Whatcha got there, in that burlap sack? (Open)

[Fukurou]

Even at night, everything was so vibrant and beautiful. All of the colors seemed so much richer than in real life; the red and orange hues in the fire flickered vibrantly, the clear, aqua-blue water of the river flowed tranquilly through the valley, and the scales and feathers of various colors on each the spirits gleamed brilliantly against the light.

Bryn walked towards Ahuzanel and the other spirit, head held low and feeling a bit  self-conscious about how plain she must look against this beautiful picturesque backdrop. She gave a nervous smile to the stranger spirit as she approached. What should she say to the spirit, she wondered. Do they even exchange pleasantries in the first place?

"H-hello." Byrn gave a slight bow. "My name's Bryn."

[Mephistel]

-Ahh, don't be shy child! We don't have much visitor from the outside world! Just enjoy yourself!-

The spirit in front of them said. A tall young man with branches growing out of his back. Ahuzanel smiled.

-We should soon be joined by the faun and the others...-

He invited her to sit next to him near the huge fire. It was big and warm. Not too long after, other creatures started to show up, tough completely different from the first one, some were a bit ugly, other strange, big or small, cute or very attractive, but all shared one link, they were all related to nature in some way. Fairies, faun, spirits, and other mystical creatures were all joining in together. The faun had brought their flutes and drums, as soon as they arrived, they started saying hello to each other and started playing music.

-This is a celebration! Do you want to dance?-

Ahuzanel ask the elf with a tilt of his head. Many had already started to form a circle around the fire, enjoying the music that the faun had started playing.

[Fukurou]

Bryn beamed at the Ahuzanel's question and promptly stood up.

"Will you watch my stuff?" She asked the spirit next to her. For some reason, whether it was the ebullient energy of this celebration or the excitement within her own heart, Bryn felt little concern for what the spirits might do with her burlap sack.

The spirit nodded and she ran off to join Ahuzanel in the circle by the fire. She laughed merrily and clapped her hands to the sound of the faun's music. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so much joy. In fact, she wasn't sure if she had ever experienced this much happiness in her lifetime. The atmosphere was like ecstasy. Bryn danced and mingled by the fire for what felt to her like hours, forgetting about the events that took place earlier that day including the burlap sack.

[Mephistel]

The music was lifting the atmosphere, the flute playing a quick rythme while the drums kept their low sounds with as much energy as they could. The sounds were mixing together in an intense harmony as everyone was enjoying themselves.

As soon as she was in the circle, bryn could feel herself lifted by that intensity and the warmth of the fire. Ahuzanel was dancing in rythme, his body moving along nicely, a bright smile on his face as he switched place with another, sometime dancing in pair, other time alone, but it was all fun and games.

The spirit to whom Bryn had given her burlap sack was watching over it and clapped his hands to encourage the dancers with a bottle of wine in the other. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Eventually some dancers headed toward the food and started eating.

[Fukurou]

Bryn glanced at the line of spirits forming around the food and she felt her stomach growl.

Man, all this dancing made her hungry.

"I'm gonna get some food," she shouted at Ahuzanel, making sure her voice was heard over the sound of song and merriment. Before waiting for a response, Bryn left the circle of dancers and headed towards the table. There was food everywhere; some she recognized while others she had never seen before. Bryn hovered over the table for a bit, eyeing every piece of food carefully before she settled on some strange type of meat.

Might as well be adventurous, she figured.

With food in hand, Bryn turned to the being next to her. He - er- they were tall with olive skin, long brown hair dotted with little white flowers, and clear-white eyes. Their shoulders seem to have moss growing on them and the scales just beneath it looked like granite.

"So," Bryn said, looking up at the spirit. "What's this celebration for?"

[Mephistel]

Ahuzanel nodded and let her go while he kept dancing with other spirits, enjoying himself in this rare occasion. Spirits didn't gather often, perhaps once every ten years or so, when changes important enough were happening here and there. But sometime, they did gathered to celebrate together in the name of nature.

The spirit by the elf side looked at her.

-Ahh, we celebrate for our great Mother, she who raised us to protect her gifts...but we also reunite to discuss on things and how to deal with certains matters...but before we do that, we always sing, dance and eat..-

He said. Eventually, she was joined by Ahuzanel, which had taken some berries, bread and other things to eat along with him. He looked lively and ravish.

-Are you enjoying yourself?

He asked of her after he said hello to the other spirit.

[Fukurou]

The great Mother...? Bryn pondered at this for a minute. Who is she? Did she birth all of these spirits? If so, she must be a very busy woman.

Bryn turned to Ahuzanel and grinned at his question. "Oh, I`m having so much fun!" Her eyes sparkled with jubilation. "Oh and who is this `Great Mother` you are celebrating? Is she your mom? Is this her birthday?"

[Mephistel]

Ahuzanel smiled at the question, letting out a small laugh. It wasn't a mocking one but the spirit certainly looked amused.

-No no...well, she is our mother but it is not her birthday, the Great Mother is Nature itself, the forest, the sea, the trees, the sands, the rivers and the rain, etc...-

He said.

-And once in a while, we gather all together to thanks her for all she does for us.-

He added, nodding and taking a bite off one of the bread he had brought with him. It was truly delicious. The spirit to which she had given the burlap sac came back to give it back to her.

[Fukurou]

"Oooooooh. I see." Bryn's eye widened with interest.

As the spirit handed Bryn her burlap sack, she thanked the spirit and took it from him. As she looked inside the burlap sack, her face seemed to morph from from happy to sad, with perhaps a hint of guilt.

"If she is the mother of nature, she must also be the mother of animals... right?"

