The sun rose high behind the mountains of the small island Bellview resided on, shining it's morning light on the streets of the village. Beep beep beep beep beep- Guinevere gripped the top of the table and pulled herself off the floor, turning off the alarm. "7:30 a.m. already, huh?" With a deep sigh, she looked over at the pile of fabric and tools which had surrounded her on the floor. "Not even half way to being finished... Who would request a wedding dress when they weren't even engaged!?" Ruffling her hair, Guinevere made her way to the windows, opening the curtains a bit too theatrically. The Tailor set herself into a rush, shrugging on her periwinkle cardigan and running her fingers through her messy waves, I'll wash it tonight... she thought. Taking a moment to peek in at her mother, who was resting peacefully in bed. Shutting the door quietly, she walked out of the house. Locking the front door, she took off towards the Tailor's shop a few yards away.

The morning air was crisp and the dew covered the newly bloomed flowers and the growing leaves on the trees. Spring is so colorful, I should start on some spring clothing. Guinevere unlocked the front door to the shop and let the keys slide into the pocket of her cardigan. Opening the curtains to the large front windows of the store, and flipping the "Come in! We're open!" sign around, she sat at the front desk and pulled out a granola bar from the drawer. The automatic coffee pot started brewing right at eight a.m., as expected. "Mmmm..." she let out, the coffee's scent filling the small shop, "Good Morning."

It was a lovely spring morning in Bellview as Ralph got out of bed; by the looks of where the sun was, the day had started not too long ago. He would need to get to work at some point, but he lived in the second floor above his own store, so Ralph could take his time. The apartment itself was basic, but comfortable; two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combination kitchen/dining room. “7:30? Eh, I’ve got time.” He took a shower, threw on his t-shirt and jeans, and glanced out the window to see if anyone was waiting on him. Nope. “Oh, that’s good, I can eat.” With that said, Ralph grabbed some bread and put it in the toaster. Once it came out, he grabbed some grape jelly, a glass of water, and today’s newspaper from the apartment entrance and ate some breakfast.

“Hmm…8:30, guess I should get to work!” And now the day would begin; Ralph went downstairs to his family’s store and started his work. At a glance, the shelves were pretty full, so he wouldn’t need to order anything. And upon examination, the cash register and deposit box for purchases were full too; everything seemed to be in good order. It’s not like crime really was an issue here, but it never hurt to check. The store also was pretty clean, so that took care of everything that really needed to be done.

“8:35 and all of my work is done. I’m getting more efficient every day!” he joked to himself. And with that, Ralph finished the last tasks he needed to complete; he hung up the store’s sign, unlocked the door, and went out for a walk to enjoy the day.

Open - Pay on Honor System, the sign said.

~The Ever so Great Witch in training, Selma~

La la lala la~
An average start, to an average day

It was a warm, pleasant spring day all things considered. Flowers were likely blooming outside, children laughing and playing, birds singing. Really, as the sun rose over the mountains on the Island Bellview was located on, it created a rather picturesque display. Anyone who had a daily schedule of work to keep would likely already be waking up, or at least attempting to wake up.

Well.

"ZzzzZZZzz...."

Most people.

"Nooo~....don't take...giant ice cream muffin cake...Ehehee...~"

The Witch in training known as Selma Baumn was still busy snoozing away the morning. She was sound asleep in her bed, soft purple covers pulled over her head, talking quietly in her sleep in an uncharacteristically cute fashion. Soon though, a loud, echoing chime ran echoed through her room. The source, a antique looking grandfather clock. Likely an alarm to wake the one still sleeping despite being morning.

The girl pulled the covers over her tighter, as if making an attempt to make a shield against the loud ringing of the clock, reveling in whatever sweet-filled dream she was likely having. Unfortunately, the chime of the clock wouldn't be ignored. It continued, for a full minute. Every chime, the girl pulled the covers closer around her. Eventually, the young witch couldn't take any more and she shot straight up in her bed, appearing somewhat disgruntled.

