Festive Season (Open; Earthwings)

(Advanced roleplay)

Vine banners draped and hanged from tree to tree. Torches hooked onto polls of wood and bark giving the area an enchanted lighting. Tables and tables of food were lined up everywhere. Gems and rubies tiered like bleachers as decorations on just about every table. Yes! It was a festival. It had been a few weeks since the incident with the humans, his wounds were disinfected and sealed. It was still healing and he had been drowned in depression. He wanted to see some smiling faces and take a break from his work and spend time with his family. But even here, at the festival, work must be done. All of his royal guards and trackers were side to side with him. Gunter, Volos, Azoic, Mole, and Emerald. Cosmos invited them to take a break from their tribal duties and to have fun and relax at this very festival. All were excited to do it. Mole was bouncing with eagerness. Azoic and Gunter seemed to be discussing the scenery and how far the Earthwings had come. Emerald was touching every gem and jewel they came by and Volos was in the back of the group, sniffing the variety of food laid out.

Cosmos smirked. Everything seemed A-okay. He could already hear the footsteps of the Earthwing citizens march into the festival grounds with a loud chatter and their voices began to fill the forest. Cosmos nodded at the six dragons following him, they all stared and ran off to do their own thing in the festival. Emerald, was... still touching the gems. Cosmos sighed in happiness. This atmosphere was enough to give him a smile. Over towards the center of the festival, was a giant, slightly perched, flat rock which was big enough for any dragon to fit on. Especially Cosmos.

Cosmos padded over to that rock and sat on it, folding his wings and watching the citizens of the earthwings fill the tables and display areas of the gems. He was scanning the area for a few individuals in specific. Rektani, Sorrell, Rylatha, and Alphonse with that human of his. Humans were pretty resented in the tribe nowadays knowing what they did. His guards did a close search on all the human villages and they were certain most were wiped out. Comsos's shoulders felt calm and relaxed, they slouched a bit. His shoulders slouched but his head held high.

Rylatha was excited for the festival. Once she heard about it, she let out a cry of joy... Even though it left many staring at her with her sudden outburst. Rylatha didn't care if she was humilated or not. The Festival was supposed to be a merry gathering! Joy! Who knows? She may even meet a new friend...
However, she was VERY happy to know that her bodyguard, Centipede, was tagging along. Yes. That was sarcasm.
Now the semi-goddess was on her way to the Festival with her mutated pet ocelot following her. The cat had been mutated to be 6 ft. in size and grew scaly monstrous wings and fangs. His eyes came from brown to amber. Rylatha smiled at him. She had named him Tezcatlopica (that was an aztec god in the ancient days that was depicted as an ocelot ), Tez for short. She enjoyed the little ocelot's company, but surely not Centipede's...
"Be careful!" the EarthWing suddenly cried, leaping in front of Rylatha. "You can't be careless stomping around like that. There still may be humans lurking about..." His green eyes glanced around worriedly.
"Oh, please, Centipede!" Rylatha cried. "You don't have to follow me around all the time. If I encounter a human, so what? I'm much bigger than them."
Centipede opened his jaws to argue (as always) but Ryla slapped her tail over his mouth. Getting an idea, she smiled. "How about we play hide n' seek? You're it!"
Centipede grinned. "Ah, it's great to see you smile!" He turned around to cover his eyes, propping his forehead on a tree. "1...2...3..."
Rylatha whispered to Tezcatlopica, "Come on. While he's distracted!"
Tez nodded. He purred. "Okay, but quietly..."
"I HEARD THAT," Centipede roared from the tree.
Panicked, Rylatha picked up Tezcatlopica and burst up into the sky with a massive beat of her wings. Above the trees, she looked down to see if Centipede was following. There was no sign, but he could catch up...
The goddess of the Hunt and Beasts flew to the place where the Festival was to be held. She smiled down at the citizens that waved at her, and she even stayed down there a bit to let them pet Tez. Then, spotting King Cosmos, she soared over to her father.
"It's a beautiful day to have a party, isn't it, father?"

Rektani emerged from the dragons like an elegant flower, with her frill and everything. She looked stunning, catching the rays of the sun, having them scorch through her blood and cause a beautiful photosynthesis-like effect. She wouldn't join COssy quite yet. After the eggs had been saved, Rektanhi was relieved and wanted to throw a big party in that honor. Luckily, Cosmos had been one step ahead of her. She walked passed the EarthWings with a masked elegance. Tension was over for now. No worrying about the FireWings, IceWings, and AuSurath. No worrying about humans attacking Cosmos and stealing her eggs. And no worrying about her responsibilities, since she was taking a break. She did have eggs that she needed to take care of, after all.

