Closed The Okomo Festival

[Madeira Dusk]

30th of Summer, 519

There was a soul to this city, Madeira had to admit. Though it did not dance or dream like Alvadas, though it did not speak or think or feel like the Infinity Manor, it still had this small, joyous sense of heart.

It was summer, and the air was rich and alive with the sound of childish laughter. There was a festival today, an old tradition to honour the city's beloved Okomo. The creatures were dotted across Sartu peak, looking resplendent in their spring coats of pastel greens and pinks and blues. Some were armoured in leather and glimmering plate, standing tall and imposing beside their riders. Others were armoured in nothing but paint and flowers, and stood with patience beside giggling children holding out bags of heart-shaped treats. People had gathered from every peak to celebrate these magnificent beasts.

Madeira held tight to her two children as they stepped off the skybridge from Shinyama. Amelie's hand was small and soft in hers, feeling incredibly delicate and fragile through the layers of rings, silk glove and scar tissue that covered her own hand. Moritz was balanced on the hip of her blue cotton dress and held tight against her body. The way was flanked on all sides by vendors selling woven baskets, knit toys, and sweets for children and Okomo alike at the top of their voices. The open space ahead was packed tight with animals and people, all alight with the festivities.

"Ooooo, Ameile, look!" Emma was bouncing on her toes ahead of the group, doing her part to conveniently part the superstitious crowed ahead of them and act as lookout for the best attractions. "They're painting the Okomo's horns! That's so weird. Maddy, can we have some? Please!"

Was it overstimulating? Was Amelie feeling okay? Was Moritz going to bolt? Though to an outsider it looked like this small young family had been growing for a few years, it had really been a little over a season since Madeira became a mother. This was the first festival the babes had been to and she wasn't sure what to expect.

As Emma noticed, the children of the festival all seemed to be carrying tiny buckets of paint. There were great smears of it across the grass and the noses of the most tolerant Okomo. Madeira spotted a tired-looking youth who presided over the pots of festive mess, and asked for two. Then asked for one more when Emma's dangerous pout caught her eye. The youth handed Madeira a green, blue and a pink pot, and watched them curiously as they left. With Emma leading the way Madeira was able to stake out a spot bereft of both people and beasts at the edge of the festivities.

"Oh, boy, you're getting heavier every day, Moritz." Madeira dropped Amelie's hand so she could kneel and sit her son down in the grass with a huff. "You'll be as big as these monsters soon, won't you? Amelie, little fox, I can see you. Try not to wander off."

Emma was dancing around the three of them in a tight circle, her soulmist a flurry of childish exuberance, hands over her face in shy excitement. "There's one! There's one! It's coming this way. Look!"

An old Okomo, with grey peppered into its colourful coat, rumbled over to them. As tall as a horse and twice as big, it chuffed through its nose as it's heavy head swung from side to side in search of treats or strokes. It passed straight through the ghost, completely unperturbed, and snuffled at Moritz and Amelie in turn.

[Moritz Craven]

30 Summer 519

Moritz stared out from the spot on his mothers hip, as usual a serious expression on his face. Or at least, a serious expression for someone who by all appearances was two years old, maybe a bit over two but not by too much.

He was clearly concentrating, trying to meet the eyes of another Okomo. They all seemed distracted though, and he did not seem able to do so. It was not that they were ignoring him, it was just that the other children where taking their interest.

For a moment he considered changing to his other form and walking right up to one... But then he would lose his ride, and.... And he was big. He could walk. But then, people rode Okomo, so why should he note take people for a ride? Fair. So no changing yet.

He wore clothes, pants, a shirt, things, but no shoes. For a moment he looked down at his toes, and let them wiggle about. Had he lost his shoes on the way? Taken them off? Had he been wearing them when he left? He did not like shoes. They blocked his feet, he could not grip right when he wore them. Why did people wear shoes?

Another Okomo passed by and his head jerked up, and with a serious expression he tried to meet the Okomo's eyes but... No another child was on the other side, and it had turned wrong.

