Free City, Truce - Fountain
A tiered fountain marks the center of Truce, water gushing from its
summit and trickling into a deep, wide basin, wrapped by a ring of benches.
Roads flow like rivers away from the fountain, and houses sprout like weeds
all around them. Not far to the east, the ocean roars in the harbor.
You push the Drop button. Effective?

The evening air is cold at this hour, keeping most familiars and passersby indoors to escape the chilly autumn air. However, one man seems not to mind so much, passing by the fountain of Truce as he writes down information on a clipboard he's carrying with him. He's a tall man, fancily dressed despite the casual location, coattails reaching almost to the pavement. His dark hair is slicked back, and he strides along purposefully, long legs carrying him through town with an air to match that purpose. He mumbles something to himself in a strange accent, sounding pleased. "Yes, there we are~.. only a week to go, and everything seems to be in check."

Dachande is resting rather nonchalantly on one of the benches positioned around the fountian. A little too nonchalantly actually, considering he seems to be missing his head. It isn't even nearby, for all intents and purposes, Dachande's head seems to be completely missing from the surrounding area.

At the fountain already was Riko, sitting on a fountainside bench. His posture is lax, his body leaning against the back of the bench and his head at a ninety-degree angle, his eyes gazing skyward at the infinite blackness above that is dotted with little white specks of starlight.

Rana wandered slowly into the fountain area, her feet dragging as she slowly walked. Eventually, she found an empty bench and plopped down on it, her legs dangling lfielessly from the wooden structure and mouth curled into a pout. She was bored of this small town, and the mind-numbing nature of it was getting to her badly.

Garoth waits around at the edge of the fountain area, not certain why he showed up again, it having been more than a week since he last saw kahleen, questioning the intelligence of even staying around somewhere she can find him... holding a mask of some sort in his shaking hand.

Nagol and Ivane walk in from the port, carrying bags and suitcases. They drop their stuff onto the ground by a bench and sit down at the bench. Nagol says to Ivane, "I'll take the stuff home, then I'll be working in the lab." Ivane nods and then Nagol heads out to the north.

The tall man stops as he crosses the fountain square, making a few notes before looking up from his documentation to acknowledge those who were present, noting a couple of new faces. "Ah, more townsfolk I've yet to be introduced to! How fortunate!" He puts his clipboard away momentarily, stowing it somewhere under the folds of his coat. "How are all of you on this fine Fall evening?" A set of elongated fangs glint in the surrounding light of the area, but his demeanor seems charming and respectful, even more so as he does a sweeping bow.

Dachande's body doesn't react much as the Tall man speaks to them, instead, it simply points up, as if that single action was supposed to answer everything that was going on. Oddly though, there seems to be quite a lot of crows positioned in the sky above Truce, wheeling about in the air in a rather massive flock.

Garoth sighs, already knowing where his ticket is... or at least who had it, stepping away from the wall and crossing to the fountain, not entirely certain how this ball will go for him as he removes his head and sets it down beside the fountain, scooping up some water to rub across his shoulders.

Dachande looks at Garoth.

'Aw, piss off,' Rana says to the tall man without looking at him. She does wave her hand at him, motioning him to go away, though. She pays no mroe heed to the man, none to Dachande, whom she doesn't recognize without a skullful of fire, and none to the caw noises above.

Ivane walks over and says to Riko, "Hey Riko, how's it going?"

Riko raises an eyebrow at the young girl who looked to be from his homeland, but was more interested in the tall man, who he recognized. Before he could speak, however, a green creature that looked somewhat like Nagol approached him. 'Hm? Do I know you?' he asked.

The man seems completely unoffended by Rana's rudeness, his smile only fading enough for his fangs to blend in with his other teeth. "Now now, that's not a good way to greet people, dear. It sounds like you need a night to get away from the nuisances of the world, which, I might add, is taking place one week from tonight!" He straightens, brushing one of his shoulders off. "Yes indeed, in case some of you hadn't heard, my name is Dr. Von Clemente, and a splendid gathering of festive souls is to be had in only a week's time from tonight! I've sold quite a lot of tickets to the occasion, but I still carry plenty more, should anyone here require them! Time is counting down, don't be one to regret it when it becomes too late!"

