RP:The Eyrie Air Show

Summary: Pilar hosts an air show to celebrate the beginning of the construction of the Larketian Eyrie Outpost.

Overgrown Path, Eternal Forest, Outside Larket

The weather was clear and cool, a perfect day for flying. Where once there was a road, there was now nothing. Soon enough, however, there would be a new building. An outpost for the Eyrie, as agreed upon in the peace talks that seemed so long ago. Two sets of bleachers had been set up in the area. Between them was a small stage, and in front of that, a judge's table. There were three chairs there, but they were empty at the moment. People had already begun arriving, getting snacks from the stands and talking amongst each other. Off to the side, Pilar stood nervously, clutching a magical stone in her hand. It was imbued with the power to project her voice. She was dressed in her yellow frock and white blouse. Simple enough attire. Hildegarde patted her shoulder reassuringly. Pilar looked to her and nodded, then stepped out in front of the crowd. She held the stone to her mouth and began to speak. "Excuse me, may I have your attention please?" Her soft voice boomed, a strange thing to hear indeed. The chattering began to quiet as everyone turned to her. She gulped. "W-welcome, one and all! Today, we are here to celebrate the Eyrie and its expansion into Larket. We have for you all a real treat, as some amazing flyers will be strutting their stuff in the sky above us. I'd also like to thank and welcome Headmistress Smyth of the Bard's Guild and her prized pupils, as they will play for us today."

Brennia makes her way across the platform accompanied by some Bards guild members as she's welcomed by pilar after giving her a warm smile as a thank you. After a moment she uses her Bardic magic to throw her voice all over the area so her little speech could be heard, “thank you all for having us and We wish luck to all of those competing, but above all We wish you to have a joyous time. Enjoy these performances in courtesy of the Bard’s Guild.” A short bow to the crowd before she took her place at the piano off to the side so the singer may take center. Eva is an average seeming human with long sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes, but the voice of a mermaid luring pirates to their doom. There was a soft air to the human's alluring voice which soaks into the soul along with the piano accompaniment weaving together so perfectly. Through the competition the guild sings songs fitting each contestant whether it be heavier on the drums or more uplifting on the piano. Once every contestant had their own run the guild would disperse from behind the judges to allow them to discuss their opinion in quiet. Brennia’s wings curve around her like a cloak, but underneath she was probably wearing something similar to her company; simple yet elegant clothing for any occasion.

Pilar smiled as the music started. "Alright! Please join me in welcoming our judges for the competition portion of the event! From Gualon, Billy Bognar, professional griffin breeder!" A half-orc stepped forward, waving as he took a seat at the table. "Next, from Larket, Justice Stearns, captain of the Larketian rugby team!" Another man, a human, stepped out and took his seat by Billy. "And, from Frostmaw, Queen Hildegarde herself!" Hildegarde stepped out, dressed in her armor, and waved to the crowd before taking the final seat. "And, to kick things off, we have a performance from some of the best flyers in the Eyrie! Give it up for the Red Riders!" The music changes suddenly, to pounding drums as three red dragons came flying in from the west, trailing flame behind them. Two of them flew in a spiral around the center flyer. They suddenly spilt into three directions, right, left, and up. The dragon flew up and up, turning slowly until he was upside down, and his rider was falling. Flames seemed to fly from the rider, as if she was a meteor. The dragon completed his somersault and caught his rider before she hit the ground. The other two, meanwhile, had performed two wide turns and were on the way back. All three looked to collide, but at thr last moment, pulled up and flew perfectly vertically into the sky, where again they split up, leaving a fiery explosion behind. The dragons barrel rolled away and into the distance, and Pilar spoke again. "That was the Red Riders, everyone! Now, our competition will begin! First up, Aaken and Mysha, a strange but perhaps creative pairing of naga and wyvern." Pilar walked towards the judges' table, leaving the clearing to Aaken.