Today was about Okomo. Okomo party. He was an Okomo, or at least was one part of the time when not wearing clothes and things like now.

More Okomo. Bodies pressed cloth. Little person, kid, touched as passed. Pressed. More people. More Okomo. Humans. Okomo. Mom. Sister. People. Colors. Other person that came with not mom or sister also with. Talk to sister.

Eyes turning Moritz looked, seeing colors on some of the Okomo and their horns. He looked about at the other children, but could not see what they were. Were they foxes like sister? Not Okomo surely, not like Moritz. Maybe other animals? Cat? Uh... Dog? Other? None changed, so he could not tell.

They were picking something up, and moving off. Away from people, but still with people. Edge of people. Then his mother sat him down, and he was left to look up at everyone around him. He was in the grass, he could feel the grass on the bottoms of his feet and the tops of his toes.

He stood, jerking upward a bit, but then gaining his balance and looking about. He did not move, just yet, but just looked about from where he stood.

In response to his mothers half asked question, Moritz simply said "Oak-Mo", in correction to her calling them monsters. That after all was not the right word, but then his mother could be silly like that. Using the wrong words. Testing Moritz, seeing if he knew the right word.

Talking about himself, but still on the vein of her prior question, Moritz continued with "Me big."

The girl with them who did not touch but touched without touching seemed excited, like she was happy just to be out of the house and around other people. Moritz gave her a serious expression for a moment, before turning to see an Okomo drawing near.

Moritz sniffed at the Okomo, his square eyes meeting the likewise ones on the Okomo. Moritz nodded to the Okomo in deference. The Okomo nodded back in recognition. Or no, it was shaking a bit of paint off its nose. No, it had nodded to him in response to his nod. It knew another Okomo when it saw one, and he was an Okomo even if only looking like not an Okomo right then. He was both an Okomo and not an Okomo, both at once. Only he had to pick one at a time, and could not be both at the same time.

Grabbing at his mothers leg, Moritz looked up and then looked at the Okomo.

"Mommy. Change?"

For some reason, he was not sure why, his mother did not like him changing outside without asking first. So he would ask, and then change. After waiting a moment or two for her to respond, he would go ahead and try to take his shirt off in preparation for changing into an Okomo with the other Okomo.

[Amelie Craven]

Amelie Craven

The festival was pretty. Everywhere she looked there were colors, people and Okomo, just like Moritz, but bigger. Mommy had said the festival was a way to say thank you to the Okomo for helping Lhavit, but Moritz never helped, he just ran around and made everyone chase after him, it was fun though. Maybe one of the big Okomo would teach him how to help.

The closer they got the less she could see, there were just a lot of legs everywhere, Moritz could probably see up in mommy’s arms, lucky little brother. It was a little scary with so many people around and Amelie pressed herself closer to mom’s legs, squeezing her hand tighter as bright blue eyes followed after Emma, hearing the ghost girl yelling about something.

”Paint?” She wanted to see the paint!

Suddenly forgetting her fear of the big crowd, Amelie began to tug her mother along in excitement, aiming for Emma and spotting the pretty paint. ”Mommy I want paint too! Can I paint Moritz?” The Okomo currently being painted had giant pretty horns, not like her brother, but she still wanted to try.

When her mom got the paint, Amelie was practically bouncing with excitement, but managed to remain patient enough to reach the grass before slipping her hand from her mother’s grip and twirling towards the pots. ”Pretty pink for pretty Emma!” She began, separating the pots between the three of them, ”Blue for Amelie.” Her eyes were blue so it was fair. ”And green for cute Moritz.” She didn’t know what colour was her brother’s favourite, but he was always happy outside on the green grass.

The paints had only just been divided when she heard Emma call out again, Amelie turning to see a giant Okomo walking towards them, eyes wide with wonder as she skipped towards the pretty giant. ”Look Moritz! He’s so pretty and big! That’s gonna be you one day!” The words were all but giggled out, the thought of her naughty brother being a giant was funny.

