(OOC Note: This post was co-authored by none other than your Guardian of Fire, Vaudeux Jupiter. The song was also edited by her exclusively! Give her a round of applause!)

Maybe it was a dream? It most certainly could have been for the outlandishness of it all, but either way, the scene wasn't of much consequence to anyone. The air was stirring with a salty buoyancy, carrying, with it, scents of broiled meat from the scene’s wide fire pit, dug grave-like into the pearly sands. Manning the grille was a shirtless yokel, graying hairs adorning his shoulders like patches of honor with freckles blemishing his flesh like pepper. Wearing only a thatched straw hat, loose garments to keep an air of decency, and a crooked expression of bewilderment - he flipped the bloody meats methodically over the heated bars with a pair of serrated tongs, catering to any whim, but secretly desiring the pull of the other, rousing activities that surrounded him.

Stuffed some distance away from the shore, where the sands were firm was the band. A flautist danced away, tromping through the dancing throngs as he piped out the melody. He was accompanied by a loutish looking man who strummed a lute and sang. They were supported by a balding fat man wearing naught but a pair of tight-fitting cloth trousers, who thrashed away at his fiddle furiously to produce the chords of the harmony. A company of drummers shadowed the motley gang of musicians, darting between an assortment of massive drums, beating away on the timpanis and the snares and the bass drums, to produce a mighty rhythm that was truly the backbone of the song.

Into the distance, and ringingly melodically into the space, the singer opened his mouth wide as if bearing to all attendants, the deepest red innards of his throat. His voice was as pure as honey and when he sang, all ears were upon him. The song was catchy, forcing every entry to be attuned to the man's natural bleating. He opened his mouth and sang.



As if it were a cue to go crazy, the song sent the crowd into an uproar of dancing that was most befitting of the celebration. They moved, vexed by the wild spell of the band, flailing every time a chord was struck, shrieking with every new verse. The ground practically shook with the pounding feet as glistening bodies swayed with the beat. Powerful gusts from the vast expanse of the sea gave birth to clouds of fine sand, as if to mock the smoky taverns of the city. The beach too, could be a place of jubilation.

Those who did not dance weren't simply cast aside from the excitement, however. In closer proximity to the beach, a strange game was being played with an equally strange name, volleyball. Two posts had been spread apart, maybe the lengths of three or four men, and between them, a fisherman's net had been strung. It was secured to the top of each post and it stretched down towards the middle. Four people stood on each side of the net and across it they would volley a ball back and forth until one team failed to return it to the other side. The ball, itself, was an odd thing, said to be made of leather and filled with air, though how the leather had been stitched so tightly to keep the air inside was quite the mystery. The sport however, was quite fun and not unlike badminton, a game popular with Lomedorian nobles.

Besides the dancing and games, the beach was populated with Ardians. Many shared a drink and a good tale with their companions while the more solitary simply laid, basking in the glory of the day. And so t'was the Arda Beach Party.

((LOL, great song.))

"What the??" Yoro had walked into an Ardian Beach Party. It was time to impress the ladies. He threw off his cloak and boots, gloves, and whatnot, and headed for the water. Surfing was his best bet.

"A board..." He looked around. At the back of the beach was a wide tree. He ran to his stuff, grabbed a small searing dagger, and began to cut away a board.

After some time he finished. He tossed his dagger down and ran for the water. He tossed the board in and jumped on. He began to paddle himself out.

After he turned around and had gone quite some distance out, a wave began to capture him. He waited a short amount of time before carefully balancing. The wave was enormous! Yoro laughed as he was at the top of the wave.

"I'm doing it!" As he began to come down, he leaned back a bit to keep balance. He fell. Lost his board. Couldn't breathe.

Shortly after he swam back to the surface without his board.

"Bah!" he grunted, panting heavily. He collapsed and looked around. Perhaps he could get some money and some gifts, not to mention some glory. Yoro headed off to buy some ale.

"I'd like some ale please," he said. The man passed it to him and Yoro put a little coin on the table. Yoro guzzled down the ale. He walked off in front of his thing, gave himself a little room, and pushed the cup in front of him. He began to get down. Robot. Butternut trot. Zero-G. And a lot of other moves. Yoro was surprisingly pretty good. People gathered around. Someone threw a little change in the cup. It was working!

Yokoni was laying out on her boat when she heard the commotion coming from the beach. She jumped up, startled and a wee bit confused; the sailboat had drifted closer to shore, and Yokoni realized that she must have been doing a little drifting of her own. After a few moments of mental debate, she decided to go ashore and see what was going on. The anchor was dropped, the sails lowered, and soon after Yokoni plunged into the sparkling salt water with a practiced dive.

