Who: Zach, Hayate, Kelsey, Lucinda, and Alicia
When: Evening
Where: The Kitano's Cottage
What: A family dinner.

With everything going on with Zach, he hadn't heard back from Hayate since their last meeting that didn't go so well. He thought it was unlikely he'd hear from the man again after that, so Zach sort of pushed him out of his mind. Tonight, he was over at his parents' cottage for a family dinner. He hadn't expected anything out of the ordinary. They were all here, and they were going to help set up the table and cook tonight's meal. Together, they were going to enjoy it as a family.

However, as Zach was passing through the living room, he heard a knock at the door. "I got it!" Zach called out, hurrying over to answer it. He wanted to make sure no one else came running but him. When he opened the front door, though, the last person he expected to see standing there was Hayate. Zach gaped for a moment like a fish out of water before closing his mouth. "Hey," he said, obviously caught off guard. "What're you doing here?"

( “Your father invited me over to have dinner with you,” he said after a short pause. )

Who: Alicia, Family, & Guards [Narrative]
When: Evening to Night
Where: The dungeon in Town Hall.
What: The deciding moment!

Alicia was given a choice of somewhere outside for the possible transformation with a barrier made specially for her or a cell in the dungeons of Town Hall. Being outside in the dark only made her nerves shake even worse, so Alicia chose the cell. Inside, she felt safer. And maybe, if she was out of sight from the full moon, she wouldn't be so fearful of what was about to happen. There was no guarantee she would change, but Alicia couldn't predict tonight.

Outside of her cell were a few Elven guards and her family. Her grandmother smiled encouragingly, and Alicia smiled back to her. Her mother and father were holding onto each other, scared of what they might witness tonight. Zach was there, too, although the dungeons were devoid of Adrienne. Adrienne actually did shift on the full moon, and she was down by the forest with the rest of the real werewolves. It scared Alicia that it had to have been one of them out of the group who attacked her. The fact that Adrienne was down there with a psycho made her even more worrisome. Maybe it was just an accident, though. They said how it could have been an accident, the Head Council, even though her grandmother remained tight-lipped on the matter.

( Together, they all waited to see what the full moon would bring . . .  )

Who: Alicia, Zach, Adrienne, and Zane
When: Early Morning
Where: Medical Pavilion
What: Discussion over what attacked Alicia, and the consequences.

Alicia sat upright in the hospital cot, her legs free and feet swaying back and forth atop the sheets. Having sheets draped over her legs made her feel like she was dying, so Alicia had chucked them off and just sat on the bed. Her parents were upset and furious. Well, her mom was more on the upset side and her dad was more on the furious side. She had already had a talk with them, and they had to have a doctor explain to them that being bitten by a werewolf was no simple thing. The bite wasn't severe, but Alicia could have caught the virus. Fact was they wouldn't know for sure until the full moon came in two days.

In much calmer spirits than her parents, Alicia hummed quietly to herself when Zach and Adrienne finally showed up. A grin plastered itself onto her face, and she held out her arms for a hug from her brother and his girlfriend. Never mind they needed to cross the room first before she could get a hug. Alicia liked to prepare for oncoming things. Like hugs.

"I can't get up out of the bed," she said in a fast voice. "I already tried and it hurt my leg, and Doctor Zane said I need to stay in the bed, so I have to stay in the bed." When they reached her, Alicia wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and hugged Zach tightly. She pulled away afterwards, holding her arms out to Adrienne. "Hug!" Alicia exclaimed, throwing her arms around Adrienne's neck next to get a hug out of her.

"So, how are you guys doing this morning? Everything cool? How was the rest of the festival? I know I didn't get to ask you guys last night. Everybody was in such a hurry with examining me and checking me up and all that medical crap. And this Elf came in here and used some weird gooey see-through green stuff on my leg, and it smelled like plants, and they said not to wash it off. I'm supposed to leave this wrap on until the end of the day and then they'll give me a new one."

It was a mouthful, but leave it up to Zach's sixteen-year-old sister to blurt out a mouthful before she would ever let the other two talk.

Who: Alicia, her Attacker, and Sanura!
When: Same time as the Autumn Festival.
Where: Northern Forest
What: Alicia gets lost in the forest while following a faun and runs into trouble.

OOC Note: The attacker's comments will be written by one of the mods to ensure their anonymity! However, the attacker's player will be telling the mods what to write for the scene to keep the actions in character.

