The Harvest Festival

[Cyprena Sevenius]

It seemed that Ren had unintentionally created a small ruckus, or at least, a disturbance. Something that she enjoyed doing to varying degrees, depending on when or why it was.

Ren, probably to not much of a surprise, was fairly observant, especially when the people she was observing made no attempts to be subtle, whatsoever. It wasn’t like she had sat down and read every rulebook, every dictionary that would make her understand this planet, but she did catch on that the people walking quickly and away glanced down at Cypresk and Pyfsk. That...made sense actually. It was sort of a weird leap, the two young whers were certainly not the safest shiny companions that she had, but they were far from the most menacing. Okay, that was a lie, there was definitely no shiny that could teach her a lesson like Cypresk could, but Pyfsk was pretty chill. And most of her bonded were Firelizards, not exactly a menacing bunch.

The Ruby eyes followed every movement sharply, standing protectively on the outside while the Opal stood rather casually between them, unaware of the terrified looks that they received. Any terrified look was of course met with a huff from Cypresk, but Cypresk huffed at a lot of things, so it wasn’t like Pyfsk was handling anything out of the ordinary. They instead stuck close to Ren, leaning on the Turian’s side, letting out a calm Hrrr. The sound probably did not bring much ease to anyone else there.

Meanwhile, Ren read the menu items before turning her attention to Rudolph, registering each word of each drink separately but not necessarily knowing what they meant altogether. She did quickly look up though as the winged-humanoid confirmed that, yeah, he did remember that wild events of that day. And Ren wished that she had kept quiet, even though she was pretty sure that the number of people gawking at Cypesk and Pyfsk would have drawn attention to her anyway.

“Not that I’ve gotten captured in, no.” She muttered, trying to laugh it off without actually laughing herself. “Dark times when the worst thing that’s happened to me on this planet involved a candy house. Though there is definitely plenty of weird happening here.” Though her meeting of Mx. Marlo had been a strange, somewhat haunting event indeed even though the toothy creature had ended up taking a liking to her and had proven to be quite useful. “I don’t really expect it to ever get any more...normal.”

She moved up her place in the line, following Rudolph ordering his drink, the apple cider from what she’d heard, but decided she’d go with the safest option and requested a mulled wine, because she knew there was booze in that, at least while she knew that cider could mean one of multiple things and she wasn’t about to take any chances. She took the warm, insulated mug from the keep, noticing the nervous glances at the watch-whers resisting an eyeroll, though based on the gathering that she had attended to bond to these two in the first place, maybe whers were generally not very easy to keep under control. “Come on, you two.” She called out as she stepped out of her place in line, then took a few more steps away so that maybe people would start gathering again. Maybe she could find a spot that had less people, or people with bigger balls at least (an expression one of her human soldiers had used often).

“What have you gotten up to?” She asked Rudolph, still at a speaking distance away from him. She realized that she didn’t even know his name, let alone anything else about him, but sometimes going through difficult or strange times lead to a degree of camaraderie that she was more than ready to accept. Ren was a social creature, and though the bonding to various shinies certainly kept her on her toes, she did crave other sorts of companionship. Some of her shinies she considered her friends, certainly, but talking to someone she wasn’t mind-linked to while sharing a cup of booze was something that she needed again. She took a sip of the mulled wine, never much of a wine person, but gulped down half of the mixture in one go anyway.

Cypresk meanwhile was alert as ever, faceted eyes darting around, making eye-contact with some shinies and humanoids who dared get remotely close and scaring them away. Even not yet fully grown, the Ruby’s muscular form and crazy-eyed stare were definitely a sight to behold, and avoid. Pyfsk on the other hand, simply took everything in, eyes following between Ren and Rudolph’s conversation whenever either of them spoke. They were still muscular and intimidating in a wher-way, but their stance was mellow, and much more ready to flop down on the ground then get up and lunge.

ooc: 813 words

[Gats]

Spooky? How about screechy?

Before Omorose had a chance to answer, the wagon jolted to a stop, making the sort of high-pitched racket (followed by the sound of rocks tumbling around in the back, thanks to a one (1) boulder man) that would wake the dead. And, you know, frighten anyone who knew what a wagon was supposed to sound like. None of the passengers appeared to be dissuaded though. In fact, the winged woman was really packing them in now.

Ghosts, usually, a voice chimed in somewhere in the vague generally vicinity of Tzi. The exact source? Unclear. But cans be other sorts of things be doing hauntings. Hayrides generally be featuring costumey performers not real ghosts though. Wants to be seeing? This was the last stop after all.

The apple orchard where Junho and Zebey were was, um, much less screechy. Somehow, still tranquil. The trees were rustling, a little violently in places, but that was probably more on the account of some rambunctious youths than anything malevolent, right? Beyond that, there were the typical sounds of the neighboring farm in the background. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to spend all day here?

Okay but seriously, when was it going to get weird?

Like, perfect example, Haelys and her pumpkin dress and the newest shiny species: pile of leaves. At the queen’s accusation, a fuzzy feline face popped out, Attackings? No attackings. Just making festives! If you’ll be excusing me though, my job not finished yet.

The Celeste Cat freed herself from the pile much more easily than Haelys had, though a crown of leaves still encircled her head. Just ‘members, not goes that way, okay? And in the blink of her three eyes, she was gone only to reappear on Zenith’s shoulder plates as he clopped off toward autumnal adventure. Waits one minute. Best not be having too many funs without me.

Bond! Harvest Queen Verdite Celeste Cat to Zenith!

Sadly, the Celeste Cat’s warning wouldn’t matter, even if Alexandrae could’ve gotten the queen moving after Zee. You see, it could teleport too. Yeah, that Dragon sure didn't look friendly. And it was right behind her.

« Haelys, mine, did you really think you could outrun your penance, your Geheth, forever? »

Bond! The Scent of Sin Sulphur Dragon to Haelys!

