[Mkguild] The Harvest Festival (9/20)

[Hallan Mirayas]

------- =



 =


   While the next act
began onstage, the dragon and the cheetah met up with Drift and Alexis
backstage. "That was impressive, Drake, Dimalya," the fox-bat said
with a smile, offering her hand to the cheetah femme. "Quite the
lightshow."

 =


   Drift nodded
distractedly in agreement, tugging at the belt of the white robe he was wea=
ring,
as if just finishing tying it. "Thanks again for agreeing to help with
this, Drake," he said, finally looking up. Under his robe, his tail
started swishing as his gaze landed on Dimalya's d=E9colletage and bounced
hastily away. It fixed its direction deliberately onto the stage, where an
all-lupine male choir sang, and the samoyed continued, keeping his voice lo=
w so
it wouldn't carry beyond the backstage area. "I don't think my act would
be nearly as fun without your music." As his eyes settled on the crowd
beyond the stage, his tail stilled and he started fiddling with his robe ag=
ain,
his ears flicking about as if not sure where to settle as stage fright bega=
n to
set in.

 =


   "Thank you,"
Dimalya said, clasping Alexis' hand at the wrist rather than the palm. Still
panting a bit from her exertions, she continued, "I am glad another way of
summoning was found; this way is quite tiring." She beckoned Drake to
stoop so she could kiss him, and then excused herself, saying she wanted to=
 go
change. Drake settled down to oil the skin of his drum while he waited and
loosened it a bit to lower the sound, tapping out a quiet note or two to ch=
eck.
"You're welcome," he rumbled once that was done. "This should be
an interesting performance." Looking up, he saw the samoyed fidgeting and
took pity on him. "Relax, Drift," he said, giving his drum a final
tap and then settling back against the wall with an air of deliberate
nonchalance, as if there was not a thing in the world to worry about. "Have
you done a final check of your gear? I've found that works well for settlin=
g my
own nerves when they're a little rattled."

 =


   The samoyed turned
away from the stage with a puff of relief at the suggestion. "Yes, that
sounds like a very good idea." That kept him busy throughout the lupine
choir's repertoire, but the next act drew his attention back stageward. An
age-regressed jester had the crowd roaring with laughter, especially when
Wanderer started chiming in 'to protect his job'. Drift started fidgeting
again, but Alexis reached out and blocked his view with a broad, dark-skinn=
ed
wing. With her other hand, she cupped his cheek and steered it around until
Drift was looking at her. "Hey," she said, her voice soft and tender
while she stroked his cheek with her hand, making sure his eyes met hers. "=
Here.
Me." Rising on tiptoe, she kissed him on the side of the muzzle. The wing
that had been blocking his view of the crowd folded against her arm so that=
 she
could scratch behind his ear while she looked him over. "You look so
handsome," she said, matching the smile that blossomed on his face. "Now,
close your eyes. Forget about the crowd." She dismissed them with a flick
of her hand. "They no longer exist. Just close your eyes and breathe. That's
it. Relax. Don't worry about fear, don't worry about doubt, don't worry abo=
ut
anything. Picture yourself going through the dance during practice. Make it=
 as
real as you can imagine. Feel the loops of the chains in your hands. That's
right. Good. Feel the flow of the dance as it progresses, and let it carry =
you
through to a successful finish."

 =


   As Alexis spoke,
the tension seemed to drain out of the white-clad samoyed. Opening his eyes=
, he
wrapped her in his arms, his tail swishing again under his robe. He bowed h=
is
head to kiss her, and then asked with a smile, "How is it that you always
know exactly the right thing to say?" His laughter blended in with the
crowds at her standard 'that would be telling' reply.

 =


   Watching the young
lovers through half-closed eyes, Drake smiled a small, knowing smile, but
otherwise did nothing. He preferred to let them have their moment without
interference.

 =


   "Don't go
wandering off during my performance, love," Drift admonished as he turned
Alexis loose with a nuzzling of noses. "I've got a surprise for you once I'm
done."

 =


   Listening to
Wanderer introduce him, Drift put his hand on a support pillar, closed his
eyes, and prayed. 'Oh Lord, please don't let me foul up=85' And then Alexis
tweaked him on the rump.

 =


   Drift stepped out
onto the stage, blushing slightly, but with a smile over top of the blush. =
"Good
evening," he said, making his introduction. "I thought I'd discovered
a new dance style this summer, while practicing with a sling-"

 =


   In the audience, a
certain Keeper nearly choked on his ale.

 =


   "Oh, good, I
see Finbar remembers," Drift said with a wry smile, pitching his voice
over the ferretmorph's laughter. That got Misha, Caroline, Danielle, and
Wolfram laughing, too, along with several others. "Now, imagine my
surprise when my girlfriend, Alexis, came to me a month ago with a book from
the library detailing the very dance I was practicing. Apparently, I wasn't=
 the
first to come up with it. The people of the Iscoy Islands in the southern s=
eas
did, and apparently, it's pretty warm there. So, my apologies for the outfi=
t."
As he spoke, Alexis set up a table to the side, with a bottle of clear liqu=
id
and a lit torch held upright in a stand. Several feet away, she set up a me=
tal
crosstree, from which hung by leather loops a matched pair of black-painted
chains, with a cylinder of fabric and metal at the end. Meanwhile, Drake
stepped out on stage for the second time that night and settled down, waiti=
ng,
with his drum. "My thanks to Pascal for the fireproofing," the
samoyed said with a smile and a nod to the porcupine, "or I'd be a lot
more nervous about doing this than I already am." Chuckles rippled through
the audience in response.