It wasn't long until she made it to shore, her trip made quicker thanks to the waves and her own skill. She even managed to bodysurf a bit on the way, the final attempt ending with her going face-first into the water. Shortly after going under her head buoyed up, Yokoni's face twisting oddly as she spit out a mouthful of salt water. She hoped no one saw her mistake and swam the rest of the way without mishap or tricks, thankful for not making a fool of herself again.

The sand was warm and soft, devoid of sharp objects and reminiscent of the beaches she knew so well in her youth. This put her at ease in spite of the amount of people present. Then question came again, what were they doing here? After looking around a bit, Yokoni had her answer. It was a party! How exciting! She saw someone singing and a lot of people dancing, including a man dancing on his own that people crowded around. Yokoni decided to join them in watching. He was younger up close but still entertaining, and very good at what he was doing. She laughed in merriment as she dropped a coin into his cup, then walked away to see the rest of the party.

Kenith squinted in the sun's harsh rays. Even though those rays that he disliked so much were of an almost perfect state, it was murder for him. He hissed under his breath as he squirmed through the crowds to find shelter under an umbrella. He dived over the last few feet, landing saftley under the shade. He turned over and pulled his legs up to his chest. He was not going back out there untill it got darker, or he some how managed to procure some sort of substance to fend off those rays. Kenith did not burn, sizzle, and pop like full vampires did in the sun, yet even he could obtain a sunburn very, very quickly. This drove Kenith to spend his time under the shade, as he was doing now, and not to come out untill the rays were weakend.

Kenith watched with a ting of jealousy as he saw everyone else having a good time. He yanked his hood over his head and retreated into his mind. If only someone would provide company.

Rebecca was bored. Her mother was spending all day making some kind of soup and her father was out fishing (as usual). On the plus side, he brought in a lot of gold from his fishing trips and was always bringing her presents. Mostly, she was just getting dolls; every once in a while, though, he brought her pillows or books or something else. While she liked the dolls and the pillows were always useful, the books were her favorite. She liked to draw, too, and she had a big toy chest in her room filled with picture books; most of them were books about knights saving damsels in distress while slaying evil dragons, but some of them were drawing books and those were the ones that she used the most. The drawing books were all filled up and she'd filled another one up just that morning. As a result, she now had nothing to do (as she'd read all of her other books a bazillion kajillion times) and was thus bored out of her pretty little skull.

She'd decided to take a walk, but since her mother was busy she'd had to sneak out of the house. Her mother was always worried bad men were going to get her and hurt her, but she'd never met any bad men. Besides, she liked the beach; unlike the rest of the city, it was quiet except for the crashing of the waves against the golden-white sand and the crying of the gulls soaring so gracefully high above her head. She took a couple of quick shortcuts to get out of the city and then was well on her way down to the beach through a third shortcut. As she neared the beach, though, there came strange sounds of wonder that thoroughly befuddled the youngster. She had not heard such sounds before, sounds that were odd and yet strangely alluring in their beat and in their rhythm. Oh, she had heard music before, but this was somehow completely different from the flutists she had watched, the lutists she had heard, and the trianglists she had listened to.

As she finally came upon the beach, she saw many things that were unique and completely new to her. The first thing she noticed was that it was noisy. The drums were loud and the music that matched them even louder. Some strange man was dancing amidst a crowd of people who were apparently throwing coins into a cup for him; she had seen that in the city, though, and quickly turned away. As she did so, her face lit up with joy, for she had seen something that drew her close like a fly drawn to the sweet scent of fresh honey: an ice cream stall. Ice cream was a rare thing, something to be treasured and valued highly, and she had only had ice cream cones a few times in her young life. But now, she was hastily digging coppers out of the pockets of her dress as she stepped quickly forward, half-running toward the stall. She bounced up cheerily and offered up her coppers in exchange for a cone with the flavor of strawberries. The man behind the stall delightedly took her coppers and offered her the cone. She happily took it and started to wander about the beach to see what she could see.

Rebecca watched the dancer for some time, but she wasn't going to give him coins; she didn't have many to give and he wasn't a very good dancer besides. In fact, he was...kind of odd. The man on the Old Barley Road danced a lot better and so did the one on Dimitri Street. She quickly moved on, walking cheerily from place to place as she ate her ice cream cone and wondered what she might like to buy from this place and what the party was all about.

The wind blew the hair that wasn't done up in a nice little bun-and-bow about lightly, tickling her neck and whipping her dress about. She wondered if any of these people knew how to dance better than the man with the cup. She liked to dance, but mostly she just danced with her mother. After all, her mother danced really good. Besides, she always got candies and coins when she danced on the red brick stage in the lovely theatre just down the road from her house. Her mother actually called it an apartment, but it was so big that Rebecca thought it must be a house. She stopped to watch the people talking at one point, eating her ice cream cone and enjoying the cool breeze and the sunshine with a small smile of great pleasure - the kind of pleasure only a child can remember.