Well uh, let’s hope Rudolph and Ren were having a better time with their apple cider and mulled wine, even if it wasn’t exactly what they had wanted.

Rudolph would find it easy enough to come by a cinnamon stick. There were miscellaneous garnishes and toppings for the drinks sitting on the, well, could you really call it a counter if it was a folding table with one of those plastic table cloths on it? Whatever. There were cinnamon sticks galore, a jar of ooey gooey caramel, whipped cream, mixes of spices that either smelled like nutmeg or clove, orange slices, star anise, the works!

Thankfully, no candy houses though. But, uh, Ren had said that out loud hadn’t she?

Did someone say— how the owner of the voice had gotten past Cypresk and Pyfsk was anyone’s guess. Either they were a lot braver than the rest of the crowd had been, or they were a lot stupider or wait, where was that even coming from?— CANDY?

---

ooc| please don't spoil bonds <3 also, i gotta feeling a bunch more will be showing up with my next post ;p don't forget, we're going through the first week of november now! getchur extra pumpkins in!!

[Tuk-tuk]

Tuk-tuk did not know anything about temperate forests and their changes, nor did he know anything about agriculture (we're not sure he knew the difference between ripe and unripe and overripe crops, nor that he cared). The meaning of the myriad decorations, many in oranges and black with the occasional green and purple, were utterly lost on the mentally unsalvageable Tengu. Any connection to the cold north winds breezing in or the earlier dusks and later dawns went completely unnoticed.

Tuk-tuk DID know that he smelled food, and even the most deranged Eldritch worshipper knew that free food was the best kind of food. Muqin was nearby, he could feel her watching him, but as long as he behaved the chaperone-like Arathlial was willing to let him wander around like a semi-normal person. She'd be there in the blink of an eye to grab him out of his own danger, however.

Because let's be real, he was as likely to accidentally cause problems for someone else as he was to stumble into problems for himself.

Naturally, he gravitated towards an array of ciders, most a warm and clear-toned beverage, though of course a few were... suspicious-looking at best to any earthly drinkers. Tuk-tuk was not from earth though, and was also Tuk-Tuk, so he was not remotely put off by a particular tarrish brew with a faint minty smell, despite the fact these were not words that should ever describe cider. Or anything drinkable, really. But it was new! And strange! And free! How could he NOT taste test the strange brew! [Canadians laughing in the distance]

Rudolph and Ren were much saner drinking partners, lining up at a stall that server what looked and smelled like perfectly NORMAL fruity imbibements, but perhaps crow-boy could convince them to try a sip of his after he had the first gulp. SHARING IS CARING. WHO WANTS TO SHARE SOME MINTY TAR SLUDGE. ”Hey! HEY! How is yours!” he… asked without really waiting for an answer, running off as they shuffled out of the way like normal, respectable people, while he tripped over someone’s robes and nearly dumped his concoction all over himself. ”I’ll let you taste mine if you’ll let me taste yours!!” Tuk-Tuk blinked and gaped his beak at Ren and Rudolph both, wiggling his feathery brow in what was probably supposed to be ‘enticement’ and came off more as ‘suffering from some kind of minor seizure’.

[north, 406 words]

[Geoff]

Geoff didn't really... do holidays.

He hadn't when he was awake on earth (no, he will not let the coma theory die, it was the only thing keeping him sane thank you very much), so he saw little reason to gain a sudden festive moodswing on this weird Planet.

His excuse could have been that he was a grown adult, but that didn't stop plenty of other college students and even some professors from getting, pardon the pun, frighteningly way too into the ghoulish spirit, as well as using it as an excuse to get way too into other spirits.

It could have been that he was a med student, specifically, and did not have time for dress-up and candy-swallowing and goofy pranks, but there were plenty of medical wannabes that made at least a token effort at a costume to class, as much as anyone can wear a costume that met lab safety requirements and didn't hinder clinicals.

It could have been that his family was simply not the joyful sort, but frankly Geoff was an outlier. The Rands were, more or less, your above-average upper-middle-class white Americans.

No, the simple reason Geoff wasn't into festivities was because Geoff was just one of those assholes with no holiday cheer and who felt he was too important, too mature, and too serious to bother with that.

Which is why he wearily hoped that other holidays would not be as eager to force themselves on him as Halloween apparently was. Which, honestly, strongly reinforced the coma theory. Why else would an alien planet have earth holidays unless it was drawing from his memories to create this surreal limbo?

A cornfield had sprouted in his backyard without any planning or indeed anyone asked him if he wanted that bullshit associating with him. Jack-o-lanterns (only mostly carved from pumpkins, but turnips, apples, and a basketball also made an appearance) appeared on the front steps with a new one added each morning. A scarecrow had appeared in the now overgrow cornfield a few days later and he was not humble enough to ever admit it had given him a slight startle to look out the window and see a shadowed humanoid figure T-posing into the distance like a straw-filled glitch. Point was, whether he wanted it or not (he did not) autumn was determined to thrust its way into his life.

And although he gave a good stoic battle against it, as each day brought some new obnoxiously thrift-store-spoopy decoration to clutter his house, Geoff finally had to admit defeat when he woke up to a spider on his face. Not a fake rubber spider. Not even a normal spider. It --- it -- he couldn't put his finger on it, but its eyes, they were just wrong, they were each different and... MOVING... and then one of them warmed up to a hot red and nearly gave him impromptu LASIK.

Geoff was not afraid of spiders, but he WAS humble enough to admit that he screamed and threw the spider and blankets off him one way, flung himself to the floor the other way, and stumbled his way out of the house as quick as he could.

The door slammed shut on its own behind him, and he swore he heard laughter from... somewhere.

