#I completely forgot about Snorkmaiden's ankle bracelet

[mislamicpearl]

Finn Family Moomin

Originally posted on DeviantArt Dec 7, 2019

I originally just wanted to draw the five main kids plus Alicia 'cause I adore her, and then wanted to add Stinky (yeah he's a jerk but, still kind of cute in his own way? He's like the Randall Weems of Moomin Valley), but there was still lots of room so I just put the whole family in there. Because that's what they are really, and they're adorable and I love each and every one of them.

DO NOT REPOST

[smokedstorybara]

Perchance to Dream(Snufmin Soulmate Dream au) part 2

AN: I’m sorry

tags cause some of y’all asked to be tagged, which thank you I’m very flattered: @screamingyearly @governmentassignedsnufkinkin

“Today I’m here, tomorrow who knows where I’ll be.”

The boy’s words rang through Moomin’s head. He’d heard something very similar once before. He quickly changed the subject to distract himself from the memories. He didn’t like to think about them all that much.

“Well we’re on our way to the observatory to find out about the catastrophe that’s about to occur.”

“Oh right, I heard a rumor about a comet that’s on it’s way. Is that what you meant?”

“A comet??”

It worked.

As the traveler made himself some coffee and told them about the comet, Moomin became completely absorbed in the conversation - imagining what the comet would look like and admiring the boy’s knowledge.

When Snufkin offered to share his tent for the night and to guide them to the observatory in the morning Moomin was ecstatic, though he tried his best not to show it.

~~

The trip up to the observatory had been very eventful and had given Moomin a great deal to think about.

Snufkin was a very patient guide. Even with Sniff’s constant complaining and his run-in with the giant lizard, Little My’s… Little My-ness, and all of Moomin’s questions. And he seemed to know so much about everything! People, places, the stars. Moomin was in awe of him.

Moomin very much wanted to be his friend. Though he wasn’t sure what he had to offer that could get someone like Snufkin to want to be friends with plain old him.

Then there was everything with the ankle bracelet they’d found and what Snufkin had told them about it’s owner. And her brother.

After Snufkin had mentioned that Snork was likely heading towards the same observatory they were, and his sister - who the bracelet belonged to - might be with him, Moomin had climbed down the cliff to fetch it, figuring the girl would probably want it back, and carrying it with him had set his mind a-wandering.

The shine of the bracelet reminded him of the pearl he’d found at the beach not that much more than a day before. And the conversation he’d had with his mamma when he gave it to her.

She tried to tell him that he might meet someone who he’d want to give it to more than her when Little My interrupted with a reminder that Moomin didn’t have a soulmate like other Moomintrolls. His mamma had responded that that didn’t mean he couldn’t meet some nice girl and fall in love, Moomins aren’t meant to be solitary creatures after all - that’s why they have soulmates.

He knew his parents were worried about him. About the toll giving up his soulmate might have taken. How much it hurt him.

He knew they were probably right. He should just find a nice girl and try to move on.

Snufkin had said that Snorkmaiden was very pretty, maybe she would be nice too.

~~

When they reached the observatory, Moomin approached one of the astronomers.

At first the man mistook him for someone else, then said something about a girl who’d been talking about ankle bracelets. Moomin briefly forgot about the comet in his excitement over possibly being able to return the bracelet to Snorkmaiden. But of course his friends were quick to remind him when he returned to the group without the information they’d come for.

Sniff declared that he would try and then approached one of the other astronomers, this one on a tall platform with a very big telescope. From the bottom of the stairs up to the platform, the rest of the group watched Sniff talk to him for about a minute.

When it seemed the astronomer was going to let Sniff look through the telescope, Moomin and Little My rushed up the stairs, hoping to get to look too. Snufkin followed just behind.

Moomin tried to pay close attention as the astronomer corrected Sniff on how to look through the telescope - he didn’t want to get it wrong when he got a turn - and was startled while repeating it in his head by Sniff exclaiming in his anxious way.

“It looks like it’s on fire!”

When the astronomer responded with “It’s burning at a temperature hotter than you could ever imagine!” Moomin knew he had to see it as soon as possible. He may have been a little rude in his eagerness. But the astronomer seemed excited when he said that they wanted to learn everything they could about the comet, so he figured it was fine.

As Moomin looked at the comet, Sniff put voice to the question they’d all been thinking.

“What’s gonna happen if it hits the earth? What’ll happen to us?”

Moomin was shocked when the astronomer admitted he had no idea and claimed it wasn’t in his “field of expertise”. As Little My climbed up his back to reach the telescope, Moomin confessed to himself that he’d grown maybe a little too accustomed to Snufkin’s well rounded intelligence.

