After a phenomenal turnout, I am proud to bring you the results of the KakaSaku Tarot Art Contest! All nine of the entries were so thoughtful and exciting, and I was so impressed by all of them. Over eighty people voted in the contest, and the results have been divined!
Before we begin, I would like for the umpteenth time to give a hearty round of applause and a standing ovation to ALL of our participants! I was so excited to discover each and every one of your entries and investigate them for meaning and artistic beauty! This contest could not have happened without all of you, and I am so thankful that you turned this contest into something so special. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
For third place, the wonderful
sureasdawn wins a sketch by
norree of a character of her request and a short fic (approximately less than 500 words) based on her entry written by her mystery writer, none other than me,
eldrfire !
For second place, the illustrious
katzenherrin wins a half-body picture by
norree of a character of her request and a short fic (approximately less than 1500 words) based on her entry written by her mystery writer, our fantastic
nimblnymph !
And last but of course not least,
cynchick takes the gold for the contest! For first prize, she will receive a full-body picture from
norree of a character of her request and a oneshot (approximately greater than 1500 words) based on her entry by her mystery writer,
silvershiner !
Congratulations to our winners as well as the other entrants for a job well done! For the rest of our splendid participants, please accept the following banner!
Excellent! I am so happy that this contest went smoothly. And to all of you who signed up but couldn't manage to participate in time, feel free to continue your entry whenever you can and share it with us! Even if it won't count for the contest, we'd still love to see them. Thoughtful pieces of KakaSaku art are always welcomed! Well, so is any art of the two of them. But thoughtful ones for sure!!
Winners can contact me or
norree about your art prize. We'll work out details for each individual one. As for the writing portion, it depends on the now-not-a-mystery writer, but I know that two of the ladies already have theirs well under way!
Thanks so much everyone. I will leave you with a little mysterious piece about the very stars of this contest, Kakashi and Sakura!
* * *Kakashi ducked swiftly out of the tent. With impatience coursing through his veins he held the flap aloft for Sakura, who clambered past the collection of trinkets to emerge behind him.
Wordlessly she passed beneath it and he let it slip from his fingers. When it fell back into place, it closed off the shaft of warm light that had streamed onto the forest floor. Once again they were in darkness, with only a thin edge of light lining the tent’s hem.
Sakura straightened up and took a quick huff of breath. “Well,” she said. “That was…”
Shaking her head, she abandoned the thought and began to stride forward. Her hasty steps were self-conscious, and she made a point of not looking back at Kakashi. The repressed glance burned in her eyes.
Kakashi gave a short sigh and began to follow her. With his long strides it did not take him long to catch up with her, but he kept a respectable distance on her right.
Awkward silence did not suit Sakura; it itched at her as they trudged back through the thicket. At length she could not bear to let it proliferate.
“Well, it’s just a silly fortune teller,” she said brusquely. “Nothing to take too seriously.”
Kakashi nodded, choosing not to comment on the change in Sakura’s attitude. Her airy skepticism was a slight comfort to him as well.
“Right,” he said tightly. “I’ve never liked those sorts of things.” That, at least, was true.
Sakura sneaked a sideways glance at him. He was looking to the right, away from her, and she stole the moment for a shrewd evaluation of his appearance. His jaw, swathed in dark cloth, was clenched. A tension tautened his shoulders, stringing them out of their usual slouch. It was too dark to tell if any blush dusted his skin to match her own.
He scratched his nose, and she looked quickly away.
Foolish.
Each leaf crunched beneath their sandals put space between them and a cluttered tent, where mysterious cards spelled out curious stories. Embarrassed and puzzled by what the old woman had whispered to them, they did not speak the rest of the way out of the forest, nor did they look back.
If they had, they would have seen little more than a patch of unoccupied dirt. Perhaps, beneath layers of torn leaves and twigs, a single tattered card may have winked back up at them with its suggestive number six. No tent remained, but a cackle lingered on the air.