SeaCrest-Star

Spring had finally arrived in Reheva, filling the air with the fresh scent of growing green things—slender bluebell shoots, trees unfurling new leaves, color bursting into the world after months of winter. The twitter of birdsong at dawn, the rustle of squirrel families in the trees, the flurry of cottontail rabbits bounding across the grass; Ket heard it all, saw it all, smelled it all, her senses flooded by all the signs of spring and warmer weather to come. Even though the mornings were still frosty and cold, on the best days, the sky was clear and blue and dotted with wispy clouds, and the sunlight was warm and bright, driving away the morning chill. Today was just such a morning—Ket had woken stiff with cold, despite her careful choice of shelter, but beyond the trees the sun had driven away the chill as the birds of the forest twittered among the trees. Turning her face to the sun, Ket closed her eyes, basking in the warmth. Primroses and hyacinths and daffodils were blooming

"LOOK, CHERRY, IT'S A BUTTERFLY!" Fluffers yodeled, galloping after the fluttering speck of color through Heidi's carefully planted rows of flowers. Several bees buzzed away, startled, and Cherry heaved a longsuffering sigh. "I'm so sorry," she said to Heidi and Meg, who had stopped their harvesting to watch as Fluffers careened through the field. She shook her head ruefully. Heidi snickered. "If you've found a way to stop him when he's got an idea into his head, that's more than anyone else has ever managed," she said with an easy smile. "Where's Emmy today?" "She and Miri are working on the roof. The last windstorm blew some branches down, and one of them broke through the roof of the drying room," Cherry answered. "We all thought it might be easier if I kept Fluffers distracted…" "I'd say he's pretty well distracted," Heidi acknowledged, as Fluffers huffed and puffed and slid to a stop amid the poppies. She clipped another handful of tulips as Meg hefted the bucket for her.

One of the best times to run was at night—city dwellers might think that the whole world was asleep when the moon was out and the stars dotted the night sky, but Celerity knew better. On the desert plains of Miatias, nighttime was when life truly started for some creatures. Desert owls, silent hunters swooping through the sky; rabbits and antelope squirrels and kangaroo rats did their best to avoid roaming predators; bobcats and coyotes snarled over territory and hunting rights, their cries echoing chillingly off of rocky desert plateaus. Night-blooming cacti were abundant, if you knew where to look, although you had to be careful of where you stepped; rattlesnakes and scorpions were active at night, too, and they struck even faster than Celerity could run. Most large predators weren't much of a threat to her; she had the speed and the wind to outrace them all, so long as she kept to safe ground. The heat of the day faded as night wore on, until Celerity could see her own breath

It was a gorgeous day in Saea, the sun just peeking over the mountains this early in the morning, with a cool breeze blowing in from the north. Clouds dotted the sky, wispy trails that looked like they would be incredibly soft to touch, like a fluffy sheep's wool. Kaya helped herself to breakfast—dried herbs and rolled oats, sweetened with some dried berries—as she eyed the sky, knowing it would be a good day to take the herd up to the higher slopes, where the grazing was better. Ethan ruffled her mane as he passed, gnawing on some jerky. "I've got a busy day today," he reminded her; he'd mentioned it yesterday, but he liked to double check. "Will you be all right alone with the herd?" She twitched her nose, tail swishing from side to side as she snorted at him playfully. "We'll be fine," she answered, butting his shoulder gently with her head. "You don't come with me that much." "The weathereye said we should expect a storm tonight, so make sure you're not out too late," Ethan

Wisteria adjusted her belt, shifting the pouch she carried further to her right so that it didn't impede her walking motion as much. It was heavy, but that wasn't surprising, given that it was filled with pebbles that she had learned to throw with deadly force. It had originally been to knock loose shingles off the roof of her cottage, ones that were so precariously balanced that it would have been dangerous to climb up and remove them. Once they had been cleared out, it was safe enough to re-roof her little cottage with slate tile, which was much longer-lasting and didn't require as much maintenance as wooden shingles. Over time, however, she had gotten skilled enough to hunt small game with her pebbles, and now she used it as a weapon as much as a tool. Unfortunately, it did mean she had to keep a ready supply of pebbles with her if she didn't want to be caught empty-handed in a dangerous situation. Ahead of her, Isenia brushed aside a leafy branch, flicking her long tail to free it

