Redtree may have been the most lively town Lusya had visited thus far in this journey. Oh, it had less people than the likes of Gavamir and Zentril, but, by and large, the people there were simply going about their day. She arrived to Redtree, meanwhile, to the sound of drums echoing through town and the people in red and yellow costumes doing elaborate dances in the streets.
She doubted it was so active every day, of course. This was obviously some kind of celebration and not the town’s default state. Still, for now, the inhabitants were all bursting with energy.
“Yes! We made it in time for the Redtree Festival,” Azure said, eyes gleaming.
“A festival?” Ariya exclaimed. “I’ve never been to a festival. What’s it about?”
“It’s celebrating the coming of autumn,” Azure said. “I think, originally, the idea was that autumn would be flattered and last longer or something, that way you’d have a shorter winter. These days, though, I don’t think anyone believes that. It’s just kind of an excuse for a big party.”
“Either way, it seems rather belated,” Lusya said. “Autumn is well underway.”
Azure shrugged. “I didn’t decide where to put it. Anyway, what should we do first?”
“You are the only one who knows anything about these festivities,” Lusya said. Her cursory research of the area had not contained any information on this festival. “Suggest something.”
Azure hummed in thought. “We could go watch some performances?”
“Ooh, is there a play?” Ariya asked. “I like plays.”
“I do not think you can so confidently say that after one,” Lusya said.
Ariya replied with a smug grin. “I just did.”
Azure laughed. “I think there will be one later, but not right now. You wouldn’t be able to hear them over the music anyway.”
“I can barely hear you right now,” Lusya said.
“What?”
Lusya blinked.
Azure grinned. “Kidding. Right about now, there’s probably dances—this one and others—plus things like jugglers and sword swallowers.”
Ariya frowned. “None of that sounds cool.” She paused. “Do they actually swallow swords?”
“No,” Lusya said. “It is an illusion, essentially.”
“Well, that’s lame.”
“A play is also not real,” Lusya pointed out.
Ariya huffed. “That’s different. I don’t wanna watch the fake sword people.”
Lusya was inclined to agree, so she let the matter drop.
“I guess the dancing could be fun,” Ariya said. “But I’m not sure I wanna use time on it, since Lusya will probably make us go to bed early.”
“That depends on your definition of ‘early,’” Lusya replied. “But you are most likely correct.”
“There’s plenty of stalls selling stuff,” Azure said. “We could try some street food. I think there are supposed to be some games too.”
“Oh, games!” Ariya exclaimed, jumping in excitement. “Let’s do that.”
Azure looked to Lusya.
Lusya nodded. “I have no objections, and there is nothing else in particular I would like to do.”
“Then let’s take a look around and see what we can find.”
Azure led the way through the area, all of them keeping an eye out. The town was quite populated for the area. Enough so that they had to push through a few dense crowds, though that was, in part, because of the centers of many roads being reserved for dancing, music, and other traditional performances. Though it was hard to know exactly how many of these people were residents of the town. It was quite possible that Azure was not the only outsider intent on attending. Still, it did seem like a relatively large town from the looks of it.
They passed all manner of stalls set up for the festival and businesses with special offers in celebration. Typical sights for a festival like this, with the most common products on offer being street food and souvenirs. The former seemed to suffuse most of the village with appetizing scents, though sometimes two smells clashed and became disgusting instead. One man had chosen to sell something with the strongest garlic smell Lusya could ever recall right next to a bakery selling mostly sweets for the occasion. Those scents did not go well together.
It did not take long to locate a game, though they almost missed it. It looked like many of the more familiar stalls selling food or knick-knacks around it. Although it was a bit fancier than the typical street stall, with a full tent providing cover from weather and creating a more defined work area, that was also the norm at this festival, it seemed. Only on closer inspection did it become obvious that the game was something different.
An older man manned the counter, with an elaborate stack of wooden pegs painted in a rainbow of colors on the table behind him. He smiled as Lusya and the others approached.
“Welcome, Lady Knight,” he said. “In town for the festival?”
“Something like that,” Azure said. “The little one wants to play a game.”
Ariya huffed. “I’m not that little.”
“Yes, you are,” Lusya said.
“Of course,” the man said. He produced a ball from somewhere under the counter and placed it on top. It, too, was brightly colored, with every color of the pegs represented at least once on its surface. “Do you need me to explain the rules?”
Azure shrugged. “I probably know them, but go ahead.”
