[Fallen_Snow]

Sparktail~~~~~~~~Cami

"C'mon, Cami, let's GO!" a very disgruntled Serraptor called to a bouncy Arkuhna. Cami turned around and smiled at him, a wet paintbrush in her mouth. "But- but- I wanted to find a Palmie!" Cami called, the smile dissappearing and being replaced with a frown. Sparktail sighed. "Fine. Just don't go running off again. Marie put ME in charge of watching you, and if I don't bring you back, it'll be my hide on the line." he said. He watched as Cami eagerly spent her Keystones on a large bucket and ran down to the sea's edge. She filled it up to the brim, and tried to drag it up the beach. After 10 minutes of heaving, she was barely 3 feet from the tideline. "Sparky... can I have some help?" she called. The Serraptor sighed and wade his way down the beach towards the Arkuhna. He loved Cami like a sister, but sometimes she was too silly to be dealt with. He picked it up easily and went back up the beach, the kuhna following him.

[Fallen_Snow]

Sparktail dropped it into the sand, a bit of saltwater spilling out. "There." he said finally, rubbing his weary claws from the weight of the bucket. "Thanks, Sparky!" Cami said. "Now, where to find a Palmie..." she whispered. She then noticed some palm trees of different colors over to their left. "Will you help me take the bucket over there?" she asked her Serraptor friend. He sighed and gave her an exasperated look. "Fine, fine." he finally said, after Cami gave him her usual sad face with the curled out lip. He picked up the heavy bucket again, this time letting it drag in the sand. Cami held up the back end of it a bit, just so the water wouldn't spill out when it hit bumps in the sand. "Palm trees HO!" Cami shouted excitedly. They were close to the trees now. Sparktail, however, wasn't as joyous. After all, he was the one doing all the work.

[Fallen_Snow]

They were only a few yards from the palm trees when Sparktail stopped. Cami was pushing the bucket and suddenly stopped, looking up at her glowing friend. "What is it?" she asked. He looked like he was trying to smell something.

"I smell food." he said and smiled. Cami fell backwards laughing. For a second she thought he smelled Palmie! "But- but we're looking for PALMIES, remember?" the Kuhna asked the Serraptor. He paid no attention. They were close to a hot dog stand and Sparky just had to have one. He started to walk towards the stand, his tongue starting to loll out of his mouth. Suddenly a weight was added to his foot and felt little pin-pricks on his skin. He looked down. "Cami! Gerroff!" he shouted, shaking his leg, trying to fruitlessly dislodge the Kuhna. "But you promised!" she shouted. "I need food!" he shouted back. He started to pry her off with his claws when a sudden shout was heard coming from a sand dune. "Marie...?" Cami said, and suddenly the girl's sillouette graced them. "Cami, let go of Sparky!" the girl commanded. The Kuhna slid in her claws and fell off the ravenous Serraptor's leg. He went running towards the hot dog stand, quickly paying for one and greedily snatching it off of the grill. It was gone in two bites, but he wasn't satisfied. He bought two more, and then bought a HUGE funnel cake and a large soda to wash it all down. The sun was almost setting by the time his hunger was satisfied. Marie sighed. "Looks like we'll have to camp here for tonight. From what Cami has told me, you're looking for a Palmie." she said. She left and went to the stores and rented a tent.

[Fallen_Snow]

"Help?" she said, trying to figure out how to set it up. Cami padded over and grabbed the tent cover in her teeth and pulled. It uncovered the skeleton of the tent. She started to assemble it, Sparktail searching for the correct parts she asked for. Soon, they were finished, and Marie had gone to buy a sleeping bag and some food for dinner and breakfast. Cami and Sparky were emptying the salt water into the ocean and getting some fresh salt water. Usually he wouldn't have walked out into the water, but he made an exception. He would like to meet a Palmie. He went out as far as he could, the water coming up to his stomach. He dunked the bucket into the cool salty water, then pulled it up. "Seaweed." he said disgustedly, picking the green ocean plant out of the clear salt water. He waded back towards Cami, who was playing in the foam of the washing up waves. She giggled as some went up her nose. He dragged the bucket up and gave it to her. It wasn't filled all the way to the top, but it was still a bit heavy. She stood up and started to drag it- it actually wasn't that heavy. She dragged it up to the edge of the palm tree forest. Maybe a Palmie would come and visit.