WHATEVER. God, whatever, he was getting out of the house, GOD, he might as well go to the damn harvest festival at least it wasn't WAKING UP FROM A NAP WITH A LASER SPIDER ON YOUR FACE.

And that's the unnecessary story of why a not-so-well-groomed Geoff, rubbing his face tiredly and regretting his five o'clock shadow, turned up at a holiday social event against all expectations. Um.

Now what.

The man just kind of milled about, not interested in food, or drink, or purchase of anything no THANKS he had enough garbage cluttering his home now. He just. Needed to not be in said home for a bit. Until he forgot the gross feeling of that thing crawling on his face.

Was apple bobbing a thing. He'd be okay with an excuse to dunk his head in some cold water. That sounded good right now.

[overgrown, 697 words]

[Omorose]

Before the half dwarf could respond to her, a man suddenly spoke up. A hard hand was smacked onto her shoulder- Omorose expertly hid a wince. Magus’s weren’t known for their robustness. The warm smell of apples and breath drifted across her nose. The woman turned her head just to watch him suddenly fall backwards with a laugh. She chuckled. He seemed to be enjoying his cider, that’s for sure. Haunted ride, now that was intriguing.

Her eyes met Tzimekh’s as she introduced herself. “Omorose,” she offered in reply. She leaned back, sipping her own drink as Tzi went on to finger wiggle as if to impersonate ghosts. A good-natured smile lit up the sun-kissed woman’s lips. Spooky indeed. She couldn’t get a read on her if she was nervous about it or not. Personally, Omo wasn’t easily spooked. To be fair though, she was literally a magus of Anubis. She dressed, embalmed, and prepared the dead for their burials in their tombs. She spoke with spirits of those unable to pass on a daily basis. She lived and breathed this life on the daily. Why would she be afraid of some ghosts?

Before she could answer or notice the fire eyeballs in the distance, the wagon jolted to a stop. The osirion had to quickly steady her hand to prevent her drink from spilling over her. She took a quick swig of her drink as more people were packed onto the wagon. Then, suddenly, a voice spoke. It was close to her companion, but she couldn’t see where it was coming from. Omorose realized the owner of the voice probably didn’t want to be seen yet, and y’know what. Who was she to try and figure it out ahead of time?

After glancing at Tzi to see her reaction, Omorose flashed a grin and a wink, settling back down. “Why not,” she said, swirling the drink in her hand. “I’m ready for something spooky.” If they could actually pull it off, anyways.

ooc.
Fabulous Fall Words, Cider, 333 words

[Tzimekh]

Tzimekh, in fact, had zero idea of what a hay-wagon of any sort should sound like. As far as she knew, the unholy din of whatever mechanical process on its' very last legs was just how it be, on hay-wagons. You got your cider, sat down on some itchy straw, and listened to the raging of a thousand angry gods in the form of wagon-screech. Maybe the wagon itself was the real spook all along?

Look. That's a theory. It, unfortunately, was not Tzi's theory.

The dworc watched the boulder-man's boulders go tumbling with a detached kind of curiosity, squinting at the remaining ones. Was he...okay? He didn't seem okay, but she didn't want to judge. Thankfully, there were distractions! Voices in her head, in point of fact! "Uh," The half-dwarf glanced around, probably going for 'subtle', but failing pretty miserably. "D'you-" Oh, okay, her companion heard the voice too. Well. That was some small comfort, because at least if she was losing her gourd badumtss she wasn't doing so alone.

"Nice to meet you, Omorose." The half-orc offered, politely, before taking a deep breath. Letting it out slowly. Addressing the voice in her head, which honestly didn't sound at all terrifying or anything. It was fine, probably.

"Performers! Well, that's not so scary." Tzi hummed, tapping a tusk with one gnarly finger. "Thank you for telling me." She added, after a beat, still trying to subtly peer around. IT'S COOL. REALLY. At any rate, the nice villager was going to stay, and presumably Tzimekh's mama hadn't raised no bitch, since she was nodding along with the not-a-stranger-any-more. "Sure, I'll stay, too. What's the worst that can happen?"

You know, that's a remarkably stupid question, but maybe Tzi doesn't know that.

After a pause, the dworc snorted under her breath, eyeing wingy up there. "I'm not sure we have much of an option, anyways." She added, wry.

[320 words, Fab Fall Foods posts this on the right account this time]

[Zenith]

Whatever Zenith had expected to come out of that pile of leaves, a tiny adorable cat-creature wearing an autumnal wreath hadn’t been it. Seriously, he’d been braced for a giant spider or some kind of... candy apple monstrosity or something. The sheer cognitive dissonance of BITTY KITTY left him slack-jawed and staring for just a beat longer than was probably polite.

...but really, since when had Zee ever been polite? That was Alenandrae’s job, not his!

The moment his processor rebooted the lanky jet skittered back towards the pile of leaves, hands fluttering in the air like oversized birds. So small! So fluffy! So! Fragging! CUTE! He couldn’t handle it. He was absolutely unable to- to anything! He had lost his ability to can and he couldn’t even bring himself to care.

“Oh! Oh, don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of leaving without you!” Not that he’d been about to do exactly or anything. Perish the thought. “But, um- I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone or anything quite like you, sweet thing.”

What he means, Lex sighed, Is he wants to know what you are. And the answer there is, ‘a Celeste Cat’.

Said Celeste Cat- who would be named Chai once Zee got himself together- nodded agreement from her newfound perch. Zee... did some more happy flailing before darting off in search of that adventure he’d promised her. Lex, wholly abandoned in his wake, let him skitter off. She was just gonna hang back and enjoy the company of Planet’s one sane woman for a few moments longer.

((Fabulous Fall Foods, 'apple', 259 words of pure Zee-flavored dithering.))

[Kolnybte]

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

There was a child. Dressed in an outfit clearly meant to make it look like a rotting corpse.