Arthur watched the beach party from one of the chairs that had been set up. HE was soakign in some early and well deserved sun. Every now and then a good looking woman would pass by and give him a little wink. Of course thats what you good for having your shirt off and showign yoru muscles and stuff. A few of the scars he had did not dertirate from it. They added to it msot women considered them beauty marks. Arthur shading his eyes as he looked at some poeple singign and playing games.

There was a stand for performers and lucky for them Arthur was a good performer. He grabbed his instrument and wnet onto the stand. HE smiled to the corwd and said," How bout we liven up this party". They agreed whole heartedly and Arthur took out his insturment and said," This is an old favorite of mine perfect for this occasion".

He started the band and began to sing,"


I'm gonna raise a fuss, I'm gonna raise a holler
About a workin' all summer just to try to earn a dollar
Every time I call my baby, and ask to get a date
My boss says, "No dice son, you gotta work late"
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues

Well my mom and pop told me, "Son you gotta make some money"
If you want to use the cart to go ridin' next Sunday
Well I didn't go to work, told the boss I was sick
"Well you can't use the cart 'cause you didn't work a lick"
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues

I'm gonna take the weeks, gonna have a fine vacation
I'm gonna take my problem to the Ardian Nations
Well I called mygoverment man and he said "Whoa!"
"I'd like to help you son but you're too young to vote"
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues"

HE smiled at the end of that and said," Yall want some mroe". THey chhered again and Arthru began again with a better one. He sang,"

Well East coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the shape shifter girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there

The Estold farmer's daughters really make you feel alright
And the Lomedorian girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night

I wish they all could be Elvish gilrs
I wish they all could be Elvish girls
I wish they all could be Elvish girls

The West coast has the sunshine
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a french bikini on Elvish island
Dolls by a palm tree in the sand

I been all around this great big world
And I seen all kinds of girls
Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the Elven
Back to the cutest girls in the world

I wish they all could be Elvish girls
I wish they all could be Elvish girls
I wish they all could be Evlish girls

I wish they all could be Elvish
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
I wish they all could be California
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
I wish they all could be Elvish
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
I wish they all could be Elvish
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)".

(Credits to the BEach Boys Sounds of SUmmer

Countless crumbs of unmarred ivory shifted beneath Fidelity's barefoot tread as she followed the merry group of young damsels down to the shoreline. It was a perfect day - a sky without clouds, sands without stingy critters, and a restful, endless expanse of the purest azure she'd ever seen. There was something decidedly unreal about the scene, as was the tinge of revelry that had momentarily taken over her mind - it was much unlike her to enjoy the shallower pleasures of life. The only occasion wherein she'd been able to forget her purpose prior to this festive day had been the Spring Festival, an event she secretly cherished whenever the weight of her mission pressed down on her slender shoulders. Now that she had this second chance to forget about the world around her, to just have fun for once, she was intent on making the most of it.

"Oh, look! Fiddy! Tara! Maroon!" The high-pitched exclamation from the three girls ahead of her brought her back from plans to deeds. "It's that guy I told you about! Isn't he just gorgeous?"

In line with her jubilant intents, Fidelity giggled appreciatively as she glimpsed in the direction that her blonde friend was frenetically pointing in, trying hard not to grab the taller girl walking next to her by the neck to help her in pinpointing her masculine quarry. Her crimson eyes quickly scanned over the small group of youngsters who were trudging at the edge of a great fire pit. Most had relieved themselves of their tunics, and the mellow sunlight gave their tanned complexion an alluring quality that she, too, found difficult not to blink at. Meanwhile, the attention from the foursome had not gone unnoticed by the troop - even from this distance, Fidelity could see abdominals tensing, and postures broadening. Although the group had obviously been planning to feast on some of the roast wild being prepared behind them, they lingered inside the girls' appreciative gazes for as long as possible, throwing jokes at each other and making every effort to tender the charade that they were the life of the party.

Averting her eyes, she quickly caught up with her three companions, who were tittering amongst themselves at the boys' endeavors and teasing Fey, who had spotted the gang first, with bold statements about how far they would go to draw her in. While she couldn't help but flush when Maroon whispered that Fey would be taking home more than one bloke at the end of today, she laughed at the comment wholeheartedly as they slowly moved onward, leaving the somewhat disillusioned group of hopefuls behind for the moment. The air around them carried a concoction of oceanic brine and the masterful preparation of grilled wild to their nostrils, and their ears reverberated with the tunes of the musical fellowship that became wholly more melodious as the four of them drew closer to the dancefloor.

Although many faces were also turned to the muscular guest vocalist who was singing a groovy song about Elvish girls, and a man in the crowd that tried hard to keep up with the changes in tempo that the drums and string instruments were hurdling at him, their presence did not fail to garner a bit of attention. At once, Fidelity wished that she hadn't exposed so much of her pale skin; at home, it had seemed a fine idea to wear a tight, bra-like piece of orange-hued silk that squeezed her unimpressive breasts into volume. Right now, she found it quite hard to make any eye contact with the males present, since most of their gazes were... elsewhere. Around her, Fey, Maroon, and Tara did not appear to have the same problem - or perhaps they thought it was normal. Preferable, even. Fidelity sighed as she folded her arms in front of her bust, until she noticed that the gesture only magnified what she was trying to conceal, whereupon she left her hands hanging between action and inaction.

