The Midorean Chronicles: Halloween!

[Maeve]

The night. Silently, the teenage made his way on the cobblestone road, his mind wandering far away from the quiet scene surrounding him. He was alone once again and, although the woman had promised to come back soon, he couldn't get rid of the small voice in his head telling him he had been abandoned. After a moment he shook his head, trying to push his thoughts away for a moment. If only some festival or random activity had taken place in the Great Gated City, he surely would have found something fun to do while he waited for her return. But no, the city was as quiet as it ever was.

Sighing loudly, he took a side road, noticing a few people walking here and there. None of them seemed threatening, at least at this moment, and after a few seconds he resumed his walk. The sound of bouncing silver attracted his attention as he passed near a winged woman, slowing him down for a moment, before he hurried down the road. He didn't need money anyway. At least now. And he had promised not to get in trouble. Annoyed by his train of thoughts, he slowed his pace again before walking away from the road into the small grassy field bordering it. He walked until he was near the nearest river path and sat down on a mossy rock close to the running water, lifting his head and looking at the stars, wishing he could be somewhere else.

[Urboros]

Rhee smiled at the sky, she could see the moons. She was careful not to tip her head to far back since flick was sleeping in her horns. Rhee was on the soft grass not wanting to ruin the peace with hoof on cobble stone at the moment, she swished her tail a bit as she looked at the stars in the reflection of the water.

She did see another on the other side of the bank.
"beautiful night, isn't it?"
She asked demurely as she returned her gaze to the water. She placed a hoof in the water smiling at the ripples that she made, it made the reflection of the stars twinkle.

[Icewing]

A loud yawn seemed to echo in the small room. "Oww, that hurt..." Jacques complained under his breath, massaging his jaw. The male yawned once more, wincing again as that yawn hurt as well, and rubbed his eyes. He had been slaving away over a project for the past twelve hours, and now was feeling the toll of having forgotten to eat or take breaks. He stood up, stretching as he tried to ignore the stiffness that had set in while he sat still the entire day. Jacques picked up the project he had been working on, a dress that a customer had asked him to make. Already his tired eyes were noticing imperfections, and he was getting urges to sit back down and fix the dress, as well as finish it, since half of it was still only pinned in place.

The thin male suddenly shook his head, strands of wayward brown hair flying out of their braid, as he tried to clear his head of those thoughts. He told himself he did not want to work on his project anymore, even though he did, and decided that it'd be best for him to get some fresh air. Jacques rarely ever got to go outside because of his job, and even more because he got an obsession over what project he was working on a lot of the time, and thus always tried to force himself to go outside when he had the time to.

Straightening his shirt and brushing the wrinkles that had come from sitting too long out of his pants, and glanced into one of the multiple mirrors he had lining his shop to make sure that his clothes where in an immaculate condition, and he in general looked impeccable. Glancing down at his nails, Jacques cringed as he noticed that he had chipped one nail and the black polish on another was starting to peel. He would have to fix that disaster later, for now he was intent on going outside. Grabbing a hair clip he had laying around, Jacques pinned back the flyaway strands of hair, too lazy to re-braid his hair, and looked over himself once more to make sure he looked impeccable, before grabbing his key and exiting his shop.

Jacques blinked slightly as the cool night air hit his face. It really wasn't all that cool outside, but, compared to the stuffy little room he had just left, it was quite a difference in temperature. He glanced around, wondering why on earth it was so dark and why there were few people outside. It didn't quite occur to Jacques that it was late evening and most people would be inside by now, since there were no festivals occurring. Shrugging, the thin male locked the door of his shop to make sure nobody would have an easy time breaking in, and started to stroll down the street, yawning once more.

Only after walking for a while did Jacques finally realize it was night, and that his stomach wasn't approving of his choice to have not eaten the entire day. "Yeesh, I'm staaaaarving," he murmured under his breath, stretching the word 'starving' to add to the drama of it. Jacques was a tiny bit of a drama queen, and lived believing that life without drama couldn't be considered life at all. Not to mention, he rather enjoyed just to randomly stretch words. The thin male continued to walk down the streets, not quite sure where on earth he was going, just deciding to watch any passerbys.

[Malverne]

Mal was breaking his promise already, reading as he walked. He wasn't reading the same book, but he was still reading. After turning one of the pages, Mal shoved his hand into his pocket, and felt a stiff piece of paper. Pulling it out, Mal recognized the paper.

He cursed softly under his breath, shoved his book back into his bag, and started running back the way he'd come. In his hand, he was holding a card, from a deck of playing cards. It must have somehow fallen there when he'd run into the short woman who'd barked at him.

"Where are you?" He muttered to himself. He reached the spot he'd mowed into the woman, and kept running, and there! The woman was still shuffling her cards, walking slowly.

"Excuse me," Mal said, tapping her on the shoulder, "I think this is yours. I think it fell out of your deck when I ran into you earlier."