Alicia walked through the forest with careful steps. Gosh, it was dark out here! She knew everyone else was having fun at the festival, but she had followed one of the fauns out here to see where the fauns lived. The girl told her most of them lived further out in the forest in cottages built by themselves much like their ones back home. A number of them lived in the forest cottages as well, but Alicia wanted to see the faun community out in the Northern Forest. So, the faun promised to take her to it . . . and here she was lost in the middle of the forest because of it.

A glimmer in the forest floor had arrested her attention, which was the reason for Alicia being lost. She had veered off path to discover what the glimmer was, only to discover it was nothing more than a stream. Frowning, Alicia hurried back up to the path to find the faun, but the faun was nowhere to be found. "Hello?" Alicia had called out the faun's name, but the girl didn't answer her. Placing her hands on her hips, Alicia let out a sigh. Great. Now, she was lost.

Turning herself around, she headed back the way she came. Alicia figured she could find her way back easily enough, and wandering further out into the forest at this late hour wasn't a bright idea. Especially when she didn't know where she was going.

Who: Alicia and Danté
When: Afternoon
Where: Remote forest lake and waterfall! Near Silmé Lagoon.
What: Prince Charming (or not? :O) to the reeesscuuue!

It was a beautiful day, in Alicia's opinion, and the only thing she wanted to do was to find a space away from everyone else for a little while and swim. Swimming was one of Alicia's favorite pastimes. Luckily for the young girl, she had a healthy mix of oudoorsy, sporty pastimes and girly pastimes. She'd run rugged through the forest one day, acting all Tarzan and Jane, and then be all dressed up for a mall outing the next! Oh, if only they had malls here. So not fair.

At the moment, she had been swimming in the lake for a short while, splashing about and laughing and warning the fishes to watch out for her killer kickin' feet, when an idea struck her. Alicia quickly swam towards the muddy shore and padded onto the grass, running over and around towards the wall of earth that held the waterfall. This particular forest lake had a gorgeous waterfall pouring into it! It was specifically her reason for choosing it.

And so, Alicia looked closely at the earthen wall for a way to climb it. There were many vines, but vines weren't always trusty, so Alicia grabbed for the crevices, for rock, and began to climb her way up. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, and she'd probably be pooped by the time she reached the top. But, for a sweet high dive, Alicia was going to do it.

Thankfully, it wasn't a very tall waterfall. She actually made it to the top fairly quickly. Once she hauled her way over the ledge to the small stream of water that poured down into the waterfall, she hopped onto her feet and bounced up and down, cheering herself. Alicia raised her arms in the air and clapped her hands together. "I am the queen!" she shouted, turning to face the edge. "BEAT THAT, WALL! Nyah nyah nyah," Alicia taunted it. She aimed her back towards the edge and wiggled her butt in another taunting motion at the inanimate object that was the waterfall cliff she had just climbed.

Alicia, in simple terms, wasn't very mature.

Who: Emily, Echo, and OPEN to party guests!
Where: by the Plancks' forest cottage
When: sundown
What: Surprise birthday party! I'll have Emily arrive after a few comments from other people.

Echo awoke earlier than usual Saturday morning, not surprisingly because she had much to do before the party in the evening. She dressed quickly and hoped that her mom hadn't started making breakfast yet. On her birthday, she wasn't allowed - ever since she was four, Echo insisted on making Emily breakfast in bed. Her meals improved over the years, thankfully. She reached the kitchen and found it empty, which was good. She set to work cooking pancakes, her mom's favorite breakfast in the entire world, and almost three-quarters of an hour later, she was finished.

Placing the plate of pancakes and a glass of juice on a tray, Echo carried it to Emily's room and opened the door. The movement stirred her mother, who sat up in bed. "Happy birthday to you," Echo started to sing as she neared the bed. "...happy birthday, dear Mom, happy birthday to you!" She grinned and gave Emily the tray, squeezing her shoulders in a hug.

( ''Oh Echo, thank you,'' said Emily... )

Making the excuse to leave was easier than Echo had expected, as was getting Emily to agree to come back to the cottage at sundown. She hurried back and went to her room to retrieve the party decorations. The baker soon arrived with the cake, so Echo set up a couple of tables for it to rest and brought out the rest of the refreshments. She draped streamers over various tree branches and positioned the tiki torches so that there was enough light. The sun neared the horizon now, and Echo changed just before the musicians arrived. She adored her yellow dress that Kazuki made her yesterday (and she immediately invited her to the party). Revealing, cute and definitely mature.

Excellent. Now all she had to do was hope that the guests came to the forest cottage before her mom returned. Time to get the party started!

Who: Lucinda, Kelsey, and Alicia
Where: The Kitano Cottage
When: Breakfast time!
What: Plotting for someone's upcoming birthday.

