"It's a very good thing freebies are so common here." I mumbled with a growling stomach. A bag full of snacks in my claw. Now if only this town wasn't so crowded. Damn that Pleasure Goddess and her festival, I wanted to eat something!
"Paps! I waaant ta try thaaat next!" Heiya exclaimed with joy as she started climbing. Her arm wildly gesturing at something once she had climbed up to a higher spot. Not that it really helped her father as he was carrying everything they had gotten. From Heiya's shooting trophy to their own snacks and goods.
To say nothing of the pickpocketing they had been doing throughout the day. We had no money of our own so they have improvised with it. However, on the principle of the matter. I refused anything they offered to buy.
I did not want to be entertained with money gained through foul means. I also did not want them buttering me up so they could potentially squeeze a deal out of me. They were my prisoners and I intended to keep it that way. Now if only Heiya kept still...
"A demolition game?" I said once I saw what it was Heiya was pointing at. Personally, I felt like I should really not be getting as surprised as I was. Yet, somehow, the games of this festival kept surprising me with how complex they were. So much magical machinery compared to festivals back home...
Like, I was willing to bet everything I had and my life that if this was the Month of Thunder. Then there would be entire factory complexes available for even kids! And to contrast that with how it was back home then it would be excessive. All we would have would be a screwdriver, hammer and pile of scrap.
But, as I thought on this, I began to wonder somewhat as well. Could I make my home better with all this technology? Even just the minor stuff like the toys! It could help improve our situation greatly.
Yet, did I want to actually help my home? Did I really want to help Tobaballe? Despite how familiar it was and how desperate I was to return... I hated it there, I genuinely hated it there compared to this land...
Here I have made friends with people who are willing to fight to save my life. I have a quality of life that is unparalleled compared to back home. I would not have gotten close to this standard until I was old if I was in Tobaballe! To say nothing of how magic has steadily become more exciting for me.
No longer was it entirely this terrifying power that scared me. That was all mostly gone, instead, it was something I could appreciate. It made me feel strong rather than weak and I was so free with it. I could leap the length of streets in single bounds and shatter boulders!
It was like the fantasy of a child come true!
"Nin! Nin! Nin!" Heiya repeated over and over as she hit my mask. Something that caused me to leave my thoughts and get back to reality.
"What?" I asked her as I stopped her hand from hitting it again.
"Hald aur stuff sa me aaand Paps caaan plaaay." she told me rather than asked like she should have. But, that wasn't the big issue. The big issue was that she was expecting me to let them both leave my sights.
"In your dreams, Heiya, do not forget why you are here, to begin with." I told her as I moved my face closer to her. Letting my chitters be a bit louder to emphasise an obvious point.
"I knaw. I just waaant ta haaave fun with my Paps." she replied with while hiding her throat. Seeing that, I shook my head and sighed.
"Fine, but let's move over there first. I'm not carrying it all." I tell the pair as I take Heiya's hand and guide her down. Collapsing down onto a chair and carefully following their movements to the game. Not even staying sat down during the process just so I could lash out at them. Assuming they did try something like runoff...
But, maybe Heiya's pride in having won that shooting competition trophy will keep her near. She really liked that trophy or maybe she just liked showing off. The staff there did make a big deal of all the records and that. She didn't even take part in a kids game, it was blatantly intended for professionals!
Now if only I could hear what they were talking about... They were clearly enthused about it, well, Heiya was anyway. Paps was just gently hitting her whenever she seemed to make an elaborate suggestion. He hit her a lot from what I have seen.
Must be a very protective father, then. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of a mother? A lack of a 'Mam' as I am guessing she would be called? I do wonder a little.
But, it was also something I could live without knowing as it was just, well. A rather irrelevant piece of information that just did not matter. Well, it would probably matter quite a bit with those two. Just not for me.
"Oh, look, they're actually playing the game." I muttered while I put my claws together. Losing sight of the pair only because I was quite enjoying the other sight. The staff were quickly assembling a small tower for them to bring down. I assume it was built with some kind of magic magnets?
