The Migration of Peng
Sparky won't miss out on a once-in-a-century event.
- Main Cast
- Time period
- 2031-05
- Complete
- Tags
- Bauhinia, Coastline, Complete
Once in a century, Peng is coming down south!
In case you don't know, Peng is a really big bird that does nothing but fly north and south and north and south. It would be pretty bad if it migrates every year like normal small birds, because wherever it passes through, hurricanes and destruction follow. So thankfully it only does so once a century.
Technically, it's twice a century, since it's migration and you go there and back. But Sparky doesn't care. The TV said the wind level can nearly blow someone with level 600 superstrength off their feet. "That means I can't get blown away!" is her takeaway. Everyone is boarding up their windows and taping stuff down; apps and websites track the location of the big bird; and Sparky only has one thing in mind: she will watch the bird pass through with her own naked eyes.
This time round, her friends may not be able to go with her. That's fine. She can do this on her own.
A large area of direct impact was sealed off by police tape and people's internal fears. Without the fear, the tape was easy to bypass. On the day of Peng's arrival, even the police opted to stay inside, and a few ambulances and emergency rescue people lay ready, though no one thought anyone would be crossing the police tape and going up the mountain. People still worked, braving the storm, but Sparky was the only one climbing up the mountain, holding a camera she stole from Peacock.
She stood atop the mountain, digging her feet into the ground. There it is, over the northern horizon, a large silhouette of the bird.
Under the mountain, MSS officer of civilian affairs Paperweight and his apprentice Goose received a report of a section of police tape broken.
Up the mountain, Sparky felt it. A wave of air hit her like a wall, and trees were already bending. Peng wasn't even anywhere close. She held the camera tight and braced.
Just as soon as she had adjusted, it arrived, blocking out the sun. Its wings flapped down, and the pressure pinned her to the ground. She struggled to keep her eyes open; not that she could see anything in the pitch darkness. Trees snapped in half.
And Peng lifted its wings, and Sparky felt herself being lifted too. Snapped branches flew into the air. Peng was on top of her by now. Sparky felt light. She raised her camera. She tipped her toes and found herself floating. At that point, the gust carrying her upwards reached equilibrium with her own weight.
She lifted her head to stare at Peng's belly (which is literally just pitch darkness) and had an odd moment of revelation.
Even something as majestic as Peng relies on the wind to carry it.
If I take away someone's wind, what can't I bring down?
And Sparky got slammed into the ground again. Little stones, leaves, and twigs hit her from all directions. She failed to regain her footing and was tossed around until she tumbled down the mountain, breaking the camera. It was an expensive camera. It's Peacock's own fault for buying an expensive camera.
When things calmed down, Paperweight and Goose went to investigate the broken police tape. Except that all the police tape were broken at this point. They knew the specific location where the broken tape was first found though, but to trace any path someone might've gone through was near impossible, given the debris left behind. Still they ordered a search party and found Sparky in a circle of boulders that sheltered her from the wind, having broken an arm and a leg which was why she didn't make it out herself. Her head was fine, thankfully; in fact, she broke the arm sheltering her head against the boulders.
Paperweight recognized her. You're the girl who turned herself into a dragon and helped us locate an Atlasian who crossed the border without documents and illegally stayed in Bauhinia for over 10 years!
That is not how I would've put it, Sparky said.
Whatever. You've caused us enough trouble. Get in the ambulance. You need a stretcher?
Sparky had to admit, she did need a stretcher. And little did Paperweight know, she was going to cause them way more trouble later on.