An uneasy itch resembling panic crawled through her stomach. I need a different mindset. Badly. If her three friends could be enjoying themselves under those gazes, dancing around with each other as though to entice even more than that, then it shouldn't be all that hard for her, because, truth be told, she was not the least good-looking of the four. Still, she couldn't bring herself to be as worriless so easily, and after several failed attempts at dancing and smiling at the same time, she decided it'd be best to take it slower. Tapping on Tara's shoulder, she gestured towards one of the stands near the edge of the grille-pit, indicating that she was going to get a drink. Her dark-haired friend nodded ever so slightly before returning her attention to the lanky youngster that she'd found a dance partner in.

She felt much better as she strode out of the crowd, and her thin lips finally curled into a smile again as she passed smaller groups of less intrusive-minded people, whose eyes were more on the bright patterns of yellow and orange cloth that covered her legs in a robe-like fashion than on the fit physique above. One particularly friendly-faced young man even managed to draw a white-teethed smile from her smooth features, and caused her to subconsciously run a finger through her hair, which gleamed in the sun like a fiery amalgamation of liquid mithril and mercury. Alas, the boy seemed a bit intimidated by the gesture, and Fidelity caught a glimpse of a blush of shyness before he fled, leaving her with only a barely noticeable smile of goodbye.

Her slight disappointment about the incident had completely faded by the time she'd reached the drinks stand. It was a broad, polished counter of lightweight wood that separated the thirsty crowd from the two men inside. One was older, his hair already grey near the edges of his face, the other was about her age, but too gruff to be to her liking. He took her order with a tone that spoke of annoyance at having to work on this joyful day, but when he returned to her with her sparkling drink, his mood appeared to have improved. Using the same kind of magic which caused the red-colored liquid she'd bought to bubble without evaporating, he'd made a nice layer of foam around the edges of her glass, topping the exotic mien off with a thin straw and a fragment of lemon split upon the glass's rim. Offering him a grateful smile in return, she took a small sip and turned around.

Enjoying the sweetness and the mild alcoholic aftertaste it left on her tonsils, Fidelity strolled back in the direction of the band, her will to party suddenly completely reinvigorated. Different mindset, eh? she thought merrily as she stopped near the edge of the dancefloor and looked over the crowd. Now where was that shy boy?

It wasn't normal to see Winter outside one such a hot sunny day, she wasn't accustomed to light or warmth or even the company of others. Several of the younger B.A.D.I members had suspicions that she might be some sort of vampire, although it was true Winter seemed to be a vampire magnet, she was not one of the blood sucking race herself, although many people would find it hard to believe otherwise what with her pale skin and snake-like pupils. Other people just guessed she didn't get out enough which wasn't true either; Winter hardly spent any time in one place for more than a week before moving on, she only ever stayed at the B.A.D.I guild halls for up to five days at a time before taking off for days on end.

However today was different, Winter's priestess of balance and loyal companion had convinced her to try and let off some steam and come to the beach party being held on the eastern coast. Winter had attempted to decline but had eventually given in to Shari's obsessive rambling. And so here she was, wearing a one-piece cobalt blue swimsuit and looking very out of place next to the heavily tanned people moving about around the scene. She sat beneath a large red umbrella and kept in the shade, sitting atop a plain white towel so as not to get herself covered in sand.

"Why did I come here again?" She muttered to herself "I'll probably kill myself with this weather."
It was no surprise as to why some people considered her a vampire. The half angel looked round and spied the dragon-like priestess walking towards her, holding two cone-like objects in her hands. Shari normally paraded around completely naked but was mostly covered by the Alloy Dragon skin atop her own which thankfully covered at least the major parts of her body. She sat down next to Winter and handed her one of the cones. It was upside-down and has a sort of cold cream mounted on the top.
"What's this?" Winter asked.

"Ice cream," Shari replied, taking a lick.
"Pardon?"
"Summer food," Shari said "It's cold you'll like it."
Winter looked down at the strange object as the white cream began to drip down the cone and onto her hand.
"Better eat it before it melts," Shari teased.
Winter gave it a curious look before taking a small bite out of it. There wasn't really much point in chewing since it seemed to fall apart itself and slid down her throat without complaint. Deciding that it was okay she took a few more bites out of it, finishing off the mountain pretty quickly.

