[Thunder]

(Human form.)

As an angel, Hawk felt that he ought to take some interest in the world's religions. It just so happened that when he finally got a break from his Exorcist training, a little religious holiday called "Easter" was going around on Earth. He descended from the Parallel World to investigate, and he was quite surprised at what he found. It turned out that Easter involved "egg hunts" where people ran around and tried to find hidden plastic eggs. He had no idea what any of it had to do with religion, but he thought it would be fun and participated in the festivities anyway.

There were egg hunting locations all around Evelon, but Hawk chose Roraldi since he had never been to the magical forest before. It was a really wonderful, sunny day, which made the forest seem all the more vibrant and exciting. He hadn't found any eggs yet, but he was looking hard and peering under every possible shrub and tree. He hoped that someone might come along and join him. He was sure it would be more fun with some friends.

[GrayGriffin]

The monochromatic feline had been quite cautious about using the portals. The Cuniflare manning them had been so loud and dramatic, that even if his intentions were truly pure, he still intimidated her. Luckily, she hadn't had to approach him directly, as she had seen him open one portal especially wide for one man, and slipped in after him, hoping she looked like she belonged. Now, she was looking around the place they were in. She had been to Roraldi before...but this place looked new.

She began to wander in a random direction, not particularly caring where she was going, when she suddenly bumped into the man she had followed through the portal.

"Oh! Oh...I'm sorry." She forced a smile onto her face.

[1]

[jackie125]

A small winged feline soared over the towering trees of the Roraldi Forest. She was glad to be far from the freezing wastelands and weather of her home. She had fared the long journey to take part in a celebration that the humans call "Easter". It was a religious event. Strange, though, that it also seemed to involve eggs and rabbits. Humans were strange things, so she never really bothered to question the things they do.

The sun warmed her back as she spilled air from her wings and dipped lower towards the canopy of leaves below. She spied a small group of creatures in the forest, and went in to land. She alighted gently on a branch beneath their heads and called down a cheerful "Hello!"

[1]

[Thunder]

Just as he wondered if anyone else would show up, Hawk felt something pointy jab into him. He let out a yelp and jumped away from the bush he was investigating. Since he was part of the angel military, he instinctively reached towards his belt for a weapon...but then he remembered that he hadn't brought any. Whoops.

"Ack, you scared me!" he exclaimed. It was a Hunter, which he knew were pretty fearsome creatures, but this one had apologized, so he figured that she was friendly enough. Hawk ran his fingers through his hair and grinned sheepishly.

He was startled again, though, when he heard someone say "Hello!" from above. He squeaked again and glanced up at the branches in alarm. It was yet another critter, a Kitrell this time. "W-where are you all coming from?" he gasped. "I'm going to get a heart attack before I finish this egg hunt! Is...is that what you're both here for, too?"

[ToxicShadow]

Once Rayishi got wind of the egg hunt, there was absolutely no stopping him. Not just stopping him, but there was no slowing him down and reasoning with him either. Bounding through the forest like a natural, over stones and upturned roots, the Khimera cub came hurtling toward the motley group that had already gathered. His sensitive feline hearing made it easy to find people and he just heard the words, "Egg hunt." For him, that meant that he wouldn't be hunting for eggs alone. Well, he wasn't even alone now, but the more the merrier! Right? Right. It just had to be that much more fun with a bunch of people!

A loud, very muffled and drawn out, "Come on, come on, come on!" announced his presence before he even came into view. The words were directed toward his companion, a woman that, despite the heeled boots, made her way through the forest with just as much ease, chasing after him. "Rayishi, you need to wait!" She called back, not sounding particularly annoyed, though still making some attempt at reigning in the child's enthusiasm, at least enough so that he didn't manage to go and hurt himself.

Pouncing from behind some brush, he managed to put himself right where everyone else already was, with a cheerful greeting, "Hello!" Again, his words were muffled, the source of the impairment being a pastel blue plush lamb that he held carefully in his jaws.

Shortly after him the woman, Toxic, approached the group. It seemed that every had only just met one another, likely all here for the same reason. It was obvious that she was planning to hunt for Easter eggs, if the two colorful baskets hanging from one arm had anything to say about it. "Ah, hello," she greeted, smiling faintly. "You're all here to hunt for eggs, I imagine?" It was a little awkward to face people they'd never met and speak to them naturally, though she really held no fear, not within the forest that she called home.

