Let The Chaos Continue

Apple, Ember, Prism, and Aspen

A couple days later, with Prism gone to visit Aspen, Ember and Apple sat around their hut, slightly bored.

Well, Apple was completely bored, to the point where she was hanging upside down and attempting to balance a paintbrush on her snout. Ember, on the other hand, was trying to finish reading a letter from his sister, but kept getting distracted by staring at Apple.

"We never told Prism when she should be back," Apple realized.

"That's what you think about while you balance paintbrushes on your snout?" He countered, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know," She sighed. "I'm BORED. Usually having Prism around always gives me something to do." She glanced over at him. "So, how's Hope doing?"

He scanned the rest of the letter and paused.

"Apparently, she and Fiji have a dragonet now," He said, surprised.

"Wait what?" Apple shot up. "I didn't know Hope was expecting a dragonet."

"Neither did I. She said she wanted to surprise everyone."

"And wait until it HATCHED? That's a BIT long to keep such as secret!"

"I know!" Ember paused. "So I'm an uncle now. Cool."

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl. They named her Hollow."

"Awwwww," Apple grinned. "I bet she's cute. Baby dragonets are always cute. Remember when Prism was a baby? She was adorable."

"She still is adorable."

"I know, but it's not the same." 

"Well then I guess we'll have to go visit Hope and Fiji soon so you can get a baby dragonet fix."

"True..." Apple thought for a moment. "Or we could just have another dragonet of our own." Ember looked up at her and blinked.

"What?" He questioned.

"I mean, we did a great job with Prism, and being an only child is kinda lonely. I would know." Ember stared at her, not quite knowing what to say.

"Okay..." He agreed, slowly smiling. "Prism would freak."

"Yeah, but she'd freak in a good way."

"If you say so."

******

Speaking of Prism, she was currently freaking, and not because of a baby dragonet. Instead it was because she was with Aspen, who was leading her to a cave on some beach because he said he had a surprise for her, and really any moment with Aspen made her feel a little giddy.

"Sooo, what this surprise?" She asked, skipping beside Aspen as he fiddled with his talons.

"Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, and you wouldn't be surprised at all," He started rambling. "If anything, you'd be unsurprised because you'd be expecting it, so I guess that would make it more of an unsurprise more than anything, and unsurprises don't sound like much fun, whereas surprises could be very fun. Or very awful. I mean, a mugger surprising you is not a fun surprise at all, but- I'm completely rambling again, aren't I? I really need to stop doing that." Prism grinned.

"It's fine," She nudged him with a wing. "I like it when you ramble. It's cute."

"You're cute." Aspen burst out, then immediately snapped his mouth shut with an embarrassed expression. Prism laughed.

The cave was small, but the back corner had a hole that let ocean water slip in. Other than a few rocks and some seaweed, it was empty. Prism imagined it was a cave that flooded a lot during storms. She didn't quite know what Aspen was bringing her here for. He started poking around the rocks, frowning.

"He should be around here somewhere," He insisted. "I've been befriending him for a while now- I don't think he'd just run off on me like this."

"Who, exactly, are we looking for?" Prism asked, scanning the cave. Aspen's head popped up from behind one of the rocks, and she tried not to laugh at the seaweed the was stuck to his head.

"Oh, um, well, he's... It's difficult to explain," He admitted. "But-" His eyes lit up at something behind her. "THERE!"

The word echoed through the cave as something jumped on Prism's head and she screamed.

"No, no, don't scream!" Aspen said quickly. "Aww, he likes you. I knew he would. I mean, he's a great judge of character, and you have nice character, of course, I mean- you- well, I've been in your head, so I suppose that's the right words- that doesn't sound right- but-"

"ASPEN," Prism interrupted, trying not to panic. "What is on my head?" Aspen scratched his head and smiled as the thing crept onto her shoulder and down her arm.

"The cutest little octopus in the sea?" He guessed. Prism glanced down and relaxed. Sure enough, there was a little octopus clinging to her arm. It smiled at her.

"Awww," She smiled. "He is cute. Does he have a name?"

"Not yet; I was hoping you could help me with that," He admitted. "But it's strange- I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses in my life, and none of them are like that. He doesn't even have ink, and he doesn't eat or anything. Heck, I saw a hawk grab him and drop him from high enough that he was above the clouds, and he was perfectly fine."

"...Okay, I know nothing about octopuses, but that doesn't sound like normal behavior," Prism said.

"Indeed, it's not. So I looked a little closer," He walked over and patted the octopus on the head. It smiled wider. "I think it's animus made."

"WHAT?" Prism's eyes widened in terror. Animus magic was so unpredictable, and if Aspen hadn't enchanted this octopus, then who had? And what did it do? 

Oh moons, she thought. It could be eating my soul right now. 

Suddenly the little creature wasn't so cute.

"Relax, it's fine," Aspen declared. "I checked, and the only spell I could find on him was that he was basically enchanted to be the best pet ever. Weird, right? 

"Huh," Prism calmed. The octopus did seem harmless enough. 

"So I did a bit more digging into all animus objects, but no one ever mentioned an octopus," Aspen went on. "But Father said that there was a rumor in his family that Fathom used to carve little animals out of driftwood." He gestured to the octopus. "And this little guy looks like he was made from wood, so I don't think it's too far a stretch to assume he enchanted him. I don't know why though."

"Maybe he just wanted a pet and real octopuses were too unruly," Prism said.

"Exactly, and I remember you telling me that you wanted a pet, so..... Ta-da?" Prism paused.

"Wait... you're giving him to me?" He nodded, smiling. "But- But I have no idea how to take care of an octopus!"

"You don't need to. He doesn't need anything other than love and attention." Prism grinned at him.

"You're awesome," She declared. "I don't think even Parch would give Rosella an enchanted octopus pet."

"It's nothing," He blushed, tracing patterns in the sand with his talons. "What are you gonna name him?" Prism studied the octopus for a moment, and then nodded.

"I think I'll call him Blob. He looks like a Blob." And for some reason, she swore the octopus agreed with her.