The Haunted House certainly looked the part. Wisteria looked up at it and shivered; the darkened windows, covered from inside by some black fabric or paper, gave no hint to the contents within, while the purposefully decrepit outer shell exuded an air of long disuse. This was untrue, of course; the House had been built specifically to house the Haunted House every year, and Wisteria had passed it by several times before in the off season, when it looked far less threatening than it did now with its draping cobwebs and flickering lanterns. The sideboards that peeled and dangled from the walls were fake; the jagged end of the broken porch support beam was structurally sound and had never been load bearing. She knew all this, but it was spooky all the same. Isenia looped her arm through Wisteria's. "It'll be fun!" she said, smiling easily. Her long, streaked hair curled against her cheeks, peeking out from under her appropriately witchy hat. They were all dressed appropriately for the

Wisteria eyed the signpost dubiously. "It's corn. How hard can it be?" she asked, watching as other kebanzu entered the maze. "Wouldn't you just see right through the stalks?" Nat shook their head, smiling. "No, they plant them quite thickly, so even if you tried it'd be pretty hard. Corn leaves are also sharp, so forcing your way through would probably hurt!" It was a golden afternoon, a little chilly in the shade but quite warm in the sunlight, and Wisteria inhaled deeply, straightening up. The corn was quite tall, reaching over her head even while in her bipedal form. She could just touch the tops if she stretched up on her toes, although Nat, being somewhat taller, could simply reach up and grab one without straining. At their gesture, Wisteria preceded Nat, entering the maze and immediately turning right, smiling a little at the hand-painted sign at the entrance. It had a little scarecrow painted on it, along with the words "Good Luck!" The maze turned left, and dutifully

SeaCrest-Star (307 words) Ilyla tossed her head as Zari adjusted her halter for what felt like the fiftieth time, her nerves making her much more fidgety than usual. Zari, that is, not Ilyla. Ilyla was perfectly calm, if a little annoyed at Zari's constant fussing. Essey laid a calming hand on Zari's arm. They had gotten up early to give Ilyla a proper bath, with a special shampoo that made her fur even softer and silkier than usual, then brushed her and combed her longer fur. Her halter was not, technically speaking, a practical halter that would help in a situation where she ran off, but given how self-possessed Ilyla was, that seemed like a remote possibility. Zari had braided cream cord and gold thread in a four-strand braid for the base of the halter, and then added slender gold tassels to the temple, cheek, and nose joints of the halter, hastily crafted from Essey's leftover thread the night before. She had then pinned one of Essey's gold butterfly pins at Ilyla's left temple.

Tears Are Shed Emmy startled as Zari slumped against the stall door beside her. The nikyak she was grooming looked back at her with one liquid brown eye, concerned by the sudden cessation of the brushing. "Are you okay?" Emmy asked, lowering her brush. "Is Fluffers too much? We can swap—" "He's running around the paddock like it's some kind of game," Zari grumbled, exasperated. Emmy stifled a laugh. "You have to treat him like a toddler," she explained, resuming her grooming. "If you stop chasing him, he'll get bored quickly." Zari looked nonplussed. "I…I've never dealt with toddlers…" "Never…?" Emmy stared at her, and then realized that Zari had probably never had much to do with the youngest urchins that Essey took in and sponsored; she was more comfortable with the older children, those who were old enough to know what street fighting was, and knew the consequences of losing. Those children resonated more with her, because she'd been like them, once. Toddlers rarely survived

SeaCrest-Star (440 words) Closing her eyes, Zari listened to Essey rustling around with something in the room beyond the curtain, and began to doze. She hoped that Essey had missed the new apron she'd been working on among her things; she'd been working on it in secret for weeks, and while Essey had to have an idea that something was up (for Zari had had to get her to stand still to take measurements to make sure everything was just right), hopefully she wasn't sure what the end product was. Like all the aprons Zari had made Essey over the years, this one was made up of a sturdy canvas cloth, cut exactly the right length, but this one was lined with soft cotton, and the straps were nearly twice as wide to make sure they comfortably distributed the weight of the apron and anything Essey wanted to store in the pockets, as well as the tools that Zari had purchased and fitted into the apron. They were some of the most common things Essey used in the kitchen, that could just be wiped down

