Deni nodded. "That sounds pretty lahkly to me." He patted the Salamander on the head, then led the way out into the festival ground. It was his turn to pick the first game, and he picked a guess-the-number game. Red and green gumballs filled a clear glass cookie jar. Deni wrote his answer on the card and handed it to the vendor. When all of their cards had been handed in, the prizes came out. "You two," the vendor said, pointing to Deni and Niol, "were close. Here you go!" He handed each of them a stuffed fox wearing a pair of jingle bell earrings.
Deni grinned. "Thanks!" he said. "Happy solstice!"
"But you," the vendor said, pointing to Sara, "were even closer." He grinned. "You can take another guess. If you get closer than you did before, you can win a special prize."
Sara looked around the booth. There was a small pen in the back with Kiddens in them. Each of them had a shiny bow around their neck and a row of leashes hung from the mesh. "Yer on," Sara said with a grin.
Sara picked up another card and thoughtfully raised the number on her card by two. "Are you sure?" the vendor said. "Remember, your first guess may have been higher than the actual number or lower than the actual number."
Sara nodded. "Ah'm sure," she said.
The vendor looked at the number and nodded. "Well, you were closer!" He gestured to the goats. "Pick a prize, any prize."
Sara pointed to a green one that was watching her. "How about that one?"
The vendor nodded. "That's a good one." He picked up the indicated Kidden and attached a leash to the collar hidden under the bow. He handed both goat and leash to Sara. "Happy solstice, ma'am!"
Sara squeezed her new pet gently. "Happy solstice to you, too!"
Niol collected his stuffed fox and earrings with good grace. Okay, so he hadn't gotten a goat--that was okay. Sara loved them more than he did, anyway. "Congrats, Sara!" he said. "So, which one of us'll pick next?"
The next booth contained an old fair classic--spin the wheel, win a prize! Fena went first, and won as a prize a stuffed kidden with a bundle of candy canes tied to it. He smiled at the Litch behind the booth. "Thank you!" he said. "Happy solstice!"
Frankie was similarly successful at the wheel of fortune. His prize, though, was a stuffed grey mutant cat. And candy canes. He wondered if the orange color meant that they were orange flavored? "Thank you!" he said. "Happy solstice!"
Okay, so tugging on Da's arm wasn't going to work. Heru turned to Darryl. "We should run the obstacle course. I'll race you there!" Without waiting for either her parent's or her brother's reaction, she released Da's hand and sped off to the obstacle course, moving as fast as her tiny tail could take her. She got there before her brother did, and when the vendor, a look of supreme indulgence on her face, waved them through, Heru finished before her brother.
They weren't the only ones racing--a tall Grimm got to the end before they did, and so they got a bigger and better prize than she did. But Heru was pretty happy with a stuffed fox and a pair of black earrings.
Darryl didn't like running around, but Heru did (if you'll excuse the slight anatomical inaccuracy in that sentence). But hey, if that was the game his little sister wanted to play...
Darryl followed after Heru, and finished last in the obstacle course. Well, of course he did! He wasn't very athletic, and he was winded from the race there! Nonetheless, he got a good prize--a stuffed cat (a mutant one) and a set of teal candy canes. Nice!
Reda followed their children to the obstacle course while accepting a mug of hot tea from a passerby handing them out. They caught the look that the vendor shot their daughter, and Reda felt their blood boil. Yes, that indulgent look. Heru didn't need any pity. Heru wasn't--Heru was better at this than most kids with legs! How dare they judge their daughter! When Heru, flush with victory, ran--slithered--back to them, Reda took Heru by the hand. "Come on, let's find another booth," they said.
Chries nodded. "A guessing game sounds good." They looked around and found a memory game, which they agreed was just as good, and began to play. During his first round, Chries won a book on alchemy and a stuffed fox. Chries smiled. This was a book that Zalir loved! He couldn't wait to show it to Zalir.