The man nodded and launched into an explanation. The rules were about what Lusya had expected. She had not attended many festivals, but she knew of many of their trappings and had heard of this game. It was quite common, and, while there were some variations, the basic rules were almost always the same.
It was simple. The player threw a ball at the stack of pegs. The more one knocked over, the better they performed. The pegs were stacked such that parts of the pile could collapse without the whole thing falling apart, so it was a bit more difficult than it sounded, or so Lusya had heard. She had never played the game herself.
“Well, that’s what I thought,” Azure said. “Any prizes?”
Many such stalls had prizes based on game performance. Lusya understood toys were common due to the popularity of the game with children, but more expensive items like jewelry were sometimes mixed in to entice adults. This stall, however, did not appear to house anything of the sort.
The man frowned and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Only prize I have on offer is fun. On the other hand, I’m not charging per throw either. Just trying to contribute a bit to the festival atmosphere.”
That was a fair trade, not that Lusya cared about the prizes to begin with. From her reading, most games like this charged for each attempt, with the prize values and difficulty of the game carefully tuned to make getting the more valuable ones in one try unlikely. They were designed to wring money out of children and parents desperate to please them. None of that would have mattered to their group, but, in principle, eliminating both fee and prize made sense.
“That’s nice,” Ariya said. “We don’t need prizes anyway, right?”
“Agreed,” Lusya said. They wouldn’t have had much space for one anyway.
Azure hesitated. “Well, prizes are nice, but I guess we can manage.”
The man chuckled and rolled the ball across the table for Azure to catch. “Well then, try as much as you’d like.”
“Who’s going first?” Azure asked.
“I can wait,” Ariya said.
Azure looked to Lusya.
“I have no strong feelings about this game.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Guess I’m up first, then,” Azure said.
She reared a hand back and threw. Though it didn’t seem she had used anything near her full strength, the ball still slammed into the stack of pegs and knocked them all to the ground.
The man looked from Azure to the pegs and laughed again. “Well, I’m really glad I don’t have prizes now!”
He stacked the pegs again, retrieved the ball, and handed it back to Azure, who looked to Lusya.
“Ariya can go next,” Lusya said.
Azure shrugged. “If you say so.”
She handed the ball to Ariya. Ariya lifted it over her head with both hands and clumsily lobbed it at the pegs. She hit one near the middle of the stack, which didn’t so much as budge. Ariya scowled as the man picked up the ball, not bothering to check on the pegs. He once again handed it to Azure, who extended it toward Lusya.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Azure said.
“It is fine,” Lusya replied as she took the ball.
She threw the ball and, like Azure, had no problem knocking down every peg.
The man gave an impressed whistle. “I guess that’s what you get out of a Sacred Knight and friends. I probably shouldn’t be so surprised.”
Ariya scowled. “I wanna try again. After you take your turn, Azure.”
Azure giggled. “That’s sweet, but there’s not much point in Lusya and I hogging time when we already got the best possible scores. You just take as many turns as you want. Right, Lusya?”
“Indeed,” Lusya said. It wasn’t as if they had anywhere else to be. “You may play as long as you like, Ariya.”
Ariya beamed as the man finished stacking the pins once more. He handed her the ball, and she wasted no time in throwing it to about as much effect as the first time. The third time did not go any better. Each time she used the same awkward motions. She even stumbled a bit on the third throw.
“Perhaps you ought to revise your throwing technique,” Lusya suggested as Ariya stomped her feet, seething as she watched the unmoving pegs.
Ariya looked up and pouted. “What do you mean?”
“You are not as strong as Azure or me,” Lusya said, “but proper technique will improve your chances of success.”
A frown furrowed Ariya’s brow. “What’s wrong with the way I’m throwing?”
“As you can see, it is quite ineffective.”
Ariya sighed. “Fine. Can you teach me?”
Lusya did not think imitating her and Azure from memory would be that difficult, but there was little reason to refuse. Moreover, Lusya did not want to. Teaching Ariya herself had a strange appeal.
Lusya nodded. “Very well.”
The man once more finished his stack and handed Ariya the ball. Rather than throw it, she looked to Lusya expectantly.
“Bring one arm back like this,” Lusya said, demonstrating. “Twist your shoulders and hips this way. When you throw, turn them the other way. Be sure to flick your wrist too.”
“You and Azure didn’t throw like that,” Ariya said, pouting.
