Submission (#1913) Approved

Visiting the capital was… an experience. Aria had been told that Ealei might have been the most populated region compared to the rest, but she had underestimated just how much so. The streets were packed with Ieldi, Elnin, and other various races she wasn’t too familiar with.

While elnins walked about with pomu lanterns tied to their tails, the other races seemed to mimic the tradition with similarly-crafted lanterns. Though, she supposed the fact that the pomu lanterns were floating and emitted a glow set them apart from the others, making them seem just that much more… magical. 

Still, she wasn’t used to such a large crowd, and while passerbys greeted and complimented Momoko on her lantern, making the older nin blush, they also fawned over Aria, marveling over her wings and uniquely-shaped horns, which she supposed wasn’t… very common among other elnin. Granted, it was true that she and Momoko’s birth parents made them both part-fae in some sense as they harboured traits only found in faenins, but it made her wonder if it was really something to marvel over. After all, Momoko had winglets as well and fae-like eyes, but why were they only fawning over her?

“That’s because you’re cute!”

Aria flustered.

“Momoko!”

The older nin laughed.

“What, it’s true! Besides, they haven’t seen you before. They’ve seen me plenty of times. No use getting excited over something you’ve seen before.”

“I… guess…”

Aria fidgeted, not used to being complimented. She was used to it when Twinkle and Lumia did it, since it was more in a motherly sense. And when Noctis did it, she was pretty sure he was teasing her. So to hear genuine praise… it made her happy, but was also really embarrassing.

Momoko sighed, and pat Aria on the head.

“Alright, enough teasing. What say we go pick some fruit now?”

Aria nodded.

After saying goodbye to some straggling passerbys, Momoko and Aria made their way to the famed fruit trees of Ealei. As Aria expected, she stumbled and tripped over the mangrove roots more times than she could count, and while Momoko tried her best not to laugh, she could still hear the muffled giggles. 
Not sure if it was a sense of pride or stubbornness, she refused when Momoko offered to carry her on her back again, and made an attempt to climb over the roots without any assistance. She supposed she should be thankful she hadn’t inherited her birth parent’s munchkin gene, as trying to climb over these roots was a struggle in itself. It was hard to believe the very roots themselves were pretty much the same size if not bigger than her.

Momoko on the other hand…

If one could combine the words “grace” and “boundless energy”, that’d probably be an accurate depiction of her right now. Despite the large, twisted gnarled roots, it didn’t seem like she had any trouble with them. With a prance and leap, it was as if the roots weren’t even there at all. In the meanwhile, Aria was exerting herself just trying to CLIMB the roots, let alone getting her paws stuck in little nooks and crannies that made her almost face plant several times. Probably the farthest thing from graceful right now.

After more stumbling and tripping on her end, the two finally made it to the base of the mangroves. Aria sat down on her haunches, blowing on her poor numb, sore paws. Hopefully Momoko didn’t suggest they CLIMB the trees. She wasn’t sure she had it in her for more trials and tribulations.

While Aria rested, Momoko still seemed energetic as ever. Each move she made, the lantern tied to her tail seemed to bob and glide along. With most of the morning and afternoon spent in the capital, the setting sun cast an orangey warm hue over them, seeming to make the glow from Momoko’s lantern even softer.

“Ok! Now that we’re here, ready to go hunting for some fruits?”

Aria froze, and Momoko couldn’t help but giggle.

“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t be climbing the trees. There’s usually a lot of fruit that drops near the base of the trees, and those ones we know for sure are plenty ripe. We can just pick the ones that look good and bring them back.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Aria nodded, and followed after Momoko as they made their way deeper into the forest of trees. Retrieving a sack she had left earlier on by one of the trees, the two proceeded to scour the ground for fruit.

After some time passed, with Aria feeling the fatigue of more stumbling about over the mangrove roots, the two took a break to partake in their spoils.

Having no reservations, Momoko took a big bite out of a large piece of fruit, letting out a soft squeal of delight as fruit juice dribbled down her chin. While Aria wasn’t sure how she felt about having the sticky juice in her fur, she took a bite after Momoko’s insistence, and her eyes widened. Sweet! It was… really sweet. She took another bite, and another, and before she knew it, her belly was soon filled with delicious sweet fruit. It seemed Momoko had her fill too, face, fur and paws all covered with sticky fruit juice.

“Ah, that was super yummy. Did you want to collect some more fruit to bring back?”

Aria nodded.

“Yes but… we should probably wash our paws first.”

Momoko pouted at her, but agreed. 

The two made their way to the water’s edge, balancing precariously on the mangrove roots as they tried to dip their paws in the water to clean it. In Momoko’s case, she decided to plunge herself right now, making Aria squeal as she was splashed in the aftermath. The two giggled and played, splashing water at each other as the sun went down.

Soon it was evening, and the two trotted back with a sack full of fruit and damp fur. While Momoko walked, Aria cast a glance at the pomu lantern that continued to bob at Momoko’s side. She was amazed it hadn’t gotten wet when Momoko dunked herself into the water, and was curious to know if even in this form, the pomu still retained some sentience. While it seemed they just bobbed along, she could have sworn it also moved on its own on occasion. It was the only explanation she had to how it avoided getting wet. She also wondered… what it’d be like if she had her own pomu lantern. Granted, she’d need a pomu first, and it wasn’t that she wanted it JUST because of the lantern, but… she found it fascinating how the pomus themselves seemed to have different personalities. Some mimicked the personality of their elnin caretaker, but some seemed vastly different. She wondered what Momoko’s pomu was like, and what hers would be like… if she had one.

Momoko seemed to be watching Aria, not wanting to interrupt as the latter seemed deep in thought. Sensing her staring, Aria lifted her head to see Momoko grinning.

With a knowing smile, she asked Aria to follow her, and after depositing the sack of berries back at her home, she ushered Aria into her room.

Before her, was a small hand-crafted lantern. It boasted a design similar to her own, except for the pink and peach, the markings were a shimmery blue, similar to the pattern on Aria’s coat. Inside was a small candle, emitting the same warm yellow hue as her anima.

Aria gasped. “Is this-”

“Surprise!! I know you don’t have your pomu yet, but this was the next best thing I could think of. And once you have your pomu, come show me, ok? I’d love to see them.”

Aria teared up, and gave Momoko a big hug.

“Y-yah, I will.”