"Alright I'm up, jeez!" She yawned, stretching her arms in an attempt to help herself wake. "Urrrgh...stupid...mornings. Why can't they...just not come?" She questioned to no one in particular as the chiming in the clock finally stopped after tormenting her for the past minute. She sat on her bed for a few minutes, still groggy and somewhat half asleep. It was spring. Her second most disliked season next to the scorching heat of summer, and she was hesitant to even start working or even wake up.

...she sort of wished she could just hibernate through spring and summer. The childish thought amused her slightly before she decided she better go and make herself look presentable to the populace. So, she stood, and started making her way out of her room. Or would have, if her foot didn't get caught on a loose blanket and she promptly fell flat on her face. Another uncharacteristically cute 'squee' noise escaped her mouth as she face planted.

"Owie...ow...ow." She held a hand to her forehead, likely where a bruise would be forming. Well, nothing a small tonic couldn't heal, but ugh that was embarrassing. She was glad no one saw that. So, without thinking too much about it, she stood up and got herself presentable. Got rid of her bedhead, bathed, had breakfast (which consisted solely of strawberries, tea, and a sandwich), dressed herself in her usual black dress, boots, and donned her trademarked witches cloak.

She had decided she wouldn't open her shop today. As she had no reason too, after all. If someone wanted to request her services, it wasn't like she had to be there anyways. She could discuss details anywhere. Not that she was probably going to be getting much business, though...the villagers of Bellveiw didn't seem keen on her help.

Which was fine. Magic was a rare talent and shouldn't be abused by funny little humans in just any manner~

By the time she was finished cleaning up, it was around eight in the morning. She took a deep breath of the spring air. Well, it wasn't too warm yet, so maybe today wouldn't be entirely frustrating. She'd go out to the woods, maybe. See if she could find anything useful. So, humming a quiet up beat tune to herself, she left her home.

“Reed! If you want breakfast you need to get up now, or make it yourself!!” Aria shouted.

Reed grumbled, groggily sitting up in his bed. He glanced over at the analog clock by his bedside, looking perplexed by the time. It was only 7:30. Why his sister thought it was normal to get up, let alone wake others up, at such an hour was beyond him. The man stretched his limbs and clambered out of bed, forcing himself to wake up. He might as well get ready for the day since he was already up. There was no way he’d ever fall back asleep now. Food, especially if it was his sister’s cooking, would be worth the early wakeup call though.

The youngest Greyson was already halfway through her breakfast by the time Reed stumbled into the kitchen. Aria looked up, a smile on her lips. “Good morning.” She chimed, wide awake and ready for the day.

Reed sat down across from his little sister, going to take a bite of the French toast in front of him, before he noticed the basket sitting on the table. His eyes narrowed a little. “How long have you been up?” He inquired. The small basket was almost full of herbs from the garden outside, and they weren’t there the night before.

“An hour… two maybe.” She replied, shrugging. The young woman ate the last couple of bites on her plate. She was always the first of the duo to wake up, but she usually wasn’t up at 5:30 in the morning. Aria picked up her plate and set them in the sink. “Do you think you can do the dishes today? I want to get to the restaurant early...” she asked, turning to look at her brother.

“Uh… Sure. Do you need a ride into town first?” Reed replied, clearing his own plate. He always ate fast.

Aria shook her head. “No, I think I’ll take my bike today.” She turned quickly, the skirt of her blue dress shifting at the motion. As she picked up the basket of herbs she looked back at her brother. “Have a good day, alright?”

“Don’t worry, I will. Just be careful! And don’t burn yourself!!” Reed called out as his sister disappeared out the back door.

"Bless me father, for I have sinned."

"Bless me father, for I have sinned."

"Bless me father, for I have sinned."

Lyra awoke to the sound of the birds chirping and those words circling around her mind. They ran in circles, trying to remind her of what her dream was about. And failing. All she knew was that it was The same dream as the night before, and before, and before. Lyra sighed, sitting up at the table. How long had she been asleep? She remembered watching the clock turn to 5 am and it was 7:45 so she must have had about 2 hours of rest.

