Submission (#7294) Approved

“Shiro?!”

Cinders’ stressed voice echoed through the branches of Yggradsil. “Oh fiddlesticks, where did he run off so quickly-?!” The dark elnin was frantic; a storm was about to hit Ealei, and he didn’t have time for this now-!!
Nico, Mary and Shiro had all spent the morning at the northern half of Ealei; Mary was diving for clams and seashells while Nico and Shiro had collected bird eggs and herbs from the cliff side. Greywind was the one who spotted the incoming storm from the south while he was sun gazing on top of the eldertree. He ran as fast as he could when he saw the storm approaching to warn the others.
Cinder had joined him when the alarms in the village sounded and Nico quickly handed Shiro to him when he arrived before they both went to help Mary, who had gotten himself stuck in fishing nets just outside on the shallow rocks and the waves had gotten more violent and thrown him against the rocks. It wouldn’t take long for him to be completely exhausted and the rising tide made it even more dangerous-

And now - somehow - Shiro had slipped right through Cinders paws the moment he had put the little one down while anxiously watching the rescue mission from above the far away branches.
//This can’t be happening-//, he thought to himself, stressed out of his mind.

This was when Subaru found him by accident. The purple elnin was on patrol to make sure everyone would return home - although miasma season was over, the storms afterwards were still no joke, especially with Ealei sitting in the middle of the ocean.

“Cinder-!” Subaru came to halt next to the dark elnin and he instantly knew something was wrong. “What’s going on?”
“Subaru! Thank the heavens-” Subaru could see the relief on Cinders face. “One of the kittoms ran away- Shiro, our little one- I have no idea where he could be. He was out on the northern shoreline with Nico and Mary and I was on my way back to the village with him when I had to pause for a moment and then-” The dark elnin barely caught his breath between sentences and Subaru tried to calm him down.
“It’s okay, don’t worry. We’ll find him. You go and check if he ran home already by any chance, I’ll start looking where you guys came from- Maybe he ran back because he forgot something. Maybe someone else will grab him on the way too; the others and I are trying to get everyone to safety before the storm fully hits.”
Already they could feel the wind growing stronger and the leaves around them were shaking and rustling, and a few of them got loose and swirled through the warm air. Subaru had felt the air pressure drop already yesterday evening and he knew that the incoming stormfront was dangerous.
“Everything will be alright, Cinder. I promise.” His words were soft and reassuring and he sighed quietly when the dark elnin looked at him, amber eyes full of fear and hope.
“Thank you so much-” And without wasting any more time, the two parted ways.

Subaru was on high alert now. It was hard to track the scent because Cinder had been carrying the kittom and Ealei was so densely populated that, especially on well traveled routes through the tree, all the different smells mixed together and overlapped. Without hesitation he made his way through the branches; Subaru was quick and nimble on his feet and navigating through the tree felt natural to him. His claws dug into the soft bark of the tree when he jumped across different branches and he didn’t take long to reach the northern shore. He met a few other elnins on his way and stopped them for questioning, but surprisingly no one had seen a little white-red kittom.
Still, it wasn’t too alarming yet. It wouldn’t be totally impossible for a kittom to slip through the chaos.

Subaru stopped when he reached the cliff, and from above he saw that Greywind and Nico were still trying to get Mary to safety, who was unresponsive and laying across Nicos back. The waves were getting stronger and higher and Nico struggled a fair bit to keep himself and his partner afloat, and eventually Greywind jumped into the sea as well to help Nico out.

He couldn’t help but worry, but he also trusted Greywind - the noble was more than capable.

And already he saw that Nico had finally reached some of the rocks that hadn’t been swallowed by the rising tide and the untamed waves and Greywind jumped out to grab Mary, so that Nico could climb up too.

//Good job, guys-//, Subaru thought to himself and began to jump down the cliff side as well. The winds got stronger now, since the elnin had to leave the safety of the eldertree behind, but his steps were steadfast and confident nonetheless.
Not far from the shore he found a little basket full of herbs; it was abandoned and the wind was already scattering the herbs all over, emptying the basket by the minute. He looked up to the cliff, while slowly moving around. Did Shiro return to grab the basket? Was he stuck somewhere? Or worse?
Subaru went through the possibilities of the whereabouts of the kittom. It was unlikely that he ran ahead to the village, but he couldn’t be fully sure. Kittoms sometimes had wild ideas and reasons to act and think a certain way.
While he was trying to figure out where Shiro could’ve gone, he made his way around the cliffside, checking every nook and cranny.
His gut feeling still told him that the little one was here somewhere.
For some odd reason...
Shiro hadn’t stayed to watch Greywind and Nico, and from the looks of it the others didn’t notice the kittom returning either, although that didn’t mean much since they clearly had their paws full with keeping Mary safe.