Aaken walked/slithered side by side up to the starting zone, depending upon whether it was a plain allowing them to take off with running start or just a leap into the air, either was available. Mysha the furred Wyvern, seemed smaller than she had been when last seen, and Aaken well he was definitely normal at least from appearance at this distance. As they both ascended into the air, Aaken coiled with a grip around Mysha near to the base of her neck, where the bones would have prevented suffocation if he were forced to squeeze. As they began with a glide, Aaken let loose his grip around her neck and seemed to slither from on wing tip to the other placing a dish like shape at either end, then slithering back to her middle he paused and positioned both his hands out and the unseen the objects glowed blue before tongue of fire streaked along the edges of the wings as if lighting the air that was seemingly cut by the tip of the wings, the fire releasing toward the tail where seemingly it combined into a single plume, which gave the dragon illumination, the climb began before Mysha held her wings still, and as if she were standing in the sky when reality she was falling, tipping her nose downward she raced toward the ground and seemed to bend with just inches to spare the grass and dirt being blown by the wind of her wake, All the while Aaken held a hold of her as she would twist her body as she looped in the air, once, twice, she changes course and does it reversed, but only once as it is hard to fly backward while twisting and looping, a stunt that is pulled off by only the distance covered by an abrupt shift in her wings. Aaken seems to change position, flopping over onto her belly seemingly upside down, but then she lies on her back while gliding, and flies within only a few feet above the ground, the fire changing color as to a bright cyan. Adjusting herself to rise just a bit gradually she then bent forward hard rising up, flying fast, now she bent her head allowing Aaken to slide forward, until Aaken's tail was in her mouth, where she would throw back her head, sending him flying forward where he pulled his body into a an O shape, with his tail in his mouth to seal the gap. As he rolled fast onto the ground, Mysha flew ahead as fast as she could turning 180 degrees in air, and landing hard lowering head and growing to her full size allowing Aaken to roll up her spine to where her tail curved to return him to head where he fell over her head like a necklace. He then slithered to her base of her neck where he started and the flames, ended. They both took a bow, as Aaken slid off.

Pilar stepped back out, clapping along with the crowd. Passing by Aaken, she whispered, "Wonderfully done, Mister Aaken." She cleared her throat and spoke again to the crowd. "That was a strong start, a strong start indeed! Our next competitor is Clara Jameson and her trusty griffin, Chloe!" Clara and Chloe came out, basking in the attention. Clara mounted her griffin and took to the air. Her backing music was a powerful but elegant string piece. Chloe dove and wove through the air, enchanted bangles letting off bursts of light with every turn and flip. It was a graceful, pretty performance, but was more style than substance. Clara and Chloe landed daintily before the judges and Clara winked at them. Billy and Justice smiled broadly but Hildegarde rolled her eyes. As the pair pranced off, Pilar returned to her spot. "Not bad, not bad at all! And now, put your hands together for the Flying Landons!"

Alvina rides out, side saddle, on Mercedes. The music accompanying them is upbeat but dramatic. A steady beat that corresponds with each of the horse's steps. The Pegasus is all white, except for a grey circle cut into three spokes on her forehead. Her mane and tail has been curled and enchanted to keep their act from damaging her perfect hair. Alvina's crimson hair matches Mercedes, their ringlets perfectly in sync. Alvina is wearing a white leotard with a matching curled white tail prop attached on her waist and a pair of matching little Pegasus wings jutting out from the back of her costume. She is not wearing shoes. She waves to the crowd, palm cupped and wafting lazily from side to side. Mercedes walks with graceful high kicks of her white legs and pronounced fluffs of her curled tail. She's all sass and snorts defiantly when Alvina gives her the signal to start. The selfish horse wants to prance around a little more first. Fine. Alvina masks her annoyance by bracing her hands around Mercedes neck, it looks like she's just hugging her horse. Mercedes stops prancing and takes off at full gallop towards an empty space in the area before a little horsey hop sends her straight up into the sky overhead. Alvina holds on for dear life, and only lets go once they've reached the height of Mercedes' flight pattern. Alvina presses a button on her belt, a small explosion of colored sparks shoots from her waist and drift harmlessly to the ground to extinguish in the dirt. While the eyes of the crowd follow the sparks, Alvina shifts herself into a standing position on Mercedes back. She wobbles, while the horse's flight smoothes out, and she exchanges her hands for her feet to ride the horse- mid flight, in a harrowing hand stand. The crowd gasps, how dangerous is that?! There's no saddle or harness to secure Alvina to her mount. Mercedes starts to make a subtle climb in her arc over the spectators and, as planned, Alvina pretends to 'slip' one of her hands off Mecerdes' back and plummet towards the crowd. The spectators cry out in surprise.

