Submission (#2234) Approved

Dawn loved the cosmos. Even if she hadn’t been born and raised in an area where it was always night, she felt like she would be drawn to it. While she was plenty happy keeping her paws to the earth and had no burning desire to figure out how to fly to get closer to the sky, many hours of Dawn’s free time were spent looking up at the sky, taking note of which stars were where, figuring out what each star’s name was, and when she could see them in the sky during what time of year. If asked, she’d be reluctant to say that she had a small, teeny bias when it came towards her hobby. Dawn enjoyed looking at the sky when she was alone or with her kittom friends ( though when she was with others their stargazing didn’t last for long, eventually everyone getting up to go play and so something more active ). However, Dawn found that she enjoyed it most when she was looking up at the sky with her father. 

Misha was still a young adult but if someone asked Dawn where he had traveled to, she would have said Misha had visited every square inch of Eyre. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had somehow managed to reach the stars and explored the cosmos. She felt like her father knew everything about everything. When he would come home from traveling she enjoyed curling up next to him and listening to his stories about his adventurers. Once his voice had run out from talking but there was still energy in both of them to do something, the elnin and kittom would grab a blanket,some paper and writing utensils, and a few snacks and head outside. The set up would be similar to a picnic set up, but instead this was their study area. Placing the paper on a flat surface to write on the two would sit next to each other and gaze up at the sky, writing what they saw down. After several days of working on their paper eventually a full blown map of the sky had been drawn down. Misha felt like he already knew all of this by heart, so with a smile he handed it to Dawn and told her to keep it. Who knows? Maybe she’ll find a new star or strange thing in the sky to add to the map when he was away, or when Dawn was finally on her own.

Dawn treasured her star map. It was a medley of all her favorite things - stars, documenting, writing, and simply looking at it brought a wave of warm memories of sitting and chatting with her father. She knew she had to be careful with it, as it was only paper and ink that could easily be torn or have the writing faded from it, but she couldn’t help but want to carry it everywhere with her. Even if her mind was somewhere else like on errands and friends she wanted to carry the map with her in her bag. What if she discovered something new in the sky like her father had mentioned? She wanted it nearby just in case!

That’s why when Dawn couldn’t find the map one day, an incredibly strong wave of panic and dread had overcome her.

The day had started off like any normal day. Dawn got up, washed up and brushed her hair before getting dressed. She had no immediate plans to attend to but she wasn’t one to sit around at home and do nothing, especially when she had no new books to read. Misha still wasn’t back from his most recent trip so Dawn was going to check in with her neighbor after breakfast. After that she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with her day, but she’d figure something out. She always did. Dawn stepped into the kitchen, grabbed an apple for breakfast, then decided to grab a few more fruits and veggies to put in her bag for the day in case ehr feet took her away from any stores that sold food. Roaming around on an empty stomach was something she had done before and would never recommend doing again. Dawn wrapped the fruits and veggies with a piece of cloth and tied them up to keep them from rolling around in her bag before going off to look for her bag. 

Everything was normal as usual until she opened her bag. Dawn kept her bag in the small living room in the same place she always did, so that was normal. What wasn’t normal was that when she opened her bag to put the fruit and vegetables in, something was obviously missing. After seeing it every day Dawn knew immediately what was missing but it took her a few moments for the information to soak in - her star map was missing. The kittom placed the fruits and vegetables to the side as she began to think. Had she taken her map out to look at it? She didn’t recall doing this but she headed back into her bedroom just in case. The map wasn’t there. Dawn began to look through every square inch of the house, even places she knew it wouldn’t have been in as she had never taken her map to that part of the house but still, better to check than be sorry later. She couldn’t find her map still. Was it possible that she had left it outside, or that it had fallen out when she was walking round before? Dawn swore she had her map in her bag the previous night, but doubt and worry began to fog her mind. Whatever happened, standing around wasn’t going to make it magically appear abc in her bag. She had to go look for it. Dawn tossed the fruits and vegetables into her bag and rushed out the door, beginning her quest to find her map.

Silveil looked the same as it ever did. The dark sky twinkling with a sea of stars loomed above Dawn. Normally this would have been a delight for Dawn, but right now it felt like the sky was mocking her, reminding her of what she had misplaced. She moved her eyes off the sky and brought them down towards the area around her. Despite the sky being dark above there was little need for lanterns or fires to see. Silveil was full of flora and fauna that lit up the world and this area was no different. On the path that connected all the houses together were mushrooms that gave off a blue light that was bright enough to illuminate the area around and then some. Dawn watched as several fireflies floated in the sky with no particular destination in mind, giving off more light. The only real dark areas were the nearby trees that lead into the forest that seemed to consume any light that dared get close to it.

After surveying the area Dawn set off on her mission. The first thing she did was knock on the doors of all the nearby houses and asked the residents if they had seen a map. When they said they hadn’t Dawn thanked them for their time and headed off to start retracing her steps from the previous day. Her eyes were used to the blue glow of the area so missing the map simply because she couldn’t see it was out of the question. However, an entire morning and afternoon of searching passed and she came up empty handed. Dawn reluctantly decided to head back home and draft up a plan of where to go next to continue her search. She followed down the path back to her house with the help of the glowing mushrooms next to the path and a few fireflies that seemed to be leading her back home.

When she opened the door to her home her fur raised a little. Something was amiss. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint what was wrong, but something was different with the house. Dawn carefully and quietly stepped through the house, making sure each move was calculated in case she needed to change course at a moment’s notice. When she stepped into the kitchen a sight for sore eyes was sitting on the kitchen table waiting for her - Her star map!! But how!? As she almost ran over to the table she saw that there were some other things there waiting for her. Next to the map was a basket of strange fruit Dawn wasn’t familiar with, a copy of her map on what looked like better quality paper written in better quality ink, and a handwritten note. Dawn picked up the note and read it to herself. The note was from her father, Misha! He apologized that he couldn’t see her in person because of his schedule, but he thanked her for letting him borrow her map. He made a copy for himself and an extra copy for her, just in case she ever loses the original. The fruit was also a gift from him from a region he had recently been to. He loved her lots and hoped to be home in the next week or two.

Dawn was hit with a mix of emotions. She had wished she had been able to see Misha, but knowing that her star map was safe and that she had an extra copy now put her at ease. After trying some of the strange fruit for dinner she folded the new map and put it into her bag. Dawn took the original map and headed into her room. She was going to keep this in a secret safe place, so she would never risk losing it again. Dawn slipped the map into her pillow case, and now that everything was right in the world and she could relax, the kittom curled up in bed and fell asleep.