Rana scoffed, uninterested in the tall man's offer. Most 'festive gatherings' she's known of were soul-wrenchingly dull to her, and she wasn't about to try to see if this one would be any different.

The murder's activity seems to sharpen, the crows now turning a tighter circle over the fountian and letting out loud cries. Dachande's body sits back, almost as if it knows exactly what's happening. Then, one by one, the crows begin falling from the sky, ramming themselves upon the ground and lashing their wings about widly. More and more join a pile as terrible wretching noises pull thenmselves from the birds.

Ivane says to Riko, "I am Nagol's brother, Ivane. I don't think we have acually meet. I have heard about you from Nagol."

Dachande's body calmly stands at this point, walking cooly over towards the thrashing pile of wings and screaming birds, and with the air of a man plucking a fruit, Dachande's body reaches into the midst of the crows. Pulling lightly, flame begins to sprout from whatever it's gripping, before a low shriek joins the crow. Then, Dachande's head comes into view from the middle of the crows, burning in all it's glory.

Dachande re-affixes his head to his shoulders, slaps the fire that had ignited on his hands out, and rolls his neck. "LAST TIME I FLY COACH." He kicks at the birds to disperse them, and the crows gladly fly away, freed from whatever pact he had with them.

'That explains it,' Riko said. 'No offense, but I don't know your brother that well, either. We've met, but we haven't talked very much. Just kinda... been around each other.' This would be when fire enters his peripheral vision and Dachande's screeching words fill his ears, causing him to turn his head toward the mass of birds flying away.

Riko stares at Dachande for exactly three seconds, pondering the need for such theatrics, before letting it drop and returning his gaze to the tall human. 'You're still selling those tickets? I'll take two of them. Do they still cost five gold each?'

Oh, what the heck, Aemilia thought to herself. "I suppose I'll take a ticket", she told the doctor. "I think I could use a little fun. How much do they cost?"

Garoth hears the noise, but doesn't see much beyond the fountain, as his head is resting on the ground, lifting his head to get a view of the commotion the beirds are making, almost dropping his head in surprise at the scene of the crows, dashing themselves against the ground, standing and holding his head under one arm, skull mask stuck to his other hand, entirely forgotten.

The doctor watches the event unfold with what appears to be mild interest, not too much or too little, brandishing a hint of intrigue at such an unorthodox method of body-part dislocative travel. He offers another glance about the few people remaining here, realizing that Rana was going to play hard-to-get and opting not to waste any further time with persuasion. He looks about to say something, but affords Riko his attention when spoken to, nodding. "Quite, yes! Five gold apiece, eight for two! Couples and friends are encouraged!" He withdraws several red tickets from his person, offering them to anyone who desires them.

'Eight it is, then,' Riko says, digging in the right front pocket of his black denim jeans and pulling out eight gold coins, handing them to the doctor.

Ivane nods and says to Riko, "Yeah, he has been busy on some project he is working on. I don't even know what it is. But, I'm just lucky I was able to get him out of the lab to go on a vacation. I'll see you later Riko, I'm going to head out." Ivane waves good bye to Riko, and then heads to the north.

Dachande looks at Garoth, and it's plain to see that past the flames of his face the pumpkinhead is a little surprised. "MY WORD, IS THAT ONE OF MY LESS-CURSED BROTHERS?" The pumpkinhead saunters over to his racial kinfolk, and grins at him. "HOW'S TRICKS?"

Aemilia hands over five gold coins, grabs her ticket, and skedaddles.