"I heard someone mention the egg hunt," Rayishi confirmed.

[GrayGriffin]

Nisha had heard the sound of the Kitrell landing, but forced herself to ignore it. No...she didn't want others around here! She wanted to be alone! She didn't even care about any egg hunt-it was simply a convenient way to continue with her memorial of her love. So she didn't even spare any words for the man when he mentioned that she had frightened him.

And then...the sound of a younger voice. A child. She and Fen had spoke of adopting, once, although that dream was gone with the warrior Garudor. Rayishi...a suitable name, she supposed.

"I...yes, I am here for the egg hunt," she said, after a pause. It was a lie, but it was the best way to avoid suspicion from those other creatures. She supposed that she'd just have to make do and pretend to hunt for eggs for now. She could just not go back through the portal later on.

[2]

[jackie125]

Tya shuffled along the branch she was sitting on, watching as more people and creatures arrived at the spot in the forest. Bright green leaves filled the limbs above her head and around her. She had done a little bit of searching for eggs, but hadn't had the luck of finding any yet. The little Kitrell didn't really know what to look for, besides the basic shape of an egg.

"W-where are you all coming from?" gasped the Sygriff. "I'm going to get a heart attack before I finish this egg hunt! Is...is that what you're both here for, too?"

Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you! I came for the egg hunt!

She was quite excited, at home Easter usually landed in the Winter-y part of the year, and egg hunt were done in homes. She'd never had the experience of participating in one outside before.

[2]

[ToxicShadow]

The woman raised a curious eyebrow toward the Hunter as she confirmed that she was in the forest to hunt for eggs, as if having some vague suspicion because of her initial pause prior to answering. By profession, Toxic was a bounty hunter, and being suspicious, attempting to see through lies, that was part of it. Of course, that made her sound frightening in personality, which wasn't entirely true. With people that were not her targets or associated with them, they held their rights to their secrets and personal thoughts. Everyone, after all, had at least one thing they didn't want to tell other people.

It dawned on her that this was all particularly strange, and decided to break the ice further. "Oh, where are my manners? I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Toxic, and this is Rayishi." She gestured toward the Khimera cub, smiling in a friendly manner. "He's my nephew, you could say." She had no siblings here, and likely not alive at all, but when she found Rayishi on the streets, she took him in. Though she was a mother figure, she didn't particularly take the title of "Mother," nor had Rayishi taken the title of, "Son." He was capable of fending for himself, despite the young age, though she insisted on protecting him.

"And this is Lamby!" Rayishi added enthusiastically, tossing the small lamb plush up into the air and catching it again between his teeth, careful not to puncture the fabric. If one thing was his strong suit, it was dealing with strangers. Alongside Toxic, he seemed entirely unfaltering even in the face of so many that he didn't know.

"Our home is within this forest," the woman continued to explain, in order to make sense of their sudden appearance. "Not all that close by, but when we heard of the egg hunt, we came running."

[Thunder]

Well, it sounded like the Hunter and Kitrell were both here for the egg hunt. Or at least, the Kitrell was, probably. The Hunter for some reason didn't sound too sure. How could you be uncertain of whether you were on an egg hunt or not? You either were or weren't. But Hawk didn't really want to pry. Even if he wanted to ask questions, he didn't get to since at that moment, he picked up another voice in the distance.

The voice got closer, and suddenly a Khimera leaped out of the bushes, frightening Hawk yet again. "Ahhhh!" The angel jumped backwards from the Khimera and nearly fell into some trees. He clutched his chest and gasped for breath. Oh man, he thought. If Captain Adriel was here, he'd kill me for being so easily scared!

It seemed like he didn't need to fear this new beast either, though, for it was carrying a stuffed animal gently in its mouth. Soon after, a woman had also appeared and claimed the Khimera was her nephew. "O-oh, I see..." he stammered. "So I guess we are all out hunting eggs, then. Uh, my name is Hawk. I'm an angel, as you can see." He straightened himself out and spread his wings as if to emphasize his identity. "I heard that Easter was a religious holiday, so I wanted to check it out. But I dunno why we have to look for eggs. Do any of you know why?"

