Festival fun!

Valentino ran towards the festival grounds, one paw holding a bag, another hurriedly counting the glim in his pouch. “Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twe– woah!!” Valentino said as he tripped on an inconvenient rock in the dirt path he was on. As he fell, he watched in horror as the glim scattered onto the ground. “Wonderful! Now I got my Glim dirty..” Valentino sighed, dusting himself off and picking up the small, metallic tokens off of the ground. After he picked them all up, he noted that he had twenty three, now dirty Glim. “Is there anything besides my bag I can try to clean these with?” He said to himself, surveying the area around him. There were trees and subsequently leaves, but those don’t work.. Valentino checked his bag; there was nothing particularly great for cleaning off dust.. “I guess my fur will have to do.” He grumbled, wiping each individual Glim on his forearm to get the dirt off. By the time he was finished, it was well past midnight. “Theres no way I would be able to find anyone with cupcakes left now..” He huffed. That was the whole reason he had decided to make a run for the festival after his busy day working! After thinking about it for a moment, Valentino had decided that he was too close to the festival to leave without at least looking. Maybe he would be lucky? 

As Valentino walked through the festival ground entrance, he marveled at the beautiful booths & stalls, various statues made out of stone, wood, and glass, all of them having skyfire stones beautifully incorporated into their works. There were children running around, delicious street food smells wafting through the air, and a view of the wonderful night sky.
 Valentino, still determined to get his favorite treat, ran towards one of the stalls selling baked goods. “Do you happen to have any Ru berry cupcakes left?” He asked the vendor. “We are out of most of our products, I am sorry. We have Spice Plum tarts, Kara berry candy, four loaves of bread, and a slice of Sweetsap-cream-cake?” They replied. Valentino thought about his options. “I guess I’ll try your cake?” Valentino replied, taking out five Glim from his pouch and setting them on the counter. “Great choice.” The vendor replied, handing Valentino a small bowl, folded out of leaves, with a piece of cake sitting inside it. “Thank you!” Valentino said, bowing his head slightly as he took the bowl and walked over to a large bench. “This actually looks pretty good..” He thought to himself, looking at the cake more closely. The slice of cake was mostly cream, with a bottom layer of what he could only assume was Amber shelf flavored cake. There was a thick sauce-like drizzle over the top of the cake, making it glisten in the moonlight. Valentino grabbed a travel spork out of his bag and took a bite of the cake. 
His first thought was, “Wow, this is sweet!” before noticing the tartness of the drizzle. It was very light tasting, almost floral, and the sweetness was not to the point of being unappetizing. Valentino, happy to find something new that he liked, ate the rest of the cake slice quickly. “That was really good! I need to write that down in my journal later..” 

Valentino, now full from his cake, was happily walking around the stalls set up, looking at items to buy for his ever-expanding collections. He eventually walked up to a stall displaying small but beautiful clay figurines. They were all expertly sculpted, with some even being glazed into different colors. “These are wonderful!” Valentino exclaimed to the seller. “How much do your sculptures go for?” The Xero running the booth thought for a moment. “Well, it depends. How much would you want to buy it for?” Valentino paused. “I’m not quite sure! I really like them, and I don’t want to give you a bad offer.” The Xero laughed. “I only make these in my free time for fun, so you’re allowed to pay however much you’d like!” Valentino stayed silent. Were they sure it was okay to let him decide? What if he ended up underpaying for one and the vendor never said anything? After a moment, Valentino asked, “Would nine Glim be alright for this one?” He pointed to a sculpture of a Koronok on its hind legs. “That works for me!” The Xero nodded, standing up and packing up the small figurine. First they wrapped it in some wool, then a leaf, and finally put it in a small cloth pouch. Valentino handed them nine Glim, taking the small cloth pouch and putting it in his bag. “Thank you so much!” He said, waving bye as he exited the booth. He was happy with his purchase. The stall owner didn’t look mad at the price he offered, and he hoped they truly were okay with the payment. After counting his Glim again, of which he had nine left, he eyed up one of the trendy new drink booths. What was their newest drink called again? Mult fruit maltt? Multy delight? Something like that, Valentino thought as he walked over to the booth. There was no line, so Valentino didn’t have the chance to look at the menu before it was his turn to order. “Hello! Could I have a moment please?” He asked, to which the employee nodded. He looked up at the menu, squinting his eyes as he read the funny sounding names of all the beverages offered. “May I get a Frosted Drupe in a small please?” Valentino asked after a minute of looking at the menu. The employee nodded again. “That’s four Glim.” They said, turning around to make the drink. Apparently, a ‘Frosted Drupe’ was a partially frozen drink with Sweetsap milk and Mela Mela Drupe juice. Valentino was nervous to try it, but was curious nonetheless. Once the drink was finished, he paid the vendor and took his drink, feeling the cold feeling on his paw to be welcome from the hot summer air. He thanked the vendor and walked away. After he was out of the sight of the booth, he took a nervous sip. “Hm.. This is alright! It tastes different than I thought it would.” He said, shaking the drink around in the cup. He wasn't sure if he would order it again, but he was happy that he had at the least tried it. 

Valentino continued to walk around the festival grounds and sipped on his drink, looking at the vendors once more. After he had finished looking at all the vendors, and spending all his money, he sat down on a bench, looking up at the sky above him. “It’s truly so beautiful.” He said to himself, watching the stars twinkle on. He hoped maybe someone on a different planet was doing the same. 

As Valentino continued to look at the stars, he reminisced about how despite it being a whole year in between now and last skyfire festival, it felt just as sweet as he remembered.