[Reika]

"Hey... hey. Hey! HEEEEEEEY! WAKE UP YOU--"

WHACK !

As Rei was suddenly aroused from his sleep, his head came up to collide with his disturber. A string of unintelligible curses hissed like steam from his mouth. A long moment passed as both parties scrunched up in their individual worlds of pain.

"Oooooow," the offender finally gasped out as he clings to the wall of the cabin. "I was only trying to inform you of our arrival."

"I'm sorry, but you really startled me there. Just give me a moment..." The other retreated outside of the small square room and he was left to ready his things alone.

After recovering from his violent awakening, Rei grabbed his sack of belongings and climbed up to the deck of the small ship which had brought him from his homeland to Midorea. The Captain of the ship, a great hulking figure, was leaning against the railing, awaiting his sole passenger.

"We never should have let you help out with navigation." said the Captain in greeting. "I know, I know, I'm sorry..." Rei apologized, but the Captain only laughed warmly. "We were able to ship the goods in time, so it does not matter. It was a lot of good fabric in there, precious silks and dyed cloths. Just finished up delivering it to the suppliers at the dock. Real expensive stuff, maybe you will end up wearing it someday."

"That's highly unlikely, I've already given you the last of my silver." The Captain shrugged and they said their farewells.

The dock at night was lit up by the speckled reflections off rippling water. Few people were out at this time, but for Rei the excitement came overflowing. He hopped over a gate, looking all about him with great enthusiasm.

And then came to realise that he had little to no idea where he was and what to do now that he was... wherever he was.

Rei pulled his canvas bag back over one shoulder and stumbled into the path of a tall and thin man muttering to himself about his body's need for sustenance. Just as he was to request some information on his current location, Rei had the misfortune to lose grip on his bag of belongings and another current of silvery words were uttered on that night.

He quickly gathered up the items that had tumbled out; gunpowder, fuses, bandages...
"Ah, please don't mind that." said Rei, hoping he had not alarmed this well-dressed citizen. "I was hoping you could tell me where I am."

"Oh, and I've some firewater if you are hungry." Rei adds while pulling out a leather canister from his baggy robe, the sleeves of which were sagging down from his shoulders to his waist.

[Icewing]

Jacques jumped backwards as someone, a male, stumbled into his path. He glanced at the bag that had fallen down, wrinkling his nose slightly in distaste when he saw the bag's contents. Jacques was a pacifist, so, obviously, he had quite a dislike of the contents of the bag, which so clearly reminded him of war. Not to mention, the bandages that had fallen out of the bag didn't appear to be in the cleanliest of all states, and Jacques had a dislike of dirty things as well.

His eyes moved up slightly to look over the person. "Good lords, what on earth are you wearing?!" he exclaimed, cringing back in distaste. This male was wearing a robe of most disgusting taste, a grey shapeless lump made of the most distasteful fabrics, not to mention it was far too large and covered with some rather interesting stains. The fabric itself was rather coarse, and an odd shade of gray that only came from too many washings, and the edges of the robe were frayed, as if it was going to unravel soon. "How do you dare show your face in public wearing that?!" Jacques had obviously not considered some people weren't as well-off as he was, and not everyone could afford stylish clothes.

Suddenly, the stranger's question registered in his mind. "Oh, pardon my rudeness. You are in the Great Gated City, as you probably already know, and you are slightly to the east of the main river. If you wouldn't mind enlightening me to where you are headed, I could possibly give you directions to wherever that location may be?" he offered, his nature completely changed as he remembered his manners.

"And, no thank you, I am not particularly hungry," Jacques lied. His stomach growled immediately after he finished speaking, as if to disprove his words, but Jacques never accepted food from strangers unless one of his friends assured him that the stranger was trustworthy. "I am Jacques Antoine Moreau, by the way. Just call me Jacques. Might I inquire who you may be?"

[Maeve]

Kuma jumped as someone talked nearby. He had started to throw small stones in the water, trying to make one skim up to a giant leaf farther down the river, and somehow that little game had caught all his attention. He looked at the other side of the bank, searching who had talked and easily finding her silhouette, trying at the same time to remember what the question was. "Indeed," he finally answered, his tone calm and soft in appearance, as if not to break the quietness of the night.

Looking at the newcomer for a few seconds, he squinted, trying to understand what she - he was pretty sure the voice was feminine - was. A... centaur? A surprised look passed on his face, before he regained his composure. He had met a few strange creatures before, and had heard stories about so many more, but it was the first time he met a real centaur. Or maybe it was not real, and he was only dreaming? Keeping the other in his sight, he leaned down and wet his hands in the cold water of the river, passing them behind his neck and in his face to chase any feverish dream. But no, the centaur was still there, apparently looking at the water. He shrugged slightly and then stood still, waiting.