While Moritz and the Okomo had a stare off, Amelie ran her fingers through it’s pretty coat, eyes sparkling with excitement.

”Would you like to sit on his back, pretty girl?”

The words came from a smiling man who was walking next to the giant Okomo, he had lines on his face. What were they called again? Wrinkles. A bit shy but far more excited, Amelie nodded three times over, allowing the nice man to easily lift her and place her on the giant Okomo’s soft back, her hands reaching to hold the sparkly horns. ”Moritz look!” She wanted her brother to see how high she was as she laughed, bright blue eyes now in search of mommy too.

[Madeira Dusk]

Madeira smiled as Amelie took it upon herself to shoulder the monumental task of dividing the paint. Her brows were creased and Madeira could almost see the wheels turning as she put much thought into who deserved what colour. Her decisiveness as she made the choice and doled out the paints equally sparked a small bit of pride in the Spiritist. Little Amelie might turn out to be a leader like her mother.

At the very least the twins seemed to be excited for the festival, and curious. They showed no fear as the massive animal came snuffling closer, though their mother felt a shiver of apprehension at something so big being so close. A wrong step could crush the kids. Or her, for that matter. On the heels of the big beast was an old smiling man that might have been the Okomo's human twin. They had the same kind, crinkly eyes and big grey beards.

She didn't have long to ponder them, though. Amelie had already wobbled over to the pair and had her hands full of Okomo fluff, while Moritz had her by the leg, and was struggling out of his shirt as he asked if he could change into an Okomo too.

"Be careful, little fox, he's a lot bigger than you", she begged her daughter even as she knelt to rescue her son from the snare of cotton he found himself in. "I guess you're the owner of this handsome creature?" she asked as she pulled off Moritz shirt and helped him struggle out of his pants.

"Owner? No, no, nobody owns an Okomo" the old man chuckled, putting a hand on the beast shoulder. "He and I are friends. We used to be riders back in the day", he puffed his skinny chest out proudly, and the Okomo gave a proud snuff that bent the grass below its heavy head. "Yep, me and ol' Swiftsilver know these mountains like the back of our hands, yes we do."

"Is that so?" she hummed to cover her smile. What was with riders and their mounts? To hear the Drykas and Endal talk, their beasts might as well be human too.

"All done. Go ahead, Moritz. You can change and go play. But stay close!", she warned, before letting the naked toddler toddle away.

But while her attention was elsewhere the old man had turned to her daughter with grandfatherly charm and lifted her onto the back of his old Okomo friend. Amelie was laughing delightedly, her short legs held out almost flat across the creatures enormous shoulders. She had its sparkly iridescent horns in each hand as she called for Moritz to look at her.

"Woah! No, no, take her down. She's too young to ride!" she snapped at the old man, jumping up to snatch the child off its back. Two children is too many to keep ones eye on, she decided right then- forgetting for a moment that she had three.

"Bad Okomo! Give her back", Emma squealed gleefully, not quite understanding the harsh cut of Madeira's tone. Putting as much force into it as her terribly weak shroud would allow, she shoved playfully at the Okomo's massive head with her materialized hands.

The electric shock of being touched by a materialized ghost was too much for the creature. It spooked, recoiling violently away from the touch and knocking both Madeira and his brittle old handler off their feet. A cloven hoof stumbled into them and Madeira yelped and rolled away just in time to keep the heavy beast from breaking her leg. Confused and feeling trapped, the beast brayed and leapt away from the chaos, taking off down the rolling slopes of Sartu in leaps much too fast for a creature its size.

Madeira scrambled to her feet, pushing the old man out of her way. Did the Okomo manage to crush her chest after all? Why was it suddenly so much harder to breath?

"Amelie!"

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz stared for a moment when the odd container holding something or other was handed to him. His sister seemed excited by it, but he could not fathom why. He considered it a moment before gently setting the object down on the ground.

