Minty minty party

"Thank Daila! I was about to explain that she wasn't mine - you're her mom?” The blue guy, Nirasi, asked. Alkyone nodded in confirmation.

"Everything ok? Can I get you dried off? If the pup's yours, I'm happy to welcome you both - snacks are just this way, and frankly...you're intimidating, so I'm going to formally ask permission to dry you off. I repel water, it's painless...just, come on in...?"He bumbled along.

Alkyone raised her eyebrows. “Thank you I’m fine, I’m fluffy enough as it is.” She said, smiling and glancing at Pip. She shook her fur, but froze the water in its flight path, letting it tinkle to the floor. She padded into the main part of the cave, heading for Pip.

"where's your mother, little imp?" The silver one asked.

Pip raised a paw. “There.” She said pointing, before sitting down on his side and staring at his mask. “Why have you only got two eyeholes but three eyes?” She asked.

“Pip, don’t pester the gentleman.” Alkyone said, smiling as she came over and sat by them. “My apologises, she’s extremely curious and tends to ask a lot of things.” She said warmly.

She glanced around. “Hey Rayner, Kordisia.” She called over, nodding her head to them.

Rubisa knew that Candy wanted a chance to give Nirasi his gift, and left her to it, "primping" her a little before leading the others away. She knew Candy was lonely alot, as a traveling craftsman. Rubisa acknowledged that her position as the business partner was an honor... but she wasn't a shinlai, and couldn't fill all the spaces and supply all the comforts of home... like cuddling on cold nights... it was more like an exercise in being squished and surviving the night anyways.

Rubisa 'shoos' the incoming herd of shinlai after introductions, giving Candy and Nirasi an exceptionally brief moment to talk.

Candy gives the larger, fluffy blue shinlai the box. It is filled with copper dust and grains of pure rusty-colored ore atop the ore is a carved gold feather, actual size and crafted with amazing detail.

"It's to build you new leather carving tools that will fit your paws. I just thought you might like the feather...I've gotten more patient with the forging process."

when the pup pointed to her mother Lynn sighed softly, as he felt the other Lai's glare fade and felt she was not angry with him, he turned to the pup and blinked. "my mask only has two holes for my three eyes because it's supposed to look like a scary skull." he said with a grin.


as Alkyone approched and spoke to her pup Lynn waved a paw. "oh she's no trouble, I don't mind a bit of pestering from curious youngsters." he said with a short wheezy laugh.

" I'm a little out of place here after-all, I don't think I really know anyone here." he continued with a humble grin.

"but where are my manners, My name is Lynndercote."

Rhaiva smiled to herself at the mother and her child. They seem to bring much life to the tea party Rhaiva thought. Sir Lynndercote seems nervous for some reason is there to much activty for his comfort level?

Rhaiva's thought were interrupted with the realization that her tea was cooling.

Rhaiva lowered her flute to drink some more tea while it is still warm.

The sound of splash echoed through the cave. It was somewhat awkward for Selousi to arrive so late but she wanted to check on how Nirasi's garden was going. With her claws out she scrambled up onto land, shivering a bit from falling into the water when she was going to simply dive in. Then she saw how many guests he had and winced slightly out of fear. After all, she was claustrophobic.

Rhaiva stares at the beautiful green Shinlai that just enters.

"You are a lovely Shinlai, green one," Rhaiva says smiling at the newest member of the tea party.

Selousi tried to say thank you but all that came out was "Th-Th-Th-Th.." she gaped a bit then caught herself. "Er, thank you! My name is Selousi!" She said stuttering on her s's and th's again. She looked around a bit and found Nirasi. He was looking his usual blue; not that would change any time soon. She spoke again, "Um, so I guess your herbs are fine since you have your waterfall to help them as a water source."

((LOL Toad said I had to join so here comes Rysh and hallow WOO PARTY CRASHERS! Hope ya dont mind :P))

Rysh was being pushed every step of the way pretty much as Hallow forcefully moved her forward towards the entrance where the party was said to be located.
Rysh groaned "But I don't want to go, there will be others there and I just wanted to stay home! I probably won't know anyone there either! I mean I've chatted with Nirasi a few times but surely he only wants close friends.

Hallow chuckled and kept pushing her forwards, "If he didn't want us here he would have stated otherwise, besides you need to loosen up, you and Selo are always so afraid of contact with others you really don't know what your...." he gave one final push and she almost fell through the opening, "missing!"

