[Stormhold Beach] The Midwinter Fire Festival (Open)

[Nya Winters]

Nya smiled kindly. She reached out her hand and took Klane's, gently drawing him into the kelvic group that was so far just Avi and herself. "We don't bite. You look like you could use some company." And with that she started gently stroking his hair, scratching him like one would a tame canine. Nya, like most kelvics, had no boundary issues. And the fact that her eyes were bothering her along with her pounding head made her want comfort - both to give and receive it - moreso than usual. "It's okay if you are not bonded. Syliras is a good place to find a partner. And you aren't part wolf. You are a wolf. Be proud of that." She said firmly, then smiled when he said he played. "Maybe you will play for us? No one's on stage right now playing so I imagine they wouldn't mind if you did." She said calmly, in a tone she thought was reasonably gentle.

Avi enlightened her further. "Abashai knew what it was and still approached?" Nya growled low in her throat, angry a moment at her bondmates carelessness. "I need to find some anti-venom if this city is going to be filled with snakes. I have heard good healers can make such things." Nya said reasonably, turning to nuzzle Avi's shoulder and lick her bare arm a moment. "I didn't like the snake. If there were less of a crowd here, I would have tried to kill it. I still might if it doesn't find elsewhere to live." She vowed. Then she looked thoughtful at Avi's comment about Stitch.

"I don't know. I just ... didn't want to fight. I walked close to him and the urge to tear that snake's throat out was just gone. Stitch felt very good, like catnip, and it calmed me down. I don't know what he did." Nya said, growing angry for a moment. "He manipulated me. Somehow. I... " Nya growled, only now realizing what exactly had happened. "Probably his voice, maybe he can do what I can with Hypnosis...." She speculated, then shook her head. "I don't know. I will have to ask him. He might tell me the truth. I don't think he is the sort to lie, but I am not sure... you never know with people throwing djed around." She said thoughtfully.

Nya smiled at Avi's response to Klane. "She's a very beautiful owl. I am a forest cat, Talderian... we hunt together very well. Perhaps you will come with us sometime. I bet wolves are great hunters as well. There is nothing as fun as hunting with your own kind. Avi is great at flushing prey for me to chase down.... and I bet your just as swift. Maybe we could even hunt boar sometime." Nya suggested. Klane could tell by the way both women were acting that there was no question in their minds that they accepted him for exactly who he was. It was no oddity in their mind about his shapeshifting or being unbonded. It seemed perfectly acceptable either way and they strove to include him.

"How old are you Klane? You seem young to me. I'm only just two... well almost three. I have a birthday next season. It's strange, how just a few seasons can make a world of difference." She added, settling down to lean back against the log and relax. She tasted the wind with her sensitive nose, and caught her bondmate's scent which told her things were fine.

[Klane]

Normally, being petted would have felt a little bit awkward for Klane. Yet, the fact that Nya was a fellow Kelvic made the gesture more comforting. It didn't matter that he was related to the canine family, he still had a distrust in other races. He nodded his understanding towards both of them, he didn't know what he was thinking before. How could he have gotten a bondmate if he hadn't had time to get to know anyone who was nice to him, like these two, for as long as he could remember.

Klane let out a low growl, it wasn't on purpose and it wasn't in anger either. It was more of a satisfied sound, this night got him very nervous and extremely confused over a few things. The comforting touch of Nya felt good, and he welcomed it. "Thanks. And your right, I am a wolf, not part. I'm not really in the mood to play anything right now. Besides, I left my mandolin when I came here" He would have been glad to play some music, but being part-- no, being a member of the canine family, he wanted to savor the petting for as long as he could. And just the same, he hadn't left his mandolin to far behind. He could fetch it in a moment if he wanted to.

All good things come to an end though, and Klane knew that by now. At mention of the snake-man the wolf was brought back to reality, and he let out another growl. This time, it wasn't one of satisfaction, it was one of anger. Klane abruptly left his calm state, back to the real world, "I didn't like the snake either, I don't think anyone did."

"She's a very beautiful owl. I am a forest cat, Talderian... we hunt together very well. Perhaps you will come with us sometime. I bet wolves are great hunters as well. There is nothing as fun as hunting with your own kind. Avi is great at flushing prey for me to chase down.... and I bet your just as swift. Maybe we could even hunt boar sometime," Nya turned her attention back to Klane after talking about someone named Stitch.

