A Dance with Dragons

[strongworld]

Who: You!
Where: Li Yu Tiao
When: May 24th - 31st
What: The Festival of Dragons!
Status: Open!

That special time of year has arrived when the Typhoon Grips allow safe passage to the Sky Islands. Here on Li Yu Tiao, the Festival of Dragons is about to begin. During this time, the villagers celebrate the koi that pass through their island to spawn and the great dragon that guards their land with its powerful magic.

From the opening, the streets will be filled with music, dancing, and indulgence. Grab some incredible local food and sample the fine alcohol brewed on the island. The hot springs are open to adults in the evenings and offer both separate and communal baths.

From May 25th until the 27th, the Dragon's Judgement Tournament will take place. The tournament is single-elimination, in which combatants can win either by amassing points by connecting with their hits, or by submission. Only nonfatal weapons are allowed and killing is strictly forbidden. The winner of the tournament will gain the title of the "Dragon's Hand" for the next year, and will be gifted with a crimson robe and a golden dragon statue.

On the 30th, a large stage is erected in front of the Dragon Gate. At sundown, the woman decided to be the most beautiful on the island will perform a dance on the stage. She will be dressed in a robe of glittering gold and a headpiece resembling a koi's whiskers. The dance is said to entice the koi into the next stage of their lives. During the dance, a single koi will leap through the gate and be transformed into a great dragon with impressive rainbow-colored scales. It is said this dragon's magic keeps the island tethered to the Dragon Gate and is the source of its wonderful weather. As the dance completes, the dancer's dress transforms into a pair of brilliant wings, and she takes into the air to live as the dragon's bride and protector. The two will then depart together for the mountain's summit. While the dancer is almost exclusively a local villager, it is not unheard of for an outsider to be selected for the role.

Comments

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Did you, now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Well, congratulations on chasing a goal. I'm sure you'll do fine with it. That's very noble."

[myfayevalentine]

"It's not chasing a goal and it's not noble." Faye shook her head irritably and sat up straighter in the water. "It just had to be done. That's all." Apparently Faye still wasn't sure about people thinking good things about her. "Anyway, how is it being a Spade?"

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Boy, you deflect compliments even better than I do. Anyone ever tell you that?" he laughed, turning to face her more fully, "Boy, aren't we a self-deprecatin' bunch?"

[myfayevalentine]

"No, actually. They never have." Mostly because the compliments she received were usually about her looks, and she was quite happy to accept those. Still, she gave him a small smile back as she started to undo and retie the string of her bikini at the back of her neck. "But I'm sure that's what makes us so charming..."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"As for the Spades, they're a good bunch. Marco can be volatile, but he's just passionate."

Akira idly slipped off his shirt and tattered jeans, before diving into the water in his boxer shorts. He pops up across from her, floating on his back.

"I guess a world with hot springs can't be all that bad, right?" he said, idly floating about, "I've never been called charmin', but I get your point. Is Thash here, too?"

[myfayevalentine]

As Akira stripped off to get into the water, Faye allowed herself the opportunity to look. Though she was a master of her pokerface, her expression not even flickering. "Charming is one word."

Then she lay back against the edge of the spring again, watching Akira move around. "Hot springs make everything better. Sure, Thash is around. He'll be...doing something. Somewhere."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"I thought you two were a thing?" he asked, using just his hands to paddle around, "Is that still true?"

[myfayevalentine]

Faye smiled a little awkwardly then closed her eyes to help shield her embarrassment. "Yes, that's still true. Try not to be too jealous..."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Why would I be jealous?" he said, letting his feet touch the floor again as he waded across the pool, "I don't recall us ever bein' a thing."

[myfayevalentine]

"No..." Faye opened just one eye to watch him, allowing herself to sink just a little lower in the water. "You're too young for me, remember?"

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Faye, I stopped bein' a kid a hell of a long time ago," he said, putting his back to the side-wall as he slid down in the heated waters, "Ain't like I never had offers from people."

[myfayevalentine]

Faye eyed him a moment more before closing her eyes and tipping her head back slightly, "I don't doubt it. But no matter how many of those offers you took up, you're still a puppy to me." A slow, amused smile spread over her lips as she kept her eyes closed, face turned towards the sky.

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Why does everyone have to go for the dog puns?" he snorted, folding his hands behind his head, "You know, even as recent as a few years ago, stuff like that used to set me right off. Never did like the dog jokes."

[myfayevalentine]

"Oh...I'm sorry." Though she sounded like she was both teasing and slightly apologetic. "What would you rather I called you?"

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Nah, it's fine. I'm over it now, you can call me whatever you like, Faye. There's a lot more to worry about, out here. I suggest you enjoy this time while you can. I get the feelin' that there's bad times on the horizon."

[myfayevalentine]

Faye sat up again, rolling her neck before looking at Akira again, frowning slightly, "Seriously, don't you have even the tiniest shred of happiness in your life? You need a hobby. Or a girlfriend. There's always bad times on the horizon...no use worrying about them until they get here."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"I don't mean like usual, Faye," he said, wading over by her and sitting down nearby, "I've got a nose for trouble, and it's never been this intense, before. Think about it. That mysterious storm. The dwindling presence of other off-worlders. The sudden, eerie calm. This can't be coincidence."

[myfayevalentine]

Faye shifted slightly to turn to face Akira more directly when he sat near her. She looked into his face silently for a moment or two, then slowly shook her head, "So what are you thinking? An attack? Is the world going to end?"

[alwaysgrumpy]

"I'm not sure whether to be worried or not, but I know somethin' is comin'. I feel it in every bone in my body. I don't know what it portends, but I think Davy Jones might be gettin' closer to what he wants. I think he's sendin' people back so there's less of us to corral who might try to get in his way."

He thought to himself for a moment, crossing his arms.

"He needed us all to find the shards, and by now I'll bet most of 'em are found. All he really needs are the people he knows have 'em, or the people who might have 'em. The rest of us are extraneous, which wouldn't worry me except for the fact that Meep already told me him gettin' the shards is super-bad for everyone."

[myfayevalentine]

Faye found herself suddenly wanting to do two things - one, to have a cigarette to help her think, and two, to give Akira a hug and try to reassure him. All she does do, though, is shrug a shoulder nonchalantly. "In that case, he'll need to go through the crews and, more directly, me. I have some pretty big shards... And I'm rather attached to them. So I won't let him have them. Sucks for him."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"I don't know if a guy who's already dead is afraid of guns, Faye."

[myfayevalentine]

"So, when the time comes, I should just lie down and let him kill me?" Faye hardly looked impressed by the idea. "Or should I go and offer my shards up now? Save us all the time."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"I'm just sayin', maybe stand and deliver isn't the best strategy," he shrugged, "Maybe we need to work on ways to hide the shards where he can't get 'em, if worse comes to worse."

[myfayevalentine]

"Maybe. But I don't know where we could hide them. I can't imagine anywhere that he couldn't get to if he wanted to." Faye sighed and slipped deeper into the water. "You're making my head hurt. The point of these springs is to relax, you know..."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Sorry," he said, scratching his chin, "...Who knows, maybe it's nothin'. I am pretty naturally paranoid, you know."