"Come on Strelitzia!  We need to get there before mom arrives!" She shouted, grinning on the back of her kalangitan. So far she'd been on the road mapping out routes and learning more about Onnen's wildlife on her own. It was rare for her to stay put in one location for more than a month, but Namibia lived up to its name by being the safest place in the entire continent. As the city of the savanna came into view, suddenly swarms of something whizzed by her mount's wings. They weren't hostile, but she couldn't quite make them out in the bright noonday sun. "Those aren't birds, are they? They kind of look like flying snakes." They were too fast for her to catch, but they were beautiful. "I wonder what they're called?" The flat open land was perfect for Strelitzia to make a smooth landing, and she got the attention of people walking about. Finding a stable for her was harder than she thought, so Chrys found her a nice covered area to rest out of the sun. 

In the city there were more familiar faces. People from Canelux and Parvpora were visiting for the first time and it was a scavenger hunt to pick out faces she knew from the crowds. Along the way she saw a familiar airship which she recognized. "Oh, Cyril and Belen's mom came? Maybe I'll see them around. If Efrain's here too they must've bribed him with something pretty valuable to leave the house." Climbing up to a higher vantage point, she pulled on her hood to shade her eyes. Squinting, she watched people mill about, looking at the stalls full of souvenirs and food. Just when she thought she should check the airship again, her mother's curly blonde hair popped up in the sea of heads. Cupping her hands around her mouth, Chrys hollered at the top of her voice: "MOM! OVER HERE!" When they made eye contact the girl waved before sliding back down.

They hugged, then she pulled away to look around. "Did Lys come with you? What about dad?" Nerine shook her head. "I haven't seen them yet. Hopefully they do come. Everyone received these invitations from Lady Angela and Mrs. Kyrie. If your older brother does show up I'll likely be with Poppy." When they were back by Strelitzia, they picked up a few refreshments and food. "So how's my little brother and uncle Walter?" He wasn't really her uncle, but they all called him that. She missed him after she decided to stay in Onnen and the tracker chose to roam the wilderness of Canelux. It was a place he was familiar with, but she couldn't send him letters like she did with her family in Arri. "Efrain's doing fine in his studies, not much else has changed though." Her mother said disappointed. "Is he giving dad a hard time? He doesn't like bothersome things so I'm sure he won't get into trouble on purpose." "No, though your father is still lamenting over his lack of interest towards social etiquette." Her mother said with a sigh. "So same as usual, huh?" Chrys mumbled, taking a sip from her canteen. 

The swarm of winged creatures passed by again overhead, casting shadows below. They were hard to see due to how well they blended in with the sky; it was almost like their bodies were reflecting light like a mirror. Down on the ground there were locals and visitors alike flying kites attached to fishing reels moving along with the swarms. "What're they doing over there?" Chrys pointed. "It's called 'skyfishing'. I'm not sure how they manage to catch anything with those kites, though hooking one of those doesn't seem possible either." Her mother mused. "So are they fish? We flew through a bunch of them before I found you. Their wings are more like an insect's than ones with feathers. I didn't get a clear look, but their bodies sort of look like big worms." Her mother wasn't able to say much either, until they saw a lizard man cheer to his tribesmen holding up a live skyfish in his hands. The body was long, lined with shining fins sort of like a fish. It wasn't biting the lizard man, just struggling vainly to get free. "I does look like a snake, a little. You know, that's what they're cooking at the fire pit in large batches. I heard they're commonplace in Onnen but hard to catch, so everyone is taking the chance to try them before they move on."  

The sound of a brass bugle rang out as something–or someone took off into the air upon a stubby-legged dog cackling like a hyena. From elsewhere around the festival grounds there were other flyers on beasts or wings of their own following after the krampus corgi's trail of smoke. The sooty canine was making swirls in the air as it chased the agile swarms of skyfish keen on staying away. On its back was a small girl who lost her white hat in the wind while attempting to steer and bark commands to her unruly pet.

