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After walking for miles through the woods on the same path they had taken in the other direction, Jollanel could finally see the unpaved road that lead back to Asper and lead the group onto it.

They were returning from the base of a pass that lead up to the bigger portion of the Astrainian Peaks. The trip was mainly focused on Jollanel’s cartography work but there were time where he tested Rusty, Akari, and Dakota on general outdoorsman, magic, and combat skills.


“We’re almost home,” said Jollanel, smiling back at the young anthros walking behind him as if the hours’ worth of work that was done in the day hadn’t affected him in any way.
“And not a moment too soon. The sun is about to set, which means the celebration for the coming-of-age trials is about to begin; a very important night for the three of you.”

They passed the town gate and made their way towards the center of town where all the final festive decorations were being put in place. There was a temporary stage placed on the north street out of the hub and bunch of chairs and tables set up in front of it to accommodate the soon-to-be audience. The shop owners and their employees could be seen through the windows of the buildings that lined the hub, hastily working to move equipment around to prepare for the excitement when the celebration stared and all of their potential customers that would follow.

Jollanel stopped and turned to address Rusty.
“I’ll take the equipment case back to my office. Take my bag back home and wash up. I’ll see you later when all this starts.”

Rusty nodded, grabbed the bag and made tracks for home.

Jollanel then turned to Dakota and Akari.
“You two should do the same,” he said, and then walked off.

As Akari headed back home to prepare himself for the celebration, there were other things happening that neither he nor the others were aware of...

Inside the government building of Asper, a buck deer anthro, the mayor of the town, in his business attire, was shuffling through some papers, preparing himself for the celebration. He always made a point to attend this celebration, as it was a very symbolic one for the youth of his town. He went to it to make sure that they knew he was proud of them.

His preparations were interrupted abruptly when there was a rapid knock on the door to his office. "Come in," he said, still looking at his papers. A feline anthro rushed in and closed the door behind him, looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

"Sir," she said, "we've lost contact with Desdon!"

The mayor looked up, and put his papers down abruptly. "We what?" he inquired, shocked by the statement.

"I was talking with the mayor of Desdon less than a minute ago," the feline explained, "and then suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the line went dead! I checked with others who were communicating with others in Desdon, and... and their lines went dead as well!"

The Mayor stood up, his large antlers almost touching the ceiling. This was bad. He, and almost every other mayor before him, relied on Desdon's massive size and equally well-equipped army to defend Asper from invasions to serial killers. Never before had Desdon failed to do that. Something was up, and the Mayor had ideas as to what it was. "Does this have anything to do with the political upheaval that happened in Tyran not too long ago?" he demanded. The recent news was that about twelve hours ago, finatics from the ASRH had managed to physically remove the government of Tyran through widespread violence, and replace it with their own government. The nature of the government isn't clear, but most people suspected that it was a form of dictatorship.

"I don't know, sir, but it's likely... the leader of the ASRH is one heck of a meglomaniac, if I recall correctly."

The Mayor sighed, closed his eyes in frustration, and thought for a moment. "Contact the General. Tell him to mobilize the local militia," he said, still with his eyes closed, "set up road blocks at every concievable entrance to this city, set up defensive barricades along Main Street, and start doing armed patrols around the perimeter of the main celebration area. Those ASRH psychos will have a field day if they get there..."

The feline nodded nervously and headed to the telephone to call the General. "Wait," the Mayor said. The feline stopped in her tracks. "...don't tell any civilians about this. I want those celebrations to go on as usual. And tell the General to make the patrols as subtle to those attending the celebration as possible." The feline nodded and hurried out of the Mayor's office. The local militia of Asper hadn't been used at this scale in hundreds of years. He knew that even they wouldn't be enough if the ASRH, or whoever took over Desdon, launched a full-out assault.

"I really hope this is just a false alarm..." he said to himself.

After ten minutes of contemplating what he just did, he headed to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water. He wanted to not look worried during the celebration.

The celebration is time for joy and friendly competition and dancing! The Mayor thought to himself. It's not the time for worries. This will carry on as normally as it was last year and the year before that! I will see to it!

The Mayor stood up in front of the bathroom mirror, took a deep breath, and exhaled. Liking what he saw in the mirror, he headed off to the celebration.

