The Festival

"You know what, Syn?" Faorn told the wyvern.
"On the day of the battle when you-- well, when you died.. well, not died, but got your head chopped off. I swear I thought I lost a part of my soul. Well, thank god Hekate was able to bring you back. I haven't got the chance to say, I'm very very very glad for you being alive right now. I don't know if anybody told you how I shut myself up in my room forever the day you 'died'." Faorn still had a tough time of trying to tell Syn, 'I love you'.

"But... I still can't believe Sai had to die. 'Main character' immunity, I thought, right? Well, 'Main Character' meaning her being leader... the best leader... but in the end... Well, the fighting seems to be over, so..." Faorn trailed off. "I miss her."

((RAAAAWR! I didn´t have time to post, but hola!))

((How's Spain?))

((It´s fun! I´m going to the beach today!))

Kitai walked away from the depressed-looking Runi, knowing that there was nothing she could do there to help. She saw the human that was at the festival the previous night and Akaelin staring him down. He usually didn´t like strangers anyway, but this one was obviously from the north. She swiveled her ears forward a bit to listen in and found that they were talking about Set. She wondered if she should tell Akaelin that they red-haired man standing nearby was actuallly the god in question.

Seff was glad Akaelin had walked away before she told Galvad about Set. She knew that even any vague mention of the god would set him off. Not that it took much to anger the Elain wolf. She pretended not to hear Galvads request for water and waved goodbye. Sayne - who actually hadn't heard - left as well.

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"I'm sure we all miss her," Syn replied awkwardly and after a brief moments hesitation. Though he knew there was someone in the Rebellion who missed her most of all. Wren had kept himself holed up for the past two years. His home was completely boarded up and if he hadn't been able to hear the occasional temper trantrum, he would've thought that the snow leopard had died there. His door was locked, and he was completely unresponsive to anyone who came near.

Set pushed himself away from the wall and flashed a smirk at Kitai. The god masquerading as a human started following Akaelin. He wanted to see Nathifa to talk to her about the previoius night and figured that she would be somewhere around where her mate was.

Akaelin meandered around town almost aimlessly. Really, he was just wondering if there was anyone else who had decided to cling to the town for a number of days. He wasn't fond of strangers at all, and in his mind he had every right to his opinions.

He stopped for a moment at an awkward sight. It looked like a person, but he could only see their legs. The upper body was hidden from view underneath, stuck underneath a small space between the ground, and the bottom half of a houses porch.

"Hey! Hey!" A feminine voice shouted. "You wanna help me out here?"

"Not really," Akaelin answered as he started to walk away. "Oh come on!" the person whined. "Please? Huh? Seriously."

Akaelin stopped and groaned, turning around and shifting to his base form. Rather than pulling on the girls legs, he dug at the ground around her, loosening it considerably until she was able to slide out.

Jeez Enthea, Akaelin grumbled. If I had known it was you I wouldn't have bothered to get myself dirty.

"What´s up?" Nathifa asked as she walked towards Akaelin and Enthea. There were still shadows of bruises and a cut or two on her skin; she hadn´t been able to heal instantly because the wounds were dealt by an immortal. Set hid behind the nearest building, feeling that he would rather talk to Nathifa alone if possible. The mangy wolf always did something to annoy him and whatever hurt him would also hurt his mate.

"I got stuck in a hole and this Elain son-of-a-bitch was kind enough to pull me out," Enthea said happily, running her fingers through her hair to straighten it. As Akaelin shifted back to his human form, Enthea flicked her hair back over her shoulder, smacking him in the face. "Same to you, you Henkilo bastard," he mumbled, punching the dragon in the shoulder. "Where were you off to anyways that you didn't want to stop to help?" Enthea asked, kicking the wolf in the shin. They weren't really trying to hurt one another, just expressing the inner hate that they felt for each other because of their two different races. "Just meeting someone," Akaelin replied vaguely. Actually, he was hiring someone. Someone very big...and sweaty...and lumberjackish.

Derak groaned a little bit as he brought his axe down on the last piece of wood. He then hauled it back to the wood shed behind the tavern and went back inside, "Okay, all done!" Derak said to the innkeep, "Huh, you didn't do half bad norseman..." the innkeep replied, "You could get a perminant job here..." Derak just stood and looked at the innkeep, a little shocked that this man was implying that Derak Thunderhammer, one of the greatest warriors in the north should work at an inn cutting wood. "Kind sir... I respectifully decline your offer, sorry but I am a soldier, trained in the art of war and splitting wood is a task for someone... more common than I am, good day!" Derak then bowed a little and went back up to his room to grab his equipment, slightly humiliated that he was offered such a worthless job.

"Hey Seff... You're Seff, right?" Faorn asked bubbly, "Who were you talking to just now? The lumberjack-type of guy."
Then moving to another subject, Faorn then said, "Do you like the festival? I do! So many pretty colors! Except I don't like the screaming children."

Faorn kept babbling about the Festival. She had nothing else to do. Really, she was quite bored.

((Hey, Akaelin, are we doing anything with Appolymi and Davyn yet?))

((Apollymi won't have existed here, since she isn't a real goddess, and I want this forum to be more original than the last. I'll need to think of something different.))

"Wow...You talk a lot," Seff replied, scratching the back of her head. True, she talked about as much as Faorn did, and she didn't care. But when someone else talked as much as she did, it was just plain annoying. "Why don't you go flirt with Syn some more. I don't think he got the message the first time."

((I'm back! It's good to be home in the cool Minnesota weather again!))

Nathifa noticed Set as he stepped out from behind the building, making a motion for her to come over. She knew that Akaelin didn't know it was actually the god, but since she didn't feel too inclined to deal with him at the moment she gave it away. "I don't want to talk to you, Set" She said with a glare. "Especially not about last night. I don't agree with your ideas about what should be done."

