Submission (#330) Approved

Hark had decided that they would ride the Ahza River all the way down from Weldwick to Devara. It was definitely more preferrable this way, as opposed to traveling through the stormlands and through the desert that took up half of the region. The passage was on a small fishernin ship so Hark had to pull their weight for the ride. However, no one expected a kittom to do much but they did request help from time to time with some of the more menial tasks such as moping the deck.

Amber eyes looked across the deck of the ship as they splashed the mop around in the bucket and began to swing the mop back and forth across the deck. They were using quite a bit of water that their shoal tail started to get wet, becoming weighed down by the water that was soaking into the fur. Before they knew it, their tail was practically dragging on the floor.

Hark didn't notice though. Hark was busy looking across the river's glimmering surface and to the sparkling sand in the distance. It was an interesting view, watching the world pass by from the ship. They were passing by small river villages and Hark could see the glimmer of Oasis towns in the distance, deep within the dunes of sand that enveloped the world of southern Ahza. Hark wondered if they would be able to see many skeletons from this distance, and hoped at the very least that they would be able to spot some interesting cactus or succulents near the river's edge.

With the sun beating down, the deck was drying quite fast. It was definitely a good thing considering that Hark had basically drowned it in the water from their bucket, along with everything else around them. Their tail hung lower than normal, and their paws were soaked. Various pomu from the ship ran around, carrying various things back and forth as they assisted their elnin partners. It was a common sight on the ship but it was something strange that had happened immediately after that which caught Hark's eye this time.

In the corner of the ship, a cactus had appeared out of nowhere where a pomu had just been. It was tall, green, spikey with a flower growing out of the top, and most notably, an oval-shaped white mask with obviously pomu features on it. Hark had sworn that this was a pomu! They would have bet everything they owned (sure, that wasn't a lot) on this fact. No one else seemed to notice but Hark couldn't move past it. There definitely wasn't a cactus here when they were moping the deck, and they could have sworn a pomu had just run by here with a...

Hark's eyes fell to the feet of the cactus where a bundle of rope was coiled up. This was it! This was the rope that the pomu had been carrying! This was all the proof that the kittom had needed and their eyes began to survey the surrounding area with concern. Sure, it was possible that the pomu had just materialized back into their elnin's shadow but was a faraway thought for Hark. Even if they had only caught a glimpse of it happen out of the corner of their eye, they were certain now. Confused and unsure, Hark just began to freak out.

No one knew what to do with the screaming kittom who was hysterically claiming that the cactus was a pomu.

"Oh, the poor dear has heat exhaustion. Let's get them inside."

They ushered Hark below deck. The last thing Hark could see as they were being guided down the stairs below deck was the pomu-cactus being backlit by the sun, with the sparkling sand dunes and the glistening water in the background. It looked like the cactus was sparkling, trying to tell the world that it was here. Why did no one believe them? Below deck, all Hark could only think about one thing:

It was hard being a kittom.