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Description
It was a crisp fall morning, soft pale clouds were interspersed through the orange, pink and yellow sky.
There was a brisk breeze this morning, making Alex grateful for his furred ears and tail providing him that little bit of extra warmth. As he watched the sunrise for a moment longer he blinked blearily, his tail swishing around one leg then the other as he tried to share the warmth equally. The breeze blew harder in response, ruffling his ears and tail, waking him up.

Why had he agreed to this again? Well, for several reasons actually. One was that he was the one with the most experience with Akamu and everyone had agreed that the sphinx tokota needed some social time with other humans and what better then a fall festival in a quaint village? Honestly, Alex was not too worried about Akamu's behavior, the sphinx tokota was far too lazy to cause any trouble. Another was for Robyn, though she had Zavala along for help carrying her items, tokotas did not have thumbs, and Alex did. That meant Alex could get food for Robyn, take over the shop if she needed a rest, string together any jewelry that had managed to break on the trip over, and do other such things.

It also meant that Alex would get a chance to practice speaking around others as well, he still was painfully shy at times, but around Robyn and Kendrick he had become completely comfortable. He was still getting used to having Elena and Jamie around, but with twenty tokotas and counting on their hands they had certainly needed the help.

So along with the first two reasons, the fact that Kendrick was right in the middle of Zyndel's rites of dominance meant his friend was too busy for the festival, Elena and Jamie were taking care of the other tokotas, in fact they were probably up by now as well.

Zavala's bomb proof nature, and her training to walk gently with Robyn's products meant she was the natural choice for the trip, and besides that she was not hiding somewhere sleeping the dawn away. Instead she had been up with Robyn, ready to help carry and haul things with the rest.

The silence of everyone working together to set up the kiosks and decorations for the festivals suited Alex just fine, and after he made sure Robyn's kiosk was in fine working order he helped the other villagers and kiosk holders set up, one by one colorful boards decorated with eye catching text. There were pumpkins, banners, cornucopias decorating every street. Piles of leaves had been raked away into neat stacks, and the corn fields that had been harvested had been turned into a small corn maze. Representations of Aippaq were everywhere, from people selling likeness of the spirit in clay, glass, or any other material they could craft, to shaman or medicine women claiming to be able to speak to the spirit for you.

By the time everything was up Alex had worked up a sweat so he was nice and warm, and Zavala looked ready for a nap of her own. At some point when food at started making its presence known Akamu also appeared out of whatever hiding space he had found, though the sphinx tokota had quickly regretted doing so as he was put to work as well though he had gotten out of most of it.

Either way both tokotas were content to flop down beside the kiosk as Alex joined Robyn who was fussing with her pieces making sure they were laid out just so. It was still early for any heavy business yet and some of the villagers would be taking a quick nap before they came back out to look over the wares and bring the sacrifices for Aippaq to the altar that had been part of the set up as well. The alter was a cool gray stone rock, perhaps at one point it had been a large rock that had simply happened to be in the right place but it had been carved with the face of Aippaq on both sides, with slight curves on the sides so it was slightly hollow.

There were already some offerings for the guardian waiting, though the pile of trinkets and such would grow as the day and night wore on with the village shaman and medicine women, chief, and other people of power making the final offerings at sun down, then the pyre would burn through the night.

All this was so that Aippaq might grant the village a mild winter, and Alex hoped the same would extend to their home. He would be making a small offering later, though he did not have much he had taken the time to take a bit of fur from every tokota they owned and put it into an envelope and there were bits of bone, fur, seeds, tokota tokens, and various coins he had collected throughout the year stuffed inside. Robyn would be the one making the larger offering for them, giving up a decently sized rare colored bear pelt for the fire and any jewelery she had left that had not been promised to anyone else or that could not be re-purposed into a request she got.

The following morning all the kiosks and decorations would be torn down, repaired or repainted if needed and stored for next year. Ashes from the alter would be spread over the crops and anything that had not burned would be given to the shaman for them to use in their communion with the spirits.

Robyn got plenty of business, especially with her Aippaq and fall themed items though she also got requests for the future. Young men or women looking for a more personalized gift for the upcoming winter solstice, or looking to impress their significant other. A medicine woman requested a piece with a specific set of items if Robyn could get a hold of them – in that case while Robyn did not make any promises she did agree to try her best to create what they were looking for.

Around noon Robyn turned to Alex “Shall we go to lunch?” she asked, noting that most of the people were thronging around the kiosks that were selling food. Alex smiled, glad she had suggested the idea, his stomach had been starting to remind him just how long it had been since breakfast and he could certainly use a stretch and a trip to the bathroom.
“I think now as good a time as any” he agreed, speaking softly.
“Alright then” Robyn got up and let out a soft groan as she turned and twisted from side to side, popping her back and she shook out her arms and legs. Making sure the notebook with orders for the future was put somewhere safe and setting up the “Out” sign both she and Alex gathered their things to find a place to eat.