Dr. Clemente accepts the payments graciously, handing out tickets as requested. "Thank you, thank you both very much! I'm certain you won't regret it." He tucks the money away. "It seems a quiet night, but then given the air, it would stand to reason. Perhaps I'll make myself scarce at a reasonable hour, as well. Though, I do have a word I'd like to acknowledge, for those willing to listen, and only out of sincere compassion." He glances southward for a moment, standing up straight. "

Garoth just kinda stands there for a moment in surprise before realizing he's dealing with another pumpkinhead "uh..." he places his pumpkin on his shoulders before trying to shake the mask off his hand "I wouldn't exactly say less cursed" he gives up trying to remove the mask and lets it hang from his hand "But I really wasn't expecting to see another in a similar situation to my own so far from Deneb"

"If any of you happen to see a little lady that kind of looks like she might be of avian ancestry wandering around the area, be extra nice to her, would you? She's going through a rough patch, and I've heard a couple of her friends are in the same boat. Kindness is a trait not often enough heard of, which is why I ask tonight. It would be most gracious of you!" With that, he gives another low bow, and trapses off toward the north, on to his next appointment.

'Yeah, no problem,' Riko said, looking back to the fountain and taking his seat, positioning himself from the annoyingly bright fires burning on some construct's head. He seriously hoped it couldn't feel pain, though, but it didn't seem to. Not if its lack of response to the raging fire burning on it was any indication.

A familiar sound brought a smile to the depressed moogle's face. It reminded her of someone fun, someone she hadn't seen in a while. Rana decided to be quiet for now, letting Dachande speak to his fellow Pumpkinhead for now. She'd make herself known to him when he was less busy.

Dachande shrugs casually. "NEVER KNOW WHEN SOME BITCH IS GOING TO GET PISSY AND CURSE PEOPLE. THAT IS THE TRUTH." He holds a fist out to Garoth, expecting some kind of fist-based bumping action.

Garoth gives a laugh, though hesitates a moment before bumping knuckles with Dachande "I guess thats one way of describing her."

Eevee lets out a sigh as he banks to the right back towards Truce. He hasn't seen Mogwai or her bus in days, and as soon as he feel's Sylphid's power return to him, he changes form and glides around Truce in search for her. It also didn't help that it was dark out. No such luck today either for the poor pokemon. Truce was not far to the north, and there wasn't much wind to help carry him along. If he didn't hurry, he'd deform and crash.

Riko leans back against the bench he's sitting on and gazes toward the bird-free sky. The wind, though chilly, brings a sweet scent in from the south, and Riko's wandering mind focuses on a memory from weeks past.

Dachande slides up next to Garoth, putting his arm around the pumpkinhead's shoulders. "LISTEN. MIKE. CAN I CALL YOU MIKE? WHATEVER. THE POINT IS THIS BUDDY. ME AND YOU, WE'RE BROTHERS. THERE ISN'T ANYTHING THAT CAN SEPARATE US. AND JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME..." Dachande lowers his constantly shrieking voice by not-enough so that everyone else can still hear him as he pulls out a few photographs. "I'VE GOT RATHER EMBARASSING PHOTOS OF HALF THE COUNCIL OF CROW KINGS. FREE ROUND TRIP AIRTRAVEL ANY TIME I WANT IT. SOUND GOOD TO YOU?'

Eevee grits his teeth and shows his fangs as he pours more effort into his glide. Crash landing wasn't really something he looked forward to. This was the first time that he's pushed himself as far as he has, as several days of worry has a way of causing the unintelligent pokemon to lose his marbles. It has become clear however that he'd better land soon and walk. But maybe just a bit longer...

'Brother, huh? Betcha don't have many of those,' Rana teased, tired of waiting. She stood up with that, and faced Dachande with a shit-eating grin.

Garoth just chuckles and smiles at how brotherly his 'new friend' is being, not seeing much trouble coming from the association of another cursed "Hah, sounds fun" he takes a quick glance at the photos, rather curious at what could possibly be worth so much blackmail power.

Truce's familiar sights crawl through Eevee's eyes as he lets out a brief sigh of relief, though the feeling is short lasted as his yellow and cyan colors 'blow' away from his body, his form returning to normal. His eyes widen as he watches the ground quickly approach, or rather, as he quickly approaches the ground. Same difference. His instincts -screamed- at him as he started to panic and just accept the fall, before he realized an alternate approach to the crash.

