[Thread] - Tanabata Festival (OPEN! &hearts)

[honoo_no_hime]

Characters: OPEN! come one come all
Where: a pathway in the park
When: shortly after the pendant plot, during Tanabata
Summary: Mars has organized a small festival (adapted for Econtra) with:
&hearts preparations/decorating
&hearts fortune-telling
&hearts mingling
&hearts a cook-out
Notes: Please feel free to join the created subthreads singly or

Comments

Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

The path winding through the park was a quiet flurry of activity, organized chaos as the preparations for the festival moved forward. The brighter air spread in visible progression, rolling out from the start of the path like a carpet unfurling. The paper lanterns, streamers and message-banners lent touches of color and much-needed cheer as they were hung from the trees' branches.

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

Mars was hanging a lantern when she saw Kaylee. She offered the other girl a polite nod, kindled the light with her own fire, and then came to greet the arrival more politely.

"Thank you for helping," she said. It was, she admitted quietly to herself, a nicely familiar situation. Often at home at the shrine, there'd been so much work to be done that she'd recruited her friends. At festival times, they'd been especially helpful -- with the possible exception of Usagi who even back then had tended to arrive late, or forget, or manage to clumsily knock over whatever had just been finished. There was an internal grin Mars couldn't help.

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

Kaylee smiled as she turned toward the other girl. Beamed, really, all bright cheer and easy warmth. "Ain't no trouble to help," she replied. "Truth to say, I'm just happy to pitch in with anythin' as might put a few more smiles on folks' faces 'round here. An' this seems like it'll be just the thing, too. It's a real good idea you have here."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

"It's not exactly my idea," Mars admitted. "It just happened to be now."

Had it been Kaylee? She couldn't recall now, but Mars thought it had been. Someone had asked about the last festival people had attended, and it had sparked her to realize that Tanabata was soon - and that it was likely to be overlooked, forgotten. It shouldn't be. Traditions were important. If this was a version of Earth, as she fully believed it was, those same traditions were buried somewhere in its past.

Jadeite had ridiculed her somewhat for this, viewing it as letting her true duties and mission take second place, but it wasn't so. This was something people still needed. The ability to have a peaceful festival and share an evening together was what she fought to protect for the people of Earth.

"It's a yearly festival in Japan, in my world."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

"Well, you're the one thought of celebratin' it here, an' makin' sure other folk could, too. So that part is, at least." Kaylee cast a thoughtful glance over the trees. "Don't think that's a common thing 'round here, either."

She nodded, canting her head slightly as she thought back. "You said a little about it, when we first talked. So does that mean you're from Earth, then? Your Earth, I mean, not this one. Don't think anyone 'round here is from this one, 'least not as far as I've heard."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

Mars shook her head. "I'm not from Earth at all," she told the other girl. "I was born on Mars. That's where my name comes from. I am Sailormars. But that past ended, and we were reborn on Earth. So in a way, I still am." It was an odd story, but not compared to some of what Mars had already heard in Econtra.

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

Kaylee looked momentarily puzzled at that, as her mind veered from its usual grounded practicality toward matters that dwelt more in the realm of the spiritual. It wasn't that she was a skeptic, rather she simply didn't typically consider such things. "So...like reincarnation, sort of? I know some folk in my 'Verse believe in that. But you remember who you were before?"

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

"Yes, it's called a past life. All of us who were brought into this life have started to remember now." I hate the past life. Like or hate, accept or reject, all of them had to come to terms with it for themselves, decide their paths and make their choices now that they had remembered.

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

"Huh. That'd have to be kinda strange. Havin' memories that aren't yours, I mean. Or, well, I guess they would be, but not the you you are now?" It was nearly enough to make Kaylee's eyes cross thinking about it, and she decided after a few seconds that a lighter topic was in order. "So do you organize lots of festivals when you're back in your world, too? Seems like you got some experience there."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

"It's not exactly like that," Mars tried to explain. "I remember all of it. The others awoke in this life without those memories, but they're getting them back. It's probably stranger for them. Most humans don't have past lives like that."

She, too, was glad to go on to a different subject. "I was a priestess. A lot of the festivals and fairs are related to Shinto holidays or rites. So there was always a lot for us to do when it was time for them." Usually, that 'a lot to do' had been confined to preparations at the shrine itself, but it hadn't been unheard-of for her to take part in organizing school festivals, either.

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

"Well, that makes sense," Kaylee replied, in regards to the festival duties. "Still, I hope you got some time to have fun, too. In between havin' to take care of the rites an' all, I mean."

She grinned, amused and just a touch rueful. "I know all the celebrations back home, any sort of order just sort of vanished as it got near midnight, an' anyone as wasn't bein' festive just sorta got...dragged in."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

"I will," Mars said. "I'm also doing the fortune-telling booth. It reminds me of home, here, I guess."

She had also seen fortunes for a few of the people she'd met in Econtra so far, and had no difficulty over the idea of doing it for strangers. Many of her customers at the shrine were strangers, and only a few were ones she had known growing up.

"I should set it up now," she excused herself. "Will it be alright here?"

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

"Should be, yep!" Kaylee assured brightly. "Good luck with the fortune tellin'. ...Do you say good luck for that?" Her brow creased slightly, expression turned puzzled once more, though this time her thoughts had taken off down a slightly more frivolous, if no less fascinating, path.

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[invisible_trick]

Espio, having only really remembered the festival he'd heard of on the messengers, actually felt a bit bad for not helping out, especially when he'd seen all the effort that had been put into it. He'd actually only remembered when he'd seen the colours.

He looked around for someone who looked as though they were helping with the decorations, but without much luck, he approached the nearest person. "Do you know if help's still needed putting things up? I'm kinda... late on that."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[machines_talk]

Kaylee looked up first, out of sheer force of habit, before looking down to spot Espio. "Yep, it sure is!" she replied brightly. "Just gimme a sec to get this settled..." She turned back to secure the lantern she'd been hanging, then dropped her hands to her side and turned to face Espio fully. "There! Like I was sayin', it ain't late at all. We're still needin' some help gettin' everything set up proper."

Re: Decorating [subthread]

[honoo_no_hime]

Mars spotted the chameleon almost immediately. She didn't reflect on the irony of that thought. She'd been in the middle of setting up a table, but paused in her efforts to answer him.

"We're not done, if you want to help." There was a slight smile. "It's starting to look better, though." A glance around confirmed both statements. There were still lanterns sitting on tables, waiting to be hung. Chairs lay on the ground instead of sitting in their places.