"¡Perro malo! ¡Devolver mi orbe!" Mira shouted as a black and ugly dog knocked her over, snatching away her precious thing in its drooling jaws. If there was one way to make her angry, it was that! A white hat of soft fabric flew at her face, and she pulled it off to see the dog drag away not only her treasure–but a poor girl as well! The girl in a white dress with white shoes was holding onto a rope attached to the thieving mutt, yelling words at it. Mira gave chase, flying into the air after it with a frown on her little face. She was going to get her orb back! The dangling girl was trying to get the dog to stop but it wasn't listening. Just as Mira thought she had the dog cornered, suddenly a whole school of flying eels swarmed past her. "¡Ah!" Shielding her face, she hovered mid-air until they were gone–only to find that the dog was now heading straight for her! Instead of running, the child balled up her fists and puffed out her cheeks, ready to take it on.

With her entire being she shouted: "¡Magnífico Cabezazo!" Faster than a peregrine falcon, in the blink of an eye–Mira rocketed off towards the incoming dog with the grand-master of all headbutts. Two unstoppable forces would soon collide, forcing one to fall from the sky… Or so it was supposed to happen. Right at the last second, the lure of shiny moving skyfish caught the krampus corgi's attention and it veered out of the way! Charging into empty air, Mira's anticipation turned to frustration. No, she wasn't going to give up! Not until she got her precious treasure orb back from the ugly thief-dog! "GAHHHH!!! SIT! STAY! EGGS AND BACON!!! KUROGURO STOOOOP!!!" The white-dress wearing girl shrieked. The smell of smoke mixed in with cooking meat wafted up from below, forcing the fiendish dog to slow to a halt. The girl holding the leash swung from the momentum, still desperately clinging on like a spider dangling off its thread. The snaggle-toothed mouth of it began to salivate, and with a much more interesting and delicious target in sight it finally let go of the orb. 

Like a shining falling star, the blue-purple sphere plummeted with Mira swiftly snatching it back up into her arms. The sound of the poor dog owner being dragged down by her ill-behaved pet trailed away as Mira was reunited with her precious treasure once again. Fussing, she began to wipe and polish it off where the dog had left slobber. Peace and quiet returned to the little child's world, floating among the clouds and rivers in the sky.

Ong's ears pricked at the sound of a girl shouting in some language all to foreign to him. He head darted away from the book he was reading and up into the sky just in time to catch what appeared to be a young girl fighting over a toy with a odd looking creature. From his vantage point he faintly caught a small glimmer in the sky.  Ong immediatly pulled away the book from the table before, a large clear substance hit the table. Curious; the Half Goblin poke a finger into th substance only for it to trail from his finger. "Saliva… Dog drool to be more precised". He hastily reached into his side satchel for a handkerchief and wiped the disgusting substance off his hand.

Looking above him, he could see the child plummeting towards the ground.  He didn't know where she would land but, it would not be on top of him. Hastily, he shoved the book in his satchel and hopped from his seat. Opposite of the girl, he could see the creature fly off after a fish in the air. Turning his head about, he could see the girl floating in the air. Remarkable he thought as he watched her float in the clouds.

"Dear diary, training Kuroguro has been going really slow. I've got the part on getting him to come on command down but I think it's because I'm holding food. I dunno how the krampus did it–but maybe they didn't even train them at all. Anyway I'm still looking to see if anybody can get him to sit when they say so. That'll be really helpful…" One of the best things about being tenured is that you could go on your own and study while still getting paid. She got first choice for starting the research on Onnen, beginning with local cultures of the largest settlements in the land. Really it was just another excuse to travel, but for a good cause! Khoisan had been fun, Mamjaku was pretty plain as the starting camp for everyone else, and there were tons more she still hadn't checked off yet. And when everybody else started getting invitations to a big 'ol cookout in the biggest city how could she say no? 

This place was great! Food, snacks, shiny things to buy and send home, and people to chat wi–er, interview! Something nice about Namibia was that all sorts of people were here and nobody thought you were weird if you looked a little different. Most of the people actually looked a lot different from people back home, so that was a plus. Unfortunately nobody here was familiar with the terms 'dwarf' or 'halfling' so again she was denied from drinking whatever strong stuff was local. Just because everybody was so tall they thought she was a kid! I mean it wasn't fair that a lion-man was like six to seven feet! She could totally drink more than the humans here altogether! Myouga didn't have much time to dwell on that though, as she was too busy stuffing her face with the free food for the festival.

