[Video] w/optional [Action] In Memorandum...

[smallspot]

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a good day!

[Diarmuid waves excitedly at the screen for a moment, before having to move quickly to catch the strange little animal that starts to slide out of his lap.]

Sorry about that, Lir. I guess I waved too hard...

[The creature makes a soft burbling sound and blows a bubble at Diarmuid. The bubble bumps against the boy's nose and breaks causing him to giggle. He then turns his attention back to the terminal.]

Is there anyone here who remembers me talking about wanting to have a ceremony to celebrate all of our friends who have been sent away? I would like to have it next month by the river. There should be food and maybe even some activities, since the point is to have fun remembering our friends instead of being sad. At the end, I want to put candles out on the river floating in boats to send our wishes for our friends to them!

Will you guys help me out? Please? Lets do something nice for all the people who aren't here anymore! You don't need to have lost someone to come or help either. We're all friends here, right?

[Action]

[A few hours after making his request for help, Diarmuid can be found down by the river running up and down it looking for the best spot to have the ceremony--maybe 'festival' would be a better word--at. Lir bobs in the river following along with him the best he can. Every so often, Diarmuid stops and looks around, making gestures and talking to Lir as he tries to picture where everything will go if this is the place he picks.

He certainly won't mind if anyone stops to talk to him about the festival. After all, he's still trying to work everything out...]

Comments

[smallspot]

[Diarmuid's expression saddens when he hears her brother isn't here. He kind of thought it, but it's still sad to have confirmation. However, he smiles after a moment, not wanting to linger on something that will make them sad.

He knows too well what it is like to be separated from his family. He's been here a year, after all.]

What is your name, if his is Wily-Kat? My name is Diarmuid! I know it's not the same, but if you want, my brother and I can be your family until you go back. We kids should look out for each other!

And we should really share stories! I want to hear all about the things you just mentioned. A city in the clouds? That sounds so pretty...

[When she starts playing, Diarmuid can't help but watch and listen in wide-eyed wonder. He's never heard anything like that before. It's kind of like pipe music, but not really.]

That was beautiful...

[alley_kit]

[Kit knows it too. Though it's especially hard here, with Kat. He's her twin. They've never been apart; not like this. And though she's been putting on a brave face, she's honestly not sure what to do without him.]

Mine's Wily-Kit. But everybody just calls me Kit. [pause.... smile] I'd like that. Thanks.

And yeah, it was pretty. But the birds who lived there weren't very nice.

[Once finished with her playing, Kit smiles.]

It's our mother's lullaby. I'd play the happier version that Aburn taught me, but that's longer, and it sounds better if there are more people playing with you.

[smallspot]

Okay, Kit! Or should I call you Lady Kit to be polite? Father says it's a way to show respect!

[And speaking of his father...]

Mother and Father are going to show me how to play a harp when I get bigger. Do you have harps where you are from? What other kinds of instruments are there? Did your mother teach you any other songs?

[Twenty questions mode, activated!]

[alley_kit]

[giggles] Nah, just Kit's fine. I'm not a Lady or anything fancy like that.

And yeah, there are harps, but I dunno anybody who has one. There's all kinds of instruments like drums and horns and stringed instruments too.

And not many other songs. Just some Rammastide carols and a few nursery songs, but those you usually sing, not play. Besides, I haven't really practiced them that much, so it'd be a little while before I could play you any.

[smallspot]

What is Ram-mas-tide?

[That is the one thing out of all the things she says that Diarmuid doesn't quite follow.]

Now I wonder if there is a music store in the 3rd Distract. That is the district with all the stores in it! We should go there sometime. There is so much to see!

Aside from missing your family, what do you think of the city so far?

[alley_kit]

Rammastide is a holiday. It's supposed to be celebrating when Mumm-Ra was beaten for the first time, setting all the animal tribes of Third Earth free. It's a fun holiday, even if Lion-O found out we didn't really have the story right.There's a big feast, and people sing songs, tell stories, and give each other presents. That's not til early winter, though.

There might be? I didn't look when I was there; I was just getting food and other stuff I needed.

I like it OK. The people here're nice, and it's nice to note have to be running and fighting all the time. I've never had my own room before, never mind a whole apartment, and its nice to not have to worry about how you're gonna get food.

[smallspot]

Oh!

[Recognition flashes in his eyes.]

That kind of sounds like Yule or people call it Christmas here! I don't think any bad guy was defeated, but we do get together to celebrate. There is a man named Santa who gives presents and there are Secret Santas who do the same! It's fun to give others presents in secret. They are always so surprised and happy!

I am glad you like it here. I do too even if I miss home sometimes. The people here are really nice and they take good care of us. That is why I don't mind helping them even if others sometimes say it's wrong they took us without asking first.

[alley_kit]

Huh... It does sound like that yeah, except there's no Santas, secret or otherwise. Its just friends and family giving each other presents. I mean, I guess you could try and keep it secret, but the only ones that were ever around to do it for me were my parents, so...

[She shrugged. That kinda eliminated any element of secrecy there might have been.]

Yeah. They really do need our help. And they said they'd send a message back to my brother and my friends so they wouldn't worry.

[smallspot]

Yule is what we call it back home, but we don't have any Santas either. That is something I only learned about when I came here.

[He seems to ponder something for a moment before nodding.]

Your holiday sounds closer to mine than the one that we celebrate here. We hang up mistletoe to keep bad spirits away and then we celebrate the dark leaving and the light coming back. Days stop getting shorter and start getting longer again!

[alley_kit]

I like that idea. Celebrating light coming back, I mean.

I dunno what mistletoe is, but sometimes we hang up bunches of herbs and things that smell nice or look pretty and we make fruitbread. It's really tasty and sharing it is supposed to be lucky, especially around Rammastide.

[smallspot]

Mistletoe is a plant! It has green leaves and red berries. We hang it up in bunches just like you hang up the herbs! It doesn't really smell. Like I said, we use it to keep bad spirits away!

[The boy falls thoughtful again as her description of the fruitbread and its purpose reminds him of something.]

That sounds like Barmbrack! It is bread that little items are baked into and the one you get tells your fortune for the coming year! But we do that at Samhain not Yule.

[alley_kit]

Oh, OK. They sound like pickleberries. That's what we always used in our fruitbread cause that was just what was around that time of year.

Fruitbread doesn't have things in it, though. [pause] Well, I mean it has things like fruit and honey and spices in it, but it doesn't have things you can't eat.

[smallspot]

We don't really eat mistletoe in things. It's a medicine! A really pretty medicine!

[That also gets hung up to keep bad spirits away. All in all, a very protective plant.]

That bread sounds really good. I love honey, so if there is honey in it, it has to be good!

[So biased is this one...]

[alley_kit]

Ah, OK. We use some the herbs as medicine too, but some of the others are for cooking. Some can be used for both, depending what part of the plant you use.

[Living on a small farm in the boonies, it was important to know what plants might be helpful... or tasty.]

Yeah honey is the best part! And it balances out the prickleberries, which are really tart on their own.

[smallspot]

[Diarmuid nods.]

Herbs have a lot of different uses. They are really neat!

I think that I want to have my festival around the 25th of next month. Keep that date free, okay? I really want you to come and play your flupe for us!

[alley_kit]

I will! Just call me on this thing again when it's time to get started, OK?

[smallspot]

I will! Make sure you contact me if you have any questions, okay?

[Diarmuid waves at her happily.]

It was good to meet you!

And wrapped, unless you want to reply one more time! :3

[alley_kit]

OK.

It was nice meeting you too!