Dakota nodded and flew home even though her wings were causing a tremendous amount of strain on her own body. She landed in front of her own penthouse and used her tonfas to identify herself and open the doors. Time was beginning to become a critical point as she quickly showered off any dirt, blood, grime, and sweat off herself allowing her white fur to shine like the morning snow. She dressed with all of her usual accesories including holdsters for her weapons which will be the only thing to stand out if anyone was really looking. The only problem she had was trying to decide what to wear. She had her traditional clothing even for formal occasion and then she had her dress. Since she wanted to impress Rusty, she chose the dress and straightened her hair leaving her hat on.

After checking herself in the mirror, she smiled. "You look great tonight Dakota just try to resist the urge for fighting she thought to herself but looked outside facing towards Desdon seeing occasional flashes in the night sky. At first Dakota thought it was a little squabble, but maybe they are celebrating as well and dismissed the thought using her wings to fly over to Rusty's home. Once her wings were disappated, she knocked on his door straightening herself out.

It didn't take long; just a fifteen minute walk was all it took to get to to the River Asper, where he'd flung his cloak off and quickly slithered into the water. Chunks of dirt dissolved off his scales, and when he'd finished, he first checked to make sure no one was around before he climbed out and shook himself off. The crest on the back on his neck frilled out as he sprayed water everywhere and he snapped his cloak back on. He wasn't entirely dry, which he knew, wouldn't do wonders for his reptilian cold-bloodedness, but he didn't mind it as much.

Sissmuth's feet ached, but he didn't even feel it. He was tired, but he didn't want to rest. He was hungry, but he was saving his appetite. He didn't expect the trials festival to be tonight, but with a shrug, he figured, all the more reason to stay.

Upon returning back to the town, he nodded as he crossed paths with a group of patrol Anthros, who nodded back solemnly and continued on.

Sissmuth huffed, but didn't think to question their right to be in a mood. Teenage Anthros can get pretty wild [no pun intended]. He looked up at the sky to see that the sun was nearly beginning to sink over the distant horizon.

It was almost time to party, Sissmuth though with a slight upturn of his mouth...

...he wondered if there was another bar around somewhere.

Akari, having just showered, got dressed in clothes that were mostly the same as the ones he wore the previous day, but they were a bit nicer. This time the pin stripes on his outer button-down shirt were brown, and he actually buttoned it this time. He also switched his sword scabbards to his formal/ceremonial ones that were black instead of the usual brown, and had some fancy metal designs on them. He stood in front of the mirror, and examined himself. Finding nothing wrong, he headed downstairs. He found his mother there as well, dressed in a formal dress and a silver necklace. "You look nice," Akari said to her.

She turned around to Akari and smiled. "Thanks," she replied, smiling.

Akari smiled back and got a soda out of the fridge. He popped it open and took a sip of it. "The celebration's going to be starting soon..." he noted, "you think we should get going?"

"Yeah, we should," she answered. She finished putting together her necklace behind her neck, and took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Akari," she stated, "wether you are liked by the representatives of Q'ercheck Ental or not, your father would be proud of you. Simply competing in this is an honor to all who appreciate it as that..."

Akari nodded. He was getting a little teary eyed at the comment, and gave his mom a brief hug. "Thanks, Mom," he said. They let go, and Akari took another sip from his soda.

"Shall we go, then?" He asked.

His mother nodded. Akari gulped down the rest of the soda, and then they both left the house.

"Will there be fireworks," Sissmuth asked, raising his glass to the sky and smiling that impish dragon smile.

The fox behind the counter shifted his eyes and reached over to take back the two empty glasses in front of him. "I think you've had enough for now. The celebration's barely started, save it for later."

Sissmuth hissed at him. "I'm old enough. What, you gonna tell the others to card me or something?" He hiccuped. "You see these tattoos?" He pointed at the blue symbols on his face.

"Please, I'd rather you--"

"You see them," Sissmuth shot back. "I got these when I passed MY trials. You want to see more? I has more. Just wait a moment, I'll show you."

"Can someone please get this guy a bucket of water?"

Sissmuth unbuttoned his cloak and threw it behind himself. His bare chest exposed, he turned around and pointed down his crest at yet more blue symbols that tracked his upper back. "See? See? Is that proof enough for you now? Or do I need to bend over and give you a picture ID as well?"

The fox held a paw to his mouth.

"Is there a problem here?" A patrol anthro came from seemingly nowhere and narrowed his eyes at Sissmuth -- coincidentally, it was another Lizardfolk.

