THUNK
"Whoops!"
THUD
"Sorry!"
BANG
"Aw, clams!", the girl hissed as her tentacles fiddled with dials and levers spread out across a poorly-rigged instrument board dominated by a large red button marked GO. She was a mermaid from the northern tribes, floating upside-down in a thick glass capsule filled with water, which was itself attached to a bizarre ceramic disk-shaped device studded with what appeared to be yellowish marbles of some kind. The whole assembly floated in air as if by magic and rotated slowly around the Z-axis as the girl fiddled with the console and muttered to herself.

"Alright, Proco. You can do this. Altitude steady, pitch parallel to the ground, yaw set to thirty degrees starboard..."

She punched a button, the craft streaking forward like a startled horse and missing an older gentleman's head by mere inches. She was brought to an equally sudden stop when her craft slammed abruptly into a stall advertising some local delicacy known only as "Meat Onna Stick", leaving a deep dent in one of the stall supports.

"Sorry! This is only a prototype, see, so-"
"Ay, I don't care about any a' dat, lady!", the vendor, a swarthy, bearded man, shook some kind of kebab at the flying saucer, "What I wanna know is if you're gonna buy some a' dis here meat on a stick!"
"Oh."
Proco eyed the dent. Maybe he just hadn't noticed? Maybe topsiders just didn't care about property damage. She sure hoped so- Proco hadn't brought a whole lot of money to begin with.
"...What kind of meat?"
"Eh?"
"What kind of meat is it?"
"Stick meat. Meat on a stick. You can read, can't ya?"
"But-"
"-But what?"
"...On second thought, I don't think topsider meat would sit very well with me."
"Ey, suit yaself, kid."

Proco rotated the Octo Slug Mk. I (patent pending) once more, streaking off towards a small bazaar. The craft halting its momentum by slamming into a nearby wall. She checked her craft's face, adjusted, prayed that she wouldn't hit anything, hit the ignition button...

...And ran full on into some wiry nerd with sideburns for days, the impact letting out a sound, meaty THUMP. She righted herself, unscrewing a hatch that lay at the bottom (or top, depending on your perspective) of the machine. Throwing open the hatch, she hauled herself out of the hole and looked over the edge of the disk.

Okay Proco, now it's time to put your knowledge of surface culture and dialect to the test. What was the traditional topsider response to accidentally running someone over?

"S-sufferin' coelacanths, buddy! Even a topsider like you should know how to cross the street! Didn't your mother ever teach you to look both ways first?", she folded her arms and shook her head, "What if this had been a cart or something? You would've been squashed flat!"

Nailed it!

Rez's state of beaming pride was promptly interrupted by a loud thump having been on the receiving end of something. Amidst the face full of dirt and pain he was now heavily disconcerted by what's happening as he immediate thoughts turned to that carnie is having his revenge now, and the having to deal with breaking the law after enriching his body with some metal. Now if he could act cool he could possibly deal with this peaceably or get a head start on getting the hell out of town.

"What the hell did you just say?" The man said as he got up and not really registering her expression. It sounded like "mufflin amaranth" which is pure nonsense, then again this was all wily ploy by the carnie to confuse and distract. Much to his surprise he saw the weapon of the assault as being some odd vehicle that was hovering and it's pilot some unholy chimerical fusion of the human female and cephalopod persuasion.

"Well Richard, it's mighty nice to be meetin' ya! Now, let's be wipin' this look of helplessness off of yer face!" No sooner had Caelyn said the word face, did a plush animal smack her square in the face. "Hey!" Jerk. She thought to herself. But her face was soon replaced with a smile when she saw the man impact into what seemed like a tank of some sort. What a strange machine.
"Anyways, Richard as to yer question, I am not knowin' what it is that's goin' on exactly. Just seein' these hooligans gettin' the old cuffs is all. Might be goin' around to play some games. Mind showin' me some?" Her cheeks started getting red at the realization that she was being blunt yet again.

What a rude child! All she said was hi, she should give him a piece of her mind!
Instead, Marmalade listened quietly to the young boy as he spouted his vehemence. She looked down, unsure of why he was so angry with the humans. What did he mean by, 'see their stains'? Could it be that he was part mermaid too? Yes! That had to be it! He must have seen worse than she did when she was younger. Perhaps a similar mind could help him see they weren't all that bad? She giggled a little bit as he calmed himself down enough for a simple greeting.