He looked up and over Ryshka's shoulders "Besides, I am he.." his voice faded and he saw who had arrived. Kordi was here and it was nice to see family, but his eyes landed on Selo and he grinned. He never expected her to be in a place so crowded with others. "I will see you later Ryshka, have fun..." He idly said as he approached the timid lai. "Well madame, this is a strange place to see you in.", he smiled gently as he walked up to Selousi.

Ryshka stood perfectly still just a bit away from Nirasi who was greeting others. She was frozen like a deer in the headlights.

Phlorian straightened his fur as he tried to keep track of what everyone was doing. Impossible. Two more Shinlai entered the overly crowded space, one of the quickly disappearing into the crowd. The other one didn't seem so happy. /Might as well say hello.../ Phlorian thought and walked towards her. "Hey, I'm Phlorian. Who might you be?"

" Oh gosh, Ahaloh, I don't know if I can be here anymore, " Selo said, backing up a bit, but instead, she ended up somewhat leaning against Ahaloh's flank. "It's erm, a bit crowded. But all I did was come to see how his herbs were doing!"

_{((SORRY SLEEPING HAPPENED I'M UP NOW))}

Nirasi turned to find Rubisa had appeared and was kindly making excuses for him to escape the bustle. She led him to Candy and made sure he had time to focus on something besides the chaos. He welcomed the familiarity and a chance to gather his thoughts. He was about to thank her for showing up when she produced a parcel.

"It's to build you new leather carving tools that will fit your paws. I just thought you might like the feather...I've gotten more patient with the forging process." He gently thumbed through the contents - fine copper dust, ore, and an amazingly intricate, glittering feather atop it all.

"Candy, that's amazing..!" he lifted it closer to his face for a better look, afraid to actually touch it. "A gold feather! This had to take you forever to get all these details - it looks so real," he babbled. His tone turned apologetic, "I don't think I've paid enough attention to know how to make the tools...you'll have to help me, and I swear I'll be more polite...this is amazing, thank you so much-"

Another soggy silhouette appeared and froze t the waterfall - antlers? Green..? "Selousi you came!" he darted to the waterfall to the miserably cold Shinlai trying to make small talk despite her condition. He heard her say "Um, so I guess your herbs are fine since you have your waterfall to help them as a water source." and his heart sank. She didn't want to be here. She was cold, wet, boxed in.

Ahaloh had come up to talk to her and was grinning (and Ryshka! She looked just as upset as Selousi, poor thing..!), but she was clearly uncomfortable. He walked up alongside her and dried her off, while also placing himself between her and the crowd, so hopefully she felt a little less threatened.

"You know you're both always welcome here...it's a little crowded but everyone seems nice. You should stay. I only know like 4 people here and a familiar face does a lot to calm me down - plus you'll get a laugh...I'm making a complete fool of myself..." He looked around. It was a pretty big room, but he, Ryshka, and Selousi would still encounter one or two on the way to the door if they went that way. "Hey, since you've already gotten through the hard part," he waved a paw at the water, "you're welcome to...to..." he fumbled for an excuse. He didn't want to send anyone to sit alone in a guest room, but couldn't think of another way to include these lovely ladies without having them surrounded by people.

He spotted Candy. I am being so rude...! She had an impatient look and was holding her box, looking at him like he was the biggest idiot she'd ever befriended. "Hey, let's go sit with Candy! Somehow Rubisa magically made everyone go away and Candy and I were just talking, and...it's better than getting wet again?" he pleaded.

Selousi turned and shifted up from leaning on Ahaloh. She felt slightly more comfortable now that she had two familiar faces on both sides of her, but she was still somewhat cramped in the middle of them as well! She shivered a bit but then caught herself. Ahaloh was trying to help her with this, right? So maybe Nirasi was too! Nonetheless she knew a crowd would still be uncomfortable for her but that shouldn't stop her from talking to others. She was proud for assuring herself more by herself. She glanced at Nirasi then back at Ahaloh and gave a somewhat awkward smile.

The noise of the commotion echoed down the halls and reached a very nervous Shinlai's ears. Skjöldur had encouraged Nirasi to have the event, knowing fine well that his friend was making the effort to become more social and that he should do the same, but still reluctant. If he did this for him and faced the crowds, maybe Nirasi would be more enthusiastic about travelling and all the exciting places he could take him, although that would defeat the purpose of this get-together.

