Onwards [Feast of Flowering | Prompt 1]

The equine made his way down the beaten path, nearing the end of the road and getting closer to Faline. As he did so, he began to regret his choice to attend the festival, for the gathering crowd was growing thicker with each passing step. 

It had been quite a while since he had last visited the city but time had not changed much about it, for it was still as busy as ever. On ahead he could already make out the tall shapes of the city’s architecture, could almost taste and smell the city life from where he stood, although maybe the smell was more coming from the bustling bodies in front of him as they all made their way towards a shared goal. 

The one good thing about the large number of people was that it made it easier for him to blend in, without the use of a cloak, and even with his golden ornaments he was still rather understated compared to some of the folk who had come decked out for the festivities. 

Up ahead he could make out a small group, his attention drawn to them due to the high pitched squealing come from a little piglet, decorated in what looked like… a tutu? Although it was rather hard to make out under the rainbow of colours covering the small child. The girl was jumping around, apparently unable to stand on one hoof for long as she hopped from spot to spot while her neck craned to look up at her companion, a rather unfortunate looking moose who peered down at her with half hooded lids, a tentacle floating down from where they were clustered on his back to push a bow, whose ribbon tails had come undone and fallen into the piglet’s eyes, back up and out of the little one’s face. 

Naturally however, his observations of the passer-by's were cut short when a movement caught his eye and he noticed an order official beckoning individuals over, his skin immediately prickling with ice. He couldn’t stop the feeling, even months later, for his body just immediately recognises the order assigned robes and suspects the wearer to be the professor, even if this one in particular was just a rather pushy female bovine, perhaps a water buffalo if Atlas were to hazard a guess. 

Behind the official, he could make out another figure, a camel, sobbing into the ground as they stood hunched over. From his position, he wasn’t able to get a closer look at the fallen camel, for he accidently made eye contact with the order official. 

“You! Young man!” 

Oh no. Panicked thoughts raced through his head, none of them helpful, as he subconsciously backed up a step or two, not interested in making a scene.

Don’t make a scene. Blend in. Don’t mess this up. 

“U-um yes?” He stuttered softly as he plastered on what he hoped to be a somewhat easy going smile, but he could already tell by the faces of those who had turned to watch was looking more like a grimace.