She was almost finished when her skull seemed to contract in on itself and her spare hand flew to her forehead in an attempt to stem the pain.
"What the hell?"
"Ah, you've got brain freeze," Shari commented.
"Excuse me?" Winter looked up at her "Me getting frozen isn't possible."
"It's a figure of speech," Shari said "It means you've eaten that too quickly, you can eat the cone too by the way."
"Oh?" Winter looked down at the cone and finished that off quickly as well.

After a while the 'brain freeze' wore off and Winter lay back and gazed at the underside of the umbrella. Shari had wandered off elsewhere to enjoy whatever else was going on while Winter remained where she was, not paying much attention to anything else.
"How did I let myself get talked into this?" She sighed.

“Take it off!” Came a squeal from out of the hoard of partiers. She jumped up excitedly at a figure approaching from across the expanse, one whom had immediately caught her hungered notice from afar, like living candy. The woman’s companions turned at her delicious discovery, letting out sighs of contempt, or similar jeers, in hopes to attract the man to their excited niche. Yet, as he neared, he seemed disinterested in the throng of feminine hopefuls and veered off - chiseled pecks practically bursting through his skin-tight and pearl-colored top. At instant they felt denied of their treat, but went back to the events, music, and giggling that surrounded them.

Vaudeux strutted through the sand, with a gust of girlish titters in his wake. There was a look silent satisfaction across his handsome jaw: Pouted lips stretched ever-so slightly, to carve a charming dimple at his mouth’s corner, and his bright emerald irises gleaming - looking outward as if sighing, sighing out the radiated yearning, the gawks, the typicality. Such attention was not new for the striking Guardian, nor was his nonchalant reactions. Even the brunt of his wear suggested that he was doing little to impress, yet could only reap the fruits of his modest labor. A mirror-hour’s worth of modest labor. Despite his preening, he did not bother himself with the locals. In knowing that the admiring gapes were upon him, Jupiter merely bypassed this wide notice in favor for his own self indulgence. With the base of the band’s rhythm vibrating within him to his very core, the scents of broiled meats tickling his nostrils adrift, the Ainur was baited -not by the commonplace activities- but the promise of the beach ahead of him, and the soft coastal sands on his skin.

When he was away from the dancers, nets, grilles, and girls, he stopped where just dried beach was swept by the inwardly breathing foam currents, and felt the goodness of the rays beating down upon him. This heat reached his pores. This heat told him the needlessness of his clothing in the high summer sun, and so he stripped himself of his burden.

Smoothly and slowly he began to remove his top layer of garments, peeling away the tight cotton as if such tender seductions were to be made into a production. Inch by inch new bits of Jupiter was revealed. First the bronzed flesh of his back, to the chiseled brawn of his abdominals, every piece joined together in the ideal embodiment of man. He stripped every last bit of his clothes until down to his breezy shorts, and tossed the articles lazily into the sand under him. Sodden granules touched, oozing between his toes, as Vaudeux made his way towards the edge of the beach. Here he stopped with the feeling of eyes upon him, but did not turn to meet their gaze. Instead he found it better, by brooding out over the glamour that was the deepened blue surface of ocean. Distant reflections of a summer sun touched cerulean shimmers of rolling waves, bringing, with it, a salty breeze to pass caressingly over his charming countenance. Yet his façade did not feel its comforting cool as others might, for it was with deeper longing that he - in turn - curved away from the sight of the endless abyss, and knelt into the earth.

Moments of shifting, Vaudeux budged through the silky sands and found a comfort in sinking his rippled physique into the grain. Thereupon he lounged, face-up to the warming rays of the sun, gleaming with healthy tan hues. Into the distance the celebration roved onward, without his notice for the bleats and audacious merrymaking, that he had chosen to ignore, for his own fleshy, self fulfillment.

“Ah… it is a beautiful day, no?” Annihilate asked his dark-skinned companion.

At his side a small winged imp hovered as the pair moved across the sand dunes and onto the flat portion of the beach. He looked up at Anni with a smile on his face, and replied, “Why, yessa’! T’is a bootiful day! Yessa’!” The pair moved down the beach, getting closer and closer to the water’s edge, until Annihilate found a spot he was comfortable with. He could see many other Ardians, and they all appeared to be having fun and enjoying themselves, and he was going to do the same. It was easy to see the pair carried a variety of items, and when they found that special spot they began putting this here, and that there.

The little Imp sat a small ice-filled box down right in the middle of their area, and Anni sat his things beside of it. First, he laid out a long towel across the ground, and then stabbed a large umbrella down into the sand. He did not open it yet though, and at the same time his Impish counterpart did the same thing, placing his towel right between Annihilate’s. However, his was more like a wash cloth, but that was all that the bird-sized creature needed. He pulled the wooden box between them, right under the umbrella, and he looked up at the shade happily. “I can has foodz?”