"You know, not all humans are terrible beasts that destroy everything they touch. My mother took care of me and tried to raise me the same as my brother. He loves and takes care of me. They are two of the kindest people I have ever known. It was everyone else that made life difficult." Mara nudged the boy slightly, she had seen the group start to go after the boy, but she felt it was all probably just a misunderstanding. "Say, kid, what is your name?"



Kest's stared at the ground paralyzed with fear. What did he say? Did he really just tell her to marry him?! His chances with her were surely gone now! There is no way any woman would want to date someone that would say something so irrational. All his hopes and dreams, dashed! He would have to leave town, maybe change his name...

What did she say?
Startled, he looked at Veragwen. She was acting.. embarrassed? She said she would go out with him. It took a moment to register, leaving Kest looking a little dumbfounded. Once it registered, his look of surprise was immediately replaced by a huge smile. Without thinking, he picked Veragwen up by her waist and spun her around. He looked into her eyes as he set her back down but then looked away, blushing.
"I would love to stay with you for the rest of this evening."
Finally, his dreams were coming true!

Kid? He let his eyes fall to the ground to hide his scowl. I've seen more than any man, known the fear of being hunted, and has been honed by the powerful hand of hatred. No, he was far from a "kid". He was the chosen Wingly, he had decided long ago, deep within the heart the wilds. No one has the right nor privilege to call me kid.

He outwardly ignored her comment, voicing his outrage towards it would do him no good and only cause more trouble. At the moment, he was content with being invisible to the masses. To the stains.

"My name?" he asked her with tinge of indifference. "My name is Ventori and the humans have made life more than difficult for me." He felt his ire intertwine his fingers, his nails dug into his skin as he remembered... remembered it all with full clarity.

"You have a brother and mother... but what's two to a million. There is only one way to live in this world and that is to travel without notice. Be on the verge of never existing. That is how you survive with the humans, that is what they force you to do."

For a long moment he sat with his anger then slowly, all at once, he sighed and visibly loosened. The hood of his clothing was pulled over his head even more, a physical act to go along with his ideals.

"I said you should look both ways before you cross the street! Are you topsiders blind and deaf now?"

That's good, Proco! Keep sounding indignant. Nobody wants to argue with an indignant person. It's how mama got papa to be her husband!

"I'll have you know this apparatus is probably worth more than your whole net value- er, or at least it will be, once I've smoothed out all the issues. You're just lucky it didn't get dinged up bumping into you- n-not that it could!"

She slapped her hands on the saucer's chassis for emphasis.

"I'll have you know this here marvel of engineering is the Octo Slug Mark One! It's got integrated repulsors in the top and bottom of the disk to keep it level under any conditions! The outer shell is sanded giant clam, cemented together with hagfish glue that can withstand the pressure of the deepest ocean trench! Under the hood, it's got 300 seahorsepower, more than enough to outrace any one of your dumb land-horses! The face carries a force-projector apparatus that can stun a dire eel at fifty paces! It has cupholders!"

For emphasis, she pounded her hand again on the saucer, popping open a hidden hatch to reveal a small compartment containing a ring, within which sat a half-full glass of some brownish opaque substance.

"See? Even with that crash just now, my milk tea is only half-spilled! That's engineering, buddy!"

Proco puffed out her chest pridefully, a smug sort of expression plastered across her face. It seemed she had already forgotten that she was supposed to be arguing about something.

@Zarkun

Armond blinked, never before had he been brushed aside like that, barely even acknowledged by the girl. He watched Mara take off in search of someone, completely forgetting there was someone else talking to him at that moment. Mara. The girl intrigued him a great deal now, he would have to make it a point to find out more about her. He returned his attention back to the male in front of him, learning his name was Jerus Jericho and he was both a blacksmith in training and a warrior. He offered the man a smile, taking his hand and shaking it, "Well met, Jerus, it is always a pleasure to meet someone as kind as you. Serdio's people have been a great pillar of strength for me, as has my close friend, the King. I am grateful to him most of all. As for the fools you are referring to, while they may be just that, they are by no means to be taken lightly. While I know some swordplay, I fear my skills are not enough to protect myself from them should they actually attempt to end my life." he replied after letting the man's hand go. "You said you were a blacksmith in training, yes? I will have to keep that in mind, I may have a job for you in the next couple of weeks, provided I can convince Murasame to consider training in a weapon." he added.

