The Festival

Life, Identity

Sivania, Gladeon, Lyrian, Glitterfjell, Arrallath, Brindellis, Ringstadt

Fendir woke up and sighed in annoyance as his beautiful memories of running through a snow covered wood were interrupted by loud noises as the Sivanian's started setting up for the banquet in the ballroom that was right next to their room. He stood up and walked over to his suitcase. He waved some magic at it, causing it to pop up into a portable wardrobe. He reached in and got out his outfit his mother had marked for the day. It was Sivanian silks in a pretty navy blue with white accents. He got dressed as Pyotr and Lev started to stir. "Good morning!" Lev told him as he got up. "Morning," Fendir responded with much less enthusiasm than his friend. Pyotr rubbed his head and groaned. "Are you doing okay?" Lev asked him. Pyotr nodded. "I'll be fine. Just need to rest a bit more. I'll catch up with you guys tonight I think," he told them as he laid back down in the bed. Fendir and Lev headed out together and ran into Fendir's parents in the entrance to the palace speaking with Prince Alexei and Princess Padma of Sivania. Their son, Prince Erikai was their too and he smirked at Fendir as they walked up. He had somehow gotten taller since the last time Fendir had seen him, and much bigger. Then again, Fendir felt that was the case every time they encountered the giant sun elf who was quickly becoming one of the greatest gladiators in all of Thymryu. He made their fathers look like halflings even though he was only a couple years older than Fendir. "Lev! Fendir!" Alexei greeted them with a kind smile. "How have you been? Your parents were telling me about your exciting journey here last night," he commented. Fendir nodded as Alexei pulled Lev into a hug. "It was fine. We're okay. Pyotr is still resting though," he informed his parents. "We'll send a cleric to check on him then," Fenneck decided. "I have a few meeting I have to attend to, but you all have a wonderful, safe, day today." He kissed Natalya. "I love you dear," he told her before turning and walking down a hallway. Natalya turned to Fendir. "What are you doing today? Do you have plans?" she asked him. Fendir shrugged, trying not to think about the fact that he and Kastella would normally walk around southern Brindellis and find the cute little crepe shop they always went to on the first morning of the festival. Natalya seemed to sense this and she gave Fendir a sad smile. Alexei chipped in. "How would you feel about accompanying Erikai to Northern Brindellis? He wanted to check out the gnome armory up there." Fendir glanced over at Erikai who was always so hard to read. He didn't want to disappoint his parents though, knowing how much they loved Alexei and his family. "Sure," Fendir agreed. Natalya kissed his cheek and he shrugged her off. "Well, we'll be here if you need anything. Make sure you're back in time for the banquet," she told Fendir, adjusting his outfit. He moved away from her. "I'll be fine mum!" he said. She sighed and gave up her endeavor. "Be safe!" she told him one more time before Alexei and Padma led her and Lev down a hallway, leaving Fendir alone with Erikai. He took a deep breath. "Hey," he said. "Hi," Erikur greeted him. "Look, if you don't want to come, you don't have to," he assured Fendir. Fendir shook his head. "No, I want to go. I... enjoy looking at armor," he said, trying not to be too awkward but finding it insanely impossible. "Cool," Erikai pursed his lips and turned to the door. This was normally how things went with the two of them. Their parents were always trying so hard to get them to be friends but they had nothing in common. They walked in silence down to the bridge and hoped on a carriage taxi to drive them across the large river. Fendir glanced over at Erikai a few times trying to read the stoic sun elf who seemed generally fairly bored. Fendir eventually leaned his head against the glass and looked out over the water, trying to spot the loch ness monster he and Kastella had heard so many rumors about. He missed her and their little crepe adventure and he found himself growing grumpier as they continued into the other half of the city. They finally arrived and Fendir exited on one side while Erikai got out on the other. Fendir followed him to the armory and moseyed around the weird shop of gnome gadgets. "Looking for anything in particular?" one of the friendly gnomes greeted him. Fendir shook his head. "Not really." The gnome shrugged and walked off at Fendir's gloomy attitude. Erikai eventually found him again as Fendir was studying a weird gallow designed to chop off a two headed creature. "You ready to head back?" he asked Fendir who shrugged. "Sure." Erikai reached out and tried to gently grab his shoulder, clearly unaware of just how strong he was. Fendir looked up at him, a bit unnerved at Erikai's touch. "Are you okay?" he asked Fendir, giving him an awkward smile. Fendir shrugged him off. "I'm fine. I... I'm just not really looking forward to the festival this year," he tried to explain himself. Erikai moved away. "Okay, let's head back then," he suggested. Fendir followed