Submission (#4013) Approved

Padding along on three paws, the kittom carefully braced an umbrella to his shoulder with the fourth, the gentle taps of snow against its material easily heard at this hour of night. Not that he minded snow, having grown up in Iorumund, but tonight he was on a mission, and he wanted to be sure he could handle this thing properly before he really needed it. Here and there other folk were still out and about, Elnin and a few others as well, and only the knowledge that he only had so much time for this errand kept him from the distraction of outworlders. Time for them later, after all.

Yes, this spot should do nicely.

A few moments spent batting accumulated snow from a stone railing, and a moment fussing at another inquisitive kittom that thought he wanted to play, and then Manadh plunked his haunches down, curling his tail around his toes as he looked up to the sky from under his umbrella. The starfall in the distance was mostly obscured by the cloud cover, just as he’d planned. Now, he just had to wait, and hope.

...there!

Streaks of light like rain, faint and sparse at first, easy to miss against the flurries and the night sky, but definitely there. If it weren’t so overcast they could almost be missed entirely against the backdrop of the yearly Starfall, and even the light snow was making it tricky to pick out until the light struck, leaving a smudge of color where it landed. He’d heard about the last time this had happened, but this was the first time he’d ever seen it for himself. He didn’t even look down as a small pack of kittoms barreled past his perch, squealing and laughing among the snow, instead just fidgeting his paw upon the handle of his umbrella, adjusting it slightly. Not that he was afraid, not like some he’d seen that hid inside and shut the windows when the glowing rain fell. Nervous, certainly. But to truly understand something, you had to observe it carefully.

The first ‘drops’ tapped against his cover, blooming softly into color there on the taut fabric before fading again. More fell to earth around him, glowing faintly in the fallen snow, gleaming against bare stone, until the entire world seemed awash with a haze of gentle color. He waited until a drop landed nearby on his railing, then stretched out a forepaw to bat at it thoughtfully, examining his pads for residue afterwards. Nothing. Hm.

He closed his eyes and drew in a long, slow breath, listening, whiskers spread to the night, ears perked as high as they could reach.

He could almost hear something, distant, soft, like a melody he’d forgotten, or a name he couldn’t quite place.

He wasn’t entirely sure how long he sat like that, in the dark and quiet, his only company the color in the air and the muffled sounds of the city around him. Not long enough to become chilled. At least, not much.

Okay, a little chilled.

Fluffing himself up as much as he could, Manadh hopped back to the cobblestones and began retracing his way home, thoughtful eyes not really seeing the continued gentle rain of light around him. He would have been fascinated to note the way the drops seemed to fall into his shadow, instead of upon it, but too great was his distraction with the thoughts tracing themselves together in his head.

He had a lot to think about, once he got home and got some cocoa. Big ideas for such a young Elnin, with big implications about the world he lived in.

His dreams that night were soft things, awash in color, drifting and deep.