Annihilate merely gave a stout chuckle, and he nodded, “Eat. Eat,” He said merrily, and he stood up to pick up his surf board. With a mighty heavy he pushed its nose down into the ground, and set back to marvel at his nice encampment. The surfboard displayed a mural painted upon its surface of non other than the Shadovar Concordance leaders. Lady Darkness, Xoco, Annihilate and their Overseer, Vaudeux Jupiter. They all stood, arms over one another’s shoulder’s, and large smiles on their not so friendly faces. Every time he looked at it the sight made him smile intently. Suddenly, though, he heard a large crack and a chewing sound caught his attention, and he noticed his little friend had opened the wood cask, and had drawn out a fizzy beverage and a leg of ham. He munched on his meal happily sipping his drink, and Annihilate could but laugh. It seemed that he was all laughs and giggles today.

There was one last bag on the ground next to Anni’s things, and he reached down to grab it. He wore a pair of beach shorts and a button-up shirt with strange, flowery designs upon it, and quickly removed it. He pulled a bottle of strange-smelling oil from its depths, and then he tucked that shirt back down into that very bag. Anni poured some of the strange white oil into his hand, and smeared it all across his body. He made sure to cover every inch of his exposed flesh, and then he tossed the bottle on to his beach towel. He stood there for a minute enjoying the sun, but finally grabbed up his surf board, and booked it to the water’s edge.

Oh yeah… it was surf time.

Kenith watched with a slight tint of jealousy as he watched the various people on the beach enjoying themselves extensively. Kenith shut his eyes for a moment while pulling his knees to his chest. He opened them slowly, letting his gaze wander around the joyous beach with the perception of an artist.

A ship had appeared on the horizon, a ship that later released a girl into the waters. Kenith proceeded to watch the girl swim with a high degree of skill to the shore. Once she had arrived, she had proceeded to wander about before obtaining some of the wondrous treat that was ice cream. He licked his lips without noticing, that substance did look good.

Then, after loosing sight of the girl, Kenith locked onto a man moving through the crowds. He eventually made it to the band where he began to sing. Kenith couldn't really decide what to make of the song, and chose just to enjoy it for what it was.

Even with all the joy around him, eventually, sadness began to creep into Kenith. He knew he would find more pain than pleasure if he was to leave the shade, but he longed to join in on the frolicking. Out of nowhere, perhaps through a miracle, a bottle landed at Kenith's feet. However, it wasn't just any bottle. This bottle was filled with a substance completely foreign to Kenith, but perhaps it was exactly what Kenith needed. He grasped it with his surprisingly firm hands and lifted it to his eyes. "Sun Screen..." He wondered for a moment, what this 'sunscreen' could possibly be. He then noticed that a number of other people were applying this substance to their flesh. He looked back to the bottle and began to read intently. "Protection against the sun...apply over exposed skin." Kenith yanked open the bottle and poured some onto his hand. He rubbed it over the hand before extending his arm so that only his hand was in the sunlight. He sat there for a while, watching his skin for any signs of sunburn. He was amazed that none were there, and by this time he should have been coated red. He yelped in glee and held the bottle to the heavens, "This is...incredible!" In a flurry of movement: Kenith removed his shirt, coating himself completely in the miracle substance, and jumping up and down in glee.

Kenith hoped out into the sun, standing firm against its now harmless rays. "Finally! Time for fun!" He darted off down the side of the beach, kicking at any wave that lapped at his feet. He laughed along side others as they watched a sort of comedian. Kenith even tried some of the strange sport of volleyball before retiring from that due to...painful encounters with the ball. Then, he even tried some of the ice cream that he so desired to taste. He lapped it all up quickly, not getting a brain freeze like most would, but facing similar problems none the less. His fangs were throbbing from the iciness, "So-so c-c-cold!" He eventually recovered from this thankfully, and proceeded to move about.

Now Kenith found himself in the company of some like minded people, each of them discussing with interest the activities they had tried. The current topic was the oddity of volleyball. In an almost humorous manner, each of the people in the conversation had all been pegged by the ball at some point. Kenith nodded in agreement as they came to the conclusion that only those of great physical skill should even attempt the sport.

Kenith turned around to face rather attractive women as she entered their little group. Almost instantly compliments regarding the interesting dress like bottom she was wearing sprouted up, and Kenith definitely agreed. The material was very interesting to watch move and shift. But that was not what Kenith eventually looked to. Giving a slight nervous gulp, he looked her in the face. Trying his best at conversation with her proved interesting as he managed to make her actually smile. But, as she ran that hand through her hair, Kenith grew extensively nervous and he bolted.