[FrostyRae]

Drat, yet again she was late in coming to a big event. After rushing into the forest, the woman paused after a fair amount of distance when she heard some voices up ahead. Could it possibly be other people here to hunt for Easter eggs?

Coming into the group quietly, the female kept her eyes to the ground. "Umm...excuse my tardiness to joining you all. I don't believe I spotted any eggs on the way here, but I suppose checking later wouldn't hurt." Realizing she hadn't introduced herself yet, she winced slightly, hardly knowing anyone here. "The name is Raven, by the way...hope we'll find a decent amount of eggs!"

[GrayGriffin]

An angel? Nisha froze. Had she just been so rude to an agent of the afterlife? "What kind of angel are you, Hawk?" she asked, trying her best to make her voice sound quiet and inoffensive. Oh please, oh please, don't judge me so harsh for this, please don't let this mean that I'll never see Fen again? Her panic was so great that she didn't even hear what the others were saying, or notice the female Lucain approaching the group. Unconsciously, she crouched at Hawk's feet, trying her best to appear harmless and innocent.

[3]

[ToxicShadow]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hawk," Toxic replied, dipping her head slightly in a polite manner. "I apologize for Rayishi and I startling you." For a moment, she paused, considering his question regarding the hunting of the eggs. "I believe eggs are symbols of birth or rebirth, and there are children's games from many cultures that involve rolling or hunting eggs during spring." Why they hunted eggs on Evelon, though, she had no idea, though perhaps many worlds just had similar holidays naturally. She knew why Easter was celebrated in her home world, though she was not so much here. "I suppose many do it just because its fun, without paying much attention as to why anymore."

While the older members of the group spoke, young Rayishi was getting antsy. After all, while they all wasted time talking among themselves, no eggs were to be found. If they didn't find eggs, there would be no prizes. Not willing to accept waiting any longer, as his limited patience was already spent, the small Khimera began nosing around the brush. They were supposed to be bright and colorful, so they couldn't be all that hard to find if they really tried!

[jackie125]

"An Angel," Tya exclaimed,"I don't think I've ever met an Angel before! Lovely to meet you Hawk, and the rest of you as well!" She nodded her head to the Khimera, the Hunter,  the woman and the Lucain.

"My name's Tya!", she said while she smiled as well as a Kitrell could. Her tail hung down below the branch, swaying like a cat's. She leaped from the tree and glided down towards the ground, where she landed gracefully on her paws. Her tail swept the ground behind her as her wings buffeted the grass. The wispy feathers around her ears could feel the slight breeze passing through the forest. The air was warm and rather humid, unlike her homeland, where it was almost always cold and painfully dry. She rid herself of the thought and tried to think of something a bit more cheerful.
"Do you guys think we should start searching for eggs? We don't want to waste any time! I mean, if that's okay with you guys."

[3]

[Thunder]

Hawk blinked at Nisha. "Er, I'm just an angel?" he replied. He wasn't really sure what she was asking, and he was totally oblivious to her panic. There weren't different "types" of angels in the Parallel World, though there were different occupations that angels could have. Maybe that's what she meant? "Uhh, I'm an Exorcist in training. Exorcists hunt criminal demons and keep the peace! It's a really exciting job, but I still have a far way to go... I probably can't count the number of times my captain yelled at me on both my fingers and my toes!"

Then, he heard a new, quiet voice. Hawk turned around and saw a female Lucain who had apparently just arrived. "Hey!" he greeted, waving at her enthusiastically. "It's nice to meet you, Raven! You're not late at all. Er, we haven't really found anything, actually. We're just getting to know each other right now."

He still didn't really get why Easter involved eggs, even after Toxic's explanation, but he figured if people just did it for fun, he wouldn't have to worry about the meaning behind it all. "Right, maybe we should get started?" he wondered aloud.

[GrayGriffin]

Nisha tried to calm her own breathing, and slowly rose up again. It seemed like he had nothing to do with the afterlife. That was good. "Yes, we should get going," she agreed softly, lifting up her head to look around them. Several of the trees in the forest had knotholes in them.

"Do you think any eggs are hidden in here?" she asked, lifting herself up on her hind legs to take a better look into one of said holes. There was nothing in this one, at least.

[4]