Yuletide [EVENT]

[Mousen Heath]

There was a certain aura about the temple today. White marble against the deep red ground that surrounded it, the entire temple sat upon the edge of the cliff, looking out onto a grey sea. It was one of the warmest places on Aeris, far from being what you typically associate with the holiday season. Well, apart from today, that was. Today it was actually snowing. Snowing, in Oddin's Peak. Real, cold flakes of snow, that had quickly made the ground as white as the marble temple. That wasn't the only thing amiss today, if one cared to look into the snow, they'd find footprints. Obviously, finding footprints in the snow is nothing unusual, but the fact was, the entire area was crawling with what appeared to be... Feline footprints. Some dainty, some not so.

Upon stepping into the large marble temple, one would find that the large fireplace, which was usually empty save for a large bowl of water, had been filled with logs and a large fire was happily crackling. Slightly towards one side of the large room, a huge pine tree stood. Obviously, a gift from the spirit of Fenris Forest himself. It was decorated with things from all over Aeris, dried flowers from the meadows, candle charms created by the jackalope of Bjorn, a few gems found within the mountains of Eira, shells from Svanhildr, glass ornaments made from the sand by Lake Valdis, crafted by the people of Greystone, Holly and ivy from Logmarr and Bjorn, cacti flowers from the Ochre plains, and finally, a lantern from within the temple itself. In the huge white temple, it looked particularly impressive. A massive splash of colour against the marble.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, tralala~!" Oddin sung, as we walked, tinsel wrapped around his antlers and an oddly cheery expression on his face. This was not normal. Oddin was the kind of jackalope who was always very calm, meditative even. Not really happy, and not really sad either, just nostalgic in a... Melancholy way. Well, not always it seemed. He was most definitely happy, for whatever strange reason.

It was then a small cat-like creature appeared from behind the tree. "My, you're in a good mood." The voice was small and feminine, just like it's owner. She was a dusty blue colour, fading to purple with small moons and stars scattered across her coat, and a light aura surrounded her. You might not notice it at first, but like the rest of her species she was completely blind. Fortunately, their hearing has evolved to keep up with their disability. Years ago, the temple had several permanent occupants, small, cat-like creature called aelurs. The story goes that they gave up the sight of their physical eyes, so that they might see in a different manner. Most aelurs are adapt at seeing the future, whether through dreams, visions or feelings. Not all aelurs have visible auras, either, that is something only available to the many priests and priestesses of the temple.

"Well, it is nice to have another living soul here, Greta! And it's Christmas!"
"Not quite yet it isn't."
Oddin shrugged. "Anyway, I've invited creatures to come here for some festivities, it'll be the first time anyone else has seen any aelurs for a few hundred years, so this is quite the occasion."

"I'll say." The voice came from a second aelur, he was much larger than the female and his coat a very deep red and orange. The male aelurs were very distinctive, unlike the jackalope and aures who's genders could be mistaken sometimes, if a there was a broad female or a lithe male around. "I've been looking forward to this for weeks! I do love entertaining."
"Showing off, don't you mean, Gustaw?"
The male aelur rolled his eyes at the female's words. "Not hardly! Besides, Oddin should be the main host here, it's his temple afterall."
There was the slight sound of a nervous squeak, that definitely came from the spirit, despite his cheery manner that day, he still wasn't the most sociable spirit. Gustaw laughed, the sound deep and rumbling. "Don't worry, old friend. We'll make sure you don't make a fool of yourself this Christmas."
"That's not very reassuring, but thank you."
Both Greta and Gustaw laughed this time. "Don't worry about it, everything will go according to plan. The guests should be here any moment now!"

[Xeno]

Jamie hopped into the temple made of pure, white marble before stopping to rest her sore legs. She had hopped all the way from where-ever her owner's home was for a event she joined and as the only pet (and non-experiment), she had to go and see what the event was about.

"My legs are sore..." Jamie sighed before noticing how decorated the temple was compared to the blanket of white snow on the brown earth outside. "Wow, this place looks nice." She looked at the many decorations made of things from all over Aeris. Though she didn't notice the others creatures in the Temple.