Now it was Verity's turn to spin the wheel. She smiled at her prize--another book! Most excellent! "Thank you, happy solstice!" she said to the vendor, and led her sons onward.
Naihilus got a turn at the memory cards next. His turn was moderately successful--while he didn't get a stuffed animal, he did get a bundle of peppermint candy canes. He unwrapped one of them and stuck it in his mouth, then held out one to Anchriesel. "May we go again?" he asked the vendor.
Eidil laughed. "Sounds like a plan to me! Your mom's here this year, though, maybe if we have too much, we can drop some stuff off with her?"
As they talked, the girls wandered over to the traditional darts booth, and, still talking about their plans, they collected their darts and started throwing. The first balloon that Eidil popped earned her a new book, one on alchemy. It wasn't her favorite subject, but it sure looked like a fun read!
Callessa nodded. "We can," she said. "But I'd feel bad, like I was imposing on her or something." Cal took a dart and aimed for a balloon in the corner. To her satisfaction, it popped and the vendor scooped up the card. The vendor whistled. "That earns you an animal!" they said. They gestured to cages full of small fluffbugs. "Which one would you like?"
Without hesitation, Cal pointed to a dark red Fluffbug. "I'd like that one, please!" she said.
The vendor handed her the animal. "Would you like to go again?"
Cal held up her darts. "Sure!"
Jie smiled. "You look amazing," she said to Ciel. "Now where shall we start the day?"
They decided to start the games with a riddle contest. It was often a very lightly attended booth, but it showed up at every festival--probably because there was a goodly-sized chunk of the population that couldn't actually see. Jie's turn was first, and she got the answer to the riddle correct--it was a snowmare. Or..was it snowdream? A snowperson either way. In exchange, she got a pale blue bracelet that she slipped on her wrist.
Ciel's turn was next. She'd been playing riddle games like this for years. The answer to her riddle then was quite obvious--a snowflake. Her prize was a bracelet that the vendor assured her was covered in snowflakes. "I've heard that snowflakes are very pretty," Ciel murmured to Jie. "I mean, it's hard to tell, but that's what I've heard."
Still no sign of Amut, but the other Hallowed had time to get there. In the meantime, Ebene found some games to play. The first one was one she hadn't seen at a fair yet--an old fashioned game of Pin the Heart on the Grump, blindfolded, of course. Ebene did a good enough job of that game to win a pair of jingling bell earrings, which she clipped to her ears with pride.
Sound Lee pushed off into the crowd with his Elf friend trailing along behind him. It looked like his luck for new friends was continuing--he hadn't gone far before a pale blue Flitterrat climbed his pants and burrowed into his pocket. Lee giggled and turned to Aura. "Where would you like to go first?"
Aura wasn't sure whether they should be jealous that their friend had gotten two pets already in the first two minutes of the fair, disgusted that it had climbed up his pants and invited itself into his pockets, or amused at Lee's trademark reaction. Might as well go with the latter. Aura looked around. "How about that beanbag throwing contest over there?"
The Elf lead the way to the game, where they picked up an enchanted fake snowball (as cold as the real thing!) and threw it at the target. Aura threw a few more, some of which managed to get into the target. This won them a whole bucket of enchanted fake snowballs of their own. Sweet! Aura picked out a red bucket and stood aside for Lee's turn.
Yaviss nodded. "Guess we should go talk to them, hm?" he murmured. Without waiting for an answer, he pressed forward through the crowd. Before he could reach his friend, though, someone pressed a book into his hands. "Here," they said roughly. "Have a book! Happy Solstice!"
Yaviss blinked. "Thanks," he said to the stranger, but they had already gone.
Almost as soon as the book-giver had gone, another stranger appeared, this one much closer in age to Yaviss and Zuna. It was a Fallen-Naga hybrid with enormous hands and a fluff-ended tail. Well, sort of a stranger, anyway--Yaviss had seen her picture before. "Hey, Mary," he said. "No, no luck in finding Xyla yet. But we think we've seen Quilo at least."
