Somewhere in the Mighty Pen Keep

[Patrick]

Patham moved up the winding stairway in the Mighty Pen Keep. He climbed until he finally reached the floor where Sweetcherrie’s room was located. He turned right, and made his way to the door. He paused there, listening to determine whether or not Sweetcherrie was in her room. He heard the faint sounds of a quill scribbling on parchment.

 

She must be working on another great story or poem. Patham thought, and then knocked on the door, quickly hiding the package behind his back afterwards. The sounds of the quill on the parchment stopped and he heard Sweetcherrie moving towards the door. She opened the door and motioned Patham to enter. She hadn’t been expecting him.

 

“What can I do for you?” She asked.

 

Patham stayed silent for several seconds. Suddenly from the distance he heard a bell strike midnight.

 

“Happy Birthday!” he shouted. Patham then brought his hands out from behind his back. A package wrapped in red- and blue striped wrapping paper was now visible. Sweetcherrie took it, curious as to what was inside. As she started tearing the paper away, the package suddenly moved on its own with muffled sounds coming from inside it.

 

“Don’t worry, it’s not a bomb” Patham said reassuringly.

 

Under the decorations was a cardboard box with three circular shaped holes in one side. The movement and sounds were now more discernable.

 

“Is it…?” Sweetcherrie asked.

 

“Just open it,” Patham suggested.

 

As she lifted the lid from the box a small puppy jumped out and landed on her shoulder, trying to hold on with his small paws. Smiling, she lifted him up to take a closer look. As she did so the puppy stuck out his tongue and licked Sweetcherrie’s nose.

 

“There is one more thing” Patham said, “although this isn’t from me. Mynx wanted to come, but she has to travel to far away lands, and couldn’t make it. She asked me to give you this.”

 

Patham fished for a few seconds in his pockets and produced a red coloured gem. A chain followed it, and a few seconds later Sweetcherrie was holding the puppy in one hand and a fire coloured ruby on a silver pendant in the other.

 

OOC: A very happy birthday Sweet! Hope it is great and that the next year turns out as you want it to.

[reverie]

Happy b-day Sweet.

 

[Wyvern]

Sweetcherrie turns to reverie upon hearing his voice, having not noticed him enter with Patham yet feeling the warmth of his smile before spotting him. She smiles back to him as the puppy taps her wrist with a paw and waggles its tail. The red ruby chain sways back and forth with each excited "yip!"

 

"Wow," stammers Sweetcherrie, staring back and forth and grinning. "Thanks you guys! It's so late, errr, early, or-"

 

"Well," says Patham with a cool shrug. "A full moon is out, so it's a nice night to be awake, and I just sorta figured..."

 

Sweetcherrie turns her eyes towards the window and stares out at the clear midnight sky. Her eyes widen a bit at the perfect shape of the moon, then squint when two narrow triangular shadows seem to obscure it. She tilts her head, wondering if the light of the room is playing tricks on her eyes, only to jump back as a scaly head seems to appear out of nowhere.

 

"Aaaah!"

 

Patham and reverie both jump and turn at Sweetcherrie's scream, then squint in disbelief as they notice Wyvern's head hanging upsidedown outside the window. The overgrown lizard's face is partially covered by a pair of Almost Dragonic Brand Pitch Black Midnight Vision Goggles™, and they watch as he slowly extends a suction-cup-enhanced claw down towards the window.

 

"Who th-?"

 

Sweetcherrie places a hand on her chest and catches her breath for a moment as she watches the familiar shadow of Wyvern hesitate and dangle, his claws obviously not the perfect fit for suction cups.

 

"Oh geeze, what's he-? Reverie, open the window."

 

Reverie nods and twists the lock on the window. Wyvern tumbles into the room and rolls across the floor, coming to a halt as he bumps into Sweetcherrie's feet. He lays still for a moment, then lifts his head in a dizzy motion.

 

"Yesssssss." Wyvern gropes around with his claws, his vision obscured by the goggles. "Open, what luck! Now then, onto the important matters of business, HEEheeheeheeheeeeeeee."

 

The lizard hisses in whispers and taps around with his claws until he finds Sweetcherrie's leg. He taps at it twice to make sure that it's solid.

 

"Ohhhhh, this must be one of the drawers." Wyvern snickers to himself wickedly as he moves his claw up the leg, oblivious to Sweetcherrie as she frowns and glares. The lizard stops short upon reaching her waistline, at which point Sweetcherrie reaches and pulls off his goggles. Wyvern's jaw drops and his face straightens back as he notices Sweetcherrie and her merciless expression.

 

"And what might you be doing here?" Sweetcherrie glares down at the lizard and taps a foot on the ground.

 

"Oh, ahaha. Well, I uhhhh..." Wyvern bites his scaly lip and glances towards reverie, only to perk up as he notices the "Happy Birthday" banner that he carries. "I thought I might drop in to wish you a happy birthday, y'know, if you were awake."

 

The lizard pauses and tugs at the neck of his shirt as Sweetcherrie continues to glare at him, her expression unchanged.

