that this story is a continuation of our event 4's which can be found here [link] and here [link]
Next: [link]
Team Varekai:[link]
Team Slow Melody:[link]
Collaboration

-------------------------------------------------------

“Was it nice, Pen, to be back in the desert?” The hippopotas that was walking beside Paulie looked up the the small pidove that was perched on the stantler’s head. While her voice was delicately tinged with sadness and longing, her eyes were bright and curious.She could have easily been upset that her friend went to the desert home they had in common, and didn’t think to invite her along.

But no. It wasn’t Persia’s way to be envious. She’d already lost one friend by letting her temper get the better of her, and there was no way she’d lose another that way.

“Yes. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed the feel of warm sand beneath my feet, and the hot desert winds, and the view that never ceases to steal your breath away... It was so good, being back, even if it was only for a day.” The pidove had a faraway look in her eyes, and a serene little smile stretched across her beak.

Beneath her, Paulie paled and lowered his head a little more. Neither Pen nor Persia noticed, they were too busy dreaming of their desert home. It was all the stantler could do to keep from whimpering. No matter what Penumbra felt, Paulie really didn’t see where she was coming from. There were so many beautiful things he had seen during his travels with his father, and beside them, the desert that his two friends loved so much paled into insignificance.

A pristine mountain peak breaking through the clouds. A river running swiftly, always changing. Exotic plants and flowers growing wild. Forests so vast, with trees so tall that you couldn’t help but feel small when you walked beneath their branches, where the canopy was so thick that only thin beams of sunlight could trickle through the leaves. Landscapes covered in snow and ice, where there was no wind to bite at your ears, where sound sometimes travelled for miles, and sometimes was swallowed up. These were the sights that stole the breath from his lungs. It was vistas such as these that were etched into his heart, never to leave him.

Perhaps he might have considered the desert-lands in a different light, had he not succumbed to dehydration and nearly been a hungry krookodile’s next meal.

“Paulie?” It was Meranda who noticed that the stantler was struggling. “Are you alright?” Her attention drifted from him as she turned her head away, shivering in a sudden blast of frigid air, closing her eyes for a moment as snowflakes danced over her. “Well, that’s odd.” The shelllos peered ahead of them, as if hoping to find an answer to a question she hadn’t spoken out loud.

“H-hey, Meranda? What do you mean?” Persia, who had been trying to walk where the snow was thinnest, shied away from the sudden swirling gale of snow, and now turned to gaze at her friends with wide eyes.

“Lovely weather we’re having!” Meranda cried out with a big smile on her face, watching as more snow began to fall. She turned to the hippopotas and spoke in a quieter voice. “Oh, I just wasn’t expecting the weather to change like this. I was sure I heard from someone that we were in for a sunny spell.” She noticed Persia’s discomfort, and moved over to stand beside her. “Come on, let’s get home. I’m sure it can’t get much-” Another icy blast of wind swept over the four friends, and it left Meranda spitting out snowflakes.

“Paulie, I don’t like this!” Penumbra crouched low between his horns, trembling with cold, and fear.The wind ripped at her feathers with such ferocity, only strengthening as time went by, and it seemed to come from all directions, buffeting her relentlessly. She kept her heart-shaped rainbow stone safe, nestled in the wing that was pressed against Paulie’s head as she crouched even lower.

“W-we have to get to shelter!” Paulie struggled to be heard over the howling wind, and lifted his head, hoping to shelter his little friend better.He moved forwards, dragging his hooves through the thickening snow. It was hard enough for him to walk smoothly on flat surfaces, but this freak snowstorm really made it difficult. Tired as he was, from the perilous trip to the desert, it was only a matter of time before his strength failed him and Penumbra both.

Twice he stumbled, and twice he was steadied by Meranda and Persia.

“W-w-w....” Paulie could faintly hear the hippopotas stuttering beside him, and squinting, he realised that she had stopped. Poor Persia was crouching low in the snow, as if she were trying to get away from the storm. A closer look showed that she was trembling, just like the little pidove was. Eventually she got the word out. “W-w-water!”

“C’mon Persia, we h-have to keep m-moving!” Meranda was there beside her friend, encouraging her in a way that only the shiny shellos could. She turned her back on the biting wind, her head near the hippopotas’s head, sheltering her from the brunt of the icy onslaught. “It’s okay, Persia, you’ll be okay. Just l-look at it this way - it’s not water yet! But, if w-we don’t get moving, it s-soon will be!” The shellos smiled as her friend nodded and the light of determination glinted in both of their eyes. Turning, they faced the storm together, side-by-side.

Unfortunately for Paulie, the third time he stumbled, exhausted and half-blinded by the snowflakes that bit at his skin, gravity pulled him down. He could do nothing but cry out as he felt Pen scrabbling for a hold, and a cry of fear ripped away from her beak as the gale picked her up and carried her away. He floundered and struggled to raise his head. He desperately looked around for her, but, apart from Meranda and Persia, the landscape around them was bleak. Paulie turned as he heard a gasp behind him. Meranda and Persia were there, huddled together.

And in their eyes, Paulie could see the emotions that filled his heart. Crippling fear. Hopelessness. Sadness... No, it was more than sadness. It was the heartbreaking feeling that Penumbra must have felt in the desert, when he was too weak to run from the krookodile. It was a dread, plain and simply. The fear of possibly losing someone you loved. The agony of losing a friend. There was a sudden, burning flare of hope within him, that pushed him to his feet, and sent him stumbling several more paces, before he tripped again, his chin coming to rest on freshly fallen snow.

There, just in front of his nose, something glittered, glowed. It was Pen’s Heart Stone. Persia had said that some believed they reflected the emotions of the heart. As Paulie watched it shift into shades of blues so dark that they were nearly black, he figured it must be true. His eyes, a sky blue, filled with tears, but he refused to let them fall.

“Pen...” He mumbled the word as he felt Persia and Meranda huddle either side of his neck. He flicked snow off his ears, and with effort, raised his head. And he cried out in the blizzard, his voice wavering slightly, but ringing out clear and strong for just one moment before the wind carried it away.

“Penumbra!”

----------------------------------------------------------

OK guys! Here starts the epic adventure of two merchants!

Art is by your's truely
Written by !

This will be ulternating between our two profiles so keep a sharp eye out for each new part!

Index:
1:here 2:[link] 3:[link] 4:[link] 5:[link] 6:[link] 7:[link] 8:[link] 9:[link] 10:[link] 11:[link] 12:[link] 13:[link] 14:[link] 15:[link] 16:[link] 17:[link] 18:[link] 19:[link] 20:[link] 21:[link] 22:[link] 23:[link] 24:[link] 25:[link] 26:[link] 27:[link] 28:[link]