Seeing another of his kind snapped Sissmuth half-way out of his state and he picked up his staff leaning against the table, glass still in the other hand. He was going to offer the Lizardfolk a drink on him, but some small voice of reason got through to him that maybe he should save what was left of his money. Sissmuth mumbled something at the patrol guard he, himself, didn't understand as he turned to go. He thought he was saying, "No problem, I was just leaving," but it came out sounding like, "Nnnprrblm, Aaaah'ssjssst eeevin'."

The fox heaved a sigh and mouthed a silent "thank you" at the patrol guard as he turned and followed Sissmuth out.

The trees were glistening now with the orange and pink of the sunset, and Cyrus smelled celebration in the air, literally. Churros, popcorn, grilled meat and a hundred other foods had spread their warm bouquet throughout the now bustling town. Music, laughter, and dancing were occuring on all sides of Cyrus, and he couldn't walk three steps without having to dodge a passerby. He loved the sudden liveliness that came with this time of year, and was sorely tempted to stay for the celebration. Strafing through the crowd he made his way to the road leading to Desdon. He stopped on the cobblestone and turned back for a moment to take in the scene. He knew he had to leave it behind, abandon that glowing forest. It was the only place he had ever felt comfortable, and he was not going to see it again for months, perhaps longer. Staring at his home, he took the image into his memory in as much detail as possible, trying to create a picture he could bring with him on his travels. With renewed determination he turned abrubtly to face his path.
-And bumped into a large metal shield.

The guard's face was stern and unmoving. "I'm sorry sir, I can't let you through right now." he said respectfully. Alarmed and confused, Cyrus stepped back.

"Um... why not?" he asked, "I'm just making my way to Desdon." He was feeling a little afraid. Guards were never posted on these roads.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to tell you, but trust me. You don't want to." the tiger replied raising his eyebrows.

Was something wrong? Cyrus just stood still, looking puzzled.

"We'll let everyone know once the festivities are over. It's an added security measure for now. Please go back sir."

With a nod, Cyrus said "Ok, thanks." though he didn't know what he was thanking him for, and started back, restraining his curiosity. He knew he wouldn't get an answer from the guard and he didn't want to cause trouble. Why was the mayor holding everybody there? Was there a criminal loose, or some sort of security threat?
He walked back down to the center area, back through the hubbub and into the celebration. He found a chair under a tent and sat down facing a group of dancers that were spinning and moving about to the song of a flutist and a few drummers. He leaned down and rested his chin on his hand. There was no one around that he knew personally, though he did see a few familiar faces. He sat and pondered for a while, at a loss for what to do.
After about a half hour he had found himself tuned into the melody of the band, fixing all thought on the wonderfully catchy rhythms.
Then he felt it.
A cool wind blew at his arms, awakening him from his trance. The breeze stopped as soon as it came, but had left him alert and edgy. He sat up and looked around almost involuntarilly. No one else seemed to notice the momentary chill. Suddenly he couldn't relax. Amidst the gaiety and the noise, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had to be somewhere. He sat back in his chair and tried to calm himself, but became even more anxious. Without any specific destination, he jumped up and started walking quickly away from the tent. A human lady in a dress turned from her partner and touched his shoulder.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. Just looking for someone." he lied.

"You sure?"

"Yep.-Thanks!"

Cyrus walked past food stands and tents, eventually coming to the main amphitheatre, where he stood and searched the horizon. Nothing out of the ordinary was visible. The sun was almost down now. Nervous and frustrated, he walked over to another tent and leaned up against a pole. If anything happened, he'd be ready, but for now he just stood there, hoping to figure out what had upset the wind.

Rusty had just finished putting his new set of clothes on—a dark maroon collard long sleeved shirt tucked into black slacks, simple but still formal—when he heard a knock at the door. He quickly grabbed his dagger from the table, sheathed and then belted it—he had been busy cleaning it and polishing when he got home—before going to see who it was that was at his door.

“Hello Dakota,” He said, half surprised seeing her here. Isn’t this a little backwards? he thought. He wanted to punish himself for making his first mistake on a date, but instead brushed the thought off by complimenting Dakota’s dress and appearance, which added to the surprise when he first opened the door. ”My, don’t we look absolutely stunning this evening,” he said, trying as hard as he could not to sound like a cliché. He locked the door as he stepped through it, then offered a hand to Dakota, ”Shall we go.”