According to Lucinda, it was a beautiful morning. The weather was gorgeously cool, Adrienne was awake and healing, and a certain someone had a birthday in just a few days. Unable to hold back the toothy grin on her face, Lucinda sat down at the kitchen table with her husband and daughter. Kelsey drank his coffee in between glancing over a book in his hands, while Alicia immediately spotted the look on her mother's face and inquired about it. "Mom, why are you smiling?" Alicia asked, poking at her eggs with her fork.

Lucinda turned her grin to Kelsey, who had looked up at the sound of his daughter's voice and simply raised his eyebrows at Lucinda. "You heard her," Kelsey admonished in a playful tone, reserved mostly for his wife and daughter. "What's that devious look on your face mean, and what are you up to?"

"Someone has a birthdaaay . . . " Lucinda sing-songed, still grinning, and Kelsey chuckled quietly from his seat across from her. He shook his head and returned his eyes to his book, though he wasn't really reading it. Lucinda knew his habits by now. Hopefully, after two decades of marriage, anyone would learn those sorts of things. "You know he doesn't like parties," Kelsey reminded her.

"Now, I didn't say anything about a party," Lucinda defended herself, shaking her head at her husband.

Alicia giggled quietly. "Moooom . . . "

"Unless he wants one," Lucinda added quickly, making shifty eyes to show she had indeed been thinking about it. Of course she had thought about it. He was her son, she loved him dearly, and she wanted him to have a good time. To celebrate things like a normal teenager would celebrate things. "He's turning nineteen, after all," Lucinda continued, excitement bubbling out through her words. "He's growing up so fast . . . "

Kelsey turned a page in his book. "You just want him to be old enough to marry and give you grandchildren," he joked, glancing up to reveal the twinkle in his eyes.

"Well," Lucinda countered, adamant to make her case known, "I'm not getting any younger, and times and priorities have changed in this new world, and well . . . him and Adrienne are perfect for each other and—"

"Mom," Alicia moaned.

Kelsey smiled. "Now, Alicia," he said, looking over at Lucinda briefly as he spoke before turning back to his daughter. "No picking on your mother. She's just . . . overly excited about Zach's birthday." Kelsey gazed back at his wife. "Isn't that right, dear?"

Lucinda smiled back at him. "Of course," she said. "It's not everyday my son has a birthday." She turned her gaze to Alicia. "Or my daughter. Let that be a warning to you."

"Moooom!"

"Alright, alright! No more for now," Lucinda said. "Eat your breakfast, Alicia. We'll talk about this later, won't we?" She locked eyes with her husband, who chuckled again and went back to sipping his coffee and reading his book. Lucinda smiled to herself, knowing that meant yes.

Who: Alicia and Echo
Where: the forest by Forest Cottages
When: late morning?
What: The girls talk about their treehouse plans and boys.
Status: to be continued in thread.

Echo sat on a large branch of the tree she and Alicia had chosen that was going to be the site of their new treehouse. This was going to be so exciting! Unfortunately, the carpenter who shared a cottage with Malcolm was out on the scouting mission so they couldn't start building quite yet, but that was all right! She figured they could use that time to gather materials and plan how the house was going to look.

She loved the idea of having a secret place with a friend to hang out and though Alicia was three years older than her, she hoped that the two of them would become closer friends. Spending her days with her mother and older people was good, but she needed time to be girly. Readjusting the notebook in her lap, Echo held a pencil in order to scribble any ideas they mentioned. "All right! We said that we needed a balcony to have tea and snacks in the afternoon and then one medium sized room for the actual house. I don't know anything about how the branches can support it, so that's something we need to ask Mr. Ide about," she said.

Swinging her legs back and forth a bit, she grinned. "And when this is all done, I can't wait to invite people over! Like Nico and anyone who you like." Her look was more mischievous now and she sketched a little heart with her and Nico's initials in the middle. She then wrote the header 'Things for Treehouse' and tapped her pencil against the paper for inspiration. "Do you think we can get a couple of chairs and a small table for the balcony? Maybe inside we could use cushions. Mom has lots of extra ones we can use and fabric for curtains so we can make it super pretty. It'll be the best treehouse ever!"

Who: Hayate, Zach, and Alicia
When: Early Afternoon
Where: The Library
What: An unsettling meeting.