Taking a stand, she went over to the restroom and splashed a cup of water on her face before smacking both of her checks. "Time to wake up and be lively." She muttered under her breath, somewhat attempting to sound more enthusiastic but failing horrendously. What would she do that day? Her mind was still trying to piece together the days plans but she finally got it together. Confessions, feed the poor, pick up some flowers and seeds, pray. Another boring day for a bland girl. "Screw this." She said quietly, walking out of her room already in her alb and everything. Lyra was never that much of a canditate for the priestess of the year award but at least she did what was expected of her.

Once she went down the stairs, Lyra began to prepare a meal for the small amount of kids that stayed in the church. Kids that were just like how she used to be. Except, they weren't going to be tied to this place and instead they were to be adopted by someone that would make sure they got to choose their own path. It may not be a bad thing, but being born a child of a priest... Limited your view of the vast world.

"Good morning." She said sweetly, placing a kind smile of her face as they began to fill the table. If only they stayed all little and adorable forever instead of turning into tax paying obnoxious adults. She placed their breakfast in front of them and they are it happily, a few of them being choosy about what they would eat and what they would drop into the trash can "secretly". Were vegetables really that bad?

Lyra chatted them up some before she said goodbye and walked out of the dining room. Flower shop. I guess I'll go to the flower shop. The flowers there were always so beautiful and a few times they'd have rare ones that she had never seen before. Besides, she wanted to get some seeds for her garden.

After that, it was time for confessions. She would never ever understand them. Sometimes it just made her cringe when they confessed to some terrible things. Don't do it in the first place. Is what she would like to say to them. But they're asking for her oh so kind forgiveness. If they thought for maybe two seconds before doing their sin, they wouldn't have to go confess to in the first place. Lyra finally stopped thinking about that. After all, she was the priestess and the daughter of the man that people thought of as a saint. Which meant they expected her to be a sweet little angel as well~ "Fuck that." She muttered under her breath. Yep, There goes that priestess of the year award. She'd have to pray for that later.

Lyra shook her head of those sinful thoughts and went on her way to the flower shop. At least there she would be at peace. Probably.

"Hello ladies!"

From a chicken's perspective a large and terrifying creature just ducked it's head down into the door way of their home and let out a boisterous screech. From Mimi's perspective she was just squatted down in front of one of the three coops she tended every morning for eggs to sell in a small stand she had created herself outside the perimeters of her parent's farm. It wasn't much more than a lemonade stand that the word lemonade was crossed off from and replaced with eggs. But for the young entrepreneur it was a budding business.

Mimi was at the age where she should probably be more adult and have a lot of responsibilities, but was still too young to have any respect in anything that she dreamed of doing or anything that she accomplished. Starting her descent into the chicken coop with a basket in hand she began fondling her chickens as she dug around underneath them and pulled out the eggs they hatched. Legend was told that some chickens could lay golden eggs, but it definitely hadn't been anything the girl had seen for herself.

"Yuck." Mimi scowled, her face made into one of disgust. It might have been a bit ironic that the girl who's entire ancestors farmed chickens for a living had a distaste for eggs, but as her father would say- it was more likely than not, a sign of bad luck. Gathering up what appeared to be the most of them, she then placed the basket on the roof of the coop.

Wiping off the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, she adjusted the large straw hat on her head. It was a dumb hat for the most part, but it did it's job and kept the girl cool in the spring and summer. A nice breeze picked up, and hit her square in the nose with the sweet smell of flowers and the earth growing around her. It was nice to be outside. Continuing on with her tasks, she took handfuls of bird feed from a container she had within the pens as she spread it around the yard. Making a clicking noise with her mouth she called the birds out from their homes as they began to flock around her. "Breakfast time for y'all" she claimed, before grabbing the basket off the roof and climbing carefully over the gate to where her babies roamed.

