[treasure] The Biggest Treasure

Pearl was lost.

He was undeniably and irrevocably lost in this place and he had absolutely no idea how he would get out or find his way back the way he came. 

See, Pearl had decided that treasure hunting was a good idea, great even! He had done it thousands of times before, always coming back safe and sound with some new shiny trinket to add to his collection or use as either props or parts of his costumes during his performances, everything always working out nicely so he got back in the nick of time each time. So once again, he grabbed a net satchel to hold anything he found and then set off on another trip to see what he could discover stuck in reefs or on the sea bed in the ocean. Unfortunately, he had not expected a storm to suddenly sweep him up and away from the route he usually took to do his usual search. Pearl somehow managed to hold onto his satchel but lost sight of anything else, being turned this way and that as the waves tossed him around without pause. 

Once the storm passed and the waves calmed down, Pearl resurfaced to see what looked like snowshell reef beach from afar. He had absolutely no idea how he managed to get so far, nor how much time had passed since he went under if he was being honest, having left early in the morning and finding the sun high in the sky now. Pearl dived back into the water with the intent to get to the beach and find out anything he could when a glint in the sand caught his eye, the light reflecting in various colors from where the sun was directly shining against it.  

The soft colored symp gets closer and brushes some sand off the object, slowly revealing a piece of amber encased in gold. He carefully dislodges it from the ea bed and twists it around on his hands, observing that it seemed fairly new due to the lack of scratches in the mineral and the gold shell. Maybe someone lost it recently while enjoying a day at the beach? He knew that amber drops weren’t common to begin with, only found during certain months during the year, and delicate ambers even less so since artisans rarely parted with them, so to find one right now meant someone was probably looking for it?

Pearl decided to see if he could find the owner before he decided if he would keep the amber. He started in snowshell reef beach, the nearby town the most likely location due to the close distance. He swam towards the sand and got out of the water, shaking the water off from his head and asked a nearby cream colored symp if they knew of anyone having lost their delicate amber. The symp replied with a negative and went on his way, Pearl going back to ask others only to receive the same answer again and again. Just when he was going to give up and start figuring a way home from so far away, a bappy playing on the sand saw the blue glint of the amber in his hands and rushed towards him, making grabby hands towards the item he was holding. 

Pearl didn’t know if it belonged to her or not, but with how happy the bappy looked when the symp handed her the amber, he was very much inclined to let her keep it. He played with the bappy for a while, her parents observing them from their place nearby until the sun started setting, at which time they decided to head home with the yawning bappy on their arms. Pearl said his goodbye to them before getting up and stretching his arms. He may not have ended up with the treasure this time, but he made a bappy happy and that was enough for him, so with a smile on his face and a skip in his step, Pearl headed the long way home.