The child beamed up at him, thrusting a bucket shaped like a gourd in his direction. "Trick or treat!" The child shouted, several orders of magnitude louder than Ko thought was really entirely necessary.

"Trick...or treat?" He asked, dreading the answer. It seemed fairly straightforward, at least in words. The words made sense. They seemed to be in an order that suggested a common saying, wherever the child was from. Perhaps that was how you greeted your...neighbor? in this place. "Ah. Hello." Politeness. He could at least maintain that, in this situation.

"Candy, sir!" The tiny corpse piped, eyes very wide. "S'what it means! You don't know? It's time for trick-or-treating! Come with us!" A beat, and the little maybe-human paused, frowning. They thrust a hand into the bucket clear up to their shoulder (just how big was that bucket), rummaging around for a long pause. Kolnybte used the pause to contemplate inventing an excuse and fleeing, but his cave didn't. Have a door yet. And it would be somewhat easy for the pint sized monster to follow him, which. He wasn't actually up for explaining his living situation to a child, thank you.

Finally, the kid pulled a comically large hat out of the bucket. It had a wide brim and a divot in the top, and he'd never seen anything like it, but the baby human beamingly held it out to him. "I got that from Miss Mildegarde, she's got all kinds of magic stuff. You can use it! C'mon!"

Twenty minutes later, trailing a chattering group of children into the village, Ko was deep in contemplation on how his life had ended up...here. Slinking down a festive thoroughfare with a comical hat and some sort of undoubtedly cursed magical outfit. He was trying very hard to figure out how to leave the excitable children to their own devices, but they'd affixed themselves to him like he was one of their own, in spite of the fact that he was very much not a child.

Perhaps trying desperately to mime rescue me please at strangers passing by the squash-lined streets would indicate strongly enough that they should get him out of here. By any means necessary.

[387 words, Fab Fall Foods, Please Someone Rescue This Boy]

[Haelys Celtaris]

If only others had been around to savor the friendliness that Haelys's voice had held for Alexandrae, or her brief but genuine smile. On top of that, she was even willing to join Zenith in the festivities, albeit with her usual untrusting suspicion. It was funny how much a change in environment could bring out new sides of someone, and yet did people ever truly change at their core? Or was it just like spinning a multi-faceted gem, reflecting the same object simply at different angles? Whatever it was, the air had seemed lighthearted until that feeling had overcome them.

Haelys did not move to follow Zee—she was too on-alert after the downright uncomfortable sensation washed over her. She did, however, seem to loosen up a little once the Celeste Cat emerged. After all, they were tricky creatures, and surely this was another one of their hoaxes. Nonetheless, she would listen to the Verdite's warning. But before she could even take a step, a horrifying chill trailed down her spine, pulling her heart into her stomach.

The words froze her for their duration, but as they ended, she spun around as quickly as she could, her orange dress shifting with her. The woman's eyes widened in shock and she instinctively backed away a step at a time as if to take his entire form in. This creature may have been small for a Sulphur Dragon, but he was still substantially larger than the human queen. Beneath the orange fabric, her legs trembled, though by sheer willpower she did not falter in her movement.

Geheth was born from her nightmares—one she would never wake up from.

After some moments of silence (it took her a while to process the words), Haelys finally opened her mouth to speak, unable to peel her gaze away from the multi-horned head that eerily arched before her. While at times she did run when it benefited her, she was also smart enough to recognize something she could not escape. She had always refused to be perceived a coward by her enemies. After all, that was like serving your weakness up on a silver platter to those who sought to harm you.

"Penance?" She asked rhetorically, if only to give herself enough time to build up the strength to continue speaking without her voice shaking. "Penance is for weak fools seeking self-punishment. Only gods or oneself have the power for such condemnation." She paused, clenching her jaw to keep it from quivering. "You are no god." There was a part of her that was trying to convince herself that this hellish creature was not a god in physical form—fear did strange things to the mind.

« No, » Geheth spoke calmly, agreeing with her, « but I am yours—a part of you, always present. » His tone almost sounded pleasant on the surface, but there was something dark and rotting beneath.

« Much better. » A subtle, morbid smile tugged at his scarred lips, sharp teeth glinting beneath.

Haelys's first response had exhausted the power she had mustered. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands and sweat dripped down the back of her neck, beneath her hair. She turned, feigning as much confidence as ever, and marched to meet up with Zenith and company once more.

« Don't worry, mine. I will be waiting when you are ready to go home. » Geheth practically slithered his thin frame away through the trees, sickly colors lingering just in sight. Haelys refused to look back at him, trying to shake off the feeling of his presence nearby.

"Shall we?" She looked at Alexandrae briefly, as if the group had not been there for her conversation with Geheth, and as if nothing was wrong. She was, however, walking quite speedily into the festivities. For once, being surrounded by many individuals—even the general public—seemed like a decent idea.

As they arrived, Haelys strolled over to a stall that practically had walls made of pumpkin piles on three sides. There was a big hand-painted 'PUMPKINS' sign at the top. Big, small, orange, multi-colored, smooth, lumpy—there were all sorts.

"You said you were looking for pumpkins, correct?" She spoke to Zee. "I don't think you need to worry about them running out quite yet." A joke. It was a small joke that came with no smile or laugh from Haelys. Instead, the woman eyed some of the tinier pumpkins sitting on tables. She reached out to pick one up, but noticed her hand was shaking substantially, and quickly returned it to her side. She could still feel him in her mind. His yellow-green face lingered before her vision and she blinked it away, re-focusing her attention on the pumpkins.

[word count: 793]

[Junho Song]

Of all of the days to stay completely and totally and utterly normal, this was probably one of the ones Junho would have chosen. It would have been nice if his entire family of small shinies were with him, but a peaceful, not weird and out of the ordinary at all day in an orchard was one that he would appreciate more than other days.

Junho felt himself relax, any tension or worry that he may have felt melted away as Zebey peered into his barrel and allowed the corners of her lips to curve at the mention of granny smiths. A strange sort of feeling clicked in him then, one that he hadn’t realized was foreign for him yet, on Whazzit.

A feeling of familiarity.

It was weird that he hadn’t experienced it in so long he needed to recognize it within himself again, but that only warmed the interaction more for him, like he’d had a nice glass of soju that heated his belly and then slowly touched into his limbs and then throughout the rest of his body.

It felt foolish, too, to feel some forms of delight at just learning someone’s name. How long had he been here, how many times had he encountered others only to not know how to reach out? It wasn’t like he had a working cell phone or anything, so maybe this was all a moot point anyway, but...the first companion that he had on this planet had told him her own name, and here Jin was, right by his side, always by his side. He learned not one name today, but two.

Pushing down his ridiculous glee, he would feel a lot less good about it if he remembered that he had forgotten in the first place (in his defense, he had no idea what the fuck was happening back then, even moreso than now), he took Zebey’s question with a bit of a tilt of his head, then a quick nod.

“Of course! The more the merrier.” He meant it too, of course. He told a white lie now and again, but what Junho said was usually how he felt, and it was hard for him to muddle up feelings and words or actions otherwise (probably to no one’s surprise). He turned his eyes to the apples on the trees above them, looking around for his next victim.

“You know, of all of the things that both of our worlds have, I don’t think I would have guessed types of apples.” The smile that he offered Zebey in return quirked larger, with bits of teeth, and it was usually harder for Junho to not smile with his whole face than it was to ease it all out in full display. The ache of missing home, the people from home, did still nag at him a bit, but in times like these it was easy to push down and keep himself in the present with just a touch of the bittersweet memories.

While Jin knew what Abbi was trying to convey was friendliness, the thing on her mind, more than anything was DO NOT MESS THIS UP. She practically jumped when the demonhound spoke to her, but managed to keep her four hooves firmly planted into the ground, though her flinch was probably evident. She immediately felt guilty, hoping that she didn’t hurt Abbi’s feelings.

He-hello. She wasn’t really used to speaking to anyone else besides Junho. The beorfin didn’t directly speak back. She steadied her voice and her brain and blinked her eyes at the Altar in the friendliest way she knew how () Are you good at picking apples?

ooc, 611 words

[Zebey]

Zebey was tense as she waited for his response. Almost immediately she relaxed upon his answer. He seemed genuine- she almost doubted his ability to put on a front, if she was going to be honest- and the relief she felt was larger than she expected. She shrugged it off, following his gaze to the surrounding trees. There weren’t many apples that looked like granny smiths- at least, not that she knew off- so it shouldn’t be hard to find.

”True. I expected demons, but I’ll take apples,” she replied with a touch of her dry humor. Her gaze swept the tree length. Then they flashed over to him again. ”Although… They seem to be messing up a little. I’m starting to suspect that pine apple isn’t going to taste good.” Silver eyes flashed to his basket of apples, then back to the trees again. A look as though she had just tasted- or thought of- something gross was clearly on her face. Her only guess was that they tasted of pine- the tree. And why somebody would decide to create that was beyond her.

Meanwhile, with the Unicorn, Abbi could sense that Jin was not….used to social interactions. The flinch was noted but not taken personally. If anything, this Altar was possibly the best suited for easing Jin into socializing. She was very understanding, and very patient. You kind of had to be, to live with that drow. She was rough around the edges and her sarcasm bit deep if you weren’t aware of her deflections. It took the brightly colored pup a minute to think of a response, for her vocabulary wasn’t very expansive. She only knew a few words, though she could understand people perfectly well. It was one thing to understand the language, and another to be able to speak it.

Dunno! she said, cheerfully. She had never apple picked before, but she can’t imagine it would be too difficult. Well… Her gaze lifted to peer at the trees they seemed to be heading for. The apples seemed to be pretty high up. She’d have to exercise her leg muscles to see if she’d be able to get up there. Her head turned back to Jin. Try! She would certainly try her best.

Suddenly, Zebey’s gaze zeroed in on a cluster of trees. ”Found ‘em,” she said triumphantly. She gestured with a hand towards them, where bright green granny smiths hung from the branches. She started walking towards them, expecting Junho and Jin to follow. Abbi’s ears perked at her bonded’s exclamation, and she quickly started trotting off behind her, gesturing with a quick nod of her head for the Unicorn to follow. You were sticking by her now, she’d help you out!

[Gats]

Oh look, someone to match the candy energy. Canergy? Whatever the case, the Celeste Cat that had seemingly appeared out of thin air at the mention of candy houses from Ren all but climbed on top of the squawking birdbrain that joined them just after. He squinted at Tuk-Tuk’s cup skeptically before taking a good whiff of whatever was inside. The Celeste Cat regretted it instantly, sticking his tongue out in a grimace, blehhhh. Gross! That noes candy. Maybe Rudolph or Ren would be braver?

Not too far away, Geoff was in luck. There was indeed bobbing for apples, though how sanitary that was? Well, we’ll leave it up to you. It at least didn’t look like it was a very popular choice as far as the other games that were set up, like the ring toss using old cider jugs or the shooting gallery full of pumpkins. No laser spiders in sight, thankfully.

Speaking of pumpkins though, Alexandrae would find she wasn’t the only Gryphon in town. Well, obviously, but we meant under the big tent of the pumpkin stand that she, Zenith, Chai, and Haelys made it to after leaving Geheth behind. A pair of siblings, perhaps? They could’ve just been rankmates that happened to be in the same place at the same time, but they had a sort of familiarity with each other beyond just looks and, you know, the fact that they were loudly squabbling in the middle of the pumpkin stall, siblings was probably more likely. But anyway, they were sort of in the way of anyone being able to make a pumpkin purchase at the moment.