“Could you at least tell us when the comet might collide with us?” He asked, a little impatiently.

“Well that I can help you with!” Moomin felt a little bubble of hope rise in his chest; finally they were getting questions answered. “It’s almost certain that the comet will hit the earth, that we can predict with great accuracy.”

Moomin was grateful when Snufkin spoke before he could, as he wasn’t quite sure he could have stopped himself from snapping at the man otherwise.

“Alright,” Snufkin had responded as if that had answered their question at all, “so when is this gonna happen?”

“According to my calculations, the collision will occur on August the seventh at eight forty-two pm, plus or minus four seconds.”

They all stared at him for a moment, processing, before he continued cheerfully.

“That’s right, it’s only two days away!”

“TWO DAYS AWAY?!?”

~~

Moomin woke to the faint sound of a voice calling for help.

He shot up and quickly made his way out of the tent, the others following close behind.

The call came again and they all began running in the direction the voice came from. Snufkin and Moomin ran next to each other with Little My just behind and Sniff trailing reluctantly after. Sniff was shouting something but Moomin ignored him, more focused on helping whoever the voice belonged to - up until a sudden tug on the rope tied around all their waists(for safety) pulled him backwards and he fell to the ground.

Sniff had run right into a tree. He’d been unable to avoid it because Moomin, Snufkin, and Little My had split around it.

Moomin shoved his guilt to the side as soon as the voice called out again. Snufkin cut the rope around his own waist then quickly moved to cut Moomin loose as well.

Moomin barely lingered long enough to hear Snufkin tell Little My and Sniff to stay before he was off again.

Soon, Moomin stumbled into a clearing and was stunned by the sight of a large vined plant attacking a couple of Moomintroll-like people. He rushed to pull the nearer of the two to safety.

“Let me go, oh please! Help!”

Moomin turned to the person still wrapped in the vines at the sound of their cries. The one next to him began to shout.

“Oh no! That plant’s gonna eat my little sister!”

Moomin responded with feigned confidence as he ran toward the plant.

“Hold on to me!” He instructed as he started tugging the person out from the tangle of vines. His continued words of reassurance were interrupted by the loud voice of the first person he’d pulled away from the plant.

“Listen you, my sister is no insect!”

Moomin almost paused in his confusion. What did insects have to do with anything?

“And besides,” the yelling continued, “Snorks are extremely poisonous! Let her go right this second!”

So they were Snorks. Perhaps they were even Snufkin’s Snork friends! Of course, Moomin didn’t want to make any hasty assumptions.

And then Snufkin’s voice called out from much too close for Moomin’s comfort.

“That’s enough you dusty old potted plant! Leave her alone you smelly old mushroom munching vegetable head, do you hear me?!”

There was a pause before the Snork’s voice returned from the same direction as Snufkin’s. “You pathetic plant!” He shouted. “You’re a failure of a geranium!”

Snufkin and the Snork continued to take turns yelling insults at the plant and taunting it until suddenly it was moving away from Moomin and the Snorkmaiden and towards Snufkin and the Snork. Moomin took advantage of it’s distraction to quickly pull the Snorkmaiden entirely out of it’s vines.

Except for her tail.

The vine was too tightly looped around her tail for Moomin to tug her loose and trying only caused her pain. He didn’t know what to do, but he wasn’t about to just abandon her.

“Leave it to me, I’ve got it!”

Little My came leaping out of nowhere, onto the vine, and immediately bit through it. The Snorkmaiden was free.

But now the plant was no longer distracted by Snufkin and the Snork, and it was angry.

Little My jumped it again and got caught in one of the buds at the ends of the vines. It wrapped almost entirely around her, only her head and feet poking out of the top and the bottom.

The panic beginning to seize onto Moomin’s mind was quickly cleared by a welcome voice calling his name and “catch!”. He barely fumbled the pocket knife Snufkin tossed him and immediately turned back to the plant. He felt a new - genuine - confidence fill him, now he had a (somewhat)proper weapon.

He made quick work of the vine trapping Little My. only for her to jump up and get caught again. And again.

Soon they fell into an easy rhythm. Little My gets a bud to close around her. Moomin cuts it off. Rinse, repeat.

Again and again until the plant began to retreat.

“What a performance Moomin!” Snufkin’s praise sent a pleasant, but intense, warmth through Moomin’s chest. He barely refocused on his surroundings on time to hear the Snorkmaiden call him strong.

Struggling to maintain his composure, Moomin directed his attention to berating the plant and warning it away from his friends.