[Kitsumi Mahon]

Two male jackalopes hopped through the snow towards the temple. It had been quite odd to have suddenly been invited to a Christmas event by someone that they had never even heard of, so out of the blue. But Codex, the older male with purple forelegs and pale, frostly blue eyes, had been intruiged. Hollow, the other male, may have been intruiged as well, but it was impossible to tell if he as feeling anything under his emotionless mask.

As they neared the temple, Codex heaved a great sigh and tugged the earbuds out of Hollow's rather large ears. "Would you please put that away?" Codex said, trying hard to keep his voice level. "You never want to socialize. Ever! We're here at a party, and you're going to socialize. Got it?"

In response, Hollow simply rolled his eyes and placed the earbuds back in his ears. The music, which had been paused as Codex was talking, was now cranked up to full volume. The sounds of metal music and screamed lyrics could be heard clearly, causing Codex to wince. His brother could annoy him so easily at times.

Entering the temple, Codex spotted a female not far from them. He gave a quick little bow and offered her a smile. He would have spoken to her, but after the long journey, he suddenly felt too exhausted to talk.

[auntslappy282]

A crunching of snow was heard from outside the temple as the spirit walked towards it. The snow made his feet freeze slightly, and wince, but he wasn't about to show that all off now was he? He had a scarf tucked tightly around his neck and a small pair of glasses on the very tip of his nose, as he hoped along, they attempted to fly off and break in the snow. Aldis wouldn't let that happen.

He was fully aware that a spirit coming to an event such as this seemed odd, but he wasn't about to complain. He smiled slightly. Getting out of that dreaded death cope known as the apothecary could really bring you down. He needed to enjoy this holiday, and the only way to do so was to get out and walk through the snow. Or in this case, go to a party hosted by one of the elder spirits no the less. Aldis expected their to be other Jackalope there, and he didn't expect what he saw when he walked in. There was a fire, Oddin, and two creatures who had been lost in time, under piles and piles of paper.

He had read about them though, for he was the Spirit of Literature. He needed to stay on top of these types of things or he would get nowhere. He smiled politely, giving a small bow to Oddin and the Aleurs. He nodded to the other Jackalope. His ears twitched rather annoyed at the music that was blasting out of the poor Jackalopes ears. He would go deaf soon, he could just tell..

((Your such an old man Aldis. XD))

[Wyvern]

(Everyone´s gone ahead... Am I late?)

"Dont worry, Vor. This will be fun, honestly!" An Aelur in blue-and-grey appeared with a young little Aures on its fluffy, lightly snow-covered head. Voruhr seemed a bit nervious, being this one of his first trips far away from home. It was, too, his first Christmas, which cheered both the Aelur and the Aures´s mood up a little. Upon hearing the group of people at the entrance of Oddin, they smiled. "This is it, right? It looks... really nice." Voruhr said, he really liked the view of the temple covered in snow. Shilian nodded a little as he jumped up a pile of snow, careful with not letting Voruhr fall off his head, trying to get a better view for him, and, of course, for Shilian to hear the Spirit better.

[Mousen Heath]

The various groups of creatures arrived, each portraying varying degrees of cheerfulness and bedragglement. Oddin walked out in front of them all, after a small amount of prodding from the aelurs. Gustaw stood just behind him, as if to stop him incase the suddenly nervous elder spirit decided to make a run for it. Judging by the anxiety in his expression, he may well have done so. Public speaking had never been Oddin's strong point, he was one of those jackalope that preferred to stick to the sidelines and hope no one noticed him. Unless that one was Bjorn, of course... Well, today that was neither here nor there.

"Welcome friends, and welcome strangers! You have been invited here today to celebrate the holiday season, and to celebrate the rediscovery of a new species. I'm sure, by now, you've all heard of the the aelurs, infact one of you has already found your way back here," He paused, to nod his head at Shilian. "To make this more interesting, as I'm sure you would just love to spend the entire evening listening to me talk about the history of the temple, there's going to be an opportunity for you to win prizes! Just about anything you can think of, the other spirits were quite generous in their donations." With that he walked towards the small crowd, for the time being pleased to be out of the spot light. He vaguely recognized the spirit stood there, there wasn't really that many of them out there were all pretty recognizable.

... Especially that crazy red and teal one that Greystone was following about. But that, again, was neither here nor there. "You're the spirit of literature, correct? You run the apothecary...?"

