Submission (#2122) Approved

Legacy Participation Claim: Expressions of Affection
Regional Affinity: Palu’au Islands
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Luna Nova [ELN1229]

Characters in Story:
Ruelle: ELN315 (Noxi)
Shiva: ELN806 (Noxi)
Cyprus: ELN335 (Stripes)

Prompt:

#27 Draw or write about your elnin or kittom conveying their affection to their loved ones.

What language of love does your elnin pursue? Do they snuggle up to a loved one? Are they serenading a partner or crush they have? Perhaps their expressions of love are not of a romantic nature, comprised of gifting chocolates to a close family member instead? Or do their actions leave onlookers wondering where they learned that strange dance with the paw flailing and tail shaking? (What is it suppose to mean?)

There are lots of ways elnin can express their love to those they care about. Feel free to get creative! Eyre is also fairly vast so picking the right location to give a gift or spend time together may be pretty important to them.

 

Entry:

The sun creeped up over the horizon of the Palu’Au Islands, the light sparkling off the deepruin reef. The water refracted the light, shining dappled rays along the soft shoreline. A strange energy emanated throughout the land, broadcasting a gentle warning of masked danger. The miasma was virtually undetectable but Luna Nova could sense it while staring out her bedside window. 

The small blue, gold, and white swirled elnin was huddled up in her bed with her blanket wrapped around her tiny shoulders. She sneezed and cleared her throat. “I think I’m getting sick…” She mumbled to her quiet pomu, sleeping in the lamp beside her. Maybe you shouldn’t stay up all night doing arts and crafts Luna… she thought to herself blandly. Her eyes burned with sleepiness as she looked down at her creations. 

Spread out in front of her were 3 elaborate cards made up of pinks, whites, and reds. A mess of red sparkling glitter covered the face of each card. She thought of only the corniest messages to write inside. She opened the first card to check out the tiny drawing on the inside cover. It was of her and Cyprus holding paws. It was a stick figure drawing but she still put a lot of effort into it. In little kid handwriting she wrote, “best big brother ever!”

Cyprus isn’t her biological brother but he does care for her as if he is. She is super grateful for everything he does for her and really wants to make sure he knows. She also made up cards for Ruelle, her caretaker, and Shiva, her foster sister. The other two cards are similar in nature and each have a small drawing on the inside. Ruelle’s card has a drawing of her putting a sleepy Luna into bed and Shiva’s has a drawing of her and Luna building a sandcastle together. Each one had a specific message about family and love written inside.

She blinked the tiredness out of her eyes and felt a growing excitement within her as she heard the others begin to emerge from their rooms for breakfast. She grabbed her cards and hustled out of bed. Securely tying her pomu lantern to her she rushed out her door and into the bathroom.

She brushed some water though the fluffy bushel of hair atop her head, attempting to get some semblance of neatness. She then washed her face and brushed her tiny teeth. She gagged as she didn’t like the taste of the minty toothpaste. It was too strong and made her mouth burn and water. But she knew if she didn’t brush her teeth Ruelle would be upset with her. She could almost hear her voice in her head saying, “Luna Nova! You better brush your teeth or they’ll fall out when you’re older.” She shuddered at the thought of having no teeth, her sore rotting gums mashing together. “Ew…” She stopped to floss for good measure and ran back out, heading down the corridor towards the kitchen.

Shiva and Cyprus were already set up at the table and Ruelle was bringing out the plates of eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. “Good morning Luna honey, take a seat.” Luna hid the cards behind her back and hopped up onto one of the empty chairs. She could barely contain her excitement as she rushed through her breakfast. “Slow down there…” Ruelle said, eyeing her ravenous behavior. “One would think I don’t feed you kits.” Ruelle reached over and took Lunas small face in her paw, wiping under her eyes. “Sweetheart did you get any sleep last night?” 

Luna blushed and shook her head. She saw the disappointment cross her face and felt bad for making her worry so much. “I’m sorry… But I stayed up all night making you all cards to show my appreciation for you!” She hopped down and bounced around the table, passing out the cards. She squealed in excitement as they opened them and savored the expressions of love that crossed their faces. Cyrpus hopped down as well and pulled her in close for a warm hug. “Thank you Luna, this means a lot. I love you too!” 

“AAAAWWWEEE” Shiva wailed in adoration. “Luna you are simply the cutest little thing!!!” Ruelle then reached out and picked Luna up in a warm embrace, planting a kiss right between her fluffy ears. Suddenly embarrassed she wiggled out of her arms and hid her face. “I-I’m glad you like them.”

Chatter filled the room as they finished their breakfast, now elated at the mutual feeling of love and family. “I got you kids some gifts as well.” Ruelle said, pulling out three wrapped gifts. Luna grabbed hers and ran her paws over the smooth wrapping paper. Her paper was white and covered in glittery red hearts. She carefully opened it, trying to save the paper for a future art project. Inside was a coloring book full of beautiful lineart depicting sunny beaches and underwater reefs.

“EEE THANK YOU RUELLE!” She squealed, jumping on her in excitement. Luna savored the smell of the fresh pages. She ran over to the small craft table in the living room and grabbed some crayons. Immediate, she got to work, carefully coloring in the lines of every shape and crevice on the first page. It was a drawing of the Deepruin reef, the entire book dedicated to the Palu’Au Islands.

She drew a monster coming out of the water, tentacles splashing all around. Cyprus wandered up and gave her addition a questioning look. “Luna, do you really think something that scary would live in the Deepruin reef?” Luna looked up and thought for a moment. “Hmmm. I mean, I don’t know. Sometimes I get an odd feeling about that place. Like there’s something we have all missed despite the ruins being picked clean.” She rubbed her chin. “I’m just taking creative lib birdies anyway”. 

“I think you mean liberties” Cyrpus chuckled. “Shut up! I know what I said!” She retorted, starting to pout at his jabbing comments. She moved to the other side of the table where Cyprus couldn’t bother her anymore. She blushed quietly as the guilt washed over her. She felt bad for lashing out. Her eyes started to grow heavy and she let out a deep yawn. 

Slowly her head met the table and before she knew it she was in the reef, splashing around in the shallow water. She took a deep breath of the salty ocean air and padded through the puddles and along the piles of soft wet sand. Ruins of old buildings peaked up through the water, casting long shadows across the tide pools. Luna approached the largest spire of smooth sandstone. She carefully sifted through the sand at the base of the old wall, picking out empty snail and clam shells. She placed her treasures in her satchel for later, thinking about all of the cute jewelry she can make from it.

The sky grew dark as purple poisonous clouds filled the air around her, making her choke and gasp for breath. She looked out across the large expanse of water bordering the shallow end of the reef as large tentacles emerged from the water. One of the tentacles smashed into the wall behind her, making her scream and jump out of the way. Elnin from all around panicked and fled back to their homes.

The water level rose and quickly engulfed her in heavy waves of salt water, her paws glued to the muddy sand beneath her feet. “HELP!” She screamed as water flooded into her mouth and down her throat. 

Luna gasped for air as she woke up in her bed. She stared out at the clear afternoon sky and clutched her coloring book to her chest. She relaxed as she realized it was just a dream... Or at least she hoped that’s all it was...