Somehow, despite the previous warmth of the past couple weeks winter has returned to Truce, bringing about cloud cover and chilly frigid air. There was no snow yet but the water of the fountain had a thin layer of ice frozen over it for the past couple of days, bringing about pity from the city's citizens to the new Cleft fallen who should come crashing down into its frigid waters at this unfortunate time. The sky is ablaze with a pink glow this evening as the sun sets over the mountains to the west, tinting the land to match. Not many seem to be venturing out doors at this time save for those dressed in plenty of warm garb. It looks as though it could snow at any moment.


Helios wanders in from the north, warily glancing up at the sky every so often. "Ugh, we hope it doesn't snow. We wouldn't be able to use any sensory equipment." He stops next to the fountain and looks around.


Laraek wasted no time as soon as he saw the sun begin to set. Everyone knew that the sunset meant that it was about to be nighttime, and nighttime meant all the best parties were going to be thrown. The young boy walked into the truce fountain area holding a large wooden box, and placed it down at his feet before taking a commanding view of the world from on top of it. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" He said to the non-existent crowd, "The entertainment has arrived!"


Allison looks up at the sky from under her hood as the sky turns pinker into an orange. The cold didn't bother her too much under her heavy cloak, but the snow was always a bit annoying if it built up too high. The sound of hollow wood being placed on the ground caught her attention as a boy stood up on a crate announcing his presence quite loudly.


Wandering around the Truce town square for probably the thousandth time since he arrived in this weird...place, Cypher decided to take a seat and relax instead of heading off to his next stupendously dangerous journey. And it seems like he chose a fine time to do it - there was a circus in town! Or, you know, a single misguided entertainer. Adjusting his armor's visor, the reploid gave Laraek an appraising look from a nearby bench.


To make things even more uncomfortable, the wind starts to pick up. A forewarning of the coming winter storm that is going to through. A man passing through manages to loose hold of his hat, and begins chasing it down the street, picking it up and placing it upon his head again as it flys into a wall. He holds onto its brim tightly as he continues on his way, afraid of losing it again. Carried on the wind, is the sound of a soft chime. *ring~ding~ding-a-ling~* It seems to be coming from the west, and growing louder with each passing moment.


Helios carefully moves away from the crazed young man with the banjo. "What could that be?" He peers down the western road, trying to see what could be making the chime.


Cypher quietly comments, "Oh, is that the rest of them?" Clearly expectant of a more comprehensive performing troupe than a kid and a box, Cypher also turns his gaze westward.


"Hellloooooo Free City!!" Laraek was looked at the sky. Judging by all the movement in the air, the weather itself was excited to see him and couldn't wait to see his performance. He turns his attention to Cypher. "The rest of them? Why, my good patron, they're right here!" Laraek jumps off of the box and kicks, all the sides fell down, revealing two puppets, a little wooden knight holding a microphone, and a princess behind a drum set. It was obvious that this was all thrown together in under an hour.


Allison clutches her cloak tightly as the strong wind pulled at it, but as the sun started to fully set she let out a sigh of relief. There was no more reason to constantly hide her face anymore without feeling ill. The boy on his box pulled out a pair of puppets curiously enough to her surprise. A knight and a princess puppet with instruments? She was curious to see what this boy had to show. The increasing ringing from the west was starting slowly getting her attention.


*Ring~Ring-ding-a-ling~* It isn't long before the source of the sound comes into view of those who have gathered at the fountain. From around a corner a comes a white cart being pushed by a giant waddling mass of blubber, tusks, and fur in a pair of swim trunks featuring the sun setting on a palm filled beach. A smaller walrus toddles after in similar attire, ringing a small bell held within his flipper, "POPSICLES! DELICIOUS AND COLD!" He calls, "Get your popsicles here!"


"Um... Isn't it a bit out of season for a popsicle?" Helios tilts his core as he looks at the cart.


