The Festival

The night sky was lit with the various colors left by the fireworks. Colors of red, blue and green filled the sky for just brief moments at a clip, then vanished completely. To most, it was a glorious day, a triumph. Two years ago on this day, the Rebellion had stopped the League of Lycaon for the third time.

To Akaelin, however, the feeling was bittersweet. Two years ago, on this day, he had lost both his brother, and his cousin. One murdered by a goddess, the other, killed by his own hand. It had been an accident, but one he had caused none the less. He didn't bother to put on a smile. If he had done so, people would've known that something was wrong. He never smiled. Actually, that was a lie. He smiled rarely, and only for Nathifa. The goddess was the glue that held his shattered existance together. Without her, he himself knew that he would fall apart.

Another set of fireworks lit up the sky, and a small figure bumped into the Elain wolf. Akaelin growled slightly, and he recieved a quick 'excuse me' as the person dashed off.

((Sorry it's so short.))

((you call that short? Your muse must be on crack))

Kitai looked up at the sky, awed by the fireworks. She had only seen them a couple times in her life and still found the bright lights and colors mesmerizing. With a twinge of sadness, she thought how Yoko would have enjoyed these fireworks.

((yeah, mine's short, I have to go))

Ares saw the brightly lit town of Giderah from a mile away, her mouth watering at the scents. A festival! She made the mistake of jumping for joy and was almost dragged over backwards by the weight of her spear. She had recently bought it and wasn't used to the fact that it was heavier than her beginner's-type spear. In a short time she had immersed herself in Giderah's celebrations. The first thing she did was go looking to see if any of the merchants with their stands set up were selling rhubarb in any way, shape, or form.

((XD I'm used to roleplaying on the BBA forums, where the shortest post is like, 10 times what my last one was. I have to strain my muse for that place. By the way, we need to rename the town. I want this board to be as original as possible. ......Unlike the old board. *coughplot3redwallripoffcough*))

Akaelin meandered through the festival with a dull expression. He honestly didn't care if his foul mood ruined the atmosphere for anyone else. They could suck it for all he cared. He stopped suddenly, when he came upon a strange sight. There was a girl, fluttering from stand to stand like a butterfly. What really caught his attention though, was the massive spear she carried. The thing had to weigh a ton, and she looked like she could barely weild it. She seemed rather...odd, to say the least.

Though he didn't know every name and face of the Rebellion, he knew this much about the girl. She wasn't from here. While outsiders were tolerated in the town, Akaelin didn't like them. Unlike his cousin, he was cautious, and not at all welcoming.

He cleared the air around him of hostility, and replaced it with mild curiosity as he approached this new person.

Ares wasn't successful in finding any rhubarb, but the merchant at the stand she was currently at persuaded her to buy something with strawberries in it instead. She took a mouthful of it and found it to be rather good. She jumped in surprise when she noticed that someone that appeared to be native to this town approached her. Ares silently wondered if it would have been a good idea to leave her spear at camp. She always kept it sheathed, but people still might percieve her as an unfriendly figure while she carried it.

((It's not really that big of a spear, only about five feet long, but she finds it heavy because the one she's used to was a lot lighter than normal))

((Okay. That might be big to Akaelin. He's a 24 year old man and only 5' 7''. X3))

The wolf stopped a few feet in front of this new girl. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he noticed her mouthful of...something. He wasn't concerned about what she was eating though, he was concerned about that spear she carried. "You should put that away unless you can weild it properly," he said dryly, as if he didn't really care, but was just going through the motions of seeming like he did. "I'm sure everyone here would like to enjoy their time without having to worry about loosing a limb." He wanted to add, 'to an incompetent little child' at the end of his last statement, but refrained from doing so. It wasn't that he felt like being nice, he was just feeling lazy at the moment, and wasn't really in the mood for conversation, argument, or debate. Depending on how this encounter went, however, one of the three could possibly be an option. Or murder. Murder was always an option, and Akaelin was never above such an act.

((I have to go for the evening. See ya later.))

((Okay))

"I'm sorry, i'm sorry!" Ares said after swallowing her mouthful of the strawberry thing, bowing apologetically. The weight of the spear strapped onto her back almost made her fall over again. "I was travelling through here and saw the festival, I don't really have a place to leave it at without worrying about it getting stolen. I even had to sell the spear my master gave me to buy it." Her skin started to itch as her quills prepared to jut out at a moment's notice. It had become instinct for her body to react like this whenever a man started acting unfriendly towards her.

((guess who is here! Sorry it took so long... Kitai wouldn't give me the URL!! jk))

Derak Thunderhammer rode down the cobblestone road on his horse, Shadewing, when he heard a loud clap of thunder. Or he thought it was thunder until he saw the blue firework explode over the town right in front of him, "Huh, Something is being celebrated... they must have good food then... I haven't had a decent meal in weeks..." Derak said to himself as he started toward the town. "Nothing spectacular..." He mumbled to himself as he examined the buildings after stabling his horse, "But, if they have food it'll do..."

Akaelin gave the girl a curious look. Apologetic, and she bowed? He liked that. It was a nice stroke for his ego and definately earned her some brownie points. "Relax. Do you know how to do that?" he asked. "As long as you don't amputate any limbs with that thing I won't hurt you."

He looked past the girl and saw another newcommer, this one mounted on a horse. He hated this person immediately and he had no idea why. Not that he cared though. He was quick to judge and he knew it.

Kitai noticed Akaelin bothering outsiders that were in the town and sighed. She knew that the memories of what happened on the day they were celebrating were probably making him a bit more unkind than usual, but did he not expect others to come to a festival. The town may have been isolated in the valley, but they had widened the road used to get in and got a good amount of trade. She saw the girl with the spear almost get dragged over by it as she bowed.

