Submission (#6296) Approved

Regional Affinity: Palu'au Islands
Elnin: https://worldofeyre.com/character/ELN2964

I apologize, it's been a while since I've submitted a prompt. I've tried to add the AP and extra EC to double check that I qualify for the extra currency per the prompt rules. (1AP for describing the area, 1EC for having them interact with their Pomu and 2EC for word count.)
If there is a different way I can submit them in the future, please let me know. Thanks and Happy Holidays!

“NO, I’m.. not sure how to get it. But, why wouldn’t I be ok to just go in and get it?” Cecilia tilted her head, eyeing her Pomu curiously. Her eyes rolled, and she continued forward, ignoring the disapproving look her Pomu gave her. “That’s what I’ve heard other people do.. There’s so many beaches, so many… fish.” She lifted her chin in a quick gesture to the sea. The sand slid into soft mounds under their small paws, and Ceci’s ears shifted, catching some of the voices of other kittoms and elnin nearby. Slow, heavy waves pushed against the shores of endless sand, and the sunbeams peeked through the tall palm trees around them. They were headed to a nearby beach, one Cecilia heard she could go fishing at. She heard this was a popular spot for it. There were some areas with ruins, but she would come by another time to explore that. Today she had a specific goal. 

 

Cecilia stopped, feeling her Pomu’s small hands push against the soft tufts of fur on her chest. Her gaze met the small creatures’, eyelids lowering in a gentle glare. “Swimming can’t be that hard,” which was met by the small face enveloped in black tufts showing more frustration than before. High-pitched chitters escaped it as its little hands moved to grab the ribbon wrapped around Cecilia’s neck, and began to physically tug her in a specific direction. Despite her protests, the Pomu’s head moved left and right, before catching a kittom with a spotted white coat bounding along the sand, coming back in from the shore. It then picked up the pace, leaving Cecilia entirely confused as to how such a small creature with even stumpier legs could move so quickly. 

 

A moment later, she found herself face to face with a sopping wet kittom. They had sand sticking to their strikingly dark gray feet. The dark almost made the spotted white coat glow with the sun against it. The spots along their coat and ears were pink and purple, almost like round seashells scattered along the beach. They smiled, amused at how Cecilia seemed confused as to what happened so quickly. Her Pomu nudged her with a grin, before smiling up at the other kittom, gesturing their little hands towards Cecilia.

“Uhm.. Hi. Do you need something?” The kittom asked, small fangs glimmering.

“N-,” Cecilia wanted to protest, but only had her Pomu immediately retaliating, feeling a soft bap against her leg. With a deep sigh, she relented, meeting the kittom’s gaze once more. “... Yes. I don’t think it’s that hard, genuinely, but I’ve never been swimming and I want to catch a fish for a personal ‘harvest’.” Her eyes drifted away for a moment, then shifted to meet the strangers again.

The kittom’s grin spread wide, and she bounced herself up in the air, fur flopping and tail wagging in joy. “Yeah! You picked the right kit. C’mon!” And with a splash of sand, she ran towards the water. 

 

Cecilia hadn’t noticed amidst the talking, her Pomu had untied her ribbon, and was disappearing back into her shadow with a wide grin on their face. She would definitely scold them later. And maybe share some fish with them. 

 

They talked for a while, the kittom who she now knew as Sarissa, patient but very encouraging at helping Cecilia adjust to the water. They spent a better part of the day practicing with Cecilia learning the basics, paddling with her head above water and balancing the weight of her fur and tail to move around, and adjusting to the pull of the waves. She caught Sarissa looking back to who she assumed was her family occasionally, but was grateful for her offering such assistance in Sarissa taking the time out of her day to help her learn a new useful skill. It was much more difficult than she originally had thought. 

 

The sun had begun to lower in the sky when Sarissa wanted to test Cecilia’s confidence in catching her own fish. Some in the water were definitely quite fast, and she knew she wasn’t there just yet, but some hanging around in the reefs might be a bit easier. 

One finally caught Cecilia’s eyes, a deep blue and purple slender aquatic creature. She wiggled her body, careful not to push too hard and shift the water per Sarissa’s instructions, and tried to keep an eye on her surroundings. However, focusing so intently on her prey, she hadn’t noticed a portion of rock near her and accidentally bumped her shoulder into it. A soft grunt escaped her - enough to startle it. She quickly swam forward, opening her small jaw and trying to clamp onto it several times before succeeding. Its small body wiggled in protest, trying to escape its capture, but Cecilia held tight. Trying to get it out of its natural habitat, her and Sarissa quickly swam to shore before Cecilia’s jaw laxed, her tongue pushing the salty mass out of her mouth. 

 

Sarissa couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought the same too. You did it though! You caught your first fish!” Her paws trotted around Cecilia in pride, glad she had helped her new friend. 

Cecilia, in between panted breaths, turned to Sarissa and asked,”..Great. Now how do we cook it?”
Sarissa was two steps ahead of her. 

 

Sarissa’s Mother soon approached Cecilia, congratulating her on her catch. With a gentle voice and soft guidance, she offered Cecilia to come cook it in their hut and have a little harvest with Sarissa and her family. Much to Cecilia’s reluctance, and with a bit of happy prodding from her Pomu, she agreed. Her jaw clenched the still flapping fish once more, and they all strode up to Sarissa’s home. 

 

It didn’t take long for Cecilia to catch on to cooking the fish similar to how easily she picked up swimming and catching her own fish. She had to admit, it was quite small compared to the large Elnin, but was fine knowing it was just for her to eat and was a perfect portion size. The warm smell of seasoned fish filled the home, as well as various local fruits as an aside to the personal dish. 

Once they all had sat down, it seemed they all had their own catch from earlier that day - maybe even from that morning. She would never admit or even let a hint of joy show on her face, but was happy. Not only had she learned multiple new skills, she had spent fun time with kind strangers and was happy she got to connect with others rather than figure it all out herself. Sarissa’s siblings laughed, teasing Cecilia for the size of her catch, but both of the girls eyed each other happily, overjoyed at what had been accomplished that day.