A bold grey wagtail had made itself Skjöldur's companion recently and hopped down from his antlers and onto his mask. It was a resident of the river banks where Nirasi lived and had followed Skjöldur around since he had arrived back from a trek a week or so ago. He watched it dip and bob as it looked him the eye, then felt it flit off and onto his shoulders. He admired its tenacity, following him into the cave in the first place, but then birds were greedy and his element did create a source of food for them. Either way it's small presence gave him courage so he got up and began making his way toward the main room.

As he got closer his steps slowed and became less confident, but he forced himself onward and made straight for the tea. He didn't care for the stuff but felt it a preferable option to conversation. He busied himself with this, sneaking looks at the Shinlai that surrounded him and pinpointing Nirasi, talking to a beautiful girl with another behind him boring holes in his back and holding a box. Sipping the tea and wincing, he frantically tried to think of something that made him look like he was totally comfortable in his best friend's home. He yawned.

"My mask only has two holes for my three eyes because it's supposed to look like a scary skull." Lynn said grinning.

Pip’s ears pricked forwards. “My friend s-“
“Don’t say his name.” Alkyone interrupted.
“My friend has a skull mask, trying to be scary. But it doesn’t work.” Pip continued, almost as though Alkyone hadn’t interrupted. She shrugged. “Mum says he’s not a friend, but I don’t care.” She added with a grin.

“You, will make friends with anyone.” Alkyone said, getting a look from Pip stating ‘I wonder where I get it from.’ Alkyone ignored her. “I’m Alkyone Zabatos, and this is Pipistella.” She said giving a hasty introduction. “I feel like I’m intruding,” she said, looking around. “I don’t actually know Nirasi...” She said slowly.

“Bird!” Pip said loudly, sliding off Lynn’s side and scuttling over to a new brown Shinlai, with a small grey bird on his shoulder. She sat a few feet away, staring at the little bird. “Umm, um, um... Dad told mee...” She said trying to remember. “Wagtail?” She said, finally looking up at the big Lai.

Lynn smiled wider at the pups antics, he was thoroughly amused he watched her scurry off to the familiar looking lai, Lynn almost jumped up the brown antlers reminded him of a dear friend. but he settled in his fluff and sheepishly chuckled at Alkyone.

"not to worry, I don't know him at all either, I came up under the water fall thinking I saw someone drowning and then I was grabbed up by a great blue ball of fur and plopped here. so here I sit, and I'm not sure why."

he said simply, he would normally be getting rude and aggressive in such a crowded space but he had been calmed by a pups innocent curiosity and would not want to have a fight in front of her., he couldn't help but think how he would want to have a pup of his own one day.

shaking the thought away he took to studying the crowd.
"it seems our 'host' is getting a bit nervous..." lynn commented, simply watching the general composure of the big blue lai, he noted the extreme unease of the lighter green shinlai as well, had he still his ears they would have dropped in sympathy. instead his fur slacked down and he tilted his head.

“Umm, um, um... Dad told mee...” She said trying to remember. “Wagtail?”

Skjöldur hadn't seen the little pup run over and wasn't paying attention. His feathery companion was, and jumped back and forth from one of Skjöldur's antler prongs to his shoulder looking at Pip curiously, popping onto her head, then letting out a small peep. This caught the Earth Shinlai's ear as it was a call for attention. He looked around and after the wagtail let out another peep, down. He started when he saw Pip and his mind went blank. "U-uhh..."

"Not to worry, I don't know him at all either, I came up under the water fall thinking I saw someone drowning and then I was grabbed up by a great blue ball of fur and plopped here. So here I sit, and I'm not sure why." Lynn said. "I seems our 'host' is getting a bit nervous..." He added watching the blue one.

Alkyone looked over too, before looking around at the crowd. “Shall we see if there’s a cave off to the side?” She suggested, shifting slightly, trying to avoid hitting anything or anyone. Which was tricky. “There’s a lot of big Shinlai in here, it’s getting overly crowded. If we can lessen the crowd a bit it might help...”

---

The bird peeped at her, getting a giggle from Pip as it landed on her head, she went cross-eyed trying to see it, giving a giggle whenever it moved.

"U-uhh..." The Lai’s blank stare made her look back at him.

She frowned briefly; lots of Shinlai seemed to go blank when they looked at her... Maybe she had a skill. She chewed her lip, thinking about the air ability and their trick to go invisible. She was too young to have an element though. She returned to look back at the male again. Thinking quickly.

