Submission (#8296) Approved

The path through Faerindell curved gently between fields of wheat and poppies, leading the small group of elnins past old stone walls and winding lanes that connected one sleepy village to the next. The air carried the faint sweetness of flowers and tilled soil, mingled with the distant chatter of farmers calling to each other across the fields.
Above all of it, towering impossibly high into the clouds, was the Eldertree of Faerindell.
It loomed on the horizon no matter where they turned, a giant sakura whose endless branches brushed the sky. Pink petals drifted from its crown in a soft, steady rain, carried for miles on the breeze. Even here, far from its trunk, the ground was dotted with those petals, as if Faerindell itself was stitched together with its bloom.

Driftwood trotted ahead, his tail swishing like a banner. He darted to the side of the road whenever something caught his eye - like a cluster of Faerie Shrouds drooping over a cottage roof, their blossoms shimmering in the sun in shades of orange and violet, and then he spotted a small cart selling sugared apples.

“Everything looks edible here,” he said, a bit of caramel already stuck to his cheeks.

Red snorted. “That’s because you try to eat everything.” He slowed just long enough to glance at the farmlands beyond;  neat rows of vegetables climbing trellises, vines weighed down by fruit, scarecrows dressed in ribbons to frighten more birds than they welcomed. “...It’s all too perfect. Like it’s showing off.”

Yujis voice was gentle, but warm. “Some places are allowed to be beautiful without hiding anything. Faerindell has always been… open-handed.” His gaze lingered on the Faerie Shrouds as they passed under them, the flowers swaying like lanterns overhead. He reached up and brushed one carefully with his paw, releasing a faint sparkle of pollen that drifted in the sunlight.

Subaru walked a little behind, his expression unreadable but steady. He didn’t say much, but he always seemed to notice where the petals fell, or when Driftwood strayed too close to the edge of the road. 

The road bent around a ridge and suddenly a village opened up below them. White-washed cottages with yellow roofs clustered together around a fountain, smoke curling from chimneys, kittoms running around a small fountain. On the far side of the town, orchards spread out like an ocean of color.

Driftwood let out a low whistle. “I could get used to this.”

Red flicked his ear. “You’d get bored in a week. Too quiet.”

“And you wouldn’t?”

“…Maybe,” Red admitted, after a pause. He turned his eyes upward again, watching petals drift across the blue sky. The Eldetrees silhouette broke the horizon, immense and immovable, its presence too vast to ignore. “But I guess it’s not the worst view.”

Yuji smiled faintly. “That’s about the highest praise he’ll ever give.”