I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again
Hael was more than a bit overwhelmed by all of the gembounds present. From afar, the group hadn't even looked that big! And there were still more creatures coming!
The kitten curiously listened as the larger feline beside her spoke, first to another cat (the one that looked like her!) and then they talked to her, greeting and welcoming her to the party. Hael flushed under her fur and hoped she had made a subtle entrance. Suddenly, the idea of all those eyes on her was a bit unsettling.
But it wasn't hard to see that she wasn't the only one feeling that way. The feline that had greeted her first looked just as shaken, if not a bit more. Almost neurotic, even, like they'd make a dash for the exit if two creatures would talk to them at once. Hael glanced at them, unsure if she should say something, in fear of startling them.
She decided on a quiet "Thank you." and left it at that. There was too much happening to worry about it much longer anyway.
The grey cat beside the larger feline made an Ice Sculpture out of thin air, like the one that had been there already when Hael arrived. She couldn't help but gasp. "Woah!" The kitten exclaimed, a grin splitting her thin, ebony lips, revealing her sharp baby teeth. "That's so cool!" An admiring glance was cast to the grey cat, before her amber eyes continued to trail over the rows of party guests.
A red-pelted creature entered, bigger than Hael. Instinctually, the fur on her spine raised, but she didn't know why. Something about their smell just unsettled her? The sharp canines flashing when they spoke didn't help at all. The kitten quickly averted her eyes.
Unfortunately, the next in line mirrored the other gembound almost completely. Only the placement of their stones was different - were the first gembound had their stone in the middle of their back, this one's replaced their right eye.
They introduced themselves as Xireidei, which made Hael feel a bit better about them. She liked knowing their name, even if it was as good as useless.
Then the brown-haired creature spoke, the one the two Ice Sculptures were modeled after. Maybe they were important? They had to be! Why else would they have two sculptures made for them?
But sadly, Hael lost focus halfway through the creature's speech. She wasn't very good with following long tirades yet.
And the scale-y gembound beside them was much more interesting to look at anyway!
Their gem was red and like a horn and their body was super long!
Hael would've starred longer, but then the other gembound met her gaze (just for a split-second, they probably didn't even notice, but Hael definitely did) and the clash of red against amber eyes was enough to startle the kitten out of her interest.
She watched as they made snow, which delighted Hael so much that she didn't even need to make an effort about not looking at the scary gembound anymore. The snow was fascinating enough to hold her interest for a while.
One of the dog-ish gembounds talked again and then the cat beside Hael, who made more snow, but she only zoned back into the conversation when the scary gembound was talking to the grey cat, which she ignored and instead played with the snow that had begun gathering on the ground instead of melting.
She bounced her front legs up and down, watching as her paws left imprint in the fresh layer of white. Her right pawpad made a soft chink! noise whenever the moonstone gem clashed against the snow beneath, but Hael hardly noticed.
She heard the older cat beside her introduce herself as Splashy, which she made sure to repeat silently to herself as to commit the name to memory. Although the other feline had taken close to no notice of her, Hael wanted to get to know them. Splashy was the first cat like herself she'd met! Didn't they want to get to know her too?
And then it hit her that almost everyone seemed to have something to do. Splashy and the scary gembound could make Ice Sculptures and snow, the brown-haired one was planting flowers and arranging fruits - but what could she do? "Can I help with something?" Hael mumbled sheepishly, glancing up at Splashy from the corner of her eyes but technically speaking into the open round.
There had to be something she could help with, right? A way to become useful. She didn't want them to think of her as a tiny, helpless baby.
For: All the party people!
Notes here!