"Stitch was the one that just left, right? He was the one going to an orphanage or something," Klane wanted to clear up his confusion before more questions could arise in his head, "And, I'd like to go hunting with you." Honestly, he wasn't sure if he'd like to go hunting, he didn't hunt for himself much at all until last season or so. These people are nice, Klane acknowledged to himself by the way they were both acting, I hope all Kelvic are like this...

"And I'm 2," Klane responded when asked his age, holding in a small chuckle at mention of stuff changing in just a few seasons. Yea, like being a slave not so long ago...

[Avi]

"Will you play?" Avi grinned brightly at Klane. "Please? I would love to hear it." She loved music, for all her inability to make it and to dance to it. It was like her own ability to dance on the wind with her wings to the songs of the sky. "I like the drum, even though the most I can do is bang it and try to make a rhythm." She confided, and shook her head a little at that, continuing to stroke Nya's hair and touching the sensitive spots behind her ears, giving just the faintest of scritches. The skin was sensitive there, after all, even if Avi's nails were fairly short and blunt.

"I think that they could. That would make sense." Avi was agreeable on the topic of healers and herbalists making antivenin. She wasn't too happy, either, about Abashai having approached the Dhani, but there wasn't much that she could have done about it at the time, besides making things worse. And Nya would not have taken kindly to her shoving around Nya's bondmate... and misunderstandings and arguments there were not something Avi wanted any part of. "I'd rather see the snake killed, though," she puffed out her cheeks and expelled the air slowly, "and then the fuss would be settled, right?"

Her eyes became a mixture of ruby and sapphire at Nya's compliments, and she lowered her head to rest her cheek against her friend's hair before carefully wiping away more of the bloody marks from the Forest Cat's cheeks with her free hand, wiping the stained tears on the back of her shirt. It was only cloth. She could wash it later. "Nya is fun to hunt with. She just won't let me take her up to the mountains to see the really big game. You should come! Then we can take turns flushing it out for the others to chase. But one of these days, I'll get her and her bondmate to go with me to Avanthal. That's where I'm from," she explained.

She nodded at Klane's age. A good age. "I'm also two, though my birthday is next Summer," she rounded off the recitation of ages from where she was resting her head against Nya's. Her brother and sisters were at least twice her age, but, well, there you had it. Such as it was with the way they aged, she'd be old or gone by the time they were reaching the middle of their lives. "Where do you come from, Klane? And yes, Stitch just left... very tall, with the bandages around his eyes. He looks after the Welcome Home... which is the orphanage in Syliras."

[Klane]

"Will you play?" Klane looked towards Avi as she spoke, "Please? I would love to hear it. I like the drum, even though the most I can do is bang it and try to make a rhythm." Klane considered her words for a moment, and then made his decision.

"Alright, why not?" The Kelvic smiled slightly, "Just let me go fetch my mandolin, it isn't too far away after all. And I'm from... Well, here and there, mainly the forest." The Kelvic paused when he said where he lived. Originally Klane was from Sunberth, but that was a past he wished to forget. Then the wolf slowly withdrew from Nya's touch before standing up in the sand. His feet were still warm from being so close to the fire, and that feeling made him sleepy. Yet he said he would play and play he would, Klane shook off the tiredness and stretched before running off to fetch his instrument. Even with his canine-like sight it took a few moments to pick out the wooden mandolin, propped up against a tree by the edge of the beach.

Finding it was still no trouble in the end, and Klane was back by the fire a minute or so later. The Kelvic leaned against a tree and tuned his instrument, strumming now and then to hear the sound each string made. Once he was satisfied Klane looked up, "I'll play, but it might not be as good as you will expect." And on that awkward note (no pun intended,) he began. The song was simple, it was slow and calm. He expected that everyone else was still as tense as he was from the prior events, and thought that the song would lighten the mood further and relax listeners. The melody itself was based off of one he had heard a few days prior, composed by a human named Kadurro. They had played together for some money and Klane had remembered his song. The version Klane played wasn't exactly the same, but His own spin-off made it more personal and therefore harder to mess up. He still stumbled every few notes, but since the song was his, Klane could mold the mistakes into the song without thinking that he messed up a chord.