Skyfish were pretty tasty–like grilled eels. She had some up in Khoisan, but apparently they were pretty rare elsewhere. From her time observing the flying wigglers, they liked making homes in cliff faces and crags like eels underwater, and when they needed to eat or move they'd leave their hidey-holes. Skyfish were pretty famous in Fulani too since that was a major breeding spot for them. Being semi-aquatic sure was convenient, they could breed pretty much anywhere with enough safety and water. They preferred bodies of water on land though. The sky rivers weren't as safe with few spots to duck into. The small oni wasn't the only one who thought the skyfish were delicious; as soon as she let her krampus corgi out of the 'time-out globe', it went berserk.

Like regular corgis, the krampus variety loved chasing things. Especially shiny, flying things. He tried to bite a little girl's shiny ball like a toy, then saw the skyfish in the skies. Kicking up smoke, Kuroguro saw a swarm up above and made a beeline for it while the orb was still in his mouth. And unfortunately Myouga didn't have enough time to send him back into time out before the leash yanked her along. Hacking and wheezing at the dust trail the mutt was making, her hands were literally full with the half-eaten skyfish skewers she was chowing on. It was a mad dash of trying to get her bearings while spinning like a kite in the breeze. The little girl Kuroguro stole from was mad and coming after them, but she couldn't get the dog to stop! At the mercy of the corgi's whims, all Myouga could do was hold on. His spastic attention span eventually wore out and found a thing to chase, his jaws loosening and dropping the pilfered ball. While the little girl finally got back her thing, Myouga was still being towed straight into a food stall.

People were shouting as her pet made excited snuffles and growls. This wasn't good, they were going to get in too much trouble! Inhaling as much air as she could into her lungs, Myouga blasted a shout that made her throat hurt: "KUROGURO–SIT DOWN!" The shockwave of the bellow stunned her dog and shook the tents. The ugly mutt fell to the ground with swirls in its eyes while his owner caught her breath. Downing a potion, she cleared her throat before tying her four-legged troublemaker up. "Whew…Works every time. We gotta get you trained someday or I'll never be able to take you anywhere." The arcanist frowned at her unconscious krampus corgi.

Ong watched on as the strange "dog", feel to the ground at one someones command. It was the first time he had ever seen such a peculiar creature and his minor irritation of the dogs saliva landing his new edition of "Lands Beyond Ours" turned into curiosity. Where did this creature come from? What type of diet did it have? Did it have the behavior of a normal dog? So many questions yet, he if wanted to get answers he would need to examine the beast itself. Shuffling past a group of onlookers, he made his way towards where he believed the dog had fallen.

"Pardon me, excuse me" he said as he walked around the onlookers. Ong may have been part human but, he was still only slightly taller than the average goblin. He hated having squeeze through large crowds of tall folk but, he needed to have his curiosity sated. Is a demon? A new species of dragon? A mutant? He couldn't wait to write about it in his journal. Ong pushed through a curious merchant who seemed rather annoyed at an elbow pushing him aside. "Watch it there, little green man!" the merchant exclaimed. He made his way around a group what seemed to be noble women from another land staring at him with curiosity. He bowed his head to them before moving on.

Finally, he made his way to the strange creature which seemed to be immobilized. Looking around he saw a figure approach them. She stood slightly taller than himself, which was rare among most folk he encountered. Her looks compared to that of a young human girl but, not quite he surmised. Either way, she may have been the creatures owner. "Pardon me miss, is this your…pet?" he asked politely.

[OOC: Starting from this post I will be solely posting with this character, so other posters who have joined will not need to wait for Chrysanthe and Mira to reply!]