Fingers grazed easily along the backs of ancient leather-bound books in a row, gilded or darkened words etched into the tattered spines offering names of both dead people and old. An unrecognizable language to his eyes — its character made up not of the familiar logograms of East Asia he was used to seeing, nor the letters of the Latin alphabet. Categorized by topics and languages, the passageways of books in this building had no end to them in sight. A crescent shape marked this end of the library’s skeleton in its delicately curved shelves and the position of its aisles, giving it an illusion of endlessness.

His steps wound his sinuous form around another corner, soundless footfalls against the soft carpet. A small body full of graceful movements, some of them inborn and others learned over time. Smoothness was in his blood, a mark of what he was, given to him by his mother. Other movements, not so innocent, given to him by another. A name he did not speak anymore. Prey. He had been prey once. Now, he hunted with feral senses and alert eyes. Predator. Footsteps glided his slender figure around a third corner. Predator and prey.

The sounds for the past few months had driven him mad. He had tried everything he could to silence the godforsaken racket, but nothing worked. Still, the noise pursued. It rang on and on, singeing every moment with metallic screams inside of his head. This technology, these bombs, this ungodly noise. He had asked himself, over and over again: when it would end? His mind could not sleep for shrieking that permeated every daily and nightly hour.

Eyes fluttered gently to a close as a hand grasped the topside of a book. Silence. Blessed silence. It filled the air and calmed him, despite the ringing echoes of screams persisting in the back of his mind. With time, they would die off. His hearing was sensitive — sensitive than most, and it pained him greatly ever since he had been here.

And this, this calmness, felt like fresh and warm red velvet pouring blissfully over his tongue and filling his mouth.

“Alicia!”

Hayate’s eyes slowly opened, his hand slipping from the book. His gaze shifted over, eyes peering through the cracks in the shelves to give him the view of a black blur running across the other side.

( “Alicia, stop running around!” a male voice hissed. “You aren’t supposed to run in a library—” )

Who: Everyone! [Open for All]
When: Evening, beginning around 6 PM
Where: Festival grounds NE of Helicharis
What: The Autumnal Festival!

** To join in on this post, simply comment to the main post. If you are replying to someone else or joining them, reply to their comment and not to the main post.


The happy sounds of the autumnal festival were ringing throughout all of Elysium even before the sun sank beneath the horizon. The hard work the fauns had put into the celebration was evident by the elaborate decoration and set-up of the grounds. Wooden lamp posts lit with colored flames littered the festival while garlands of flowers wrapped themselves around each post, adding to the earthy beauty of the entire scene. Each attendee was greeted with their choice of a garland of flowers for their head, neck, or wrist if they desired one (or more, for some).

Upon entering the grounds enchanted colored leaves fall from the sky and then back up again very slowly from the flora littered ground to create a more autumn-like atmosphere. The curious insects known as fairies were also in attendance due to all of the lights, the bright and happy colors attracting their attention while their prismatic bodies blinked in and out of sight like lightning bugs and little dust fell from their minuscule wings. The bonfires too added warmth to the cool night air and brought comfort to everyone who had come out to celebrate the changing of the seasons and the continuation of life.

What festival would be complete without fun and games, though?

The fauns, along with the centaurs, had set up an archery range at the eastern end of the grounds, along with areas for knife throwing and a ring for wrestling with a minotaur. "Care to try your luck?" read the signs posted in that area for all who ventured that way. The northern end of the grounds, near the saltwater lake, was also bustling with activity with the ale drinking and Lembas bread eating contests. The rowdiness of the crowds, however, did not take away from the good-natured atmosphere of the food and drink area nearby where many people were seated upon soft grasses of the earth.

The contests did not interrupt the music and the dancing either, both of which were only a few feet away. The musical fauns, with their pipes and flutes and drums, played with fervor and enticed the attendees to dance and sing joyously. Their music permeated throughout the entire festival and many, especially children, were invited to play along with flutes and drums that were handed out as they arrived. Music was a central theme to many of the faun’s festive activities throughout the year, the autumn festival being no exception, as was the dancing and the feasting upon delicious foods and decadent drinks laid out across the grounds.

The southern part of the festival held the games geared toward the young or simply the young at heart. Barrels were available for those who wished to roll down hills, piles of leaves were created for those who wanted nothing more than to jump and play in them. Colored sparklers were handed out freely and there were even pegasus rides for anyone who wanted to soar through the skies. There were contests here as well, simple ones that had participants bobbing for apples and fruits and curious prizes, searching for toys in piles of hay, and even pinning horns on a wooden faun.

As fairies danced their way through the crowds to spread the joy of the festival, fireworks explode into the night sky. The magical light show added to the overall joyous atmosphere of the first festival in the safe haven of Elysium.