 

"No, really." Wyvern removes a black bag dangling from his back and digs into it. "I got you a present, see? It's a cute and innocent kitten that somehow managed to evade Almost Dragonic Brand Experimentation™."

 

Wyvern holds the kitten out for Sweetcherrie to see, only to watch as the puppy cradled in Sweetcherries suddenly turns from cute to "vicious attack dog mode." He jumps as the cute and innocent kitten lets out a gutteral myowl-hiss and straightens its hair into a ball of fluff. Troy awakens from his slumber with a start at the sound of a cat, and begins screeching at the sight of the kitten, awakening just about every pennite in the Keep.

 

"Errrrr." Wyvern twiddles his claws and forces a smile as Sweetcherrie approaches. "It's the thought that counts?"

 

OOC: Happy Birthday, Sweetcherrie. ;-)

[Gyrfalcon]

Sweetcherrie stared at Wyvern and shook her head, wincing a bit as Troy screeched at the kitten, the kitten hissed and growled at the dog and began tamping down its legs to spring, and the puppy growled and yapped at everything in sight.

 

With all this distraction, it’s no wonder no one noticed two black-tipped russet ears slowly rise above the window sill, followed by a pair of golden eyes, watching the room curiously and widening a bit as they saw the puppy and kitten. Over on her table where Sweetcherrie had been writing, the little golem named Fix carefully organized and arranged her pens, pencils and erasers and otherwise tidied up the desk, carefully stepping around the page Sweetcherrie had been working on.

 

Roughly around this time, Zira sauntered in from a midnight snack and her eyes widened, pupils growing to fill her eyes as she struggled to take in the confusing scene before her. Only a kitten, she gives up and races for her bedding, crawling under the nearest blanket and curling up, thinking to sleep off the whole horrible nightmare and foreswearing midnight tuna runs... at least for a week.

 

Into this confusion, Daryl crept over the edge of the window sill and slipped down inside, turning around and tugging at a rope tied around his tail, stepping on it with his back paw to prevent whatever was at the other end from backsliding as he grabbed a new mouthful of rope and tugged his delivery up and over the windowsill, where it landed with a thump on Daryl’s head, sending him sprawling.

 

“Yerf.... yer yip yip grrrr!” Daryl said in annoyance, most likely shocking anyone who could understand Fox. He shook his head and began pushing the wrapped bundle towards Sweetcherrie, not stopping until the package hit her foot. Sweetcherrie stopped scolding Wyvern to look down, and Daryl looked up at her with a big grin on his face “Yip!” he said, nosing the box against her foot.

 

“A package for me Daryl?” Sweetcherrie said, her anger diffused by Daryl’s friendly tail wagging as she knelt and unwrapped the canvas exterior covering and protecting her gift from damage, taking a moment to untie the bag from Daryl’s tail as well. Inside was a present wrapped in shiny wrapping paper that Sweetcherrie knew her younger alter-ego would probably enjoy.

 

She smiled and ripped off the wrapping paper, leaving it in an untidy pile that the kitten, easily distracted, found and began batting experimentally, while the puppy began snuffling at Daryl curiously. Daryl wagged his tail in a friendly fashion as he watched Sweet open the box inside, revealing a card and beneath it, a small pendant fashioned of silver, forming an intricately carved pen against a piece of parchment, tight but neat words carefully carved into the silver, tiny and hard to read, but clear-

 

dancing spirit bright

soared on silver wings

distant forces lift her high

lost in angel flight

 

kissed the copper sky

brushed sunstorm clouds

shining soul to greater height

melody in spry

 

warm eyes envision

dark beyond midnight

crimson golden glow within

sacred hearts delight

*Daryl wags his tail and grins as Sweet looks from the gift to the card, where Gyrfalcon’s simple script flows beneath the traditional ‘Happy Birthday!’

 

As the card says, Daryl and I wish you a happy birthday, Sweet, and we hope you have many more to come. You’ve certainly brightened and enhanced the Pen with your presence, and we hope your day is peaceful and enjoyable!

 

Your friends,

-Gyrfalcon and Daryl-

The nutty half-elf and the majestic werefox!

Sweetcherrie can’t help but smile as she sees the writing below the names, no doubt added by a certain sneaky werefox...

 

OOC:

 

Happy Birthday, Sweet! I hope it’s an enjoyable and fun day for you!

[Laanders]

In the outside yard, the ancient bluerober was picking cherries off a lively-growing tree. As he briefly enjoyed the shadow cast by a wall-scaling wyvern, he tasted a particularly nice-looking berry and a thought occurred to him.

 

"Mmm... 'Tis a nice berry indeed. And such a nice day."

 

The man burped and fondled his lone braid of whitening hair.

 

"A special day, really. And such nice cherries. Sweet, really. Yes, quite sweet cherries indeed."

 

The sound of a single coin falling from a metal slit to land among it's likes was heard.

 

"Sweetcherrie's special day!" he exclaimed, coming about to face the mighty keep, his braid flapping a full lap around him to hit him in the face again. Grunting, the old mage fumbled keeping the fruit basket in his one hand, while trying to find his wand with the other.

 

"A-HA!"