An oddly shaped container had no interest for him. He supposed he could break it, but at the moment such a action did not interest him. Not when there were other things to do. And it did not seem like an overly satisfactory thing to do anyways, not compared to other things he could be doing.

At the moment Moritz was more focused on being an Okomo about the other Okomo. And he could not do that with the cloth chains about him. Why he had to wear them he did not know, another "because mommy said so" one. Something he would ferret out later, but had not yet done so.

It seemed his sister was being very nice to the other Okomo, saying nice things about him which she did not say about him. Rather silly he felt, for even not full grown he was a much finer Okomo than this one. And once he was grown, and had more than nubs for horns, he would be the grandest Okomo of all. It was not a question of if, but when.

Until the man with the Okomo had spoken, Moritz had not known he was there. He was so lesser compared to the Okomo beside him, even faded as that Okomo was. The other Okomo looked at the man for a moment, holding himself in comparison to the human in a way only another Okomo could understand. He was not standing by the human, like how a tree might grow next to a house. He stood with the human, like how... Something did with something, but jointly planned and in unison rather than by chance. Like... Something, but regardless Moritz understood this bit of unspoken Okomo speak.

Moritz was not upset at the Okomo for letting his sister ride her, though he did fail to understand why his sister had not just asked him for a ride if she had wanted one. He was after all her brother, and though not full grown he felt he was enough of an Okomo for his sister to perch on him.

He however passed his mind from this small hurt as he focused on removing his clothes which so chained and limited him. But then his mother was helping him become unrestrained, something he found odd seeing as she was the reason he was restrained to begin with.

Shirt off. Pants, off. Soon he was free and loose and not held captive by the clothing. Moritz did his best to fold them neatly as he had seen others do, but more so seemed to wad them up and finally just let them drop for another to address them.

That task done he turned to his sister in anticipation of changing to his Okomo form which was at once a part of him but his whole as the Him that was Moritz. He took a few steps away from the others, tottering a bit but gaining confidence after a few more paces. This gave him the room to freely change without worrying about bumping into things when his size changed.

Then his mother was screeching the "NO" word he recognized, and other things in rapid succession that he did not fully gather. But her tone was clear enough, she was angry at the Okomo man for something.

That anger then continued to the girl who was not able to touch, who then angrily came at the Okomo and tried to touch it without touching it. Though with her she seemed less angry, and more like Moritz when he was playing a game. Her anger was just a game, copied from his mother.

Living about such people who could not touch, Moritz would have known what to do, and who to do it towards, but this Okomo did not. His body screamed in surprise. Confusion. Anger. Fear. Surprise. And with all of that melted into one, flight from the unknown thing was the answer. Moritz knew this, understood this, but did not agree with this.

The Okomo then began to careen off, knocking down his mother and the Okomo's own man, partner, bond. And his sister was still on his back. All of this occurred to his mind in an instant, which was followed by anger. Anger seethed in his Okomo eyes, focused on this Okomo that would harm "His" sister. He did not know the man. His mother would be fine, it was just a gentle bump as far as Okomo went. But his sister was "His" sister, and would not be carried off by a Okomo in fear.

In the next moment there was nothing, and then the moment after that Moritz was still Moritz but a different Moritz. He was big. And standing on all fours. And big. Not as big as the aged Okomo, but close enough compared to his small form before his change.

And then Moritz was leaping after the other Okomo, letting his long gangling Okomo form power him forward and after the escaped Okomo as his mother could not hope to do.

In a rage Moritz yelled at the Okomo carrying his sister as he charged after her. To an Okomo the words were a white hot fury, a single focused anger on one single thing. The other Okomo he was chasing did not respond in kind, perhaps still to startled and addled to do much else, but his meaning was quite clear to any of the other Okomo to hear it.

"Stop! My sister! Is my sister! You stop! Not hurt sister!"

To any humans to hear this, his cry would come off as an odd almost human screech with no meaning beyond volume. A battle cry screamed before racing onward which would make any right minded being whether human or Okomo move from his path or aid in his goal. "Aaaaaaaaah!"