"Set?" the wolf echoed, peering around Nathifa. "Set's a fucking fire crotch? Oh this is way to good. ...Wait." He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "What the hell does Set want to do? If it's another child I'm going to publicly castrate him."

((I can't log in for whatever reason. TT_TT How was your trip?))

((I need a favor from you Kitai. For whatever reason, I can't log in, and when I try and retrieve my password, is says that that part of security is disabled. So I need you to click on the Admin Panel link at the bottom of the page.> Then go to General Admin > And then Security, and enable the password retrieval thing. I can't do it, not logged in, otherwise I would.))

((Okay, I got it))

"It concerns Runi and what he thinks should be done about the situation at hand." Nathifa said, still glaring at Set. "Regardless of how much power was displayed, Runihura is still just a kid. He doesn't have enough control yet and would probably die if he was sent into battle."

"Well let's see, did he die last night?" Set argued. "I think that he actually damn near killed both Apep and you showi-"

"Showing that he doesn't have enough control! He almost killed himself too!"

Ares had watched the events going on by the fountain from her rooftop perch with some interest, but grew bored after it was over and jumped down. She looked around and saw Derak chopping wood; she decided that if she wanted to find out more about this town then that person would be as good as any to ask. "Hey" She called, running up to him. "If you wanted to avoid paying for your room through labor it wasn't cold last night. The street was all right for sleeping."

((I'm back too! My host family didn't have internet, so I couldn't get on on the trip))

If the sound of the gods voice hadn't made Akaelin feel like there were maggots crawling under his skin, he actually might've wanted to listen to what the firecrotch had to say. The 'Runi almost killing Apep and Nathifa' had definately gotten his intrest. Well...almost killing Nathifa had. He could care less about at Apep. "Okay Firecrotch, regardless to what happened last night, it's obvious that she's really not in the mood. So how about coming back some other time." Or never. Never would be amazing.

Set paused in his argument with Nathifa to smirk at Akaelin. "Oh, is she the one that's just not in the mood?" He asked. "Or are you still upset over the fact that I spent a night in bed with her? Or maybe you're wondering how that night went. You may be good in bed, but you're no god. Why don't you think about that for a while?" With a laugh, Set disappeared

Nathifa didn't really have anything to say. She knew that the two were by no means on the best of terms, but striking Akaelin's raw nerve like that was just cruel. Especially what he said at the end.

Like he hadn't thought of the night Runi was concieved. It was the only thing he saw in his mind when he looked at the tiny god. "Pity he has to resort to dirty tricks to try and upset me," Akaelin sighed as if completely undaunted. "Though I find it funny how he actually wants to try." He turned to Nathifa with a look that wasn't quite pleased. "What happened last night?" he asked, trying to keep the demanding tone out of his voice.

((woo jet lag.....I just fell asleep with my head on the keyboard))

Nathifa sighed. "It really is best if it just stays within the pantheon," she said. "But since you're my mate you have a right to know. Last night started out like any other regular night escorting Ra across nighttime would be. Runi was definitely frightened of Apep and was fighting recklessly from being fueled by fear. I knocked him out of the way of an attack and was bitten by Apep. When that happened, the look in Runi's eyes changed from fear to anger. Ra sensed what he was about to do and was able to raise a shield for himself, but I was busy extracting Apep's venom before it could become serious. I have no memory of what happened after that, but when I regained consciousness the water was black with the blood of the underworld serpent, and the boat was red with mine and Runi's. Our wounds looked minor when we came back into the village, but that's only because we spent nearly a week in the oasis."

Akaelin bit down on his tongue to keep himself from saying anything he might later regret. He seriously wanted to give Ra, Apep, Runi, and even Nathifa a piece of his mind. Gods never scared the Elain. Back when they had still been a younger race, they had been worshiped like gods. Their ancestors could bend the laws of time and space, but over the years, knowledge of that kind of magic had been completely forgotten by all, even the purebreds. They were nothing but a shell of their former glory. The only thing they had ever retained was their fearlessness of the supernatural.

"I think it'll be best for everyone if I pretend I didn't hear what you said," he mumbled under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew he couldn't stop Nathifa from doing what she needed to do, but those duties of hers were going to be the death of him. Either that or he'd start shedding terribly and she'd have to deal with all the white fur around the house.

"You wanted to know." Nathifa gently slipped her arms around her mate in a tender hug and buried her head against his chest. "But the good news is that we won't be back on for a long time. Apep probably won't appear at all for a week or so and for the next few weeks the minor deities can deal with him."

Akaelin sighed and returned the hug, resting his chin on top of the goddess's head.

"How dare you Snugglemuffin!"

Akaelin went ridgid and closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them, 'she' wouldn't be there anymore. He opened his eyes, and saw Seff standing behind Nathifa with her hands on her hips. "Oh god, why aren't you gone yet?" the wolf groaned. "I can't believe you would cheat on me like this! Now get back in your teddy bear outfit Mr. Biggles, so we can cuddle."

She turned her nose up in the air in a manner so overexaggerated, it had to be sarcastic, and stormed off angrily.

"I honestly do not know what to make of that girl." Nathifa said with a shrug. "And by the way, you're most definitely better in bed than S- him." She decided that it would still probably be best not to say his name. He could bluff all he wanted and say that she liked it, but the only thing she liked about what happened that night was Runi. Even if he was Set's son, he was still her son too and she loved him just as much as Mshai.

Runi sat by the fountain a little longer, looking lonsomely after Jan and Tory, until he felt someone give him a soft thwap on the back. He looked up to see that Kitai was still there. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked. "Go after her. You both feel like you shouldn't have friends, but it will be the best thing for the two of you." Runi blinked a couple of times uncomprehensively, then got up and started running after them.