Jerus raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "Well then, I'd be honored to offer my services. Any particular weapon she's considered before? Spear maybe? Good reach, great for hitting an armor's joints and other weak points. Then you have a great sword, claymores and the like, which are good for essentially bashing through an opponent's armor. I'm even-" he cuts himself short and chuckles. "Up, there I go again. Sorry for that, talking about making a weapon gets me a bit excited. Anyways, if you need anything made or repaired, I can always do it long as I got the materials."

Veragwen giggled as Kest picked her up and spun around with her. She smiled at him when he put her down, "Well, alright, but keep in mind, I might need to dash off like I did before again even if I don't want to. It's important to me that things stay under control at the festival. In a way, I suppose it's a test of my skills. This is a quiet village normally, so it's not hard to protect, but look at all these people! It's a whole new level of chellenge."

She realized this would be her first date. Vera was generally too busy helping people, or training, or learning some new thing to help people, or hunting to do anything she considered fun or romantic. Not that she didn't enjoy those things, but she just couldn't find time for fun things. She had to admit it felt nice to be treated as a woman for once. And Kest seemed to think of her pretty highly, although she supposed it was hard to tell who Kest had seen. Perhaps it wasn't as great a compliment as she thought...

Vera checked the stage where she had last seen Mara to see she was now gone. She looked back at Kest, "Your sister seems to have gone elsewhere...shall we look for her and tell her the good news?" she asked, holding out her hand for him to take as they walked together to look for Mara.

----

Elayna continued to peformance, but she was getting bored! Luckily, she could do these dances in her sleep, but she enjoyed a good fight much more. Meeting Mara only made her that much more excited for it! There was nothing like feeling her greatsword make a clean hit.

Armond let out a light chuckle, it was certainly refreshing to see someone like Jerus who was so passionate about his craft, it wasn't often the noble got to interact with these kinds of people. "It is quite alright, Jerus, I am glad you are so passionate. Very few people are these days, sadly. As for a weapon; you see, Murasame isn't as physically strong as most people are, so I was thinking something light and easy. I know a dagger is common, but I don't picture her using such a weapon, it doesn't suit her body type. I was, however, thinking perhaps a rapier. It's thin, but strong, and still light enough for her to hold. Plus it has the reach she would need to keep someone from her, should anyone attempt to harm her again. If you could make something like that, I would be more than willing to pay three times what you normally charge." he told him. Murasame was still staring at Mara, Nobody gets to take him from me, nobody. Not even another mergirl. He's mine. she thought bitterly.

"Seahorsepower? That's not even a thing" He thought to himself. Still he decided to have some fun with this nonstandard or rather nonexistent measurement. "Three hundred seahorses eh? That's no faster than a leisurely walk, you insult my noble stead with such glacial speed. Still I'll give you credit for the the things you say it does, plus those cup holders are pretty sweet.

He ran his hands along the side of the odd floating vehicle feeling the various textures made from fusing fragments of relics and native materials. Although it's craftsmanship might be a tad suspect he found it hard to hide his interest, after all it was made of some technological source unknown to humans or at the very extremely rare. Oh how'd he like to get his hands on some of the treasures for his own means! "So what are you doing so far from the ocean? Ain't no sea except for a couple of thousand leagues down south which at the speed of your machine goes; you might as well become a fully terrestrial creature."

"Ha! Shows what you know. Engine torque and speed are unrelated, ya darn topsider! Don't go gettin' cocky when you don't even know what I'm on about, will ya? Clams, you get that horse of yours and I'll teach it a thing or two, just you wait and see!"

Proco put her hands on her hips and pouted. She had thought topsiders were supposed to be some super-advanced civilization with flying castles and laser satellites, but this was just as boring as her own village was! She'd thought that maybe they were just further inland, but the more she looked, the less impressed she was. Had the age of flight really passed her by?