Meanwhile, Greta was trying her hand at speaking to another member of the group that had gathered inside the temple. Her plan might have been slightly ambitious, though, as she was attempting to get Hollow to speak. She tapped his shoulder, with surprisingly sharp retractable claw. "Hello," She began softly, aura flickering as she moved. "Listening to anything interesting?"

Gustaw on the other hand stood back and listened to the crowd for awhile, his tail flicking back and fourth. He seemed to be considering something. The ever-dramatic creature would surely have something up his sleeve.

((Feel free to interact with my/other peoples characters~ ))

[auntslappy282]

When the Elder spirit spoke to Aldis, he turned around and smiled, trying not to glance at him over his spectacles to terribly bad and look like an idiot, or more so one then he normally does. He smiled at the spirit, happy that he actually recognized him. "Oh hello Odin. Yes, I am the Spirit of Literature. And the Apothecary is my burden to hold indeed," He said with a slight chuckle. He wasn't really the type of Jackalope who talked much to others. He would honestly rather read a math book cover to cover then talk to other living beings in general. He would smile though, and push his way through it.

"So how have things been going on up here? I've read some articles but thats about it. Oh, and the other Spirit might be coming... You know, Neo... She insisted on joining the festivities, so thats just a warning," He said with a sigh and a slight cough. He wasn't very good with conversations, not at all. He wouldn't know what it would be like to talk to the others, but he might just have to try.

[Xeno]

Jamie only watched everyone as they socialized with each other. She didn't really like to talk with other creatures, she was a little bit what her owner called "Anti-Social" sometimes but she just usually wanted to stay on the sidelines and blend into the crowd. Though when that one male Jackalope bowed to her, she smiled and bowed back before resuming looking at the many decorations. After all, she did have manners and you should try and make a good impression on the first meeting with someone new.

[Kitsumi Mahon]

While Codex was listening to Oddin and becoming excited at the idea of prizes, Hollow was standing, shoulders slouched, unable to hear anything that anyone was saying. He had his music at the perfect volume - loud enough so that he couldn't hear anything other than the song, but quiet enough that no one would be able to hear it blaring in his ears unless they stood very close to him. His head moved in an almost imperceptible bob, and his hands twitched, his paws twitched, drumming the surface bellow him every now and then.

Hollow hadn't been expecting anyone to interact with him, and the aelur had sneaked up on him - not exactly a hard thing to do when he could hear nothing around him - so he jolted a bit when he felt something sharp touch him. He pulled the earplugs out and slung them carelessly over his shoulder, turning to the cat-like creature who had spoken. "What? Oh, my music?" He had no idea why this person was talking to him, but if they wanted him to talk about his music...well, it was the only topic that came easily to Hollow. "I doubt you've ever heard of it. Black Veil Brides? They're screamo...erm, that is, a kind of metal band. Well, that's actually under debate. Some people think they're a rock band, others think they're metal. I just know that they're pretty awesome." He ducked his head, immediately feeling as if he were babbling. "Sorry," he muttered. "Socializing...it just isn't my thing."

At the sight of Hollow actually talking, Codex nearly fainted with relief. Whatever the aelur had done to convince Hollow to open his mouth, even if only for a moment, Codex was grateful for it. Noticing that the girl he had bowed to earlier was currently alone, he hopped over to her. "Hullo...I'm Codex." A friendly, simple introduction...that was the right way to start out a conversation, right?

[Mousen Heath]

Oddin nodded. "I remember hearing about Neo, well... Greystone muttered something about being busy solving crimes, and Svanhildr decided to gush about how 'absolutely adorable' he was with Miss. Neo and Grey disappeared somewhere. It's a shame she's not here actually, she's been dying to meet her properly." The spirit rolled his eyes. Svanhildr did have a habit of being a bit... Over much, especially when Grey was known for being especially timid.

The little aelur smiled at his surprise, her hearing was as such that the could pick up the slight sound coming from the headphones. While it would be difficult for any normal creature to hear it, unless they were substantially closer, the aelurs could hardly be considered 'normal'. "Oh, that sounds interesting, I'm not very up to date with the music of today. Infact, you'd probably find my taste in music hideously old fashioned. I do like classical music though, and musicals." She laughed softly. "I think my favourite song is probably 'Greensleeves'." As he apologised, she tiled her head to the side. "Oh, I wouldn't say that, not at all. Oh!, I should probably introduce myself, I'm Greta."