[Nya Winters]

Nya yawned. Her eyes were growing heavy by the pounding behind her eyes. The sand was warm and she was cold - colder than she would have suspected in the middle of a fire festival. Avi was warm against her and though Klane was only a newly made acquaintance, he still felt warm against her other side. As she stroked Klane's hair a few more times, then yawned again. Her moss green eyes searched the darkness which truthfully weren't bothered much by the dim light, and found her bondmate's form in the distance talking to Terminus.

All was well. Somehow, surrounded by friends with no snake in sight and nothing but Abashai's figure in the distance with another friend. Nya felt safe. The beach was calm for even the waves had started sliding up and down the sand almost silently as the evening progressed and the tide went out.

And Nya felt exhausted. People weren't her strong suit. Between the widows and the knights and her friends and all the fires and the dancing and the singing and food smells, things were overwhelming. She longed for the quiet of the cave or the little room Abashai and herself shared at Matilda's Traveler's Row.

But she couldn't be there right now. She had to stay here...

Nya yawned again and snuggled down even closer to the warm bodies on either side of her. She longed for a blanket and some willow tea like her mother used to make her when her head used to hurt. If she couldn't be home at the cave or the room, she was in the next best place, surrounded by people she enjoyed. It got even better when Klane decided to play. He wasn't terribly skilled, but that was more than alright. His song was simple, soft, gentle, and soothing. It was so soothing in fact that it lulled her into an exhausted sleep. She leaned her cheek against Avi's shoulder, snuggled in, and dug her cold toes into the warm sand wondering where she'd left her sandals. But that was the last thing she thought because she yawned, nuzzled Avi again, and drifted off to sleep.

And before long, she was about as relaxed as she'd been in a long long time.

noteShall we start wrapping up the thread and get some XP?

[Abashai]

Having bid farewell to Terminus, Abashai had begun to look for the older citizens he had brought to the festival in the borrowed cart. The benshiran swung by the fire where Nya, Avi and their new friend lingered. Offering a nod and a smile to Klane, Abashai noted the musical instrument in the young man's hands. He moved to stand behind the two kelvic women, grinning broadly at Avi when he saw the slumbering Nya slumped against the kelvic owl. In a soft tone he spoke to Avi, still marveling at the shifting hue of the woman's eyes. "Thank you, Avi, for taking care of her. You are a good friend. I hope you know you are welcome in our home anytime." He glanced down again at Nya, his hand gently caressed his bondmate's head, his fingers spread to comb through the brindled hair." I probably should be getting her home."

Nya had worked hard to put the festival together, and everyone seemed to enjoy the party. He believed she had earned a well deserved rest.

[Terminus Norin]

Terminus arrived back at the festival in time to see Abashai and Nya getting ready to leave. He smiled as he could see that the young forest cat was recovering from her over-giving and would have a monstrous headache for a few hours. At least she was okay though. He offered her his hand for a hand shake, thinking Abashai would be okay with that.

Thank you for a wonderful evening Nya. I know you worked hard on it and it was a success despite the Dhani/Snake thing. He dug in his pocket and produced a small packet of herbs.

I use these when I get my headaches. It dulls the pain. his wink was one that showed he knew what was wrong with her. Make tea with them it makes the willow bark less bitter

Avi he looked at and desperately wanted to hug her or touch her. But he knew she might still be tense and she didn't know him yet so he simply offered her his hand as well.

Avi..It was a pleasure to meet you. I would love to hunt with you. Lets say the 63rd day of winter. I will meet you in the Bronze Wood.

He smiled and after she had responded to him he took his leave since he was exhausted.

[Avi]

Avi enjoyed the music considerably, even if she couldn't relax to the same extent Nya could. She would be on guard for a little longer, and she would be keeping an eye out for a while yet. She rested her head against Nya's, and watched Klane play the mandolin. If he made any mistakes in playing, she didn't notice them, much less care - to her, the Kelvic's music was lovely and different, and just as good as those who had performed earlier on the stage. And to make it even better, this was like a private performance - he was playing just for them, and that made it even more special. "<Beautiful,>" Avi said first in Vani, drawing the word out like a soft sigh. "That was beautiful," she translated for Klane. He didn't look to be from Avanthal, but who knew? "Thankyabigbig for playing for us."