And now, once again, Kenith found himself back under his umbrella. He had slapped himself in the face a few times over while muttering about how idiotic he felt. "I just had to run away like that... now what?" He slapped a hand to his forehead and sighed. Then he heard an all to familiar voice pipe up. "Ello there Kenny boy! Haha," Kenith looked up slowly, before giving a startled double take. "Paul? What are you doing?" The skeletal staff gave another laugh, as he was flanked by two rather interestingly proportioned women. This left Kenith in a state of shock as his mind ran over any possible ways he could conceive as to why two such women would find a talking skull on a stick attractive in the slightest. "Say Kenith, any luck on finding a chika? I have myself two fine women right here, why have you none?" He laughed again, causing Kenith's face to redden. "Oh right, I did see you with that one girl... whooowe! You were on the right path and then you ran like a headless chicken! Haha! That was funny!" Kenith walked over to the staff, grabbed it by its shaft, and hurled it as far and fast as he could. "Have a nice trip Paul!" He ended it with a hiss of frustration as he retreated back to his umbrella. The last thing Kenith saw before he shut his eyes to sleep for a while was the two women chasing after the still flying skull, a stream of swears spilling from his boney mouth.

It wasn't long before Rebecca found she had eaten her entire ice cream cone. She was a bit sad that the ice cream cone was now totally gone, for she had enjoyed it thoroughly. She sighed, though, and looked around. She wasn't really hungry anymore anyway. There was a volleyball game going on nearby. Apparently, involved people hurling a ball at each other as hard as they could while trying not to hit the net the ball kept flying over. At one point, though, things got interesting and the ball headed far from the net. It slammed into the sand not far from Rebecca and started bouncing and rolling toward her. She watched it roll past and then headed after it, though more out of curiosity than anything else. She picked it up just before it reached the crashing waves and turned it over in her hand. There were people running toward her to get the ball; she had seen them, of course, but she didn't really care just then. She was wondering what the ball was made of.

It seemed to consist of stitched leather wrapped over something hard, for her little hands pressed into it and could not make any kind of impression. Perhaps it was only too hard for her to make an impression; she was just a little girl, after all, and not very strong. The ball was heavy, too, and she had a feeling she'd get tired if she held it too much longer. Still, it was weird enough that she couldn't help but keep turning it over in her hands until someone spoke to her.

She turned around after a moment to acknowledge the person who was asking after the ball. He was tall and handsome. He had a lot of muscles and slicked-back brown hair that reached to just below the nape of his neck. He had a tall, skinny neck and a square face. He seemed nice, but she didn't think she liked him. Instead, she turned to a golden-haired woman with a nice smile and a blue bikini with pink stars all over it. She liked her. The woman smiled at her and knelt down beside her. She asked what her name was.

"Rebecca," the girl replied with a small, friendly smile of her own.

She handed the ball to the girl and asked if she could watch. She didn't really care about the game; she just wanted to watch the nice woman play. She seemed to be really friendly and Rebecca liked her bikini besides, except for the fact that it didn't have any yellow. Maybe she could have her mother make her one like that. She followed the girl over to a safe spot as the other people got back into their positions, the woman holding her hand the whole way and smiling at her, and then the woman said her name was Johanna. She said to just ask if she wanted anything, for she liked being nice to pretty little girls. That made Rebecca grin; the woman thought she was pretty. She watched Johanna as she went and played the game again with her friends.

As the game went on, gulls cried in the air far above her and a couple of them landed near Rebecca. She watched them for a bit, for they were weird-looking birds. One of them stepped into the water and started sticking its bill into the ocean. It came up a few minutes later with a large fish and flew off. Rebecca watched it fly off and then turned back to the volleyball game. The ball ended up coming to her again and she smiled innocently as she politely handed it back to a grinning Johanna. Rebecca really liked Johanna. She smiled a lot. As she was watching the woman, though, something else drew her attention briefly.

Some guy was stripping off all of his clothes and getting all kinds of attention for it. Some of the women were cat-calling to him, others were whistling, and still others were practically begging him to come over and play with them. She had only one thought on her mind in reference to the man.

Ewwwwwwwwww! Boys! Boys are gross!

Any adult probably would have laughed at her thought, but other little girls probably would have just agreed with the sentiment whole-heartedly. She turned back to the volleyball game, though, just as Johanna spiked the ball and scored a winning point for her team. They cheered and started a new game. Johanna was serving to start the new game.

The beach. Possibly Nathaniel's favourite place to be. Rolling waters that stretched beyond the horizon and whispered words of encouragement to those not already playing in its depths, the calls of seabirds overhead cascading across the lands. Farther down there were no doubt docks, so that ships could set down for a time. Such a perfect, welcoming place to be.

...No. Not really. The old warrior preferred the forestry over this place! The water churned his stomach, and the birds were a little too obnoxious for his tastes. Then there was the matter of people frolicking through the sand (sand which, more likely than not, was infested with demonic crabs and serrated skeletons), and it soured his mood that much more.

Why in the blessed name of the Maias had he come here, then?

He'd been ordered. Nathaniel, suffering from a cold, had foolishly sought the advice of someone "smarter" than him. Initially he'd hoped to find that charming damsel Anika, but of course he'd been stuck with some old hag. She'd claimed to know why he'd sought her out -- he'd been unimpressed, as the snorkling, nasally puffs of breath and scrunching of his eyes didn't do much to hide the fact he was sick.

