Submission (#8918) Approved

Raniya hadn't heard rustling behind her as she built up a little sand mound on the shoreline of Silveil lake. She was building up a small platform of sand to carve her pumpkin on. It was a little like building a sand castle only skipping on the castle part. The small grains of sand squished between her toe beans as she lost herself in the activity. Her plan was to draw inspiration from the way the stars gleamed in the sky above the lake but having a good carving platform took priority. Silveil was a perfect spot to reference stars as the sky was always dark and filled with them. She turned her head upward once she was satisfied with her little sandpile and then rolled her pumpkin over to sit on top of it. It sank into the soft sand a touch and she smoothed out the sand at the base before scurrying over to grab her carving tools. They weren't particularly sharp but enough that once the skin of the gourd was broken they would cut through with some ease since her pomu would help with the carving part. She would do the small scratch guidelines though to get the idea down.

A ways away at the edge of the dark forest her mother, Rynne, was working on writing a spooky story for the season. The dark atmosphere of the silveil woods with the occasional glowing flora was a good ambiance. Beside her sat a small lantern to make the writing part a little more visible though. Rynne's eyes glanced up as the small kittom's pomu began to sneak up on little Raniya. The kittom didn't expect their pomu to partake in the frightful festivities and attempt to spook her so she just about ate sand as she felt something brush past her tail. Letting out a startled squeak she turned a glare towards the small dark form behind her before realizing it was her own pomu. It seemed like mischief was running amok tonight. Breathing a sign of relief her sharp eyes glanced over at her mother to make sure Rynne wasn't chuckling at her daughter's scare but her mother's mouth held a mostly firm line, only slightly curving at the very tips. "Don't laugh." The kittom scolded, clearly upset at even the slightest sign of amusement her mother was showing. Raniya's prickly behavior drew a slow but warm nod from her mom who was used to seeing the kittom more upbeat. It seemed the atmosphere maybe had her a bit more sensitive to her surroundings.

With the confirmation her mother wouldn't chuckle at her jumpy behavior Raniya turned back to her pumpkin. It was a particularly soft skinned variant of gourd so her tiny claws could scratch a faint pattern on it. It made it a lot easier for her to set her idea down on the surface. With the help of her pomu and a few carving tools she outlined some stars and a moon shape on the surface. She also carved some mushroom shapes too for her pomu to carve next after the gourd still looked a bit barren. The mushrooms were modeled after the small glowing mushrooms that weren't far from where her mother sat. They were not orange usually but when carved in a gourd they would have to do since she didn't know yet how she would really make them blue. Most of the candles she had seen in Silveil were warm hues as the cooler colored ones weren't as popular this year it seemed.

Once she was satisfied with her and her pomu's carving efforts her paws braced against the pumpkin. Turning the gourd on the sand pile mound she moved it to show her mom. Raniya's small cloud-like tail bobbled back and forth in contentment. "Mom, I'm done." She said proudly, though she didn't know how to quite light it up yet. All of the candles they had left back at home in the city. Rynne seemed to have an idea though, a clever smile playing on her mouth. "Want to see a trick to make the mushrooms glow blue?" She asked, watching Raniya's eyes grow big. The kittom looked around. There were the Silveil lake's luminous creatures, the sandy beach, and distantly lit city on one side and on the other was the tapering into the dark wooded area where further in most of the luminous flora seemed to be aside from the few mushrooms growing near Rynne. They couldn't possibly take the gourd back to the city quickly so the candles must have not been what Rynne was thinking of. The older elnin got to her feet, having been in gjinka form as she was writing. Taking one of the carving tools she hollowed out a circle on the bottom, then carefully placed the pumpkin over the top of the glowing mushrooms that had been next to her. Just like that, the pumpkin's carvings glowed blue.

In town they could probably find a different colored candle but out here the novelty of using the luminescent flora as a makeshift candle to see the carvings was an enjoyable sight. Raniya looked amazed, having not thought of that sooner. Maybe for some it would be common sense but she was still just a young kittom figuring things out. They admired the freshly carved gourd for a while until Raniya started to slow down a bit. Rynne tucked her kittom into the nook of her arm gently after packing up her belongings and scooped up the gourd in the other. It was a good time to head back to where they were staying, Raniya thought as she started to drift off to sleep. When they got back to their lodging, nestled amongst the bustling streets of Silveil city, perhaps they would find a better candle. For now though she was happy that her carving had turned out so delightful. She wiggled a bit in her mother's arms just thinking about it.