Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Thank you miss." A'nos accepted the number with a nod and gave another smile, an encouraging one this time. "Her name is Symphony," he added.

Symphony turned her head to her master at the sound of her name and crooned softly; she liked it when he spoke of her!

Finulria and Finulsk

Slinking through the crowd as if on a mission, the brown wher snorted at funny smelling things and obnoxiously licked his chops when he found something that smelled Really Good. Finulsk 'murred' and nudged people aside without feeling ashamed. They were in his way after all! Oh and that person had something interesting on them!

"Don't even think about it, ya terror!" Finulria thumped her bonded on the rump, eying this or that. "Behave. Or we go back and have no part of this." A lie, really. Fini really wanted to be here.

Gathers had interesting things.

And equally interesting (and very good) food. And drink.

Finulsk hurrumphed and leaned against his bonded's side, ever circulating mind considering all the wonderful possibilities to take a taste of. When His wasn't watching of course. Or else she'd take it from him. ...or try to anyway.

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Tabi and Tabatsk

"Tabs, you're makin' this difficult." Tabathi sighed heavily, looking down at the green wherling trying to walk between her legs. "Really dear?"

Said green wherling meeped and kept walking - or crawling really - as she was. Every little new things (sound, sight, random person) scared her and sent her cowering behind - or beneath - her handler.

"Come on, Tabs. Look! That stall looks interesting." It had shiny jewellery. And shiny things were good distractions, right? Well...it worked on flitters anyways.

Whining uncertainly, Tabatsk crept out from between HerTabi's legs to press heavily into her side as she curiously stuck her nose towards the stall. "Mrrrrk?" The shiny-hangy-thing was shiny. And drew her attention like a trundlebug to a glow.

"Don't break it, dear. It is rather pretty." Tabi admitted, fingering the necklace that was distracting Tabatsk from cowering.

[Fick]

With the rules explained and his turn come up, Fick lifted Tiddles off Ficksk's head and set her down in the performance area. Right then. He cleared his throat. "Sit!" He wagged his finger downward. Tiddles blinked at him, but after a few moments sat back on her haunches. "Good! Now lie down!" He made a similar gesture with his whole hand, but this time the green just tilted her head at him and cheeped. "Lie. Down!" He felt understanding dawn as he spoke, gestured, and sent the image again, and Tiddles did as she was asked. "Roll over!" Tiddles rolled, and he gestured and sent the mental command again and she kept rolling.

When he stopped giving the command however the green kept going, and rolled right off the edge of the performance area with a squeak of distress. The green firelizard vanished between, reappearing some way higher up and then recovering quickly before coming into land on Fick's head.

The wherhandler coughed and made an expansive gesture at the crowd. Ta-da!" Well that could have gone worse he supposed. His britches could have fallen down.



[A'nos]

The bronze rider applauded politely for the previous competitor and kept his smirk internal. He called that a performance? Well it was his turn now, and he would give a better showing. Tall, handsome and erect A'nos approached the performance area, halted and turned to bow to the audience. Up on his shoulder, Symphony copied the gesture.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to present Symphony! We hope that you will find her performance entertaining, don't we Symphony?"

Symphony trilled and bobbed her head to the spectators.

"And so without further ado, let us begin!" A'nos extended one arm over to the performance area, and a precise poke of his mind had Symphony walking neatly down his limb until she reached her stage. As his pet turned to face him, sitting up on her haunches, A'nos produced a simple little wooden flute from inside his sleeve with a flourish and brought it to his lips.

This first part of the performance seemed simple enough, but it required the firelizard to have an appreciation for tone and pitch; he played three notes, she trilled them back with the same kind of emphasis. Four notes next, then five, and then ten. Sliding the flute back up his sleeve he fixed his eyes firmly on Symphony and drew himself up tall; in response the firelizard rose up onto her hind legs with her wings spread for balance. A slight incline of his head and a push of his mind made her back up slowly, a lean of his head left and she walked left, then right and she moved right. A sharp look and a toss of his head made her sink down, bunch her muscles and throw herself into a backflip.