"My good patron floaty camera thing, tis always the season for refreshments!" Laraek retrieves his banjo from his back and stands on one part of the fallen walls of the box, which made a (unconvincing) impromptu stage. "Everybody, please, get your popsicles and get ready for a show. Who's ready to rock!?"


Both the walrus and his son stopped their cart at the fountain, tilting their heads in unison as they looked at Helios with a confused gaze that simply said 'No?'. "With warm weather, people like to buy cool treats." The older walrus answered, his burly mustache twitching as he spoke. "COOL TREATS!" The little one echoed loudly with excitement, lifting the bell up into the air and waving it with all the enthusiasm he could muster. *RING-RING-RING-RING-RING* The father smiled at the man with the banjo and nodded. He understood. "Special discount for you, good sir!" The little one hopped up and down, looking about the group of potential customers. "Lots of tasty flavors!"


Allison never really liked the taste of frozen treats, they hurt her teeth. Besides the odds of them having her kind of 'flavor' was highly unlikely. They seemed really eager to sell frozen treats on a frozen day. Out of curiosity, she wandered over to the cart and looked at all the colorful popsicles.


"Well, alright then." Helios looks up at the sky and checks the temperature again, muttering to himself. "Warm weather. Right."


The small wooden knight looked up at Laraek and wiggled its head. "What do you mean, distracted? They're getting refreshments! Now get your singing voice ready, let's go!" The other puppet tapped it's drumsticks together three times, before pounding on the drums for an almost consistent beat. Laraek began playing his banjo in something vaguely resembling "Freebird," and the knight began... well, it wasn't really singing, because it couldn't talk, but it's the thought that counts!


The father walrus' smile went from one side of his face to the other as Allison approached his cart, "What flavor be catching your interest dear girl? We got all sorts to choose from!" "ALL SORTS!" The little walrus chirped. "What kind would you like, I got trout flavored, cod flavored, tuna flavored, shrimp flavored, mollusk flavored, clam flavored, and salmon flavored!" "SALMON IS MY FAVORITE!"


Allison looks up when the Walrus talks to her, his large tusks reminding her of her own fangs. "Uh.. No thank you, I was just curious to see what you all had is all." she replied with a little awkward laugh. She couldn't just outright say 'I'd like blood flavor!' and what was the deal with all these seafood flavors anyway? Were they soaked in fish or something, but then again it was fitting for a bunch of walrus.


"Alrighty, if you change your mind then just let me know." The walrus said, still smiling. The little one looked disappointed, but he then caught the sound of music and his little beady eyes took on a sparkle as he saw the man playing music with puppets. He tugged on his father's flipper, "Can I go watch papa, please!?" With a nod from his father, he toddled off quickly to watch.


By then, Helios had also come over to watch the impromptu puppet show. "This is incredibly silly, but we suppose we can see how children would like it."


As the song came to its end, the puppets fell down limp. Laraek was finishing up on his banjo, which he was playing on his knees staring at the sky as if he just finished with an epic solo that was way more impressive than it actually was. When he stood up, he took a bow. "Thank you, thank you! How are you all tonight?" He asked the question as a part of a rehearsed routine.


Allison listened the song as it came to a finish. She politely clapped for the rather extravagant showman as he finished his act. "That was actually quite entertaining." she said to herself with an amused laugh. The sun was long gone now, so she decided to take down the hood of her cloak and let her black hair free. She shook her head for a moment to try and shake it out of the mess from being in the cloak.


The small walrus clapped his flippers together enthusiastically, more excited that he got to see a show than caring what the show was about. The father simply remained by his cart, smiling awkwardly and keeping an eye out for other potential customers.


Cypher wakens from his apparent nap on the bench, his cat-like reflexes serving him not at all.


Helios continues to watch the show, temporarily forgetting about possible weather changes.


Laraek looks between the young lady and the walrus child. "You two seem to be enjoying yourselves! In case you didn't know, my name is..." he strummed his banjo and made a pose. "LARAEK! Master of the Performing arts! Entertainer extraordinaire! Singer of songs! Writer of poetry, teller of stories, puppeteer of puppeteering, and player of banjos!" He made a sly smile and wink at a non-existent camera. "Are there any requests?"


