Submission (#4296) Approved

[RQ-C-1] My Little Pomu

Quest: Resonance - Act 1
Act Type: Character
Word Count: 959 words
Adult Elnin Present: Reverie [ELN1048]
Regional Affinity: Ealei
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Azalea [ELN2369]
[Adventurer] Rank Unlock Mini-Requirement: n/a

“Hey, wait up!”

Azalea huffed, doing her best to climb over an impossibly large chunk of mangrove root. It seemed the closer that they got to Yggdrasil, the bigger the roots seemed to get. She supposed she should be thankful she hadn’t inherited the munchkin gene from her mother or else this would be an even more arduous task, but her mother was also capable of flight, so…

After scrambling over a few more roots, she decided she needed a break, sprawling on the ground as she tried to catch her breath.

“Aww, don’t tell me you’re tuckered out already?”

The white-ish pink kittom looked up with a frown. A pair of rainbow eyes looked down at her with a teasing smile.

“Easy for you to say! You’re an adult and have longer legs than me!”

Admittedly, it was probably a little petty to be comparing age, but cut her some slack! Reverie had already spent quite some time in Ealei visiting family, meaning she was already familiar with the terrain and such. Meanwhile, it was only Azalea’s first week here, and her first day setting off towards the elder tree. Her first few days were spent in Nalnalo, which she had to admit took some time getting used to at first. While Reverie wasn’t negligent, she also wasn’t the type to constantly hover over you, which Azalea had appreciated. She answered Azalea’s inquiries whenever she had any, and if she saw her struggle with something, would offer to help, but not push it should Azalea refuse. 

So when she arrived at the capital and had complete strangers fawn over her and constantly inquired about her needs and wants, it was a little overwhelming. Perhaps that was just how the locals were, always eager to greet newcomers. While Azalea didn’t really interact with the other races aside from elnins, it seemed that the Ieldi were a lot more friendly than the Sylvans in Faerindell. The Sylvans weren’t rude per say, but they certainly preferred to keep to themselves.

Still, Azalea herself had chosen to come here. When she heard Reverie had returned and planned to set out to Ealei again for work, Azalea asked if she could come with. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to run the shop herself (the regulars were fairly pleasant), but if she spent her whole life in Faerindell, she’d never get to know just how vast the world was, and she’d take any opportunity she could get to learn about the different flora from other regions. It was pretty much a must, if she wanted to pursue her passion of being a florist one day.

That said, she hadn’t quite expected to be going right towards Yggdrasil in order to obtain some mana blossoms for studying. Couldn’t they have just gathered some by the docks? How she’d much rather be on solid ground, feeling the cool sea breeze through her fur, scanning the vivid blue horizon of the shimmering sea as thick white clouds floated by lazily. She knew they weren’t here for a vacation, but it couldn’t hurt to find some downtime while away? They did temporarily close the shop to account for their journey here, so who’s to say one couldn’t work while also taking in the sights?

Perhaps her expression betrayed her thoughts, or perhaps she was just that easy to read, but Reverie couldn’t help but laugh as she felt a pat on her head.

“Ok, if we manage to finish what we came here to do ahead of schedule, we can head down to the docks and spend some time there. Sounds good?”

Azalea perked up a little, and got to her feet.

“Alright, it’s a deal!”

Reverie smiled, and turned around.

“I’ll wait for you by the base of the tree. Don’t take too long!”

With that said, she went on her way, as Azalea dusted herself off. She adjusted the bag around her shoulder, wondering if it’d be big enough to carry everything back. They wouldn’t be picking up TOO much, would they?

While she spent time musing, she hadn’t noticed that her shadow seemed to be twitching. A pair of furry ears poked out with a small twitch, and then a claw. The kittom likely wouldn’t have noticed at all until she felt something tap against her leg, with a chipper “POMU!” breaking the silence!

Azalea jumped up with a shriek, whirling around to come face to face with a pair of beady eyes. They blinked with curiosity at her, and let out another cheerful “POMU!”

“Wait… you… are you… my pomu?”

“POMU!”

The pomu lifted its arms, and Azalea sat down, reaching out with her paws to pick it up. Fluffy…

She never quite knew how and when one would be introduced to their pomu. Was there a trigger for it? Did they just know when to come out?

Azalea gasped as she remembered something she had been told. Pomus were able to store items in their shadow, right? Could it have appeared because Azalea was worried about her bag space?

While she pondered about it further, she hadn’t noticed that Reverie had turned back, wondering what was keeping her.

“Oh! I was wondering what was taking you so long, but it looks like a new friend has decided to join us, hmm?”

Azalea turned and nodded at Reverie.

“Do you have a name for them yet?”

Hmm…..

Well, they had purple anima and markings like her, so maybe a purple type of flower? Or maybe-

The pomu began to wiggle, startling Azalea into dropping them. They phased into the shadow, and a moment later, popped out while holding a large white flower.

“POMU!”

Azalea blinked, and then laughed.

“... Lily. Their name is Lily.”