"Hey, you got me!" Varg said from the front parts of the crowd, slowly making his way through the crowd, followed by a female lycaon with golden painted ears. Once the wolf reached the very front and helped the female with him to come as well, he turned to Faye "Of all the wolves that could be here right now, I didn't even imagine it would be you."
---

"Calm yourself, Lycaon!" Ulv said "Faye is a she-wolf. She was once a girlfriend of the fourth of us."
"Speak of the wolf!" Vex exclaimed "Here he is, talking to the Ambassador!"

Martin sighed, annoyed. "Will someone PLEASE tell me who is that Ambassador?"

Eh heh, you won't have to if you don't make yourself heh. She thought back, sitting on her nose. Then she noticed the noise in the crowd. And someone shouting about a wedding. And some other voices...

What's going on? She thought to Victor.

I'm not in the least bit tired, Levi thought. But I guess a little rest wouldn't hurt, I have no idea what strain dream walking has on my body.

"Hey, why don't I tell you about this island's wild life, instead," Levi offered. I've been to the Amazon, too, and believe me. This place has it beat on the 'I can't believe what I just saw' scale."

"None taken," said an adult female with a scar crossing her left eye. "But then I'll have to cook you in our pots. Here." she handed Rook and Maxine two bouls of some meat soup. "Goat, cheese, milk, herbs. And no spices. My son gave you our seasoning, that's not for consumption as he said. Welcome to his world of pranks, and please try not to kill him. I'll do that myself when we're home."
Asimov looked at the two pets with a puppy grin. "Er...still friends?"
---

Faye rolled her eyes. "I didn't imagine a weakling like you could be assigned to escort Balkan. But again, he's got a soft heart after all..."
---

<The wolves have come. Plus, looks like Balkan, a halfblood we raised in our midst, is going to get married tomorrow. A lot of good omens for one night, I daresay.>

ooc: argh sorry if I havent posted in a while. been busy =/

Yeah right, Lars thought as he walked back into the house to get a spear and a fishing net. ''Diana..Athena, I have already apologized to your mother, and I have offered to make a seafood lunch for her, so I'm going fishing if you two permit it.'' Lars said, remembering the laws of Tricana. He wouldn't want to get reprimanded again like the day at the lake.

''Also, I'm offering her a bath and massage too. Would you like to help me find some loose branches or driftwood?'' Lars asked, getting his equipment and heading out.

"No need to do so," Athena said.
Diana motioned Lars to follow her. "We have a storage room filled with dried wood, come."

Lars raised his eyebrows in surprise. ''Oh...alright.'' Lars said, following his mate.

"I volunteered and the Chieftain agreed!" Varg said, then sighed "Thanks for the bittersweet reminder of why we broke. But I have someone else in my mind now." the wolf wrapped his arm around the female with the golden-colored ears next to him "Let's go, sweetie. We can congratulate them properly later."

Balkan, who 'till now remained quiet, spoke.
"Hold it, Varg." he said "Before you go, I have something important to tell ya."

"What is it, Balkan?" Varg raised a brow.

"Find the others, Tell them to meet me in the arena in an hour!" He spoke in the wolf tongue "You will be recognized tonight!"

The wolf saluted "Yes, sir!" he looked at his golden-eared girlfriend and smiled "Let's go." he whispered to her "We have to reach my friends to tell them this!"

The crowd cheered and whistled (and made some un-PG comments) at the brand new couple.
"Well, bless me to the blue peak," Victor commented. "There *is* hope for your kind after all, Balkan."
Faye shivered. "Well, looks like my survival instinct kicked in before I could spawn with that...eccentric one."

After all the cheering happened, Monique frowned at Asimov.

Don't worry, I'LL fix his wagon! Monique thought to Maxine. She then flew over to the ocean. She dipped a wing in the sea water. Making sure to get it as wet as she could. Then, she flew back as fast as she could hoping her wing would be wet enough still. Once back at the table, she slapped Asimov upside the head!

The young lycaon let out a surprised yelp -more for the cold than the hurt. "Hey whodiddat?!"

Flint scratched the back of his head as he viewed the ongoing scene in front of him.
"It might just be me. But, I think someone's getting married."
"Your people always this enthusiastic about this stuff?" He asked Rose and Edgar.
"Or is this some special case?"

"*My* kind, Victor?" Balkan asked, frowning "As far as I remember the wolves are as much my kin as you or the human pets are." the half-wolf raised a brow "Now, please don't talk rudely about my future mate."