But there was one thing that still unnerved Tani. It was Alphonse's human. She was fine with Alphonse, and thought he was a pleasant character to be around, but that human..... she wanted to tear its little head off. She knew Alphonse could be trusted, as did Cosmos, but why did he seem so loyal to that dispicable creature? It was absolutely ridiculous in her mind. What if that damned human wasn't trust worthy? What if it tried to steal her eggs? What was she saying, all humans weren't trustworthy. Tani was on edge because of that thing. She'd have to get rid of it immediately..... but first she needed to consult Cosmos about it. Slithering over to Cosmos, she leaped onto his rock.

"Cosmos, honey, may I consult you about something important?" she asked, sitting down next to him as the festivities continued to go on, and dragons danced and partied all over the place. Tani knew the eggs were close to hatching. She hoped that they wouldn't hatch during the festival, while she was gone from the nest. That would be horrid!

---

Alphonse had decided to attend the party as well, excited to see how dragons celebrated. He had not brought Edward along with him, much to Ed's despair. Alphonse knew Ed wanted something to do. But with his arm broke, Al was worried his brother could easily be attacked while he was gone, or worst, even killed. He hated treating his own brother like this, but it was necessery. Perhaps AL could convince the other EarthWIngs that Ed wasn't like the other humans that they had fought with. He wasn't going to hurt them or their hatchlings. Probably.

Ugh, Al, why do I have to stay here? It's so boring!" Alphonse heard his brother in his mind and sighed. He'd apologize when he got home! Ed was so impatient though. And really wanted something to do. Al could only imagine how boring it was sitting around doing nothing all day, constantly being checked on by your younger brother to make sure you hadn't been eaten alive yet....

I know you're thinking about me, Al, I can read your thoughts, remember? And don't worry. I'll be fine! Al heard Ed whisper in the back of his mind I just hope I get my arm back soon.....

Baldirak had heard that there was to be a festival today. For most of the time since his King's near-death and the stealing of the royal eggs, the All-Seeing hadn't moved from his post, never once left the mentality of a Guardian. In fact after returning with the two eggs he'd saved, the poor creature didn't sleep at all-- at least, no more than ten minutes in total. No, he'd placed himself in the fiercest mode of protection, staying with those two eggs as if they were his own. He allowed none of his fellow EarthWings within ten feet of himself, not once moving until the Queen had returned to dismiss him. Really, in the past few weeks, the dragon had been so on edge, he hadn't slept at all.

Now he wondered who of his tribe might be present at this joyous event, as he knew only a few. But for most of the morning, he'd considered not attending. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was just, for all his years, the one thing he'd never gotten a hang of was the social side of life. That is, when it came to being around several Dragons at once with nothing to do but have a conversation; small talk wasn't a strong point. But he'd been working on it... sort of... and felt like it might not be so bad. After all, Baldirak loved spending time with his fellow EarthWings.

Baldirak left the palace and made his way to where the festival had been set up, his shadow, as always, cloaking the earth below in darkness as he passed. He looked down to see the Royal Guards and Trackers he hadn't met yet, Rylatha, Alphosne and his King and Queen. He landed in front of the latter and crouched into the lowest bow he could achieve, holding it for several long minutes as he always did before rising. His mood then seemed to change; no longer serious but quite laid-back. Baldirak spoke casually as he sat for a moment to rest from the crouching he'd just done. "Cosmos, Rektani! It's good to see you. You chose a wonderful day for a Festival. And your wounds, Cosmos, I hope they aren't bothering you too much today?"

Terra was slowly making his way toward the palace, leaving a path of orange. The Royal Guard's scales were beginning to change. The once pure orange dragon's scales were now a mixture of golden, oranges, browns, yellows and the occasional green. Finally, he reached the entrance, pushing it open slowly, and walked up to Baldirak, and lowered his titanic frame down into a respectful bow to Cosmos and Rektani, before nodding to Baldirak.

"I love the feast, Sire." Terra praised with a wide grin, before walking off toward Mnerloth. "You look troubled." he said to him, seating himself down next to him. "Do you need to talk?" Terra then continued in a - well as caring as he could muster, caring voice.

