"Wow! I forgot how packed this place could get during the ceremony of rites" Kuro says as he dodged around people, expertly weaving through the crowds.

"How do you forget? We have one every year" Mooncaster points out eyeing his friend "And you always get plenty of free food during this time"

"I know but it's not everyday we have these" he counters as they walk past a girl with tabby colored hair, gray eyes, wearing all pink with cat ears and tail whose talking with a woman with fiery red hair, blood red eyes wearing all dragon scaled clothes with the wings and horns of a wyvern.

"What if we just grabbed some snacks for the road home?" the tabby was asking the wyvern.

"Nah, I can go days without anything" wyvern girl says confidently as they moved away from them.

"Still this is the perfect time of year for people like me" Kuro says as they continued to walk. They walk past an albino alligator and a snake.

"A-Are you ssure thiss iss a good idea?" the male snake-skined clothed, green haired, dark green eyed one said. His fangs were just barely visible but the greenish tone of his body gave away his snake heritage.

"It'll be fine" says the white haired, red eyed, alligator skinned clothed female with an alligator tail.

"That is true...this time of year is great for people like you to get a free meal" Mooncaster responds to Kuro's statement.

"You make it sound like we're beggars" Kuro points out looking a little annoyed.

"Sorry but you know it's tru...Whose that?" Mooncaster stops walking to stare at a woman. She has white hair and sparkling blue eyes but the most striking thing about her was the lack of any discerning sign of the animal inside.

Kuro takes a look as the woman gets shoved hard and called names "Oh! That's Martha...she's sort of a loner even amongst us orphans but that's not really her fault..."

"What kind of animal is she?" he asks, not able to look away from her.

"She's not. She's the only human. No animal inside of her but she's pretty cool" he shrugs

"You'll talk to anyone won't you?"

Kuro smirks at him "I like knowing who I can work with and who I can't especially amongst the other orphans. Word to the wise avoid Vlad at all costs. That vampire bat is annoying and thinks he owns everything. Even Martha avoids him although I'm sure if he ever corners her...she can handle him just fine"

"How well do you know her?" he asks eyeing Kuro.

"Not very well. I've only worked with her once or twice, not really enough to get to know her on a personal level. Like I said, she prefers to be a loner as much as possible and only joins in with others if she absolutely needs to" he admits with a shrug "Still...I feel bad for her. Being born into a world where humans don't exist must be awful"

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They both watch as the stall owners shooed her away, not even offering her any scraps like they did the other orphans. Mooncaster annoyed, goes over and gets several different foods while Kuro sensing what his friend was going to do rushed to stop Martha from leaving.

When Mooncaster joins the two, Martha glares at him before he holds out his hand offering some of the food to her "Here. Your hungry right? No one should go hungry on the day of the ceremony of rites"

Martha narrows her eyes at him trying to guage if he was alright or not before she reaches out to take the offered food and mumbles a small "Thanks" before she turns and leaves.

"Friendly isn't she?" Kuro smirks lightly.

Mooncaster offers some of the food to Kuro who takes it "She's hurting I'm sure..."

"Probably but" Kuro takes a bite out of a fluffy loaf of sweet bread "she doesn't make it any easier on herself by not finding some friends...she should become friends with you. The perks are great!"

"Oh?" he asks eyeing him.

"Yeah! Free room, free food, shelter during the cold or rainy times, hot baths, all the great things that come with a home without an actual home" he says turning to continue on their way. Mooncaster shakes his head and follows after him.

Eventually they make it to a great stage set up in the middle of the town directly in front of the main building. Mooncaster takes a deep breath and walks up to take a seat on one of the seats there. The snake boy, cat girl and Martha joins him although Martha remains cold to all and purposefully scoots her chair so she's not so close to the vampire bat that joins them.

"That must be Vlad" Mooncaster thinks eyeing the boy dressed in a style like old storied vampires would but the cruel look in his eyes gives Mooncaster shivers and the feeling seems to be shared by the snake whose watching Vlad like a hawk instead of a snake although more frightened than a hawk would be.

"Hmph" Vlad says smirking smugly at them before he looks up at the sound of flapping wings as the elderly bat man lands on the stage in front of them, the book glinting brightly causing Mooncaster to touch his head as pain shots through him. After a few seconds it goes away.

"Welcome to all to another ceremony of the rite!" the elderly chief speaks loud and clear "As you all know this is the time when we celebrate those who are coming into their adult life where their magic truly flourishes and springs forth. This year we only have five whose power has yet to fully materialize making them be the chosen ones to preform the sacred ceremony ritual to awaken their powers fully. As you all know already, our powers are present since birth however it is like a trickle of water but when fully awakened it becomes a raging stream"

All eyes are on the chief even those who are on stage. "He's really good at keeping our attention...wonder if he taught Kuro how to do that?" Mooncaster thinks.

"We will begin the ritual now" he announces as he steps up to Martha with a bowl of red liquid and draws the ceremonial symbols on her two cheeks and the back of both hands. One symbol in each spot. A cloud, combined flower, white flower and a flame are the symbols that are said to be on the book that grants us all our magic. It is considered the proper way to unleash our full power by drawing the four symbols on our cheeks and back of our hands in blood on the day of the ceremony rite. "With this let your power be unchained by the confines of it's cage" he continues the ritual as he moves amongst all of us doing the same motion.

Once the symbols had been drawn onto all of them, Mooncaster notices a strange tingling inside of him but he also sees Kuro staring up at him worriedly. It's at this moment, that the stage explodes in fiery bangs. "W-What the!?" Mooncaster stands up surrounded by flames and rubble "What's going on?" he shouts but no one responds instead screams of pain and horror are all he can hear.

A voice behind him says coldly "You have failed to stop me! This book is mine now you old fool!" He turns to see a man in a cloak staring coldly down at the chief.

"MOONCASTER!" Kuro's voice snaps him out of the vision and he gasps shaking like a leaf but all was fine. Kuro was on the stage staring worriedly at him along with everyone else except Vlad who looks annoyed. "Are you alright? Was it another of those nightmarish visions?"

"I...I don't know" he admits.