While Alvina falls, Mercedes down three aerial loops in tight controlled sequence, catching Alvina on the last loop across her back. Alvina, on her stomach, adopts an annoyed expression as part of the act, supporting her chin with a palm and rolling her eyes while Mercedes prances in the air, right above the crowd, just out of air's reach. She rolls over, springs up on her feet and weaves her fingers into Mercedes' curls while the mare flys straight up into the air, through a cloud. The pair are invisible for a moment, before reappearing in the center of the flying area, free of spectators and other participants. Mercedes loops back around, flying upside down while Alvina holds on tight to her mane. The horse whinnies, excited for the finale of their performance as she flips back right side up and Alvina takes her place back riding side saddle. Their hair is still PERFECT. It's a miracle. She possess dramatically, moments before a flash goes off overhead in the clouds. Rain bursts out of a small cloud overhead, hitting only The Flying Landons. Alvina's costume turns a bright pink where the water splashes her, and Mercedes likewise has some enchantment on her mane and tail to make the hair turn pink to match. Confetti is scattered on the crowds, instead of rain via a small mechanism placed in the clouds overhead by the bard. Just now it floats down, after the confetti is dispensed. The rain however continues a few moments longer. Mercedes lowers Alvina back to the ground, sprinkling droplets of water on the crowd as she spins, a mini tornado with pink hair. When her hoofs hit the ground, Alvina hops off the side and runs along side her before lifting her feet off the ground with her toes pointed towards the horse's nose, holding herself up against Mercedes side as the horse runs across the stage. Mercedes takes off again, spinning into the air while raindrops continue to fall and drops Alvina from an impressive height one last time. The bard pulls a pink parasol from the back of her costume mid dive and catches herself a few feet from the ground, to land softly on her pointed feet beside her bowing horse. They bow together, the bard's costume is now completely soaked and pink, and the music for their performance crescendo's to it's end.

Pilar stepped out, pulling confetti from her hair and smiling. She grinned at Alvina. "Beautiful, absolutely beautiful," she whispered. "That was the Flying Landons, everybody!" The crowd applauded wildly, and Pilar waited for them to settle down before introducing the next act. "Next, please welcome Ivy and Bruce!" A dryad came flying in from the forest on the back of a giant bat, the music switching to screeching violins and rumbling bells. Bruce flew low to the ground, Ivy leaning to the side, hand outstretched. Her fingertips were inches from the ground, and flowers began to bloom from the earth. The bat swooped around, then flew upwards. The bat did a triple loop-de-loop, flowers flying from a basket on its back. Bruce flew up and up, then tucked his wings in and began to free fall. It was seconds from impact when its wings stretched out and it floated down to the ground. The crowd clapped politely and the judges made notes. The duo left the field and Pilar took her place again. "Well done, well done. And now, finishing out our competition, the, uh... OTHER Flying Landons..." Pilar was confused, but said nothing about it. Weren't Alvina and Hudson... not married? Why did they have the same name? Oh well. She cleared the area and left it open for Huds to do his thing.