Zavala and Akamu followed them, Zavala following Robyn protectively while Akamu scrounged for any dropped scraps, even though there were many other tokotas doing the same. They had brought their own lunch, dinner, and snack having anticipated the booths and village growing crowded. Laying out a light blanket they set up for a picnic, taking advantage of the lovely weather. Zavala relaxed somewhat as they had distanced themselves from the crowd and she stretched as well, rolling around in the grass and then joining them for food. Akamu, following Zavala's lead also rolled around for a bit, though he also lingered around the other people who were having picnics, hoping for any forgotten snack.
Alex's whistle brought the sphinx back, and when he saw that his human had a full meal waiting for him he willingly plopped down so he could dig in.

After lunch they took a bit of time to relax and Robyn chatted more easily with some of the villagers and medicine woman, mentally taking notes for later use. Alex, enjoying being away from the hustle and bustle, took Zavala and Akamu for a walk through the corn maze, not in any rush to complete it, but just enjoying the easy stroll with the tokotas lazing behind him. He wished he could have a nap now, or some hot cocoa and a book and he would be set to curl up and read the afternoon away, but not today.

Instead, as he wandered out of the corn maze he saw Robyn waving to him, he waved back and Zavala quickly joined Robyn once more, nuzzling the dark haired woman.

Once again they worked in the booth for hours, with Alex having to make a little conversation now when Robyn was busy, but after spending time helping the villagers first set up, then getting used the vibe during the morning he felt a lot less anxious then he might normally around strangers.

Robyn must have judged this was the case because around three in the afternoon she told him that she wanted to look around the other shops, and when she got back he could the same if he wished. So with a nod she left him in charge, though she had told Zavala to stay, not wanting the large tokota to get in the way as she made her way through the crowd.

By this time most of the crowd had worked its way through all of the booths at some point, and most had done their shopping for the day, taking their new belongings back to their homes, or trading gossip with neighbors or friends they had not seen for many months. There were a few people he recognized from other kiosks that were now making their way around, and of course there were the grazers or the window shoppers, or the undecided few that wandered from kiosk to kiosk, some making small talk with the owners of the booth, and some simply looking.

Alex did stutter a few times in talking to the people who did come up to the booth either to buy, ask questions, or just chit chat, and he had to remind himself that Zavala, if not Akamu would protect him of any danger, unlikely as that scenario was. But the people did not seem to mind his hesitation, the pauses he took sometimes to straighten out a sentence in his head, nor did they stare at his ears or tail as some would have, and they all treated him politely.

Still, when Robyn returned from her endeavors, carrying many small bags of items he was grateful to take a break from the booth. Akamu stayed behind, as Alex had expected the lazy tokota would. Since Robyn had encouraged him to take his time, he did, first clearing his head, then organizing his thoughts. He would mostly be solstice, and birthday shopping for the others, and perhaps if he saw something for himself he would get that as well.

A leather worker caught his attention, they were selling good quality belts, and hadn't Kendrick been saying he could use a new belt? Alex carefully picked out one that had a darker color to it, with many loops and that felt sturdy yet supple between his fingers. For Robyn he bought a book he knew she had mentioned an interest in reading, for Jamie he bought a fine knife with a bone handle that was carved with the likeness of a bear, something he knew the curly haired man would enjoy. Elena's gift was the hardest to find and he was about to give up when the tinkle of a wind chime caught his ear and he found a booth selling the fragile, but melodious instruments. He found one that had little horses that sat atop blue colored chimes that sounded pleasant to the ear and also bought some dyed wool to wrap his gifts in, a soft wool, but also one that could later be knit, crocheted or be put to some other use.

It was four thirty by the time he got back to the kiosk, his arms loaded with his gifts and he carefully put them away as well. There were few customers for the rest of the day, though a few of the grazer or window shoppers did pick up a trinket here and there, but there were no more orders for future jewelry.

The horn blew, letting the villagers know it was time for the final sacrifices. Robyn and Alex joined the throng of people around the altar, watching from the back, as one by one the last things were added to the already very full pile. There were pelts of many colors and sizes, feathers of birds, crops, trinkets, envelopes full of coin, or other small objects, antlers from deer, moose, and caribou, horns from the wild mountain goats, claws from bears, cougars and lynxes. All of it was covered in what was called blessed oil and lit ablaze all at once from the highest ranking of the village as the shaman and medicine women chanted to Aippaq for a mild winter. Drums played from somewhere, adding a deep note to the high pitched chants and as the pile caught fire a cheer erupted from the crowd and cries or prayers of their own echoed into the sky.

