"Cater looks unusually excited for this," commented Riddle.
"Agreed, but that's not a bad thing," said Vil.
Malleus had been the first to arrive to the mirror chamber. When informed of the trip, the headmage had been nice enough to let them use the mirror to get there. It would cut their travel time considerably.
Though unknown to the rest, he too wanted a crack at the same liquor that Cater favored. He was rather partial to it himself.
Once everyone was ready, they walked through the mirror. Cater was already busy taking tons of pictures.
"This place is breathtaking," said Riddle in appreciation.
"Oui!" said Rook with open delight. "The mountain air is crisp and refreshing, and the natural beauty of the mountain is perfect!"
"Shucks, it's good to hear city folk talking so enthusiastic about our mountain," said a voice.
Cater hid a grin when he turned to face the source, as he knew that voice anywhere.
It was Epel.
"You must be the guide," said Vil.
"Ma name's Epel. Epel Felmier. Meemaw told me to bring you to the lodge," he said cheerfully.
Cater had a grin on his face.
"So what's the turnout like for the race this year?" he asked.
Epel perked up and cheerfully spoke to Cater, the two acting like old friends.
Fashionista or not, Vil would hardly turn down handmade clothing. He was already planning to add pictures of the event to his official MagiCam feed for later, once they were back at Night Raven.
An hour later...
Cater was having an absolute blast, and it did not go unnoticed. Riddle couldn't help but comment about it to Vil.
"He seems happier here."
"I think it's because the people here are more interested in farming over social media, and are unlikely to know his mother," said Vil after a moment. None of them had commented on his presence after the initial surprise of someone as beautiful as him coming to such a remote festival.
It was rather refreshing, actually.
Epel was more than happy to elaborate on their apples and the festival itself, while he lead them to the house where they'd get their new outfits and plushies. Cater was surprised to learn that the racers were allowed to keep the plushies, as some people reused the ones they had from previous years.
Since none of the group could sew beyond the bare basics and they did want a chance to properly win this thing, Cater planned to pay the fee to have someone local sew the plushies while they enjoyed the actual festival.
It was clear Epel enjoyed the company, because the entire walk to the main house they only saw people who were at least forty or over working the fields. While his accent was a tad hard to understand, it was clear he was a bit of a spitfire.
Epel's grandmother was equally pleased, seeing her grandson get along with the outsiders.
"So how did you hear about our little festival?" asked Marja, Epel's grandmother.
"A friend of mine mentioned it and it sounded interesting. He used to send me some of your Fairest Apple mead, but he hasn't sent any for a while," said Cater.
Mostly because Epel hadn't met him yet.
Once everyone was dressed in more...climate appropriate outfits... the boys went into the main hall to pick out fabric swatches and which animal they would be using.
By unanimous consensus, before Cater had a chance to vote otherwise, he was given a wolf. Cater just laughed and didn't argue, since his familiar was a fairly impressive wolf specimen.
The other three mused over their selection before they chose a fox (Vil), bear (Rook), and a cat (Riddle).
Cater looked at the fabrics Riddle had chosen and couldn't help but snicker.
"You went with the cat because those patterns resemble Che'nya, didn't you?"
Riddle flushed a bit, before nodding.
"Che'nya?" said Vil.
"A cat beastkin from the Royal Sword Academy. From what I heard, he's childhood friends with Riddle and Trey," explained Cater.
"Oh-ho? Is that who that is? I always wondered who he was," said Rook cheerfully. He had seen the odd beastkin, but hadn't known his name.
"I'll have these done in a few hours. Why don't you boys go to town and enjoy the stalls?" said Marja cheerfully.
"That reminds me, where do we register our team's name?" asked Cater.
"In the town hall, Epel can show you where that is."
As they walked to town, Epel asked what their team name would be.
"We're Queen's Heart, to represent to two royals that our dorms at school are founded by," said Cater.
"Which royals?" asked Epel.
"The Queen of Hearts, which is the dorm Riddle belongs to, and the Fairest Queen, which is the dorm the three of us are part of. Malleus' dorm is founded by the Thorn Fairy," said Cater cheerfully. Epel cast a glance at the more imposing figure behind them, who was observing the entire thing with a fascinated look on his face.
"This is a rather quaint village," said Malleus with approval. He was rather pleased at how they observed the old ways without relying too much on technology. It was relaxing.
"I know right? It's nice to get away from the headaches of technology every once in a while," said Cater in agreement.
"Oui! And this area is rather picturesque!" said Rook. It called to his hunter's senses, as the area was very in tune with nature.
Epel was beaming with pride, because it was nice to hear outsiders speak well of his home town. They didn't get many visitors, and certainly not people as unusual as this group.
"So which school are ya'll from?" asked Epel.
"Night Raven College," said Cater.
"No kiddin'? I got an acceptance letter from them myself before the festival kicked off. I'll be joinin' next year," said Epel.
Vil mentally noted if Epel made it into their dorm, the first thing he was going to do was fix that accent. It wouldn't do for one of their own to speak like a backwater hick, even if he was from a rural village.
"Cater is the unofficial older brother to most of the dorms, especially in Heartsabyl and Pomefiore," said Riddle.
