WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT IS TO LOVE — The key to this event was simplicity. A night beneath the stars and out of the tunnels, into the fresh air. He thought tonight would be perfect, when there were colors dancing among the stars. It was stunning. So, all the husky had prepared was some hot chocolate, as had become tradition, and various warm pastries. Tonight was a night to celebrate Snowbound's existence. There was no music at this festival, only the dancing lights and Snowbounders connecting with the world around them and one another on a quiet, pristine night. Still, even with the peaceful sight Jacob felt something tugging at the edges of his mind. He could identify it but he couldn't shake the feeling that something else was close tonight. As he made his way into the field, it was obvious why he felt so overwhelmed. He'd seen ghosts before and he'd spoken with more than he could count but tonight there were creatures of all shapes and sizes and they were much brighter than the ones he was used to. For a moment, he felt his heart twist but then realized the group wasn't there out of malice, or if they were, they hid it well. Many of them were simply talking in faint voices to one another or looking to the brilliant lights. There were even a few that held ghostly cups of hot chocolate.

Jacob walked among them before returning to the specific spot where many of the living Snowbound members seemed to be arriving. "Everyone, um, I'm not quite sure if ya' can see everythin'... everyone tha's come ta' visit us but... but jus' don' panic or nothin'. They seem benevolent so I ain't too worried. They're jus' drinkin' hot chocolate and eatin' pastries n' appreciatin' the lights, jus' like how we planned so... I dunno'... make friends I guess. There are blankets n' stuff by the hot coco n' food so take one ah' those if ya' need somethin' ta' wrap up in or ta' lay on. We probably won' be able ta' stay out too long with how cold it is but feel free ta' enjoy yourselves," he called. With that, he turned and went back into the ghostly crowd. He didn't anticipate seeing any of his family, even if he'd lost a great deal of them. None of them had been from this area, as far as he knew, so he didn't think it'd make any sense for them to see him. He wasn't sure how that made him feel. He didn't want to get so emotional in front of everyone but he'd give anything for one more conversation with his Pa or Ma. Maybe even his biological mother, though he'd never known her. He didn't even know if she was alive or dead but he found himself looking for a husky in the crowd, though he didn't see anyone.

//so for this event your characters are free to see their family members/friends in the crowd of ghosts! They're also free to just appreciate the lights, eat, drink, and mingle. There'll be another set of ghosts/ancestors in my next post, so I'm going to wait for a few posts before replying with the second wave. —A GREAT HONOR TO HOLD YOU UP

  How strange it was to see the souls of the dead. They were just... up. Walking around like nothing was wrong. The raven huffed, ruffling her feathers at the sight. She wouldn't be seeing her family here. They were not dead. They couldn't die. Everyone knew in her hometown that her mom and dad were immortal. They did not age. It was a terrible weight for the two to bare, but they seemed perfectly happy. Crystal yawned, covering her beak with her good wing. It was a strange thing to see. So many people meeting spirits as if this was a daily occurrence. Why were they not here all the time if they could simply just show up? Was it because of the lights? That was a strangely specific occurrence. She supposed she could not complain though. Where would she be if she did? It was not like she could change it.

  Cry huffed, curling up on herself. She had no friends or family to call her own, so she was alone. Good. She preferred being alone anyways. The bird sighed, shutting her eyes. No reason to be here. No reason at all. It made her wonder why she stayed here. She hoped the vortex back home was still looming somewhere in a dark corner. But... She's walked every inch of this wasteland. How strange it was. To be away from her mother's loving embrace. Away from her father's slightly cold but loving stare. Away from her brother's joy filled giggles and melodies. Away from her bookshelf where she sat, customers coming in and out of their shop as the day went by. What she would give to have that back...

SPEECH

As August wandered over, his eyes widened a bit. Two familiar figures stood amongst the souls, chatting to each other as they walked around and looked at everything. He could feel as their gazes fell onto him, and he could feel a pain in his chest as they looked away without recognising him. It hurt bad enough already to know that they had, indeed, died sometime after his own death. But for them not to even recognise him? August didn't think he looked that much different from how he had before.

His ears lowered and he trotted around for a few moments, hazy eyes slowly picking apart the crowd of ghosts. Perhaps he'd be able to find his real family, but if his friends had not recognised him he doubted that anyone from his herd would either. When he hadn't seen any of them, he let out a small, disappointed huff and turned to grab some food.