[Mephistel]

-Aye, we are all related, animals, insect, spirits, plants, river...all in one cycle...-

He said, nodding. Noticing the change in her emotions, he asked.

-Is something the matter?-

That was one of Ahuzanel abilities, to feel other's feelings, their emotions and how they dwell inside of them. He was very sensitive to them, so he could easily tell any fluctuation in someone's emotions. Perhaps it was nothing, but he'd rather make sure.

[Fukurou]

She had stolen an egg that was someday meant to be a creature. A living, breathing creature. This creature should be born free, happily flying through the open skies without a care in the world. But in the hands of the thief, the destiny of this creature would forever be damned. Bryn's plan was to sell it to the first offer she got. It didn't matter who it was, what they looked like or what plans they had for the egg. If the money was good, she didn't care. Who knows what would have happened to it then? Maybe the creature would be locked up in a small cage, never knowing the feeling of freedom. Maybe the egg would be poached and used for some sort of delicacy. To be fare, the caravan she stole it from probably had the same idea, but it didn't make her actions or her plans any more right.

Money certainly is an evil thing, isn't it.

Bryn hugged the egg in the burlap sack and looked up at Ahuzanel, her sheepish smile and sad eyes giving away her guilt. "I think I have something that belongs to the Great Mother..."

[Mephistel]

Ahuzanel looked at her curiously as she hold the little sac tightly. Something that belonged to the great mother? What could it be? He wondered.

-What is it?-

He asked softly. He had notice she was protective of that burlap sac, but he didn't know what was inside. He motion for her to show the inside of the sac to him.

[Fukurou]

She hesitated. What if he thought less of her? What if he hated her? Bryn was afraid of losing her new friend, but she figured that was too late now. Bryn knew her face was covered in guilt and trying to hide it would just make everything worse. It was better be honest.

She took the egg out of the burlap sack. It had beautiful gold and red marbling and appeared to emit a soft glow.

"I don't know what it is," she said, avoiding Ahuzanel's gaze. "Maybe a pheonix? I dunno..."

[Mephistel]

Ahuzanel looked at what she had in that small burlap sac of hers, and was surprised to see the egg. Where in the world could as she found that egg? He looked at her, there was no anger in his gaze, no disapointment, just some surprise.

He put a hand on the egg, he could feel the small heartbeat of the creature inside, but it was missing the warmth of it's mother.

-I am sure, it's mother must be worried...-

He said softly.

-We should bring it back to her, don't you think?-

He added, looking at her with his golden yellow eyes. There was always a way to redeem one self.

[Fukurou]

Once again, Bryn hesitated. On one hand, she worked so hard to get on this egg; this expensive egg. She could have died during her heist and had she went through with selling it, she would probably never have to worry about living on the streets again. But on the other hand, was it really fair to sell a helpless, living creature into a potentially harmful environment? And not to mention this poor little animal would have to grow up without their parents, something Bryn was all too familiar with.

"OK..." Her voice was soft and held a slight hint of reluctance. "But where would we find her? What do we do?"

[Mephistel]

-Well...where did you find it?-

The spirit asked of her. Happy that she agreed to take the baby back to where it belonged. He knew this child didn't belong in the thundra, but perhaps the other spirits would know, he could always ask them.

He knew there was some reluctance in her, he could feel the turmoil of feelings inside her, but there was no point in making it obvious, if she was ready to do what was good, then all for the better.

[Fukurou]

"Uh... Well, actually," she said, shifting her weight from side to side in a nervous manner. "I stole it. But it's not that I stole it from it's mom! I stole it from some caravan and they had tons of guards. It was actually very hard to get it and it seemed very important, you know." Bryn stopped her fidgeting and her face morphed from being sheepish to defensive as she looked Ahuzanel in the eyes. "But so what I stole it. I needed the money and it wasn't like those goons were gonna do any better with it. It sucks bein' cold on hungry and sometimes you need to do selfish things in order to live!" Suddenly embarrassed at her outburst, Bryn blushed and looked away. "But I guess that's not an excuse, huh.. We should find their mom."

[Mephistel]

Seing how she was getting on the defensive, Ahuzanel gave a worried look, but then, listening to her, he could only give her a soft smile and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

-I know...you wanted to survive...it wouldn't be the first time an egg would be stolen from it's nest...snake eat bird's eggs...predator eats prey...a life is taken in order for another to survive, that is what happen in Nature...-

He said. With that said, would the mother even be alive if the egg had been taken. This was no ordinary egg after all. He had a feeling it was either a dragon or a phenix one...both looked alike, but dragon's one came in variety.

-But it's ok...if you think the right thing is to bring back the egg, it's fine and I'll help you...-

He said.

-We'll ask the other spirit if they might know where this child belongs...ok?-

He was trying to be reassuring, there was not a single hint of anger in his voice, nor reproach.

[Fukurou]

Bryn nodded, feeling reassured by Ahuzanel's kind words. "I mean, we might as well try, right? It deserves as much of a chance at life as anyone, yeah?"

[Mephistel]

Ahuzanel nodded slowly.

-Yes, it does, like all of us.-

He said. The spirit was kind and understanding. He knew how life wasn't easy. He himself, lived in the thundra, which was a harsh environment for a lot of creatures. He nodded and motion for her to follow him. They then started to go from spirit to spirit and faun to faun to find out where this egg belonged. With all of the spirits from all over the place, they were bound to find it's origins. Luckily, they manage to find it.

A tall tree spirit looked at them.

-Ahh yes...i recognize that egg, some humans came and fetch it from it's nest, they almost killed it's mother, the poor child....It's from Draconi forest!-

He said slowly, in a low tone voice.

-I see...thank you very much!-

Ahuzanel said, bowing his head to the other spirit.