"Yeah and so what? Seahorses aren't the most adept of swimmers preferring shallow waters with kelp so all that power you keep talking about means not a whole lot. But sure I'll race you. He then walked away to get his brown nondescript horse. The horse had some stuff packed around the saddle which the man proceeded to fiddle with. After a series of intonations and gestures the horse was ready and positioned for this race. Hyping up the fishgirl he counted down, "Ready! 1,2,3 GO!" He patted his horse as a travois fell to the ground which he immediately plopped down onto as his horse began to move at a jaunty gait. Rez just closed his eyes and relaxed as he listened to sounds of the horses hooves striking the ground almost rhythmically mixed with the sound of the frame's poles dragging on the ground.

It took a few seconds for him to get the hint. As Caelyn's cheeks turned a rosy red, he could see that there might be a motive behind her words. It was Richard's turn to turn red. Is she hitting on me? he wondered to himself. I don't even know who she is, and she's hitting on me of all people?

At the same time, he wasn't exactly going to say no. Even though they had just met, he found her... interesting. It was the sort of interesting that made him want to kniw more about her. But wait! he suddenly remembered, There are people trying to kill me! What if they find me while I'm in the middle of showing her around? For all he knew, they could be looking for him right now. Of he stayed at the festival, he would be sitting right where they could find him. Then again, if he ran for it, he would be alone between towns where anyone or anything could find him. There was no right way he could see out of this. His life was on the line, and she wants him to show her around?

Richard froze for a few seconds before finally giving his answer. "I-I guess we could look at a few stands..." he said. His voice trailed off as if he wasn't sure about what he was saying - and he wasn't. Despite everything that was happening, he was going to do nothing about it and even try to forget about it by hanging out with this Caelyn person. At least he wouldn't be sitting around, panicking. Pointing towards a stand not too far away, he forced himself to speak. "Why don't we look over there?"

Watching Richard's cheeks turn red relieved Caelyn. She knew she was pretty awkward in one on one conversations. "Sounds good to me." Caelyn said softly. Why am I speaking so softly? God's what is wrong with you? You aren't scared of any opponent, but you ask one cute guy to walk around and you are meek? He is really cute though... Caelyn could feel her cheeks re-warming again and shook her head so that her hair fell over one side of her face. "Oh! A ball toss game seems to be fun! Don' you think? Look at these cute monkeys! I am wonderin' why they are here? Surely they are not.... Ow sweet Meru's hammer! That little bugger hit me in me eye!

"Well do no' just sit there! Let's get these little devils!" Caelyn wound up and let the ball fly and knocked over the first monkey. Richard seemed to be enjoying himself, but she could see something was making his mind wander. "Ye know, when my mind is full sometimes I find it helpful to just empty it. Sounds simple, and it really is. Anyways, if yer needin' to talk just no' I will no' be judgin'." Caelyn said as she danced fluently as she was dodging ball after ball. She was making small talk seem effortless. When the throwing subsided a small bit, she turned and looked Richard in the eyes and smiled. "I do no' know anyone here, so you are my first...friend." The nice little moment was nearly interrupted as she ducked another ball. She was not going to let those little bastards hit her again.

Again. He didn't understand that hiding in the shadows was only going to make the humans fear their people even more. Marmalade's tail twitched in annoyance.
"I hid for the first seven years of my life. Its time to show the humans that we are beings that they don't need to fear anymore. We can live together in peace." She stood and patted the dust off her clothes, "Living in fear isn't really living after all."

After leaving the boy to his own fate, Mara decided it was time to return to her brother. She found him with his favorite lady of all. She smiled, walking up to them. "Having fun you two?" She noticed the cut in Kest's clothes, but as he had taken hits much worse, she didn't fuss over it. Mostly because he didn't look like he was in pain. Putting on a show for his fair lady? "I'm going to head home now, see you later!"

It had been a long day. Mara yawned as she slipped into her pajamas. Tomorrow was going to be the Day of the Dark Dragon. She couldn't wait to see what the day would bring. A soft smile stayed with her even as she fell into a deep and untroubled sleep.



She.. she wanted to hold hands. It was too soon! Kest looked at Veragwen's hand, unsure if he could handle such a forward gesture. This was exactly what he wanted though! A smile spread across his face and he reached out to take her hand.
But what if she doesn't like how rough my hands are?
What if my hands are clammy?
The look of sheer panic would have been obvious to anyone. It caused him to hesitate.