It all just sort of slotted itself together. But then something happened, a list of some kind with big bold words. Which meant I could actually read it! So why not, why not see what it was about?
And it turns out it was a difficulty selection of some description. Easy, normal and hard were the options. The three options seemed to offer a different set of circumstances. If you chose easy, you got more, something, while as you went up you got less.
I was willing to assume it had something to do with how you brought the tower down. So it must have been how many explosives you got? No, that was absurd even for this magic-filled festival. Giving bombs to children so they could demolish something, no one was that insane.
Right...?
"They didn't..." I then found myself saying as I watched the pair of hwardgon leave the tower. Everything had been set in place and then there were several explosions. Their large fireballs going out towards the crowd and doing nothing... Fake explosions...?
The tower was going down, though. It seemed like they set all their bombs on one side and it collapsed down that way. Well, with the exception of the bottom as that just flung away and hit the barrier. At least they had the foresight for that, the festival staff, that is.
"Yau like it?" Heiya asked me with a smug expression as she showed off a machine of some kind. It must have been her trophy and it was doing a replay of how they brought the tower down. Bright red letters on the bottom declaring that they had 'demolished' the tower.
"Fancy." I ended up commenting before I let them take back their stuff.
"Where now?" Paps then asked his daughter as finished taking most of it.
"We caaan't da aaanything right naw. Mast claseing up becaaause af temple event." Heiya explained while pointing at most of the games. They were indeed telling people to wait and that. Some people were annoyed, but most suddenly jumped and ran off. As if they all forgot something.
"Temple event? What's happening at the temple?" I asked her just in case. If this was a period of prayer then I would like to partake in it. Even if Aahtha was not a goddess I normally did anything with. Then again, I have been more willing with most deities now.
I presume it must be related to the fact I have well, spoken to a few of them. In-person hanging out and all that. It certainly put a lot of emphasis on why faith was important. After all, if you actually met them then any naysaying heathens were proven wrong completely!
No more second-guessing and all that. Not that I really doubted it much, to begin with. I more so pondered if I should just involve myself more with Apahthein. Given his area of influence is basically just be lazy.
Gods know I could use the rest most of the time.
"Aaa treaaasure hunt!" Heiya answered as her eyes went wide. So much light being caught up in them that they became lights of their own.
"Sounds like the perfect excuse for you lot to run off, so no." I told them to which she just moaned in disappointment. Her little arms crossed over as she snarled up at me. She must have recognised that I was not going to budge on this.
"Just walk then?" Paps asked to which I shrugged to. Nothing wrong with doing that, we can just go for a walk if they wanted. Might even find the other three that way then. Knowing Larishazza, she probably was taking part.
And now that I thought about it, Vadei probably was too as she was quite the tracker. Admittedly, she probably wasn't that good at it. All she did was track me down after I got stolen away by a firey monster after all... Nothing impressive about that.
"Hello." a little boy then said to me in a quiet tone as he waved some little device at me. It was glowing and making little pings and dings. Was he lost? Or was this a toy he wanted to share...?
"Hi." I said with uncertainty as I looked down at him.
"Priest is doing a game and he said to look for someone involved with the gods. And my thing is noisy near you. Are you what I am looking for?" he explained before he asked me that question. I was raising my brow at this but I was now curious. Had Aahtha influenced this event to involve me somehow?
"I might be, would you like me to come with you?"
"Yeah, Priest says we win something if we bring it back to the temple." he says with a nod before he holds out his hand. So, with a slight smile forming, I took it into my claw and let him guide me. Maybe this would be fun? Just sort of getting dragged into a game because a goddess made me a piece of it.
"Come on you two!" I then told them as it would seem like they would be partaking in the hunt now. Something Heiya seemed particularly happy about as she ended up skipping over to us.
"Your hand is soft..." the child said once he took Heiya's hand as well. Maybe he thought she was what he needed as well? I could not blame him, I did tell the pair to follow.
"Thaaank yau!" Heiya said to him with a smile as giggled at his thumb rubbing her backhand.
He laughed too, "Your voice is silly!" he said to her before he began to charge on ahead. But, as he was just a child, it did not amount to much at all.