Cater blushed at that, and was rather glad they reached the village proper. The first thing he did was go to the main hall to register their team, so they didn't forget.
Vil spotted a very impressive wooden model of the Fairest Queen's castle. The level of detail was almost perfect, and he fond it visually appealing even without any painting on it.
However he was disinclined to buy the set, as he didn't have the time, patience or skill to put the model together.
Cater looked at what he was eyeing and grinned.
"Why not challenge the board game club into seeing who can put it together the fastest? They get a challenge, you get the model completed without having to do any of the work. You could donate a few of the lesser models as recompense for tricking them."
Vil perked up at that idea. They got a few puzzles to decorate their club room, he got the completed model of the Fairest Queen's castle. It was a win-win for both.
He bought one of each set, save for the castle which he bought two of.
Cater made a beeline for the stall selling the mead he loved so much.
"So why did everyone vote on wolf for you?" asked Epel.
"Oh, that's probably because of Umbra."
"Who's Umbra?"
Vil, sensing mischief immediately pulled out his phone. He wasn't disappointed as there was a loud yelp from Epel, before he heard the distinct sputtering of someone hit with a surprise wolf-slobber facial.
It took a few seconds for the other people around them to register the wolf. Epel was too busy trying to wipe his face.
Cater was cackling.
"Good job, Umbra!"
Umbra barked, wagging his tail slightly.
"Why must you insist on having him give people such a messy facial?" said Riddle exasperated.
"Because I find it funny," said Cater. "He's harmless anyway."
Epel, once he cleaned his face off...mostly...looked at the massive wolf. The thing was bigger than he was, easily.
"Who or what is that?"
"He," said Cater amused, "Is Umbra. My familiar."
"I ain't never seen a wolf this big before!" said Epel. Normally he'd be terrified, but the thing was acting like an oversized puppy.
"Of course you haven't," said Vil amused. "Star wolves are almost never seen in populated areas after all."
Mostly because they were known as B-rank disaster class beasts. The fact Cater somehow found a direwolf pup and caused it to evolve into a star wolf pup when he Named it was a testament to his magical abilities.
"So have ya'll ever raced one of these sleds before?" asked Epel.
"Not in the least," said Cater.
Epel looked flabbergasted at this.
"Do ya'll even know how to command the plushies?"
"Not even the least," said Rook amused.
Seeing the look on Epel's face, Cater knew he was about to give them a crash-course on how to race properly. He would be right, and the moment they had their plushies Epel had them training for several hours on how to control them properly.
It was a good thing Malleus was unused to modern technology, otherwise Cater knew he would have recorded their many, many mishaps for later amusement. Seven only knew Lilia would never have let them live it down.
Later that night...
Vil only had to hear the name "Neige" before he turned his complete and full attention on the 'children' entering the race. There were seven of them, and from the sound of things they were rather close to his rival.
"What's wrong, Roi du Poison?" asked Rook. He had noticed Vil's sudden interest in the dwarves.
"That group. They're from the Royal Sword Academy and from what I heard they're planning to complete," said Vil.
Cater spared a glance nearby.
"Oh, them. Yeah, they're friends with Neige," said Cater. "I think they plan to enter the race to give him good luck for the coming year or something. At least that's what they were talking about around some of the stalls."
Vil absolutely refused to let Neige have any more 'luck' than he already had. His competitive spirit had been burning before, but it was a candle to the blaze he had now.
"Well this could be an issue," said Cater. He knew his uncle had booked rooms for them, but he had apparently failed to warn them that they had only three beds available.
Vil didn't hesitate.
"Malleus gets the single, Rook will room with me and you can bunk with Riddle."
After a brief moment to consider this, everyone agreed it was the only sensible solution. Cater and Riddle had shared a bed before, after all, and none of them were particularly willing to bunk with Malleus even if it was temporary.
Riddle blushed slightly, before he remembered that Cater had already seen everything.
After a few moment's hesitation, Riddle curled up against Cater like he had under the last night of the potion's influence. Cater, once he received Riddle's unspoken consent, cuddled with him.
The two fell into an easy sleep within minutes.
The next morning
"So how did ya'll sleep last night?" asked Marja.
Vil looked distinctly annoyed at Rook.
"Well we slept like babies," said Cater cheerfully. Riddle nodded in agreement at that.
"I wish I was that lucky. Someone's feet were freezing and kept pressing against my legs all night," said Vil irritably.
"I do apologize, my dear Vil! I forgot to bring a thick pair of socks," said Rook. He looked more amused than anything.
"What about you Malleus?" asked Cater.
"I was watching the snow fall. It was rather relaxing," he admitted.
Marja beamed at them, especially seeing as how all the boys had a hearty appetite the next morning.
"That reminds me, I heard rumors there was a wolf in the area. You boys better be safe while you're racing later," said Marja.
Cater couldn't hold back his laugh.
"Umbra won't hurt anyone, he's perfectly trained," said Cater.
"Umbra?" said Marja, confused.
Her reaction to a massive wolf, sitting primly outside was rather amusing.
"My word!" said Marja in surprise.
Cater was more than happy to demonstrate how well trained his wolf was, and it didn't take much for Marja to relax around him.
Epel looked rather delighted when Umbra allowed him to get on his back and walk around a bit. He loved dogs.