After that, Snufkin introduced the Snorks to Moomin and his friends - Moomin had been right about the two being the Snorks Snufkin had mentioned before - and Moomin told Snorkmaiden about them finding her ankle bracelet.

The Snorks returned to their camp with them so Moomin could give Snorkmaiden back her bracelet, and he found himself inviting them to go back to Moominvalley with them.

It took some convincing with Snork, but eventually they both agreed.

~~

After some time, the group reached the beach. And beyond it…

Where the sea should have been was a great abyss. Large cracks stretched to the depths of the earth, and from the beach a cliff curved down and down deep.

“Moomin!” Snorkmaiden gasped. “The whole sea has dried up!”

As they all stood, processing this development, Snufkin sat down on the ground and placed his head in his hands.

“Oh, dear,” he cried, “oh, dear, the beautiful sea quite gone. No more sailing, no more swimming, no more fishing. No great storms, no transparent ice and gleaming black water reflecting the stars. Finished, lost gone!” He curled further into himself and began to cry into his knees.

“But Snuff,” Moomin responded with confusion and insensitive concern, “you have always been so happy-go-lucky. It’s dreadful to see you despairing like this.”

“I know.” Snufkin replied, face still against his knees causing his voice to be somewhat muffled. “But I’ve always loved the sea more than anything else.” He looked up at Moomin just long enough for one last statement before returning his head to it’s new residence. “This is so sad.” His voice seemed to break on the last word. And that, more than anything, caused Moomin’s heart to hurt.

He had an idea. He didn’t like it, not at all. But he knew it might help his friend and at that moment that was more important.

So he closed his eyes, took a steadying breath, and dug his mind as deep as he dared into the one topic he hated most to think about. And then, carefully, he spoke.

“Sometimes we lose the things we love. And it hurts very much. And it’s ok to hurt, to feel like you’ll never be happy again. But eventually you need to gather all your strength, stand up, and carry on.” He gingerly knelt down next to Snufkin. “We’ll wait here with you until you can.”

Distantly, he registered the sounds of the others following his example, but he kept his focus on Snufkin. They all sat in silence for a minute or ten - none of them much cared to pay attention to the time in that moment. And, eventually, Snufkin began to come back to himself. Unfurling from the tight ball he’d become and wiping the tears from his face.

A little time and a little conversation after that, he suggested they cross the dried-up sea on stilts.

It wasn’t until much later that Moomin realized he felt somewhat lighter than he had in a very long time, despite the circumstances.

~~

Moomin was overjoyed when all his new friends decided to stay in the valley - for the time being - even after the comet had passed.

He was excited to spend more time with Snufkin, getting to know the wanderer and having adventures with him. And having Snorkmaiden living so close would make starting a relationship with her much easier.

Speaking of, he needed to actually talk to her about a relationship.

She definitely seemed interested - and his mamma had assured him he wasn’t reading her interest wrong - and she was a very nice girl. It was just…

Difficult.

Difficult to find the right words. Difficult to think of anyone but his soulmate in such a way.

Then he thought back to what he had told Snufkin that day by the sea, and how much less it hurt when he had the distraction of the comet, and he put the two ideas together in his head. He’d let himself be distracted by Snorkmaiden until he was ready to ‘carry on’ and really give her his heart. He did feel a little guilty for thinking of her as a distraction, but he figured eventually he would move on from his lost soulmate and it would all be fine.

That evening he took her to watch the sunset on the beach and sat in silence as he searched for the words he needed.

But, of course, his mouth decided it had a mind of its own and started the conversation before he was ready, in what he was sure was quite the wrong way.

“Did you know Moomintrolls are supposed to have soulmates?” He fought against the instinct to wince as soon as the words were out, and waited nervously for her response. It didn’t take long.

“Supposed to?”

He figured that was as good a lead-in as he could get. He took a deep breath and braced himself to speak.

“I don’t.” Technically, it was a lie. But his parents were the only to know the truth, and he still wasn’t ready to tell anyone else. Besides, functionally, it was true.

“Oh.” Snorkmaiden’s voice was laced with sympathy. And when Moomin dared to glance over, her eyes seemed sad. She continued after he looked back to the sky. The stars were starting to come out. “How will you know who to be with then?” She asked.

“Well,” Moomin shrugged and looked back at her, this time he let the look fill with meaning. “I suppose I get to choose.”

“Oh.” Snorkmaiden blinked and her eyes brightened. “Oh.” This time her voice carried a breathless happiness. Her paws came up to press against her chest over her heart.

Moomin made himself smile and nod and hoped it was convincing.