ihr begebt euch jetzt auf eine Reise, die vor Tausenden von Jahren begann, als die Erde von einer magischen Spezies namens „Peridots“ bevölkert wurde. Niemand weiß, woher sie kamen, und es wäre zwecklos, darüber zu spekulieren. Ihre Familiensinn und ihre Freundlichkeit sind alles, was zählt. Man sagt, sie wären schon älter als Einhörner und Kobolde, und lange Zeit wurden auch die Peridots nur für Fabelwesen gehalten.

Vor langer, langer Zeit, bevor die Welt so war, wie wir sie heute kennen, gab es ein einfaches Land mit einfachen Bäumen und einfachen Vögeln. Es gab keine Boote, Schulen oder Federkiele, um die eigenen Gedanken niederzuschreiben. In dieser Welt gab es wenig, nur Felsen, Erde und Gras…

Das Lilafarbene und der Mensch verstanden sich mit jeder Stunde, jedem Tag und jeder Nacht besser. Nach einer Woche war Kee schon merklich älter und größer geworden. Der Mensch dachte sich: „Bald kann es mir bei größeren Aufgaben helfen.“…

Nach viel Fürsorge – tagein und tagaus – war das Lilafarbene vollständig ausgewachsen. Der Mensch war stolz auf das wachsende Verantwortungsbewusstsein des Peridots. Es konnte für sich selbst sorgen, doch…

Habían pasado varios meses desde que Kee, el Morado, dijo adiós a su amigo barbudo. La tristeza se iba apoderando de los humanos, aunque duró poco, porque los humanos comprendieron que no eran distintos del hombre con barba. Un día, tal vez muy pronto, su Peridot también les dejaría. Nadie puede escapar a la poderosa fuerza del instinto animal de los Peridots. Todos los humanos acordaron, al menos consigo mismos, que, si un Peridot les deja, puede que no esté físicamente, pero jamás se le olvida. Los momentos felices perduran para siempre en la memoria.

Olo, unser Freund mit dem gelben Körper und den weißen Beinen, hat schon viele verärgert. Der schelmische Olo versteht es, Menschen und Peridots gleichermaßen mit seinen Tricks und Schelmereien auf die Nerven zu gehen. Gelegentlich brachte er die Menschen jedoch auch zum Lachen – genauer gesagt hat er ihnen vielleicht ein- oder zweimal pro Woche ein Kichern entlockt. Schallendes Gelächter hat er selten hervorgerufen, und diejenigen, die lachten, waren nie das Ziel seiner Tricks. Und wenn sie es doch einmal waren, lachten sie garantiert nie wieder mit Olo.

Vida sported six pronged feathers in the proximity of what would be a Peridot’s tail. The plumage was sprawling and aquatic. Their colors possessed a certain depth of blue, only to be matched by the depth of blue of Vida’s caboose. Their ears and hind legs were turquoise and lithe. Their chest and front legs were white as snow … which, at the time of their birth, Vida had yet to see. Their face was a mixture of blue and gray, maudlin colors that did not reflect Vida’s mood or spirit. This was a vibrant, plucky companion. No human keeper had seen such a unique Peridot, for up to that point, diversity of the species remained confined to a few colors, a few tails, and a few ruffles around one’s head. Vida’s magnetism charmed many a human, some of whom hoped that their next Peridot would be as beautiful as, if not more so than, Vida.

Everyone admired Vida for their selflessness, and other Peridots strived to be like them. But when Vida became a teenager, the idolatry came to an end. While their gesture to create “Little Kingdoms for One and All” impacted Peridots and their keepers profoundly, Vida stumbled through life just like every other Peridot. They were no less clumsy, no less awkward, no less unknowing, and no less in need of companionship.

No one had seen anything like it. Peridots had now traveled the earth for dozens of years, expanded the reaches of their original land, made friends with thousands of humans. Yet no one – be it a human or Peridot – had ever come across anything like Anza.

After years away, the Purple One returned to visit the campgrounds which they once called home. The campgrounds comprised more humans than Kee remembered. More Peridots too. Lots more. The grounds themselves were now home to two schools, a Tawnis’s sanatorium (a veritable herald’s square with a primitively fashioned stage) and a cobbler’s shop, where humans would barter rare fruits and veg for sturdier sandals. Huts were aplenty and sheltered families of up to four people and two Peridots. Snug, yes. And cozy. To Kee, this was no mere village, but a little world, where everyone had a purpose and a place and somewhere to make friends.

Anza, now a teenager, stared wistfully at the hut deep into the forest. Humans had last seen the old man with the white beard harvesting acorns, but some claimed he did not return. Where Anza lived, there were now more humans than Peridots – vastly more in fact. After the Drought of Engura, many humans ventured forth in search of more fertile soil and took their Peridots with them. Those who stayed behind were older, had already raised Peridots, but no longer had any of their own to tend to. The desire was there, but … Peridots were elsewhere. What these people needed, Anza felt, were more Peridots. Alas, there was little Anza could do in that regard. In fact, there was little Anza could do in general. Except to wait.

At the same moment that Anza departed to their habitat, Kee returned to the forest. Like Anza before them, they scoured the land high and low for the old man with the white beard. When their search yielded sorrowful stares from others, Kee sat upon a tree stump, tearful, submerged in the memories of sweetness and bitter-sweetness of their beloved keeper.

Humans and Peridots were no strangers to storms. Over the years, they adopted resilience and quick-mindedness on where to take shelter, on how to preserve food, and on how to watch out for everyone. But sometimes, rare events occurred that were catastrophic and, on one or two occasions, cataclysmic. Sometimes, a catastrophic event would presage a cataclysmic one. The following was such an event.

A rumbling from the ground rattled from their slumber a red-bodied Peridot with spikes across its tergum and head. Retto was hot-tempered and did not like to be woken up by anyone or anything. Retto, and only Retto, was in control of their eight hours of shut-eye. With fresh eyes, Retto noticed there was no one to charge at or frown at with a menacing stare. Retto chalked it up to the wind and rested their head upon a raised stone to sleep some more.

Retto and the others found the new world a thrilling one. Peridots ranged in deeper colors and some had sinuous bodies and longer appendages than Retto was familiar with. One even neared the height of a human! Is it the food, Retto thought? Everyone ate the same onions, tomatoes, pears, and kelp, so it couldn’t have been the food. Hmm, what could it be?