After a long and boring tale (he couldn't recall even the most base of details; his entire time was spent either nodding off or giving 'mhm's) she'd sent him off with some sort of flask and told him he needed fresh air. "Not that dirty air," The dark-haired male said to none but the gulls above, imitating the scratchy voice, "You go to beach. Go to Eastern Coast. It nice there. Very nice air!"

Nathaniel might have laughed bitterly at the irony of being sent where he'd been defeated not so long a time ago. But he wasn't in the right frame of mind to be laughing, no matter how false of one it'd be. Instead he reclined on his carefully laid out jacket, keeping a short distance from the others and glancing over occasionally. The drink in the flask was absolutely foul, and he didn't doubt the woman had spat in it in retribution for ignoring her borish tale.

Sighing, he tentively took another sip of the concoction, hunching over it like some great beast. "Nice air my sword." Even without the imitation his voice sounded hoarse, though the distinct rattle of it made it less pronounced. Why couldn't he have been a summer child, like his eldest? Gabriel never received these infernal colds on the first days of spring!

Grumpily he picked up a smooth stone nearby, launching it into the water. It skipped once, then was caught by a slimy, partially transparent hand. It emerged to the elbow, revealing its thin, boney structure. Quickly it dropped the rock, pointing a bulged finger Nathaniel's way. The dark haired male glared at it, watching as the thing beckoned him over. He threw another rock at it, only for it to disperse.

Glancing around, he took in the lack of awareness others had paid it. Why would they? They probably love the water. Stupid beach. Stupid woman. Nathaniel spared his drink another sip, coughing bitterly at the end of it. Stupid weather!

POP!!!! The sound signified a ferocious smack of the brown, leather covered 'volleyball.' It sailed over the net with much speed before sending up a cloud of sand with a heavy impact.

"Match Point!"

An amused voice piped over the music followed by a sharp smack of hands. Will and his partner were victorious and in accordance with their triumph, the shirtless duo celebrated.

"Hah! Better luck next time! Maybe if your mother wasn't a stupid greenskin, you'd blimey know to hit the ball over the net!"

Arrogantly, the soldier pranced away from the net and towards the crowd with the intent of issuing a challenge to any and all who would have one, the throng moving aside to admit his heavily/ scarred flesh


"Does anyone here think they'll fare any better than those two oafs? "

Will nodded his head towards the defeated opposition as if nobody there actually knew who he referred to.

"Because I don't think any of ya will! Ten crowns to anyone who finds themselves triumphant at the end!"

A haughty smirk filled his unshaven face, no doubt in his mind that someone would seek to dethrone such an arrogant man.

(OOC: Sorry about how long it took em to post and the lack of substance here, but I'm being a lazy bum ^_^)

Winter had a good mind to get some sleep. She had nothing better to do right about now and she barely ever got any sleep anyway, however even someone like her had to take a nap every now and again, she wasn't a vampire after all. She lay back under the umbrella and rested her hands behind her head, closing her eyes and settling down for what she planned to be an uneventful snooze. Of course in times like this things never really went as planned. Winter had barely had her eyes closed a few minutes when she knew that something was afoot. She cracked one eye open and saw her demi-alloy dragon companion staring down at her.

"Sleepy?" She asked.
"No," Winter replied, not wishing to appear lazy.
"Bored?"
"Not that either," Winter said "What do you want, Shari?"
Shari sat back in the sand and threw her head back, looking as though she was pondering her answer, however Winter knew she was making a very vain attempt to try and get on her nerves.

"Well you see," Shari said "I've been a bit bored lately, and you're not doing anything useful..."
"Get to the point,"
"There's a volleyball game and I want in," Shari said quickly.
"Volleyball?"
Shari nodded: "Two teams hit a ball over a big net to try and get it to land in the opposite team's area," she explained.
"Sounds painful," Winter said "Why do you need me anyway."
"Well I need a teammate, don't I?" Shari said.

Winter heaved a sigh but followed Shari to the strange erect net over near the shore. It almost burned her skin to walk right under the sun's rays and she could feel her bare feet blistering as they touched the hot sand beneath her. She wasn't cut out for this weather or environment and so had good reason to object to coming, however she'd been dragged along anyway and it looked as though she were about to be dragged into something else she wasn't too keen on.

"Ten crowns to anyone who finds themselves triumphant at the end!"

Shari waved over at them cheerily, but she had a look of cruel confidence on her face.
Wait, she's not planning on cheating is she? Winter thought Actually, I barely even know the rules to this game, so how am I going to tell what's cheating and what's not?
"We're up next," Shari said, without giving Winter a chance to intervene.
I really need to stop letting her talk me into things, Winter thought as a sigh escaped her mouth.