“Small birds are lovely, aren’t they?” She said, sounding surprisingly grown up. “My favourite the robin, although this little one is cute.” She said with a grin. “Although I do like magpies a lot. But they’re a bit big. What about you?” She asked, hoping that he wouldn’t be too taken aback and would regain the skill of talking.

“Although I do like magpies a lot. But they’re a bit big. What about you?”

Skjöldur cleared his throat. "Small birds are my favourite too," He paused, not sure what to say next. "I see quite a lot of them, they like to feed on the insects that I sometimes... create..."

The wagtail was hopping from perch to perch on Pip's body, stopping occasionally to let out a chirrup and peck at her fur at some tasty morsel. The cave was occasionally subject to woodlice, earwigs and other bugs but Skjöldur and his birds made sure the living areas were pest-free.

"You know magpies will eat small birds occasionally," He said, lacking tact and gazing across the room. It didn't cross his mind that a statement like this might disturb a young mind.

Rhaiva feels a little upsetted hearing that magpies sometimes eat smaller birds but chooses to try her best to ignore it.

"Nisai is their anything I can do to help," Raiva ask hoping to help relieve some of the choas.

Nirasi heard an offer for help and looked down to see Rhaiva. Perfect! he thought, she's just the thing to keep Candy from killing me! "Yeah! Come with me!" he padded in Candy's direction, Rhaiva in tow. "I'm sure she would like to see your flute - it sounded lovely while you were playing, and looks very well-crafted!"

He offered a sheepish look to Candy from over Rhaiva's head and tucked his tail and sat.

He wouldn't live this down for a whiiile.

Hallow smiled gently at Selo when she leaned against him and felt her cold wet shiver. "If you are cold I can be a bit warmer?" He smiled and let his body become a bit warmer with a small spark of inner flame. He didn't mind being warm for her. "Ive brought a friend with me as well, she is like you when it comes to being a part of large groups." He pointed towards where Rysh stood livid and frozen near the entrance.

Rysh looked around, there were a few faces she recognized but was slightly grumpy by the fact that Hallow had just ran off and left her there..."Probably for some girl.." she sighed and sat where she was and just watched. A new shinlai made its way towards her. "Hey, I'm Phlorian. Who might you be?"
She stuttered a bit timidly as she sat. "I..I..." she cleared her throat and calmed herself as best as she could. "I..ugh My name is Ryshka, nice to meet you Phlorian."

Selousi looked up at him, "Really?" she asked, "Just like me?" she thought about her claustrophobia, maybe the shinlai really was like her. She glanced over at Rysh. She did look incredibly nervous.maybe she would accompany her outside. Selousi figured that she would ask later. She seemed busy, plus, Hallow was with her. Why would she want to leave?

Rhaiva follows Nirasi's gaze to the lady lai. Rhaiva smiles up at him knowing that he was uncomfortable and hoped to make him a little more comfortable.


Raiva aprouches Candy and bows to her.

"Was wondering if you would like to hear?" She says, "I only have my father's flute with me but I can play many songs on it."
Rhaiva continues, "I mostly play folk songs from the north but I do know a few songs from the cities."

Candy smiles as Nirasi comes back with Rhaiva in tow, though she has closed the lid of the box for the safety of the items within during the chaos.

Rubisa comes back with a bowl/cup of tea, elbowing the larger, fluffier blue shinlai (as her hands were supporting the cup), and asks Nirasi "What did you think of the feather? It's my favorite piece by her to date..."

Rhaiva's voice turns Rubisa's attention back to the other human. She looks at the flute, as it is shown to Candy.

Candy smiles at the chance to see other things, and inspects it closely, but quickly. "Let's hear it play again... I confess, there were too many distracting voices earlier for me to truly appreciate it in use."

Rubisa eyes the bowl, thinking of how it reminded her of a rum-tainted fruity drink she used to have frequently in the tropics of her homeland... served in a bowl roughly the same size... she wanted to go there again sometime, she decided to herself, before turning her attention back to the conversation.

Kordi felt his brother enter and was dried off by a passerby. Which flustered his fur and it stood on end along his back.

"Hey Hollow--" before he could say anything else Hollow had a girl to faun over and was turned away.
Its just as well---thats how he is.. Kordi thought with a grin... He watched the party for the grater part of the evening. He did not get involved... her prefered his shadows and thy prefered the corners and ends of halls which is where helingered....looking father forlorn for a Lai attending a shin-dig!

He kindly spoke witha few Lais... Alk... his brother... circling the cave nervously a while before settling where the food was and snacking on ocassion.