The pendant was not just pretty, it was a special bit of gear she had found near an old shipwreck years ago.

She wore it proudly, for it reminded her of her fearless trek and the deep waters she had once braved alone.

Every year, Nova returned to the shipwreck to remember the day her life changed.

She would swim in the clearing around the wreck, remembering how she got the pendant.

But this year, something was clearly different.

To her dismay, she saw that the shimmer of her dear pendant was starting to disappear.

At first, she wondered if it was just a trick of the light. But as she swam nearer, her fears grew stronger.

The smooth surface was smeared, the shimmer faded, and it no longer gleamed like before.

Feeling weary and fearful, Nova knew she had to act fast.

She rushed to the nearest iceberg, where her wise old friend, the bearded walrus, lived.

“Dear Nova,” the walrus said, “what you need is help from a rare starfish. They can mend things.”

Together, they got ready and set out. The trek was long and dreary.

Cold waves crashed around them, and dark waters made Nova fear what might appear from below. But she pressed on, her fearless heart nearing its goal.

At last, in a glowing reef nearby, the starfish appeared. The walrus slowly took the starfish and set them on the pendant. A light shimmer returned, then grew clearer, then the clearest she had ever seen.

The pendant sparkled again. Its shine reappeared, stronger than before. Tears filled her eyes, not with sadness, but with joy.

“Thank you, my dear friend,” she whispered, her voice soft in the water. She cleared the reef with a swirl of her tail and swam back home, the pendant safe once more.

From that day on, Nova was not just known for her sparkling pendant, but for the story of her trek, her fears, and her best friend.