They were also sort of blocked from exiting the stand as well, unless they felt like mowing over a bunch of trick-or-treaters. A group of chattering children— and one, um, child Kolnybte who looked might tall compared to the rest— bedecked in all manner of costumes was passing by on their hunt for candy. Honestly it was hard to tell if the Gryphons or the kids were louder.

If it made Ko feel any better, a dressed in a similar outfit (though a little, you know, dirtier, more authentic) did pass by and tip his hat toward him.

You know what there was no one in the way of? Apple picking.

‘Scuse.

‘Scuse.

‘Scuse.

Okay, spoke too soon. At least the Demonhound bustling through the orchard towards Junho and Zebey didn’t look like it was causing all that much trouble. In fact, he seemed pretty keen on using those wings of his to help smaller shinies reach into the trees. He trotted right over to Abbi and Jin while their bondeds were discussing the merits of pine apples. Need helps? He blinked, cocking his head in that ever so canine fashion, and really taking a good look at the nervous Unicorn. You need helps more, don’t you?

Bond! When The Moon Shines Red Ember Demonhound to Junho!

Of course, for all the helpful shinies in the weyrd, there was an equal number of those who weren't. One of the granny smith apples Zebey was going for? Yeah, without warning it yanked itself from the tree and clunked her straight in the head as if it had been waiting for her this whole time. Okay, it didn't do that itself, but the culprit was nowhere to be seen and it most definitely had been waiting for the drow all this time. Ha!

Bond! Invisible As The Wind Tempest Arathli to Zebey!

You really want me to list? The disembodied voice asked Tzimekh. This was Whazzit. There was a lot of The Worst That Could Happen that could happen here. But it was too late for that, because the wagon heaved and headed forward again, effectively holding the dworc and Omorose hostage for the rest of the ride.

The wagon headed into a tunnel that looked innocent enough from the outside. Well, it looked dark anyway so if anything horrible was lurking in those depths the two of them couldn’t see them. At least not yet. What they could see though, suddenly, after entering the pitch black was the ghostly form of a Celeste Cat sitting in front of them. Well, here we goes then.

Bond! When In Doubt, Go to the Library Morganite Celeste Cat to Tzimekh!

[Halrae]

Festivals.

When Halrae had first arrived here she'd been told by Zenith that festivals were a common occurrence and good places to make friends. While she'd been all but anti-social as far as some might have been concerned with the turn of the season she'd needed to pick up supplies for the cottage...

Which was how she'd stumbled upon the decorations and the celebration in progress.

It seemed that things had been going on for quite some time when the drow arrived. People and creatures were circulating, there were games, food, and some were in costumes. For a bit Halrae stood at the fringes with tipped head, curiously observing. She smirked when she caught sight of the fake spiders, though.

"Oh, how the Matron Mothers would be offended!" she murmured to herself before she saw someone she recognized: Zenith. Though she was hesitant to call the Cybertronian a friend, per say, he was familiar and that was comfortable, far more so than anything else. She'd began to move towards him when it became clear that something had caught his attention by an abrupt about-face movement.

Right... he seems busy.... Normally Halrae was far more confident about this, but festivals were something of a bittersweet subject and that feeling was making her hesitant.

Her last fall season festival had been with the Chainbreakers, as had her first festival ever.

"Just pick something, and try it!"

"It's fun!"

"Everyone is enjoying themselves, and no one here is out to hurt you. So why not go for it?"

"You're braver than this, Halrae!"

[/i][/div]

It was Razok's memory in particular, pricking her on her pride, that had finally prompted her then and it was the same now.

Glancing around, pushing her hood down in a test of 'lets see how accepted Drow really are around here,' Halrae moved towards the pumpkin carving. She stood by, watching for a little bit, just to see what the ordeal was and what she was to do.

((See Halrae try to go out on a limb and be social on her own lol! Sorry I missed this for SO stupidly long and if I missed something. That's why I didn't immediately interact with anyone; I'm not sure who's where doing what. I'll post as much as I can over my three days off.))

[Junho Song]

“I’ll pass on the demons, definitely.” Junho laughed lightly at the joke, not wanting to bring it to fruition just by voicing any desire into the universe period. At her comment about the pine apples...if they were anything like what he was thinking about, the pineapples from his home planet, they’d at least taste good. Zebey either did not have the same fruit or did not like the fruit.

Jin in the meantime was indeed soothed by Zebey’s friendly companion. To a degree. It was difficult for her to feel fully soothed at any time, but this was closer! She was trying. Oh! Junho has had me try. It was fun. she felt a tiny bit of pride warm her chest and immediately felt unsure about it. How was Abbi so happy-go-lucky? How did she have a bit of that and stay that way?

Junho’s attention was drawn back up to the trees, for the lovely green apples in the trees, the one thing they found they did have in common wandering down the row. He jogged over to where Zebey called out from, a delighted grin spreading across his face. Wordlessly looking for some ripe ones and some less ripe ones that he could hold onto, to eat later. He was no apple expert, but it wasn’t an entirely tricky thing to figure out, and he reached out for his first one, wrapping it in his fingers.

He rubbed it against his shirt, watching as some of the dust came off and the apple began to shine. He thought of Jin first, of course, but when he got a nice glint to it, he instead offered it to the elf, extending it out to her and opening up his fingers.

Before Jin had a chance to follow behind Junho, she was waylaid by another demonhound, who was rather polite. He didn’t alarm her remotely, even though he had come rather suddenly (he did not, not at all) and she fumbled for her words. I, yes help would be nice. Her unicorn-brow furrowed and she felt that she needed to resist the urge to reverse away from him and stood her ground (from this not very intimidating in anything but size Ember).

