The Spring Festival

Status: Finished

It was finally spring in the Southern Kedoal Desert, and the harsh, brutal rains had finally passed. The life-giving Inaira River was at full flood, lapping at the edges of some of the outlying dens. Alevaharin who had been trapped inside their dens for weeks finally emerged, kits prancing at their side at this first real look at the world. Here and there a few tiny, but adult, heads peaked out of much smaller dens - these were the Ale'in, the miniature Alevaharin who often lived alongside their larger kin for the sake of simplicity and mutual assistance. Small, Earth kitten-sized bundles of fuzz and fluff tumbled out of the dens following their Ale'in parents, spreading their tiny, currently useless wings in excitement.

One by one, the adults spread their wings and stretched fully, enjoying the cool temperatures and gentle breeze. Beyond the dens, the desert stretched out, vast and gently rolling. In a day, it would be in full, glorious bloom, a riot of color bright enough to stun the mind. Of course, in a day, a vast Spring Festival would be going on, a riot of sound, music, laughter, and good times, a celebration of freedom, of the start of another cycle of life, of the first true introduction of kitlings to the Pride. It wouldn't end until the flowers did, though work would still be done - hunting and the like - and the height of the celebration would be on the night of the Full Moon, in three days.

With that in mind, hunters split off from the Pride and went out, searching for the great beasts that lurked in river and oasis. It was time for a feast, a festival, and an event for the kits to remember for all time!

Others of the Pride, remembering that the Nexus contained some children of the Pride, went out to spread word about. While the festival was usually just a thing of the Pride... well, the Pride wasn't xenophobic, and the faces of non-Pride members would be a welcome sight, after so long cooped up!

Cast of Characters by Author: