Submission (#5755) Approved

Word count: 948

Kittom 1: https://worldofeyre.com/character/MYO-ELN546
Kittom 2: https://worldofeyre.com/character/MYO-ELN581
Region: Strynhalde ( 1AP )
Payout: 6 EC + 2 EC ( over 900 words ) = 8EC

The snow was unbelievably cold underneath Li’s paws.

Having spent most of their life in Ealei, Strynhalde was practically the complete opposite of what the kittom was used to. Here, away from Ealei, there was actual solid ground underneath the thick layer of snow that covered a majority of their surroundings. Even now, as Li stepped off the airship that carried them from Ealei to this new region, there was snow falling from the sky. Each snowflake was small, unique, and disappeared into the blanket of snow when they touched the ground.

Li was starting to have second thoughts about this whole adventure. The kittom knew that they would have to leave Ealei eventually, the wanderlust that swelling in their mind and chest having grown stronger each day, but perhaps they would have picked somewhere with more mild weather. 

They hadn’t decided to pack up and head to Strynhalde with no particular reason in mind, though. Fads in Eyre came and went, but this current fad of creating sculptures had caught Li’s attention. In the land of ice and snow, what better place to go look at sculptures than Strynhalde? In a single day the kittom had packed all their belongings and made their way onto an airship, not looking back at Ealei when they departed. The only way to go was forward.

That applied here as well. Li needed to step forward and keep moving. If they stay still for too long, surely frostbite would start nibbling at their toes. Li took in a deep breath and stepped further and further out into the snow, allowing themself to get swept away with the crowd of elnin that had also made their way off the airship with them.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to reach the nearby town. Li quickly darted into the nearest inn and warmed their cold body next to the roaring fire in the fireplace. As they took a moment to thaw out and plan their next course of action, Li listened to the other elnin around them talk. There was plenty of sculpting and craft-making going on outside not too far from here. Apparently a popular place for kittoms to go and practice their skill was a clearing surrounded by large pine trees. Once Li was warmed up enough, they slung their bag over their shoulder and headed back out into the cold.

It was a little difficult for them to navigate the area at first. The large snow covered trees, along with the glistening white snow, made it difficult to tell where they had been and where they needed to go. Eventually the kittom was pointed in the right direction by an older elnin, and in a short amount of time Li found the clearing.

There were several kittom working on snow sculptures. Where there already wasn’t a partially created snow sculpture and a kittom standing, there were completed sculptures. Some of them were pretty impressive, while some of them were simply mounds of snow with sticks and leaves sticking out of them. Li cautiously stepped into the clearing to get a closer look at the sculptures. Before they got too far, they heard a voice nearby speak up.
“Hey, you! Could you help me?”

Li looked around and saw a brown kittom with rounded ears looking at them. The other kittom’s paws were holding up a large mound of snow, using all their strength to keep the snow from falling on top of him. Li quickly rushed over and moved their paws up to try and push the snow back, but it was futile. The tall unbalanced mound of snow came toppling down onto Li and the brown kittom.

Once the two managed to pull themselves out fo the snow, the unfamiliar ktitom flashed a sheepish smile.

“Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. Are you alright? What were you trying to make?”
“I’m okay too! I was trying to build a tall snow elnin, but I guess I made it too tall. My name’s Bear. Are you here to build something?”
“My name’s Li, and I just came here to look around. But maybe we can build your snow elnin together? Four paws are better than two!”
Bear flashed a bright smile. “That sounds awesome. Let’s get to work!”

The two kittom quickly learned that building an entire snow elnin would be both challenging and time consuming. After talking it over, Le and Bear settled on making a snow kittom instead. Li helped form the pain body out of snow, while Bear gathered some rocks and twigs before working on the finer details. Li gave the kittom sculpture a fluffy warren tail and small rounded ears, just like Bear. In return, Bear placed rocks of different shades of gray and black on the snow kittom to mimic Li’s spots.

When the snow kittom was completed, Li and Bear took a step back to admire their hard work. Were the two of them master artists? Hardly. If asked, any other kittom or elnin would have a hard time determining what their sculpture was supposed to be. However, Li and Bear were happy with their hard work. The two of them had earned some rest and relaxation. As the two headed back to town to warm up, Bear began to tell Li all the fun things to do and things to see in Strynhalde, and suggested that they could go check out these neat places together soon. In fact, Li can stay at Bear’s place! Li was happy to accept.

Leaving Ealei had been challenging, but now that they were here with a new friend, Li could imagine staying here for awhile.