Junho too was distracted by the large wolf-like creature, similar in appearance to Abbi actually, ambling along, rather politely. He nearly dropped the apple, but grabbed hold of it when a second voice was heard, this time from the sky. He opened his mouth, ready to ask questions, when he felt a familiar warmth click into his mind, coming from Jin, or no, it wasn’t Jin. Just from the direction of Jin. He turned again, feeling all spun up, as the unicorn and the new demonhound approached.

Not looks like you needing help. he declared, but with warmth and not any sort of malice. Junho shook his head, the corners of his lips twitched upwards. “I’ve been around the block before.” The demonhound cocked his head at the expression, and Junho reached out his hand, palm up, as if he was approaching a dog, because his wires were sort of crossed and he had no idea what the polite way was to greet a bone-wolf. Instead of doing any sniffing of any sort, the Ember laid his head in Junho’s hand, peacefully.

With his new companion, whom he’d eventually name Bo, Junho turned back to Zebey, not too worried because he had a feeling from that second voice that she had been just as distracted as he had been. Perhaps now they could get back to apple picking, with some extra help. Maybe Bo could carry a basket too. Flying would certainly help.

Seemed he had run into a sort of demon today, but one he didn't mind in the slightest.

Ooc, 633 words
Omg he is so sweet I love him. ;_; Also HAHA I realize now how my words + the spooky-word were contrasting of each other LOL sorry about that. Junho will have a cinnamon army and no one can stop him.

[Rudolph]

Rudolph didn't know rather that was a good thing the candy houses weren't common or that Cyprena thought it was dark times when a candy house was the worse thing to have happened to her. And the fact that the candy house with the cannibal witch wasn't the only weird occurrance that happened around here...Okay. He could see why that...Oh what was her name now? The high and mighty Queen. It would come to him, but he could see why she had thought he was nuts for wanting to stay here.

He must still be nuts. He rather was looking forward to some of these happenings...So long as they were a bit tamer than the candy house.

Taking a sip of his cider, so glad they had cinnamon, he nearly spit out the mouthful in surprise as suddenly, someone was there screaming about candy. He blinked even more as he realized that the thing that spoke in complete sentences? They looked like a cat. A talking cat...Why was he even surprised at this point over the fact that a cat could talk here?

Mind wasn't even on track to attempt to answer Cyprena's question right now.

Maybe cause it was quickly followed by a talking bird...What the ****ing hell in a handbasket was going on here? Wings tucked close to his body, he tried not to laugh as the cat promptly declares that wasn't candy the bird had. "No thank you...Ahhh. I sorta like my taste buds not dying." He did hold out his drink. "But you can still try mine." What was the worse that could happen? He got some kind of weird bird germs? Fluffing up his wings unconsciously, he was half bird anyway. He should be fine.

Glancing at Cyprena, he was amazed to notice that half her glass was gone. Not that he blamed her at this point. Not with the hyper active cat and the...Bird that had ran into too many windows apparently.

[Cyprena Sevenius]

They weren’t alone. Well, of course they weren’t alone, they were in a crowded square full of people celebrating seasons! or what have you, but a loud voice hooked into Ren’s ears and she AND the two watch-whers that she had guarding/posessing her space. As the newcomer was now...in her space. The Ruby went from zero to a hundred real quick, but Ren immediately pulled her back, mentally and physicall she literally lunged forward and grabbed Cypresk’s shoulder before the watch-wher could do some lunging of her own.

Before she could even think to move the muscles in her jaw, the turian, the winged dude, the whers, and the cat (or whatever) were joined by the bird who jumped off a cliff. A BIRDman who had jumped off a clip and then fucking plummetted. So he had definitely made it it seemed, and did not seem any worse for wear. She had a strange series of relief at not having to answer about the candy, to less relief, to relief again that the guy was alive, and the progression of emotions

He offered his...was it a drink? Ren couldn’t really tell. But when the cat and the man both recoiled from it, she held up her hand as well with a shake of her head, she would pass too. She didn’t offer her own drink, but pointed to the stall with her thumb. “They’re free over there.” Why did she need to share her drink if it was free? In fact, she was about thirteen seconds away from just getting back in line and getting more wine. She embraced being a wine-gal today with open arms.

She could tell Cypresk was on edge because well, she seemed to be a little on edge too, so she forced herself to relax, because this was a celebration, right? Right. She straightened her spine downed almost the rest of ehr wine leaving a little bit left at the bottom to trick these people into think that she wasn’t completely classless, and looked over at the cat.

“So uh, did you say candy? Is this that tricking situation here or something? I don't have anything.” She held her one hand open, with the cup of mulled wine in the other. She wanted to make a joke about the wine being adult-candy, sort of, but wasn’t sure if a cat could even drink wine and didn’t really feel like she should tempt a cat of questionable age to drink/possibly poison itself.

She was resisting all temptation to downt he rest of that wine right now with Cypresk ever alert at her side, eyes trained on Tuk-tuk and Rudolph mostly (she could take the cat out easy) with Pyfsk mellowly lounging at Ren’s side.

ooc, 458 words

[Halrae]

The drow warrior looked towards the various happenings at the festival, noting the occasional bursts of noise and that indeed, as she'd been informed, creatures did seem to convene at such gatherings to find people to make connections with.

Abruptly, Halrae gave her head a firm shake.

What are you doing, Halrae? she scolded herself. Standing here balking, no, cowering! You're not someone who sulks about in the shadows like a... For a moment the thought of 'typical drow' came to her but she just stopped that train of thought and made a move.

But it wasn't towards the pumpkin carving area. Though it was intriguing an activity she'd decided to go speak with the one person she actually knew in the area...if he wasn't too much occupied.

Making her way towards where Zenith was, she was momentarily amused by the Cybertronian's movements at the seeming sight of a feline before him. Ok, even she could admit it was a charming creature, but the big mech seemed utterly smitten. Or at least overwhelmed by cuteness.