Walking not but five minutes from there, she began placing her eggs in small cartons of four and six to sell at her stand. She continued this process as she waited to see if any customers would come her way.

"Morningg~" Whiskey rubbed her eyes as she got up her bed, gazing upon the green trees of her backyard. The cold & dreadful winter have finally ended, her pet bird, Liv, eagerly chirping as she opened her birdcage wide. "Now winter's over, you can fly freely, Liv~" She cuddled Liv, letting it spread his wings, soaring for the skies.

"Year 1 now huh...?" Whiskey's eyes narrowed towards the calendar a bit, its been 3 years since she left home & abandoned her mom for her ex, 2 years since she left her town for this village. "Time sure flies..." Changing from her pyjamas, she ate a slice of bread for her breakfast before heading out to her workplace- the library. Opening the Library door, she took out a shoujo manga from a bookshelf, sitting and her desk and reading it while waiting for any guests here. There wasn't much work to do in the morning, the books have been already shelved & arranged from the day before.

The chirping of birds in the morning brought to Sierra's attention that it was spring. She paused in the middle of her breakfast for a moment before continuing to eat. For a miner, seasons mattered very little. The riches of the earth were consistent and dependable, not subject to the fickle whims of the weather. Some might argue that locating rich ore veins was more of a gamble than planting crops or raising animals, but Sierra paid such people no heed. When she had finished her breakfast, Sierra stepped out of the simple wooden shack at the base of the mountain that she called home. It was 5:30AM and still cool and crisp. Hoisting her pickaxe, she headed into the mine, ready for a long day's work.

The serene calm and quiet of the darkness of sleep was interrupted by a whisper.

"Mom?"

It was a familiar little girl's voice, one that had made Sega smile even in her state of being half awake. Sega could feel eyes on her, and with a few moments slowly opened her own eyes. Sitting on her knees, in her blue cotton pajamas with images of sheep printed all over them, Lorrena loomed with her face close to her mother's. "I'm hungry." Lorrena said with a pouty face. Sega's smile widened even more as she grabbed Lorrena by the waist and pulled her to the floor, wrapped her arms around her, and playfully cuddled her. "And I'm tired. Let's go back to sleep, my little teddy bear."

Lorrena laughed up a storm as she tried to escape Sega's grapple. "Hahahah! No no! No! Let's get food!"

Sega hugged her child and released her, "Alright, lovebug. I will make us breakfast."

With that, Sega stood up from her mattress on the floor and walked to the closet of her bedroom. She scanned the landscape out of her window for a moment, and seen that it was a nice spring day. "I wonder if it's too early in the season for a picnic later?" she whispered. "Yay! Picnic!" Lorrena shouted from in the hallway. Sega could hear the girl dancing about. She could only smile at the thought that her daughter had ears of an elephant. It felt as if you could be in a totally different building and Lorrena would still be able to hear every word you said.

For herself, Sega had chosen a pretty purple polka-dotted dress. For Lorrena, she had chosen a red shirt and shorts with a little rabbit picture on the pocket. I guess it was settled, they would be having a picnic this afternoon. After they both got dressed, Lorrena scampered into the kitchen area and sat on the mat on the floor near the table. Sega walked in and began making pancakes.

"Pancake, Pancake, cooker-san, bake me a pancake as fast as you can!-" Sega began to sing and Lorrena giggled and immediately started singing along in their little game. They would sing this song randomly sometimes together, no matter the food. They both found it hilarious that all the food would be rolled and patted.

A sweet scent filled the air as the finishing touch, a little butter and a caramel-tasting syrup was added to the pancakes. Lorrena put her teddy bear, Bernie, to the side as her mom came over and placed the plates onto the table. "Yum yum yum, in my belly!" Lorrena sang happily.

As they finished their meal, Sega said, "Lorrena, I was thinking we could have class outside today, and bring the picnic basket for a lunch." Of course the small girl nodded frantically. She liked having class outside in the spring, summer, and fall. In the winter time they found themselves in the house or library a lot.

