Submission (#6125) Approved

Submitted

15 October 2023, 14:44:50 PDT (1 year ago)

Processed

18 October 2023, 13:51:57 PDT (1 year ago) by tatter

Comments

Word count: 1,468
Bonus EC: Include a pomu
AP: Silveil
Elnin AP is for: Larkspur (https://worldofeyre.com/character/ELN2237)
Other elnin: Saoirse (https://worldofeyre.com/character/ELN2107)
Kai (https://worldofeyre.com/character/ELN1972) and his pomu
Zinnia (https://worldofeyre.com/character/ELN1970)
Donaar (https://worldofeyre.com/character/ELN1637)
mentions Nolatari (https://worldofeyre.com/character/MYO-ELN247)

Content

It was spooky season in Silveil and already the festivities were well underway. The Morningstar family was gathered around a campfire toasting marshmallows as was tradition, the quintet of siblings laughing and chatting between themselves as their mother went off in search of more treats and trinkets for the kittoms. The ever-dark midnight sky filled with stars sparkled through overhanging branches of the oak trees that surrounded the small clearing. Embers flew into the air with each crackle and pop of the campfire, quickly dissipating harmlessly.

One kittom giggled and pushed another before leaning against them annoyingly, white fur contrasting against darker navy blue. "Betcha can't think of a spooky story that we haven't already heard of." Larkspur tweaked Zinnia's ear once before pulling off her sibling. "With Donaar here, we have pretty much heard every story there is to know."

Zinnia wrinkled her nose at her lighter sibling before waving a half-eaten marshmallow towards the group. "You are probably right on that which is why I'm gonna issue a challenge instead." Pausing for dramatic effect the leopard-speckled kittom stared at the rest of the quintet until she had all of their attentions. "Lets play Puzzle Storytime!"

"Oooh we haven't played that in a while, the last time Kai's pomu fell into a paint pot and was blue for a week!" Saoirse giggled and nudged Kai in the ribs playfully. "Where is he anyways, we wouldn't want him falling into the fire!"

Kai blinked at Saoirse slowly before raising his arm to reveal the small white pomu who was sitting next to him on a branch. It had been a startling discovery when his had popped out of his shadow white instead of black but he quietly kind of liked having something unique about hisself, especially as the other siblings all seemed to have their own special talent they could fall back onto. "I do hope nothing happens to him this time, as long as no one decides to toss him into the air this time." Kai eyed the fifth member of the group who until now had been silently toasting marshmallows, only partially paying attention to the rest of the siblings, his nose currently stuck in a book.

"Hmmm...?" Donaar looked up as he realized all eyes were on him. "Oh yes, no throwing pomu, got it." After realizing he would have to participate too he groaned to himself and put down the book, carefully tucking the book mark in the pages with one hand, keeping the now bubbling marshmallow away from it with care. "Not my fault everyone got so excitable about pirates. I don't even know how that blue paint-pot got there; opened no less...."

Having the decency to look a little chagrined for a moment, Zinnia barreled on with their idea. "Ok, I'll start and then we can go around in a circle until what? Five rounds?" After looking for nods from all present the navy kittom gathered a handful of glowing mushrooms from the grasses that surrounded the dirt around the firepit and handed each sibling five luminescent shrooms. "We can use these as penalty points. If you can't think of anything you gotta smash one into your face or something." Unlike the bioluminescent mushrooms harvested from the trunks around them, Zinnia knew these mushrooms would lose their potency by the night's end which made it the perfect marker.

"No 'dark and stormy nights' allowed!" Lark interjected before Zinnia could start. She knew that was her sibling's favorite way to start almost any story.

Zinnia rolled their eyes dramatically and huffed "Fine, it was a clear and sunny day but there was mist on the horizon aaaand..."

"A foul wind brewing." Lark picked up the thread and continued setting the scene. "The Squallchaser, captained by the voracious Captain..."

"Ferocious Captain Softpaw." Corrected Donaar who was next in line. "Who was named such because they ruled their ship with a soft paw but a..."

"Big stick!" chimed in Saoirse, catching onto where this story was going. "Well, she was on the prow of the ship, her ship that is, The Squallchaser, observing the mist and shaking her head knowing it would make returning home difficult. But this is not a story about this journey but instead it's about..."

