Submission (#8391) Approved

REGION: EALEI
WORDS: 617
ELN1452

The only error was it should have said looking up and not looking out up. They were supposed to be a similar thought to describe looking at the sky and then to the sea but as it was confusing so I reworded it!

Ice's white flank with the fiery red and orange markings on her flank was becoming a common sight on the island now. She'd been here for a bit now, inspired by the life and scenery here. She loved to paint and draw and while that was her passion to explore here, it wasn't the only thing she did. Right now, she was finished with her usual side hustle where she gathered up the fallen manaberries on the rocky shore of the island and instead of going back up into the tree city, she decided to explore a bit while the sun was still up. It wouldn't be long now until the miasma started to roll in and then she'd be absolutely stranded here again. Maybe she should head home though... but...

I'd be stuck looking up, she thought as her black eyes looked up towards the sky where the big and fluffy clouds danced around in the sky. Then when she bored of that, she'd be stuck looking out further than that. From the sky to the sea, her eyes followed down across the sky and landed in the shores of the ocean, coming in as the waves passed across the barrier rocks around the island until her eyes settled onto the docks near her.

Nope~ She was going to explore now before it was too late for sure!

She ran down the path, along the trail along the shore until the beaten path becomes a lot less beaten. She couldn't go right because she'd be going into the water, so she went left. She went through the thickets of mangroves that twisted and twirled around the edge of the island. She went under them and splashed around in the shallows of the water as she kept exploring. Vines and signs of life were growing bolder here, thicker here. Less elnin walked this area daily, offering much more friction than the usual trails. However, it offered things that the other trails didn't include.

That's when the sight of something shiny caught Ice's eye, glittering in the water with a sheen as the light hit it. She looked back and forth while approaching with curiosity in her eyes, almost even a twinkle of wonder. What could be shining like this? Was there some sort of undiscovered creature down there with a glittering shell of gold light? She could draw it! She could document it! How exciting would that be? She had to be careful not to startle it! She carefully climbed up one of the mangroves, thankful that she had learned how to climb trees when she was in Faerindell, and then crawled her away across. It was slow and tiresome but eventually she made it, so she was close enough to actually see the creature and study it.

Of course, when she got a good look her excited expression dropped from her face. That... that wasn't a creature? She looked confused and dropped the short way into the shallow water below. She made a big splash, and the shiny didn't move. She got a clear look at this distance and sighed as she reached down and pulled out a coin.

Somehow this was more disappointing than a creature even though it could buy her plenty of paint to creature some new ones. Gold, of course. She went to pocket it when she noticed that this gold coin wasn't engraved like normal gold coins. So weird, it was not like the gold she usually saw at all. What was it from? She didn't know what it meant but maybe she'd find out.

With the sunset closer than before, Ice decided to follow her path back and head home.