The day after the solstice is a day for the ball, where the visitors to the tribe dress their best and take a more leisurely approach to those limbs wearied from the frantic dancing of the night before. This is the part of the solstice event where new alliances can be forged and where lasting friendships are often created. As always food and fermented fruit is made available to all the attendees to ease the twinges of the night before. It is also the location where the next sun king is announced and gets to leap over the dying embers of the old year to reign anew.

OOC – This rp is simply for people to hang out and interact however they like, there is no obligation to adhere to a set rigid post order, if you fall behind simply gloss over the time lost and move on, if you want to add more, feel free. The fermented drinks and mushrooms tend to make time seem a little bit more flexible in the fairy court than elsewhere and no one at all seems to mind…

Remember to @ people you are addressing in case they miss it, if you don’t want to be notified by others please put this at the end of your post in (())

[imgleft]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... Voices.png[/imgleft] If Follow could see how others were dressed up, the amazing masks, and such, he'd have felt terribly out of place wearing what he was. and he might have turned tail and left, adorned in nothing but flowers in varying states of health, and one closer to dead than alive, he certainly was one of the more under-decorated kin there, but that didn't stop him. Mostly because he couldn't see that this was the case. So he stayed put.

He sometimes heard a curious note about his flowers, but no one asked him about them directly, and he wasn't inclined to give answers to whispers. Not when he was trying to figure out what was going on around him. After tripping over the things various kin were wearing, and had dragging behind them be it from body, or tail, he found what he hoped was a safe, out of the way spot where he couldn't accidentally destroy anyone's things. Or trip and fall. Again.

He had a smudge on his face where he'd literally face planted moments before after stumbling over something but he picked himself up with as much dignity as he could manage, which was surprisingly a lot, and had walked away a little to this quieter area, breathing a soft note of relief. Crowds were so hard to navigate.

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright]
Although Follow was on the edge of the crowd, where few paid any attention or heed to him, he was not alone. Someone nudged his face where the smudge was, pushing it away, but the touch barely felt solid at all.

“Are you all alone?” a small, youthful voice asked. “Don't mind them, they are busy. But you can appreciate things differently, can't you? I mean, the music even. The music is lovely, isn’t it? The songs carry all the way to the river." He laughed airily. "It sounds so much better from there. Come with us if you like, we can hear it together.”
@Lirilei

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/images/blue/inspiringsong_uncert.png[/imgright]

Song was surprisingly happy that his mask was so comfortable. For a little while, he'd been worried that it would have been heavy or, even worse, that he wouldn't have been able to keep it sitting on his face but there it was, comfortable, its pearls giving a soft, slight shine to the mask when the light caught it just so. There was nothing else to his costume, merely just the mask but, well, it was enough.

He stayed along the edges as he came in, only taking in the sights that surrounded him. Song felt his stomach flip-flop a little. If he wanted to become a wanderer that all would listen to, he had to overcome this shyness that seemed to cling to him and head into the heart of it all. There was, however, a reason why he was remaining on the edge and that reason finally came within his sight. Grinning somewhat, Song eased around others, mindful of where he stepped until he was only a few paces away from the blind one. He took in what he could see but there clearly was something odd about the scene, something he couldn't quite pinpoint.

Shaking it off, he carefully eased closer, hoping that perhaps the slight floral scent still clinging to the mask would reach the blind Acha's nose.

"Excuse me..."

@Lirilei @Baneful

[imgleft]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... Voices.png[/imgleft] The light touch to his face was surprising to say the least and he pulled away a little, sightless face swinging around slowly trying to figure out just who was there. The question though, it earned a slight nod of his head, a simple "Yes." because well he was there all alone. He was alone most of the time, but that was okay. Alone wasn't so bad. Usually.

He smiled at the question of the music. "It's very nice music yes. I like it a lot." the idea of heading towards the river though, that earned a little shudder from him. "No, I rather think I'd like to stay here. I'd rather not trip over something, and fall into the water." he'd done it in the past, and sometimes he could get out easily, other times it was a struggle to do so. That and he didn't want to risk losing his flowers in the water, let alone struggling to get back out!

He could hear hooves coming closer, and he shifted a little, to move out of the way of the one coming closer, assuming that he or she would be attempting to go past, and that they wouldn't realize he was blind, few did really. So he was surprised at the two words being spoken, and assumed it was to the other kin with him, and he uttered a soft "Sorry. I'll be on my way, let you two talk." as he shifted his weight on his hooves, and went to carefully move away from the 'two' that were there.