Zuna peered over Yaviss's shoulder to look at the book. "I've heard of that one," she said. "It's a kid's book."
"And I suppose this one is?" the mysterious book giver said. They pressed a book into Zuna's hands and rushed away before the Naiad could say anything.
"Thanks!" Zuna shouted at them, then turned to Yaviss. "I think the librarians are getting a little salty." She turned to the next newcomer and tilted her head. Okay, so this was Mary, apparently. She wasn't sure what she'd expected--probably another mutant like Xyla. But this Nightmare seemed mostly ordinary--except for a right eye that wasn't pointing in the right direction. Huh, wall-eyed. Yeah, that sounded like a friend of Xyla's. She nodded a greeting to the hybrid. "I'm Zuna," she said, then felt uncomfortable for having mentioned it.
Quilo snorted and leaned against Xeno. "Why ever would you think that?" he said, batting his eyelashes outrageously (or at least what he thought was outrageously). "Could it be because I am?" He squeezed Xeno's hand just to remind himself that the Chimera was there. He looked around at their surroundings. He'd been hoping to introduce Xeno to his new friends, Zuna and Yaviss. If he just looked around enough, he thought he could see a set of dark blue dreads heading their direction. He turned Xeno around gently and pointed the dreads out. The closer they got, the clearer it was that they were, in fact, Zuna's locks, accompanied by the familiar scowl of Yaviss and an unfamiliar Fallen and Naga hybrid. "Xeno, I'd like you to meet my friends."
Someone passing by him handed him an orange bulb. Quilo blinked. "Thanks!" he said.
"I thought you might like them," the stranger said with a wink and a jerk of their head. Quilo blushed. They did bring out the color in Xeno's eyes...
Xenophon blushed, his wings flaring as he was pushed a little off-balance. "Well, I thought I'd confirm," he murmured. Then he blushed further. Quilo had been joking! Xeno's tail twitched. He was new to dating, okay? Quilo was his very first boyfriend, after all!
Xeno looked in the direction Quilo was pointing and nodded. He'd had an inkling that that had been Quilo's intention today--could it be because Quilo had told him? Well, he had, so at least Xeno had had time to prepare Ruka for the strangers. Thankfully, they were all teenagers--Ruka could stand teenagers, at least for a little while. "Shall we meet them?" he said. He wasn't sure if he was talking to Quilo, his little sister, or himself.
The stranger with the bulbs handed him a blue bulb, then made a head gesture towards him that, frankly, bordered on the lascivious. Xeno frowned at them until they moved on.
Mary hadn't met Yaviss or Zuna, but Xyla had shown her photographs of the pair, so she at least knew what to expect. "Nice to meet you, Zuna," she said. She held out a hand to shake, but was prepared to pull it back. Zuna was not supposed to be the touchy-touchy kind. Nor was Yaviss, for that matter--how could they be friends with Xyla with attitudes like that?!
Eh, everyone was different. Maybe that's what Xyla saw in them. After all, she and Xyla didn't seem too similar on the surface... "And it's nice to meet you, too, Yaviss."
Something ran over her foot. She turned to see what it was to see a tiny bird thing jumping at the fluff at the end of her tail. She sighed and scooped it up. "Stop that," she murmured. The bird hissed at her, then gnawed on a finger. Considering those sharp teeth, it was actually being gentle. "I'll let you sit on my finger, I guess," Mary sighed. "Just don't act like a jerk, okay?"
Nkiruka sighed and braced herself for incoming teenagers. Greaaaaaat. This was her life now.
The stranger handing out necklaces to Quilo and her brother handed her a stuffed cat and a pair of earrings, so honestly she couldn't see why Quilo and Xeno were getting so upset. They seemed nice! "Let's go meet them," she said pointedly.
Takaroa continued through the fair, only stopping when a dark green Skyfish wriggled up against his arm. He laughed and petted it. "Want to come home with me?" he said.