Sega cleaned up the breakfast mess, and made some PB&J sandwiched, sliced fruit, and grabbed bottles of water for lunch and put them in a wooden picnic basket.

She held Lorrena's hand (and Lorrena held Bernie's paw) as she locked the front door to her small house and they started on her way. There was a spot in the village where both of them loved to go picnicking. It was near where wildflowers bloomed and always smelled great, there were tall trees to give shade, and it was pretty close to the shopping center of the village so she could watch people while Lorrena worked. The sky was a spectacular blue and their seemed to be quite a few people out today.

Sega balanced the bag of books she had slung over her shoulder for today's lessons (which consisted of teaching Lorrena numbers, colors, animals, sounding out letters to begin reading). "What color is that house?" Sega questioned Lorrena while nodding over to house.

"Purple!" she yelled, maybe a little too loudly. But Sega didn't mind her volume though. She always thought Lorrena had quiet the vocal range and would make a great singer one day. "That's right! Good job!"

After a little while of walking, they finally came to the right spot. Sega straightened out a quilt blanket along the grass and began setting things up. Lorrena talked Bernie's round ears off about how he needed more hair as she placed a grass toupee on his head.
"Look mom! A baby squirrel!" Lorrena squealed in delight as a chipmunk stopped in its tracks and looked at the two. Sega gave a small laugh, and whispered, "That's a chipmunk, Lorrena." Her voice was filled with caring and patience. She loved when her daughter learned something new. Sega slowly moved towards her art supplies to try and grab a quick sketch of it before it ran off, but that was a bit of hopeful thinking as Lorrena rushed up to it, laughing like a maniac, giving chase. Her grabby hands looking like the claws of death to the poor chipmunk. Sega sighed with a smile and watched as the chipmunk ran into the bushes. Lorrena squatted near the leaves, peeking into the bush to see if she could spot it.

June heard the birds before her alarm, pulling a grumble from the tired young woman. She had been up late last night carving away at a statue to display and ideally sell. It was something small, a nice little thing to display at your front door of a sitting dog. But she couldn't survive on money from big projects and repairs alone. Besides the art to it all was her favorite part of carpentry. Adding her own little artistic details to everything was part of why people came to her for buildings and furniture and every other various little thing they needed involving her set of skills.

Still, even if she was up late time waited for no man. Or woman. She yawned and stretched out her long limbs, feet practically dangling off the bed already, before shoving the blankets off and forcing herself to her feet.

She peered outside at the quiet town, living right smack dab in the middle of it all. She chose this plot of land so she was nearby in case there was need for her to handle something quickly. Besides she had enough space, she bought the house and expanded on it on her own as needed. The workshop and storefront was downstairs. There was enough space for piles of wood outside and the upstairs consisted of her living space. Two bedrooms, a small bathroom, and a combination living room/kitchen.

Not much but it worked for her and her sister, Bethany.

"June! Get in here it's time to eat!"

Speak of the devil. Bethany must've heard her get up. She smiled a bit and hollered back, "Be there in a second!" Her little sister Bethany had always been more of a early bird type. And she was usually out like a light by the time 10 rolled around. Unlike June who has hit or miss whether she could sleep that night. Usually because some creative bug manages to bite her and keeping her awake until she worked on it.

Trailing into the bathroom she washed her face quickly before brushing her hair to smooth it out from it's somewhat wild bedhead. She then bounded out to the kitchen at the small corner table where breakfast was waiting, two fried eggs, a piece of toast cut diagonally, and a nice big glass of orange juice.

"You're the best, Bethy." June said immediately before digging into the meal, starting off by cutting a piece of egg off.

The blonde smiled bright as she sat down, "Of course I am." Bethany chirped with a cheeky smile over at June before working on her own breakfast, "I have to pay my way somehow since I'm not making anything of my own yet for the store."

