"Are you ready to leave, Hiro?" a pleasantly melodic tenor voice rings out in the gnarled wooded trunk, of a small room carved out of the large old tree.
"Just give me a minute Dad!" a small predominantly black kittom with a white underbelly yells back. She roughly blows the tufts of hair that floats all around her head away from her seafoam green eyes and fumbles through her suitcase with her small white paws. Quickly with her little white paws she pulls and tosses different clothes out of her suitcase looking for one outfit in particular. "Ah hah! There it is." sticking her small pink tongue out to the side she fishes a black leather jacket, lined with silver studs on the shoulders and embroidered on the back with a combination of her markings - teal waters with seafoam spray, veined with gilded golden markings and a bright red flower of life stamped right on the back of the leather. She slips it on, and slides to the mirror, adjusting the lapel of her jacket, and making sure her metallic and crystal pins were all in line. Each of the three pin badges adorning the lapel a symbol from her travels into different regions so far. The top most one, a pink and purple gem of sorts was from her visit to Zevija with Ukiyo and her father. Man, she thought to herself, time flies! I can't believe we caught such an amazing fish, Uki and I definitely need to go on another excursion! If only dad would be more lax, he's so god damn infuriating with his 'overprotective' streak. The one underneath was in the shape of an autumn leaf that she got from Bellmoril and the third and final one was a beautiful fan from her hometown of Kyendi. Hiroka nodded to herself at her image in the mirror, her classic sigil crown bobbing as she did so. Content with her looks, she bounded out of the room, and into the main livingroom/kitchen of their service apartment Ripple - her dad - had paid for.
"Finally ready to go, kiddo?" he asked winking at her, his silver eye closing while his golden one twinkled mischievously in the dim light of the chandelier above. Hiroka rolled her eyes, tutting under her breathe and letting go of a sigh. The taller male Elnin, was the colour of a pebbled clear lake, his namesake 'ripples' gently lapping at the shoreline of a pale blue and white shore. The long curls of his bangs a sweeping gradient from dark blue to gold and the remainder pulled back in a short messy ponytail, that - just like his daughter's - swirled and floated on a mysterious breeze. Tendrils of both his hair and tail phased in and out of existence adding to the handsome nin's ethereal charm. Soft spots of gold, lapis lazuli blue and teal glowed like fireflies on his coat, some floated gently off him. His white and blue mane thick around his neck, and a dark red coat well worn from use across his many adventures adorned his well built frame.
"Come on Dad, let's just get out of here already. We're going to be late for the Celestial Vigil..." she exclaimed, grabbing her dad's lame ass white and pale blue paw and dragging him out the door. Quickly the pair clambered down the steps carved out of the gnarled oak tree's innards, and out past the receptionist. As the pair headed outside into the warm marshy landscape townscape, a sense of excitement and joy permeated through the crowd of elnins and kittoms wandering the streets. The duo quickly found themselves swept up in the throngs of the masses. Shops were open late. Lamps, some made up of a horde of fireflies, lined the streets, and streamers and posters seemed plastered onto lamposts, trees, and houses. An excited festival mood seemed to be in full swing. Hiroka looked up towards the city of Salva's treetops, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sky, but all she saw was the dark leafy treetops above. Heaving a sigh, Hiroka gasped as her father, Ripple, grabbed hold of her small paws and pulled her up onto his back.
"Let's go for a little festival shopping, aye?" and began manoeuvring his way through the crowd. Shops lined the main walkway connecting various trees of Salva together. Most seemed to be dealing in rare minerals, or herbs, a few sold peculiar insects few of which Hiroka had seen before. One of the bugs, a golden beetle looked a lot like the creature in the stories her Dad had told her as a very young kitt. Maybe, there's some truth to his stories after all, she found herself wondering with awe at the crazy antics he got up to in his youth. Oh, I hope I get to go on my own adventures soon too, she grumbled internally to herself. As the night wore on, and with a new pin her Dad had bought her - a firefly carved from a rare metallic material inlaid with small crystals of yellow and vibrant neon green - Hiroka found herself tiring of the huge crowds.
