Submission (#2419) Approved

Jade yawned he could hardly keep his eyes open when his mother and father came to wake him up. He was so excited for today that he had hardly slept a wink. The only thing keeping him awake was leftover excitement for today was here. As he got down from his bed he saw that his sister Eve was still sound asleep. She was quite the heavy sleeper and no amount of pushing a shoving from his mother would wake her up.

"Eve! Come on your wasting today's trip!" Jade exclaimed next to his mother in hopes to help rouse his sister.

"Sleepy...." his sister groaned and pulled the sheets tighter against herself.

"Come on dear" Mia, Jade and Eve's mother said in both a comforting but chastizing way and lifted Eve from her bed.

Jade watched as Eve just snuggled into their mother and kept sleeping. It didn't matter to him if she actually got up as long as they still got to leave on their excursion. Their parents Mia and Pan had planned the day just for them. Well as much of a day they could plan for them as their trip was also focused on procuring new trade wares before exiting Kyendi.

Eve was the one who had suggested the trip for today despite her disinterest in waking up. Eve saw in their history books about the floating isles in Kyendi while Jade was excited to see the city of Ilrian. The floating isle was an area their parents have never visited since Jade and his sister was born because of safety reasons. Their parents were overly worried about adventurous rambunctious kittens being near deadly cliffs. Jade didn't really understand since both he and his sister were well behaved in his opinion.

Pan came into the room carrying two empty large and a heavy satchel

"We should just carry her Mia otherwise we are going to miss the airship up to Ilrian..." Pan obviously worried about time.

Mia nodded and hoisted Eve to a more comfortable position. "Can you also carry our lunch bag? She's getting too heavy to handle much more" and laughed.

"Sure" pan said smiling grabbing a small bag that was near Mia obviously stuffed full.

As they exited the Inn they were staying in Jade was filled with joy. The one thing he loved about his parents was their traveling business. He had seen so many sights and cities that most kittoms and even some elnin have never seen before.

Before Jade knew it his daydreaming fast-forwarded time to the waiting area for the airship. Jade's sister Eve was finally up and bouncing with excitement. Jade always found it funny how she could jump from being dazed to hyperactive. Other than their parents occasionally chatting with other adults Jade and his sister stayed fairly quiet as they watched all the Elnins pass by and the airship leave. When it was time for them to get on their own airship Eve grabbed Jade's hand in worry.

"It'll be ok sis" Jade said with a smile and determined eyes.

Eve had nodded and they followed their parents onto the airship. It was small compared to the ones that they saw earlier which caused confusion until their parents explained it was a ship that went back and forth every day multiple times

Both Jade and Eve claimed a window to watch as their ship was flying. They laughed, yelled, and whispered about all the floating islands and the amazing waterfalls they started to pass by. Before they knew it they had landed and their parents corraled them out of the ship and out of the station.

Once out of the station Jade was astonished by the large city and its bustling streets.

"Do you want to take the kids or do you want me to?" Mia, their mother said to Pan their father.

"Why don't you take them this time Mia? You are way more familiar with the city than I am" Pan laughed and then continued. "Show them all the things you showed me the first time we were here".

Mia smiled. "Not going to be quite the same without you, but I guess your right I know where I can take these kids for a fun time"

Mia, Eve, and Jade all gave hugs and "I love you"''s to Pan before heading to the city.

They visited toy shops, candy shops, and various parks within the city. Jade was practically stupefied by all the excitement and candy. Around mid-afternoon, Pan met up with them at a park without any bags but the one Jade knew had their lunch.

"Alright kids!" Pan exclaimed "Want to see one of the coolest things about these islands?"

Jade and his sister cheered ready to both eat and to see whatever surprise their parents had for them.

They left out of town, hiked across the large floating landmass, and reached a lake. Mia and Pan set up a picnic area by the lake and sat down. Jade felt confused and Eve looked confused.

"What is the cool thing dad?" Eve asked

"Yeah yeah! What is it dad?" Jade also asked

"You'll see.... come eat and watch that funny creature sitting at the edge of the water" Pan said pointing to some sort of bloated-looking fish beached at the edge of the lake.

"Umm... dad I think it is dead...." Jade said confused

Both Pan and Mia laughed and patted the picnic area. Jade and his sister took a seat and sat in silence.

Jade felt like his parents had lost it. What could possibly be cool about that bloated fish. He didn't want to be disrespectful so he sat down and encouraged his sister to join him. They are in silence and watched the bloated fish. Their parents were giggling at each other which further cemented the idea they had lost their minds. After a handful of minutes of not paying attention, Jade looked back at the fish and noticed it was much more round than it was before. Jade scanned the lake and noticed a score of other bloated fish by the edge of the lake all at various stages of inflation.

"Look at that Eve" Jade said while nudging Eve.

Their parents stayed silent but with big grins. A few more minutes went by and multiple inflated fish began to float and fly away to other islands. The odd scene of floating fish using their fins to fly led the siblings into a cacophony of confused sounds and cheers.

"What are those dad?!" Eve said excitedly. She was always fascinated by nature.

Pan grinned "Well I guess your mom would be able to explain it in a little more detail but those fish travel the islands by creating and filling themselves up with a type of gas lighter than air. I don't remember what gas though".

Mia chimed in "It is Hydrogen, they pull it from the water, creating a pocket of the gas that allows them to float... Don't get anything flammable near them though... hydrogen catches fire very easily, likely the only reason why such a thing would occur in an aquatic creature.

Jade and Eve had lost interest halfway into the more detailed explanation and started running around the lake for up-close looks at the fish. After a couple of hours, all the floating fish were long gone. Jade and his sister were both very tired after such excitement and had their parents carry them back to an inn Pan had secured during his time in the city.

Pan didn't want to stop cuddling after he was placed into bed and climbed in with his already sound asleep sister. His dreams were filled with images of floating fish.

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1,293 words