Renasci

The young harpy has been adventuring lately- unable to remain in Leo alone, and much too curious to remain in Ursa or any connected rooms. Still stinging arm bound in a crude plant wrap, and jagged blade of sardonyx that matches their stone strung with more crudely tied grasses and vines across their back, they decide to follow the spectacular rolling creature and the menagerie he’d collected to whatever the final location may be.

Partly curiosity, partly a dark sense of safety that if anything were to happen, they might be able to flee before the others.

But…. Monsieur Greaseball? Yeah, they have a hard time pronouncing things on a good day, and a good day it is not. They watch with eyes wide and feathers on end as the others follow the Greaseball’s prompts, and, seeing none of them combust or turn to pumpkins, they decide to heft one themselves.

Zoey had heard the commotion while in Pegasus, and the gathering of strange gembounds had her curiosity. The carnival was something that she was... sort of, aware of... but she had not been brave enough to adventure it on her own. (Or... foolish enough, really.) But the rest of the gembounds present made her feel slightly more at ease, or at least as though her presence made sense. Should any of the Forge ask where she had went, she would have a report.

Right now though... she didn't want to think of the Forge or her responsibilities. She followed the sounds to their source, peering at the others who made their attempts to throw the pumpkins.

If she could win... maybe she could obtain some seeds, to grow back at the gardens. That made her quills rattle, raising her head higher as she prowled toward the booth. She was careful to avoid the others, though she paused to blink at the massive spider. They both shared insect-like qualities, and so she clicked her mandibles in acknowledgement. "Hello," she offered, before scuttling past.

She settled on four limbs, reaching her front two sets of talons to grasp at a pumpkin, and lobbed it toward the cans dead ahead. Her throw fell short as her limbs were not accustomed to the movement. Disappointed, she settled back, and tilted her golden gaze toward the Monsieur.

"... I didn't make it... but... could you spare some seeds? Please?"

@Legba honorable mention

Legba stared, six eyes widening, as Zoisite scuttled past. It would be wrong to say "love at first sight," though the way he simply froze and watched for a moment might have made it seem that way. It probably looked creepy, even, though it wasn't his intent: he was just instantly, wholly fascinated. Infatuated, even, though not in any romantic sense.

She was the first exoskeleton-clad being he had seen in a very, very long time; she was something like him, without all the fur and feathers and scales that the other creatures had. She had mandibles (two sets?!), and bristles, and a shell, and she--unlike him--was both huge and gloriously colored. "My, my, my," he murmured, amazed. More loudly, he called after them: "Helloooo!"

He scuttled a little closer, sidelong, and tried to play the gallant hero: bristled feet gripped for a pumpkin of his own, a second one, and he tumbled it for the cans. He missed, too; the damn squash fell short by a couple feet, and he tried to beam a six-squinty-eyed smile at Zoisite while leaning on the booth.

"Aw, it isn't just you," he suggested, in his best aw-shucks voice; "These things are awfully hard to throw, no? What a bizarre shape they have!"

Of course, he didn't want to interrupt too much, even though his full attention was on Zoisite now--so his last attempt at being friendly, or flirting, or whatever he was doing (he wasn't even sure, himself; he only knew that Zoisite looked cool) was to wink three of his six eyes and say, "So-... why seeds?"

It'd either be a conversation starter, or just incredibly uncomfortable.

feel free to teach legba some boundaries if he's bein too creepy

@V-Zoisite-One

( hiiii... I'm Here again.... )

Why on earth there was a carnival in the middle of a transitional tunnel that had a particular stand in it with a particular orb man who offered to the guests (witting and unwitting) a particular orb game, Ampelio did not know. That was the caves. That was just how they worked. What mattered more to them was the fact that they were there, present, in said tunnel-carnival-stand-orb-game, and a little breathless because of how they had arrived. Tobie had once described them as "an athlete"; the title was still, by Pelly's own effort, accurate. So they had been running, had kept running, had noticed something strange while running, had taken a detour while running, and now they were here. Extremely existing in this space right now. (And ignoring whatever was happening with the massive cat and the orb man, that was their own personal business.)

Although, I don't suppose that run-along exposition quite explains the distance Pelly would have had to run. And the diversity of climates they would have had to run through. It falls apart there, unless there was something to run from... or run towards. Perhaps that little plot hole is where my exposition ends, so that we can call it mysterious, and even more presumptuously: masterful.

Facing forward, we recognize another logistical error: why would Pelly want to play this ball game? Aren't they dead tired by now? Well, kinda, but the ball game is interesting, and so Pelly has placed a record of thought on loop in their mind that goes like 'I am an athlete! i am an athlete! i am an athlete! i am an athlete!' Close observers might also catch this chant audibly coursing out from under the hybrid's breath.

