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 Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:32 am
((These are IC/not-for-tribute-contest gifts to Yu - cleared with the Poof this was okay - from my characters. 'Cause who doesn't like extra presents?))  Ashoka had known about this party for weeks before it had started; it was difficult to surprise someone who could see the future, at least sometimes. She'd also known that people were going to be giving things to Yu Five Claws, brother to her god and father (sort of) to her children. It would have followed, therefore, that she would have found him a present days ago, but that was not the case. Instead, she waited until the last minute to go searching for a suitable gift...whether it was anyone else's idea of suitable was up for debate.
The pard did have an appreciation for shiny things, especially in the form of jewelry, but that had not struck her fancy as a gift for Xia Lu Ling. Besides, the risk of the dragon looking ridiculous in jewelry not made specifically for him was high. Ashoka was a prophet, not a jeweler, and she couldn't just ask Sirpa to make her something - then it would be Sirpa's present! Besides, she wasn't in much of a position to ask anything of her fellow pard; choosing to tag along after Zhiji had put her on the outs with most of her pride. They were still pissed about Seppa.
Her thoughts had, therefore, gone to other things that she liked, things that might be simpler to acquire: tasty things, cute things, comfortable things, and so on. She couldn't cook, so tasty was out. The future of cute things in Yu's presence was uncertain, so that was also out. Comfortable, though...that she could do! Recalling when Fragment had brought her supplies from which to make a nest, she decided that what the huge dog-dragon needed was a huge dog bed. Finding one, however, proved most difficult, as they weren't typically made with Dragon King-sized puppies in mind.
Ashoka had to make one. In the market, she found what she deemed an excellent fabric (blue, but a bit brighter than Yu) with pretty silver accents, and then she bought the stuffing, lots of wonderful soft down that she proceeded to roll around in as soon as she got it home. Once she'd gotten that out of her system, she settled down and sewed the giant pillow. She stabbed herself with the needle a few times, but the occasional spot of blood aside, it really was an excellent dog bed!
Proudly, and struggling not to drag it on the ground, she carried it down and laid it on Yu's pile, stopping a moment to survey the other gifts. Yep, hers was totally the best.
...except for that kitten, maybe.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:38 pm
 Iden existed more or less on the periphery of all this godly stuff - she was friends with Ashoka, and occasionally more than friends with Rio, but beyond that wasn't very involved. She knew about and accepted it, but certainly wasn't what you'd call a devotee, or even a serious follower. She'd been a little hesitant to attend the party at all - crowds could be difficult for the vampire - but she couldn't very well ignore it entirely. Even Tori had been drawn out by it, and if the ultra-shy pard could do it, so could she...at least for an hour or so. Upon arriving, however, she'd discovered that the Dragon King whose host was responsible for Ashoka's weird spawn which she was occasionally roped into watching was receiving offerings. Oh, dear. It was never good to be that person at a party who didn't bring a present, so she went home to figure something out. It was hard. What did you get for a god - a dragon god at that - especially one you didn't know? Dragons liked treasure (or so she'd heard), but she had no treasure. She didn't have much of anything outside of normal, everyday possessions period, and she was reasonably confident he wouldn't need or want any of those. She had a few little pets, a handful of survivors from what had once been a menagerie of pooka, nyokiir, and assorted other creatures, but she couldn't help but be suspicious of what might happen to them if she gave one to the Dragon King. He was very predatory-looking. There were always the siirae, though...she had no attachment to them whatsoever, and even if she did, she wouldn't be afraid of them becoming snacks. She couldn't imagine anyone would actually want to eat one of the rotty-faced undead hybrids. She also wasn't sure anyone would actually want one, but she'd sold them to one of those god-servant guys before, so maybe it wasn't a terrible idea. Which was good, because it was her only idea. Iden selected a young one, roughly equivalent to yearling age, and the least disagreeable of the lot (which, to be honest, wasn't saying much), haltered it up as securely as possible, and returned to the celebration. The vampire had to keep a strong grip on it, and several times had to resort to physically bullying it to get it to where Yu sat accepting his gifts. Crowds might be sketchy for vampires, but they were seriously bad news for siirae - they did so like to eat people. Hand firmly on one of the creature's horns, she bowed to the god, looking a touch awkward. "So, um, this is a siira. I understand if you don't want him, he's really ugly. And mean. And he bites. But they're good guard-dog...things. Just, uh, make sure someone holds onto him." "...Oh, I guess I can if you need me to. Otherwise he might go eat somebody." And that would be bad.  ((Can you tell it's been forever since I made a siira? XD))
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:16 pm
 By and large, the line of people waiting to present their gifts to Yu Five Claws had been orderly, kept moving, and not terribly long at any given point in time. Until, that was, a rather large brown dragon had entered it - not that he disturbed the others waiting ahead of him by his presence, it was just that he ended up being the line. Thirty-four feet of dragon and everything else that went with it wasn't ideal for crowd situations, and his rider had informed him of that, but Hamath had insisted on presenting his gift himself. Xia Lu Ling was not their god, but he was Zhijian's clutchmate, in the brown's limited grasp of the rather complicated situation of gods, and he was a fellow dragon...even if he looked more canine than anything.
Once it was his turn, Hamath uncurled the 'fingers' of his right forepaw to deposit a comparatively tiny stone. It was actually nothing of value to the minds of humans, not that he knew it, as he didn't have a good concept of material worth. It was just a hunk of pyrite, but it was one of his very favorite rocks from his rather extensive collection, which he'd been gathering since he was small.
When I heard that we were giving presents, I asked Mine to get out all my rocks so that I could pick one for you. It is a very nice rock, isn't it?
A hint of yellow whirled in the blue of his faceted eyes. Giving up such a nice rock was hard, but it wouldn't have been much of a present if it weren't a good rock. He'd soon forget he'd ever had it, anyway.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:29 pm
 Nashwa had very few things. She had been displaced from her own world, after all, and most of what she had now came courtesy of the God of Love. She had her riding saurus, Altan, but she was not giving him to anyone, god or no. Fortunately, she did have certain talents, and one of them was cooking. Dancing was one, also, but the Dragon King looked like someone who would be more appreciative of a good meal than of a dancing cat.
...although, when she thought about it more, that did have potential. Regardless, she opted for food, which required recruiting Adi to hunt a deer for her; a chicken was not nearly enough for a very large, very canine god. The werewolf had been happy to help, delighted to have a hand in the making of two gifts for Xia Lu Ling. With the deer downed, cleaned, and dressed, quite a process in and of itself, she'd then readied it for cooking. Nashwa hadn't cooked an entire large animal at once in quite some time, and had almost forgotten how difficult it was.
It was an enjoyable difficulty, though, the hours of work and effort, to make sure everything was perfect, from taste to appearance. She stuffed the deer with honeyed rice, almonds, and apricots, making it as like to one of her favorite dishes as she could. Traditionally it would have been made with antelope or saurus, but there were none of the former here, and she had no intentions of stuffing Altan just yet.
Once all was ready, she asked Shyamaath, Ishkhara, and Sarka to assist her in carrying the laden platter safely down the stairs and out to Yu Five Claws, where she presented it to him with a deep bow. "I have prepared a dish of my homeland for you, effendi. May it please you."
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