"Ya broke his heart." Balkan said "Can't blame him for bein' cold. He did ya a favor though by not strikin' back."

~~~~~~

"In addition to that, who is that Ambassador?" Martin asked, visibly annoyed.

Rose nudged the male. "C'mon, Eddie, the poor lad is almost goin' to eat ya."
Edgar giggled. "Well, not that I have all the details, it happened really recently. Bottom point is, Balkan is a halfblood, part lycaon and part wolf, and for this he hadn't the best of lives. But recently, he fought and won against the old chieftain of one of the most prominent wolf villages in the Green Ring Chain, and that earned him the title of Ambassador. So now he's the bridge between us and the red wolves. And yes, the fact that he's getting married both with a lycaon and a wolf is cause of *big* excitement! Marriage is a way either to procreate or to protect the young, and Balkan will bring fresh blood both for them and for us! It's really a wonderful news!"

"Two facts you got wrong, Lycaon." said a wolf who managed to go through the crowd, followed by a beautiful female lycaon with golden-colored ears. "I am Varg of the Green Ring village. Balkan is part shepherd, same as you and the fight occurred in not just any village, but the very capitol of our kin - The Green Ring village!" he looked at the three wolves "And about you three - we're expected in the local arena in one hour!" he turned his attention back to the two lycaons "Speaking of arenas - where is it?"

"Finally my question's answered..." Martin grumbled, but then his ears perked when the word "arena" was repeated "Arena? Will there be a fight going on?"

"Yeah, still friends. Just no more jokes, eh?" Rook said, patting Asimov on the shoulder then taking the soup he was handed.

"Yes.." Maxine added, smiling and taking her bowl. "Anyways, thank you."

Rook nodded and took a mouthful, sligtly sweet and tender, just right. "Mmm.. That is delicous!! Thank you!" He said between mouthfuls, scoffing it down.

Maxine rolled her eyes at him, yet smiles sweetly. "Heh, Rook really likes his food!"


H-hey, wait! Maxine thought to her, yet she went before she could stop her.


"Did what, Asimov?" Rook asked, perplexed.

Flint nodded.

"Yeah, I heard you guys were big on the gene pool thing...". He murmured, focusing his attention back on the crowded chaos around Balkan.
"So, now that this guy is the 'Ambassador' does that mean the dispute between the lycaons and wolves is over?"

"The Green Ring and their followers will cease the aggression for sure. But for some time outsiders will only be able to come and go from our territory with wolf guards." Ulv said

Adel finally took a breath. Staring up at the snake, he replied to Khun. "V-ve shoult search z-zhe area... f-for a-any food ve c-can find..." he started to back up a bit, as if he was volunteering himself to go and look--immediately! Z-zhank you f-for-for zhe a-advice, um... Big... Bigby..." his voice trailed off.

Seeing Adel's reaction was all it took for Khun to settle down and grin. And grin big.

"Aw c-come on Adel, d-don't be like that," Khun said, placing an arm around Adel's shoulders, holding back his escape. Khun grinned at the snake.

"I wonder, how much farther we'd get, if you were capable of being ridden on?" Khun asked purposefully.

Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please say yes yes yes yes! Khun thought excitedly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monique shook off her wing.

Serves the weasel right! Don't be sorry for him! Monique thought to Maxine.

And YOU! Yes YOU! You watch how you behave cause if you try something like that again you'll get WORSE!!! Monique thought to Asimov as deep as she could. Though keeping herself hidden from him.

"Someone gave me a wet slap... Well, nice one anyway, guess I deserved it," he added quickly as soon as he realized who was the responsible.
Lycaons respected a bond between ghosts and living ones!
---

"Well, Lancaster is too far from this area, but I think I can bring you as far as I can. What do you think?"
---
Edgar stuck out his tongue at the wolves. "Well, sor-RY for not being there during the big excitement!"

"Spirits are restless within the Green Ring now." Ulv replied "And I'm not talking about our ancestors."

Maxine nodded and smiled shyly. "Yeah.. Dunno why she did it.." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

Rook just looked estranged. "What the heck are you two on about??" he asked, mostly asking Maxine then Asimov.

Maxine waved the question off a bit. "I'll tell you later, it's a long story.."

Rook gave Maxine a sly look, but didn't question it. He knows what she can be like if you push somthing..

"Anyway, eat up. We should see what else is happening.." Maxine carried on, starting on her bowl.

Rook nodded and ate up, giving Asimov the bowl back when he was finished. "Thanks, that was awsome. What else is on around here?"