SeaCrest-Star (449 words) It was early afternoon when Zari, Essey, Fluffers, and Ilyla reached Aldlight, the Amiyn capital city and the hub for the Amiyn Winter Festival and all its assorted events. The winter sunlight was bright and white against the snow that blanketed the city already, and Zari and Essey were both very thankful for their quilted jackets and sturdy boots. Ilyla was bearing the cold surprisingly well, which perhaps shouldn't have been a surprise at all, given that she had, presumably, been born here; this was where Zari had first found her, during the rebuilding efforts after the war. The city was filled with woolynes hurrying about, and Zari tugged Fluffers to a stop so that Essey could consult the street signs. The nikyak had been eerily well-behaved, almost as if he were another nikyak entirely, and Zari made sure she kept a firm grip on the reins in case he decided that he had behaved for long enough. "Redwood Inn, right?" Essey asked, squinting at the sign. "Yes

SeaCrest-Star (197 words) Essey's bakery kitchen was filled with the smell of warm, sugary treats. Every flat, horizontal surface was covered in baked goods—sugar cookies, freshly baked, fruitcakes, fruit tarts, gingerbread cookies, individual hand pies, molasses cookies, sugar window cookies...Essey had been baking for days, and while Zari had done her best to help, she wasn't nearly as efficient as Essey was. Besides, she had also been busy herself, finishing handkerchiefs, shawls, scarves, and ribbons to wrap their treat baskets in. They were going to pack everything up and haul it to Aldlight, where they would give them out to old friends they had met during the rebuilding efforts, or to new friends they met along the way. After all, Queen Rue's decree that the festival activities be expanded meant that there would be plenty of opportunities to meet new woolyne, particularly during the elkin parade and other events, where Zari would be entering Ilyla into as many shows as she

Bathing Attempts… "So…how do you think we get Fluffers out of there?" Zari and Essey watched the nikyak in question rolling around in the mud. Emmy had asked for their help, but she really hadn't given them much in the way of guidance, only warning them that Fluffers, while generally agreeable about baths, was easily distracted. Zari had thought that she had been overly anxious when she had been giving them directions, but now she thought she understood. "Treats?" Essey suggested doubtfully. Neither of them particularly fancied wrangling the nikyak into place, but it was hard to picture getting his attention long enough to coax him into the bathing area. Trying to bathe him while standing in the mud would be counterproductive as soon as they tried to move around again. The nikyak rolled to his feet, giving himself a shake and sending clots of mud flying. Zari winced, glad they were standing out of range, and then picked up the bell that Emmy had given them. "He should come at the

They were in (allegedly) dangerous waters now, and the pod seemed to know it, clustering together even more tightly than before, until Aris was reasonably sure that she could have jumped from one selpie's shell to another without any trouble at all. Given their nervousness, she had taken the liberty of arming the harpoon launchers mounted to the rails of her boat, and her handheld one, more like a crossbow than anything else. She held it comfortably as she scanned the water, letting Darkward pull the boat by means of a rope connected to a harness, which in turn was secured to his shell through a number of hooks so that it was a little more secure in the water. Bonnie had assured her that the hooks were cemented on with a special glue, and not actually drilled through the bone to anchor them; so long as the rope was tethered properly and the harness was not damaged, the system shouldn't cause too much strain for Darkward, although his overall top speed would be slower, with the added

Aris's boat was small, easily handled by one woolyne alone, and perfect for accompanying the migrating selpies without disturbing them. She had chosen not to borrow one of Bonnie's selpies to ride primarily because of her supplies; parchment and ink didn't do well when wet, and she had her own food supplies on board rather than fishing for her food. This allowed her to keep a sharp eye out on the selpies themselves, and any potential dangers. Bonnie was travelling with her own pod, completely at home in the water, but the idea of being wet for several days straight was…well, Aris's fur itched just to think about it. Not to mention that her clothes (and beloved boots) were definitely not waterproof. Unlike Bonnie, she couldn't survive underwater! So she took a sailboat, but at Bonnie's insistence had borrowed one of her selpies to help tow the boat, just in case the winds did not favor her. Aris was a deft sailor, if not the best; her weather eye was trained for land patterns, not