The two fell into conversation easily, quipping back and forth at times and even playfully bickering before June glanced at the clock. It was about 8 so she started making her way downstairs to open up the shop. They alternated days and took weekends off, leaving them enough time to do...well whatever they wanted. If a big job came up they closed a little early to get started so it was done ASAP. It was a system that worked and let Bethany drag June out in the late afternoon to start socializing.

Something Bethany demanded needed to happen since she moved in. June wasn't so sure. Getting too involved with people had already gotten her in trouble once. She wasn't too eager to do it again.

So while June manned the store, Bethany headed out to town to spend her free time doing what she did best. Spending time with people and making friends.

She would describe spring's 5 am early morning as wet and humid. If it weren't thanks to the night's lingering breeze and the touch of refreshing condensed morning dew she would hate the spring morning. The backyard storage of her home... Green meadows with an upstanding scruffy shed filled with dust and dirt it clouded-- as a lady emerged wheelbarrowing a load of coal towards the forge. Her refined posture and strong arms pushed the cart with little-to-no effort as it arrived shortly by the cold unlit furnace.

She spent the next hour lighting the furnace and preparing for her forge's opening as coals were shoveled in, the anvil was cleaned, the milling contraption was greased and readied with the grinders warmed up and ready to grind. She what seemed to be a complicated start of each day became routine in her hands as the forge was up and ready within 6 and Le Belle quickly entered a cold bath inside of her home and ate breakfast ready for today's duties.

Her usual attire consisted of a low-cut corset reinforced with a cradle-belt below her chest, rolled rubber black pants, a tanned leather sling that wrapped her right arm like a sleeve with a steel-armband and a carpenter's kilt with secured iron-capped work boots. She gazed on her frivolous, long and scarlet hair by the mirror and brought her fingers over her forehead with a hair band and tied them back whilst leaving her own fringe on the side of her face whilst tying a white hood over the hand-strewn hair. She held on to the curiously shaped necklace resting near her cleavage sorrowfully with a long gaze into the mirror as she heard a loving whisper of a male's voice.

"Look how beautiful you look today..."

The ghastly voice faded her face turned to see an empty, lavishly fashioned sofa behind her with sorrowful eyes. His passing could never be forgotten. Her hammer was beside it, leaning over its arm-rest comfortably. Her fingers wrapped itself around the handle silently and returned to her forge as she opened her forge.

~The Ever so Great Witch in training, Selma~

Well, despite her earlier thinking this morning would be somewhat tolerable, she was quickly wishing she was back inside. The morning was far from hot or humid, but as someone who sunburned very easily, she was not really into even remotely warm temperatures. Well, unless she was taking a luxurious bubble bath, but that was entirely different. This walk through the forest was getting a little arduous.

"Urgh...well, at least its not 'I'm melting' levels of bad." She groaned. Why did she think this was ever a good idea? She should have sat her cute butt right down in a chair at home and drank tea and spent her time messing with anyone who passed by her window. But no, she decided to be somewhat adventurous today! Well, now she was sweating and she still hadn't mastered that spell that kept her cool and composed during the summer.

...she really should get to work on that.

Eventually, she decided to get some nice, blissful reprieve from the sun by way of a cave. It was the towns mine, if she remembered correctly. May not be the nicest of places, but it was definitely likely to be cool. She waltzed into the cave, and was immediately assaulted by the relatively cooler air.

She took a seat on a rock.

"Ahh, much better~" She mused to herself...before realizing that she might not be alone here.

Spinning in her desk chair for an hour, reading the ever so interesting happenings in the local Bellview newspaper, "Oh, would you look at that... Lane Hart won best winter crops at the Winter Crop Competition... Like every season." Downing the last of her third cup of joe, Guinevere laid the paper on her desk and stood up stretching. "It's the beginning of Spriiing," she mumbled to herself, "I'm sure someone would want new clooothes." Sighing, she decided she'll close shop in a couple hours and try to get her evening chores done. "Oooor... I could do them on the clock, they are for the shop after all..."

