Catastrophe || n.s

iv. turned in

Newt led Penelope and Jacob across the frozen lake, stumbling a bit every few steps. He stopped beneath the bridge, setting his suitcase on the ground and opening it up. He looked to Penelope, nodding his head towards the open case.

"In you go," he said simply, earning a cocked eyebrow from Penelope. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by Mr. Kawolski pushing past her.

"I'll show her how it's done," he murmured confidently, earning a chuckle from Newt as he stepped into the suitcase. He had to force himself in a bit as he sunk down to his thick stomach, and he smiled cheekily up at Penelope as his cheeks grew pink. But he had managed to squeeze into the suitcase, and now Newt was looking at Penelope expectedly.

"Go on," he said and smiled in amusement. "Don't worry, it won't bite. I'll be right behind you."

Glaring at the man in a joking manner, Penelope hesitantly stepped inside the suitcase. She had only used a magical object a handful of times in her 22 years of living, and she had yet to get used to it. Though as soon as she stepped foot inside the suitcase, she felt herself slip down, sliding as if she were on a slide. The next thing she knew, she was standing in a wooden building, Newt and Jacob beside her.

"Whoa," she murmured as she looked around her, completely mesmerized. She stood in what seemed like a small office, with a table in front of her filled with books and containers full of potions. There was a single long window just above the table, and when Penelope looked outside it, she saw what seemed like a magical paradise.

"Brilliant, isn't it?" Newt asked from beside her, and she was surprised to feel his arm slip around her waist. "Wait until you see the rest."

He led her out of the small building, and immediately she was surrounded by life. Dozens of different species of creatures crawled and flew around her, and their calls blended together in a peaceful harmony.

"So is this some sort of zoo for your rescued creatures?" Penelope asked as she watched a humungous bug-like creature roll a huge boulder towards others of its kind.

"Not a zoo, no," Newt responded, grabbing her hand as he led her through the maze of habitats. "More like a sanctuary- a safe haven until I can release them back into the wild."

"Well, it's brilliant," Penelope murmured with a look of wonder towards the man beside her. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at him, which earned a slight chuckle from Jacob.

Newt led the pair towards a large area of an open plain, with a couple of acacia trees in the middle. Under a tree stood the very same Erumpent that was chasing them only minutes before. She now seemed peaceful, happily bellowing as she grazed on the golden grass of her enclosure.

"There she is," Newt said with a slight chuckle. "Back home, safe and sound." He gazed at the beast for a moment more before he turned to Penelope and Jacob. "I rescued her while I was in Africa a few months ago. She was being trafficked by a group of smugglers. She was very mistreated, but in just a few months she'll be ready to return to the open plains of Kenya."

"You know, she's beautiful when she's not trying to kill us," Jacob said, earning a nod of agreement from Penelope.

"Well, not kill you," Newt corrected him and turned to look at him with a smirk on his face. "More like mate with you."

The peaceful and humorous moment was suddenly ruined by the sounds of knocking coming from above them. Penelope jumped at the sudden noise and immediately looked to Newt for answers.

"Merlin's beard..." he muttered before taking off towards the small building. Penelope gestured to Jacob to follow her before running after the man, entering the building and following Newt up the steps that led out of the suitcase.