Submission (#3525) Approved

It's quite the sight to see mountains covered in leaves and foliage, compared to the ones in snowier regions like Strynhalde. But it's very eye opening to see a region be both sibling and stranger. Frozen lakes are replaced with vivid, lively ponds, frozen falls replaced by flowing, bubbling rivers and streams. But quite promiently, the leaves blaze red like fire and glow like the sun. The varied types of bark carry the imagination away, and provide a scenic landscape that can be relaxing to take in after a long journey--or at the start of another.

Perhaps the most beautiful sight comes when the sun peeks over the edges of the trees, either at sunrise or the much more romantic sunset, where the rays of the sun bounce across the canopy and bathe the forest floor or the villages amongst the trees in an ethereal golden light. While it is very easy to imagine oneself in another world when this happen, the faint crunch of leaves and the smell of the fresh earth around is more than enough to ground the average leaf-watcher to a very beautiful reality.

Some of the best spots for watching such glowing sights are from the cliffs and montaintops overlooking the forests, or perhaps--if one is daring enough--the rooftops of some of the buldings scattered about town. Small kittoms sometimes collect acorns for crafts or for roasting and munching on, much to the annoyance of Adults who find them scattered about, abandoned the next day.

But the favorite of many elnin, and perhaps Mizuki (a Strynhalde native) in particular would happen to be how quiet the forests become at night. The blazing orange of the daylight slowly vanishes, and is replaced by the dark swaying shapes overlooking all at night. Though they swallow up the sky and stars, they make up for it by whispering swaying songs in the wind and making a lullaby one would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in Eyre. Second best to falling asleep under a sky of stars, is falling asleep in a cushy bed of formerly-glowing leaves in a lush forest, surrounded by a gentle breeze.