“As I said, Azure and I are much stronger than you. This technique will allow you to compensate to some extent. Try it.”
Ariya copied the motions as Lusya instructed. She even did a few mock throws to test it.
“Am I doing it right?” she asked.
Lusya nodded. “You are.”
It was a bit clumsy, but for a young child doing it for the first time, it was fine. Ariya assumed the position and threw with all her strength. The ball hit the right side of the stack, knocking down three pegs right away. Two pegs above, including the top one, lost their supports and tumbled down a second later.
“I did it!” Ariya said, leaping into the air in excitement. “Did you see, Lusya? I knocked some down!”
Lusya nodded. “I saw.” She gave Ariya’s head a quick pat, and Ariya beamed. She deserved to be rewarded for effectively following Lusya’s instructions. “Well done.”
“You two are so cute,” Azure said. “Do you want to keep trying, Ariya?”
Ariya shook her head. “No, it’s like Lusya said. I’m not as strong as you guys. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to knock them all down.”
“Fair enough,” Azure replied. “Good on you for recognizing your limits. But that doesn’t mean accept them, okay? I expect you to throw harder than anyone’s ever thrown before next time you need to.”
Ariya laughed. “I will! I’ll practice super hard!”
“That’s good to hear,” Azure said with a soft smile. “Shall we move on, then.”
“I support that suggestion,” Lusya said.
Ariya smiled. “Okay, let’s go!”
“Thank you for doing this,” Azure said to the man. “It was fun.”
“No problem at all, Lady Knight,” he said with a grin.
“Thanks for the fun, old guy!” Ariya said, waving, as she walked away with Lusya and Azure.
He chuckled and waved back. “My pleasure!”
“You shouldn’t just call people ‘old guy,’” Azure whispered.
“Why not?” Ariya asked. “He is an old guy, and I don’t know his name.”
“It’s rude.”
Ariya frowned. “Lusya?”
“I believe that is conventionally true,” Lusya said. “I do not care, and that man seemed fine, but others may take offense.”
Ariya gasped. “I don’t wanna hurt anyone’s feelings. I won’t do it again!”
Lusya nodded. She noted a family of four approaching the booth as they left. She had noticed them waiting earlier, but they hadn’t caused a fuss, so she had not said anything. Ariya’s enjoyment took priority of their children’s.
Lusya and the others moved on and perused the rest of the festival. They sampled a bit of the food, which was quite good, though it could not quite live up to the standard set by the restore point. And Lusya still held Rahgrahb’s food as the best she had eaten. They browsed through miscellaneous goods on offer, from books to clothes to weapons. Ariya was not allowed to touch the latter, much to her disappointment.
They watched a few of the performers. Lusya did not care for them. The likes of jugglers and sword swallowers were too one-note for her tastes, but, despite her earlier protests, Ariya was fascinated, and Lusya was willing to tolerate them for her sake.
As the night wore on, the festival’s traditional drums faded away and the traditional dance came to a close, both giving way to more interesting performers. Lusya saw music, small plays, and even a mock sword fight. Based on the carts and wagons she saw, Lusya deduced that many of the performers were members of traveling troupes. It seemed the festival was big enough to draw at least a few of them in. Some of the other performers seemed to be solo travelers, and Lusya guessed a few were amateurs from around town. Many of those had other locals watching, yelling encouragement or gibes, joking or otherwise.
“Well, that was fun,” Azure said a couple hours in, when they had found a less crowded square to take a break in. “I’m glad we came.”
“It was super fun!” Ariya exclaimed. “Festivals are awesome.”
“Lusya?”
“Some of the performances have been enjoyable,” Lusya said.
Azure grinned. “I’ll take it.” She turned and started walking back toward the crowd. “Now, wait right here, please. I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
Azure looked back over her shoulder, but did not stop. “Just wait there and trust me.”
Then she entered the sea of mortals and pressed on. She was still visible for some time in her distinctive clothing, but conversation or pursuit would have been awkward. And, even with the clothes, her height meant she was obscured after a bit. She was about the same height as Lusya, a bit below average.
Ariya hummed a song they had just heard to herself, then looked up at Lusya. “Where do you think she went?”
“I do not know,” Lusya said. She couldn’t think of much reason. Perhaps Azure wanted another snack or the like, but it was unlike her to split the group for such a purpose. Another surprise was possible, but it could only be a gift if Azure had to go by herself to prepare it, and Lusya could not think of any occasion to justify that. Unless Azure meant to celebrate the festival itself? The only other possibility Lusya could think of was the bathroom.