[Fallen_Snow]

Cami was up early, her head in the bucket. Darn, no Palmies visited late last night. She sighed. This would be tougher than she imagined. Marie was up shortly after Cami, and the smell of bacon and pancakes fresh from a close restaurant rising Sparktail from his sleep. "Food..." he drooled, his tongue lolling out as it usually does at the smell of good food. He ran over and ate his breakfast in three fast bites, slurping up the jug of milk Marie had brought for him in a couple seconds. Cami ate hers with just as much haste, she was anxious to find a Palmie friend. She was lucky they got to stay: if Rena had come, they would have been gone this time yesterday.

[Fallen_Snow]

"Slow down, Cami!" Marie laughed, and took another bite of a piece of bacon. "We're not going to seach for a Palmie until I'm done. I've very interested in the little critters, and Rena is sure we'll take one home. So, let me eat, and then we'll find a little guy for us to befriend." she said. Cami ate the rest of her bacon and pancakes slowly, and she was done when Marie was. "Now, was that so bad?" Marie asked her. Cami rolled her eyes and mumbled something about having to wait for a friend search. Marie smiled and laughed, cleaning up their paper plates and plastic utensils, throwing them into the nearest trash can. "C'mon, we can go now." Marie said, and grabbed a bucket she had bought from the tent. Cami squealed and jumped onto Marie's shoulder, where she held on with her more monkey than cat like tails. She beamed as they walked, Marie's hand held placidly on Sparktail's back. Sparky was carrying the other bucket. Both were full of salt water. They made their way through the palm tree forest, taking turns pouring salt water on numerous trees. Marie thought she saw one of them wiggle, but Sparktail stated that it was just the change of wind that did it. It was getting late again, and they still had no Palmie to show for their efforts. Cami was getting impaitient. "You sure that one wasn't a Palmie?" she would ask quietly. She was very sensitive to other people's feelings, and knowing how shy Palmies are, she kept quiet as not to scare them. "No, Cami. Shhhh..." Marie would say over and over again. Soon, the sun was setting and Cami was asleep on Marie's shoulder. They kept walking through the forest of Palm trees though, because they still had some salt water left.

[Fallen_Snow]

Sparktail sighed, and looked at the sleeping bundle of energy. He knew that Cami only had Bailey, and even being with the same Kuhna almost everyday could get a bit boring. Sure, there WERE other kuhnas, but Cami didn't click with them. She was a bit shy, like the Palmies. Maybe Cami thought they'd be a perfect match, and Bailey would definatley enjoy a Palmie too. Bailey was even more shy than Cami. How they became friends, no one knows. But they did. Sparktail dumped the last of the salt water onto a palm tree, and suddenly it wiggled. He poked Marie and pointed at it, but then realized there was no face on that tree, and it had stopped moving. He felt a bit silly, assuming it was a Palmie, but he wanted it for Cami. She was such a gentle soul. Yeah, she could be a bit assertive and loves to tease lightly, but she's friends with everyone. But she doesn't enjoy many people's company. Marie laughed at Sparky's mistake and stroked him gently. "It's okay. We're tired, Cami's asleep, I think we'd better go home." she said.

