Reos World Fair 2022

This was the day of the grand re-opening of the world fair. Everyone had been talking about it for a while now and Kazegami knew a few Reos who had been there before and spoke very highly of this event, no matter if they took part in the activities, gorged themselves on the countless delicacies or just used this opportunity to meet people and possibly play some pranks on them or enriching themselves. Either way, the world fair was always a place of excitement and curiosities. And precisely because of that reason, Kaz was unsure if he really wanted to go there at all. While surely this would also pose great opportunities for him to hone his skills and tricks, he was not in the mood to have any younglings step on his beautiful tails or get lollipops stuck in his shiny pelt. After all, most Reoseans seemed to think a fair was a place to go hog wild and forget about all their manners or consideration of others. His large, fluffy ears twitched for a moment, then the pecan colored Vayron sighed and got up from his soft pillow anyway. «You only have so many chances to test your magic on unsuspecting victims, I suppose», he said to himself before leaving his home and hitting the road.

At the same time another fair-goer was already waiting at the entrance for the fair to officially open up, along with a cluster of other Reoseans, young and old, all eager to be unleashed onto the fairgrounds. Kazoo, the ciruelan colored runner was also among those who never had the chance to see this event in person so far, but THIS was finally the year and she could hardly contain her excitement any longer. The large, colorful tents and decorations were visible from afar and attracted the attention of creatures from all over Reos.

«What’s taking so long?» «Yeah, we wanna go in!» Voices from the crowd got louder and Kazoo realized that she had been waiting for quite a while now. Was something wrong? They wouldn’t just call off the whole fair, would they? Curious she made her way through the people who were all kind enough to not make a fuss about her basically cutting in line. With her colorful pelt and the white markings she almost seemed like one of the circus artists anyway – a trait she was hoping to utilize again later on to get behind the stage and explore even more of the scene. Reaching the front of the crowd, Kazoo noticed a Vay and a Tyr talking to each other, a couple steps behind the red rope that kept the visitors from pouring in too early. She perked up her folded ears as much as possible and listened attentively.

«Either way, it’s fine for now. We can puzzle about this one later.» «Are you sure this is not a security threat?» «It’s a prank, nothing else. Not the first time and it won’t be the last. Let’s just open up, I’ll tell you it will all be okay.» «Well, if you say so…» The Tyrian with the pretty monarch marking seemed a bit concerned, but tried her best not to let this show. She flapped her large wings and rose into the sky. Apparently the conversation Kazoo overheard was already over, but to hers and everyone else's delight, the Vayron now came over and removed the rope, causing a commotion in the crowd. Suddenly the cinnamon colored Tyrian from before appeared, flying over the entrance and remaining in place, creating a strong breeze with the beats of her wings.

«Dear festival visitors! My name is Raleigh and I am pleased to welcome you all to this year's Reos World Fair! The official opening ceremony will be held in an hour on the main stage! Without further ado, please enjoy the festivites!»

Before Kazoo knew what happened, she felt the crowd behind her push forward and started running to get away from the masses, looking around with excitement to be one of the first inside. Not quite knowing where she was going she just headed off in one direction, eager to take it all in and get a lay of the land. From every side Reoseans flooded the fairgrounds, entering from all Regions at the same time through powerful magic. A strange but familiar scent mixed in with the smells of buttered popcorn and meat, leading the runner away from the center of the fair. When Kazoo finally realized what that smell was – poop – she could already see the origin of the stench. «GOOOATS!!» she yelled in excitement and came to a screeching halt in front of the petting zoo pen with various different animals inside. From out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the Tyrian from earlier, Raleigh, land closeby, and while she wanted to ask her what the conversation was about, she decided this could wait.

With the crowd of Reoseans around her and the animals taking up her full attention, she did not notice a kitsune tailed Vayron walking up-, and stopping next to her, looking into the pen as well.