As soon as Mango was done rearranging the plants, and taking a picture of the nice little scenery in every angle, he opened the next box to see..stockings!
"Oh yay!" He exclaimed as he took the stocking and hung it over the fire place. He then took the plushie out from his sweater and placed the plushie inside.
"There. Nice and warm. Now stay there and watch me okay?" Mango then proceeded to place the other stockings up on display.
Azure was existed, his birthday drew closer with every day, and his favorite time of year was here, the winter solstice was something he looked forward to this year, big plans, lots of hope and he finally had everything he wanted. he prepared then went to go to Beryls dorm room. but along the way he pondered on something, maybe something to give her would be something to bring her up out of the room from her work and in to the snow with him, he found a hot drink stand, he bought them a drink to share and something she hold to keep warm on this chilly night. with that he made his way to the door knocking before entering ,"Beryl my beautiful darling, i have a question to ask you." he said sweetly ." will you come with me to the winter solstice?" he asked joyfully as he set a huge, but adorable plush on her desk awaiting her answer with a smile. mug for azure to keep ignore spoiler stalking pick
Cuileann was engrossed in her book, although she was half paying attention to what was going on around her. She kept reading but walking and suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her arm. Looking up suddenly she realized she walked into a display of trinkets and immediatly dropped to her knees to help clean up her mess, her face all red from embarassment. "I am sorry, I was not paying attention. I will have this cleaned up in a moment" with a soft sigh she gathered the items in her hands and stood up.
A soft voice called to her, "No issue Dryad, these things happen more then you know. Thank you for the help, please keep a trinket as my thanks".
Looking down at the trinkets she placed back on the display a lovely colored bracelet caught her attention and she slipped it on with a smile on her face.
Lokni was walking about with the blue plush in one hand and his note pad in the other back to observing the weather and those who were out in it. He was intrigued as usual by the different races reactions to the elements of weather. Writing became difficult since his hand hurt, deciding to take a quick break from the data collecting, he spied a game he wanted to try. This one involved a dart, balloons and plushies although this game had other types of prizes. He seemed to always play a game involving them for some reason. Shrugging he picked up the dart and aimed for the dark green balloon near the middle and it popped!!! Inside was a small card saying "Plush". Hearing this he looked and saw a blue jackalope with clouds on it and pointed to it. Retrieving his prize he decided to go back to his dorm to put away the plushies and get his data recorded in the graphs and spreadsheets for further study.
Karayas was beginning to get hungry, she was walking around taking in all the sights looking for something to eat when she spied it. CANDY!!! Yes candy, she knew she should get something that was filling but she wanted it. Stopping at the table she picked up a large lollipop and happily smiled before walking off.
Kayndie was getting a bit bored and was trying to decide to leave or stay. Maybe she would find some of her old classmates who was a year or so below her and see how they are doing when she saw what looked to be a small tree made out of candy canes. Suddenly she wanted one, laughing as she made her way over made her choice and sauntered off with a renewed vigor of enjoying the festival.
Iason was beginning to feel a bit uneasy in his stomach, he knew better then eat that much candy but he did not care. He loved this festivals sweets and he looked around for more. Spying what he wanted, he asked the lady how much and she handed him the candyfloss saying this one is free due to being a new flavor, can you guess what it is? Taking a bite he tried to name it but could not. Shrugging he walked off as he ate the new treat.
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Azure was existed, his birthday drew closer with every day, and his favorite time of year was here, the winter solstice was something he looked forward to this year, big plans, lots of hope and he finally had everything he wanted. he prepared then went to go to Beryls dorm room. but along the way he pondered on something, maybe something to give her would be something to bring her up out of the room from her work and in to the snow with him, he found a hot drink stand, he bought them a drink to share and something she hold to keep warm on this chilly night. with that he made his way to the door knocking before entering ,"Beryl my beautiful darling, i have a question to ask you." he said sweetly ." will you come with me to the winter solstice?" he asked joyfully as he set a huge, but adorable plush on her desk awaiting her answer with a smile.