Description
It was a crisp fall morning, soft pale clouds were interspersed through the orange, pink and yellow sky.
There was a brisk breeze this morning, making Alex grateful for his furred ears and tail providing him that little bit of extra warmth. As he watched the sunrise for a moment longer he blinked blearily, his tail swishing around one leg then the other as he tried to share the warmth equally. The breeze blew harder in response, ruffling his ears and tail, waking him up.

Why had he agreed to this again? Well, for several reasons actually. One was that he was the one with the most experience with Akamu and everyone had agreed that the sphinx tokota needed some social time with other humans and what better then a fall festival in a quaint village? Honestly, Alex was not too worried about Akamu's behavior, the sphinx tokota was far too lazy to cause any trouble. Another was for Robyn, though she had Zavala along for help carrying her items, tokotas did not have thumbs, and Alex did. That meant Alex could get food for Robyn, take over the shop if she needed a rest, string together any jewelry that had managed to break on the trip over, and do other such things.

It also meant that Alex would get a chance to practice speaking around others as well, he still was painfully shy at times, but around Robyn and Kendrick he had become completely comfortable. He was still getting used to having Elena and Jamie around, but with twenty tokotas and counting on their hands they had certainly needed the help.

So along with the first two reasons, the fact that Kendrick was right in the middle of Zyndel's rites of dominance meant his friend was too busy for the festival, Elena and Jamie were taking care of the other tokotas, in fact they were probably up by now as well.

Zavala's bomb proof nature, and her training to walk gently with Robyn's products meant she was the natural choice for the trip, and besides that she was not hiding somewhere sleeping the dawn away. Instead she had been up with Robyn, ready to help carry and haul things with the rest.

The silence of everyone working together to set up the kiosks and decorations for the festivals suited Alex just fine, and after he made sure Robyn's kiosk was in fine working order he helped the other villagers and kiosk holders set up, one by one colorful boards decorated with eye catching text. There were pumpkins, banners, cornucopias decorating every street. Piles of leaves had been raked away into neat stacks, and the corn fields that had been harvested had been turned into a small corn maze. Representations of Aippaq were everywhere, from people selling likeness of the spirit in clay, glass, or any other material they could craft, to shaman or medicine women claiming to be able to speak to the spirit for you.

By the time everything was up Alex had worked up a sweat so he was nice and warm, and Zavala looked ready for a nap of her own. At some point when food at started making its presence known Akamu also appeared out of whatever hiding space he had found, though the sphinx tokota had quickly regretted doing so as he was put to work as well though he had gotten out of most of it.

Either way both tokotas were content to flop down beside the kiosk as Alex joined Robyn who was fussing with her pieces making sure they were laid out just so. It was still early for any heavy business yet and some of the villagers would be taking a quick nap before they came back out to look over the wares and bring the sacrifices for Aippaq to the altar that had been part of the set up as well. The alter was a cool gray stone rock, perhaps at one point it had been a large rock that had simply happened to be in the right place but it had been carved with the face of Aippaq on both sides, with slight curves on the sides so it was slightly hollow.

There were already some offerings for the guardian waiting, though the pile of trinkets and such would grow as the day and night wore on with the village shaman and medicine women, chief, and other people of power making the final offerings at sun down, then the pyre would burn through the night.

All this was so that Aippaq might grant the village a mild winter, and Alex hoped the same would extend to their home. He would be making a small offering later, though he did not have much he had taken the time to take a bit of fur from every tokota they owned and put it into an envelope and there were bits of bone, fur, seeds, tokota tokens, and various coins he had collected throughout the year stuffed inside. Robyn would be the one making the larger offering for them, giving up a decently sized rare colored bear pelt for the fire and any jewelery she had left that had not been promised to anyone else or that could not be re-purposed into a request she got.

The following morning all the kiosks and decorations would be torn down, repaired or repainted if needed and stored for next year. Ashes from the alter would be spread over the crops and anything that had not burned would be given to the shaman for them to use in their communion with the spirits.

Robyn got plenty of business, especially with her Aippaq and fall themed items though she also got requests for the future. Young men or women looking for a more personalized gift for the upcoming winter solstice, or looking to impress their significant other. A medicine woman requested a piece with a specific set of items if Robyn could get a hold of them – in that case while Robyn did not make any promises she did agree to try her best to create what they were looking for.

Around noon Robyn turned to Alex “Shall we go to lunch?” she asked, noting that most of the people were thronging around the kiosks that were selling food. Alex smiled, glad she had suggested the idea, his stomach had been starting to remind him just how long it had been since breakfast and he could certainly use a stretch and a trip to the bathroom.
“I think now as good a time as any” he agreed, speaking softly.
“Alright then” Robyn got up and let out a soft groan as she turned and twisted from side to side, popping her back and she shook out her arms and legs. Making sure the notebook with orders for the future was put somewhere safe and setting up the “Out” sign both she and Alex gathered their things to find a place to eat.