Cupping his hands to make a crude sort of megaphone, Cypher starts heckling the young kid a bit. Maybe he's good, probably he's terrible - either way this should get a reaction. "Play 'Freebird'!"


Allison blinked a little bit as Laraek introduced himself to her in a show-boaty fashion. "That is certainly a lot of titles you have." she replies with an eyebrow raised, careful to keep her mouth from opening too wide.


The little walrus' eyes widened as the performer asked for any requests and without any hesitation at all he yelled, "I WANNA HEAR A SONG ABOUT HYENAS!" The Walrus father rubbed his the back of his head with his flipper. "Its... his favorite animal." He explained nervously. He had no idea if the musician knew of any songs about hyenas.


"A lot of titles for the Master of Performing arts!" Laraek explained with joy. He turned towards the kid. "But, of course, my young friend! If an entertainer knows one thing, it's how to appease any request!" He stepped back onto the wooden siding that made up his 'stage' and began playing again. This time, the banjo was making a consistent beat, a very different style of song...


"As I walk through the savanna feeding off of death, I take a look at my life and see what there is left, because I've been prowling and hunting so long that, even my pride things my mind is gone! Tell me how it is that they can't see, that scavenging the life for me! Been spending most my life living in hyena’s paradise! Keep spending most their lives living in a hyena’s paradise..."


Cypher stares blankly at Laraek. He stares, as if he could discern some truth of this situation just by looking really, really concerned about what just happened. He raises a finger, opening and closing his mouth several times as if to speak, but nothing comes of it. Eventually, he just turns and looks to the walrus kid to gauge his reaction.

"We really hope that isn't what passes for popular music these days..." Helios groans.


Cypher just face palms. He lets out a long, belabored sigh and mutters, "Kids these days with their hyenard music."


Laraek was singing quieter and quieter as he got to the end of his song, before he fell silent, his head facing the floor dramatically. Suddenly, he looked back up and smiled. "And that, sir, is your song about Hyenas!" He smiles at everyone else, "Does anyone else have a request before I retire for the night? You should always leave the audience wanting more, but not unsatisfied."


Helios shakes his core. "No, we think that we will be perfectly fine with that. Now, if you will excuse us, we must return home before it starts snowing."


"YEAAAH!" The Walrus child leapt to his feet, ringing his bell loudly to show his approval *RING-RING-RING-RING* As if responding to the songs quiet end, the wind picked up, howling furiously through the trees. The sky began spitting flakes of snow, as if the air wasn't chilly enough. The walrus father looked up to the sky, his heavy coat puffing a little, his face looking content as if he was feeling at home. "Hmmm..." His eyes closed, "There has to be a song about popsicles---especially shrimp popsicles!" He licked his mustached lips. This weather was making him think of taking such a thing from his cart for a late snack.


Allison felt the wind suddenly slam against her back, blowing her hair violently forward along with her cloak. She looked up at the white little flakes that softly fell from the sky as they descended towards the ground. The young girl reached back behind her head and grabbed her hood, pulling it back over her head. "Maybe a song about the snow?" she asked as she watched the snowflakes dance around each other in the wind that carried them. "It would suit the theme nature gave you, would it not?"


Laraek nodded at the girl with an appreciative wink. "Snow! I can work with snow! And the world seems to agree and is asking for the same thing..." Laraek begins to strum his banjo again, his puppets joining in with what little sound they could add in. It seemed as though he was performing a duet with the 'singer' puppet, of course it couldn't respond, so it was rather one sided. "I really can't stay... I've got to go away... this evening has been, So very nice! My mother will start to worry, father will be pacing the floor, so really i'd better scurry, well maybe just a half a drink more..." Laraek was going through a massive amount of lyrics that obviously didn't have their couple, "Ah, but it's cold outside!"


