Bellisserian Voice: The 5th Anniversary Event is Open! Plus, Animals!

Author’s Note: These posts are going to lag behind by a day, sometimes two— so there’s no coverage of the opening ceremony in this blog post. I hope you will enjoy the story anyway!

From Avalon:

As promised, Galdor met me not long after I made my way to the event site; must have been mid-morning? I admit I slept in, because yesterday was full-on!

Here we are at the entrance to the Bellisseria City Zoo! I’d had a sort of peek through the gate, but this was my (our!) first time exploring it up close.

“Is a Zoo like a Bestiary?” Galdor asked.

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “Isn’t a bestiary a book about animals? This is a place where you can see live animals.”

He hmmed. “I think you may be right.” He did not sound happy to admit this. “But why would you need a special place to see animals?”

I sighed. “You kept telling me yesterday that our world has changed a lot since you were a young Magpie. One of the things that’s changed is that humans (mostly humans, anyway) have hunted some animals to the point of extinction, and they’ve increased their numbers and their land use so much that other animals don’t have as much of a habitat as they once did, so their numbers dwindle, too. Zoos are a place where humans can be reminded they’re not the only beings on the planet.”

I never knew birds could frown. How does he do that without lips? It must be something about the squinty eyes and general downcast look. “That is a sadness to me,” he said. “But even here, I see more folk in one place than I ever did in my earlier life, anywhere. So I can imagine, spreading that out over the world, all the worlds even, how this expansion as you call it works. Surely men have honour and will cease this troubling movement once they realise what is happening?”

I looked down.

“Ah,” he said. “I see.” He fluffed his feathers. “Well— let’s go and see some of the creatures in your Zoo.”

“I love big cats,” I said, as we approached the White Tiger habitat. “They’re so much like little cats.”

“Except they will eat you,” Galdor said. “Well; they wouldn’t eat me. I am too small for them, and too fast. You, however, would make a tasty meal.”

“Gosh, thanks.” I mock-glared at him; his personality was beginning to grow on me. “See the red block on the sign there? It means they are endangered.” I did a quick search on my iPhone. “It says here there are only about 200 of them left, and they are all in captivity: there are none left in the wild.”

Galdor’s beak clicked as he shook his head. “We used to hear tales of White Tigers from the scops, of the wīd-wegas, the far away lands.”

“White tigers are just like regular tigers, only they have a thing in them (I did not want to try an explain genes to him) that makes them white. So it’s not like there are only 200 tigers left, only 200 of these very special ones.”

“Still not a happiness, a gaman,” he said. “Why did you bring us here? I have a melancholy upon me now.”

I sighed. “Can you enjoy the animals in the moment and not worry about their futures?”

Galdor clicked his beak.

“Let’s go look at the penguins instead. They have seals and puffins, too!”

“Seals,” Galdor murmured. “Such tales I know of seals.”

“I don’t think any of these will shed their skins and be stolen away by mortal men,” I replied.

He carked a laugh. “So you are not wholly ignorant, fae child.”

“Not a child,” I hissed.

He just laughed. “Perhaps I’ll go in for a little dip.”

“You do that,” I said. “Mind the starfish.”

Once Galdor was finished fluffing around in the water, we moved into a shadier part of the Zoo. “Maybe we’ll get some lunch in a bit,” I said.

He half-flew to the sunnier edge of the table. “Need to dry off. I do fancy a chip buttie, though” he replied.

“I never understood the purpose of the chip buttie,” I admitted. “I mean, it’s carbs, between carbs.”

“Potatoes are different from bread,” he said. “They go better with salt.”

“It’s like you’re saying salt is the main part of the food.”

“It’s like you’re saying it’s not.”

“I am not sure what I’m saying any more. Looks like that sandwich stand over there is open, though; I’ll stand you the chip buttie.”

There were squawks of delight.

On our way over to the sandwich stand, I pointed. “Look,” I said, “Trash Pandas!”

“Trash … Pandas?”

“Raccoons. Look; they’re all over the place, and not afraid of anything.”

“Should I ask why they are called Trash Pandas?” he asked.

I just pointed at the wheelie bins. “Apparently, they are all over North America,” I replied. “Kind of like Foxes in the UK, Coyotes in the American midsection. They’re animals that have adapted, more or less, to living in cities and scavenging.”

“So humans haven’t managed to squeeze out all animals, then,” he said. “I wonder why the tigers didn’t just adapt.”

“Apex predators, Galdor,” I said. “A threat even to humans. And some people think they make good trophies.”

“Trophies?”

“Yeah; they kill them, stuff them, hang them on a wall.”

“Can’t your craftspeople make cuddly toys?”

“Of course they can.” He was making me uncomfortable. “Let’s go order that buttie for you, yeah?”

I took out my sketchbook whilst we were waiting for lunch, and Galdor, not super comfortable on the picnic bench, manifested a silver perch out of thin air. I chose not to ask how he did that.

“So what’s on for today?” he asked.

“Well, we have the opening ceremonies; there’s a special guest speaker coming, and then there’s some music. Folks are starting a couple of hunts, but today is mostly a party day. Tomorrow, let’s meet up for breakfast and get some more photographs: I want to investigate these beautifully decorated houses. What do you say?”

“Those bangles are really pretty,” he said.

“Just one?”

“The gold one, please. You can pay me after dinner.”

“Dinner? You’ve not even been served your lunch yet!”

“I like to plan ahead.”

Notes & Credits:

Items you can get for free at the Bellisseria 5th Anniversary celebration:

Avalon’s Bellisseria Tank Top: Savvy Quinn Calavera, Belli Fifth Anniversary T-Shirt
Avalon’s Very Pretty Bangles: Earthstones, Saturday Bangles
Avalon’s Lighthouse Necklace: Zuri, Lighthouse Pendant Bellisseria 5th Anniversary
All items available in the Gift Area at the Bellisseria 5th Anniversary Event.

Other Fancy Stuff:

Avalon’s Hair: Evelyn, Lia
Additional Hairbase: Angel Eyes, Wispy Bangs
Avalon’s Jeans: Blueberry, DWL Jeans, Capri Jeans (Valentine’s edition)
Glasses: E.Marie, Lori Glasses
Earrings: Chouko Rosa, Lorafine Crescent Earrings (This is a WIP and will be released at Fantasy Faire!)
Short socks: C’est la Vie, Liva Short Socks
Shoes: Ingenue, Lorna Sneakers (FLF Prints)
Eyes: T’Ville, Hentai Eyes 2, Sky
Avalon is styled on a Maitreya Lara 5.3 body and a Lelutka Kaya EvoX Mesh Head. Her ear shape is achieved with the Birth EvoX Ear Deformers