Submission (#930) Approved

Word Count: 1233
EC Rewards:
6 EC (Completion)
2 EC (1200 word bonus)
Total: 8 EC

Regional Affinity: Bellmoril
Elnin: G-ELN458 (Lyulf)
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/774088611/4717693795

  Lyulf bounced around the house, running back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room of his small house. He seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. In the kitchen behind him, Valista was bustling as well, walking between placing food in a picnic basket on the counter and checking on what appeared to be muffins in the oven.

     “Are they here yet? I have to tell them about everything that happened since they were here over the summer!” Lyulf had finally stopped bouncing all around and resigned himself to bouncing up and down in one place. “It’s been so long, and I didn’t see any of them over Halloween...”

     “They’ll be here soon. But, you know that they’re coming from pretty far away, so it’s understandable that they’d be a bit late.” Valista chided Lyulf on his impatience, leaving kitchen long enough to bat his small nose. “Now calm down. If you wear yourself out now, you won’t be able to have a proper picnic. You’ll just fall asleep.”

     The two of them soon finished all the preparations and went to wait out on the porch. The trees path leading to the forest was a brilliant golden, illuminated by the sun filtering through the orange and yellow leaves. Bellmoril always had a beautiful golden sheen, but during the fall, the vibrancy of the turning leaves made it brighter than ever. It was because of this that Valista had originally decided to settle in Bellmoril with Lyulf. Down the path, they could see some vaguely elnin shapes. Lyulf let out a squeal of joy and started running down the hill the small house sat on.

     “Ahhhhhhhhh!!! You made it! I’m so glad!” When he reached the bottom of the hill he skidded to a stop in front of Wenopa and Kailani. Rubbing their cheeks in a greeting, he noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Ruelle? I’m surprised she would let you come all this way alone.”

     “Oh, she’s coming. She just got caught up at the local candy shop” Wenopa let out a little giggle at her mentor and foster mother’s expense. “Kailani already knew the way to your house, so she told us to come up ahead.”

     “It would have been impolite to keep you and Valista waiting. Ruelle said to tell you thanks again for letting us all stay here during the fall festival.” Kailani smiled shyly at Lyulf. “I can’t wait to see your house.”

     “Well then, let’s go! Valista and I spent all day cleaning so it’s all sparkly inside. We can go put your stuff inside and then head to the picnic spot. The festival events won’t start until later, but we want to get there early and get a good spot to watch the fireworks tonight.” Lyulf led the other two kittoms up the hill where Valista had gathered the picnic basket and blanket.

    “How’s it going you two?” Valista asked with a smile as she opened the door for the kittoms. As soon as Wenopa and Kailani had deposited their belongings inside, the group of four started walking down the golden forest path to the town square.  

 

    “So what’s the reason for this fall festival? You invited us here because you said Kailani would like it. But you didn’t tell us anything about it.” Wenopa asked as she at next to Lyulf on the picnic blanket, munching on a biscuit.

    “Oh right! I forgot to tell you. Well, it’s a great story and I thought Kailani would like it since it is about books.” Lyulf puffed up his chest as he prepared to tell the story. “It all started when Bellmoril was a very sparsely populated area. It still is of course, but back then there were even fewer towns outside of the capital and they relied on merchants for their food. During that time, it was very hard to grow food, and there were lots of bandits roaming the countryside attacking merchant trains”

    The other two kittoms were spell-bound as Lyulf told his story, munching on picnic food and muffins.

    “Then what happened Lyulf?” Kailani piped up as Lyulf paused in his story to nab his own muffin.

    “Well. The merchants guild knew this couldn’t go on. They were losing money and the people were losing food. So they contracted a wizard who lived in Il’durahan to help them find a magical solution. He placed a charm on some old books in his library to hold the food. It could be placed inside the pages of the books and it wouldn’t be seen by anyone. The merchants were able to take these books to the villages and sell their food. If they were attacked by bandits, the food would be safe, because stinky bandits who live in the country have no need for reading.”

    Lyulf let out a giggle and Wenopa and Kailani joined in. The image of stinky Elnin or Kyunru bandits was too much for them to hold in.

    “That was such a good story. You’re right, I did like it. The wizard was very clever to think of a charm on the books.” Kailani managed to squeak out once they were all done laughing.

    “What else do you do at the Festival, then? We’ve really only had a picnic and told a few stories...” Wenopa sat back, curious about what her friend and littermate had planned.

    “It’s not a festival without fireworks. But those will come later when it’s dark. The festival games should be set up by now. See?” Lyulf pointed a little way past them, down the mainstreet of the town, gesturing towards the soft lantern glow and booths set up. “There’s also going to be dessert stands.”

    “You three stay out from underfoot alright? I’m going to stay up here and keep our spot for the fireworks.” Valista looked up from the novel she had been reading and handed each of the kittoms some money. “Don’t spend it all in one place and stick together.”

    The three trouble makers ran down into town and spent the time exploring. Kailani found a used book cart and she and Lyulf looked over the old books hoping to find some rare treasured tomes. Wenopa made all of them stop a shop that was still open and asked (or maybe harrased) the owner about his particular blend of coffee. The three also played some of the festival games, and Lyulf managed to win a plush rabbit at the shooting gallery. He gave the toy to Kailani with a small blush on his face. But maybe that was just the lantern light… The dessert booth, that held fruit and candied treats was definitely the favorite spot of all three kittom. Despite Valista’s warning, they did spend nearly all their money there, and came back to the picnic spot with toffee, sweet buns, and various other snacks.

    “You’re just in time. The fireworks will start soon.” Valista gathered them all close and pointed up the the sky as the first few fireworks shot up and exploded in brilliant colors. The greens and reds flashed the sky and illuminated the soft hills for brief seconds before the booming thunder was heard and the sky darkened again. At this point another figure emerged from the dark side of the hill.

    “I hope I’m not late.” Ruelle cooed, her arms full of more candy and sweet treats.