If it hadn't been for his sister, he might have stayed like that for who knows how long. She told them she was going to bed, but why? It was still fairly early in the night. All the extra stress from today must have gotten to her. He looked at Veragwen and smiled, taking her hand.
"At least we don't have to look for Mara anymore." he took a breath, "D-Do you think you could.. I don't know.. take one of the next two days off..? I'd love to spend one of the festival days with you." his voice faded a little as he continued talking, but something popped up in his mind.
I'd love to spend more than just the day with you

What the heck? What was he thinking? A little disturbed by his thoughts, he simply smiled down at the beautiful woman next to him.

Faeri heard her words. He even let them sink in but at the end of it all, he found them to be just that... words. Perhaps she had experienced sadness or pain, some sort of torture. Maybe she had but none of that could compare to his own. And that was made true by her own lips. She had a mother and a brother; he had no one. Not a single soul to call friend or family.

Faeri sighed a angry, desperate breath.

Now I'll have to remember that name again, he mumbled in defeat. I despise that name. Its like bee-stings on my tongue.

Another sigh fell from him as he swept up his gnarled staff, pulled his hood ever deeper over his head, and started off to find ally or corner to sleep on. Shadows lined his sights now, obscured by the thin, woven, obstruction that was his hood. The material that his cloak was made out of was, horribly irritable, but it kept--what he realized now--him alive. Kept his ire towards the human just on the surface. Most of them knew he was not to be trifled with. Most of them was not all though.

His thoughts went to the select few that braved his words at stage.

They too will know. A grimaced scratched his fair features as he fell in with the leaving crowd.

"I wish I hadn't remembered that name..." he whispered, feeling a surge of buried emotions bubbling inside; tears threatened to fall but he held all but one back.

"H-hey, wait up! I gotta get ready first!"

Proco thrashed about, closing up the opened compartments, re-bolting the hatch, and righting herself within the confines of her vehicle's cockpit. Then came the engine check, calibrating the repulsors... by the time she had finished, the race had already begun. Her beautiful Octo Slug was going to lose to some topsider mule! This would not- could not stand! She worked the turning mechanisms furiously, their lazy, unshakable pace completely unsuited to a non-aquatic environment.

"J-just you wait 'till I'm pointed the right way, topsider! I'll show ya real guts, then you'll be sorry, hear?!"

He couldn't, of course, given that he was some distance away and she upside-down inside a glass-and-shell deathtrap. Proco reached under the dash, yanking the throttle and once again pounding a tentacle across the accelerator. The machine choked, sputtered...

...And the throttle came out of its socket.

"Clams."

And with that, the valiant Octo Slug Mk. I (patent pending) rocketed off over the horizon at blistering speeds.

Veragwen smiled a little at Kest's discomfort as she held his hand, slightly amused, "I suppose so....Am I really so unnerving? Please relax a bit. This is supposed to be a fun occasion!" she said, poking him playfully on the shoulder.

She shook her head, "I wish, Kest. There aren't enough people to have a day off. I generally never do anyway. Even if I were off duty, I'd probably still go running if I heard something was wrong....but like I said you're welcome to stick around me if you like. Just because I'm on duty doesn't mean I can't enjoy the festival." she smiled at him. She gestured to some of the other guards visiting stalls and talkig with people. "So long as we keep our eyes and ears open."

"Only friend?" Richard said, startled enough to drop the ball in his hand. He had no idea he was going to be put in such a compromising situation. They had only just met, and she already considered him a friend? Richard was just getting around to knowing her as the girl with blue hair! Were other people usually this friendly?

"Uh, well..." he began while picking up his dropped ball, unsure of himself. What does anyone say to something like that? he thought to himself. His mouth, however, seemed to act on its own. "I'm glad that I can be your friend. Am I really the only one? There has to be someone else." The thought hadn't actually crossed his mind until he said it out loud. Who else did she know besides him? It was an interesting mystery.

As they talked, Richard realized just how late it really was. "It's getting late," he said bluntly. "I should probably be looking for a hotel." With these words, he gave away a tiny bit of regret. He had actually enjoyed chatting with her, though he still didn't know much about her. Maybe he'd meet her again tomorrow. "It was nice meeting you, Caelyn. Enjoy the rest of the festival."

With that, headed off on his own to find somewhere to sleep. Hopefully, he could find somewhere cheap enough for what little money he had. At least the thoughts of his own situation was being pushed away by worrying about where to sleep.