Submission (#1421) Approved

Quest: Resonance - Act 1
Act Type: Exploration
Word Count: 1013
Adult Elnin Present: Momo [ELN306]
Regional Affinity: Ealei
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Mimi [MYO-ELN201]
[Adventurer] Rank Unlock Mini-Requirement: Complete an act of exploration

Mimi’s eyes widened at scenery before her. 

They had just arrived in Ealei, and while Momo had been telling her tales of trees so high they could touch the sky, and tree roots so abundant that the ground was barely visible, seeing it first-hand was… something else. Despite her diminutive size, the trees seemed even larger in person. The roots themselves were easily twice if not three times her size, and certainly enough to trip up even a dire nin were one not wary of where they walked.

Wanting to take a closer look, Mimi flew up and up. The mangroves trunks whizzed back, barely seeming to shrink in size the higher she went. 

Upon reaching the leafy boughs of the trees, even the leaves themselves were nearly the same size as her. The faenin’s eyes widened with awe, reaching out to stroke a leaf. It wasn’t hard to hard for the tiny kitten to find amazement in things, but being here and seeing, touching, just witnessing absolutely how MASSIVE everything was, it certainly put things into perspective.

“Mimi, sweetie, don’t fly too far, ok?”

Momo’s voice made Mimi’s ear perk up, and she flew back down, returning to the elnin below who had been looking up with a worried expression.

“Sorry mum! I just got so excited! You were right! Everything’s just so big!”

The elnin flushed.

“Momo’s fine, dear. After all, I’m not your birth mother.”

Her memory was foggy, but when Mimi had first opened her eyes, the first one she saw was Momo. She had been told that she was found napping within a hollow tree trunk, and when prompted about where she came from or where her parents were, she… didn’t know.

From there, Momo had taken her to her home in Faerindell and cared for her, but now that Mimi was a little older (in age at the very least), she decided to return to where she had found Mimi. Her birthplace, Ealei.
It was strange. Despite being born here, she couldn’t remember. However, it felt… nostalgic. Like she belonged here. The trees that were often much too tall and dangerous for elnins to climb seemed just perfect for her, her little wings and size having no problems weaving about the high tree-tops which would give even the most nimble of nin trouble traversing.

Still, she was thankful. She had loved seeing the sights in Faerindell as well. The colourful flowers and faerie shrouds were a marvel to behold, and Momo, even if not her birth mother, was a mother all the same.

“Ok, if you say so! But… can I still call you ‘mom’ sometimes?”

Momo laughed.

“If you must. I suppose it is just one letter off from my name, isn’t it?”

Mimi giggled.

“Yup! And when you and Hikari have babies, then you’ll really be a mom and it’s ok for me to call you mom too! After all, I’ll be a big sister by then!”

“MIMI!!”

The kittom giggled and flew away before Momo could swat at her. Not that… she would have as Momo was too busy covering her face, flushed red with embarrassment. 

She tried not to make it a habit to tease Momo, but despite Momo saying there was nothing between them and that they were just childhood friends (and that Hikari was always a giant flirt anyways), it was clear there was some interest between them. At least, Momo seemed a lot less timid around Hikari, and even Hika had his sweet side sometimes. Not that… Momo would ever admit it.

Still, Mimi hoped that one day they’d realize it. No matter what Momo said about Hika, she thought they were perfect for each other~

“A-anyways, didn’t you say you wanted to explore? The manaberries should be ripe to pick too by now, I think.”

“Oh!”

She had totally forgotten. They came here to harvest manaberries as well as some plants for Momo to use for tea and medical remedies. 

As Momo tried to regain her composure, Mimi flew off, heading for the tops of the trees again.”

“Just don’t go too far, ok?”

“Ok!”

Returning to the leafy boughs of the mangrove trees, Mimi flitted about, scanning each branch for berries. 

Spotting some good-sized ones, she grabbed and pulled, straining a bit before the berry popped up, sending her somersaulting back as she clutched the berry in her paws. In her hindsight she had forgotten to bring a pouch, but with the berries being almost half her size, it probably wasn’t likely she was able to carry a good amount without getting winded and weighed down by them.

Looking around, she found a place to set them down. She decided she would stash a pile here, and once she had gathered enough, she’d bring each one down one at a time. It’d take… quite some time, but she was determined to make this work, and they still had plenty of the day left.

After a bit of time, Mimi’s stomach grumbled and she returned to her stash, only to find someone ransacking it.

“Hey!!”

Her shout scared the critters away, a squirrel dashing off and birds flew away. She huffed, placing her paws on her hips. Her hard work!! If she had come back a little later, they could have taken it all!

Flying closer, she noticed a baby bird was left behind, not realizing the others had flown off. When it saw Mimi though, it let out a squawk, flapped its wings, and lost its balance.

“Oh no!”

The baby bird fell, and Mimi swooped in, catching it in the nick of time.

Placing it back on the branch, she sighed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you! I guess you guys are hungry too, huh…”

She sat down, cradling the bird with one paw while she reached for a berry with the other.

“Guess it couldn’t hurt to share some of the food, right?”

The bird chirped happily, pecking away at the berries and Mimi smiled.
After all, Momo had taught her “sharing was caring.”