Without a second to lose, Eevee closes his eyes and focuses on Undine's blessing, his body turning blue and his fur mysteriously changing into scales. A blue 'cap' begins to form around his head as his tail begins to stretch out and form into a fin. With the fountain's surface -right- in front of him, his body begins to turn viscuous as he becomes one with the water in the fountain.

After making contact, Eevee pulls his molecules together and reforms into Undineon. He noticed a few individuals near the fountain he didn't recognize before landing, and with any animal, strangers both interested and fightened him. Rather than leaping out of the fountain, he pokes his blue head out of the water to observe the situation.

Dachande looks over to Rana as she makes herself known, and lets out a bark of laughter. "WELL. IF IT ISN'T MY FAVORITE GENETIC FREAK. HOW'S LIFE BEEN GOI-" An explosion of water caused by a landing Eevee distracts Dachande, who glances over to the water. "GODDAMN, I THOUGHT MY COACH SEATS SUCKED."

The scratching of sharp talons against the cobbles introduce Mollianne before she even appears from the southern avenue, looking a little worse for wear, and more than a bit grubby to boot. Her leather band sports mild rips in a couple of places, and her skirt has dirt on it in numerous places. She's holding what appears to be a red slip of paper in one hand, apparently lacking any place on her person to put it otherwise, and her eyes seem to be looking for someone specific as she arrives, albeit with considerable hesitance written on her face.

'Damn, Eevee, think you can give a little warning before you force baths on people? Riko asks before shaking the water out of his fur.

Rana is quick to execute a cartwheel away from the fountain, avoiding getting water in her armor. That wouldn't be fun to try to clean up later.

Crossroads enters the fountain area clutching a small box in one arm while she looks over a small slip of paper, only half paying attention to where she was going. Her steps were quick as she did not wish to stay out for too long on a chilly night like this.

Garoth immediately regrets looking at the picture, but the thought flees his mind as he gets soaked, shaking the water off himself after the quick shower from eevee "Thanks... I already took a bath today though."

Eevee's eyes widen as he senses the gazes of the unfamiliar individuals, instantly retreating his head back underwater. Shyness? Maybe a little. But mostly over-cautious. In the wild, any and everything can be a threat. Those who don't treat lightly, or doggy-paddle quietly or something in this case, typically struggle to survive. He thought he saw Riko out of the corner of his eye, but discretion proved to be more important.

Kent entered the town through the north gate, his cloak covered in a small bit of blood. In his hands were a necklace and what looked like a green imp. "I found it," Kent told the gaurd, who took the family heirloom and handed him a sack of silver. Kent walked down to the fountain and threw down the imp corpse at his feet. "Alright, floating inhumans, You have proven you are not imps." With a flash of his sword, he decaptated the corse and put the head in his pocket. "What are you?" Kent aske

Dachande doesn't seem to mind being drenched all that much, as the fire covering his head doesn't even waver upon contact of the water. Instead, he brushes some of the water off his arms and turns his attention back to the newly active crowd. Rana flipping her shit, more women walking about, and snarky comments galore. The burning headed pumpkinhead just chuckles in a surprisingly quiet tone before moving back over to a bench and sitting down. "DON'T SUPPOSE ANYONE HAS SOME FOOD, EH?"

Mollianne seems a little on edge, clutching her red slip a bit more tightly when she doesn't see anyone she recognizes. She's just about to give up and head back the way she came, when she spots Crossroads coming in from elsewhere, and her enormous wings ruffle up at the acknowledgement, being the first time she'd seen her, or any of them, since... that night. "Crossroads..?" Her voice resonates with a strained sort of echoing reverberation, an odd quirk that seems to indicate that she likely hasn't used it much lately.

Several heavy footsteps echo out from the west as the M85 appears, carrying several massive logs. What Helios could ever want with those is the question. Said mechon hovers in a moment later. "M85, wait up! We can't fly through vines like you can walk through them."

Crossroads stops, looking up from her paper and glancing around for the source of the voice calling her name, it doesn't take her long to pick out who it was in this crowd. "Molly?" There is a little bit of surprise in her voice as she spoke, "What are you doing here? I thought you had gone home." Looking at her now though, it was quickly becoming apparent that she had not. The young woman walks over to her, the contents of her box making a slight muffled 'tink'ing sound as she moved.