((If all four of us plan to stay online for any length of time, here's how we'll have to do this to avoid confusion.

After Kitai, either Galvad or Jayna, one of you two post. Whoever doesn't post first, the next one will go. Then I'll post, then Kitai again, then repeat the pattern depending on how Galvad or Jayna did their order. This is just to avoid confusion and not need to edit posts.))

((Okay))

Ares visibly relaxed after the blonde man said that he wouldn't harm her. She didn't know why he thought she would start cutting people's limbs off; especially with a sheathed spear strapped to her back. Aside from him though, no one had acted unfriendly towards her so she took another bite of her strawberry tart and kept on looking around the festival. It bothered her a little bit when people underestimated her, not even thinking that she had the capability to weild her spear in the simplest way.
"I'm Ares," she said. "What village is this and what's the festival for?"

((Akaelin didn't leave, he's just looking at something else.

That's okay. Galvad, it's your turn.))

"This?" Akaelin echoed. "This is ((insert name of town here *is too lazy to find a new name yet*))," he answered. "The home of the Rebellion. They are celebrating the defeat of Lycaon, an event that took place two years ago today."

((short post is short. I just went since I'm not sure if Galvad is still online or not.))

((I have to go write an essay, so I'll post real quick))

Kitai heard a squeal of delight and saw a harried-looking Birch chasing after Aodan. The toddler was running like mad throughout the crowd with seemingly no fear of getting stepped on, a fear which his father definitely had for him. She also saw a small dark-skinned boy that looked about five years old playing with a sparkler stick and eating a pastry.

"Really, this is that town?" Ares asked, perking up. "I heard about the war going on here, but I was living way out in the west until a couple years ago. I didn't even know that it ended until last year. I wanted to come here and see if there was any more I could learn, even though I don't think there is. Either way, training alone is lonely."

((sorry, I didn't see your last post, I'm back now though and I'm all game if you guys are...))

Derak was eating a chicken leg he had just bought, and was thinking that it could be a little more rare when he saw a girl with a huge spear bow and almost fall over, she looked a little out of place and Derak found it comforting to know there was another stanger in this town of festivities. "Hello madame, my name is Derak Thunderhammer, I am new to these parts... do you know anything about this place?" He asked politely, then noticing Akaelin, "Ah! Sorry! I didn't see you were in a conversation already... it's quite crowded here... Hello there kind sir! My name is Derak Thunderhammer." He said in a friendly tone.

"Er, I'm Ares." Ares said, taken a little by surprise at Derak's sudden appearence. A couple of quills had popped out on her face and she retracted them. "This is the village of the people that defeated Lycaon, the festival's to celebrate the anniversary of it."

"Ah... I see, well, I have heard about Lycaon... But I never heard of their defeat... granted, my home is in a small town in the northern reaches and we don't get much news from the rest of the world..." Derak managed so say, a little startled by the quills that had poped out on Ares's face

Ares saw Derak staring at her face. "I'm a wereporcupine." She explained. "If you sneak up behind me and surprise me like that of course a couple quills are going to come out. It's a natural defense afterall."

"Oh! Excuse my stareing ma'am, I just have never ran into a were... anything before, my apologies!" Derak said, bowing his head a little bit.

"I heard about the war going on here, but I was living way out in the west until a couple years ago. I didn't even know that it ended until last year. I wanted to come here and see if there was any more I could learn, even though I don't think there is. Either way, training alone is lonely."

Akaelins curious expression turned to one of indifference as the girl spoke. Judging by her statement, it seemed to him that she was saying she wanted to stay for a little while.

Well we definately couldn't have that.

Now the man with the horse coming up to them...eating a chicken leg. Akaelin gave the man a less than appeased look that said, 'I don't know you and already I don't like you'.

"Hello madame, my name is Derak Thunderhammer, I am new to these parts... do you know anything about this place?" he had said to the girl, completely ignoring him.

"Ah! Sorry! I didn't see you were in a conversation already... it's quite crowded here... Hello there kind sir! My name is Derak Thunderhammer."

Oh so NOW this Derak noticed him. The Elain narrowed his eyes threateningly. "You talk to much," he stated bluntly, really wishing that he would leave. The girl, he could maybe find tolerable some other day when he was in a good mood. He was hardly ever in said good mood, and today he was particularly irritable. Rukia and Mshai had a tendency to stick more close to their mother or Syn when he was like this. Rukia particularly had taken a liking to the wyvern, mostly because of his massive height. Akaelin didn't really like leaving his kids with anyone other than Nathifa, but after seeing Syn with them a few times he allowed it.

Ares made a kind of meep sound and shrunk back a bit as Akaelin got angry again. Against her conscious effort, quills were popping up all over her arms. She lowered her gaze and took another bite out of her food. There was many a time where it would be unwise to say both anything and nothing, so having a full mouth was the best solution.

"Sorry friend, I apologize for not seeing you... it is very crowded around here, and I am weary with travel... is there a place to stay nearby? A tavern perhaps?" Derak said, looking at Akaelin, perticularily trying to avoid looking at the spikes comeing out of the girl's arm.

"How about you head on over to Qu'darem about a few hundred miles away and see if they have lodging for you there," Akaelin replied with a sourpuss expression.

"You must not be from around here."

A voice came from behind Derak. Though he couldn't see the person, he could tell from the voice that it was Vane. The cheetah gave Derak a much more friendly regard. He was in just as foul a mood as Akaelin, but unlike the wolf, he actually made an effort to hide it. "I can tell, since most who knew Akaelin here wouldn't bother to approach him, let alone approach him today."