Putting a "Out to lunch" sign on her desk, the tailor walked out of the shop, unlocked as crime was nonexistent in Bellview. She walked along the brick path. A few buildings down was the flower shop. "Dyes..." She muttered. Walking in, the bell chimed.

"Another year already..." Whiskey looked away from her manga, then gazing upon the sealed letter she received from her mom. Taking out a pen & paper, she sighed, "Been a while, since I wrote back to mom..." She doesn't even need to open that letter to know the contents of what her mom wrote. It would be something like 'Why did you choose Qasim over me?'. Nevertheless, she torn open the envelope, placing her mom's letter on one side of her desk, and began writing about the typical that she's doing well, living in pride & that she will be sending some money back to her mom~ Still, she knows that her savings isn't much, but at least she would be easing her mom's burden a bit...

"Shittt, ran out of envelopes!" She ranted in frustration right after finishing her letter. Placing her letter beside the desk, she slung her purse, walking out to the general store for an Envelope, and supplies for the spring, especially Potato Chips.

"Honor system, great timing~" Whiskey hissed in frustration & sarcasm, she haven't have any chump changes, and digging the cash register for change wouldn't be such a good idea, even if its an honor system. For now, she just placed a 200G coin on the table, munching on slices of potato chips while waiting for the boss to arrive for her change.

It really was a nice day. As Ralph went for his walk, he soaked in the spring day and saw a few people out on the town. Sega was teaching her daughter something or another as they had a picnic, Mimi was preparing her eggs to be sold, and he thought he saw the town’s witch walking into the town’s mine. That seemed kind of strange, but to each their own. Ralph didn’t feel like interrupting anyone though since they all seemed busy, so he ended up just walking back to the store. It had been a while anyway, and it was probably best not to be out all day in case an elderly customer needed help grabbing their groceries or something.

As it turned out, someone was waiting for him, but it wasn’t an old person. As Ralph walked into his store, he noticed Whiskey munching on some potato chips at the counter. She seemed a little frustrated, so he hoped that he could cheer her up somehow. “Hi!” the store owner said enthusiastically as he walked up to her, “can I help you with anything?”

A soft 'tink', 'tink', 'tink' could be heard echoing through the mine, but after a point it stopped and was followed by a grating whine that got louder and louder as it approached the mine's entrance. A shaft of light pierced out through the darkness, concealing whatever was behind the glow.

Sierra turned off the light from her helmet now that enough ambient light flooded in from the entrance. She was pushing a squeaky mine cart laden with ore. She was on her way back to empty the cart when she noticed someone sitting near the mine's entrance. Sierra felt like she may have seen this person around town, but she was terrible with faces and wasn't in town frequently enough to have really gotten to know too many people.

But that was beside the point. "Hey," Sierra called out, "no entering the mine without proper safety equipment!" She didn't even mention the necessary safety training that was also a prerequisite to entering the mine. "What are you doing here? Some friends dare you or something?"

An old red bike came to a halt just outside the little restaurant, its brakes screeching slightly from the force. It sounded, to Aria, like it was almost time to do something about the brakes, but she would worry about that later. With a smile on her lips she fluidly dismounted her ‘mighty steed’ and began to lead it towards a small bike rack just outside her business. She grabbed her basket of herbs from the handle and left it there, not bothering to lock the bike down. The town had never had any issues with theft, she doubted anyone would take it.

Aria whistled a cheerful tune as she stepped inside, being greeted by the quaint little shop she loved. Ever since she bought the place it had become her home away from home. She stopped for a moment to turn her sign from closed to open, before getting to work. Her boots clicked faintly on the brick tile as she walked over to the swinging doors that led into the kitchen. There was very little chance of someone coming in this early, so for now the young woman decided to busy herself with prepping whatever she could.

After two glasses of coffee Reed was finally awake enough to face the world. He grabbed his jacket from the coat rack by the door and headed for his truck. It probably wouldn’t get cold enough to need it, but he’d rather be safe than sorry.