 =


   As Alexis exited
the stage, Drift gestured grandly to her and said, "Ladies and gentlemen,
my lovely assistant, Alexis." The flying fox poked her head back onstage
to acknowledge the smattering of applause with a gleeful grin and to blow D=
rift
a kiss. The samoyed returned the gesture, and then nodded to Wanderer, who
gestured to several people at the lamps around the stage. While they shutte=
red
them, casting the stage into darkness aside from the circle of light around=
 the
torch, Drift picked up the torch and the bottle and stepped over to the
crosstree. "Don't try this at home, folks," he said and then, taking
a swig from the bottle, he blew a column of flame across the torch! The fire
engulfed the ends of the chains, and the cloth at the ends ignited!

 =


   Drift handed the
bottle and torch to Wanderer, taking a moment to wipe the sleeve of his robe
across his mouth just in case there were any drops of fuel still on his fur=
. "And
now," he said as Wanderer exited the stage, "the Iscoy Fire Dance."
He turned away and shrugged out of his robe, tossing it aside. A gasp ran
through the audience, because beneath it the samoyed wore nothing more than=
 a
leather loincloth, front and rear, dyed red with yellow edging that suggest=
ed
flames licking up the sides. The double loincloth stretched only to his kne=
es,
broad and covertly weighted at the bottom corners. The rest of his athletic
body was clad only in his white fur, which gleamed in the light from the
fireballs, his muscular physique garnering a few teasing (or perhaps
appreciative) whistles.

 =


   The toss of the
robe was apparently Drake's cue, because with a loud clap on his largest dr=
um,
he started to play. Winding the leather loops around his hands, Drift took =
the
fireball chains from the stands and spun away from the stand. The fireballs
chased each other around the whirling samoyed as Drake started an exotic,
tribal dance. Two spins was enough to give Drift the room he needed, but the
fireballs continued their chase even when he stopped, high, low, in front a=
nd
behind him.

 =


   Drake stepped up
the tempo, and with a snap of his wrists, Drift stopped the chase and set t=
he
chains whirling vertically on either side of him for two beats before cross=
ing
his wrists in front of him. The chains whirred as the fireballs seemed to
bounce off each other at the top and bottom of their arcs, like a butterfly=
's
wings. After several 'flaps', he opened his arms, sweeping the flaming arcs
high, then back into the butterfly. He repeated this twice more, including a
double sweep, then flipped it behind his back and whirled them behind before
bringing it back forward again.

 =


   Another tempo
change brought Drift's hands back to the sides, again whirling two beats be=
fore
he started to spin. As he did, one hand went up and one down, and then each
started circling clockwise. The result was a four-leaf flower of fire, spin=
ning
on stage, with the samoyed, grinning in the center, his feet and the flowers
both moving to the beat. He stopped spinning and brought both flame chains =
back
to his sides, then flicked his wrist to speed one up until they alternated
forward and back instead of both being forward or back at the same time.
Whirling it across so that both were on his right side, he crossed the chai=
ns
and twisted, bringing them across his body. The two fireballs orbited each
other in a blur, a circle of flame edge on to the samoyed's face, before
untangling on his left. He repeated the cross, another halo of flame, then =
spun
the chains free and back into sync with each other at his sides.

 =


   Four loud thumps
from Drake signaled a final tempo change, and Drift's face set with
concentration as he spun the flame chains faster still. Suddenly, a metal '=
snik!'
was heard, and the fireballs changed abruptly from red to blue fire! "Hya!"
the samoyed yelled, and started them whirling around him again, weaving acr=
oss
and back, before and behind, dancing amid the flames! Back into the butterf=
ly
they went, still alternating in front and behind, then out wide twice befor=
e a
skyward throw! Drift caught them when they fell just as the last beat of the
song boomed from Drake's drums, and the samoyed swept his arms wide to take=
 a
bow as the crowd applauded and cheered, his chest heaving and his tongue
lolling in an ear to ear grin matched by a wildly wagging tail. Switching t=
he
swaying fire chains to his left hand, he gestured to Drake with his right, =
too
winded to do more.

 =


   When the applause
died down, Drift beckoned to Alexis as he hung up the fire chains on the
cross-stand. "Alexis," he panted "would you come up here,
please?" He took a swig from the canteen Wanderer offered him, thanked the
wolf, and then turned to Alexis when she came onstage. Taking her hands in =
his,
the samoyed stilled his wagging tail into seriousness and said, "Alex, I've
loved you from the moment we met, back in that moonlit orchard all those mo=
nths
ago. Now, this night, once more under the moonlight, there's something I re=
ally
want to ask you." He dropped to one knee, making sure that knee was on the
audience side, and Alexis' eyes widened as Drift produced the ring, seeming=
ly
from thin air, and held it out to her with a hopeful smile. "Alexis, will
you marry me?"






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