Submission (#2449) Approved

Now that they were well into the warmer months, Marco began to find himself at a loss of what to do. Though his brother was now home Mason still found things to do to keep himself busy, which left Marco unsure of what to do with himself. He had explored around their home more times than he could count on his paws and toes, his friends were all out on vacation, and he was under the impression that the older elnin in Faerindell and Bellmoril were catching onto him and his sometimes devious schemes.

During one morning, Marco found himself flopped on the front porch, sprawled out and completely bored out of his mind. He was completely focused on his own boredom that he hadn’t noticed his brother Mason approach. The elnin raised a brow at the sight of his little brother plopped on the front porch like a throw rug. Mason gave Marco a little nudge with his paw and asked “Want to go somewhere with me? We’ll be gone for a little bit and we’ll need to take a boat, but it looks like you could do with a change of scenery and I have a delivery to make.”

Marco’s ears perked up and his eyes began to shimmer with curiosity and excitement. Mason took that to be a ‘yes’ and told Marco to pack his things for a several day trip. The kitten bounced onto his feet and headed into his room to gather a few things. Mason already had his things packed, so as he waited he lounged outside on the porch where Marco was once laying and chilled out with his pomu. Once Marco was all packed and ready Mason picked Marco up so both him and Mason’s pomu were on his back and began heading away from home.

Marco had been on a boat before, but they were usually small boats that held one or two elnin. The boat that they were taking to their destination was much larger than that. He’d have guessed a hundred, or maybe a thousand times larger! This was peak travel time for those in eyre, so the amount of elnin and the boat space they needed were greater than usual. The kitten clung to his brother’s back, and then stayed closely by his side when he had to slide off and stand on the boat. He was happy looking out into the vast ocean as they traveled though, enjoying the wind blowing through his fur and the distinct smell of sea water. He even saw some fish jump out from the water! The sight reminded him of the time he went fishing with his brother, though that was in freshwater and the fish in the ocean looked much different.

The trip from Bellmoril to Ealei was anything but short, but eventually Marco and his brother arrived at their destination. Marco was a little taken aback at first, expecting a sandy beach to greet them. Instead the sea seemed to continue into the land of Ealei, and wooden docks awaited their arrival. Mason casually stepped out onto the wooden dock and waited for his little brother to follow, who eventually hopped onto the deck with some hesitation. When he discovered he wasnt going to fall from rotted wood Marco relaxed and looked around. There were no roads or houses around the dock, only a wooden set of stairs and plenty of trees growing out from the waters below. He didnt understand how the trees were able to grow like that but was soon ushered by his brother to follow him up the stairs. Marco obediently followed but took caution in his steps, ready to feel wood rotted from age and water break beneath him.

To his surprise the stairs didn't break underneath his weight, and to his greater surprise the reason there were no roads and buildings waiting for them at the dock was because they were waiting for him in the sky! All the buildings and houses in Ealei were built around trees and on ground made of wood, so everything was very sturdy and durable. He watched as several kittoms ran by, laughing without a care in the world. They certainly weren’t worried about the ground they were running on, so Marco decided he wouldnt worry either. He strode in confidence next to his brother as the two made their way across the tree house town. Marco was only faintly worried about how there was no ground underneath their wooden path, just crystal blue ocean, but he decided to keep that to himself.

After stopping by a few places and waiting for Mason to finish up his chats and his deliveries, the elnin and kitten made their way towards the edge of town. The wooden boardwalk descended down towards the water, so there was a large gathering area with benches and some food stalls so one can enjoy being close to the water with a snack and friend. Marco’s ears perked when he watched Mason go to one of the stalls and buy a bag of something before leading them to a bench close to the water. Once they were sitting down Mason opened the bag to reveal an assortment of colorful sweets - salt water taffy! Marco remembered Mason bringing a bag of these back to Bellmoril every now and then, and now he knew where they came from! Mason handed Marco a wrapped taffy, who paused for a moment as he looked it over.

“Hey, Mason?”
“Yeah?”
“These are salt water taffy, right? Are these made from the ocean here? ‘Cause that’s salt water, right?”
Mason paused for a moment before chuckling softly. “Nah, I dont think salt water taffy is made out of seawater. They wouldnt taste as good as they do if they did that. It’d probably wind up tasting like fish or algae. I imagine they use a special kind of salt water or somethin’.”

Marco was a little disappointed he wasn’t about to eat something made of Ealei water, but the disappointment quickly disappeared when he bit into the salt water taffy. The fruity sweet taste was just as good as it had been when he had it back home, if not better. There was something special about sitting there eating taffy on the boardwalk with his brother underneath the bright sunny sky. He hoped they could do this more often in the future, if not for a few more days while they were here!