Two yellow eyes studied Mnerloth with worry, surely he wouldn't be as shaken as Baldirak was after the Human incident, he was a Semi-God after all, and as far as Terra's experience could take him - Gods were not to be shaken easily, especially Gods who have the responsibility of a tribe on there shoulders.

A pair of rainbow eyes swiftly moved upon a orange scaled dragon in front of him. His form, some what smaller, as the 160 foot tall titan looked down. "Tis not a concern for you, I have no need for a talk." He said as he was not in a pleasant mood, Mnerolth was usually never like this, but all the negativity that happened. Has started getting to him, Sorrell turning darker, and the hell that began. Mnerolth's scales, and all the plants in it, began to change as he did. The scales turning a darker colour, more coal grey and his plants somewhat dying but they quickly returned as he looked at the dragon. "Don't concern yourself with me, it doesn't matter." He told the dragon, as he closed his eyes and tried to return to his attempt to get more energy.

Cosmos was already greeted with smiles and bows before he even realized. Baldirak, who was perhaps concerned about his well being, asked him how he was feeling. Cosmos sighed. "Well Baldirak, I can't say they've not been bothering me but they are ten times better than they were a week ago! Haha. And I hope you're enjoying the festival so far, Baldirak. Everyone needs a break at some point, right? See this little event as a day off from your duties, have fun!" He chuckled. But then Terra approached him, greeted him, and then left to approach Mnerolth who seemed uninterested in the little events of the festival. Cosmos let those two be and tilted his head over to Rektani, who seemed to be focused on more tribal matters than the festival itself. Cosmos sighed. For the first time, he honestly didn't want to talk about "important stuff" with Rektani. The only reason he became a workaholic was because his tribe dumped so much work on him that he never got a chance to step back and breathe. Now he was going back and forth solving this problem and that problem. He'd at least like to enjoy his own festival.

Cosmos spoke in a "what is it now?" tone. "Hun, not now. We can discuss that later, I'd like to watch our tribe have fun for now, yes? You should enjoy yourself too."

(Merp. I have decided Ed has his arm. Cause sicking him in the EarthWings without alchemy would be cruel )

Rektani nodded her head at Baldirak as he approached, then sighed as Cosmos replied to her. Cosmos was right. But still. How could she just ignore all that had happened over the past few months? It caused so much stress on her part. She shook her head once again, feeling weak after everything she had gone through. But she decided it was a good time to enjoy herself with the festival, now wasn't it? Didn't she deserve a break from all the chaos of every day life? Of course she did! And any other EarthWing would agree as well... at least, she hoped they agreed. She decided to go grab something to eat and bring it back to Cosmos, since she thought he deserved a little treat after all the hard work he had put into finding Dusk and protecting the tribe.

Over at the buffet table, Tani picked out some tasty looking elephants and a few other giant mammals and brought them back to Cosmos, setting a few on his rock. "Here's a little something from the buffet table. You've deserved it," she said, nuzzling his neck affectionately as she chowed down on her share of the meat she had brought back.

---

Meanwhile, Hebaru watched the whole situation from within a crevice in the cave(?). He had already eaten, and wouldn't need to eat again for another month. Instead, he watched, in case any fights broke out, so that he may quickly pounce from his perch and rescue the king and queen. He was unyielding, staunch, and loyal to the king and queen. The other EarthWings.... eh, not so much. He flicked his tail patiently as he watched the event transpire, his yellow eyes never blinking as the titanoboa observed everything below him.

Baldirak nodded and listened intently for the few seconds it took his King to say what he wanted to him. He found the words, 'day off' particularly wonderful to hear. He chuckled quietly to himself as he thought back to last time he'd gone so long without sleep. 'Memory for another day', he thought before standing with a slight stretch of his wings. "I am and I hope you manage to as well," he replied with a glance to the Queen, as if he were aware of Rektani's ambitions.

His nostrils flared slightly as he turned toward the food-filled tables. Even though he'd somehow managed to eat during his paranoid state, the scents that replaced the air in his lungs made his stomach begin growl. But first, he went over to the two who sat in seclusion. Baldirak returned Terra's nod with an implied inquiry as to how he was doing. His pale gaze studied Mnerolth, slowly moving from the larger Dragon's head to his paws. Without a word aside from a "hello", as he sensed Mnerolth wasn't in the mood for chatter, Baldirak walked back to the tables. After another inhale and a quick survey of the menu, the tired and hungry EarthWing sat and ate.