Submission (#3155) Approved

Raine was super excited for the start of the day his mother was taking him and Sirius out for the day. They were going to meet up with his father Tamsin and his sister Elspeth in Salva. His father had won some tickets to a special mud spa that is located in one of the smaller towns in Enmir. Running down stairs with his bag all packed he comes to a halting stop as Sirius sits in the middle of the hall. Making a face at his foster brother who is covered in mud, “why are you covered in mud?” He asks his brother. “Well I get to be in mud all day so I started early,” his brother says with pride. “MOM,” he shouts at the top of his lungs.

Hearing rushing footsteps he sees his mother Riley round the corner and come into the living area. “What is going on?” she asks frantically. “Sirius is in the house whilst covered in mud,” Raine whines to his mother, tattling on his older brother. Sighing his mother gently rubs her brow, “Raine I told him that mud was ok today.” Raine gasps in disbelief, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. How could his mother allow the mud monster to bring mud into his perfect pristine home? Of course this means he must be as dramatic as possible till his mother caves and makes Sirius go outside.

He sets his bag to the side and stands dramatically, turning his head as he looks at his brother and gags. Riley, seeing her son start his dramatic show, sighs and walks back into the kitchen. Walking several steps back he grabs his chest before falling to his knees and gasping. Sirius just stares at him in that weird way, he has his head tilted and a giant smile on his face, -curse the mud monster.- Dropping further he lays on the ground and sticks out his tongue placing a paw on his chest and starting to play dead. He lays there with Sirius staring at him until his mother comes back and heaves out a giant sigh, “Get up Raine it’s time to head out to meet your father and sister.”

Springing up at the news he quickly picks up his bag and slings it over his shoulder and onto his back. When he turns back he sees that Sirius has left a trail of mud all the way out of the door from where he once sat. Raine looks at his mother with wide eyes, “I’ll clean it up real quick go ahead and head outside love,” she says. Huffing he avoids the mud and heads out the front door onto the porch. As he steps out he takes a deep breath and lets the sun shine on his face for a moment. He slowly walks off the porch avoiding his brother’s muddy footprints as he goes.

Looking around he takes in the scene around him, the bridge over the river that connects their small island to the main area sways on the current. The wind blows through the moss covered trees and bird chirps carry through the air. The dark green mossy trees have small lights coming from them due to fireflies resting in their leaves. Taking a deep breath he inhales the slightly humid air and goes back to surveying his surroundings. Looking past the bridge and into the deep and dark forest he observes the twisted and dark trees further in. Their mossy trunks with the thicker willow like moss hanging from its branches. Raine truly does love their swampy home even if it is all mud most of the time, he looks at his paws and nods at his booties. His father gave them to him so now he can walk around without getting mud on his paws.

Hearing a sound from behind him he turns to look at the door to their house only to see his mother stepping out her favorite embroidered bag slung over her back. “Alright boys it’s time to head out,” Riley says with a smile on her face walking down from the porch. Raine and Sirius flank her as they head over their bridge and out into the marshes and swamps of their home region. Beaming and excited Raine sticks next to his mother making sure not to step into any of the puddles that show up on their well kept trail. It had rained the night before so he wanted to make sure he didn’t get dirty. After all he wanted to look his best to see his father and sister. A true actor never lets a hair be out of place; they must be immaculate.

Walking through the dark woods of Enmir on their way to the capital city of Salva he observes the scenery around him. He sees it everyday but it never ceases to amaze him every time. As always Raine watches the path as well to make sure he doesn’t trip on any of the overgrowth that is spilling out onto the trail. His mother takes great care of it but Enmir is a very wild region with abundant plant growth. Flicking his tail quickly he frowns as his bug repellent doesn’t seem to be working as well as usual. Wait, did he forget to put it on?! “Mom,” he whines, stopping and swatting at some of the bugs. His mother stops and turns to look at him before sighing softly, “Hold on honey I have some repellent in my bag.” While his mother roots around in her bag he feels something hit him in the face he whips around eyes wide. Only to see Sirius sitting there with mud all over his front paws, Raine’s eyes open in horror. Reaching up he touches his cheek and when he pulls his paw back he sees mud, he shrieks. Riley’s head shoots up to look at him only to see him faint from shock. Coming to he hears his mother scolding Sirius and feels her wiping his cheek clean. Sitting up quickly he shocks the both, “MUD DEMON,” he shrieks pointing accusatory at his older brother. Riley hushes him before hugging him and finishing to clean him up, “hon calm down Sirius WILL be apologizing.” She shoots the older Kit an admonishing look. “Sorry. I thought since we were going to a mud spa thing you would be ok today. Besides, mud is a natural bug repellent?” Sirius apologizes. Raine frowns, his brother is right, surprisingly. Curses the mud demon had a point, “I apologize for overreacting,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Alright you're all clean now. Let’s put on that bug repellent and get back on our way,” Riley says softly. Raine nods and lets his mother apply the repellent to his now clean fur. “Sirius please stick next to me and your brother the miasma is still not fully receded,” his mother says to him. Raine gets a slightly smug look on his face now that his brother has gotten into trouble but looks down when his mother frowns at him. It isn’t more than a minute until they once more set off as they must reach Salva by noon to get to the resort before dark.