Kai glanced around all of them before scrunching up his nose in thought. The pale white pomu had abandoned its perch on the mushrooms growing near him and had now climbed onto his lap. He patted it on the head as the cogs turned in his mind. "It's not about this journey but the events that happened after; After the Squallchaser had slipped into the dark depths of the ocean." His quiet voice managed to make his part of the story even spookier and the other kittoms felt a delicious shiver run up and down their spines.

It was back around to Zinnia who had put aside their half-eaten marshmallow and crouched down in their seat. "See, many sailors told of mysterious sights when the fog was rising, thick fog that you could cut with a knife. The kittom picked up a curved branch from the small wood pile and smashed one of the glowing mushrooms, making it glow in the deepening Silvelian night.

"One story was how a ghostly, glowing ship would come aground, seemingly smashing up against the rocks and causing the local Lighthouse keeper to scramble to the warning light to make sure it was still burning." Larkspur stood up and moved to the lanterns that surrounded the quintet, turning them away one by one so they illuminated the dark forest. This caused the luminescent foliage to glow ever-mysteriously around them, adding to the spooky vibe of the story.

"Another was how sailors would see a distress beacon in the rolling fog but when they arrived to come to the beacon's aid there would be nothing there to save..." Donaar took his cue from Kai and kept his voice low, getting into the vibes.

"Only to find themselves now lost and stranded within the fog, unable to tell which was starbird and which was port." Saorise added to the hidden wincing of Donaar who wisely stayed quiet.

Kai took the thread and continued, "Many ships were lost that way which just added to the mystery of what the Squallchaser wanted that kept it within the mortal realm; what Captain Softpaw might have never achieved in life and now sought to achieve from beyond their watery grave."

Raising the makeshift glowing ship into the air Zinnia reenacted their plot as they spoke it, "The ghost ship, Squallfearer, which is what everyone called it now, was searched for within the ocean depths since stories of treasure onboard had added to the many stories. One particularly clear night, just before the dawn, A ship was on their way home when..."

"It was suddenly beset by a fog that rose up with no warning. Alarms were sounded upon the deck as all hands were called out to prepare the ship for the worst." Donaar paused to draw out the spooky factor but was interrupted by Saoirse.

"The Squallchaser swept up beside them, like a glowing creature creeping out of its lair!" Her voice sounded unnaturally loud compared to the others which made them all jump with the intensity of the moment. She dropped her voice low to match the others and continued, "It creaked and groaned within the fog, a low muffled bell sounding in the distance. The captain of this new ship realizes that they were in the path of the Squallchaser and was about to be hit and frantically starts shouting orders as the glowing ghost ship gets closer and closer..."

"What is this? Why are all the lanterns facing outwards, you can attract wild beasts that way kittoms!" A clear loud voice broke through the clearing causing all the kittoms to shriek and look around before seeing their mother there, paw shrouding their eyes from the lanterns, looking oddly illuminated by the lantern light in contrast to the night-filled forest behind them.

Lark spoke up, "We were playing Puzzle Storytime about Captain Softpaw and the Squallchaser." She seemed to be the first to recover from the small fright.

"Ahh well, lets turn these lanterns back around. I have dessert, and then you can continue afterwards." Nolatari smiled fondly at the quintet before her, "Goodness knows how wired you all get when playing. I hope Kai's pomu is safe this time..."

All the kittoms looked towards the small sleeping form of Kai's pomu on his lap and all started laughing in merriment, laughing to dispel the last of the shock from their startle. There was nothing like a good scare, but only when surrounded by friends and family, of which the quintet had in spades.

Rewards

Reward	Amount
Elecite Coins	9

Characters

ELN1637: 💎 Donaar

Reward	Amount

MYO-ELN247: 💎 Nolatari ✩

Reward	Amount

ELN1970: 💎 Zinnia ✩

Reward	Amount

ELN1972: 💎 Kaidawyn ✩

Reward	Amount

ELN2107: 💎 Saoirse ✩

Reward	Amount

ELN2237: 💎 Larkspur ✩

Reward	Amount
AP (Silveil) (Currencies)	1

Add-Ons

These items have been removed from the submitter's inventory and will be refunded if the request is rejected or consumed if it is approved.

Item	Source	Notes	Quantity

Malis's Bank

Currency	Quantity