Hudson nearly goes into a wide-eyed panic when he catches a glimpse of Alvina's performance off to the side in the waiting area. She hadn't mentioned some of this stuff... In any event, there's no sense in dwelling on how he's feeling a bit much like a heart attack. He has the span of Ivy and Bruce's entire act to chill out. That said, his heart is still pounding, though, as Pilar announces his act and the musical entourage strikes up his choice in music, which is contemporary, evidently less classy than the prior contestants'. A theme in his life, maybe. He'd put in for Brennia and band to sing Rijanna's famous hit "Umbrella." At the time he'd figured it'd suit her range, but also, it's a guilty pleasure, hey. (Ella, ella, eh, eh?) He doesn't launch into the aerial performance space from the ground but rather as noted from an area off to the side. He soars into view aboard his thoroughbred filly Cleopatra, who's got a glossy coat, a mane braided for the occasion, a set of polished metal wings, and the temperament of a stick-shift sports car. She only operates at one speed, only makes abrupt stops, and only listens to Hudson 80% of the time. (This she has in common with Alvina.) Cleopatra carries her rider forward at breakneck speed, stretched lean, as if piercing the air. Hudson's got on goggles and a harness to keep him from falling, that helps when she pulls up in a trio of 360 degree loops. She comes out of them and surges above the crowd, curving her proud neck and beating her metal wings. Hung alongside her body are saddlebags, packed to release an alchemical reagent that produces a dense smoke when Hudson activates the release mechanism. He frees up and lifts an arm in a slow wave, as if to say, Ready, Let's do this. There's no time to think about what he's doing, though he can see a pink cloud that likely constitutes Alvina and Mercedes, below him. He's back at the reigns, and Cleopatra begins cutting through the air. Their trajectory is less rife with fantastical feats, more methodical, albeit mildly showy: together they circulate throughout the sky, punctuating their journey with turns and flips, and in so doing they first carve out the letter 'M' in white smoke. After that they carve out the letter 'A' and then a somewhat lopsided pair of 'R's and a smallish 'Y' to close out the string. A murmur rises among the spectators who have figured out where he's going with this by the time he's hit his second R, that murmur is at a roar by the time he and Cleopatra finish skywriting "ME?" to coincide with the end of the bards' pop song performance. He and Cleopatra waste no time in cutting a sharply angled, daredevil descent. They land to applause and the clang of metal as her metal wings fold. Hudson pushes his goggles up to his forehead and dismounts at the same time. The people are cheering and his head is white noise. This is so much more intense than it had been in his mind, it's dizzying, really, and he'd prepared himself for it being crazy but perhaps this is the kind of thing that you can't mentally simulate, it can only be lived. It humbles his swagger, that's for sure, and now Alvina is here - she must have parted the sea of onlookers like Moses, just then - and in this absurd bubblegum outfit and he's kneeling in front of her. He almost drops the ring box fumbling to open it because his hands are sweaty and he knows Alvina is worthless to anything he says right now but he'd rehearsed the words and he's gonna look at her and say them, they are few in number: "Will you please?"

Alvina watches the sky writing, assuming it's something snarky because that seems like a Hudson thing to do. Mercedes is tired of being wet and trots off to find a place to dry herself off. How she agreed to that is beyond Alvina's comprehensions...as are most things as the skywriting starts to look like real words that are triggering their own little aftershocks in Alvina's chest. What is he doing? By the time the message is scrawled out in smoke overhead, people nearby are starting to stare at her. She's dazed, frozen in an breathless pace where time moves slower than reality and she's being pushed forward in her soaking wet attire. Her hair still holds it's curls but her face has dropped in disbelief as Hudson moves before her and asks if she will? She drops to her knees, to join him on the ground, staring into his eyes. Speaking is too hard right now, let's just stick to the basics. She throws her arms around him, kissing him with an embarrassing amount of excitement and nods lamely while her flabbergasted lips fail her. "I put the name under Landon because of Mercedes..." she sputters uselessly, choking on some mixture of laughing and crying. "Hudson you embarrassing idiot..." Their foreheads clink together like wine glasses during a toast and he helps her stand.

Pilar had no idea what had been going on in her friends' love life, but that hardly mattered right now. As the words began to form, she gasped and covered her mouth. Her eyes shot to Alvina and tears sprang to her eyes, tears of joy and sadness. The loss of her own lover was still a fresh wound, but that wasn't important. What was important was them, and their love, and their life together. The crowd was screaming and cheering wildly. Did anyone even remember the contest? Did anyone care? Hildegarde at least was smiling broadly, so thrilled was she for her clanmates. Pilar stepped out into the field and waited for the cheering to start to die down before speaking. "Well... it's a good thing he went last, because I don't think anyone could top that! Thank you to all our competitors! Please, get some refreshments while our judges take a few minutes to choose our winners."

Hudson rises alongside Alvina. He a dirt stain on one knee and it's fine, it blends into his denim, she looks more ridiculous right now. She'd said yes! He can't even hear anything, but nodding had worked. He holds her trembling hand and helps her with the sparkler as Pilar makes the announcement of the judges' deliberation. "I know I promised I wouldn't do something in public, but... I may have lied," he puts an arm around Alvina and speaks into her hair, having recovered the ability to form words now that everyone and their mother isn't looking at them.

