Submission (#8166) Approved

If Zevjia was a land that growled and rumbled under your paws, Ealei was a region that hummed and sang. It was warm and fragrant, sweet with the scent of ripe fruit and salty from the ocean breeze. The bright blue sky peeked in through the lush greenery woven between glowing lanterns and wooden walkways. Everywhere you looked, Yggdrasil, the colossal Eldertree, loomed, ever present - its giant branches reaching miles into the air, its roots spreading like a tangled forest, being home to countless bridges and villages.

And somehow, despite being just a tiny kittom on a very large tree, Shiro had decided he was going to climb all of it.

“You said we weren’t going to the high reaches,” Greywind said flatly, watching as Shiro scurried halfway up a swaying fruit-laden tree, sprouting right from Yggdrasil itself… with a little help from the local elnin. “This is… not what I would classify as ‘low.’”

Shiro, already dangling upside down from a branch, grinned broadly. “Greywind! Look at these ones!” He held up a bunch of glowing, golden juiceberries, the translucent skins flickering like they had bottled sunlight inside them. “They’re huge! I bet these are, like, elderberry royalty or something!”

“Shiro,” Cinder called, concern in his eyes, while cradling a woven basket full of the fruit they’d already picked. “Please come down a little lower. That tree is not meant for climbing; it’s still young, and not fully rooted. The branches are delicate!”

“It’s fine!” Shiro shouted back. “I’m delicate, too!”

“Not like that, you’re not,” Greywind muttered under his breath. “You’re a wrecking ball, disguised as a kittom…” 

A few branches below them, the orchard bustled with activity. Elnins and kittoms of all sizes wandered the suspended walkways and canopy platforms harvesting fruit. Ropes and pulleys lifted baskets full of ripe produce between branches. Twinkling lights and colorful bunting danced in the breeze. White birds the size of dinner plates squawked and flitted from branch to branch, helping themselves to unguarded fruit.

Somewhere to their left, a small group of local elnins were laughing as they tried to catch an overripe fruit that had launched itself off a vine like a cannonball. It smacked one of them in the face with a splat and everyone cheered.

Ealei was lively. Ealei was loud. Ealei was Shiros kind of place.

“Do you think if I shake the branch, more of them will fall off?” Shiro asked, already preparing to do so before either adult could answer.

“Shiro, no!” both Cinder and Greywind shouted in unison.

Too late. Shiro gave the branch a firm shake, grinning as more berries dropped - along with an entire swarm of tiny, glitter-winged sugarbeetles that had been napping in the leaves. They buzzed out in a flurry of wings and indignation, spiraling directly into Shiros face.

“GAH! I didn’t mean bugs!”

He scrambled backward, lost his grip and fell.

To his credit, he landed in a very soft, very overstuffed fruit-catching net below. Which did break his fall.

It also launched half its contents over the side of the walkway and onto a passing fishermans boat below. A manaberry hit the poor captain square in the ear and Greywind sighed. //Kittoms are impossible…//

Shiro popped his head out of the net. “I’m okay! That was intentional! Gravity’s just misunderstood!”, but Cinders heart was beating rapidly in his chest and he rushed over, trying not to panic. “Shiro! Are you hurt? Is anything bruised? Besides the fruit?”

“Only my pride!” Shiro beamed, clambering out of the net with a manaberry squished into his fluff.

Greywind stared down at the basket Cinder was holding, then at the mess of fruit now scattered across the net, the walkway, and the boat. “We’re going to get banned from this orchard, aren’t we.”

“Probably,” Cinder whispered.

“No such thing as a bad harvest!” Shiro said cheerfully, already scooping up fruit and stuffing it back into the basket. “This is called creative gathering. Like... like avant-garde agriculture!”

Greywind raised a brow. “You threw fruit at a fisherman.”

“It was gravity!”

The fisherman below waved a berry-stained oar and shouted, “It’s alright, lad! Best snack I’ve had all day!”

“See?” Shiro said smugly. “Community outreach!”

Despite the chaos, the locals didn’t seem upset. One of the orchard tenders, a tall elnin with leaves braided into their hair, trotted over with a chuckle. “You three aren’t from around here, huh?”

“I mean…,” Greywind started.

“...not really” Cinder finished.

“Not yet anyway!” Shiro said brightly.

The elnin laughed. “You’re welcome to help yourself. Just maybe stick to the picking platforms and not the decorative trees.”

“Got it!” Shiro said. “No more accidental aerial stunts. Probably.”

The group migrated to a flatter section of the orchard, where wide, mossy branches stretched out like wooden meadows. Tiny sapling trees, each growing directly from the larger branch, were arranged in neat rows. Each bore a different kind of fruit; some shimmering in the sun, some fuzzy, some glowing faintly pink or green.

Shiro practically dove into the first row. “Cinder, look at these! They’re like... mana-pears! Or power-plums! Or - what do you call these?”

“Those are sunberries,” Cinder replied, placing one carefully in the basket. “Very sweet. Excellent in jam.”

“I’m going to eat ten of them.”

“Shiro, please don’t-”

Shiro stuffed one in his mouth, eyes widening instantly. “WOAH”

“I warned you,” Greywind said. “They’re potent.”

Potent was putting it lightly. The sugar hit Shiro like a lightning bolt. He started vibrating.

“I can see sounds.”

“Oh no,” Cinder whispered.

“What if,” Shiro said, “we built a catapult that launches baskets of manaberries across the orchard directly into a boat without dropping them? That way, no climbing, no bugs, maximum efficiency.”

Greywind looked at him with what might have been admiration, or exhaustion. “That’s… not the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

“It’s in the top five,” Cinder said quickly.

They ended the day with baskets full of fruit and fur sticky with juice. The sun was dipping low behind the giant clouds at the horizon, casting golden light through leaves and glass lanterns. Music from a nearby celebration drifted down from higher platforms; soft drums, string instruments, laughter.

Shiro flopped onto a mossy bench, chewing happily on a manaberry and kicking his feet. “I love it here.”

“I love that you survived,” Cinder said, sitting beside him and gently plucking twigs from his fur.

Greywind leaned against the tree trunk, arms crossed but relaxed. “At least nothing exploded today.”

“Yet,” Shiro said, then winked.

Greywind stared.

“I’m kidding!” Shiro laughed. “...Mostly.”

Cinder sighed, but he was smiling. “We’ll need to clean all these before we bring them to the market tomorrow.”

“Then can we go swimming in the coral pools? I heard there’s a reef shaped like a sea bunny!”

“We’ll see,” Cinder said.

“Only if you don’t fall into a fruit press before then,” Greywind added.

“No promises!” Shiro chirped.