At first Vuka had no idea what was going on. It wasn't bad or scary or anything like that. This wasn't a mystery like unfamiliar shape outside your window or a friend not wanting to play with you, it was just... pretty. He had gone into the center of town with his family and people seemed to be setting up for something great. He saw crystals and streamers hung from tree branches and homes and shopfronts on the way there, and then they had passed some odd structures in the process of being built. They were strange, like half a wall with a canopy over top and weren't in use. Did people live in there? Were they just empty? What were they for? As per usual, though, the boy tried to figure it out himself before asking. The clues weren't enough. He continued through the trip taking in everything he could, trying to piece them together, but all he'd come up with was that something was happening.

It was later than night when the youngling finally decided to ask for help from the older members of his family. The question came unbidden, apparently out of nowhere, and then came the name "Serin." Vuka knew that name. He knew of the great moon in the sky and he knew that every night when it shone his skin changed to glimmer with it. Religion in itself was somewhat beyond the scope of Vuka's understanding, but he knew these things, and he was first encountering the word "goddess." So Serin was the moon, but she was also somehow a god, some supernatural entity beyond the orb in the sky, and everyone was getting ready to celebrate her summer holiday. He listened with a furrowed brow, taking all that was offered to heart. Ah, and his heart felt so warm. The conversation ended with a smile and he skipped off to bed with a head full of new knowledge, but sometimes that wasn't the greatest thing. His thoughts kept him up, and he couldn't see the risen moon from his window, so he padded softly down the hall and into the yard. Little creatures peeped and chirped in the night and he stared up at the moon for a long time, smiling. After a while he put his arms up and reached for the moon. It was odd how learning something could change the way you felt and the whole world around you. He was pretty sure he liked Serin, and it seemed the rest of the town did too if they were going to be having a celebration just for her.

When the actual day came, the city was absolutely alive. People stood together, talking loudly and laughing. As it turned out, the "booths" (as he had gathered they were called from overhearing conversation) were places for new vendors with new products especially for the festival. There were even special foods he hadn't had before, or at least couldn't remember ever having. There were little chewy cakes and drinks that ticked your nose, and you could get sweets on sticks to carry around with you. It was fun to spend the day with his siblings and his parents and there were plenty of other children to play with and games to play and things to do. Every corner you turned held a new adventure and there was a common motif throughout. There were decorations and jewelry and carvings all for the moon, all for Serin. He could not fathom worship or devotion, but he knew love and respect. He respected Serin even if he wasn't sure what she did, and it made him feel a different way to be at a festival that had a meaning.

Vukasin himself spent the day laughing and celebrating. He'd always liked a good party, and it was even better when they were outside and the sun was warm and there were trees for climbing and new things to investigate. This one seemed somehow different, though. This festival had meaning behind it, and it was the first that Vuka had understood. You celebrated your goddess, and you did it with everyone else she was goddess too. It was that simple bond that brought people together. more than just being a Shifter or just living in Ast. Imagine his surprise, then, when he overheard a local of different race mention traveling to another celebration himself! There were more gods, not just Serin? He wanted to learn about them all!


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