She rested her head against Nya's, having wrapped an arm around her friend as she held her spear with her other hand, a silent sentinel as her eyes eventually took on a ruby hue and stayed there, but every so often, they swept around the festival, taking in at a glance everything that was going on, and watching, warily, for any hissing carried on the wind, any indication that the Dhani had come back. If he had, then they would find some way to take care of it. That was all there was to it. As much as she enjoyed her independence, she was enjoying this feeling of being in the middle of a surge of humanity. It was nice to see people come out and enjoy themselves like this, to dance to the music by the fires. She smiled a little when she saw that Nya was sleeping, her eyes becoming a slightly softened mixture of ruby and gold. She had earned her rest, as far as Avi was concerned.

She lifted her head to look at Abashai as he approached, and grinned brightly up at him. She had some energy yet, but she had been eating, and she hadn't had the mental stress of putting all of this together. It was lovely, yes, but Avi doubted she had the leadership skills necessary to coax everyone into doing such things. She could sweet-talk and encourage and argue and in some cases bully (though that was a habit her parents had spent a long time trying to break her out of, only to just impress upon her that giant owl or not, voluntary cooperation was rather necessary in such things for the best results), but she could get frustrated with obstinacy (while being as tenacious as an Akinva Deerstalker herself). Besides. She was simply not a party planner. She'd rather bring things in for it rather than organize it. Leave it to those who knew better than she. "I know," she beamed at Abashai. "Thankyabigbig," she carefully removed her arm from where it had settled around Nya's shoulder so that the feline Kelvic's bondmate could get at her. Anyone else, and Avi would have hissed and probably woken Nya up. But this was Abashai. Avi trusted him with her friend.

Terminus was leaving, too, then, and Avi smiled at him from her perch. "Yes," she nodded in agreement. "We will hunt." Sixty-three less forty-six was fourteen. So she would count fourteen sunsets. Normally, Avi let time get away from her unless there was somewhere pressing she had to be. Soaring, hunting, tracking... all meant, sometimes, a great deal of time on her own with rough ideas about what half of the season it might have been. But... but it might be something to get into the habit of, she supposed. But she would look forward to seeing Terminus then. "Take care of yourself," she grinned at him. If he was going to be a potential bond-mate, it simply wouldn't do for him to get himself killed!

With the others gone, though, Avi settled on the log. She would be here a while longer, until the embers finally died, and people started drifting their way back towards the city. She would fly, then, and go over the trees before likely settling down near Nya's cave for a rest. She would have a hunt to look forward to, and plenty of time... to puzzle out those whom she had met.

[Gillar]

I must say, this was a pretty damn good thread. Even with its length, I was kept interested by the quality and creativity expressed by everyone. So, without further ado, here are the experience rewards for this thread: Everyone is getting some dancing experience whether you danced or not simply because you all were surrounded by dancing. Thus your bound to pick up something just by being there. Some people also received experience in hunting for trying to find the source of the "snake smell". Sonya - Dancing 2, Fortune Telling 2 Stitch - Auristics 5 (I was quite impressed), Dancing 2 Abashai - Dancing 3, Hunting 2, Musical Instrument 2 Leo - Dancing 2 Terminus - Fire-Dancing 2, Hunting 2, Dancing 2 Avi - Hunting 2, Dancing 3 Nyahna - Dancing 2 Special Mention: Way to be the involuntary antagonist! You helped add conflict and drive this thread in a very fun direction. Azar - Dancing 2 Nya - Hunting 2, Dancing 3, Hypnotism (not an easy skill to work with, great job) 4, Leadership 1 Zae - Dancing 2 Kadurro - Dancing 2, Tracking 1 Klane - Dancing 2, Musical Instrument 1 Last but certainly not least, each and every one of you will find something strange in a pocket, purse, pouch, etc; whatever you happen to have had at the dance. When you discover it, each of you finds a small chunk (about the size of a miza) of volcanic rock. Upon looking at it, the rock suddenly grows hot in your hand and there is a spark of flame that turns into a small, humanoid-shaped figure of flame that dances about a half-inch from the top of the rock. The figure performs a repetitive dance that goes from calm and smooth to fast and erratic. With a moment or two of playing around with it, you will find that it activates when held in the hand with the word, "dance" spoken to it. Where it came from and who gave it to you is unknown.