[Amelie Craven]

Amelie Craven

Amelie had barely been on the giant Okomo’s back for a tick when she heard her mommy shout, she sounded very angry. A pang of fear filled her little heart, had she done something wrong? She was supposed to be a good girl. She didn’t want to make mommy angry. What did she do? All those questions filled her mind as Amelie turned her icy blue gaze towards her mother and quickly saw that she was angry with the man not her. That was a relief.

Before the little Craven could enjoy the relief of her newfound innocence, the giant Okomo suddenly jumped into action, Amelie’s tiny hands instinctually grabbing the Okomo’s large horns as tightly as she could, a high pitch squeal escaping her little lips. Moments later, she was being pulled away from mommy on the back of the Okomo, holding on as best she could but giggling happily now that the initial shock of the movement had worn off. This was fun, she’d never tried to ride on Moritz back, she felt like he’d throw her off.

Barreling away from mommy’s location, Amelie did her best to look behind her, long locks of plaited white hair bouncing lawlessly about her little face as blue eyes met with her brother’s much smaller Okomo form chasing after them. ”Moritz!” She managed to giggle out, still smiling from ear to ear, completely unaware of any potential danger.

The panicked Okomo continued to jump, run and change direction in its panicked state, Amelie still managing to climb to the creatures horns, though as fun as the ride was, her hands were starting to skip. It wasn’t a big deal right? After all, she had two and the ride was still fun, even as the Okomo ran, headfirst, through the paint stand they’d been at only moments ago, sending colorful pots and paint flying everywhere, including Amelie’s dress and the Okomo’s eyes, the miserable youth manning the stand narrowly managing to dive to safety.

The paint assault manages to draw an odd mixture of a scream and laugh out of Amelie’s mouth, still enjoying herself, albeit caught off guard by the paints. Also, she really liked her pretty dress and now it was dirty. She really hoped mommy wouldn’t be too mad.

Another thing that the paint hit, was one of her hands which immediately slid right off of its spot around the Okomo’s horn, Amelie now waving around with just one hand on the panicked, and temporarily blinded, beast. The Okomo bucked and whined in its state, luckily managing not to hit anything too solid, for the time being, though that could only last so long and Amelie was already growing tired of the unexpected ride, her sensitive ears picking up the flurry of screams and gasps from the surrounding crowd.

[Madeira Dusk]

The chaos of the Craven family gouged through the festival, leaving a furrow of panic through the otherwise tranquil summer day. People and beasts scattered from the path of the confused Okomo, throwing down paints and food and pushing each other aside in their efforts to avoid the thousand pound beast charging their way. It was only after the beast had passed that anybody noticed that between the nearly meter long horns, holding on for dear life, was a little girl. But their shouts of alarm were batted aside as another beast came charging through, with a war cry that drowned them all out. A little pastel coloured Okomo kid with a fierce voice stampeded after the older beast, screaming all the way.

And Madeira, weak and feeble and unforgivably human, could do nothing as both her young children shot out of reach.

Behind her the old man was struggling to his feet, stumbling over his stiff joints and the apologies that flooded from his mouth. While Emma, planted a few meters back, wailed among the abandoned pots of paint. The noise was too much. Madeira could count on herself having a cool head in a crisis- it simply came with a lifetime of living with the bizarre and the supernatural. But for the first time the urge to act was ripping through her need to think. What was this? What was this crude, base instinct that was telling her to hurl herself into this situation? To tear her children out of this altogether minor danger with bare hands and teeth?

No, there was no time to analyze this feeling. She bulled through it, clawing her rational mind forward. She could not help Amelie on her own. She was a leader, she needed to lead.

"Emma." Her sharp voice sliced through the commotion like a crack of a whip. Madeira's throat burned as she messily ripped forward her dijed, branding it into her words and ferrying it to the ghost with the contact of the sound. "Find the Shinya on the peak, they'll be in the market or the largest group of people. Tell them there's a runaway Okomo and that children have been hurt." Her dijed twisted and shimmered in the sound, snapping the child's attention with a worming, inescapable suggestion to focus.