Well she should've known yelling so loud would've brought a crowd. At least they didn't wreck anything, so it was all good. The snow globe was ready and she was about to send her dog back into 'time-out' when a goblin came up to her. "Pardon me miss, is this your…pet?" Myouga turned to him and put her hands on her hips, grinning from ear to ear. "Yep! Isn't he cute? Sorry about the mess, I still gotta train him. At least he's not a picky eater though." On the contrary, her krampus corgi was absolutely hideous but she didn't seem to realize that. Hyenas were more photogenic than the stubby-legged mutt. "Hold on, I gotta put him away before he wakes up. I'm not gonna be able to knock him out twice like that in the same day." The arcanist mumbled, rubbing her throat. Shaking her magical snow globe, the sooty dog was sucked in leaving behind a pile of coal dust and shed fur. She wiped her brow with a sigh of relief. "Maaan, corgis sure are tough to handle. When the 'Beginner's Guide to Dog Breeds' said they weren't for first-time owners they weren't kidding! …But he's so cute though. It's so hard to say no to that fluffy stub-tailed tush and big ears!"

The crowd that had gathered was now dispersing, the ruckus over. She had to admit she was sweating a little back when she was getting hauled along like a kite. Patting her head, she realized something was missing. "Hey where's my hat?" Looking around she didn't see it, then shrugged her shoulders. With a snap of her fingers she conjured it back into her hand and put it on. It was a white one made of soft cloth that resembled a large puff. Taking a bite out of her remaining skyfish skewers, she thoughtfully rubbed her chin while thinking of what to do next. "Hmm…what was I going to do before Kuroguro ran off? Oh yeah–skyfishing!" The plan had been to tie some jerky to a pole and see if she could steer the dog around while on his back, using him to herd skyfish to a basket. But with the mess they both made earlier she'd rather not have to go through that again.

Looking back at the goblin at last, she smiled mischievously. "So, what're you here for–buddy ol' pal? Sightseeing or taking advantage of free lunch? You look like you're from over yonder across the sea. Lemme guess–Canelux or Parvpora?" Unlike other professors, Myouga was the chatty type. If she thought somebody was interesting, she'd pester them until she got them talking. And above all else, she didn't like feeling bored.

Ong looked over the woman and looked down to her pet. "Cute" wasen't exactly what he'd call the strange animal but, if it was indeed a dog then, it was unlike any breed he'd ever seen in his life. He lowered down to examine the immobilized creature before the woman produced a snow globe and summoned back in. His brow lifted in amazement as she shook the globe. "So it is indeed some type of canine? Certainly not a hybrid from the looks of it. Your telling me its a Corgi?" he asked. His hand shuffled to his small journal and wrote down some notes to what he saw. He was intrigrigued by the creature and wrote down the time, date and features of the creature before, looking over back to the woman. "Apologies" he said before turning back to her. "I am simply intrigued by your….dog. I never seen such a creature before".

 Ong returned his journal to his sack, before looking over to see the woman conjure her hat. He rubbed his chin and approached her curiously. "You must be quite the talented magician to conjure so easily?". Ong looked up as a school of sky fish flew passed overhead headed west of their position. "If your looking to sky fish, there in abundance it seems." The smell of cooked fish tickled his nose and found himself salivating. He hadn't had his breakfest and the smell cooked fish made his stomach rumble loudly. Bracing a palm over his stomach he tried to cover the sound. I suppose, I could go for some myself he thought.

He bowed his head to her as a form of greetings. "My name is Ong Porrys, I'm something of a traveler yes but, I am native to this continent. I come from a village in the Igbo region but, it has been along time since I have been there. And you miss? Might I have pleasure of your name?"

"Yep, it's a corgi. A krampus corgi to be exact. Guess you guys don't have any of those around here huh? Krampus, I mean. They're kinda like…evil goat men?" Explaining 'demons' and 'fiends' were kind of hard without going into culturally established biases, which was something she wasn't going to enforce. And as soon as the goblin man complimented her hat summoning, she had a silly grin plastered on her face. He introduced himself, and corrected her guess. So he was a local after all! Who would've thought? "Aww, thanks! I'm the great and magnificent Myouga–arcanist extraordinaire!" The small oni said proudly, doing a twirl. "Making stuff appear is easy-peasy!" It was true, after all she was a professor at Iria's Mage Academy. "Oh so you're from Onnen! A hit and a miss. Igbo…doesn't sound like anywhere close by. Maybe I'll go have a look-see sometime! I've got my list all planned out and I've still got half the continent left to go!"

