Prizes!
Art, descended down to the third level. He saw a crowd of villagers lined up in the front of it. Now that he was closer he could see what it was.
There were about 8 big square buildings, that were covered by purple and white tarps. The entrance of each was an open doorway, with a tarp roof. Around the outside of the buildings were pink light posts, with a chain of light bulbs, going upwards, and connecting with the rest in the top.
Art was entranced by the beautiful colors. A light hue of orange, cyan, and magenta shined down upon the surrounding area, illuminating everything in an almost magical way. At the very back was a massive building, covered in the same color tarp, but the entrance to it was much bigger. Art squinted, noticing tables and seats in the building.
He approached the closest square building. There was a post hanging from the ceiling of the entrance that read "Farmer's Tent" as it swung faintly.
He entered the Farmer's Tent and saw a large group of villagers gathered in front of a fence. On the other side of the fence was a highly domesticated Candy doing tricks such as waving at the people with its droopy ears, and sitting down when a certain voice spoke.
Bennet was a tall man with broad shoulders and a welcoming smile. He loved entertaining his fellow villagers with his Candy friend. The Candy's name was Lucy.
"Alright Lucy now show them your winning finish!" Bennet ordered.
Lucy the Candy stomped its front legs happily. Then it twirled in a circle, jumped, twirled in midair, then landed facing the crowd with its head tilted and wiggling its ears.
The crowd applauded and laughed joyfully. A few women were struck by the cuteness, and smiled at Lucy, with hearts in their eyes.
'So cute!' The ladies thought simultaneously.
Art had made his way to the very front of the crowd, where he saw the amazing display.
He clapped along all the villagers. To the side was a small table where a middle-aged lady sat, with pieces of paper and a jar of little pebbles of candy.
A few kids and adults wrote something on the pieces of paper and then handed it to the lady.
Art wrote on a piece of paper as well. He had to guess the number of pebbles in the jar and the closest would earn 10 villager points.
The crowd was rowdy and excited, each hoping to be the one to win 10 points. After a few minutes, the lady stood up and was ready to announce the winner. "The one who was the closest for the jar game, at 12,490, our winner is Art!"
The villagers applauded happily and one even patted Art on the back.
Bennet and the lady who seemed to be his wife, started gathering up their stuff to clean and rearrange for the next group of people that entered. The crowd all started leaving one by one.
Art stood in the center of the crowd as it dispersed, soon emptying the room. He walked up to the fence of Lucy the Candy, and reached his hand out to pet it. The Candy responded immediately, it stepped lively towards the young boy's hand. Art petted Lucy, as the animal stomped it's feet happily.
He gave a quick thank you to the farmer couple and left the tent.
Art decided to walk towards the tent right next to the farmer's one. When he approached it, the sign read "Cavern Tent."
Right away there was a small wall at the entrance with a licorice pickaxe as ornament. When he walked beside it, he entered the room and was greeted by a room with crystals. On one side of the room was the same wall as shown by the entrance, but it was expanded to a larger degree. By the wall was a tall chair and table with a big box holding many pickaxes.
On the other side was a museum-like setting with a portion of the floor smoothed out and a smooth wall with frames and display cases, showcasing different metals and crystal gems.
Art entered the new crowd walking to the front once again.
"Hello everyone, my name is Linus! Please make yourselves at home and make sure to enjoy the Cavern Tent of the carnival!" A tenor voice spoke. The man was tall and lanky, he wore glasses and had a short bristly beard.
Most of the crowd was made up of elderly so they walked to the display of gems and rocks to learn some fun information on them.
Meanwhile a group of young boys ran off to the table and each grabbed a pickaxe. They all held it with 2 hands due to their sizes.
An elderly man sat on the tall chair and stared at the children. He would be the scorekeeper of the mining game.
"You kids have all gotten a pickaxe?"
There were some yes's and nods, and the kids seemed to already know what the game was about.
Art just stood back not wanting to go where all the elders were at the display room, but also not wanting to play the mining game himself. He stood and watched the group of kids gripping their pickaxes tightly spread out, and getting into a stance right in front of the wall.
"On your marks, get set, go!" The elder man waved his hand in the air, signaling at the kids to start.
The group of boys all swung their pickaxes aggressively, all trying to win the game themselves. A boy at the very end near Linus swung his pickaxe; the force was not enough to pierce through the rock, but it was enough to send a rattling jolt through his entire body, making his teeth vibrate. As he lifted up his pickaxe to attempt another swing, the rest of the boys were piercing through the rock easily.
[CLANG]
The sound of a harder surface echoed through the building.
"Yes! I win!" A kid boasted, holding a chunk of rock with a green gem in the middle.
"Everyone put their pickaxes down!" Linus ordered.
All the kids reluctantly stopped swinging, catching their breath briefly.
The old man hosted a few more games before getting out of his high chair, and left to the back of the building, eventually coming back with 3 trophy cups made out of gems. The base was made out of a shiny smooth black rock, allowing the color to pop out.
"Will the winners please come up front?" The old man requested.
Three blond boys approached the old man, grinning excitedly.
"Here's one for you." The old man handed the boy in the middle a blue gem trophy.
"This one's for you." The boy to the left stole it out of his hands excitedly.
"And you get the color you discovered." The old man handed the last boy the trophy.
"You three have earned yourself 25 villager points!"
The crowd of elders who had now gathered around the children gave a round of applause.
'He also said points, I wonder what the points are for?' Art asked himself.
** ** **
The entire village started to gather on the third floor, many came from the lower levels and some came from the upper ones.
Doan walked down the stairs, heading towards the carnival. When he arrived, he walked past many of the buildings and stopped at one that was slightly larger than the other ones.
This was because the trading tent was popularized among nobles who loved to trade items exported from other lands
When Doan walked inside he heard a man speak in a loud obnoxious voice.
"This right here is exported straight from one of the elemental territories, Pyro!" He said, holding a strange device.
"Nobody wants to trade with you Theo! You don't even have fair trades!" The man sitting across from him at the trading table accused.
Theo smirked and winked at the man "Well if you change your mind, I can add this too." He placed a strange pendant necklace on the table.
"This one I got from Aqua, another one of the elemental territories."
The group of nobles gasped and murmured amongst themselves, appreciating the craftsmanship in the item.
The pendant was a small silver rain drop shape, with 2 wings sticking out from both sides. The wings had a linear pattern etched into it, giving it a more detailed appearance.
Doan looked at Theo in suspicion. The pendant he had just shown everyone was not an easy item to acquire.
While the 2 traders were busy bickering, Doan walked up to them and pulled out the small black stick from his pocket and placed it on the table.
"I'll take that pendant for this item."
All the nobles were now wondering what Doan was doing offering something so valuable.
"Deal" Theo agreed.
** ** **
Art exited the Cavern Tent. He walked contentedly, towards the next tents. He skipped the next 2. He didn't think a beauty tent or a herbs tent were interesting.
He approached sixth building. It read "Fortune Telling" in black letters with a hanging sign just as the other ones. He entered and the place was empty. The place was dimly lit and the only glow was coming from the center. He saw a small circular table made out of a blue crystal, and a woman covered with a robe sitting alone with her hands pressed together and on the table.
"Please, come in." The voice spoke quietly.
Art walked forwards. He stood across from the lady who had her eyes closed.
"Are you ready to know your future."