Adventure Awaits!

The morning sun peaked over the horizon, casting a warm feeling across the sands and seafoam. And nestled near a weathered rock, in front of Poppo and Pun Hmorg, Zona carefully laid out the tattered pieces of a map they found earlier.

Poppo took a step closer to Zona. Curiously, she tilted her head as she watch Zona carefully took each of the piece of paper from the bottle, “Can I help you out, Zona?”

Zona beamed at the offer, “Of course! The more paws at work, the faster we can solve this puzzle!” his tail wiggles as if to add an extra excitement.

Poppo nods and without another word, she reached into her thick fur—and to everyone’s surprise, she pulled out a bottle of glue!

Pun Hmorg blinked confusedly at the sight of the all-too-sudden-glue, “Wait—did you just take a glue from your fur?!” he asked, pointing at the glue with wide eyes.

Poppo let out a soft giggle, her paws hiding her smile. “Maybe? Who knows?”

Pun laughed and shook his head, hopping next to them with playful energy, “Alright, mystery glue it is! Or whatever you called it! Let’s patch up this map together!”

What followed after that was an unsurprisingly intense session of glue, rearranging, and endless back-and-forth.

“That corner is supposedly goes there, Zona!”

“No way, Pun! It clearly matches this jagged edge here!”

“But that would put the tree all upside down!”

“Well…maybe it’s a magical upside-down trees? I've read some if them in a couple of books before,”

Despite the chaos, they worked with determination and excitement, even if they occasionally got more glue on themselves than the map. But eventually, after a couple of squeaks, tugs, and a few frustrated mumblings, the last piece of the map settled into place with a satisfying press.

They all leaned in to admire their hardwork. There, in the top-right corner of the map, was a bold red ‘X’ that stood out against the yellowed paper.

Zona’s eyes sparkled, “Look at that! An ‘X’ mark! This is certainly a pirate's map that leads to a hidden treasure! We have to find it! And...we can be pirates too! A whole crew of them!”

Poppo blinked, “Pirates? Like the one's with eye patch, cool hats, and skull flags?”

“You could put it that way, yeah!” Zona spun around, mimicking a pirate captain's stance, “We’ll sail the seas, follow the clues, dodge traps—and maybe fight a kraken! Or…or sea eels! Or solve ancient puzzles and mazes!”

Poppo tilted her head. She seemed hesitant about the entire thing, “But...what if it’s just a drawing? Maybe some random Stelciar or Phosray just doodled it sometime ago…”

Pun Hmorg leaned in, “Could be. But look at the paper—it’s all brown and flaky. No way this was made recently. This map, well...this is most certainly older than that,”

Zona nodded quickly, “Yeah! Even if it’s just an old drawing, it could still lead to something fun! Besides, like the old saying goes, the real treasure lies in the fun of the adventure!”

Poppo still looked unsure, her gaze shifted from the map to the wide open sea in the distance. And after some moment of convincing from Pun and Zona, she exclaims, “Well…alright! I suppose a little adventure wouldn’t hurt!”

“Yay!” Zona and Pun cheered in unison.

Zona stood up, brushing stray bits of glue from his fins. “Now! First step of any good pirate expedition—preparing the supplies!”

Pun looked at Poppo, teasingly, “Do you got any edibles with you, by any chance? Like how you did with the glue?”

Poppo shook her head, letting out a small laugh, “Sadly, no…edibles are a bit harder to hide than glue.”

Zona chuckled a little before rolling up the now-dried-map, “Then let’s split up. That way, we can each find different things and get more supplies faster. We’ll meet back here once we’re ready to set sail!”

Pun gave an eager nod, “Aye aye, Captain Zona!”

With a wave, the trio went their separate ways. Zona darted off towards the berry bushes and Pun flew through the forest, as he whistles a cheerful tune.

Poppo stayed behind for a moment, staring at the waves of sea and seagulls flying above, before she turned towards the shoreline and set off on her own path.

~

The breeze carried a salty tang as Poppo glided down toward a patch of vines that clung to rocky outcroppings. Her paws plucked clusters of vine berries carefully.

And a bit further down the shore, nestled beneath a stone ledge, she found a small sea cave. Inside, her eyes adjusted quickly to the dim glow from an algae that clings to the walls, forming a small-like constellations. There, she found old coiled rope. Poppo tried pulling it a little. She hums to herself as she decides that they're still strong and immediately spots several round rocks that looked like they could be useful for for their upcoming adventure.

With all her findings bundled in her pouch, Poppo returned to the beach just as the clouds shifted, bathing the scene in gentle sunlight. The sea seemed endless, like a canvas of mystery and possibility. Her heart thump. Not from fear, but anticipation.

And from the distance, she heard a voice.

“Poppo!” Zona’s voice rang out.

“Over here!” called Pun right after.

She turned and spotted them on the far side of the beach, standing next to a boat they must’ve dug from the sand dunes. Zona was waving wildly, tail flicking, while Pun tried to scrub seaweed off the boat’s side with a small pout.

Poppo giggled and leapt towards her friends, with the wind catching beneath her wings as she soared towards them, clutching her pouch tightly.

The adventure was calling and together, they would answer it.