The ghost hiccupped and vanished, and the Spiritist could sense the ghost blinking across the peak as fast as she could.

"Give me that", she whirled on the stammering old man and seized him by his chain necklace, from which swung a stone arrowhead pendent. Yanking it forward and forcing the man to bend with a choking noise, she used the point of the arrow to carve a shallow symbol of an alahea star into her wrist. Slapping her gloved hand over the welling cut, she activated the soulmist within her jet ring and summoned her servant by name.

"Jomi!"

The ghost appeared instantly. The old man yipped in fear and stumbled back, but Madeira barely noticed. She pointed down the hill, where the massive Okomo was destroying the paint stand her family had visited not twenty bells ago.

"That thing has Amelie. Stop it", she demanded, her voice sharp and paper thin as she struggled against this overwhelming need to act. Only once Jomi was gone did she return her attention to the old man.

"Get another Okomo, you're taking me down there right now."

[Jomi]

"Tonight, as soon as your eyes close, I'm going to puck you like a chicken."

The young, black haired man fidgeted nervously in the spacious stone kitchen, he kept his eyes focused on the egg and vegetable scramble that bubbled merrily over the stove. While refusing to acknowledge the ghost that hovered ominously at his elbow. His face was long and angular, a trait carried over from his crow form, with a boyish handsomeness that only served to piss the ghost off more.

"Bok-Bok."

"Quiet, you'll wake the mistress." Percy snapped, his voice was rough and piercing even speaking in a hushed tone.

Jomi deflated with a sound like steam from a kettle as he eyed the doorway into the living quarters of the lavish apartment. His ears straining for any sound of movement.

The two warring Kelvics had met after Jomi had found his beloved bondmate nearly a season ago. The crow was Edith's new pet, they had bonded several years after Jomi's death. But as far as the ghost was concerned the bird was an unworthy consolation prize. And the sooner he left the happier Edith and himself would be.

Once satisfied that his bondmate was still sound asleep in the other room, Jomi's brows knit together in concentration as he stared unblinkingly at his hands. Gathering his mists to him he focused on condensing his mist on the tops of his palms. Creating a solid barrier in his limbs and activating it with a thought.

And with that thought the ghost wound his hand back and brought it down hard on the skillet handle. Catapulting a plume of hot watery eggs into the bird Kelvic's chest.

"You don't get to speak to me like that, pest."

Percy was still on his knees, eyes widened and his teeth grit hard to prevent any disruptive sounds from waking his mistress, when the ghost felt a familiar unsettling pull emanating from his core.

"No, not-"

Jomi abruptly vanished in a puff of air, leaving the young Kelvic clutching his chest on the kitchen floor in agonizing silence.

................

"...now."

In the time it took to blink the dark, silent Solar Wind apartment was replaced with a clear endless blue sky and the sounds of panicked children.

After the shock of invocation Jomi instinctively searched for something familiar to orientate himself. His rapidly scanning eyes recognized the dome of the Cosmos center, which indicated he was on Sartu. And then there were the horse sized, candy coloured goats that crowded the street. But why were there so many of them and why were they covered in paint?

"That thing has Amelie. Stop it."

Sure enough the ghost could just make out the bouncing white head of the smallest Craven. And she was rapidy getting smaller as a monstrously sized Okomo took off over the sloping grass hills. A much smaller Okomo stumbled along in its tracks screaming at the top of it's lungs. No doubt the reckless Mortiz seeking vengeance. The sight made Jomi's soulmist seize painfully. He tried hard not to analyze that reaction.

Having been given his mission, the ghost took off. Blinking as fast as he could down the mountain and startling humans and Okomo alike with every reappearance.

