Submission (#5775) Approved

A little door to crate burst open with a flurry- a scream yowled through the air as the hinges on the old wood begged for their lives. Flitters of petals burst all over the floor in front of a scrunched up Kittom at the back of the room.

"Ash-!!!" The Kittom yelled. "You're going to break the door one day!!"

"More reason for you to move out of this tiny thing..." Ash scrunched up his snout, dropping the bouquet he carried and raked together the scattered petals. "I never said you could sleep in my crate."

"Well, you don't use your crate. It'd be a waste." Tiburon answered.

"... Is it comfortable?"

"Smells like fish." He shrugged.

"Of course it does..." The black-and-white Kittom placed a paw on the old rag he used to sleep on. "But nevermind, the sun is already up and you missed the morning caravan."

"I see. It's late afternoon."

"Y-yeah, but besides that..."

"Sorry. I didn't sleep well last night."

"In this cramped crate? I'm not surprised... Well, then, I got you these." The Kittom sighed, pawing at the flowers.

"Flowers?"

"From Faerindell."

"What am I going to do with these?"

Ash booped Tiburon's snoot in response. "That's not how you say thank you after you forgot our promise to go to the caravan together."

"..." Tiburon pushed off the Kittom's paw. "Thanks."

"These shrouds are hard to preserve in fresh condition so it's impressive they got them here." Ash gave a sigh at Tiburon's response. He expected it.

Tiburon lifted a blossom. "It'd be a waste of a purchase if they're already wilting.."

"Well, yeah, but they told me how we can preserve them." Ash pawed at his shadow a couple times, then his Pomu popped out with a squeak. "Pepper, do you remember what they said?" The Pomu squeaked a couple of times, before diving into the darkness. A couple moments later, it reappeared covered in string. "Wh- nooo did you spill the thread again????"

Tiburon reached over to hook out a loose strand. "Maybe it intended to bring you some."

"On the spool! Not as a spaghetti mess." Ash shook his head as the Pomu tossed out the tangled mess, followed by glass baubles and sticks. They sank into the loose sand. Pepper then crawled out to attempt to untangle the mess.

"What are the baubles for?"

"To hold the flowers in." Ash explained with a nod. "After we weave crafts out of them. If you bend their stems in certain ways, you can preserve the vibrant colors after they dry out. Let's make a sculpture together."

"The flowers here are so strange." Tiburon folded back his ears as he crawled to his feet to exit the crate. He pushed past the fishy Kittom, his tail swishing side to side. He sat down, tugging over a strand of untangled string.

Ash brimmed brightly, rolling the flowers over onto the beach sand outside. "What do you want to make?"

"Dunno."

"Why don't you make me then?"

"You?"

"I can be your model!" The black-and-white Kittom wagged his tail. "I'll make one of you in return if you do."

"... Sure."

Ash laid out the blossoms amongst their feet, before picking out colors. "Now see if you bend the stem here like this, it locks in. And you can hook and loop them in and out together this way." He demonstrated by pulling together the shape of an outline.

"What's the string for then?"

"Extra security and decoration."

The navy-colored Kittom nodded, laying the flowers on top of one another plainly.

"Put a little elbow grease into it!" Ash rolled his eyes, fluffing up his paws.

"Elbows? What are those?" Tiburon frowned, mindlessly rolling around the petals under his paws.

"They're.... Hey, you're squishing them to a pulp!" Ash shot up out of his seat and nudged his friend with his head. "You can't craft anything if you don't try."

Tiburon rocked back with the nudge, unfazed. "I don't really know what I'm doing."

"You could try starting with an outline."

"An outline..." The navy-colored Kittom stared blankly at the materials in his paws. He glanced at Ash, who's energy seemed to be faltering. "And you're asking me to sculpt from just flowers."

"Is... it too hard?" Ash's enthusiastic tone faltered a bit, but he spoke gently with concern.

Tiburon looked up from his flower scraps at him. "No... I just.. I'm not good at this."

"It's okay if it's not perfect. This is my first try too.." Ash pinched a stem.

"Nothing I make really lasts."

Ash gave a soft sigh and smile. "Well, sometimes things just aren't made to last. Even these flowers we'll preserve might crumble to dust one day." Pepper padded up to Tiburon and raised up a bauble.

"That's not really what I mean."

"Yea, I know. Either way, it's the process and the memories that'll last with us our whole lives." The Kittom patted the other's head. "So no matter what you make, I'll be happy because you made it for me."

Tiburon stared back into the gold and silver eyes. They sparkled with optimism.

"I'll make you a blob."

"That's the spirit!" Ash smiled. He resumed to his craft, continuing to build upon the outline of a Kittom. "Does it look like you yet?"

"It's missing my tail." He made a light comment.

"I'm thinking of sculpting that by twisting some stems together."

"Smart idea."

Tiburon watched him while his paw fidgeted with his blossoms. Some things don't last, he thought. But I hope your smile never fades.

Rainbow colored flowers were gently organized to mimic his fur patterns. It was just a bust shot of him, but he thought Ash was doing pretty well for a beginner. Maybe he could do that too. Capture this moment in these sculptures.

The Kittom gently lifted the stems of the Faerindell flowers and began to hook them together, one by one.