04-26-2009, 07:17 AM
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| http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... /raven.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: bottom; border:1px solid black;"> Jump in at any given time if you missed the first time around  A lump of fur very familiar to him came darting out of the vegetation bordering the area, a single flower in her mouth. Why she had picked it he did not know, but she wasn't the first little girl to be deeply fascinated by the things. Chuckling, he gave in to her request about "flying", and picked the girl up to rest between his arm and hip, and the second she sat there he took the chance to poke her tummy just once - he knew very well how ticklish she was! Quickly, she was growing to be one of his clear favorites of the pack pups, but it was likely because she was the only one he'd encountered on his own. Smiling at her, he whispered in his ear, just as his eyes saw the form of Ember approaching. But just a little while, ok? Dawali has to do important stuff, but you can watch if you want. The red wolf smiled in return of her casual greeting, and could not help but to have to clear his throat, a little uncomfortable, when she mentioned his outfit. Her own was, in fact, quite nice as well, although he never knew how to say such things to women. Pulling on his shirt with the one hand not holding Noir, he blurted out something similar about her own dress, quite embarrassed, and was then distracted by a series of members approaching. There came Catherine, and Mahlouk, and soon Oceane was walking at the base of his feet, telling Noir to not be a baby. Again the male whispered to the girl as he put her down to her sister, and now her brother, too, which had just come. Sit still with your siblings now, ok? Be a good girl for Dawali. Ruffling the heads of both the other kids, he mumbled that they would all sit put as good kids until their mother arrived (she was likely just late, perhaps with the last of the children), because the events would have to begin now that the numbers were increasing. Others were also missing, but they would just have to come late, it didn't really matter, as everything would last the rest of the evening. Clearing his throat, the male took some steps away from the children, and closer to the fire, as if the distance between them and him would create an aura of formality. In the light his red furs shone like fire itself, his eyes sparkling in the midst, like gold. My family! We've all come here to celebrate the end of winter, the beginning of new life and a more comfortable season to live in. The children in our midst is the proof of our fortune - we lost no family members during the winter, instead we gained four. It is them we celebrate, for they are the symbol of everything we live for. Who will take our duties when we are too old and weak to do them? Who is it the life we have relies on? It is the young - and spring is the season of the young. Thus, we celebrate the spring, and we bless this season with whatever means we have, hoping that good fortunes will follow us always, so that we may thrive each spring as nature does all around us. His voice was strong and firm as he spoke, looking at the children for whom this ceremony was created. Deftly, Dawali turned for a moment, and reached out for the little wrapped package on top of the pile of meat. This is wapiti tongue, and our sacred herbs. The tongue is the more delicate part of our prey, the more valuable, and it is this we will offer to the great fire. Along with it, we give some of our herbs that also survived the winter, in our storage rooms. Everyone, come to the fire and breathe in the fumes of our sacrifice, because it is our blessing, and a sign of our dedication. The package was thrown onto the fire, and immediately it fizzled and burned, because the tongue was fresh, not dried like almost all other meat they had. It was Catherine's merit that they even had one - she was the one who had given them the opportunity. Closing in on the fire and the fumes that now stood from the fire, Dawali breathed in deeply, but only once. He knew the effects of tobacco, but he wanted the others to experience it without warning. It was a wholly new spiritual experience that had come for most of them, and he would not dictate how it should be. He sincerely hoped none of it scared them off, because likely it was very strange to them, but he trusted them to be able to see the symbolism in all that he did. Spirituality would come to them as well, in time, or so he thought. |