August carefully held a pastry in his mouth, trying his best not to bite into it yet. He glanced around and made his way over to Cry; she looked lonely, and August didn't want the first person he'd met here to be lonely. Slowly, he kneeled down and then flopped into a sitting position on the ground next to her. He bit half of the pastry off and dropped the other half infront of Cry.

As he chewed it he realised it didn't really.. Taste like anything. And he still wasn't hungry. He'd already started eating it, though, so August forced himself to swallow it. He cleared his throat and turned his gaze up to the sky. "Hello. Do you not like this? You look sad."

"SPEECH"

The festival had been something that London had been quite excited for. She'd never gone to any events before in her whole life, and this would be the first one she got to attend, so there was no way she would miss it. Besides, the aurora was so beautiful in the sky tonight, it would really be a shame to not appreciate the lovely luminescent streams in the sky with the others. And so, wearing the scarf she'd gotten from Jacob after she first came to the Snowbound, London would smile as she made her way to the meeting place, a humming a little tune. Though she quickly noticed that something was off. The Snowbound was rather large in size, with all the members they had, but there appeared to be a quite a few too many here. Surely she hadn't missed this many joiners? She knew there had been some, but it really couldn't be this many.

It took the albino just a little while to realize that she had been right, these weren't joiners. They were far too transparent for that, which had to mean that they were ghosts? Did those just really exist, what? The clouded leopard seemed shocked, but hope also began to brew inside the girl. She knew it couldn't be, but what if she found Maria here, or Harvey, Lincoln, Bennett and Alexis? There were a plethora of creatures among the dead, but unfortunately none of them appeared to resemble her own shape and markings. She should have expected it, but the girl could not hide the wave of disappointment and loneliness that came over her. Of course she wouldn't find her family here. It had taken her a solid month to find this place, she shouldn't have allowed her imagination to bring her false hope. But surely it wasn't too much to ask for, to reconcile with her family that had left this plane of existence far too young.

Grabbing a hot chocolate, London would refrain from socializing for now, deciding to mope in solitude unless she was approached. Although she couldn't remain so melancholic for too long, as the warmth of the beverage made the smallest of smiles appear on her features, and the sweet, chocolaty taste soothed her emotional scars just the slightest. She was reminded that she had been so happy to come here, and though the presence of ghosts had brought her down, she wouldn't let them completely kill her mood. This was a festival after all, there were certainly many fun things ahead, even if it didn't quite seem like that now. Taking another sip of her cocoa, the girl would once again brighten just a little bit.

☀ — and till the end you're my very best friend

Pierce had been excited for this, he really had, but now, he wanted nothing to do with it. There were people everywhere, people who certainly weren't from their world- not that they didn't look like regular animals, but they definitely weren't normal. There was a strange aura to them, one that gave Pierce a sneaking suspicion that they weren't quite, to put it simply, alive. He had seen ghosts before. Whether they were hallucinations or dreams or not, he'd definitely felt similar presences before, and at this point, he wasn't even surprised.

But god, was he scared.

He knew he'd lost people before. Sisters, children, lovers, friends. He'd held the mangled corpses of close friends, watched as someone he dearly loved took their final breath- death wasn't new to him. Hell, he expected it by now, and it was with that expectation that came the fear. There were people he still cared about that were out there, people he was waiting to see again. His stomach churned at the thought of seeing Riddler, or Clem, or even Hana - though he couldn't really remember what she looked like, he was sure he'd know when he saw her - in the sea of people, and the effeminate serval chewed his lower lip anxiously, his ears angled back as large amber eyes searched the crowd of slightly translucent, though rather beautiful, creatures. Riddlersgame and Clementine should have been here months ago, and Hana had told him that his old home was dangerous. Had something happened to them? What would even be the point of continuing on if it had? He would do anything to ensure their safety, to see the two of them just one more time.

As he ignored the blood blossoming under his clenched teeth, Pierce began walking through the crowd, murmuring soft "Excuse me"s as slightly translucent figures stepped out of his way. Huh, at least they were conscious of the Snowbounders' presences. Moving along, the dappled feline spotted the familiar figure of a slender snow leopard, a cup of what looked to be tea in one paw, out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't see her well, but he still knew her anywhere- it was his lovely sister, the one really responsible for his only daughter's name, and possibly entire existence, since Pierce may or may not be alive without both her words of comfort and her medical training.