First step to ball game appeared to be acquire pump'd kin. Mission success (thank you big soft grasping paws). Next step was throwing pumppingkin. Pelly would try to be a little flashy, a little stylish. They would lay on their back, place the pumpkin above them like a cat with a yarn ball, play around in the air with it a bit, think one last 'I am an athlete!', and "shoot from the hip" in a sense. Mission... holy crap—

360 NO-SCOPE LET'S GOOOOO!!!!!!

The pumpkin would go soaring, clean as a whistle. Let it be known: [Red Bull ad commercial voice] getting tossed by Ampelio gives you wiiiiiings! It would clatter into a can, perhaps with enough force to EXPLODE it (no) or perhaps with a particular enough angle it would fly right into the defeated orb man and explode HIM!! (also no.) In general, it would just be a really nice shot for someone to make while laying belly-up on the floor without a clear view of the target. Such is the power of the exposed stomach.

Pelly would roll back onto their feet, do an excited little bunny hop, and make their way over to the balloons. Pop!

Now for another one. Heck yes. We are IN the GAME. Does Pelly feel like being cool agai— not even a question. This time, they'll have a little bit of set up. The Carrot should be pleased. Pelly would have to charge up first, or else this next toss would not be Fantastically Superior, and where would be the fun in that?

So Pelly would prepare their next shot from the moment they popped their balloon. They would begin to prance, quite like a majestic horse, over to a pumpkin or an outcrop of pumpkins. As they pranced to and around this little pumpkin, as they swished their tail stub and their mane just a little, they would attempt to build up the kinetic energy... and hold it. They tried to focus on that speed and that feeling and just... bottle it. Scoop it up like a cloud.

They were sort of familiar with the concept of energy and the magic relating to it thanks to Pride. This wasn't entirely unfamiliar, but it wasn't exactly emblazoned in their mind either. Although you might not believe that from the performance they were putting on.

Once they had completed their fifth, seventh, maybe tenth or eleventh or twelfth even or quite possibly fifteenth or perhaps even seventeeth— it was very easy to get carried away.

Once they were done, at around say eighteen laps in a circle around the pumpkin of choice, Pelly would finally take a position, aim, and...

Huh. Well that wasn't a bad shot, but like... it also wasn't a great shot. It hit! For sure! Time to pop a balloon! But what... had Pelly actually accomplished?

Mystified, Pelly would wander back over to the balloons and get to popping. They weren't even sure if they were still retaining the energy somehow. How was Pelly supposed to actually use this kinetic energy...?

Well, uh. Perhaps Pride would know. A question for later. For now, perhaps another trick shot to make up for the lapse in cool trick shots.

Pelly would grab another pumpkin and try to think of something. They messed around with it for a while, rolling it between two paws, getting on their back and trying to keep it in the air like a soccer ball. Soon enough, they had a curious idea and went with a scientific attempt at enactment. Ampelio took one small pumpkin by the scruff and carefully attempted to balance it on the head of a flat, rotund gourd. Then, they backed up, raced forward, and side-swiped the pumpkin at an angle.

It did not... go far.

In fact, what occurred instead was a rather gruesome and gory display. Pumpkin guts dashed across the floor, and Pelly beholding the bloody orange on their paws. Talk about a Halloween fright.

Grimacing at the failure, another idea popped into Pelly's head. They wondered, for a moment, if risking danger in this weird little carnival was entirely worth it. Perhaps they would try... after just a regular toss. If they weren't too tired.

Back to the base. Bat and swing! I'd describe it more but there's nothing much to remark on. I supposed there might be if only Pelly had fully monkey-like arms. They were flexible and dexterous, sure, but there was a limit! There were always limits, to everything except imagination and rollerblading.

The throw was average, the clang was average... hopefully the reward wouldn't also be average but you never know with these things. Demented carnivals are like a box of chocolates. Maybe Pelly was already too tired.

Shambling over to get the Balloon, Pelly would give Monsieur Greaseball a glance. Pop! They considered perhaps helping out but uh... seems like all attempts failed, and that big cat guy was staring daggers at Pelly every time they looked like even thinking about assisting. Hopefully orb people could regenerate... or, hopefully cat monsters didn't feel the need to violently maul orb people.

Feeling tired and done for the day, Pelly began the trundle back home — keeping in mind, of course, that this silly place seemed pretty cool, and Ampelio might wish to return someday... with company.

It was hard to keep the smile off their face, thinking about the very distinctly different ways in which Tobie and Cas would react.

—WAUGH!! NO!!! JUMPSCARE! WHY!!!!

- exit -

Okay, try two.

Simon stepped back after his humiliating throw, giving the other contestants a chance to try their shots. He watched their movements as they went, studying the way they did it. Grab, aim, throw. Seemed easy enough, right?

Now it was his turn again. He picked up a pumpkin, aimed, and... bam! It hit, but just barely. Triumph flooded through him. He did it!

Let's do it again. One last time.

The serpent picked up a pumpkin, flew up to the stand, aimed... and missed. The pumpkin simply fell to the floor like a limp balloon.

Ah, oh well. You can't always win. Simon bade the other contestants a "Good day" and flew serenely away.

... Which way did he come from, again?

Exit Simon!