@Baneful @Izaeah

The figure who'd been talking to Follow spotted another kin approaching, and rather than continuing to coax the kin, vanished with startlingly quick speed off into the bushes, almost impossible to see once it vanished into the foliage and skipped away without another word.

@Lirilei @Izaeah

Song still wasn't quite sure what his senses had picked up because his eyes seemed to be troubling him. One moment, he'd been certain he'd seen something close to the blind one and the next, there was nothing there. He frowned in thought but that frown deepened as he saw said pink one trying to move away. That wouldn't do, no. So Song did the only thing he figured he could do, he shook off his mild unease and straightened himself a little.

"No, please, wait, it was you I was hoping to talk to." Though he did paused and looked around the area near them again, "...I swear there was something or someone near you when I approached but they just... slipped away as I was stepping off. It was the strangest thing." One that left him feeling mildly uncomfortable.

"We crossed paths... at the fortuneteller, you almost bumped into me but that's all right, I understand." See, he figured it was best to put things into words in as clear a manner as he could, for this one's sake. "I'm Inspiring Song but... you could call me Song."

@Lirilei

He was only a few steps away when those words caught his ears, and he paused. "Me?" how completely surprised he sounded and he stopped walking to look back in Songs direction very curiously. Though his head tipped a little in confusion.

"There...was." he said slowly. "Touched my face...invited me to listen to the music near the river..." he was sure he hadn't imagined things...had he? No he was sure he hadn't. Though maybe it was just wist playing tricks on his mind. Everyone else had company it sounded like and...he recalled his fortune. Maybe he'd been wishing he had some too, and pretended some other kin was there. It didn't feel like a particularly good answer, but better than the alternative, maybe.

"We did....I did...oh...I'm sorry." he sounded so sheepish, even if the other said he understood. He still felt bad when he ran into others. The others name made him smile though. "Song. I'm Follow the Voices. You can call me Follow, or Voices. Or whichever."

@Izaeah

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... e_mask.png[/imgleft]

Watch Me was feeling quite sore, his movements the next day slow and tentative. He wasn’t a new buck, to go dancing around a fire for an entire night but he had done so anyway and was paying the price. He’d donned his mask this time, hoping the bright colours masked his exhaustion. Not that he wasn’t excited to be up and about, nor was the morning after a night of revelry anything new, but it was going to take him time to recover his energy.

At least he’d put on a good show and he didn’t regret a moment of that wild endless dance. Even if his muscles did.

The buck ambled ever so slowly towards the food on offer. He spied a familiar face in the distance, his son chatting up a cute little Acha buck, and wisely, with a proud grin, decided to leave him to it. Instead he found some fruits and nibbled away, slow and content. Too bad Prize hadn’t wanted to join him. Such a spoilsport.

Song found himself exhaling softly, a breath he'd been holding but hadn't noticed he had. He'd been afraid that the pretty Acha was going to keep on leaving and well, that would have been awkward!

"You, yes." soft but uncertain, willing to get it across that yes, he was being honest, yes, this one the one he had approached to talk to. Why was talking to others so difficult? It wasn't as though he'd been sheltered and away from others! Still, he was working on getting over this odd uncertainty of his.

He eased another step closer, though bright, familiar colours caught his attention a moment and he looked away, spotting his father just briefly. Grinning somewhat to himself, he eased another careful step closer to the Acha, to Follow, and he exhaled another soft sigh, this one was of quiet contentment, perhaps. "I saw something too, but it was so quick to get away that I couldn't get a quick look at whoever it might have been. Maybe we both imagined it." Maybe that was the wrong thing to say but his words still word soft and quiet, he wasn't teasing.

"No, no, it's all right. I really don't mind. You didn't run into me at all, you sort of missed and--" time for a change in tactics, "those flowers smell really nice." Though most looked garish to him but he had a feeling that it had been more about scent than looks, since this one was blind. "Follow the Voices.." it was such a nice name!

"It's nice to finally meet you. I admit, I've seen you at a few different places recently and I was curious to get to know you a little." Now, how sweet was that?

@Lirilei

He heard that soft exhale of breath as clearly as if it'd been done right in his ear, but he could tell it was of relief, and nothing more. He wasn't sure why Song was so relieved, but he assumed it to be a for a good reason, anyhow.

The uncertainty from the other buck, was also loud and clear and he shifted his weight a little. Some were hesitant to talk to him, but uncertainty was a new sound to him in this particular context and he was trying to understand the tone to the words, without outright asking.

