[Mkguild] The Harvest Festival (15/20)

[Hallan Mirayas]

-------

 =


   Kendrick breathed a
sigh of relief when he slipped through the back door to his family's home. =
Yet
another night of mischief had come to a happy end. With careful steps he wa=
lked
to the main room and found the loose board to hide his gear. After replacing
the board, he stirred the dust around with his paws until there was nothing=
 to distinguish
his cache.

 =


   With a sigh, he
retreated back up the stairs and stopped outside his bedroom door. The house
slept quietly apart from Barrick's snoring. In the distance he could hear t=
he
faint cries of Keepers still reveling late into the night. Kendrick closed =
his
eyes and just listened for a long time to those sounds. He curled up, tail
tucking between his legs to brush his forehead.

 =


   Without moving his
tongue, he prayed for Eli's forgiveness. The excitement past, his heart ach=
ed
at what he'd done. Why was he given a gift expressly forbidden by his faith?
And why did he love the rats despite what they asked of him?

 =


   And most
importantly, what was he going to do now? If his family knew that he was a
thief, it would be the greatest dishonor imaginable. Kendrick wanted to beat
himself with his fists, but dare not with his digging claws.

 =


   And then he thought
about the wine merchant. People like him were thieves in all but name. What
they did was legal because through lies and trickery they made people give =
up
their money. Kendrick only took a little and only from the dishonest. He wa=
sn't
hurting anyone innocent with this. He had to remind himself of this every t=
ime,
and this night was no different.

 =


   He lifted his head
and stared at the underside of his tail, and then at his paws. The curse had
given him the perfect body for thievery. Perhaps this was meant to be? And
judging by what Julian said, one day they wouldn't need to steal, even if t=
hat
day hadn't yet come.

 =


   Kendrick sighed and
began taking his clothes off. He knew it was wrong, and knew that one day it
would have to stop. He just hoped that he could find a way to do it that wo=
uldn't
get his friends into trouble with the Watch.

 =


   He offered another
prayer and slipped inside his bedroom. He saw Barrick and Brigitt asleep in
bed, and beyond them Sofie and Emma. He smiled a little. No matter what
happened with the rats and the Thieves Guild, he always had them to love. T=
hey'd
had a wonderful time at the festival, and nothing could ever take that away
from him.

 =


   Kendrick slipped
under his covers and pulled them up to his chin. As sleep descended upon the
young pangolin, thoughts and plans circled through his mind. One day he'd be
able to set everything right. Eli would grant him that. Once more contented=
, he
allow the sweet embrace of sleep to claim him.

 =


-------

 =


   "Keep going!
Go long!" Misha shouted as he hefted a muffin with his left hand.

 =


   Padraic stopped,
confused. "I AM a Long!" he shouted.

 =


   "I mean keep
running!" the fox countered.

 =


   "How far?"
the rabbit asked as he started running again.

 =


   "Catch!"
Misha shouted and threw the muffin high into the air.

 =


   The small bakery
product sailed through the air crossing the vast open space of Long Hall in
moments. Suddenly Padraic leapt upwards and SNAP! Caught the muffin in his
mouth.

 =


   "SCORE! Score
one for the fox's team!" Misha shouted.

 =


   Watching from the
side, Drift just shook his head in amusement. =

Cupping a hand to his mouth, he called out, "You're odd sometimes,
Misha, did you know that?"

 =


   "Only
sometimes?" the fox called back. "I must be losing my touch! Are you
sure you won't join the fun?"

 =


-------

 =


   Alexis rode in
silence until Drift had stepped out of the Long House with all four feet, a=
nd
then broke into gleeful laughter. "What?" Drift asked, pausing in
confusion. "What's so funny? Why are you laughing?" His
incomprehension just made her laugh harder, until she was holding her sides=
 and
Drift had to steady her with one arm. "What??"

 =


   Only after several
such inquiries did Alexis finally manage to get herself back under control.
Wiping her eyes, and between repeated fits of giggles, she replied, "I
win- hee hee- again!"

 =


   "What?!"

 =


   "You left the
dance first! I win!"

 =


   Drift had known
from the beginning that he wasn't about to let Alexis pay for their dates, =
but
his stubborn nature kicked in nonetheless. Better think fast=85 "This
isn't the only place for dancing, you know. I just wanted us away before th=
ey
tried 'pin the tail on the fruit bat.'"

 =


   Alexis leaned her
head against Drift's shoulder and stroked the sleeve of his dark blue doubl=
et. "You're
so cute when you're trying to be sneaky," she said, sounding inordinately
pleased. "The bet was for the duration of the party, and you know it."

 =


   "The whole Festival is a party. We've
still got more than a day to go."

 =


   For hours
afterward, Drift was certain he had -heard- the mischievous smile that burst
out on his fianc=E9e's lips. "So=85 you think you've found a loophole, do y=
ou?
Alright, I enjoy a challenge. Let the games begin."

 =


-------

 =


   Misha heard the
room go silent and realized something was happening before Caroline touched=
 him
on the shoulder. "Love."

 =


   Turning, Misha
could see Kristinai seated in a chair in one corner of the room. Oberon was
kneeling in front of her. From a small belt pouch he pulled out a small, go=
lden
ring and solemnly said in a low, nervous voice, "Kbrega tyit Prengor
treng?"

 =


   Kristinai paused
for several moments overcome by her own emotions before she finally answere=
d, "Why
did it take you this long? After all I thought that you had realized that we
were right for each other after going out for a month." With that said she
placed her hand out so that he could slide the plain gold ring onto her fin=
ger.
As Oberon placed the ringer onto her finger he kissed her deeply, not caring
about the other people in the room.

 =


   The entire hall
erupted into cheering and clapping and a few howls of delight.

 =


   Suddenly realizing
they had a large audience watching them, they froze for a moment and Misha =
saw
the insides of both of their fuzzy round ears go red in embarrassment.

 =


   "Now THAT is
the best entertainment I've seen all night," Misha commented

 =


   Caroline gave him a
soft smack on the muzzle.

 =


   "What?"
he said to her in a tone of mock anger. When he saw the real anger in her e=
yes
he licked her on the muzzle. "What I meant was," he said quickly, "that
was very beautiful."

 =


-------

 =


   Wolfram had passed
out and was sleeping with his head resting on the table. Gornul rested on t=
he
ram's head, curled up between the horns, and was sound asleep. Misha wasn't
sure if the ram had befriended the dragon or was just too drunk to care.

 =


-------

 =


   Caroline and Misha
snuggled close together on a carpet spread in front of the fire place in his
apartment.

 =


   It had gotten very
late before the party had finally worn down and broken up. Even so, people =
had
clung together in scattered, small clumps in the hallways and corridors lea=
ding
away from Long Hall.

 =


   The servants had
already done most of the cleaning and they soon had the last remnants of the
party removed and the hall clean again. Misha gladly paid all the help and =
sent
them home. And with that the party was over.

 =


   "The servants
cleaned up a lot faster then I expected," Caroline commented.

 =


   "I pay them
well," Misha answered. "And they've done this before, at all my other
parties."

 =


   "I'm sure that
with how generously you spread your coins around, they have their own party
planned for later," she joked.

 =


   Misha gave a short
yip of laughter. "I believe in a good days work deserves a good days pay."

 =


   "They did
fine. Everything went perfectly. It was a good party."

 =


   "It was,"
Misha commented. "But this, being with you, is the best part of it."






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