"Daad, when are we going to see the fireworks? And I want to see the shooting stars too." Hiroka exclaimed grumpily, before leaning heavily on her father's back.
"Oof... okay, okay little miss grumpypants. Hang on let me finish making this deal with the Herb here." he said, chucking her under the chin and turning back to finish his discussion with Herb, one of his main supplier's in a bitter tasting shrub tea that when boiled sweetens and changes the colour of the tea a deep red. Finally, after another thirty minutes of haggling, Ripple paid and breathed out a sigh. "Damn, Herb always manages to get the better of me when it comes to that damn tea. Ah well, at least I got a good deal on that blue glowing moss... I guess that makes up for it " carefully he rolled his shoulders back making a satisfying pop, and in doing so gently nudged his daughter awake he grinned up at her. "Well, now that we've settled all my business for tonight. How about some fireworks hmm? Or are you too sleepy to do any adventuring now?" Instantly awake at the word 'adventure' Hiroka shook her head and gleefully hugged her Dad's neck.
"Let's go already!!! Adventure... AWAITS!" she said her brow furrowed and she lifted her paw out egging her father onwards.
"Sheesh, alright, alright kiddo, let's go then." and with that her Dad, tousled her hair before giving her his usual smirky grin and bounded away from the crowd and onto one of the side streets, towards a quieter section of the city. Large curving trees, brackish water, and the sounds of frogs and other local animals resound, as Ripple - with a very wide-eyed and excited Hiroka - walks along the planked boardwalks across the bog below. The boardwalks lead away from the main city and upwards, slowly getting into the upper tree branches of the marshy swampland. As they climb higher and higher, crossing different boardwalks and bridges as they do so, the quality of the planks beneath get rougher and rougher. Soon Ripple leaps off of the boardwalk and onto thick curving branches that seem to twist into loops and crooked swirls. Hiroka takes everything in with wide-eyed wonder, and Ripple can't help but chuckle at his daughter's awe. Finally as they climb to the top of a rather large tree trunk and onto a large wide platform, built into several branches, the leaves give way to sky, and the ocean can be seen. Hiroka, eager to explore attempts to pull away from her father, who firmly grips onto her back legs. "Now, before you go sprinting off to explore. A few ground rules. One, no leaving the platform. Two, be polite, we aren't the only ones here. And three, don't try to jump off the railings into the water. I know you can swim and want to explore but you promised me you'd follow my directions if I took you on another trip."
"Yes, yes don't worry! It's waaaay too late for swimming anyway, it'd be cold down there!" with one last sigh from Ripple, he reluctantly loosened his grip and Hiroka leapt off of his back and onto the wooden platform. She gaped as she looked around. A few other families were there but for the most part the platform was open. They were above the treeline and could see out across the ocean, and in the distance she could almost make out the region of Ealei! The starry sky above was large and filled with stars, even more than she'd ever remembered seeing in Kyendi. Excited, Hiroka found herself running up to the railing and standing on her hind legs, propping her front paws against it, straining to hide any remnants of the tree tops of Enmir. Ripple chuckled behind her as he followed and stood next to her.
"Heh, nothing like back home, is it?"
"Yeah... there's so many of them!!"
"It's the light pollution. Out here in Enmir the light of the city is blanketed by the tree's leafy branches. It's honestly one of the few places in this world where you can see so many of the stars so clearly. I remember coming here as a boy and spending evenings up here alone with my thoughts... oh and Poru of course. Heh, back then he always used to scold me for staying out so late."
"Dad? When will I get my own Pomu? Do you think they'll ever come?"
"When you make your own lantern, sweet pea. Don't worry yourself. Not everyone is an early bloomer. Oh! Look I think there's the first shooting star!" Father and daughter sat beneath the stars and moon watching as they streaked across the sky together. As the night wore on, they walked back to the city and their hotel, weaving around the will-o-wisps, the final remnants of the Celestial Vigil. As Ripple gently tucked his daughter into bed, he smiled to himself, it was rare his daughter let him baby her this much, oh what a night to remember.
