Submission (#2134) Approved

In Eyre, the season of miasma was drawing to a close and to signal the end of it was the Pomu hibernation, where every Elnin's Pomu, their life friend, took on a crystallized state for a time. During this crystallized time, a Elnin would create a lantern around the crystal in celebration of the returning light.

One such Elnin in the luminous, nighttime region of Silveil was prepping her Pomu crystal for the festivities.

Greta sat at a table ladled down with crafting materials like wiring, shimmering fabrics, glue, markers, paper, and sparkling glitter. She ran her fingers over an orb shaped lantern, which she shaped using thin wiring, bending it into a proper supporting shape for some fabulous green fabric that would sparkly like Greta's fur on a sunny day in Faerindell! It wouldn’t shimmer as brightly under the lights of the never-sleeping Silveil City, but it would be beautiful none-the-less. She looked out a window thoughtfully as her fingers moved to the emerald green Pomu crystal that was close by.

The view outside of the window was starting to brighten as the glow began to brighten in the bioluminescent plant life in the dark forest once again, and Greta smiled softly to herself, but it wasn’t long before it turned into a slight frown as a figure rushed past her window, brown tips of a bushy tail the only real sight she caught of the figure. “What the-?”

There was a ding of the bell above the shop’s entrance door as someone entered the shop. “We’re closed today!” Greta called from her seat at the table.

“A friend can’t visit and ask for some creative help?” a male voice called back.

"Rufius?" Greta inquired, turning in her seat to look at her visitor.

Rufius was a brown and cream striped Elnin, who also had a green tint to some of his fur, along with a scaly mutation that he himself adored. He thought it made him look just a bit wilder. He grinned at her question. "Of course! Who else do you think is crazy enough to travel still during miasma season?"

"Only you." She turned back to her lantern. "Come on. Let's see what you got."

The wild Elnin moved towards the table where his friend sat, and started to pull a number of things from his leather satchel as she watched on. "Here we go."

He had pulled from his bag bright colors feathers, small gems, grass, and autumn colored leaves. "Do you have a basic design idea for your lantern?" Greta asked with a raised brow.

The male shook his head. "I don't..."

Greta sighed, got up, and went to fetch blank paper and a pencil. "Well we'll figure out a design fitting."

They sat and discussed potential ideas, eventually settling on the idea of a lantern shaped like a bird, which Rafius said reminded of him of his visit to the shrine of Silveil’s Eldertree, where he’d accidently spooked a bird sleeping nearby. They got to work on their lanterns, gluing various materials to fabric and paper, and Greta listened to Rufius' many stories about traveling Eyre, having many encounters with fauna that either had been spooked or had spooked him away from the area, which amused her greatly, imagining his frightened state.

After a while, Rufius sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"

Greta gasped and sprung to her feet, running to the double ovens in the bakery's kitchen, where black smoke was starting to seep out. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" she repeated, panicking as she opened the oven door and smoke billowed out in a heavy, dark cloud. She started coughing, rushing to throw the windows open and the front door, where she could hear some of the local nocturnal fauna like a small fox with glowing marks scurry away or a bat flutter its wings as it’s startled, along with making a couple clicking noises. She was going back to the oven in dismay. "My cookies..." She sighed as she tossed the batch of burnt lantern shaped cookies away. “Those were going to be for Amos…”

She looked towards her Pomu’s glittering green crystal that rested beside the near complete lantern. “We could make another batch after we finish?” Rufius suggested, and Greta giggled as she noticed some bits of grass, feathers, and a gem was stuck to the male’s fur.

She made her way back to the table. “That would be fantastic,” she said, sitting to complete her lantern, and help Rufius complete his.