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Description
The crowd was met with a shower of sparkles that reflected off of the multi-coloured lights like mirrors. Aaravos, despite being a kebanzu that was not easily entertained, had to admire the beauty of the shredded decorations covering the majority of the audience. The tiny reflective specks reminded him of his markings that held a similar appearance. “Isn’t this wonderful?” The keb next to him, Lani, yelled over the noise of the crowd and the thudding music. He wondered again how the lively younger kebanzu had managed to convince him to attend this performance, or musical, or a combination of the two.

He smiled lightly in return. A quick twitch from the corner of his mouth, really. Turning to face the keb on his other side, he noticed Aster didn’t attempt to cover his displeasure in sitting through this performance. To Aaravos, it seemed that Aster was trying to hold back any form of a positive reaction on the performance. He internally scoffed at the grumpy kebanzu, as he himself knew that everyone else wouldn’t notice if Aster was entertained. While it was certain that Aavaros had been convinced to watch this performance, he could not deny that there were a couple of fascinating aspects, and he would only indulge in this entertainment for the night.

******

He was not happy. This was not an exciting play. He would not show anyone that he may be starting to think otherwise. Aster had been dragged along to this play by Lani with Caspian and Milan to convince him that he would have spent a ‘lonely’ night at home. Home would have been a better alternative! That way he could only hear about the play from other kebs and not worry about displaying any form of excitement as the winged keb recoiled their wings in a death-defying dive onto the sand-covered arena. The keb then stretched their wings out at the last second, using their legs to slow down upon impact with the ground.

“Quite the stunt, hey, Aster!” Milan was sitting to his right, eyes wide with wonder and a large grin on his face. At the sight to Aster’s frowning face, that grin softened into a smile. “You do–e to wor– about ot–eing –joying –urself, yo–ow.” Parts of Milan’s words were lost to the noise, but Aster understood what he intended, and huffed, turning his attention back to the arena. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His words were likely lost to the crowd and the music.

******

Despite Aster’s rebuttal of his attempts at giving the keb the reassurance of showing his wonder of the performance, Milan was still thoroughly enjoying it. A cannon of what he guessed was glitter had exploded and he was still laughing and he shook most of it out of his mane. He had nearly missed the death-defying stunt from the winged keb as he tried to gain Aster’s attention. It was Valkyrie, who was sitting in a seat a row behind him, that had redirected his focus towards the same winged keb that was now gliding upwards in a twirling motion around another keb balancing on a hoop that was also being pulled up to the top of the arena. “That would take a lot of practice and muscle-building to hold that position!” She exclaimed to no one in particular, and Milan could hear admiration in her tone.

He gasped as the keb leaped out of the hoop, only to be caught by the winged keb, who then swung the flightless keb back up into the air. The keb then landed on a trapeze line a couple of metres up from where the hoop stopped. While he had not been the one to experience it, that jump and being thrown up into the air, it gave his heart a jumpstarter for sure!

******

Valkyrie’s jaw dropped in awe of the flightless kebanzu now crossing a tightrope on their hind paws. Her eyes squinted. No, they were hooved hind legs! As a trained warrior, she held respect for performers that trained just as frequently (if not more) to perform their acts constantly and their devotion to learning new skills. When she had found her seat at the arena, she recognised many of the kebanzu already seated were those she had met over the course of her socialising attempts throughout the season. Some of them had greeted her, and they seemed more comfortable to be around her compared to when they had first met.

She cheered along with her fellow kebanzu as the flightless keb used a thick ribbon to hoist themselves down from the tightrope, transforming into their fawn form on the descent. Valkyrie admitted that it would logically be easier for a kebanzu to transform when performing such a technique that could risk leaving them caught up in the ribbon. Her eyes widened as two more kebanzu entered the arena while juggling handballs, with one holding a significantly smaller hoop on the tip of her nose and they began to toss the balls to each other through the hoop while maintaining their balance.

******

His gaze was hooked on the juggling kebanzu, as the trapeze artist had jumped onto the hoop that another was now holding. Caspian wondered what it would be like to be an actor. He was comfortable in what he was doing now and he couldn’t just pick up and leave his friends, but that could be an option. He flexed his wings a little. As much as he was enjoying the play, his wings had the tendency to become stiff if he didn’t stretch them once in a while, and he was starting to fidget in his seat. A sudden explosion made him jump as another glitter cannon had gone off.

“Are you alright?” The keb on his left, Milan, asked him with worry on his face. Caspian nodded and smirked. “Could’ve made anyone jump!” He laughed back in response. He shook glitter out of his fur, though he was certain that a good portion of it remained and possibly will remain for days to come.

******

“Oh, wow! This is so exciting! What are they going to do next?” Lani was on the edge of his seat, unable to contain his excitement. He was under the impression that this play would have had more singing and dancing, but he was still very impressed by all of the tricks that the actors had been performing that night, as he knew it would take a lot of experience to get to where all of them were now. Lani wondered what it would take for him to practice as an underwater dancer, but these thoughts were interrupted by the organiser of the play announcing their final act for the night as the arena went dark, a spotlight narrowing in on the winged keb and one of the jugglers. The thudding music had slowed to a soft tone that was starting to build up.

The juggling keb gripped their forearms onto the forearms of winged keb as the winged keb lifted them up. Within seconds, the duo was lining the circular wall of the arena, leaping over kebs in the audience. As the music began to pick up in pace, the audience began to thump their feet against the ground to the beat. The two kebs made a ring up to the top of the arena and a slow descent down the middle before the winged keb let go of the juggling keb halfway down. The spotlight dimmed as the lights in the arena were turned back on and the several performing kebs throughout that evening had reappeared back on stage, all bowing as they said in unison, “Thank you for tonight, everyone!”