As Laraek sang, the walrus father reached into his cart, withdrawing a ship popsicle for himself and tossing a salmon flavored one to his son. Both father and son in strange unison consumed their teat in one bite. Bigger flakes of snow began to fall, and it became a little heavier too, as if responding in approval (or perhaps disapproval) for the song.


Laraek finished up his song and the puppets fell limp once more. Laraek picked them both up and put them in the center of the stage as he began folding it back up into its box form. He took a seat and looks back at everyone. "And that's all there is for tonight." He picked up his hat, dusted off some snow, and took a final bow. "I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves."


Wordlessly, Cypher puts his headgear back on, dusts off some snow that was accumulating on his armor and stomps up to Laraek with the distinctive 'doink-doink' noise that reploid style boots make. Stopping immediately before the teenaged performer, Cypher jabs an accusatory finger at him. "You know what, kid? I only got one thing to say to you."


Aside from the puppets that kinda seemed like a gimmick it was a pretty impressive song for what she figured what was actually pulled from the top of the musician’s head. The snow around them seemed to be getting more and more packed on the ground as it accumulated. Allison smiled without opening her lips and applauded. "That was really nice, Laraek." she complimented as he took a bow. The knight that seemed to be sleeping most of the time in this cold getting up in an accusatory manner was a bit of a shock to her. Allison had almost forgotten he was there on the bench, before he was a moving metal snowpile.


"YAYAYAYAYAYAY!" *RING-DING-DING-A-LING* The walrus child cheered while his father smiled, reaching into his cart and waddling over to the musician. "Thanks for keeping my son entertained this evening." He said, thrusting a trout flavored popsicle towards Laraek. "You've earned this!"


Laraek smiles as he takes the popsicle. "A gift from a fan! Always appreciated!" He turns towards Cypher. "Ahh, and what is it you wish to say, my fine patron? Did you enjoy the performance as well?"


Staring daggers at Laraek, Cypher speaks. "...that was actually pretty good! I didn't think some goofy banjo puppet show would be able to do stuff like that." The reploid's previously intense and aggressive posture fades to a relaxed slack. "Where'd you learn?"


Allison relaxes a little bit when the reploid's attitude dropped being only an act. There wouldn't have been any reason for him to be actually annoyed. Unless he was woken up from a nap. The snow was starting to become a nuisance now as the flakes were finding their way into her hood and sticking to the tips of her hair. "Thank you for the performance and the popsicles." she said turning to each person respectively. "It was an interesting night, but I don't think I want to become a popsicle myself."

Allison added with a giggle at the end. She gave the group a courteous bow before heading towards the tavern in the southeast. She was getting 'thristy' and she had a deal set up with someone there.


"No problem miss!" The walrus turned to his child. "Alright son, lets head back. I am sure your mother is waiting at home. She said there would be crab for dinner tonight." "OOOH! Crab!" His son toddled over to him making a small hop. For the young walrus, this was turning out to be the best vacation to Truce ever! It was just unfortunate that his father was having such difficulty making a profit between his lack of customers and his occasional snacking. The cart was turned northward and the father began pushing it, his son following after. It wasn't long before they disappeared behind a curtain of snow.


Laraek smiled happily. "Shrike!" he said, "They have this cool thing called a radio, and a lot of experimental golems and whatnot around. When I figured out about magic from books around I thought it'd be fun to give my own spin on the music craze!"


Cypher scratches the back of his...er, helmet. "Right, golems. Well, I got places to go. Laraek, right? Here, let me give you a tip for the show," Cypher says, reaching behind his back. He then leans over towards Laraek and says, grinning, "Learn a new instrument!" The reploid ninja then whips his hand out from behind his back and there isn't a gratuity there at all! It's a smoke-belching arm cannon of some kind! Cypher laughs as he does the stereotypical ninja thing and runs away in the midst of the new smoke cloud.


Laraek nods. "Right. New instrument..." he looks at the banjo. "I can do that!" He picks up his box and starts walking away happy at the fact that so many people enjoyed his performance.