The stifling air of the miasma had finally lifted from the region, and with it, the world seemed to liven. The hot air that dampened the desert seemed to be clearer than ever, the sand shimmered like stars in the sky, and the water of the river seemed to sparkle like a freshwater stream in Faerindell.
The grey and white kittom named Hark stood tall on their hind legs at the riverside village, puffing their shoulders back and taking in a deep breath. Surrounding the kittom were busy elnin preparing for a productive season of fishing and glass making, and amber eyes followed the adult elnin around curiously. As a kittom, no one expected Hark to do too much but they did encourage them when they expressed interest.
Hark was focused on the elnin heading toward the river with their nets, barrels, and boats. There was a dock that many of the elnin seemed to be gathering around but Hark decided to go further down the river. Their paws made an easily trackable path in the sand as they followed the river down the bends of the sand dunes.
Hark couldn't have been more than ten minutes away from the village proper when they stopped by a distinguishable grouping of cactus. They hung their little backpack over the edge of one of the cactus limbs, accidentally stabbing their paw with some of the needles.
"Youch!" Hark whimpered, immediately withdrawing their paw inward toward their chest.
Amber eyes narrowed at the cactus as if it had intentionally attacked them before turning back to the river with a bright gleam in their eyes. Digging their feet into the sand, Hark moved to the water's edge. Contemplation and planning ran across their thoughts as they stared at the sparkling edge of the water.
This was a good spot!
Hark turned around and carefully removed a fishing rod from inside of the backpack, keeping sharp amber eyes on the cactus as if it were plotting to attack them again. It was a simple fishing rod but it should be sufficient, right? They moved happily over to the water's edge and sat down on a nearby rock. Casting the fishing rod out into the river, Hark sat down and waited.
It shouldn't take long, right?
That was what Hark thought but it didn't prove to be so easy. Time ticked by and Hark found themselves yawning. Why wasn't anything biting? Hark moved their arms back and forth, trying to entice a fish to bite their line but nothing happened.
"Where are all the fish?" Hark questioned, their eyes looking back toward the village where everyone was gathering. Maybe the fish were all over there? Hark found themselves believing that but it didn't make any logical sense.
Hark must have sat there for an hour before pulling the line back with disappointment. What were they doing wrong? The kittom didn't know. They had a fishing rod, that's all they needed right? Somewhere the adult fishernin were chuckling at the cute confusion the kittom had about fishing but Hark found themselves packing their fishing road back into their backpack and carefully removing it from the cactus.
With a bit of a forlorn sigh, Hark kicked their paws in the water. Catching their attention in the water, a glimmering stone sparkled. Leaning down, Hark scooped up the rock with interest. Well, at least this wasn't a complete waste of time! Pocketing the rock, Hark started heading back to the village.
Argh.
It wasn't the most satisfying walk back. Their wet paws had caused all of the sand to uncomfortably stick to their fur! Maybe when they got back to the village, the fishernin could tell them if fish just never swam over to this spot... or what went wrong!