Follow breathed a low sigh of relief as the other said he saw something. "If you saw something, and I heard something, maybe we didn't both imagine it. But...maybe we're really dreaming. I've heard the MotherFather sometimes has kin share a dream. Could we be sharing a dream?" well it was possible.

As Song stepped closer he caught the faint smell of flowers, and not one he knew he'd picked out for himself and he gave a warm laugh. "You smell like flowers too!" how utterly pleased he sounded, honestly! Though he smiled brighter. "Thank you! I can't see how they look, so I go based on smell, and they all smell really lovely individually, and even better all together."

He leaned in a little closer to breathe in the others scent, to try and commit it to his memory. There were so many smells around here, and the fire and smoke from bonfires didn't help in retaining a clear scent. "It's nice to meet you too. I think I've smelled you before as I passed by you. You smell familiar." it wasn't a bad thing, really!

"Not many kin want to meet me though. But I'm happy you wanted to." oh he was! He was pleasantly surprised really. He hadn't expected to do more than just trying to stay out of the way, so this was...well a wonderful new experience, really.


@Izaeah

Song tried to think back to the friends he had made as he'd grown up and he was drawing a certain blank that didn't sit well with him. He frowned at the thought and let it go, preferring to focus on the present. That was what was important just then. The present and this one and perhaps managing to make a friend. He longed to.

His uncertainty could have been explained easily enough by the fact that he didn't want to be seen as a bother, that likely, just there and then, was exactly what his problem was but, as he promised himself to roam their world and discover more, he would have to work on that.

"If we're sharing a dream, I would like for it to go on forever so that we may get to know one another completely." D'aaaw. Sugar-Sweet should have been his name, really.

He couldn't help the soft laugh however, as this one picked up on the scent from his mask. "It's the mask. I gave it colour by dipping it in a mix of certain flowers that had been soaking in water and I guess it picked up on that scent." Oh, but he felt good, knowing that perhaps his scent was unique enough for this one to pick up on and remember. He actually felt a little giddy.

"It's possible, as I said, we did cross path a few times recently... which is probably why I wanted to say hi and talk a little."

@Lirilei

The acha couldn't help but duck his head a little at the unexpectedly sweet words from the other, and he gave a shy sort of smile. "That's very sweet of you to say, you know?" well it was! No one else had ever been so sweet to him in that way, and it warmed him in unexpected ways, making it feel like there were things in his stomach floating around a bit. It was unsettling, but not in a bad way.

He brightened as he heard the explanation. "That's really smart! I didn't know that flowers could give colors to things. Smells sure but that's it as far as that goes." well without sight, of course he wouldn't know in the end. He leaned in a little more and gave another soft sniff. "You picked really nicely smelling ones." oh Song had, he liked the smell of the flowers mixed with the others own scent.

"I'm glad you wanted to talk to me a little, it's nice to have someone to talk to. I've been bumbling around here all on my own, and just trying to stay out of the way of others." and he managed surprisingly well all things considered. Hanging out at the edge of the revelry was a prime example of that.

@Izaeah

One could have imagined butterflies beginning to flutter all about from these two. They seemed to be paired in shyness and it was bound to likely be rather adorable from an outsider's point of view. How strange and sweet, the innocent beginnings of friendship in this world.

"I mean it, I didn't know if you would take well to being approached or not but I took a chance and here we are." Song even shifted his weight, moving to stand slightly between the other and the rest of the crowd, so that any jolting could be avoided as best as he possibly could.

He grinned however and shook his head, offering a soft, quiet laugh. "There are a lot of things that can be used to give colours to other things, much in the same way, I guess, that certain things can be used to give items scents." Like his mask, really!

"I think you've done rather well in getting around on your own. Minus our near bump in, at least as far as I've seen, you've done well." Really. He did tip his head up a little, giving the room another quick look. Was he hungry? He wasn't sure, was his now-present companion? He thought to ask but then shook it off briefly, maybe not yet. "There are a lot of people, so I think that this is a good spot, honestly.."

@Lirilei

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]
King arrived to the festivities adorned in completely different attire from the previous night. The previous night he'd been adorned as the herald, the priest of night, the one who would usher in the rebirth of the sun. For the ball he was instead adorned in brightly coloured mushroom caps and dried flowers, his antlers hung with them and the pelts of all manner of small creatures. It looked heavy and impressive and he knew he'd have a sore neck the next day.

But it was worth it, for appearances.

He admired everyone's outfits and moved between them all happily, unaware how closely he'd just missed sighting something special.