You don't treat guests that way! It's not polite. And especially if your a kind of people that like guests to come back. Monique thought to Maxine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That would be awesome! What'dya say Adel?" Khun said, itching to ride the giant creature now.

Adel was quiet for a second. It was obvious that he was giving it a serious consideration.

"I do not... like zhis, but... I cannot say no."

He stepped forward. "How may ve... ride you? ... Please?"

Rose just shrugged. "As of now, I am concerned about enjoying the night. Let's leave the spirit things to the shamans, yes?"
---
Asimov's arm moved as if to encircle the whole island. "yer pick, ma'am. *everything* is interesting, here. And worth an adventure. What's your flavor?"
---

The snake's tongue flickered. "Just climb onto me. use your claws, my hide can stand it. And hang tight when you're settled."

Ulv nodded "We have to reach your Arena or any training grounds you have. If Balkan wants us there - we will go."
"Well, you can go ask her to come and see the show, you know." Varg said nudging Ulv.
Ulv pushed the other wolf back "Give me a break, Varg! Stop trying to be a matchmaker!" he said, then turned to Rose "Forgive him - he's an idiot. Yet he's right - it would be nice to see you there."

"All right!" Khun said. Then, acting like he was climbing a ladder, he carefully got on top of the giant reptile. Sitting took him a little to figure out, but then he tried to imagine the snake as a large motorcycle. Which helped. Khun's tail was wagging like mad.

"Come on Adel!" He said with a grin.

Flint nudged Martin in the side, grinning.
"Maybe you should see if you can tag along if they plan on fighting. You could join in, show them a thing or two."

Martin grinned "I do plan to volunteer once the time is right. I have a score to settle from earlier."

Yeah, but he was only having a bit of fun.. Sometime even I was like that.. Maxine thought back. Just because he did a bad thing, dosen't mean he wants us here any less, does it?

"Hey, how about we go meet the sharks? Victor said there were a pod of sharks near here or somthing, sounds exciting, yeah?" Maxine said, giving her bowl back after finishing it.

"Sharks!? Cool!" Rook exlaimed. he'd only seen sharks on the discovery channel back home, to meet one in real life..

"Great! let's go find Victor.. Oh, and thanks for the soup!" Maxine called back to Asimov and the female, seemingly Asimov's mother, as the two went off to find Victor.

The Lycaons' ambassador saw the two felines approaching. "Hey, so looks like you got into the spirit of the party! What can i do for you, happy kittens?"
---
"Well, warriors, Martin, whatever you need an arena for, we have our own training ground, near the reefs. Do you think it will do?"

Varg nodded "It will do just fine." he looked at Martin "Though I am not entirely sure why your other guest wants to join in the fight itself."

Martin pointed at Flint "I have a score to settle with some of your buddies - ask him if you want, I'm sure he'll be eager to tell more."

Now Ulv looked at Flint "Will you tell us, then?"

Adel shrugged. He climbed the "ladder" up the snake's side and grabbed on tight on top. It didn't really seem like a good idea to him, but he kept quiet. At least it was a good way to get closer to the town before nightfall! It's worth it it's worth it it's worth it...

Victor grinned at Balkan. "No need t'be rude at all, mate: she'll do da job for us."
---
Bigby started slithering -and it was at a remarkable speed! All too normal considering that his muscles were supposed to propel a body weighing over 1 ton!

Flint frowned.
"I wouldn't say I'm 'eager' to retell the tale of how some red wolves shot arrows, threw spears and threatened to skin us alive (they said something to that effect).". He look Ulv up and down.
"To say the least, first impressions weren't great."

Balkan rolled his eyes "Still I suggest that ya mind what ya say about my future mates." then he grinned back "Still the night is still young and the time will soon come for the last Rite of my four friends - The Rite of Valor!."

~~~~~~



"Then perhaps you would want to join your friend in the battle?" Ulv asked

Flint took a step back and shook his head, smiling
"Nah,I'll pass. Combat and direct confrontation aren't really my cup of coffee."
He looked over at the party.
"Besides, I think I might stick around here. Enjoy the festivities and whatnot."

"Halt!" Martin said, reaching and grabbing Flint by the collar. "If I don't see you watching the battle, I will personally seek you out in the party and give you a piece of my mind! Got it... bro?"

"Ack! Or, y'know. Maybe I'll stick with you guys. Watch the fight from the sidelines. All that good stuff...". He gave Martin a strained grin.
"I'm sure my brother would appreciate the moral support."