 

Instantly envigorated by his success, the tall man started swirling his wand about his head in great circles, chanting words of ancient magic, reviving the once lost forces of true spellcraft...

 

"Hup, hup, Holland, HUP!"

 

The remains of the inner keep window smashed into shards as mage, robe, wand and fruit basket crashed into the room, landing cumberously on his side over at a distant corner. Sensing several pairs of eyes on him, the old man coughed and searched in vain for his dignity among the scattered cherries.

 

"Uhm, heya."

 

Met by silent disbelief and the occasional headshake, Laanders the Everblue eventually found his feat, huffing with the effort.

 

"Yerrah, ye know, you wouldn't have an old man struggle with all those stairs, would ye... neah... alrighteh..."

 

Turning to Sweetcherrie, the elderly man stroked his beard and smiled warmly. With a flicker of his wrist, he tossed a lone cherrie over at the celebrated pennite. Though tossed as a berry, the item landed as a soft dark purple velvet figurine, enveloped in a transparent yet sturdy bubble of unknown origin. As Sweetcherrie caught it, the figurine gently sang out a verse, while typing out the words across the thin air of the room in a reddish shade of gold, as required by the committy for the audibly impaired.

 

In channels of pens and of scarlet

scarce did I know who to meet.

Mayhaps the next sprouting starlet

or mayhaps a woman called Sweet.

 

Though we only met this last summer

and although we live far apart,

for sure it would be a great bummer

if I didn't see your good heart.

 

A heart beating warmly and strongly

as these verses draw to an end.

My hope is that we'll go on longly

and that you will still be my friend.

Happy birthday, you dear girl you!

[Appy]

Apaltra, standing next to Finx in the doorway, waited patiently for Sweetcherrie to admire the gifts she got so far, before walking over to present what she had to give herself.

 

"From me, accept this in long standing friendship and respect." She handed Sweetcherrie a long package.

 

Sweetcherrie opened it and revealed a long wooden walking stick, the top of which was carved expertedly with various animals, with on top a flying pheonix looking quite like Troy.

As she held it she felt how the wood seemed to move under her hand to fit it better. She looked puzzled at Apaltra.

 

"It'll always be comfertable to hold, and can possibly do more. It was carved by a good friend of mine out of wood found only in my country. It is yours now, and will develop with you. May it be good to you."

Apaltra bowed formally, and smiled as she looked up again.

 

"And then there is this.." She handed over a big wooden chest, which might've looked quite decent and formal once, but was now covered in colorful drawings and little paper flowers stuck to it everywhere.

"It is a gift from Appy, as you might've guessed. She was sure that you knew what to do with it."

 

Sweetcherrie tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

 

"Appy said, that you should visit her, once you knew who to give this to. She's being very cryptive lately, and has some problems to solve. She was sad that she couldn't be here, but seemed quite.. giggly, when she handed this over." Apaltra looked a bit concerned, but lightened up as she saw the glint in Sweetcherries eyes. She was sure this would be just fine..

 

OOC: Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great day (well it's almost over, but then again, just starting at this moment ) and consider this Appy-gift as an invitation to 'play around' a bit.. it's been too long

[Tamaranis]

Well, I was going to post on this on the appropriate day, but things just didn't pan out. I only missed it by a few minutes in my timezone, but I think the difference means I'm actually posting this early morning the next day where it counts.

 

Also, there's no appropriate in character way for me to respond to this, which is unfortunate. I'm going to have to just break up the party here with this little OOC spiel.

 

Anyway: My birthday wishes for you, Sweet Cherrie are that some friends you know through regular physical interaction drag you away from work for a short time, and you're all able to go do something fun for a little while, and you get to be the centre of attention because it's your birthday. Or rather, I guess I hope that already happened. Without robbing so much time from you that it creates problems at work, no less!

 

Maybe it's why you haven't been able to respond to this thread yet? I'd keep my fingers crossed, but I'm typing this post right now, and that would be really hard, typing with crossed fingers. So instead I crossed them for about three seconds, then uncrossed them and typed some more.

 

On a Pen-related note: It's good that you've shown up here, I think. It kinda makes me wish I'd been active over the past half a year or however long it's been that I've virtually not existed. So I could get to know the cool people like you who have been active during that time. Active with a very busy schedule, no less.

 

So, anyway... Happy Birthday.

 

 

 

-Paul

[Morgane]

Overwhelmed by what her friends had done for her, Sweetcherrie stood there. The puppy was jumping in between Troy and the kitten which had fled up to Wyvern’s head and was holding on tightly with its claws. Chaos was complete as Troy decided that he hadn’t met Daryl yet, and the phoenix filled her head with questions about what sort of creature he was, and she was getting rather dizzy with all the business around her.

 

"Guys, I...this is great."

 

She tried to get more out, but decided to simply hug all in turn, not really knowing how to thank them anyway and hoping that they would understand how much she appreciated this.

 

posted for sweet

[Sweetcherrie]

(my internet has been less than optimal lately, BUT......my DL limit is gone, so I will be able to post everything myself again thanks Morgane, and thanks to all that posted here )

[Regel]

Happy Birthday Sweet!