[Fallen_Snow]

Sparky nodded, but he didn't want to leave. He just wanted to make Cami happy. He wanted to make EVERYONE happy. "But... but what about Cami? She'll be dissappointed." he said. Marie stroked the little Kuhna lovingly. "I think she'll be okay." she said. He sighed, both wearily and dismissaly. "I... I wanna stay. I think getting Cami a Palmie will be good for her. She could use some responsibility." he tried. He knew Cami sometimes forgot to find Bailey when playing hide and seek for a while, or forgot to bring Marie or Rena something. Marie sighed. "She has been a bit forgetful... fine. Do you want Cami to stay with you? Or for me to come back?" she asked. Sparktail shook his head. "Actually, I thought you and Cami could just go back to the tent. I will hopefully come back with a Palmie." he said. He took Marie's bucket off her hands and picked up his. Marie smiled. "Okay, you can do that." she ruffled his little crest of fur. "You always like to make people happy, don't you?" she asked him sarcastically. He smiled and closed his eyes with pleasure. Marie stopped and turned to walk off, saying a last goodbye before dissappearing through the palm trees.

[Fallen_Snow]

Sparktail then ran down to the ocean and filled both buckets. He was determined. He was happy. Heck, he was excited. He was very interested in Palimes, and he heard they made great pets. He looked around before going into the palm tree forest again. He looked left, he looked right. He heard no rustling, no sign of any Palmies in sight. Suddenly a couple palm trees were moving, and he glanced around quickly. He realized it was just the wind. He clicked his tongue; he was starting to REALLY hate the wind. Glancing around, he found a promising looking palm tree and poured some salt water on it, then set the pail down and snuck behind a tree. There he waited, watching to see if it was a Palmie.

[Fallen_Snow]

His limbs were starting to stiffen, and he was starting to think that the Palmies were scared of him or something. Were they all hiding? Maybe he just wasn't trusted by the palmies. He slid down against the palm tree he was hiding behind and closed his eyes, sighing. "Where can you be, o cute Palmie?" he said. Maybe they would like his poetry. It was worth a shot. "With your leaves, all swishing in the gentle breeze. How I wish I was that breeze, caressing all of your sweet leaves."

[Fallen_Snow]

He sighed. Still no Palmie. He was starting to become a little dissappointed. They were so common, why didn't one show up? Maybe he wasn't sending the right vibe out to the shy creatures. He smiled and whistled a happy tune, and as he did so, he heard a grumble. He looked down at his stomach. "Someone's hungry!" he said excitedly. If he could only have one love, it would be food. Food, food food. He LOVED food. He ran down to their tent and got a packed lunch from one of the coolers, then started to head back, pulling out a ham and mayo sandwich. "Mmmm... cheese?" he questioned to himself, lifting the bread slice. Nope. No cheese. He sighed and bit into it anyways. It was still satisfying. He dug into the paper sack again, pulling out a soft pretzel. "SALT!" he shouted, and ripped half of it off in a bite.

[Fallen_Snow]

He growled. The shout of salt hadn't gained any Palmie's attention. Maybe it was too loud. He trying singing again, but just singing, "Ah" as he reached different notes. He wondered if a Palmie would ever come. A bit discouraged, he dug into his lunch some more, totally oblivious to everything else around him as ate.

[Fallen_Snow]

"Yum..." he muttered through bits of a salami sandwich. He ripped at his lunch, smiling and humming. Food was his favorite thing of all time. Most people called him a bottomless pit, because he ate so much and enjoyed it twice as much. He smiled as he took another massive bite of the sandwich. He smacked his lips as the last of the crusts slid down his throat. "Mmmm... Marie's a good sandwich maker." he said quietly. He would have to absorb her talents. Later. Right now, he just really wanted a Palmie.

[Fallen_Snow]

"Here, Palmie palmie palmie..." he called, sloshing the water around in the bucket profusely. He placed it down gently, then backed away slowly, ready to catch a glimpse of an eager little palime. He pulled out yet another sandwich, hoping to satisfy that black hole that seemed to sit where his stomach should be. He watched quietly for hours, and suddenly he fell into a quiet sleep, barely snoring. His nostrils flared every now and then, but for now, he looked peaceful and quiet. Maybe a Palmie would come now.

[Fallen_Snow]

He woke up and ugh! Still no luck. He was starting to feel out of luck when a thought came to his head. Why don't I just leave the water here, and come back tomorrow morning?

He did as he thought, and came back the next day. The bucket was half empty, but he expected that because of evaporation. He sighed. Maybe he should give up.