Event: Draconic Year

Hizashi smiled and let his gaze wander slowly and calmly over the crowd, while the children at his feet bustled about: they couldn't decide which way to go or which way to look first. Excited voices were everywhere, and the children's high-pitched voices were now mingling with them. The lights flickered here and there when a larger body moved in front of a light source, while the visitors pushed past the stands.

"Oooh," Hizashi heard to his right and Noom straightened up on his hind legs to give Opalith a quick pat on the head. "Look there!" She pointed in a direction where a small gap had formed in the crowd of visitors. A stand appeared briefly. It was hung all over with paper lanterns that swayed gently in the wind. They were also on display in different sizes, shapes and colors.

Noom's eyes shone with excitement as she jumped from one leg to the other. "Ooooh, I want to go there!" She looked up enthusiastically at the adult, who just shrugged his shoulders. That was fine with him, as long as they let him know in advance so he could keep an eye on her. He hadn't expected so many people here and so he was glad that the children hadn't rushed off straight away, but had stayed with him and even asked his permission before they went anywhere.

"Fine by me," so he replied, as Opalith looked up at him and waited for an answer. "But remember, the budget of today is limited. Either a lantern, or the decorated pastry from earlier that we passed and you wanted to get later." He had to admonish them, because the children had no idea about money and its relations. They couldn't estimate how much was available to them. They let themselves be dazzled by the colors, smells and advertising and were almost in a buying frenzy. They had already left money at several stalls and should have been full with as much fruit as they had already eaten.
The children nodded slowly, as if they were still weighing up whether a lantern was more important than the food, but then they trudged off to look at the display. They both had to stand on their hind legs to see all the lanterns. They glowed in promising colors and some of them were nice and small so that the children could carry them in their paws instead of having to hand them over to the adult after buying them.

"Oh, look!" Opalith tugged Noom's ear to draw her attention to some fish lanterns. They were quite small, smaller than the others, but they were shaped like the animals, while the rest relied on painting rather than intricate shapes.
"They're cute!"
Noom swayed her head back and forth, then shook it. "Nah," she said, pointing to a larger round one with flowers painted around its body. "I think it's much prettier. Look at the flowers..."
"But you see this kind of thing all the time. This one is something special...."
"But not prettier." Noom stuck his tongue out at her briefly. "Special doesn't always mean beautiful."
"I think it's beautiful..." Opalith looked at Hizashi, who had approached the stand behind the two of them. "I want one of those," she mumbled, pointing at one of the fish. "And I want one of those!" Noom was much more energetic and immediately grabbed one of the round lanterns. "Can you buy us these?"

Hizashi raised his eyebrows briefly and scratched his beard. "Yes, but remember that the cookies will be gone." The children nodded quickly and turned back to the lanterns. That was probably settled. And so Hizashi dug the money out of the bag, while the two children proudly and carefully received their new treasures.
Hizashi hoped that the little pieces of paper would survive the day, as it had only just begun and there were already so many people out and about. Because if the lanterns were crushed, damaged or dirty, children's tears would flow.