A few minutes into their renewed trek they pass by the mossy lake that is the halfway point in their hike. Looking at the lake he sees the giant lily pads and the water reeds, as well as all the other water plants. A dragonfly buzzes past his head and lands on one of the water lilies bobbing lightly in the wind. A frog shooting its tongue out to catch a passing fly and a butterfly sailing past leaving a shimmering dust in its wake. The water laps at the mossy rocks and fish splash near the surface several small animals drinking along the edges. A downed tree covered in moss lays partially in the water; several turtles with moss on their shells rest on top. As they get past the lake the trees become slightly thinner allowing beams of light to pass through and create pretty patterns across the trails and lush plant life.

Readjusting his pack as it begins to slip he once again focuses on where he is going and his family. Raine does his best to keep his elder brother in his peripheral vision at all times, worried about more mud flying at him. After a couple minutes he gets a little bored so he starts humming a song his father taught him to pass the time. “Hmm, hm, mmh, hmm,” he hums along. As the half an hour it takes to get to Salva passes he switches through many different songs while Sirius seems to collect different things off of the ground. “What are you collecting,” Raine asks him. Sirius looks up at him, “Stones!” his brother chirps at him in reply. “Why,” he asks in confusion. “I hear the spa puts them on your back to release tension.”

Raine and Sirius both look up at their mother when she giggles, “They do but they have special stones for that.” Both kittoms reply with an Ohhhhh as Sirius pauses to look at the stone in his paw. “I’mma keep them,” he declares and puts it in one of his pockets where he had put the other stones. Frowning at his brother he shakes his head and looks back to the direction they are going. Up ahead the trees part and light comes in, squinting he sees in the distance Salva. “Look,” Raine exclaims, pointing excitedly at the capital city, “Father and Elspeth are that way!” Riley smiles at him and Sirius woots in excitement starting forward at a quick pace. Raine, not wanting to fall behind, hurries after him while their mother shouts at them to be careful.

Raine and his brother break out of the dark woods and onto the main road to Salva squealing in excitement. Riley quickly comes out behind them and picks them up and the two whine as they have lost their freedom. “Boys, [she sighs] I thought I told you to stay close to me?” She admonishes them. Raine whines again, “but mom it’s right thereeee,” he whines again. His mother sighs and shakes her head, “stay next to me and I will put you down.” The boys whine again but agree after a moment. Raine wiggles in place after being set down as his mother puts a harness on Sirius to keep him from running off and getting lost. His brother is far too excitable and gets lost easily in big crowds.

Leading the way into the city Raine holds his head up high after all his father is an amazing artist. Raine trots through the crowds sticking next to his mother and brother swivling his head in search through the crowds in search of his father and sister. They head towards his mother’s favorite cafe that serves some of her favorite teas and cakes. Sitting at one of the terrace tables are his father and sister he squeals in delight and rushes over, his mother sighing behind him. “Dad,” he shouts, jumping into his father’s arms. He hugs him tight before being set down and turning to his sister, “Hi Els,” he greets her with a smile.

His sister smiles at him, “Hi Rai Rai,” she chirps.” The two giggle and spin around with their paws locked. Riley walks over to her love and kisses him on the cheek, “Sorry we’re late Tamsin.” He smiles at her and kisses her forehead all three kits gag. The adults giggle, “come let’s sit down and eat some lunch before we head out,” Riley says softly. Raine and Sirius take seats at the table as Elspeth retakes hers. Riley sits down next to Tamsin and they all order something to eat. Once the food arrives they all eat and talk for half an hour before they are finished and pay their tab.

Getting up from the table Riley sends all of the kids to use the bathroom. Raine being the first one done comes back out and waits at the designated spot. It doesn’t take long for everyone else to join them and the adults to ask if they are ready. A resounding chirping yes from all three kits which gets a smile from the two adults. They all head out. It doesn't take more than ten minutes to break through the crowds and head out of the city.

Raine smiles from ear to ear as they walk along. He is beyond happy to be out with his family on this beautiful day! Heading to a spa for a family weekend trip, a family play date kinda? Anyway that didn’t really matter, all that did was his family was all together and they were gonna spend the weekend together. A weekend with his family being pampered? He couldn’t be happier!

Walking down the road it takes around twenty minutes to reach the trail that will take them to the new spa. Turning off the main road Raine looks into the dark forest that is laden with moss and thick vegetation. As they head deeper into the forest he hears Els and Sirius giggling behind him. He looks over his shoulder at them to see that they are jumping in puddles. At this sight he makes a face and moves away from them so as to not get covered in dirty muddy water. Tamsin pats his head, “It is alright to get dirty every once in a while,” his father says to him. Raine frowns up at his dad watching as his father walks over to his mother and they do nose kisses. He once more makes a gagging face at them.

-Ew, are they gonna do this the whole way,- he laments to himself, also taking a step away from them and going slightly ahead. Walking along the path with his siblings splashing behind him and his parents next to him he can’t help but smile. He once more takes a gander at the swamps and marsh lands around him, the dark forests with overgrown plants and covered in moss. The sounds of wildlife and bugs all around him. Raine truly does love living in Enmir.

“We are here children,” Riley calls to them all. His head shoots forward and the spa sits just ahead, it’s outer walls have beautiful flowering vines crawling up them. “Woah,” he says in awe at the beautiful structure in front of him. In the swamp around them built upon a wooden foundation the building stands proud. Raine looks at his siblings then his parents, “let’s go!” He shouts in excitement. What kind of adventure will this new experience turn out to be?

THE END