When he turned, however, she was gone, either a trick of the eye or devoured by the crowd. She looked like she'd been smiling, though. God, he hoped she was happy. That was all he'd ever really wanted for her.

Pierce continued on through the swarm of partying spirits, but he saw no one else he really knew, though one kitsune and a boy in a witch hat sitting together did catch his eye.  They smiled and waved, and he did too, simply out of politeness, as one called, seemingly toward him, "It's the third Musketqueer!", but he couldn't recognize them, so he moved on. After a five or ten minute walk through the crowd of strangers, save for the sighting of his sister, Pierce gave up, though there was a smile on his face. They weren't there. They were okay. Everything was going to be okay. And, with that in mind, he chose to socialize a bit more with the living gathered for their beautiful festival, warm gaze searching the Snowbounders dotted along the surrounding area and eventually resting upon London, all alone. He could definitely understand that.


"Hey," the freckled man greeted as he approached, holding a simple cup of water,
"Do you, uh, know any of these people?" Part of him was glad none of his current family was there, but he couldn't help but wish Lottie had stopped to see him, or that he had even gone to talk to those other two "Musketqueers". "I don't think I do," he would add, taking a little sip from his water.

"speech"

[member=215]london r.[/member]

WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT IS TO LOVE — Jacob watched as all his clanmates gathered and he let out a soft sigh of relief. Despite all the strange spirits here, he felt at peace as he watched the lights dance in the sky. He noticed Melantha leaving out of the corner of his eye and he stood, beginning to follow after her until he noticed something odd in the lights. They were beginning to form creatures of some sort. They were no longer random patterns but instead he could make out shapes of lion and a bear initially but then even more creatures began to arrive. There looked to be nine in total and with each new one that arrived, one would break away from the sky completely and come near the other spirits in a blur of color and light. There was a lioness, a bee, a bear, a duckling, a dolphin, a tortoise,em a rabbit, and even a dragon. All of them circled around the other spirits and Jacob tensed as he watched them, both entranced and frightened by whatever these new spirits were.

The lioness began to wade through the crowd towards before speaking, "We are the ancestors of this place. We are here to offer guidance, as we have through all generations. While there are many more of us, this is our counsel. I am Agu and I am the leader of our group. There is also Medve, Kanina, Hollo, Pipi, Lumba, Teknos, and Draki. We each offer different gifts and symbols for you to wear." With each name, a different animal seemed to glow a bit bright. In order, they were the bear, the rabbit, the raven, the bee, the dolphin, the tortoise, and the dragon. The lioness raised her paw and a variety of wooden figurines of each animal appeared and they settled in the snow. There were then rough, leather necklaces and the wooden pendents slipped onto them, as if to demonstrate their purpose. "Medve is meant to great courage in war, Kanina for maintaining a welcoming home, Hollo for great strategy and the gathering of information to prevent threats, Pipi for healing, Lumba for creativity, Teknos and Draki for various points of life and, of course, myself for great loyalty and skill. We will watch over your people and protect you and offer assistance when we can. We will warn you of danger. We expect nothing in return except a peaceful existence and that the members and leaders of your tribe act for the good of Snowbound, wherever it may be taken. Once this was a nomadic tribe and it's time we return to those ways. Soon, I expect you will find those traditions again. Some of you are descendants of the counsel and may be unaware. They may or may not claim you, that is for them to decide. I'm sure more will be revealed to you with time. Until then, though, I leave you with these pendents to do with as you wish.  I give blessings of peace and hope." With her final words, the lioness first began to drift back to where the lights had been and the others followed. By the time they all ascended, the lights returned and the smaller spirits had faded away.

Jacob moved forward to pick up the necklace that had been left, looking at all the tiny figurines that adorned it. He wasn't sure what to think of all this, he'd never been a particularly religious individual, but he did think these would be a nice addition to the traditions Snowbound had already started to put in place. A way to recognize members' actions in a visible way outside the ranking system. Even if he wasn't so sure about the ancestors, this would be a good thing to integrate into Snowbound's weekly routines and meetings. Conflicted of his own thoughts, Jacob turned to look to the other members of Snowbound, wondering what they would think of all this. —A GREAT HONOR TO HOLD YOU UP