Jomi's body dematerialized with every blink, becoming no more than a suggestion of a shape as he ducked beneath the Okomo's thundering hooves. He collected on the ground beneath it's feet before the ghost blinked up and collided viciously with the unprepared soul. The ghost focused his energy and soulmist on dominating the thick muscles of the legs. He saturated the muscles and tendons with his essence and isolated the threads of his astral body, puppeting the threads he rushed to fill the shape of his host. Jomi could feel the Okomo's soul thrash in panic as its motor functions were hijacked, but the ghost worked quickly to subdue his host and used his leverage to force the Okomo's legs up.

The beast dropped to it's knees mid stride. Leaving deep furrows in the dirt as it's momentum dragged its heavy body several meters. Amelie no doubt would have a nasty bruise from the sudden stop.

Once either the baby fox was safely off the beasts back or Madeira came to collect her children, Jomi would blink away again.

He still had a crow to pluck.

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz ran after the Okomo, focusing on it to the exclusion of anything else. As Moritz charged after the runaway Okomo, his sister turned and called his name.

He was not as fast as the alarmed Okomo, and his legs were not as long, but he was doing his best to keep pace. Doing the better for it perhaps because he was directly heading for the Okomo with his sister on its back, whereas that Okomo was careening about wildly.

Moritz followed, and ignored all else. His job was to follow, nothing else. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was. Only him, and his sister, and the other Okomo was. All else was but a fluttering distraction to his angered mind.

Wrenching and smashing, and the sound of something being broken and poured. Something liquid under his hooves as he followed along. Flecks splashing up to mar his fur across the sides. Slipping a bit, and regaining traction. Racing onward again.

Then after more running, pain in his sides from air not wanting to enter fast enough, there was a flicker of motion. Color, motion, movement. Something about the other Okomo.

And then unexpectedly the Okomo... Stopped. Almost as if he had been tripped, his legs moved and then he fell and ground to a halt on the... Ground...

It took Moritz a moment to realize this. A moment more to realize he was hot on the heels of the other Okomo, and would run into it. He did not have time to stop. He could try and go around it, but his direction and speed were straight.

Another moment and his mind decided, evade or jump. Collide or....

Jump. Rather than slowing down as he neared the Okomo and his sister he picked up speed. And then at the last moment he leapt into the air in an attempt to clear both of them. A leap, not even looking to see what was on the other side, but leaping to avoid smashing into both of them and hurting his sister who was then so small compared to his Okomo might.

[Amelie Craven]

Amelie Craven

As the giant Okomo continued its panicked rampage across the festival grounds, so too did Amelie continue her amused laughter, still clutching one the creature’s horns . Every now and then she’d hazard a look back to see how far behind her brother was, it was like a race, except while she was usually faster in human form and him in animal form, now the odds were somewhat fair for both of them... and for the time being, she was winning.

”Come on Moritz! I’m gonna w-“

Her words were cut short as the Okomo barrelled through its second stand, this time sending an assortment of pretty flowers into the air, some sticking to the spots where both Amelie and the beast had been coveted in paint. The shock from the flower stand had forced the young fox to instinctually wrap both her arms around a single horn, straddling the protrusion as it quickly became apparent that the ride was no longer just fun and games.

”Moritz! Mommy! Emma!” The screams rang out only to be drowned by the cacophony of similar exclamations from the rest of the festival goers, Amelie’s blue eyes shutting tightly as she saw the crazed Okomo heading for a third stand, this one covered in colorful strings of beads.

The beast continued its jagged path towards the stand, Amelie bracing herself for an impact that never came. Instead, she felt the Okomo’s body and movements stiffen beneath her, its head suddenly tilting forwards as it slid across the earth, her body slamming into the straddled horn with an inaudible ‘Oof’ as the wind was knocked out of her small body. This ride had not been as fun as it had started out.

It took a tick or three for Amelie to realise that her, not so joyous, joyride had come to an end, tear filled blue eyes opening to see that they’d stopped just short of the bead stands and in just in time to see a familiar little Okomo, Moritz, airborne as he passed over her, but she was too winded to do anything but watch.