His ears twitched when he heard little rocks cascading down the cliff side and his head turned around, towards the noise.
“Shiro?” He called out to the kittom and looked for any clues, but no answer. //Was it just my imagination? Or the wind?// Carefully he tried to climb up a little - and finally spotted something. //There!//
A little red paw was sticking out over the rocky edge. “Shiro!”, he called again, this time louder. And then, finally, two little fluffy ears appeared and big red eyes, which blinked at him in surprise.

“Oh! Hoi!”

“...!?” A little dumbfounded and bewildered, Subaru was at a loss for words. He didn’t expect the kittom to be so chipper.
“Hi there!”, he finally managed, and made his way up the cliff to where the kittom was hiding. “Little one, did you maybe forget someone back there?”, he gently asked and looked at the scene unfolding in front of him. Shiro had wrapped himself around a basket of eggs and seemingly tried his best to protect it from the elements.

“Forgot?”, the little one asked sheepishly.

“Cinder is worried sick about you, Shiro. What are you doing up here? What’s with the basket?”

“Oh!” Seemed like Shiro finally connected the dots. “I’m sorry for running away, I didn’t mean to make Cinder worry! But while he was carrying me, all I could think about were the eggs. Nico had left them up here when he saw that Mary needed help. But with the storm coming… I was so afraid the basket would tumble down into the ocean and all the eggs would break and it would have been such a waste” The little kittom sounded truly heartbroken about that scenario.
“But when I got up here finally, I realized that the basket was too heavy for me to carry.. and…I also…kinda got stuck on this rock…and didn’t know how to get back down again.” The kittom got more and more quiet towards the end and Subaru saw how Shiros ears dropped. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t want to cause any trouble..”

“I’m sure you didn’t”, Subaru gently answered and nudged Shiro softly. “You had the best intentions in mind and it was very thoughtful of you. Next time, just… let an adult know? So we can help you properly.”
Shiro looked up at him, all wide-eyed.

“Promise?”

“Promise. Now hop on. I would like to get you out of here before the storm is on top of us. I will carry the eggs as well, don’t worry. I won’t leave them behind.” Subaru shifted around a little and lowered his head and back, so that Shiro was able to climb up. Once the kittom was secure and Subaru could feel his little paws holding onto him, he carefully grabbed the basket with his teeth, before turning around gracefully and looking for a way back up.
Shiro had indeed chosen a place that was quite… interesting. //Nico probably dropped the basket here. So it was never his intention for Shiro to follow him up here-//

“Hold on tight, sweetheart.”, Subaru warned the kittom, before digging his claws into the rocks and jumping a few feet higher, towards the next ledge. With the added weight on his back and the basket in front of him, balancing was a bit more challenging than he would’ve liked, but thankfully he managed without issues and landed safely. The storm was howling now and the sky had gotten dark; the sun vanished behind towering black clouds that loomed over the eldertree. //I’ve got to hurry-//
Not wasting any more time, the purple elnin jumped up the cliff in a few powerful hops, and finally landed on solid ground again. His tail whipped around from the inner tension he was feeling, but thankfully everything had worked out. He ran along the edge of the cliff to check on the others, but they were nowhere to be seen.
//They must be on their way to the village-//
“Everything still alright-?”, he managed to mumble while he started to run up the branches again, and Shiro squeaked in surprise and held on tighter.
“All good!”, the little one screamed against the storm and buried his face in Subarus mane; the adult was running at such a speed that Shiro had a funny feeling in his stomach and really looked forward to walking on his own again.

On his way back to the village, Subaru ran into a few other elnins who were still on their way; some of them had kittoms with them and they weren’t used to Ealei - the branches swaying in the storm caused them quite the distress and Subaru did his best to calm the children down, and joined the group to guide them safely back to town.
It took a bit longer, but since Shiro was safe now, the older one didn’t mind. Eventually he parted ways with the group and headed to Cinders home. He stopped in front of the door and Shiro hopped from his back.

“Thank you!”, he chirped and Subaru nodded. “No problem, little one. Let’s see how the others are doing.”

Shiro darted through the door and Subaru followed him inside. He left the basket with the eggs in the hallway and went to the living room, where everyone else was gathered already - but something wasn’t right. The mood was dark and tense.
//Why is the healer here-//
“Subaru-!” Cinder greeted him, with Shiro hiding in his fluffy tail and Subaru looked at the other one, confused and concerned. “What’s happening? Is everything okay?”
But Cinder just shook his head and looked over to the others. Greywind was laying in front of the sofa, panting, while the healer talked to a frantic looking Nico and seemingly tried to give him medicine, but Nico refused and pointed at Mary; who was curled into a shivering ball next to him on the sofa and groaning in pain.