him out and back toward the bridge. "My dad says you can turn into animals?" he asked Fendir, trying desperately to move past the awkward silence between them. Fendir shrugged. "Yeah, I'm a druid." He motioned to the sabretooth teeth on his necklace, which he found looked pretty bad ass with his Sivania outfit. "You killed it yourself?" Erikai asked. Fendir nodded. "I'm sure that's nothing compared to what you've fought before," Fendir said, feeling more emasculated by the second. Erikai shrugged. "Every battle has it's worth," he said. "Was it just one?" he asked him. Fendir sighed, wishing Erikai would let him mope. "Yes. But it was snowing really heavily in a storm and he almost killed my best friend. You've met Kastella?" he asked Erikai. He nodded. "Tiefling right? She's pretty," he commented. Fendir found this annoying. He didn't like that everyone always found her so attractive, especially a big sexy sun elf like Erikai. "She's normally here, hanging out with you isn't she?" he asked Fendir. Fendir nodded. "She didn't want to come this year." He turned away from Erikai so he wouldn't see how upset he was. "I'm sorry. Is that why you're in a bad mood?" he asked Fendir. Fendir nodded, still looking away from him. "I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone," Erikai said, resuming their silence as they boarded a carriage. They finally made it back to the palace and Erikai excused himself to go get ready and Fendir went to his room and laid down until the banquet. Sasha barged into their room in a very sexy outfit for the party and dragged Fendir and Pyotr, against their wills into the ballroom that was full of very loud music and flashing lights. There was lots of exotic dancers and weird magical effects flying through the air, giving the room a alluring vibe. Fendir say his parents grinding again each other and and he gagged and headed over to the liquor table and got excited seeing some Naga juice. He had never had it before because Kastella always hated the idea. Pyotr and Sasha had disappeared into the fray and Fendir poured himself a shot, checking over his shoulder to make sure his parents didn't see him. "That shit will fuck you up," he heard a warning voice behind him and turned to see Erikai. "Why do you think I want to drink it?" Fendir asked him. Erikai laughed. "I'm just warning you. You don't look like you can hold your liquor well." Fendir straightened himself out to seem taller, annoyed that he only came up to Erikai's nose. "I can handle drinks just fine," he said. Erikai chuckled, "Are you even old enough to drink?" he asked Fendir teasingly. Fendir glared at him and took the shot as he made eye contact with Erikai. He tried to maintain his cool as the weird drink burned his mouth and throat but he started coughing and he looked away from Erikai in embarrassment. Erikai laughed at him. "You're adorable," he commented as he poured himself a glass of tequila, another weird liquor they had in Sivania that Fendir wasn't too found of. "I'm not adorable!" Fendir argued with him. He noticed the room start to spin and he walked over to the table of food and started eating some of the weird foods they had out. Suddenly he saw his father approaching him and he sighed in annoyance. "Hey!" Fenneck called across the table to him. "Thank you for hanging out with Erikai today. I know you're upset with Kastella but I hope you had some fun today." Fenneck looked up behind Fendir. "Erik! Hey!" Fenneck smiled at his son, suddenly very happy. "You two have fun tonight!" he told them before running of to find Natalya. Fendir jumped out of his skin as Erikai's hand grazed against his back. "What are you doing?!" he asked Erikai, whose skin had started to turn green. "You were about to back into a fire genasi, I didn't want you to get caught on fire," he said as he moved away from Fendir. Fendir walked away and headed into the dance floor. "Fendir!" he heard Sasha and ran toward her, hoping to get rid of Erikai. Sasha was very beautiful in the green hue of the room. Pyotr was behind her, grinding against her butt as she pulled Fendir into her arms. Fendir danced with them for a while and started making out with the two of them as they danced together. He glanced over at one point and saw Erikur in a similar scenario with a couple sun elves from Sivania and he found himself grinding harder into Sasha, in an oddly competitive move toward Erikai who raised his brow playfully at Fendir before reaching his hand down the sun elf's pants he was with as he made eye contact with Fendir. Fendir pulled Sasha in tight. "Let's get out of here," he told her. She nodded excitedly and gave Pyotr a look to follow them. They made their way into the hall and Fendir quickly pushed them into their room and closing the door behind them. The next day he woke up with Sasha still sleeping in his bed with him. Lev hadn't come back to the room and Pyotr was resting in his bed. Fendir sighed happily at Sasha's beautiful body, draped across his own. He kissed her gently and laid back, gently caressing her until she woke up. Pyotr eventually got up and started getting dressed. "I'm gonna go find