Dakota smiled and took Rusty's hand as they walked along the now quiet streets of Asper, she was blushing slightly at the thought of him in his formal wear. The walk felt even longer for her because of the fact that she was on a date with the crush of her life since she was fifteen years old and calling him "new kid" for six months. "Say something you idiot" she thought to herself bitterly knowing how awkward the situation might be for the two of them. "Hey Rusty you expecting not to wild at this party aren't ya I have a little surprise near the end of the festivities" she said

((Sorry writers block and I'm reducing my posting to once a week every Friday, Saturday or Sunday))

Sissmuth sighed and took a long swig of the glass, downing the last of his ale in a single gulp. He looked down at the empty glass and hissed at it, as if that would somehow magically refill it. Already, he could feel the ground beneath hum pulsing with his frustration. Setting the glass down in some general location, he wandered through the streets and did his best to enjoy the spirits of the celebration. He couldn't feel completely at ease here, since of course, the festival wasn't for him. The dancers were all pretty, but he couldn't concentrate on them for long when he couldn't even get a clear view of them standing still. Eventually, he got quite dizzy and had to leave.

Sissmuth was very hungry, as he soon realized, and felt rather inept for not seeing this sooner. He came to a food stand that had kabobs, sizzling hot, and they smelled delicious. He took one and was ready to bite into it when a horrible thought crossed his mind.

"Ermm... excuse me," he called out. "But, uhhh... what kind of meat is this?"

The cook was a fat lardball of a pig who waved a spatula at his face. "Best not to ask," he squealed. "Just take it and eat."

Sissmuth lost half of his appetite right there. A group of small Anthro children came laughing and running by, and he grabbed one to give him the kabob. The little lion boy looked up at him, thanked him bemusedly, then ran off, kabob clenched between his teeth.

Instead, Sissmuth ate popcorn. It intrigued him, the taste, but small bits would get wedged between his sharp teeth, and he'd brush his tongue along them for a while before they became free. He wandered for a couple more minutes before, walking the whole length of town. Upon reaching its end, he was about to turn around and walk back again before he caught sight of a lone Anthro staring off in the distance. A raccoon, by the looks of it.

A thoughtful grunt escaped Sissmuth. Once this festival was over, it'd be great if he could have some direction on where to go next [He could already feel the effects of the ale wearing off]. It can't be all that bad, he figured. He just hoped this raccoon wasn't a sea captain. Laughing inwardly to himself and with a casual shrug, he came up him.

"Pray tell, good sir," he said, thumping his staff as he came up to him. "But could you tell me how a traveller such as myself could get to Desdon?"

Akari and his mother got to the main celebration area right after the dancers finished doing their routine. They were surprised when they noticed some armed military anthros patrolling the streets. Akari recognized their uniforms as those of Asper's local militia. "What're they doing patrolling the streets?" Akari wondered out loud.

"It's likely just an added security measure," replied his mother, "they likely just want this to go as usual without any mishaps, I guess."

I sure hope so, Akari thought. He and his mother continued on, making their way to the seating area. The dance that Dakota had asked Rusty to go to was going to start in about ten minutes. He couldn't help but wonder where Rusty was, but he was sure that he was heading on his way.

Akari's eyes wandered all around, until they stopped at the stage area where there was a podium and three chairs behind it. He knew from attending this event every year that this was where the Mayor and his wife would be sitting. However, the third chair was strangely out of place. The current Mayor was single, but the second chair was usually taken up by another significant government figure of Asper. Who was going to occupy the third chair was a mystery to him, until he saw three people walking from stage right towards the chairs. The first in line was a female feline anthro, who was whatever rank was below the Mayor. The second in line, taking the middle chair, was the Mayor. The one behind him, however, was a surprise. It was a human wearing ceremonial military attire! Akari was aware that humans and anthros served in the local militia, but he didn't know that one of their leaders was a human until now. He looked to be in his 60's, and seemed to be slightly apprehensive. Why he was apprehensive Akari could only guess, but it must've been something big, since he had his walke-talkie clipped to his belt. Akari was sure that that wasn't part of the ceremonial attire.