[Reika]

Rei laughed with a wide grin at Jacques' apparent disapproval of his apparel. "Oh, don't worry about it, it's what I can afford, and it's comfortable. My work always gets me dirty anyways."

Taking a sip of his clear and spicy, sweet and sourI firewater, Rei looked to the East where a glimmer of flowing water peeked from twisting alleys between houses and buildings. "I'm looking for lodgings right now, maybe an inn or hostel. Tomorrow I will begin selling my wares, maybe I will make enough money to pay for my stay tonight." He laughed lightheartedly. It may be hard, but Rei did enjoy his line of work.

"Ah, I suppose I have not yet introduced myself either!" With a skip and a bow, he produced a grey tab of thickly powdered paper from his back and snapped it between fore-finger and thumb.

A loud crack sounded, much like the shot of a gun but without its violent volume. Red and gold sparks flew and jumped around his fingers as he bent lower in his traditional way of bowing to greet a senior.

"My name is Rei, pyrotechnician of the (insert unpronounceable sound) family! Though I don't think your vocal chords are able to pro ounce that, so just Rei is fine too."

[Icewing]

Jacques flinched back at the minor explosion. "That is an... unusual... job..." he said quietly. The thin male didn't really like anything that was explosive or had to do with fire, he liked flashy, shiny, and sparkly things, but not flashy, shiny, and sparkly things that could burn his eyebrows off. Jacques was rather fond of his eyebrows.

"I am the city tailor, and of the Moreau family, as you may have realized from hearing my name earlier. Lodgings is what you seek? I know there is a boarding house near my shop, you may be able to stay there if Sue, the owner, is in a good mood and there are open rooms. Although, he isn't very fond of fire, so that may not be your lodgings of choice," Jacques said. "However, if you are interested, I can show you the way there."

[Urboros]

Rhee frowned when the other jumped, she didn't mean to frighten them. She leaned forward on her hooves attempting to get a better look at the other person. Her tail swished a bit, she was careful not to tilt her head to much though.

She watched him rub water on his face and neck, a small half smile forming.
"I've never gotten that reaction before,"
She spoke with a bit of laughter, amused at that reaction. She quieted but was still smiling.
"I am normally only around for festivals, though it is nice to see the city in such a peaceful state."
She placed a hoof in the water again, enjoying it against her frog.

[Keylaleigh]

Keyla looked over at the guy who had crashed into her earlier, holding one of her cards. "Oh... thanks. It's hard to play without a full deck, y'know." She grinned and put the card back into the deck.

As she looked around, she saw many more people out on the street. Maybe this place was busier at night than she thought it was. There were never too many out in the past. It was most likely because it was especially beautiful out on this particular night, with not a cloud in the sky.

"So..." Keyla looked over at the guy as she pocketed the deck of cards. "What brings you out on a night like this?"

[Malverne]

"Overdue library books," Mal said, holding up one of the books in his bag. He had a bad habit of keeping library books way past their due date. The fact that he normally checked out a large number of books at once didn't exactly help keep the bill small. He always dropped off the books at night, and if there was nothing pressing to get to in the morning, he'd wander around the city until dawn. This was the first free night Mal had had in a while, so he was taking his time to enjoy the darkness.

"What brings you out here at this lovely hour?" Mal asked, "Oh, by the way, my name's Tray." The alias slipped off his tongue easily, Mal's mind automatically going to one of his many false names. Tray, the student, wouldn't seem out of place at the library, and Mal didn't use Tray to pull any jobs, so it was a safe name.

[Keylaleigh]

"I like nighttime. It's easier to think when there are less people around." She smiled. It also reminded her of her old home and the few friends that she had back there. They all still kept her up to date on what was going on and if things ever cooled down.

She doubted that they really would. Instead, she made a new life here, a somewhat honest one. Temptation still got the best of her at times, but she didn't go quite as crazy.

She heard the guy say his name and shook the memories out of her head. "Oh, I'm Keyla. Key for short."

[Reika]

When Jacques mentioned his profession, Rei could not help but stare.
"How respectable !" he commented. Back home, there was little profit for the arts.

"About that boarding house though, I would very much appreciate it if you could take me there." Conscious of his dirty state, Rei tried wiping off his hands on his robe, but to no avail. He added, sheepishly, "I'll try and make sure I do keep my fire to myself.

[Malverne]

"Nice to meet you Keyla," Mal said. He shifted his stance slightly, subconsciously transforming into Tray. He hunched a little, and his hands laced together, twitching nervously. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to tame the wild spikes, and smiled shyly when the spikes popped back up place.

"S-so," he said, stuttering a little. Tray wasn't very good with new people, even though he was a nice person, "Where're you from? I, um, I don't recognize your accent." That was true enough. Keyla's accent was not one that Mal had heard before, nor was it one that he could piece together. She must be from far off.