Gustaw meanwhile made his way towards an aures and another aelurs. "And what brings you back to the temple?" He asked his fellow feline, all aelurs had supposedly originated here so even if he hadn't ever been here the question was sill valid.

[auntslappy282]

The things that happened with the Elder Spirits always made him smile. It was odd, but it always interested Aldis. Neo had spoken some things about it, but he only really half listened to most of the things that batty Jackalope said. She was crazy, no exception. Sometimes he thought she was going to end up dead. He was slightly worried about her most of the time, but he just looked out for her, more as a brotherly way. He would never admit it to her though, for he was always the type that was quiet and didn't talk much. He smiled slightly at what Oddin said, still only half listening. He was thinking about to much all the time. All the talk in the room made Aldis's head hurt. He was used to quiet libraries, and it only would get worse when Neo got here. Speak of the devil.

A teal spirit, blood still splattered on her paws made her way into the temple. The smell of death and blood reeked off of her. A big smile laced her face. The blood on her paws was dry, so it wouldn't leave any spots on the tile, but it was still there which was disconcerting. She made her way towards Odin and Aldis with the large smile on her face still there. "Hello Aldis and Oddin. Nice to see you again. Sorry I was late. A murder case got me all stuck trying to figure out some stuff, and all the loop holes! The Loop holes!" She said, shaking her head slightly. She really did love her job, but sometimes it got her thrown off guard.

"Hello Neo... You didn't even wash your paws before coming here. What is wrong with you?" He said growling slightly. Neo sighed. "Fine I'll go wash my paws out in the snow if it OFFENDS you so badly," She said hissing slightly. She walked out of the temple and washed her bloody paws out on the snow, shaking them off before walking back in. The scent of blood was still there though.

Aldis's nose scrunched at the smell, but he wasn't going to complain more. "Is there another problem Aldis?" She said, obviously not in a good mood this evening. Aldis shook his head, looking slightly over to Oddin, as if asking for forgiveness.

[Wyvern]

Shilian smiled, hearing all the friendly voices from the Jackalope that also made Voruhr feel a bit less discouraged. The Aelur then turned to where he thought Gustaw was, after hearing his question. "Its quite wonderfull being back home, indeed. I havent been here in forever. Honestly, I barely renember about this place, I didnt stayed here for long untill I was... taken away." Shilian responded. He tried to mantain his smile, as his companion turned his head towards the Aelur, looking a bit unsure. "You were... taken away? I thought you were like any other Aelur, born and raised here on Oddin..." He said. The Aures didnt knew much about Oddin, he was too young. But his feline friend sort of explained him about his life and such, but not all of the truth. Though, Voruhr didnt seemed to mind that Shilian didnt told him the truth. It was his first chistmas, and he thought that was the beginning of the suprises that awaited them. He still had a long ways to go.

[Mousen Heath]

Oddin was rather surprised to see the slightly... bloodied state of Miss Neo Verum. He took a step backwards as he watched her encounter with the spirit of literature. "Miss Neo! How wonderful to see you!" He said, smiling, despite the fact that Aldis obviously didn't share his merry mood. By the looks of it, neither did Neo. "I trust you've been working with Greystone again? How are the two of you?" While polite conversation wasn't exactly his strong suit, the spirit did his best.

Gustaw nodded towards the other Aelur. "I see... It's become more common now for aelurs to live away from the temple." He paused and a looked around for a moment. "You're the first of us to return to the temple for awhile, as such, I'd like you to have this." The large feline handed the other a small wrapped present.

(( Fail post. Anyway, Wyvern, you've won a barn owl aures! It'll be sent over ASAP))

[auntslappy282]

"Why it's nice to see you too Oddin!" Neo greeted happily. There was a slight gleam in her eyes when Oddin talked to her about her and Greystone. Neo smiled and then nodded slowly. "Why yes! Greystone and I work together. He kinda got roped into the stuff I've been working on. He's really a nice man. Smart too which is always a plus in my line of work," She said smiling. She really did enjoy talking to anyone about her line of work. She was a social Jackalope, but had hidden most of that away for years, since she worked alone most of the time. Greystone had pulled that aspect of her back out and showed it to everyone. It wasn't a bad thing either. "Hows everything going being a high elder spirit?" Neo asked.

