New Years Festival!

[leaderkun]

Who: EVERYONE! Chosen and Partners, Damemon, Deputymon, Starmon too!
What: The New Year's Festival and Masquerade Ball
Where: Shinjuku Gyoen in the Park
When: December 31st



December 31st has at last arrived, and despite certain events depriving the Digital World of the original creator, the people involved with the New Years Festival managed to pull through. With Roze's work already underway and the designs and directions sent out, it wasn't hard to finish what had been started.

At mid-afternoon, a general text was sent out to all the D-Terminals announcing the festival grounds as open. Going to the Shinjuku Gyoen part of the park revealed a tiny wonderland of games and food manned by Chosen, Partners and Damemon alike.

Every Chosen and Partner have Damemon helpers and shifts rotate at each stall, making certain no one is kept from enjoying themselves to the fullest.

To either side of the festival grounds are picnic areas set up with several tables, all surrounded by bright white and yellow string lights. The four rows of game and food stalls are all decorated with large red paper lanterns, paper dragons and bright string lights, allowing the festivities to proceed well after dark.

At the front of the entire festival grounds Roze's Digimon - Julie the Impmon and Musashi the Kotemon - hand out copies of a simple map. On the back of each map the times for the masquerade dance are printed in case people forgot the time from their invitations.

In the Taiwan Pavilion, from the start of the festival to the end, Maya Matlin and Ryan Evans play music on piano and cello, rotating with Neku Sakuraba who maintains a steady flow of pre-arranged music. Several times throughout the day a handful of Digimon put on a simple but entertaining Taiko drum performance. Two long buffet tables filled with food and punch stay full throughout the day and night.

Jin Uzuki teaches calligraphy at one stall, as well as performs tea ceremony and lectures on Japanese traditions for those not educated on the themes presented by the festival.

Squall Leonhart stands sentinel over the Kingyo Sukui (goldfish catching) stall.

Campbell Saunders covers the ball toss, where people can try their luck knocking down milk bottles.

The Medicine Seller mans the Okonomiyaki cart, where people are free to order any combination of ingredients and eat hot food straight from the iron.

Mikasa Ackerman covers a colorful and pleasant-smelling stall where festival-goers can choose from dozens of bananas on sticks, the fruit dipped in different flavored coatings and numerous toppings.

Shannon Vaughn and Eli Delacroix cover the stall on the center walk where those at the festival can pick up sparklers and handmade papier-mâché masks for fun or the masquerade, if they have none of their own.

A ping pong toss with water-filled glass bowls sits with a pair of Damemon attendants cheering on participants.

Next to the Okonomiyaki cart, Saori Nakagawa and Laguna Loire provide fresh Takoyaki (octopus balls) on sticks, steaming and delicious.

The local Prince, Rowan, cheerily provides personal pies or slices of ready-made large ones and chats amiably with anyone who happens to be drawn in by meat or fruit fillings inside flaky crusts.

Cheerful little Miwako Sakurada watches the Yoyo Tsuri (water balloon yoyo) cart, balloons in bright splashes of color floating in a rotating pool of water, casting a rainbow across the cloth roof of the stall.

The ever large and boisterous Rider struts around a Strongman Hammer game, jeering and cajoling the men and complimenting the women, making bets and offering arm-wrestling competitions.

Little Wily-Kit has a raised platform surrounded by cushions where people can sit and listen to her play the flupe and regale them with tales from her homeland.

Dante sits at a stall of his own, playing guitar when he's not giving kisses for donations to the festival fund.

A ring toss game where one can try to put small rings around the necks of glass bottles stands manned by two Damemon arguing restlessly about the arrangement of the bottles.

Waver Velvet and his Wizardmon stand to dazzle onlookers with card tricks and details of magic performed in Waver's homeland.

Next to Wily-Kit's storytelling and Waver's tricks, Harry Potter serves up a variety of hot drinks close to the front of the festival so people have something to warm their hands and bellies while they enjoy the festivities.

