Submission (#6329) Approved

It’s Anatoliy’s first time being back in Ealei since he was but a babe. There are only a couple things he remembers from being that young, but out of everything, the fruit has to be the most vivid. Juicy, palatable fruits of all shapes and sizes being grown out of every nook and cranny despite the overly rocky exterior of the landscape.

Even now, clutching at Knife’s paw as they wander through the lower outcropping of orchards, the smells alone are enough to make him frown in remembrance. The ever-flowering saplings hold various clutches of blue, orange, or red seed-filled foods, and Anatoliy can practically feel himself salivating.

Their guide, a local farmer who Knife is apparently familiar with for some such reason, leads them through a rich grove of trees while orating about her family’s wide selection. Knife seems to be particularly interested in the profit margins and upkeep costs since he’s been around last, but Anatoliy lets the conversation flow around him like a river’s stream.

Looking upwards, Anatoliy catches glimpses of other various workers harvesting fruit from the field they’re currently in. It must be a fairly profitable business to have, given how much volume of product seems to be on the property.

Past the orchard is an array of houses built directly onto the cliff face to their right, with wooden bridges connecting them to a larger network of abodes littered throughout the trees. They’re located on the other side of Ealei from the Eldertree, but even so, he can still make out the top portion of Yggdrasil. The sheer size of the Eldertree has always been astounding, and thinking about how all the trees in the orchard are tied down by it is even more so.

“—doing alright?”

Anatoliy shakes himself out of his reverie. He looks at Knife, who’s stopped in the middle of a patch of Manaberry trees.

“Did you want to stop for lunch, Tolechka?” Knife inquires. He’s got a small, pleased smile on his face. “Or did you want to wait until we’re at our lodgings?”

Anatoliy looks at the guide, too, but she just looks vaguely amused and not offended at his lack of attention.

“Feel free to pick a couple fruits; these ones are all ripe and ready to come down, anyways,” she mentions, gesturing at the swathe of trees around them.

Feeling himself giggle, Anatoliy pulls Knife towards the closest Manaberry growth. He’s slightly too short to pluck one directly off the tree, but Knife grabs one down for him indulgently. The Elnin’s face is soft as he watches Anatoliy eat.

“So good,” Anatoliy murmurs, going in for another huge bite. “Reminds me of when I was little.”

“You’re still quite little,” Knife laughs, reaching up and grabbing a fruit for himself.

Anatoliy scrunches his snout. “Little-er. Ugh, you know what I mean.”

They poke fun at each other for a while longer, going back to following the guide towards their lodging. Whenever Anatoliy manages to finish one fruit, Knife rips another one down to deposit in his paws. The freshness of each fruit lingers sweetly at the roof of his mouth, and bits of pulp remain stuck between his teeth. With every new fruit he tries, Anatoliy can’t seem to shake the lingering memories that are rising to the surface.

They’re mostly benign impressions and feelings; nothing too concrete. But there’s one clear image he suddenly can’t get out of his head— a startlingly clear image of who he assumes is his mother and father, leaning over him with small, diced pieces of fruit.

Anatoliy stops moving.

His brain is caught up in the abrupt echo, locked in place as he chews thoughtlessly on a piece of berry. So caught up, in fact, that he doesn’t really register Knife waving their guide on ahead until she’s completely gone, and he finds himself tucked under the older Elnin’s arm.

Anatoliy comes back to himself fully after a minute or so, after committing the image of his parents to memory once more. It’s still nothing more than blurry faces with small micro expressions, but it’s more than he’s had of his parents for as long as he can remember. Shaking his head, Anatoliy peers up at Knife.

“Enjoying the fruit?” Knife asks softly.

“Mhm.” Anatoliy nods his head and nudges his elbow into Knife’s side. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Just let me know if you need anything.”

Anatoliy peels the skin off of the next fruit Knife hands him with deft little claws, reaching up to feed a slice directly to him. The elnin doesn't seem to care much for the fruit, but he indulges Anatoliy by eating a couple. Suddenly, the recollection of his parents’ faces seems far away, and the only thing that truly matters is the present; here, with Knife, in a vast grove of fruit-bearing trees as far as the eye can see.

“Let’s catch up with the guide,” Anatoliy says, ducking out from under Knife’s arm to start running towards the houses. He hears Knife sputter behind him for a moment, then the thwack of his paws as he runs to match Anatoliy’s strides. Colossal roots and haphazard vines run amok on the ground, making for some gnarly tripping hazards, but the two of them are deft on their feet.

“You can’t catch me!” Anatoliy giggles into the wind, eyes catching on the tree city that’s coming more into focus as they get closer.

“I’ll bet you I can!” Knife yells, from much closer than Anatoliy might have thought, and he has all but fifteen seconds before the Elnin catches him around the waist and tosses him into the air. Anatoliy shrieks, but Knife catches him. “And there’s nothing you can do about it!”

The both of them are panting now, tired from the brief run. Knife deposits the kittom back on the ground, dusting off imaginary debris from Anatoliy's hair. 

Then, he ruffles Anatoliy's locks intensely, messing it all up. “Did you want any more fruit before we go in?” He asks, smiling at the enraged squawk Anatoliy lets out.

After a pause, Anatoliy bats Knife's paws away and shakes his head. There’ll be more than enough time later for that. For now, he rearranges his hair, grabs Knife's sticky paw with his own, and drags him over to where their guide is watching the two of them, a warm smile curled on her face.

“Welcome to the Cliffside Inn,” she starts, waving a hand above herself. “Let’s get you two settled in.”

And as they start ascending, Anatoliy lets himself think of his parents one last time before he lets the image flow back out of his mind to make way for new memories.