Submission (#5571) Approved

Li stood on the bridge and looked down towards the water. Despite being high up within the trees that made up the cities of Ealei, Li’s view wasn’t impacted by low branches or tree leaves. From this position on one of the many bridges that connected the tree cities together in the region, the kittom could clearly see the ocean below. It’d prove a little difficult if they wanted to see an airship fly in, but Li was content with seeing any airship’s reflection in the water before the ship lowered into the waters like a regular ship. All the airships had to do was be careful of any rocks poking out of Ealei’s waters, a danger that was practically unheard of while flying through the sky.

Now that it was summer and there was no miasma to worry about, traffic going to and from Ealei was almost nonstop. When one ship left, another took its place on the docks. That meant that many different elnin were making their way to and from Ealei as well. Li had been here for several months and had grown used to seeing a new face every day, wondering if they would ever see that elnin again. It was easier for the kittom to stand on a skybridge like this one and watch others from afar go about their business. It was rare that anyone had a need to come up this high, so it wasn’t rare for anyone to join Li on this particular bridge.

The only company Li expected was the company of their pomu. Li looked away from the ocean and watched as something began to emerge from their shadow. Their feathery black Pomu pulled itself out of the kittom’s shadow and looked around before making their way over to Li. When in shadow, it was hard to tell where the shadows ended and the pomu’s black feathers began, but now that they were out of the shadow it was easy to see the outline of their black feathers that could be mistaken for fur, rather than fluffy feathers.

Right as Li was about to open their mouth to greet the pomu, something caught their attention. The kittom’s ears perked up and twitched, taking in what sounded like music. Was someone playing music nearby? This high up? It wasn’t impossible but hard to believe. Li turned away from the pomu and looked back down towards the water and docks. From what they could tell, it wasn’t as if the music was terribly loud. The gentle sea wind was carrying the tune from its source to bring it up to where Li was standing. The music was gentle and nice on the ears, but from where they were standing Li couldn’t figure out where the music was coming from, or what instrument it was. They were torn between going down to see where the music was coming from and staying on the bridge away from the hustle and bustle of the docks below. Eventually curiosity got the best of Li, and with their pomu by their side the kittom moved away from the bridge’s railing and began making their way down towards the docks.

The closer Li got to sea level, the more mangroves they saw. Most of the tree roots were thin and barely capable of holding up the weight of an insect. However, there were some tree roots that were as thick as a ship ( or so Li assumed ) and could easily hold the weight of a kittom. Halfway down, Li moved off of a set of wooden stairs that led away from the tree cities above and began climbing down a thick sturdy tree root. Once they were at the docks, the kittom hopped off the tree root and landed on a wooden dock with their feet. The music was noticeably loud now, and it didn’t take Li long to find the source of the music.

Nearby was an elnin playing a guitar. Half of the elnin’s body was light brown, while the other half was a darker shade of brown. Tied around his neck was a dark purple bandana with a pattern of bright yellow stars. Li had seen this elnin around Ealei before and picked up that his name was Arlo. Arlo was standing at the edge of the dock, playing his guitar to no one in particular. Was he greeting those who were arriving in Ealei is music? Or was he bidding those leaving Ealei with one final tune to remember the region by? It was hard to tell, as not many elnin seemed to pay Arlo or his music any mind.

After making sure their pomu was still close by and hadn’t wandered off to try and catch a fish on their own again, Li weaved through the other elnin on the dock to get closer to Arlo. Li arrived by Arlo’s side right as the current song finished. Arlo noticed the kittom now staring up at him and smiled softly.

“Hey there, kiddo. Any requests?”

Li shook their head. “No, sir. Any song is fine with me.”

Arlo’s smile grew brighter. Arlo and Li eventually made their way to the side of the docks and sat down. The two of them stayed there for a while, Arlo strumming away on his guitar and Li listened quietly with their pomu in their lap. Li eventually discovered why Arlo had decided to play the guitar here of all places - he had been waiting for someone. A ship came rolling onto the docks, bringing Arlo’s friend to Ealei. When Arlo looked up and saw his friend step off the ship, he turned to Li and smiled apologetically.

“Sorry, gotta go. If we run into each other again I’ll play you some more songs. How’s that sound?”

Li smiled softly and nodded their head. As Arlo got up and headed over to the ship and his friend, Li leaned back a little and looked up at the sky in thought. Maybe they would learn how to play an instrument sometime. If they did, they could return the favor and play Arlo a song. Until then, it was time to head back up to the tree cities above before it got dark out.