Science+Fiction+Story+SI15

Adventurous 2 Menguin and Ponkey had been best buds forever. They had grown up together, played together, explored together, and seen their families wiped out together. A long time ago, the brutally hostile hawks had attacked and nearly made the families of Menguin, a Chinstrap Penguin, and Ponkey, a Spectacled Langur, extinct. That had happened 12 years ago in the year 4390. The two little, innocent, curious creatures had witnessed the horrible event when they were basically newborn, but they remembered it like it was yesterday. They now lived with the hawks in the forests of Alaska because their family had gotten split up. Now, fully grown, Menguin and Ponkey, two peas in a pod who had done everything together for the last who-know-how-many years, were ready to get revenge on the hawks. About a year ago, Menguin and Ponkey had gone on a thrilling journey in another world to retrieve the Stone of Feu and Eau. It was a near death experience in which they acquired a very small but very powerful stone, which had the power to shoot out either flames or water. They had gotten it for their aging turtle friend, Schalchops, who had also had a recent encounter with the hawks where they had taken his son, so he was pretty excited about the fact that he could finally get back at the hawks. Now, the turtles had the upper hand in the rivalry thanks to the discovery of the Stone of Feu and Eau, the little rock with big powers. It was the reason they had been able to fend off the hawks when they last attacked. However, there was something else besides Schalchops’s son that the turtles wanted from the hawks. This was the Branch of Health, an ancient object with extreme healing power so great that it could raise people from the dead. This was so important to them because Schalchops, who was the leader of the tribe, was nearing death, and his loss would lead to an extreme advantage to the hawks.

Menguin, who was big, tough, cocky, and not that smart, and Ponkey, the small, quiet, brains of the duo, were always the designated warriors for the turtle tribe, and they would be leading the attack on the hawks in order to obtain the Branch of Health. They had planned out a very simple but effective attack for which they could thank three little hawks who were now living with them. They had been sent over to spy on the turtles, but they were against the way of life of the hawks. Convincing Schalchops that they were friendly, they proved good allies, knowing where everything was and how the best way to attack would be.

Now, Menguin, with the Stone of Feu and Eau in hand, Ponkey, and the three little hawks snuck towards the hawk nest. Or at least the tree that held the hawk nest. It just happened to be 200 feet up the monstrous tree. Not knowing this, because the only way the little hawks described it was “really tall," they marched on until they came upon it. At this point, Menguin and Ponkey were astonished.

“I think it’s a little taller than ‘really tall’,” Menguin commented. “Please tell me you do know where the nest is at least.”

The smallest hawk pointed at a branch very high up but easy enough to spot. It stuck out more than any other branch, and it looked unguarded most likely because they were hunting, not expecting an attack from the normally peaceful turtles. This made their task very easy, save for the fact that it hung some 200 feet in the air.

Not knowing what else to do, they started carrying out their plan. Menguin, being the only one who couldn’t climb or fly, stayed at the bottom, hiding behind a nearby tree and some bushes. Ponkey scaled the tree nearest to the one holding the nest while the hawks traveled a distance from the trees on the ground, flew up into the sky, found the branch with the nest, and started their descent.

Now, although they hated the hawks, they didn’t want to completely get rid of them. Before getting the Branch of Health, the three little hawks scooped up some eggs from the nest and gave them to Ponkey in the nearby tree. When he had all he could carry, he started back towards the turtles.

Menguin, still at the bottom and waiting to carry out his part of the plan, heard the hawks approaching, so he yelled, “HURRY UP! THEY’RE COMING!”

Speeding up the process, the little hawks hastily searched for a little branch with a gold tip. It was impossible to find in the mess of a nest in the tree, but with all three practically tearing apart the nest, they spotted it, snatched it, and started into the sky on their way to the turtle village.

Seeing that they had left the tree, Menguin pointed the Stone of Feu and Eau at the hawk’s tree and shouted, “Feu Puissance!”

Immediately the base of the tree burst into flames, which started spreading upward as Menguin ran for his life towards safety at the turtle village. The last thing he wanted was to be caught by the hawks and have who knows what happen to him. With the village in sight, he kicked it into high gear, looking back to see the hawks right on his tail. He’d had this experience before, being chased by something with a drive to kill him while holding the Stone of Feu and Eau. Remembering this, he turned and yelled, “Feu Puissance!”

Flames shot out of the stone towards the hawks, coming so fast they couldn’t avoid it. What happened next, Menguin didn’t know because he just kept running until he was safely inside his hut in the turtle village. He didn’t want to know what happened; he actually felt bad for the hawks for the first time ever. But then he remembered what would’ve happened to the turtles if he hadn’t done what he did, and he felt better. Joining the celebration taking place in the village, he forgot completely about the hawks and was joyful that he was home safe with his “family”.

Through the years to come, the turtles would raise the baby hawks as a part of the turtle tribe. Menguin and Ponkey set out to find the remains of their actual families, an adventure bigger than any they had ever been on before given the distance they had to travel. Schalchops was up and running again, and the hawks learned to never mess with the turtles again.