Zavala and Akamu followed them, Zavala following Robyn protectively while Akamu scrounged for any dropped scraps, even though there were many other tokotas doing the same. They had brought their own lunch, dinner, and snack having anticipated the booths and village growing crowded. Laying out a light blanket they set up for a picnic, taking advantage of the lovely weather. Zavala relaxed somewhat as they had distanced themselves from the crowd and she stretched as well, rolling around in the grass and then joining them for food. Akamu, following Zavala's lead also rolled around for a bit, though he also lingered around the other people who were having picnics, hoping for any forgotten snack.
Alex's whistle brought the sphinx back, and when he saw that his human had a full meal waiting for him he willingly plopped down so he could dig in.

After lunch they took a bit of time to relax and Robyn chatted more easily with some of the villagers and medicine woman, mentally taking notes for later use. Alex, enjoying being away from the hustle and bustle, took Zavala and Akamu for a walk through the corn maze, not in any rush to complete it, but just enjoying the easy stroll with the tokotas lazing behind him. He wished he could have a nap now, or some hot cocoa and a book and he would be set to curl up and read the afternoon away, but not today.

Instead, as he wandered out of the corn maze he saw Robyn waving to him, he waved back and Zavala quickly joined Robyn once more, nuzzling the dark haired woman.

Once again they worked in the booth for hours, with Alex having to make a little conversation now when Robyn was busy, but after spending time helping the villagers first set up, then getting used the vibe during the morning he felt a lot less anxious then he might normally around strangers.

Robyn must have judged this was the case because around three in the afternoon she told him that she wanted to look around the other shops, and when she got back he could the same if he wished. So with a nod she left him in charge, though she had told Zavala to stay, not wanting the large tokota to get in the way as she made her way through the crowd.

By this time most of the crowd had worked its way through all of the booths at some point, and most had done their shopping for the day, taking their new belongings back to their homes, or trading gossip with neighbors or friends they had not seen for many months. There were a few people he recognized from other kiosks that were now making their way around, and of course there were the grazers or the window shoppers, or the undecided few that wandered from kiosk to kiosk, some making small talk with the owners of the booth, and some simply looking.

Alex did stutter a few times in talking to the people who did come up to the booth either to buy, ask questions, or just chit chat, and he had to remind himself that Zavala, if not Akamu would protect him of any danger, unlikely as that scenario was. But the people did not seem to mind his hesitation, the pauses he took sometimes to straighten out a sentence in his head, nor did they stare at his ears or tail as some would have, and they all treated him politely.

Still, when Robyn returned from her endeavors, carrying many small bags of items he was grateful to take a break from the booth. Akamu stayed behind, as Alex had expected the lazy tokota would. Since Robyn had encouraged him to take his time, he did, first clearing his head, then organizing his thoughts. He would mostly be solstice, and birthday shopping for the others, and perhaps if he saw something for himself he would get that as well.

A leather worker caught his attention, they were selling good quality belts, and hadn't Kendrick been saying he could use a new belt? Alex carefully picked out one that had a darker color to it, with many loops and that felt sturdy yet supple between his fingers. For Robyn he bought a book he knew she had mentioned an interest in reading, for Jamie he bought a fine knife with a bone handle that was carved with the likeness of a bear, something he knew the curly haired man would enjoy. Elena's gift was the hardest to find and he was about to give up when the tinkle of a wind chime caught his ear and he found a booth selling the fragile, but melodious instruments. He found one that had little horses that sat atop blue colored chimes that sounded pleasant to the ear and also bought some dyed wool to wrap his gifts in, a soft wool, but also one that could later be knit, crocheted or be put to some other use.

It was four thirty by the time he got back to the kiosk, his arms loaded with his gifts and he carefully put them away as well. There were few customers for the rest of the day, though a few of the grazer or window shoppers did pick up a trinket here and there, but there were no more orders for future jewelry.

The horn blew, letting the villagers know it was time for the final sacrifices. Robyn and Alex joined the throng of people around the altar, watching from the back, as one by one the last things were added to the already very full pile. There were pelts of many colors and sizes, feathers of birds, crops, trinkets, envelopes full of coin, or other small objects, antlers from deer, moose, and caribou, horns from the wild mountain goats, claws from bears, cougars and lynxes. All of it was covered in what was called blessed oil and lit ablaze all at once from the highest ranking of the village as the shaman and medicine women chanted to Aippaq for a mild winter. Drums played from somewhere, adding a deep note to the high pitched chants and as the pile caught fire a cheer erupted from the crowd and cries or prayers of their own echoed into the sky.