Description
The crowd was met with a shower of sparkles that reflected off of the multi-coloured lights like mirrors. Aaravos, despite being a kebanzu that was not easily entertained, had to admire the beauty of the shredded decorations covering the majority of the audience. The tiny reflective specks reminded him of his markings that held a similar appearance. “Isn’t this wonderful?” The keb next to him, Lani, yelled over the noise of the crowd and the thudding music. He wondered again how the lively younger kebanzu had managed to convince him to attend this performance, or musical, or a combination of the two.

He smiled lightly in return. A quick twitch from the corner of his mouth, really. Turning to face the keb on his other side, he noticed Aster didn’t attempt to cover his displeasure in sitting through this performance. To Aaravos, it seemed that Aster was trying to hold back any form of a positive reaction on the performance. He internally scoffed at the grumpy kebanzu, as he himself knew that everyone else wouldn’t notice if Aster was entertained. While it was certain that Aavaros had been convinced to watch this performance, he could not deny that there were a couple of fascinating aspects, and he would only indulge in this entertainment for the night.

******

He was not happy. This was not an exciting play. He would not show anyone that he may be starting to think otherwise. Aster had been dragged along to this play by Lani with Caspian and Milan to convince him that he would have spent a ‘lonely’ night at home. Home would have been a better alternative! That way he could only hear about the play from other kebs and not worry about displaying any form of excitement as the winged keb recoiled their wings in a death-defying dive onto the sand-covered arena. The keb then stretched their wings out at the last second, using their legs to slow down upon impact with the ground.

“Quite the stunt, hey, Aster!” Milan was sitting to his right, eyes wide with wonder and a large grin on his face. At the sight to Aster’s frowning face, that grin softened into a smile. “You do–e to wor– about ot–eing –joying –urself, yo–ow.” Parts of Milan’s words were lost to the noise, but Aster understood what he intended, and huffed, turning his attention back to the arena. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His words were likely lost to the crowd and the music.

******

Despite Aster’s rebuttal of his attempts at giving the keb the reassurance of showing his wonder of the performance, Milan was still thoroughly enjoying it. A cannon of what he guessed was glitter had exploded and he was still laughing and he shook most of it out of his mane. He had nearly missed the death-defying stunt from the winged keb as he tried to gain Aster’s attention. It was Valkyrie, who was sitting in a seat a row behind him, that had redirected his focus towards the same winged keb that was now gliding upwards in a twirling motion around another keb balancing on a hoop that was also being pulled up to the top of the arena. “That would take a lot of practice and muscle-building to hold that position!” She exclaimed to no one in particular, and Milan could hear admiration in her tone.

He gasped as the keb leaped out of the hoop, only to be caught by the winged keb, who then swung the flightless keb back up into the air. The keb then landed on a trapeze line a couple of metres up from where the hoop stopped. While he had not been the one to experience it, that jump and being thrown up into the air, it gave his heart a jumpstarter for sure!

******

Valkyrie’s jaw dropped in awe of the flightless kebanzu now crossing a tightrope on their hind paws. Her eyes squinted. No, they were hooved hind legs! As a trained warrior, she held respect for performers that trained just as frequently (if not more) to perform their acts constantly and their devotion to learning new skills. When she had found her seat at the arena, she recognised many of the kebanzu already seated were those she had met over the course of her socialising attempts throughout the season. Some of them had greeted her, and they seemed more comfortable to be around her compared to when they had first met.

She cheered along with her fellow kebanzu as the flightless keb used a thick ribbon to hoist themselves down from the tightrope, transforming into their fawn form on the descent. Valkyrie admitted that it would logically be easier for a kebanzu to transform when performing such a technique that could risk leaving them caught up in the ribbon. Her eyes widened as two more kebanzu entered the arena while juggling handballs, with one holding a significantly smaller hoop on the tip of her nose and they began to toss the balls to each other through the hoop while maintaining their balance.

******

His gaze was hooked on the juggling kebanzu, as the trapeze artist had jumped onto the hoop that another was now holding. Caspian wondered what it would be like to be an actor. He was comfortable in what he was doing now and he couldn’t just pick up and leave his friends, but that could be an option. He flexed his wings a little. As much as he was enjoying the play, his wings had the tendency to become stiff if he didn’t stretch them once in a while, and he was starting to fidget in his seat. A sudden explosion made him jump as another glitter cannon had gone off.

“Are you alright?” The keb on his left, Milan, asked him with worry on his face. Caspian nodded and smirked. “Could’ve made anyone jump!” He laughed back in response. He shook glitter out of his fur, though he was certain that a good portion of it remained and possibly will remain for days to come.

******

“Oh, wow! This is so exciting! What are they going to do next?” Lani was on the edge of his seat, unable to contain his excitement. He was under the impression that this play would have had more singing and dancing, but he was still very impressed by all of the tricks that the actors had been performing that night, as he knew it would take a lot of experience to get to where all of them were now. Lani wondered what it would take for him to practice as an underwater dancer, but these thoughts were interrupted by the organiser of the play announcing their final act for the night as the arena went dark, a spotlight narrowing in on the winged keb and one of the jugglers. The thudding music had slowed to a soft tone that was starting to build up.

The juggling keb gripped their forearms onto the forearms of winged keb as the winged keb lifted them up. Within seconds, the duo was lining the circular wall of the arena, leaping over kebs in the audience. As the music began to pick up in pace, the audience began to thump their feet against the ground to the beat. The two kebs made a ring up to the top of the arena and a slow descent down the middle before the winged keb let go of the juggling keb halfway down. The spotlight dimmed as the lights in the arena were turned back on and the several performing kebs throughout that evening had reappeared back on stage, all bowing as they said in unison, “Thank you for tonight, everyone!”