Throughout the entire festival ground, Seifer Almasy and his hand-picked group of Digimon patrol the area, ejecting trouble-makers and seeing to damages while Yu Narukami and his team keep supplies full and assist Seifer with damage control.

The festival continues on through the day until the Masquerade Ball begins. All the stalls close and people are free to dress and attend as they like. Food and punch remains present and the music continues until midnight, when masks are to be removed and the New Year begins!

Comments

[darkened]

"Sheesh, so you're a real jack of all trades." The Replica laughed. One of his hands slid down to his hip, and his eyes drifted towards the pie. It does smell pretty darn good, so how could he resist?

Well, that can wait. The guy wanted to know about his quest for a name, so best to stay on track.

"Well, I've narrowed it down a bit. Most people think I should shoot for Aiden, but I'm still not completely decided yet. I mean, once I pick a name, that's pretty much it. Most people don't go around changing them later."

"It'd get really confusing, now that I think about it." Kotemon hummed, tapping at her chin-- or well, where her chin would be, if her mask wasn't covering it. "But us Digimon do it all the time when we evolve."

[heroofbrightwall]

"Heroes should always be talented in a variety of skills in order to make themselves useful in various situations. Baking can be quite profitable. Besides that, there's nothing but good in making sure hungry people are fed and your nation is healthy," he remarked cheerily.

"Here, try this! Most people don't even realize you can make meat pies. If you want something more fruity, let me know. But you look like you could use a hot meat pie on a chilly day, hm? Might help you make your decision. Serious choices should never be made on an empty stomach," the Prince stated with a serious nod, setting a personal pie on the counter and neatly folding a napkin under the plate.

"Aiden is a good name. Sounds strong without being comical like Brock or Brutus or Stein. Ah, would you like a pie?" he asked, smiling at the Kotemon.

[darkened]

"A meat pie, huh? Well, I can give it a shot." He scooped the pie up in both hands, scooting to the side to make room for his partner. The heat alone made his stomach growl, a feeling only amplified by the succulent smell. "How much will it cost?" The least he could do was tip, after all.

As for Kotemon, she nodded and bounced up and down, trying to get a better look at the offerings. "Do you have anything sweet? Well, I guess all fruit pies are sweet... um, okay, that was silly of me. But er, do you have peach? Or maybe cherry..."

"Looks like someone's a little indecisive. C'mon, you sound like you've never had pie in your life."

[heroofbrightwall]

"Perhaps she never has, though?" he offered, arching a brow and smiling at Kotemon. "Considering she probably spent all of her time in Primary Village or looking for her partner, she's probably never really bothered with the things we take for granted."

He nodded, turning around for a moment and cutting out a few slices of larges pies set aside for taste testing, arranging them all on a plate and setting them down on the counter for the Digimon.

"Here. Peach, Cherry, Apple, Blueberry and my favorite, Mincemeat. Now you can try them all and not have to choose. Sometimes the little choices are the hardest to make. And they don't cost anything. You can make a donation, but they're all free."

[darkened]

Kotemon nodded, and though no one could see it, she wore a smile beneath her mask. Once Rowan passed on the pies, she hopped up to grab a couple, just to lighten his load. After all, that's a lot of pie for just one guy!

"Thank you, Mr. Rowan! That's awfully generous of you." She brought a sleeve to her face, muffling a laugh. "We'll have to share some of these with Mr. Sora and Miss Sophia... um, well, if that's okay."

"Hey, it's not like I can scarf all of them down. Not at once." The Replica chuckled, shifting the remaining pies over to one arm before setting down a tip-- 200 bit. "Anyway, it's not a lot, but it's gotta count for something, right? I'd offer more, but I'm kind of short on cash right now."

[heroofbrightwall]

"Nonsense, your donation is very generous, thank you!" Rowan smiled as always, shaking his head and setting brown curls bouncing. "Take the pies and if you want more, by all means, come back. I'll be here all day."