“I like her,” Ariya said. “Don’t you?”
“She is tolerable,” Lusya said.
Ariya hummed in thought. “Are we gonna see the play later?”
“Doubtful,” Lusya said. “It will likely extend too late for you to get adequate sleep if we are to leave in the morning.”
Ariya sighed. “I knew it. I would be fine.”
“Proper sleep is important for mortals,” Lusya said. “Especially children. I will not have your health compromised by fatigue.”
“Then we could leave later in the day.”
“That is not acceptable,” Lusya said. “I will not allow a delay for a play.”
Ariya groaned. “Yes, Lusya.”
Azure returned shortly afterward, holding a wooden carving in one hand and a paper in the other.
“This is yours,” she said, holding the carving out to Lusya. Once Lusya had taken it, Azure presented the paper to Ariya. “And this is for you.”
Lusya examined the carving. It was a miniaturized replica of the statue of Garfit they had seen earlier, small enough to hold in her palm. Given the reduced size and difference in material, a loss of detail was inevitable, but it was an admirable attempt.
Ariya’s paper appeared to be a small landscape painting, depicting a lake from atop a mountain. It might have been the same lake they had visited, but it was difficult to say for sure. She held it up and beamed at it.
“It’s so pretty,” she said. “It’s like I’m standing right there.”
That seemed hyperbolic, but the painting was quite lifelike, especially considering its size. Whoever had made it was obviously skilled.
“I’m glad you like it,” Azure said before looking to Lusya.
“It is well-made,” Lusya said. “I like it. What is the gift for this time?”
Azure smiled. “Just a souvenir. We won’t be together much longer now, you know. Not that I need a special reason to give you something.”
“I see,” Lusya said. “Wait here. Ariya, come.”
“Lusya, wait, you don’t need to—”
Lusya was already leading Ariya away. It was strange. Even examining her emotions, Lusya was not sure why she felt obligated to do this. It didn’t matter much, in the end. Azure had been paying for almost everything as of late, so Lusya had money to spare.
“Are we buying something for Azure?” Ariya asked.
Lusya nodded. “Two things. One on behalf of each of us.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
There was one difficulty in that Lusya did not know what Azure would like. Lusya had only a superficial knowledge of the Paladin’s interests, and not everything she liked would make a good gift necessarily. Clothes were a safe bet, but they came with the usual issues. Something small like a hair decoration seemed insufficient. Same for some of the cheap, handmade necklaces and bracelets being sold. Proper jewelry, on the other hand, was still too expensive.
It was by chance that Lusya spotted something that seemed appropriate lying on a random stall. It may have been a bit belated, but it was something Azure was interested in. She purchased it immediately, then looked to Ariya.
“What would you like to get?” Lusya asked.
Ariya pursed her lips. “For Azure?” She hummed in thought as she looked around. Her eyes lit up and she pointed at something on a distant table. “Oh, maybe that?”
Lusya walked closer and examined it. “Are you sure?”
Ariya nodded. “She must have thought the thing she got you was cool, right? Well, this is like the same, but better.”
“I do not concur with your assessment,” Lusya said. “But this is a gift from you.”
She bought the item and they returned to Azure.
“This is from me,” Lusya said, handing Azure the book she had bought.
“‘History of the Elzen Valley,’” Azure said, reading off the cover as she took it. She smiled. “You really didn’t need to get me anything, but thank you. I was meaning to look into the things I skimmed over in some more depth.”
“I thought so,” Lusya said. She held out the wooden doll Ariya had selected. “This one is from Ariya.”
“Isn’t it cool?” Ariya asked.
Azure grabbed the doll and turned it about to examine it. It depicted a young woman. Considering the small dress it wore and the tiara on its head, it might have been meant as a princess, but it had not been labeled at the stall. There were a series of levers on its back. Azure pressed one of them down, and the doll raised its left arm above its head.
Ariya gasped. “I didn’t know it could do that! It’s even better than I thought.”
Azure chuckled. “I can’t say I play with dolls much, but this is some good craftsmanship, and moving dolls are interesting. It’s great, thank you, Ariya.”
Ariya grinned. “You’re welcome.”
“Well then,” Azure said. “I’d say we’ve still got some time before we need to turn in for the night. What do you say, Lusya? Up for some more festival fun?”
Lusya nodded. “I will not object.”