Submission (#8109) Approved

Though she hadn’t participated in it, Mizuki had heard of the tradition of releasing glowing fish back into the boundless. Many elnin would join together, seeking the luminous fauna out, placing them in various vessels such as paper boats, lanterns or glass bowls and sending them off the Eyre’s outer oceans.

With the event now over, the waters seemed quieter, and the undine noticed much less traffic within Nalnalo. As of now, she swam through the crisp clear blue waters of Ealei, collecting stray golden petals that had fallen during Yggdrasil’s golden bloom and placing them in a stray vessel she had found. It was an ornate glass bowl, adorned with gildings of gold around the rim and base of the bowl. A small chain was connected at the edge of the rim, perhaps making it easier for a kittom to carry in their standard forms. Her pomu Biri seemed to be admiring the glassware too, making a curious chirping sound as she raised her arms, wanting to get a closer look.

Mizuki wasn’t sure why such a beautiful vessel was abandoned, but she was more than happy to reuse it for her purpose, and it rested on her back as she glided effortlessly through the waters, while Biri sat within it, bobbing around in the glass bowl as she splashed playfully.

At first, she just frequented the base of Yggdrasil, being mindful to avoid the large twisting roots from the surrounding mangrove trees, and picked up some fallen manaberries as a snack for later. After what felt like an hour of circling around and collecting as many petals she could find, she decided to venture farther out in search of more trinkets to collect.

As she swam out towards the ocean, she at least didn’t have to worry about getting caught in mangrove roots, but made sure to pay attention to the large rocks jutting out of the ocean. It wasn’t likely she would find any more petals floating this far out, so she ducked below the surface with a nimble splash, her fins helping her glide through the water effortlessly.

Soon, she was greeted with large kelp leaves, signifying she was now in paradise reef. However, this wasn’t where she was planning to stop, as she sought the more vibrant flora of rainbow reef. She still ended up collecting a few kelp leaves though, with intentions of using them for later.

Even with being an undine and having more affinity with being in the water, Mizuki was still just a kittom, and the distance from Nalnalo to the rainbow reef was still quite a trek. She let out a small sigh of relief as a wash of color started to appear, emitting small prismatic bubbles from her mouth and gills as she did so. She decided to take a small break, nibbling on some of the manaberries, when something caught her eye.

A colorful blur whizzed past her, startling her into dropping her berry. What… was that? She watched as it darted around, before disappearing beyond a cluster of coral. Curiosity taking over her, she followed it, eyes scanning her surroundings for what had just passed her. Another flash of scales as she soon spotted it, only for it to nimbly bolt from prying eyes.

“Ah, wait!”

The game of cat and mouse continued for a while, with Mizuki trying to find where the critter had gone. And the moment she would find it, it would quickly swim off again before she could catch it.

Getting a little fed up, Mizuki grabbed the bowl she was carrying, and signaled to her pomu, who used her finned wings and tail to dart off as the two tried to close in on the creature. The moment she caught sight of it again coming towards her with her pomu right behind it, she propelled herself forward with a powerful whip of her tail.

“I said, stay still!”

She lifted the bowl above her, which probably was a little comedic to any onlookers, on account of it being nearly the size of her due to her elfin stature, and quickly trapped whatever had been evading her for the last half hour. Biri let out a cheerful chirp, waving her feathered arms in victory.

Pushing against the bowl until the opening was pressed to the ground, Mizuki gasped, trying to catch her breath before inspecting what she had just caught. A vibrant rainbow eye stared back at her, making her jump, but she soon calmed down when she realized what it was. This was…

Inside the bowl, thrashing about erratically, was a rainbow eel. While their body was nearly completely white, an iridescent sheen reflected off their scales, and their fins sported a pastel rainbow that seemed to shimmer with each movement. Mizuki couldn’t help but be mesmerized, her own prismatic eyes locking with theirs. Biri also pressed her face against the glass, which probably didn’t help the spooked snake-like creature.

After what seemed like a moment, she let out an “oh!”, and reached towards the bowl. The poor thing was probably startled by being chased and captured, and while it may not have known, Mizuki had no intention of harming it. She just wanted to know what it was that startled her, and now seeing that it was nothing more than what looked like a young baby eel, due to its slight translucence. 

“Ah, I’m sorry. Here you go.”

Lifting the bowl up, the eel quickly darted out, sending the petals and kelp initially in the bowl scattering. Her pomu quickly set about collecting these again while her gaze lingered until the eel was out of sight. 

Mizuki recalled that before she left Nalnalo, there seemed to be a competition of sports hosted by the younger nin on who could catch the most extravagant fish, spurred on by the tradition started by the Ancient Spirit. She let out a small smile, thinking the other kittoms would be mesmerized had they lain eyes on the rainbow eel, but no, it was better she not disturb the local fauna further. She was satisfied with the fact of having been able to catch the elusive creature, if even for a moment.