food!" he whispered so as not to wake Sasha, looking a little smug that Fendir was trapped underneath her for once instead of himself. She finally woke up with an adorable stretch. "Good morning!" she told him through a yawn. "Good morning sleepy head!" he teased her. She sat up and walked over to her pile of clothes on the ground. Fendir admired her beautiful, naked body. "You're absolutely stunning," he told her. She cast a playful smile over her shoulder, "So are you! Last night was fun, you did some freaky stuff we haven't tried before." Fendir sat up and felt a searing pain in his head. He suddenly realized he didn't quite remember what had happened after they had left the ballroom. "What... what kind of stuff?" he asked her, rubbing his soar head. She gave him a quizzical look. "You don't remember?" she asked him. Fendir shrugged guiltily. "I may have drank a shot of Naga Juice before I found you on the dance floor," he admitted. "Fendir! You know we're not suppose to drink that shit! My mom says it's dangerous!" she scolded him. "Yeah yeah. I know, but Erikai was being all manly about it and he called me adorable and I wanted to prove that I wasn't a little bitch!" he said. Sasha laughed. "Oh gods, I wish he'd join us one night," she said wistfully. Fendir rolled his eyes. "He's annoying. I don't want to sleep with him," Fendir declared. Sasha shrugged. "More for me then," she teased. Fendir shrugged. "What fiefdom is hosting tonight?" he asked her, changing the subject. "Gladeon," she said as she got dressed. "Ugh, theirs is always boring," he said, forcing himself out of bed. "Hey Sasha?" he asked her. Sasha turned to him. "Yeah?" Fendir gave her a shy look. "Would you want to go to the little crepe shop with me this morning? The one down by the shore?" he asked her nervously. Sasha frowned. "I don't know, Fen. Isn't that you and Stella's thing?" she asked him. Fendir shrugged. "She isn't here," he pointed out. Sasha sighed. "I have a meeting or two this morning with some people from Lyrian I have to go get ready for. Sorry," she gave him a pitying smile. "No, it's fine. I'll see you tonight," he told her. She walked up and gave him a quick kiss. "See you tonight, Fen." She headed out, leaving Fendir alone. He got up and got dressed, pushing through his hangover, until he heard a knock at his door. He opened it and saw his mom there. "Hey," he said. "Hey, I just wanted to see if you had plans this morning," she gave him a happy smile. Fendir shrugged. "I don't know. I might just hang out here until the party," he told her, waking back toward his wardrobe. Natalya walked in and closed the door behind her. "I feel like you've been miserable this entire trip," she observed. Fendir sighed. "What gave it away?" he gave her an annoyed look. She sat down on the edge of his bed. "Is it because Stella isn't here?" she asked him. Fendir shrugged and continued rifling through his clothes, trying to decide what to wear. "Fendir-" "Well why didn't she come?!" he cut her off. "She's been a complete drag lately and I can't figure out how to fix it!" he complained, cutting his mother off. Natalya put her head back in distress. "Fendir. We've talked about this. We told you she needed space and time and you haven't given it to her. She didn't want to come because she knew you'd want to sleep around with people and she didn't want to feel neglected. If she was here you'd probably be driving each other insane. You have to grow up on some level and let her be," Natalya told him. Fendir huffed and threw his green trousers on. "I just don't want everything to change!" he exclaimed. Natalya sighed. "I know. What if we hung out this morning? We could go to Cape Crepes if you'd like? I know you always go there with Kastella." Fendir sighed in defeat, knowing it was better than nothing. "Yeah, sure," he agreed. Natalya smiled cheerfully. "Great!" she said excitedly. "I'll meet you at the entrance and let you get ready." She headed out and Fendir took a deep breath as she left. He finished getting dressed and pulled his hair back into a braid and headed out into the palace. As he left his room, across the hall he saw Erikai kissing a sun elf at his door who had very messy hair and makeup running down her face. Erikai nodded at Fendir with a cocky smile and Fendir raised his brow at him, as if he wasn't impressed. Erikai shrugged and pulled the very sexy sun elf into a passionate kiss. Fendir rolled his eyes and headed toward the entrance to find his mother. Natalya was in the entrance speaking with Tarin, Nerlureel and Henrik. "Dyadya Tarin! Dedushka!" he ran up and hugged Nerlureel and Tarin. They hugged him back. "How have you been?" Nerlureel asked him excitedly. "I've been good. How are you guys? Have you fought any cool monsters lately?!" he asked Tarin excitedly. Tarin nodded. "Just a few weeks ago I was in Arrallath and I ran into a werebear in the forest! He was huge!" Fendir smiled excitedly. "Cool! Did you get any neat scars?" "Yeah! Look at this!" Tarin lifted up his sleeve and showed Fendir his arm which had a scar where the bear had clearly bit into him. "Sweet!" Fendir said admiring it.