«Horrible.» «Hm?» Kazoo hardly noticed the stranger was talking to her. «First the long wait and now this odor nuisance. I should get paid to be here.» «What are you talking about, this is amazing!» «Oh, you’re one of THOSE.» The brown, fox-like Vay turned his head towards her and studied the female from top to bottom, judging her harshly. «I should’ve realized sooner, it's so obvious.» Then a little fluffy baby goat walked up to them and Kazoo carefully stuck her paw through the fence. The kid curiously sniffed her paw, nibbled it and, after realizing it doesn’t taste that well, proceeded to stare down the grumpy friese closeby, who just looked back at it, unimpressed. Before Kazegami noticed the other Vay had disappeared, he suddenly spotted her standing inside the pen, petting the goat kid. «Come on in, they don’t bite!» «First of all, you don’t know that–» Suddenly a yell from the back interrupted him, coming from the cinnamon Tyrian and directed towards a group of young Reoseons. «No need to be scared children, all of our pets are kind and peaceful!» After a short pause, Kazegami staring at Raleigh with pure annoyance, though she didn't notice his glare, he continued. «And secondly there’s a million things more interesting than standing in the middle of dung pellets and caressing the dirty pelts of other animals.» Kazoo on the other paw seemed perfectly fine doing this, smiling from one ear to the other. «Cheer up you little sourpuss, it's a fair after all!» Kazegami looked around, realizing indeed that he had gone to the world fair for a reason, not just to be in a bad mood about everything. He focused, closing his eyes and listening to his own heartbeat, channeling his powers and feeling them flow through his body. A loud scream and sudden commotion confirmed that the magic spell had been successful. When Kazegami opened his eyes again, he saw a large, bright orange tiger standing in the middle of the pen, ready to pounce. Both the animals and Reoseans around spooked and scattered, running away from the beast head over paws (and hooves), not realizing that it didn't move at all. So even despite this little flaw, the arcanists magic was convincing enough to wreak havoc. Raleigh was clearly in shock, but tried to shelter the animals from the beast, protecting them with her massive wings. Kazoo though had her back turned towards the illusion and didn't understand why everyone was freaking out all of a sudden. «What's going on, did I miss something?» Gami grinned. «You should turn around.» Confused but curious, the colorful Vay followed his suggestion and found herself face to face with the large tiger, it's teeth exposed and eyes glaring.

«WHOOOA THAT'S SO COOL!» Kazoo jumped with joy and ran around the tiger, studying it closely and trying to touch it, but fazing through the vision. «It looks so realistic! Did you do that?» She turned back towards the kitsune-tailed Vayron with sparks in her eyes, but he was taken aback by her reaction. «Y...yeah, I guess. Aren't you scared?» Gami was a little disappointed he hadn't been able to scare the stranger at all who was now eagerly shaking her head. «I love all kinds of animals, no matter how angry or fierce they may look! Most of them are cuties anyway. But you are really talented! Everyone else seemed to believe it's truly there!» Looking around, Kazegami noticed the other visitors had fled the pen and stared at the tiger with wide eyes from the outside of the fence. Well everyone except the Tyr and Kazoo of course. He couldn't help but feel a proud his little trick had such a great impact. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to come here after all, he thought to himself. Meanwhile Kazoo jumped out of the pen and stopped next to the brown Reosean. «So, where are we gonna go next, Mr.Magician?» «Wait wait wait, did I hear that right? Is this your doing?!» Raleigh came over and frowned at the arcanist, ready to scold him, but he just rolled his eyes. «Whatever, it was just a prank.» «Just a prank?! You almost scared our little goats to death!» Kazegami looked past the angry Tyr and saw the pets sniffing at the tiger and trying to take a bite of the illusion, making clapping sounds with their teeth every time they snapped at the air. «They look fine to me.» Raleigh followed his gaze, saw the animals and turned back towards him. «Well...okay, but you almost scared ME to death! Please don't do this again!» She looked very uncomfortable now and he got the feeling this was the first time she was working at the fair. He didn't even think about backpedaling though, being too proud and stubborn. Instead, Kazoo raised her voice now, looking at the monarch-marked Tyr with understanding in her eyes. «This job is really important to you, huh?» «I promised I would not disappoint anyone. I know this is a lot of responsibility, but I thought taking care of such an easy and calm area as the petting zoo wold be like a walk in the park. And then THIS!» She pointed at the illusion. But before Kazegami could actually start to feel bad, the group of young Reoseons from earlier walked by, chatting loudly. «That looked so amazing!» «Yeah, let's come back again later and see if there's another beast there then!» «Sure!» Now realizing that the magical 'statue' might actually bring more Reoseans in and especially back again later, Raleigh sighed. «Alright, I'll let it slide this one time and will not report you for your hijinks.» Gami raised an eyebrow, not concerned at all even IF she had done that. «In return for my kindness, you might do me a favor, how about it?» Suspicious, the pecan Vay tilted his head. «What do you mean?» «We lost an important act on the main stage because of an accident right before the fair opened. Perhaps you could fill in for them?» Before he could reply and very clearly say 'no way, I couldn't care less about your show', Kazoo spoke up once more. «We'd be honored to help out», resulting in the Vay looking at HER with confusion now. «Wait, what do you mean 'we'?»