With the flitt now back on all fours he took the flute back out and played a simple little tune which the crimson danced too with graceful little steps, swishes of tail and swoops of wings. The tune ended soon enough but he started it back up again right away and pressed on the crimson's mind; this time she danced the same dance as before but sang along. At the tune repeated a third time he picked up the tempo and Symphony launched into the air, trilling and swooping and diving all around him as the tempo went faster and faster until the final note whereupon she turned a loop-the-loop and landed back on her master's shoulder.

Sliding the flute away neatly A'nos made a flourishing bow, which was again emulated by the firelizard on his shoulder. "Thank you for your attention ladies and gentlemen; I hope you enjoy the rest of the gather!" he called, every inch the cheerful charming young Harper.

As he spoke he felt Symphony’s little mind brush hopefully against his: had she done well? Was she a good firelizard for her master?

Yes - he sent his reply in feelings and pictures - she had been entirely satisfactory. She would have a treat later if she kept up her good behaviour.

This was almost enough to send the worshipful flit into paroxysm of crooning glee, but she had not been given permission to vocalize or rub herself all over him and so she just sat neatly on his shoulder with her eyes gleaming brilliant blue: she had been good enough!

"Oh, how lovely," the woman beamed. Then: "As a name, that is - I'm not a judge, just the listkeeper," was hurried added as F'ick and others approached. "Tiddles and F'ick? And Erie and Serra- yes, but it's home. I mean yes I wish she didn't hiss, not yes this is the wrong place- ah, your numbers. You're Two, and Three." Names were taken, little paper scraps were given out, and the crimson flit hissed at everyone as they were directed to the various stations along the table in a grand display of disdain for diplomacy.

(( Flit contest entries are now closed! Rev, please post Erie and Cerra's 'display' for the audience by October 6th, and voting will go forward from there! ))

While Rilli and Risk browsed Serom strode and wandered amongst the stalls letting his eyes roam over the wares until one stall caught his attention and more importantly the attention of Sesk. A little ramshackle stall stacked high with treats, stuffed whers, but more important to the vain green very pretty leather collars.

Want! The bejeweled green hissed in her handlers mind rising on her small hind legs to peak over the edge of the booth staring with bright eyes at the collars possessively. WANT! Get! Sesk hissed a second time reaching a paw out to try to swipe a collar for herself, but a quick hand stopped her as Serom hauled the pretty green back away from the table.

"Hold your runners you sharding vain little thing." The older man grumbled turning to the stall keepers. "How much for the wher collars?" He asked even as Sesk took the opertunity to pose and preen showing off her bright green bejeweled hide. Wasn't she pretty? She was the prettiest? She deserved a pretty collar didn't she? The green seemed to thrum as she pranced about the booth and her handler whirring and posing.

The judge - an old firelizard breeder with a shock of white hair and a dour face - hemmed. The judge hawed. The judge turned his head this way and that, and occasionally poked or lifted a small limb. Various inscrutable notes were made with a stylus before moving on.

The audience was a much more emotive beast. It was made up of the high-up and the hoi palloi, the dedicated observers and passingly interested, and the composition of voters varied by every performance. Tiddles was.. sweet, the collective laughter and 'aww' of the crowd decided, and Cerra's performance impressive, but it was A'nos - clever A'nos - who managed a performance both charming and skilled with Symphony. (His good looks, it should be noted, did not impede matters.) The technical and popular opinions were weighed.

"Congratulations!" the woman with the crimson flit announced as she approached the young bronzerider, smiling shyly as she deposited the marks in his hand. "It was very good - oh, we didn't know what size the winner would be, so you can choose your harness from the stand over there, and.." She glanced over her shoulder at the breeder, who nodded, "I think he'd like to talk to you?"

Fick gave a slight sigh and scooped his flitt off his head. "Alright pretty," he murmured, "didn't have much of a chance did you?"

Lying on her back in the cradle of his hands, Tiddles said; "Chirrr?"

"I know, I know, they had better routines but you know you're better than them."

"Mrrp?"

"Yes," Fick scratched the green's pale belly, "and we'll grab some treats; for you, for Fi, okay?" Even if they hadn't won he was pleased that the crowd had found her sweet, because she was. The terror and horror of the revolution seemed a lot further away with people aww-ing over his firelizard and much as he knew he probably shouldn't he let himself get caught up in that.

He was a simple guy with simple wants. He couldn't let the weight of lost lives that he hadn't taken press down on him forever.