Shella, Main Town Square.
For Amy Ollmhór of the Tribe of Dundalk, IT-Specialist, Model, Actress and Air Race Pilot, there was no feeling more special then to return to her Hometown, to Lovely Shalla, the Town in the Cliffs - and especially on this day.
Today, Selkie especially in the Free Lands and in the whole wide world in general, celebrated the Harvest, which hopefully went well, the end of summer and the Day of the Autumn Equinox. Storm Season would soon begin, but still...
She grinned. So many people, and the festival itself hasn't even started yet!
Many of them had most likely followed the invitation of Mistress Cathlong, who invited every- and anybody, who wanted to celebrate the festival, see the Fletching Cup and the Guard Cup, as well as help raise money for the Cabhair Group's Efforts for the education of Children in Warzones.
The harbour of Shella, both the Inner and the Outer ones, were overflowing, as did the Seaplane Port. Amy had spotted the Colm, the Cineál, the Aurelia... and quite a lot of foreign vessels as well, in addition to the local fishing boats and the fisheries research vessel Trosc.
And Shella itself had put out all stops.
Used to being a tourist town, the little town on its own little island had begun to erct booths and small stages for artists, as well as a large central stage here on the Main Town Square, every larger inn beginning to light the fires for grilling (fire extinguishers being present in a more then sufficient number), many shops setting themselves up for a good and long day.
And that was not even mentioning the Upper Town and their efforts for the Cups!
One could spot many rather famous faces around these parts while browsing.
Of course, Amy was not here for dilly-dallying, she had a job to do: The IT-Specialist was setting up the wiring for the live-stream from the Central Stage, as some very famous people and bands would be playing later, coordinating everything with radio and TV. That was a lot of fun, but as soon as everything was set up, including the Harvest Sacrafice, she would leave everything in the capable hands of her underlings.
Only an hour or so before everything started...
Amy was excited, as seen by the large grin she wore.
Filleadh House, Shella Upper Town.
I still believe, that it was wonderful of Mister Barriall to allow me to use their vacation home in Shella as both the place for the party and as a headquarters. The Barriall-Family, a family of influential people, of course had vacation homes, one here in Shella, and their only request in return had been to take Yven and Caoimhe, their kids, along.
I had a very specific plan for the building in the Upper Town of Shella.
Here, we would all reunite.
By sheer coincidence, a lot of the old lads and lassies from the Purgatio Student Exchange found their way to Shella and we organized a Reunion here, Cao, Yven and a few other lads and lassies I knew helping out. Sure, it was not a big and fancy party, but Filleadh House was more then capable of holding all of us, especially with the garden over the cliffs, which gave the town its monicker.
It was a two-storey building, build of timber and stone, massive enough to withstand whatever punishment storms threw at it, but that was not important. The garden was.
Two trees allowed shade to a series of tables, where the nibbles would come to, as well as a small bar stocked with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (we even had a barkeeper, one of the aforementioned lads), a small stage for the musically inclined amongst us to play and sing, a dance floor to stand around on and a series of small garden tables with garden chairs around them to sit down at.
All was well prepared... I just hoped, that everyone would find their way, with locals helping out, if they were asked politely. To the uninitiated, the streets of Shella could be a maze, and even locals had their troubles, sometimes, I heard...
...I sighed and relaxed a bit.
All would be well.
A yipp from my feet drew my attention to the Little Black Fox by my feel, making me grin as a picked Soiprigh up. The others knew them as the weird, scraggly stuffed toy that I had perched on my bed in Purgatio, but they would have the chance to meet some of them in their more or less natural habitats as I worked for a breeder for one of these wonderful animals. I picked the little vulpine up and watched with a giggle as he buried his muzzle between my 'argumentation amplifiers', enjoying the Holder's warm fur.
Of course, I wore Geansai, but not in Louth's Colours: I defied the customs of my home, the City of Cuan, and went ahead, joining the Cult of Abhcan, the Goddess of Craftsmanship, Music, Pranks, Tricks and Foxes, now wearing their Green and White, as appropriate for a Servant.
Coming to think of it, I might introduce myself as well: I'm Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth, sixteen years old, long, black hair, blue eyes, tanned from spending the summer vacation in the Archipelago and with my hair mostly bound back by a long, blue ribbon.
And I was nervous.
I would meet friends again, soon, friends, which I made in a place of horrors, but friends, comrades and, in one case, much more.
I kissed Soiprigh on the top of his head, making him look up with his big, innocent, blue eyes. "Let's get this show on the road!", I told him with a grin.
He yipped in approval.