Mollianne looks conflicted, her feathered wings fluffling up even moreso to indicate her distress (as if it wasn't already evident on her face). "I.. I am afraid of going back. I.. Rae and May.. what do I tell them? What do I say? After I left everyone, I have not been myself.. and I wanted to know where K-" She stops, clamming up for a moment. ".. Where he went. Did Tyrranis take him somewhere? I wanted to ask, but without my radio, I had no way to find you. So I stayed around, hoping I might run into you on accident at some time."

"Tyr buried him. I was actually planning on paying him a visit soon." Crossroads offered Mollianne a small, sad smile and glanced down at the box in her hands looking a little uncomfortable as she did. "You can come with me if you want. In the mean time it is petty cold out here. Why don't you come home with me? I'll make you some hot tea or some cocoa?"

'Put that thing away before you hurt someone,' Riko said to Kent in a stern tone, motioning to the human's sword. 'And I'm a moogle.'

Helios frowns at the M85. "Don't do that again." The M85 whines sadly. "No, no. It's alright, just don't do it again." Helios turns to look around the square. He idly began scanning the crowd as they conversed, though there was one vocal pattern that seemed farmilliar. Helios seemed to frown thoughtfully as he slowly began to pick the one voice out of the crowd.

Rana, having no food, didn't respond to Dachande's question.

Dachande rolls his eyes at the lack of answers from the crowd, stands up, rolling his neck again. "FINE. I SEE HOW IT IS. TIME TO FIND A NICE DINER." The pumpkinhead lifts his hand, and snaps once. The sound of which is incredibly clear, cutting through damn near any sound that wants to try and rise above it. Soon, the sky darkens again as crows amass upon Truce. "I WONDER IF THIS IS GOING TO HURT AGAIN."

Kent looked at the creature that responded. He sheathed his blade and examined is as well as he could. "A...Moogle." He walked closer, feeling a little less threatened by it's presence. "From where do you hail, Moogle?"

The crows again descent upon Dachande, covering the pumpkinhead completely. They beat their wings and screech and scream before suddenly dispersing, leaving nothing left of Dachande except a new tatters of cloth and a few black feathers.

Feeling slightly more secure, Eevee pops his head out once more to observe his surroundings. It seemed even more individuals had begun to gather, particularly the creepy floating thing and is jerkbag companion. If Mogwai didn't care about it so much, he would have attempted to scrap the massive robot by now. This situation had begun to make Eevee feel very uncomfortable. He desperately wanted to make a run for it and return to his cave.

And so, Eevee dipped his head back underwater once more before leaping out of the fountain completely and landing just to the west of it. Not surrendering a second, he makes a mad dash westward and banks out of the M85's way as he proceeds outside of Truce. His blue scales and extended tail 'drip' off of him, his body returning to normal as he fades into the night.

Mollianne looked ever more torn. On the one hand, the company of people she knew was enticing enough for her to want to just drop everything and accept, especially after nearly two weeks on her own. But at the same time... from what she understood, didn't Crossroads have a houseful as it was? "The cold does not bother me. Since I came from the sea, cold temperatures are easy to ignore. But.. I do want to see K.. Kyrk. Before I can go home.. I guess, maybe I just need to be reminded that this is not all just a bad dream." Mollianne pauses, looking up towards Cross's face. "It is not, is it?"

Riko shrugged. 'Don't remember,' Riko said with a slight scowl. 'Don't care to, to be honest.'

"So, it's the bird-girl... Where have we heard her voice before?" He fell silent as he consulted his data banks. An image of Kyrk listening to the radio came to mind; the voice on the radio sounding remarkably like the upset tone of the girl here. Helios decided to move closer to see if the vocal patterns were correct.

Crossroads lowers her head, "I wish it was." Crossroads said quietly, "But really, if you need a place to stay I am sure something can be worked out. Just because you can ignore cold temperatures doesn't mean you should have to. The house is heated and you can get a shower and relax a little." Crossroads had to admit that those things looked like was Mollianne needed most right now. that and... "You wouldn't have to be alone right now either, Molly."

