Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil laughed and followed after Lin.

As they drew near the four, River's voice became more audible.

"-can't wait to see how the races go! I want to take part too, and you have to, too, Uncle Adwin! I bet you'll win, you're really fast! You're the best runner I've ever seen! Neko, are there going to be horse races too? There should be, because Nineko says we've got the best horses in the world and some of the best riders, and he says you're the best trainer he's ever seen -"

She broke off suddenly as she spotted Miyuki, Lin and Earendil. She waved wildly at them and squealed out, "Hiiiiiii!"

River pouted, genuine hurt registering in her eyes.

"But it has been ages!" she protested. "It's been at least a week! We've been so busy with preparing for today and tomorrow that I've hardly left the house!"

That explained her energy - it was pent up from being indoors for the better part of a week.

"For me?" River blinked, taken by surprise. "Why would you be looking for me? We're not leaving for our trip yet, we're just getting things ready for today - wait, are you going to help us to set things up?"

Her eyes grew bright. "It's a big track, we could use some help! Do you want to help us?"

River positively beamed at that. "Excellent!" she squealed. "Come on, this way! Follow me!"

She grabbed Miyuki's hand and dashed off towards a pile of markers that needed to be laid out, being careful to go at a pace that Miyuki could keep up with.

Earendil chuckled at Lin. "That's one way to get her involved."

The preparations didn't take long, and soon enough, the celebrations were really and truly underway. There was plenty of food for everyone, and games to play and contests to take part in, and Shiro had taken up his violin and was fiddling away for those who wanted to dance - there were several married couples after all.

"So what do you want to play first?" River asked Miyuki eagerly. "There's races and contests and dancing and games - what do you want to do?"

"Okay!" River beamed. "The games are this way, come on!" She took Miyuki's hand again and led her to where the games were. They weren't quite designed for children, as there weren't many children in the area at all, but that didn't mean that the children couldn't play them. They were quite doable.

There was a ring toss, bean bag toss, bobbing for apples, matching games, among others.

"What do you want to do first?" River grinned at Miyuki as they paraded past them all.

River giggled. "All right!"

She guided Miyuki over to the game, which was being taken care of by one of the fighters that Lin hadn't met before.

"Hi, Dorian!" she greeted the man cheerfully. "Miyuki wants to try your game!"

The man was on the short side for an elf, so quite a bit shorter than Earendil, but he had the same dark hair as any Southlander, his skin slightly coppertoned. He had a warm smile and kind brown eyes.

"That so?" he grinned. "Shall I explain it to you? Or have you played before?"