Submission (#3110) Approved

Small white and pink paws looped a coil of rope tightly to the tree root rising from the water beside their little boat, securely tying a knot to keep the vessel from drifting off as they disembarked. Momo climbed higher root to root then branch to branch to survey the waterway before him. He unfastened the satchel strapped to his back and set it at his feet for better access. Digging past small packs of dried food and his cantine, the kittom pulled out a worn but neatly folded document. The chart was old and yellowing but from what he had seen so far still clearly marked the pathways through the dense mangroves beneath Yggdrasil’s towering boughs. While the gnarled roots below regularly erupted from the glassy surface of the waters below, there was indeed a snaking pattern of clear open water large enough for his small vessel to pass without issue. The was until purple/pink eyes followed the path further in the direction of his intended travel. 

Thinking back to the placid almost mirror like water below he should not have been surprised to see the blockage of fallen leaves and detritus choking the narrowest section not far from his current location. Moving water should have had even a few ripples as it passed around the plant life it contained, Sighing in irritation, the wisp of light trailing from his left eye flared brightly for a moment,  the young elnin descended back to their boat to fetch the long pole they had been using to push themselves along. Running the pole under the straps of the bag thrown over his back and hoping he wasn’t getting the pale pattern of fur on his back too dirty, Momo started a wobbly and awkward climb over to clear out the mess impeding his progress to the port out of Ealei. 

  Slowly he set to work wedging the long piece of wood into the tangled mess to pry free the dead branches tangling themselves together into a dam. Minutes turned into an hour and Momo set back to take a much needed break. Trying in vain to smooth out his wet, leaf littered fur before giving up for the time being, he turned to pull out his water bottle from his travel pack before coming face to face with a long curtain of green that had decidedly NOT been there when he had started on his task. The kittom startled and jumped back, nearly slipping and falling into the water below the root he had been perched on. 

Paw clutched to the puff of white fur over his rapidly beating heart, Momo’s gaze lifted along the long green tail up to locate the source of the soft peels of laughter from the branches above him. Amused black eyes peered down at him despite the kittom’s own complete and obvious lack of amusement. Up above him sat a green and black elnin lounging with his long body balanced along the tree limb and tail lazily swaying. The other elnin rolled forward into the air before landing with superizing grace next to the next to him. The strange nin glided silently past him much like the rolling mist-like pattern down his sides to look closer at Momo’s current project. “Would you like help with this? I would have asked sooner, but you seemed so very invested in your work it seemed a shame to bother you.” 

Momo could feel a small white eyebrow nearly start twitching. Had the other elnin just been watching him struggle this whole time? He glanced down at the muck and grime coating what was once a lovely mix of white and pink fur covering his tired arms, yes the eyebrow was definitely now twitching. “How long have you just been watching me?” His tone was more biting than he really intended.    

The other sat back and raised a paw to tap at his chin in contemplation. “A half hour or so? It would have been kind of hard not to have come to check out all the commotion if I’m being honest. Has anyone ever told you that you have quite the colorful vocabulary for one so young?” 

If he could have blushed through his fur he would have lit up like a festival lantern. What business was it of theirs for this lanky noodle of an adult how he spoke? Momo, being so busy being flustered, barely even noticed that at some point the bigger nin had whisked the pole he was using away from him until the casual twirl the adult gave it brought the end of the piece of wood startlingly close to the small kittom’s nose. “Hey, watch it! Don’t just come over to tease me and then try to knock me face first in the water!” Honestly he just wanted to get away from this oddball and get started back towards the port. 

The older nin chuckled. “You are right, maybe I shouldn’t give you too much of a hard time.” Turning, a pale green paw reached out and patted Momo on the head. “The name is Misha for when you thank me later.” With that and a flourish this ‘Misha’ stuck the end of the pole into the tangle of brush and leaned on it with his larger weight. A crack echoed then the soft rush of water starting to move again as the broken up tangle washed free. “There you go, not so hard if you…” Momo cut him off, ripping the pole from the elder’s paws.       

“Thanks would only be in order if you hadn’t clearly been wasting my time. Why not help from the beginning if it was that easy for you?” Not waiting for an answer he turned, snatched up his bag, and left without passing another glance at his visitor. He just wanted to get back to his boat and to the next town for a much, much needed bath at this point.