The Wonders Never Cease

Approaching the Veiled Shrine it would become clear that Aeon, or the IF, was in a bit of a playful mood today. For the first time the interior wouldn't be immediately visible as it was completely enclosed by a circular wall with a singular dark entrance. Waiting outside, dancing on happy hooves, was an aquatic pony of a Hippocampi.

Ooh, what's inside? She glanced towards the approaching group and brightened. Great! Someone to be my Adventure Buddy! Now we can find out together.

It would turn out to be quite a curious thing as past the darkened entrance would be a maze lit by beautiful soft blue-purple light and drifting star-like motes. Through the twists and turns they'd be met by a Spirit Familiar, a Shore Zaithand, and a Dagger Meowlure before they reached the center where not only the circular pool but a table of treats for those that wanted and could partake as well as floating bubbles.

And when they finally departed - a short stroll down a hallway rather than wandering back through - it would be as a new family.

Bond!
Always Rainbows and Sunshine Male Spirit Familiar,
Good Not Cat! Female Shore Zaithand,
Daggers are not Just for Melee Fighting Male Dagger Meowlure, Elmar, 
and The Best Adventure Buddy Female Riverine Hippocampi to Bonnet!


Always Rainbows and Sunshine Male Spirit Familiar

Mindspeech: Color #8989ee

Familiars are known to Bond to those whose spirits reflect upon their own in some way. As Bonnet is optimistic and energetic so to is Always Rainbows. But he is cheer taken to the extreme. Always Rainbows sees the world through an eternal set of rose colored glasses. It's not that he's determined to always look for the bright side; it's more that the concept of disaster and tragedy just doesn't really click in his head. If anyone tries to explain about a flood or building collapse or someone being sick Always Rainbows will either stare at you with a blank expression in his eyes and a sweet smile or look extremely confused as he tries to comprehend the words. Might as well be speaking elvish for all he understands! The only sad event he understands is hearing of death - that news leaves Always Rainbows utterly devastated for hours even if he doesn't know the person. Obviously this means Always Rainbows is prone to being blind to danger; best thing to do when trouble looms is to tell them to okay hide and seek in the Weyr or other safe place and go deal with whatever the trouble is before going to find him.

Another thing that cannot be understated is how absolutely cute Always Rainbows is in his final form. He's a small Spirit, looking like a black-nosed Valinois lamb. Quite literally lamb, as he stands barely two feet tall at the shoulder. His face is the proper black color from which his amethyst eyes gleam. His woolly body, however, is a soft, fluffy mass of multicolored patches that some swear is never the same each time they see him. As of this wasn't enough whimsy Always Rainbows has a pair of antenna on his head between his lamb ears; they go up straight them curl towards the front in a spiral that bops when he walks.

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Good Not Cat! Female Shore Zaithand

Mindspeech: Bold #85ced1

Curiosity killed the cat, a common saying (even if the reported second part if oft forgotten). It's also a word of caution given to Good Not Cat quite frequently, to which she replies that 'Good not cat!' Granted, if she were in fact a cat she'd be on borrowed lives by all the close calls she's had in her lifetime. Her nigh insatiable curiosity has put her in more close shaves than some Zaithandi have teeth or so it seems! From running into dangerous and aggressive creatures' lairs to rockslides and once even being trapped underwater (which, of course, wasn't all that dangerous given she's a literal water-panther but still!), she's experienced it all. Granted this has given Good Not Cat a strong survivability along with confidence to add to her friendly personality. She has quite a bag of tricks to pull when things get rough to get out of trouble and pull everyone else along with her. Bonnet will always be finding adventure whether it's intended or not with Good Not Cat at her side! (Even if they weren't looking for adventure at the start.) Perhaps Good Not Cat is a bit luckier than might be thought?

Good Not Cat is in form much like any other Zaithand; panther-like body, large webbed paws, slightly curving horn on her brow and triple row of teeth in her mouth. But as Shores are known her coloration is what makes her stand out. She is rich, royal purple all over with the markings of a Silver Tabby in bright, berry red, including stripes on her face that frame her sea blue eyes.

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Daggers are not Just for Melee Fighting Male Dagger Meowlure, Elmar

Mindspeech: Italics #0300e9

From the time that Elmar was a young Mewlin everyone in his Pace knew that he was one to watch. Not for being a progeny or anything, but because he was too clever for his own good! Elmar was one who was always looking for a way to creatively avoid breaking the rules, and always in a way that turned things into a game. Have to train basic maneuvers that are a foundation for all bladework? He turned it into a dance. Hunting and foraging became a competition. Even when he was mastering his beloved daggers he was being unorthodox. Though he's good when up close and personal his preferred way to use them is as a thrown weapon. Where most Daggers only keep one or two on their person Elmar makes it a point to carry a dagger in every available way he can upon his furry self. He has a bandolier lined with them, one in each boot, two in belt sheaths on each hip, and a final one tucked away concealed in a bracer he wears on his right forelimb as a hidden surprise for emergencies which is also the one he was given with his boots and is his prize dagger. He can also juggle skillfully, sending the dangerously sharp weapons flipping end over end from hand to hand with scarcely a care in the world for all he'll chat and dance around in the process. He likes to use these antics to help defuse tense situations - if those in arguments are chuckling at his tricks then they can't be mad at one another, right? Right! And if things come to blows a flick of the wrist sets his blades through the air.

Elmar stands a neat 15 inches tall in his stylish, fur-lined boots. His short fur is gray like a Rusian blue cat which accents his vivid green eyes, sparkling with amusement. Most of his daggers are simple affairs, easily replaced should they be lost, but the two at his hips are his prized pair and the ones he was given along with said boots. Matching one another, they are ornate daggers with engraving on the blade, metalwork on the crossguard, haft, and pommel, and sheathe which also frames three round sapphires.

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The Best Adventure Buddy Female Riverine Hippocampi

Mindspeech: Italics #ec90f2

From the moment she was born, her family knew that Adventure Buddy was going to be a tail-full to keep an eye on. As soon as she could swim well enough on her own she was off, zipping here and there to see what was that, what made that noise, and where did that lead. Her mother swam herself ragged trying to keep up, or more often than not simply find her overly curious offspring and pull her, sometimes quite literally by the tail, out of whatever she'd gotten herself into. No amount of persuasion or lectures about being more careful seemed to sink in for more time than it took for her to see the next shiny thing. Finally her mother took a new tactic: she told her daughter than she would permit her to go off on these larks if she would have an adventure buddy with her. Initially, this would be an adult member of her family, then an older sibling as she grew older and more capable of taking care of herself, and finally peers her own age. But that was all underwater. Now as an adult she's discovered the surface and all its new, wondrous glory. All she needs is a new 'adventure buddy' to explore it all with as her mother's sole rule has remained in her mind. How happy that she's found Bonnet! Adventure Buddy is more than happy to carry her new friend wherever they might want to go and see everything. Let's go!

Adventure Buddy has the Riverine's classic chubby, small physique. Like some Hippocampi she's mostly equine with a few aquatic features here and there though this doesn't hinder her swimming a bit. Her equine features resembles a pony more than a horse and she is a uniform mud gray that shimmers iridescent in the sunlight. Her four legs are short, her face adorably blunt, and the hairs that pass for her mane sticks up about four inches along her neck rather than lays flat. Fins grace the back of each lower leg, along her jawline, and her ears are finned rather than horse; these fins are tipped in a line of black. Her tail is clearly fishy, long and fleshy like a dolphins with a tiny secret: on the underside of the fin are irregular white splotches that can identify her from quite a distance. Adventure Buddy's violet eyes always shine with anticipation.