Kent sighed. Every person he talked to was less than helpful. "Very well, Moogle. I shall not hold your kind in distain." Kent wandered around the area. His reflection seemed to be laughing at him again, but Kent knocked a small stone to cause a ripple so he couldn't see it. Alright, priority time again. He counted his silver, he finally had enough for a ticket to the masquerade. "Has anyone seen the ticket vender?" He asked openling around the area.

Mollianne's eyes shimmer slightly as she studies Cross' face, but she restrained herself. She'd behaved herself in terms of shed tears, and she didn't want to start now. Especially not in front of all these people. Maybe she could even borrow Lora's comm and get ahold of the Twins to at least let them know she was okay; she would want to explain the situation in person, though. Shaking her head lightly, she refocused on the current situation, letting the whats and wheres be saved for later. At the very least, it allowed Mollianne to ignore the 'bird-girl' comment. "I guess, if.. if you are okay with it, and Tyrranis does not mind, then I will accept your offer." She places her hands together in front of herself, offering a low forward bow. "Thank you very much. I appreciate it a lot."

'He just left,' Riko said, starting to get weirded out by the newcomer.

Crossroads smiles lightly, "I doubt he will. Follow me." She turned northward, folding the piece of paper she had and shoving it in her pocket, "The house is not far rom here."

Helios hovers closer to the bird- girl. "Ah, it was your voice that was coming over that radio. We must say that you have a lovely singing voice." Helios falls silent for a moment as he contemplates her morose expression. "Well, we arent going to pry and try to ask what is wrong, but we will say this: It is always darkest before dawn; things must get better." Helios nods to her as he hovers back to the M85.

Garoth fovers his head as the murder of crows divebombs Dachande, not particularly wanting his pumpkin to go along with him. He looks up again when the commotion is over, taking off his head again and holding it under his arm "well... thats one way to get around I guess..."

Kent shot back a stare at the Moogle. He left? Kent had speant the past few days working to find jobs, pay for a room at the inn, and get a costume prepared, and the last day thei ticekt vender was going to come he had left? "He...left...?" Kent asked, shocked. He backed into a bench and fell down on it, rubbing his head. "I should really stop drinking..." He said. Ironically enough, the next thing he did was plop a cigar in his mouth.

Mollianne looks up quickly, and starts to follow Crossroads as she heads northward, but stops as she hears someone mentioning something else, and moreso when the reflective lens approaches her with words of comfort. She was a bit too caught up in the situation to reflect on them at that moment, nor the compliment afforded. "Thanks.. thank you. I.. no, nevermind." She shakes her head, and decides on one last action before leaving. Just because she was suffering didn't mean others had to; she hurries over to Kent, quickly drops the ticket she was holding at his feet, then runs off to follow Crossroads without a word further, her taloned feet scratching harshly at the cobbles as she treads on.

'That's an idea, yeah...' Riko said. 'Ugh... think I'll pass out.'

With that, Riko stood up and walked toward the inn, making no motion to bid anyone a good evening.

Helios begins to inspect the wood. "Good, its not wet or anything... Oh, it's nothing." He says as he looks back at the shy bird- girl. "Just a nice phrase we picked up here and there. You take care now." Helios nods to her again. "Alright M85, let's get these things back to the Nakajamur." The M85 salutes Helios, picks up the wood again and leavs north; Helios following soon after.

Rana sat back down after Dachande left. There went her entertainment. Eventually, she ended up wandering off as well.

Kent took the ticket from the ground, happy that that conflict was averted. He then pulled out the disembodied imp head from his pocket and examined it. It's red eyes went cold, and it's facial structer was very thin. Kent opened the imp's mouth and pulled out it's tongue. It was straight instead of forked, like the imps from his home. "So, not even a true demon. Disapointing." Kent took a match and burnt the head down to it's skull, and put the bone back in his pocket. The sky began to darken, so Kent stood up and looked at the rest of the Imp he left on the ground. With a grunt he picked it up and walked off to dispose of the corpse and the skull outside of the city walls. Then he would sleep.