Not being able to bare the conversation anymore, and wanting to possibly start a conversation with another creature, or just hide away behind a book, Aldis interrupted. "If you'll excuse me Oddin, I'm a bit thirsty," He said, obviously making up an excuse to get away from Neo. Something about her annoyed Aldis. Maybe he was in a bad mood, the Holidays did tend to do that to him, but he just wanted to get away. Nodding and attempting to be polite, he hoped off towards the other side of the room where he might be able to pull out a book, or do something else.

((COME ON PEOPLE LETS BRING THIS BACK TO LIIIFE!! XD))

[Kitsumi Mahon]

((Ooc: Sorry, I was absent...again -.- I'll be more active this time, I swear!))

The female had yet to answer Codex, so he shifted his feet sheepishly. Perhaps he should go find Hollow? Who knew where his brother was by now...perhaps he had even left, while Codex was distracted? He wasn't the social type, and it wouldn't have surprised Codex one bit if he had sneaked out.

Oddly enough, Hollow grinned. Well, almost. The right side of his mouth raised ever so slightly - more of a smirk than a smile, really, but it was the closest he had ever come to a smile, it seemed. "Just because I like the new, loud, obnoxious stuff doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the classical stuff. I actually play a lot of classical songs...just on my air guitar, and revamped a bit." At the mention of her name, Hollow chewed on his bottom lip nervously. "Greta, huh? Well, I'm Hollow. Nice to meet ya, I suppose."

[Xeno]

"Um...Hello?" Jamie greeted Codex. She felt a little odd with the whole socializing thing, it was probably because of being around the strange beings and creatures her mysterious owner had hanging around her home all day and night. Some of them looked human while others...not so much. A few of them even looked like a little bit in between! So did she wonder what kind of person her owner was and why she would adopt a normal Jackalope like her? Jamie didn't let the thought linger in her head and let it leave her mind for the time-being.

[Mousen Heath]

"I see, it's always nice to have someone close to you, someone you can trust." Oddin replied, nodding. "Svanhildr seems to think you two are... Er, what do you call it nowadays? An item? Yes, that sounds about right." The white jackalope chuckled slightly, remembering the conversation that had taken place between several of the spirits earlier in the week. "Most of us have taken bets on the matter, actually..." Well, there was only so much a Spirit had to do in their spare time. Oddin watched Aldis leave with an expression of slight amusement, though he didn't say anything.
"Oh, very boring mostly. Fenris still hates me, of course. Still, he no longer wants to murder me, which is something." The jackalope answered after a moment or two.


"Sounds interesting! Though I love listening to music, I've never been very musical myself. I tend to leave all that sort of thing to Gustaw, he loves showing off, you see." There was a slightly mischievous expression as she said this, hoping Gustaw hadn't heard her. "Nice to meet you too!"

Gustaw had heard her, but he was a little too busy to reply with his usual banter. Instead, he made his way to the front of the room and coughed slightly. "Excuse me? We'll be exploring the temple now, I'll split you into teams. Let's see... Hallow, Codex and Jamie can come with me and Greta while Shillian, Voruhr, Neo and Aldis can go with Oddin, atleast for the time being. We'll meet up again later."

[auntslappy282]

An Item? Taking Bets? What in the hell do the Spirits get themselves up to nowadays? It was a bit off putting to say the least. Taking bets on people, it was a bit annoying, but she wouldn't expect less. "Oh... How.... Odd. I didn't know that's what the Spirits did in they're free time. I... I guess I should be.... Flattered?" How else were you supposed to react to a situation like that? It was just strange. Neo nodded at Oddin. "Well I'm glad to hear that you two aren't trying to kill each other, which is always good, I suppose. I guess I was always looking forward to the day when I had to solve a murder between the two of you...," Neo trailed off when the Aelurs spoke, looking towards the cat.

Aldis sighed. He would be forced to be with Neo now, but hopefully it wouldn't be as bad since Oddin was there. However, it might still be bad. Neo could be a massive pain in the neck when she wanted to be. Aldis sighed, walking over to Oddin and the group he had just abandoned. It might still be fun though, he supposed.

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