Hah, that was something to remember!

With a smirk on her face, Halrae shifted around to be within his relative viewing area and, when it seemed a good moment, cleared her throat.

"Seems you weren't kidding about the creatures from here and festivals."

[Haelys Celtaris]

Haelys did not typically have anxiety in social settings. In fact, she wasn't an anxious person in general. But with Geheth's face and words pressing at the back of her mind, she found her heart rate elevated and her palms moist. Even worse, she felt trapped. When she turned to move towards the larger pumpkins, there were two noisy Gryphons in the way. (She had never seen a Gryphon before, and now she had encountered three in a day?!) Biting her tongue, she decided to try another route, but that way was blocked by...children?

Well, children seemed a lot easier to mow down than two Gryphons.

Haelys found herself walking right through the group of children, looking down at them with eyes that screamed 'Get out of my way'. One of the smaller children pointed to her dress and said the word 'pumpkin'. The woman, now towering over them and possibly swallowing a tiny one up with her large orange skirt, did not hesitate to bellow the following:

"I am no pumpkin, but I AM a witch. And if all of you don't scatter right now, I will curse you all, and you will find ravens coming to peck your eyes and snakes coming to swallow your limbs TONIGHT."

High pitched screams, horrified faces. The children disbanded in all different directions, which left Haelys nearly bumping into Kolnybte as she rushed her next couple steps forward, trying to get out of the crowd. She hadn't noticed him initially. She seemed distracted, but her eyes lifted to glance at him and her face was much less terrifying than it had been with the children. In fact, she herself looked...worried.

"Excuse me," she mumbled the polite words half-heartedly, continuing on her way until she reached a more open area where she could take a few deep breaths, hand resting on the nearest tree.

She hadn't intended to save Kolnybte from his children-filled fate, but...you're welcome? She had even said something polite, even if it was absent-minded. For the record, Haelys had been in a surprisingly good mood before, y'know, she became bound to a living, breathing demon. Sorry, kids.

[Yjrn Mistwander]

Yjrn was… Lost was a technically correct word but somehow it didn't seem to encompass her whole situation. She had been travelling between Aethyrites, and then she had been dropped on a mountainside into some kind of conflict, and then the Mist pulled her back into itself before she could get a grip on the situation and dropped her down into a strange forest. It had also felt like some kind of time had passed, but she couldn't really put her finger on how much. It wasn't the first time that she had lost time. It felt not unlike being pulled onto the First. Perhaps this was another, strange Shard.

Whatever it was, it would seem it was All Saint's Wake, given the theming and the decor of the town she was wandering through. Her ears twitched here and there as she walked, her nose worked through the scents that the Mist brought to her. Foreign and strange but time would familiarise herself with it. Races she had never seen before moved too and fro, children shrieked and giggled, it was surprisingly peaceful. At least until terrified children went shrieking past her in a whirl of chaos. Screaming something about a 'pumpkin witch' and snakes eating their limbs.

Scanning the crowd her eyes settled on a woman leaning against a tree and looking quite panicked. The viera strode through the crowd easily, moving with a smooth grace until she stood beside Haelys. "Are you in need of assistance?" She asked politely, ears twitching as they listened intently for what might be causing the woman's distress even as her eyes were focused on her, softly compassionate.

[Zebey]

Abbi’s tail wagged when Jin said that she had tried, and it was fun. Her gaze shifted to where their bondeds were- near the trees now, where the apples were high in the branches. She wanted to try, certainly. Nodding to the unicorn, she was about to dash after them when the other demonhound approached. He was huge- big and bulky, much bigger than any other ‘hound she had seen- but super friendly. Giving a soft woof in greeting, the Altar peered at him a moment longer before dashing after their bondeds.

Meanwhile, Zebey was gazing up into the trees, looking for apples that satisfied her criteria to pluck them from the branches. Most apples grew soft after the first substantial frost. These were all looking great though. Her gaze scanned the apples when suddenly, bonk! One fell, hitting her square on her noggin and falling to the ground below. “Vith,” she cursed, lifting a hand to rub at her temple. Silver eyes flashed around, but she couldn’t see any culprit. Did it just fall?

No. No it didn’t.

The laughter reached her mind first. Having a telepathic connection to this creatures unsettled her, but she was annoyed enough where she ignored that. She tried using this connection to pinpoint where he was; luckily, she used enough shadow magic to be able to gauge his general area. He was up in the trees, claws grasping a thick and sturdy branch. His form was barely visible, more like a wispy outline than anything else. He looked to be a large bird of prey. Her eyes narrowed at him. ”If you’re going to throw them, at least get them in the basket,” she growled. He blurred, leaving his branch. Another apple came flying at her, but this time she jerked her basket up just fast enough to catch it. He snickered. She was sure she was getting a headache.

Abbi approached then at a running pace. She ran up the trunk closest to her, pushing off and grasping an apple in her maw as gently as she could. As she fell back to the ground, the apple broke free of its twig, and she looked triumphant as she spun to her bonded. The drow’s foul mood didn’t seem to damper her excitement at succeeding. Did it! she exclaimed. She trotted over to Zebey and dropped the slightly slobbery apple into the basket. The elf eyed it, knowing she’d have to clean that later.

That’s gross, said the avian above. He was promptly ignored by the elf as she turned to Junho, finally noticing the ‘hound beside him. She smirked a little. ”Copy cat,” she said with a light laugh. She lifted her basket. ”Got two- and a headache,” was added after a moment. Head jerked to the still fuzzy outline of the Tempest above, who made no move to introduce himself. He would, eventually, share that his name was Vulen.


ooc.
Just Making a Few Precautions, Frost. I love Vulen, he’s going to be great karma for her!! :3 And you did amazing at the mutation!