"Family" Reunion

[Kender Bard]

By the time they reached the farmlands of Anarlina, dusk had begun to fall and one particularly large barn was being lit up by lanterns as people streamed towards it carrying food, beverages, or the hand of their sweetheart. Within, the instruments of the commoner - fiddles, wash bin drums, single string bases, harmonicas - were creating a wonderful cacophony that was slowly gaining coherency as the individual players fell into their rhythms and a commonly agreed upon song. A buffet was set out filled with the fruits of the autumn harvest and the hard work of many farmer's wives and daughters.

Bales of hay served as seating for many young, sprightly youths while the proper benches and seats were rapidly filling up as most people opted to enjoy a hearty dinner before starting the festivities. The younger children took this opportunity to monopolize the barn floor for dancing amongst themselves, more like frolicking than any orderly steps.

Off in a corner, a few tables were being prepared for games of dice and cards amongst the older men. The young girls all flocked together in a tight little group to nibble at dinner but mostly to talk, giggle, and proudly declare who was going to be dancing with whom tonight.

"Everything seems so... alive," Mina breathed in wonderment. "It's so sweet and lovely."

"Ahh welcome strangers!" one keen eyed elder observed, rising up with the aid of a stick and hobbling over. "Are you folks from the city then?"

[Darastrix]

"Aye, in a sense," Zack said with a smile. "I live in the city. My friends here just arrived from Talen'sul. The golden boy here is Nathan, and his lovely companion is Mina."

"I'm still older than you," Nathan said with a slight roll of his eyes.

"And I'm Zack," the singer finished with a grin, ignoring Nathan.

[Kender Bard]

"Well welcome to our humble little get together," the elder one declared, gesturing towards the bench. "Feel free to help yourself. We've had an amazing harvest, thanks to our farmers. It didn't look like it was going to be easy to coax good crops out of this land but, well, we certainly managed."

Mina smiled and thanked the old man, wandering over to the tables of food to get some dinner.

Three of the children, younger than those out dancing, ran up to the two winged bards, giggling. One, a young girl, tried to hide behind Zack and one of the little boys behind Nathan. The third chased them all around the two men, while the two not 'it' begged the older men to help them get away, laughing gaily.

"I'm always it," the second boy complained. The girl hiding behind Zack stuck her tongue out at him.

[Darastrix]

Nathan, not altogether used to young children, was at a loss, just watching the kids run around him.

Zack chuckled at his friend. "You're going to make yourself dizzy doing that," he said as he turned to scoop the girl into his arms. "Do I hear a damsel in distress?"

[Kender Bard]

"Yes!" She squealed, giggling happily at being picked up.

Mina wandered over, setting her plate down and watching in amusement. The little boy behind Nathan took refuge behind her now, avoiding being tagged. She giggled and ruffled his hair. "What's your name, little guy?"

"John!" he giggled and clung to her skirt. "Save me from being it!"

"No help me tag him!" the other boy pleaded. The girl just enjoyed being in a high refuge. Mina solved the dilemma by tickling both and the boys ran off together, their game momentarily forgotten as they fled.

Grinning, she turned her wiggling fingers to the girl, who squirmed in Zack's arms.

"Save me!" she laughed.

[Darastrix]

"Hmm...I seem to have a problem here," Zack mused, grinning back at Mina. "See, I always try to do what a lady wants, and youuuuu...." He spun around once on his heel. "Want me to save you, but sheeeee...." Zack spun again. "Wants to tickle you."

Nathan laughed, watching. Zack always seemed to have so much fun with children. "You can still do both, you know."

Zack grinned widely at the girl in his arms. "He's right! I'll save you from Mina and tickle you myself!" he said, lightly wiggling his fingers against her side.

[Kender Bard]

The girl's laughter rang out happily as she writhed and squirm, trying to free herself. "No no no no!"

Mina watched in delight, murmuring to Nathan, "He's just a sweet man isn't he?"

The girl caught sight of her mother in the crowd and finally managed to squirm free, darting over to her with giggles. Mina took that as a cue to sit and begin eating, though now the children were being shooed away in order to make room for the younger teens who wished to dance. Mina watched them speculatively as she ate, remarking, "I hope I don't slow you down in a dance, Nathan."

[Darastrix]

"Don't worry about it. It's for fun, not a polished performance," Nathan said as Zack went to grab some mugs of apple cider. "In a setting like this, I don't think anyone really worries about how well they're dancing. I take it you like our group's fifth member?" he asked, referring to Zack.

[Kender Bard]

"Very much," Mina laughed. She looked at him thoughtfully, remarking, "He has an aura around him that is almost.. intoxicating? It's as though you want to smile and be merry when he is. Is he always like that?"

[Darastrix]

"For as long as I've known him," Nathan said, nodding. "He loves people in general, adores children, and loves making the people around him happy. Zack can be a little overwhelming sometimes, but after spending so much time with Zira, he got good about toning his personality down a bit when he needed to."

[Kender Bard]

"I take it you've missed him?" Mina asked, finishing her meal. A thought occurred to her. "Do you miss them all? I mean, I don't know - did you ever all live together at the same time? Like a family?"

[Darastrix]

"I do consider them family, but we never all lived together at once. Eril is like an older brother, and Zack and Uriel are my younger brothers. Duma's sometimes a brother, sometimes an uncle. I shared a home with Eril for a while before managing to get a place of my own, and I was basically doing the same for Zack, though it was really more of a place for him to keep his things than a place to live."

"Hey, I slept there," Zack said, setting the mugs down. "Sometimes."

Nathan chuckled. "We did have plenty of get-togethers, though. Usually to play music, or dance, in my case."

"And sometimes we were called together to be played," Zack added with a wink, touching his collar lightly.

[Kender Bard]

Mina blushed furiously at his suggestion. Though she had acquired a bit more of an open mind on the subject, she was still painfully shy to talk about it and have it mentioned in such an offhand manner. Clearing her throat, she added quaintly, "It must have been lovely. How often do these get togethers happen?"

[Darastrix]

"We tried to do them at least once a week if we could," Nathan said, trusting Zack to drop the other subject at how red Mina had gotten. "It was easier before Zack and Uriel came along."

Zack nodded, taking a drink. "Guild bards are a busy lot, as I'm sure you know by now. Getting a group of five together on any given night can be a challenge when everyone's mostly soloists. Well, four, really. Since Duma was a private hire, he didn't have to worry about scheduling like the rest of us."

[Kender Bard]

"That's too bad," Mina said. "And with you out here, I imagine that makes things even harder." She sipped the cider and brightened up. "But at least we can all try to have some fun together, aye? Zack, what is your specialty as a bard again?"