Ong having explained a little about where to start in skyfishing, she crammed the rest of her food in her mouth and swallowed. "Alright, no time like the present! Since you've given me a few pointers, it's time I caught some nice skyfish for myself! As delicio–er, mysterious as they are I wanna bring one back home to show Nick and everybody else. Gotta be careful it doesn't escape or else I'll be releasing a non-native species." Running to get herself a fishing rod, she returned with one having a bright pink and yellow kite. With a spin of her finger, she sent it flying up into the air with a puff of wind. "Whoosh~ Fly little kite, fly free!" Watching it spiral up, she was quiet for a while until she turned, smiling still to Ong. "Wanna chat a bit? How about you ask me something and I answer, then I ask you something next? Whoever runs out of answers last wins!"  

Ong pulled out his book and wrote down the name "Krampus Corgi", as well as features he noticed about the strange animal. Evil goat men? Demons perhaps, he surmised. Ong had traveled across Onnen and read about such creatures in the books, he collected from merchants but, never had he met one up close. As for the woman, her talent in magic seemed to surpass his own knowledge. He studied her ad bit before bowing his head to her again. "A pleasure to meet you Ms. Myouga" he smiled before returning his book to his satchel. "Indeed, I am a native of Onnen though, I can't say I have ventured around the entire continent nor, made acquaintances of all its tribes. I left Igbo many years ago and have not returned since. I primarily have ventured in the Sahel Understory, Cameroon, The Grasslands, Eft Mountains before gradually coming her too Namiba." Ong reached back into his satchel and produced a small old map of the continent with marks of the areas he had visited. "I feel fortunate to have found a fellow scholar, I too practice some magic though, probably not at your level" he smiled to her with a toothy grin.

Another school of fish flew above them and his brow raised at the mention of hunting them. Ong smiled at the invitation to join her on her hunt. "I would love to join you in your hunt. I have not yet supped and flying fish are quite the delicacy if, you can catch them. I'd love to chat…come let us hurry after them before, they fly away." Ong pointed to the direction of the last school of fish. "I do have a question, what continent do you come from Ms. Myouga? Are their many tribes? Do you have a tribe?"

It was always good to meet other mages, people who didn't run away screaming 'witchcraft' at the sight of anything they didn't understand. When Ong took out an old map of his she couldn't help eye it curiously. Well she was here to learn more about Onnen after all, even if she had a habit of mixing work with play. Since she had to stay still mostly when fishing–something that was hard enough for somebody as impatient as Myouga, she was all ears to anything he had to say. "I'm from Parvpora! It's not the one you meet when you leave from the eastern shore. It's pretty big and there's a savanna too but not as big as Onnen's. I guess there are a lot of tribes there, though I don't know how many off the top of my head. Most people living cities like this one and a few live on their own. Mmm…I don't really have a 'tribe', but my family identifies as oni. Betcha thought I was human didn't you? Look–see?" Shifting the rod into her left hand, she flipped up her bangs above her eyes to reveal two small pointed bumps from her forehead. 

"We got horns! Mine are kinda smaller than everybody else's and that's also why I'm short. But~ I'm better at magic 'cause of that! Most people in Parvpora and Canelux identify by where they were born or their ancestry if they're city-dwellers. You should visit sometime! And now it's my turn to ask a question. So what's your village like? Asking people about their lives and how they live is all part of my job. When I'm not out seeing the world, I teach classes in Iria." Being a professor was something she was proud of. It was probably Myouga's greatest achievement, next to the creation of her first plant-animal chimera. The various varieties of goldfish plants were coming along nicely, and she was thinking of adding some Onnen plant material into the mix. The entire continent was literally magical! Since she wasn't technically importing a non-native species, there wouldn't be ecological repercussions…right?