For a moment Cyrus had the impression that he was talking to someone from the 1400's, but recalled reading that lizardfolk sometimes spoke in an old, chivalric fashion. This one was a warrior, by the looks of his attire. Behind his commanding stature Cyrus sensed no hostility. "Well, ordinarily you would take that eastern road over there until you reached the city," he said, pointing, "but there are guards blocking the way for whatever reason. I'm trying to get there myself actually." He smiled. "I talked to one the men and they wouldn't tell me why they weren't letting me through. There are never guards here. This is freaky."

Unsure of a better thing to say, Rusty simply replied with: ”Ok.”

As they walked on, the streets of Asper became more and more crowded with people enjoying the celebration. Most of them here were just walking around, but the activities that the crowds were doing would change dramatically just by turning a corner.

Now closer to the center of the celebration, Rusty could see all the different stands set up in a row down the street to the town’s heart. The stands set up the farthest away from the center where normally demos of a real store found elsewhere in town—sometimes there’d be a stand for store in Desdon or Dol Kardat, but because this celebration was locally focused, seeing one was rare.

Soon, the food stands and games, as well as the amphitheatre, came into view. Rusty remembered there was a game that Jollanel had challenged him to on the same year Rusty moved to Asper. It was a simple sparing game where a pair would balance on a plank and swing padded sticks at each other in an attempt to throw the other off balance. Rusty had lost to Jollanel both times they had done it, and longed for another go this year. Too bad Jollanel wasn’t anywhere to be seen and Rusty had his hands full with his date.
Maybe Rusty should participate in the game with Dakota instead...

He was about to ask her but a bell rang over the town from the amphitheatre, forcing the words back into his throat. The crowds from all around migrated to the stage like moths to a flame, also affecting Rusty and thus Dakota.

A beagle Anthro and a tiger Anthro were on stage. Rusty could recognize the beagle as one of the Mayor’s colleagues. He wore a navy blue tuxedo and was being handed a microphone by a person off stage.
The tiger towering over him wore a collared shirt and pants, but the look on his face gave him a far more traditional sense; it was a look of knowledge and experience.

When a person invisible to Rusty gave the signal the beagle nodded and started speaking into the microphone.

He first welcomed everyone and asked if they were having a good time, an over familiar opening to a stage presentation that most of the crowd reacted to. He introduced himself as Duncan, head of public relations, and then went on about the history and meaning of these coming-of-age celebrations… and so on.

Rusty’s interest in Duncan had expired and now he was focused on the people around him. The vast majority were Anthro, but there were some humans who were witnessing the Asperian version of the coming-of-age celebration—he couldn’t help but mentally congratulate them for experiencing a small taste of Anthro culture.

And then something interesting finally rang Rusty’s ears from the stage, his focus was returned to where it was before. Duncan was now beginning to introduce the tiger Anthro. “And now I’d like to introduce our special guest,” he said, his voice still sounding as pure as when he started minutes ago. He gestured his hands to present the tiger. “This is Remus. He has come here to Asper as this year’s representative to evaluate our young adults who we are celebrating for tonight.” Duncan turned the mike over to Remus as he stepped back to forfeit the stage.

“Greetings, people of Asper,” Remus said with a booming voice that didn’t need the aid of the microphone that was clenched in his hand at his side, “As you have just hear, my name is Remus from Q’ercheck Ental. As this year’s representative for Asper, I am charged with testing the skills and interviewing those Anthros who have reached life’s bridge that crosses into the land of adulthood; a very critical point in life, indeed.” He paused, letting a tone set in that left many in awe. “Let those who’s names are mentioned to show themselves and receive the honor that comes from reaching this stepping stone.”

Duncan stood forward again, this time with a list in hand. He handed the list to Remus, who started calling out the names.



((The order of the names don't matter for us, just know that there are other Anthros on the list besides the names of our characters. However, of our characters, Rusty is the last one to be called.))

Sissmuth's slitted eyes contracted as he tilted his head and blinked in confusion. "The guards, I've noticed," he said, turning his head around to stare back at the lit town behind him. "But why they don't want anyone to leave as you claim is a puzzle to me as well."

Even from the city limits, Sissmuth could hear the booming voice of Remus calling out the names of those who were to be tried. He'd caught little snippets of the speech, but listening to two people simultaneously proved to be more than Sissmuth could handle. He grunted. "Perhaps it would be best not to taint the moment with such worries. I'm sure by morning, the road will be clear." He looked back again a Asper echoing off more names. "I take it you are of the mentioned," he said. "Be it as it may that neither of us are going anywhere tonight, tell me... what name should I listen for?"