Aaken slithered over to the concessions stands helping himself to a glass of spiced punch, Mysha whispered something to him, and he grimaced, he hated it when she did that. As she left to go seek out other rider's rides, he drank the punch, and glanced around, he remembered each flight, and he was thinking of sending a memory glass to each of the rider's on their performances. He shook his head eyeing the glass near the bleachers he set, up, why didn't they go off?

Mercedes wanders off to sniff at Aaken's mount. The wyvern is so much larger than her but she's covered in fur and Mercedes appreciates good hair when she sees it. She sniffs Mysha curiously, then looks back at Aaken at the bar with wide black eyes. Alvina doesn't even -look- at the ring yet, it's on her finger and she's just staring at Hudson. He's talking about not doing something public while Cleo wanders over to help Mercedes sniff Mysha. The horses sniff at each other, in a language Mysha could understand. They'd been in on this situation too and brought Mysha some of their food to share with her. Mounts are underrated. "Pilar!" The bard shouts while the vampiress walks by, throwing her arms around her. "Did you know about this?" She asks, laughing and flushed. Then she sees Aaken by the bar and approaches him carefully. "Your act was marvelous," She says, out of breath from bridging the distance between them. "Mysha and you worked really well together. A great team."

Aaken smiled at the red haired bard, "Thank you, but I think the day goes to you, and your engaged." He said with a smile. And a nod to her ring. He eyes Mysha and then looks away, back to alvina, his thoughts worried on what story Mysha would share with him later, but also on Alvina. "If you wish to, I have some spare rooms, at my place to offer, to you and your engaged, until you can find a home."

Pilar laughed and hugged Alvina back. "I didn't! I thought you were still broken up! Well, I'm glad you worked through it." She smiled at them. "Congratulations. Now, please excuse me, I need to announce the winners." Pilar took her usual spot and cleared her throat. "Attention, attention please! We are ready to announce the winner of the competition! Drum roll, please!" As the bard obliged, Pilar held up the paper the judges had given her. "In third place, we have the team of Aaken and Mysha! In second place, Hudson and Cleo, the Other Flying Landons! And in first, we have Alvina and Mercedes, the Original Flying Landons! Winners, please join me up here and take a bow!"

Hudson is clapped on the shoulder by all manner of random dudes. Someone is putting a beer into his hands, actually, that would be nice to cut the tremor in his chest, er, now he's being sprayed - aaaaand that's champagne. Ugh. He turns away from it and puts on his goggles, waving the man away as he and Alvina are called to the stage to collect their prizes. He takes his place next to her and, reaching for her hand, murmurs the words, "crazy people, I dunno," to explain his presently sticky state.

Alvina lets Pilar go before heading over to Aaken. She nods, grateful for his offer. "Thank you but...we're about to move to Cenril actually." Her hand rests on his shoulder as Pilar announces the winners. "I think they need us, on the stage." She says with a smile before releasing his shoulder and starting towards Hudson. Mercedes and Cleo wait for Mysha and walk out side by side by side if the Wyvern wants to approach the stage with her owner. "The Other Landons..." She huffs at Hudson in good humor as she loops her arm through his and they approach Pilar and the stage to take their bows towards the cheering crowd.

Aaken half slithered half worm moved up to the platform, with Mysha who shrunk enough not to take up all the platform. He choose a spot to put himself behind the 1st place winner and second place winner. And bowed when the others bowed, Mysha following.

Pilar smiled as the winners, her friends, gathered around her. "Well done, everyone!" A midnight-blue couatl slithered up to them, three medals hanging from her mouth. Pilar pocketed the voice-projecting stone and took them from her. "Thank you, Emielle." She placed one, the gold, around Alvina's neck. The silver, around Hudson's, and the third, around Aaken's. "Your prizes will be sent to you within the week. Spend it wisely. Especially you two," she said, grinning at the happy couple. She pulled the stone from her pocket again and spoke into it. "Thank you all for coming out this afternoon! Another round of applause for all our contestants, please!" The crowd cheered, and Pilar beamed. She couldn't help but be proud. Her first major assignment had been a success!