You know something, this place is quite the interesting land. I know what you mean, it's like, it's really hard to say honestly. It's different from home that's for sure. Everything is different from home. Mostly because there aren't walls around the entire land. No, instead, we have a bunch of roots and small buildings all together. Well yeah, but it's still neat to see outside of home! Maybe you should pay less attention to our thoughts--You mean my thoughts? Don't split hairs, pay attention to the people you keep nearly bumping in to! It was a short internal mental conversation between he and himself, though, it was hard to say who was the he and who was the himself, as odd as that sounded in a sentence, it made sense to the lad with two voices inside of his head.

Just as he was thinking that, he had to stop on the heels of his feet and swing his arms up in to the air and backwards, keeping balance while he swiveled backwards and pivoted around several people walking down the streets, avoiding bumping in to anyone. Several quick 'WATCH IT's and 'KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN's were thrown his way. It was a far cry from the pampered life he lived before where people moved out of his way on sight of him because they worked for his father, instead, he got to mingle with people he only read about in books!

This was. This was all so very exciting! Thought the voice inside of his head. Or was that his voice? It was really hard to tell sometimes for anyone with the ability to read minds, because it was like he had two minds, but both were wired to be the same person. While he was having his own little introspection session, he was having. Rather than focusing on the space in his mind where two instances of himself conversed, maybe he should spend some time paying attention to the overgrown town around him, something out of a post societal novel. Moss, vines, greenery as far as the eye could see, and people happily going about their business as nothing bothered them whatsoever.

"Man, this is so different from pergrande." He said to himself, albeit, out loud. Which may or may not have been the best thing to do, all things considered. He was considered a tourist at this point, and he had the airs of being a tourist. Someone fresh to a new country with a desire to see things and learn things about the country. It made him a prime target for someone that could want to mug him! And three unsavory sorts were already hot on his tail, weaving through the crowds with the desire of getting some Jewels off of Willow!

Avain had travelled through Orchidia at least a dozen times with his father growing up, but the realisation that he’d never actually seen it was a peculiar moment. Much in the same way that he’d never travelled here by foot, there was a lot more to get accustomed to. Especially when one took into account the hustle and bustle of the festival that pervaded every street and alleyway.

Said hustle and bustle was, of course, the reason why he’d chosen Orchidia as his point of rest. Every if his would-be-pursuers caught a scent in Crocus, it’d be highly unlikely they’d be able to pinpoint him amongst the hullabaloo. It also, Avain had considered, gave him any number of ways to leave the city once the festival came to an end. Hitching a ride with which whatever caravan, hopefully one headed in the direction of this mysterious “Silveil.”

For now though, Avain was focussed on finding lodgings for his stay, a task he’d severely underestimated given the sheer volume of human traffic in the area. Avain counted nine different inns he’d been turned away from, and he’d begun to wonder if perhaps this plan of his wasn’t quite as solid as he’d originally thought.

Stopping for a moment and leaning back against a nearby tree, the young boy took a moment to breathe, his eyes scanning the crowd in front of him. He hadn’t considered it at first, but as a lone traveller he must have stuck out like a sore thumb.Groups, trios and even pairs scattered the courtyard in front of him but Avain struggled to make out all that many revellers here alone, and even less as young as he was. The thought concerned him, but at the moment his priority was finding somewhere to lie down, he could worry about blending it tomorrow.

That was the plan, at least until Avain spotted one Willow J. Omens.

It was almost too serendipitous for Avain to quite believe at first. Another loner, around the same age, here amidst the crowd full of crowds. For a second Avain couldn’t help but ponder if this stranger was in a similar predicament to his own, but before he could consider that fact he spied something more immediately useful. Behind the new loner, tracking him not-so subtly amongst the crowd, a trio of ne'er-do-wells were slowly starting to close in on the boy.

Whether it was moment of compassion or selfish survival instinct, Avain was uncertain, although the latter seemed most likely. The impetus was unimportant regardless, this boy needed help and Avain needed a companion, the benefit was mutual. And so, brushing any ethical implications aside, Avain pushed forward through the crowded with a steady sense of purpose. Making his way next to the boy in the crowd, Avain walked at his side for a moment before offering a low whisper.

“So just a heads up, there are some guys behind you that I’m pretty sure are gonna try and a mug the shit out of you the second you leave this crowd.”

Shinko cloaked herself in a bubble bath this morning as she played with her rubber ducky and communicated with it like a child. She has always been used to being alone and communicating with non-living things like dolls, and she felt the loneliness disappear even though those items never replied to her, not at least once. She had suffocated herself in her own house, and it's time for her to let go. Communicating with a mercenary and a goddess-looking lady helped her crack out of her shell a little. Soon, this little chick will pop out and become an eagle... at least, in Shinko's perspective.

The lack of fruits was a significant problem to Shinko. Because of the festival, she had been craving of nothing else but apples, since festivals are full of candy apples. However, even though the windows are closed, how come these noises emit a louder speck than Shinko's self-communication? She looked outside and there were crowds and crowds, it's like Orchidia was flooded by human beings. Hopefully, this 'phenomenon', as what Shinko calls it as "The Humanity Sea", only occurs on this street.

She tried to stay by the sides, trying to avoid "The Humanity Sea". She couldn't help but get pushed away and be lifted up, it's like she really is swimming in the sea. She was being pushed away and her feet weren't even on the ground anymore. Because of the crowd, she passed by a newspaper store, followed by a bookstore, which caught Shinko's attention. So she pushed herself out, and huffed at the moment she finally left the 'sea', this made Shinko clumsy in return, bumping into a blonde haired boy, seemingly younger than her.

She stared at his eyes as she tripped, and ending up grabbing someone's foot. "Ouch." she muttered, looking up to see this beautiful, white haired boy, gleaming because of the sun's rays. "You... you...!" she pointed at him, and to the other boy. "You people look like dolls! What's more... comic heroes!" She shook on the ground and looked like she was vibrating out of excitement, then suddenly stops. She stood up and touched both index finger with the other. "Oh... I... didn't ruin a conversation... right? Hehe." Her cheeks turned into a pinkish coloration and her purple eyes started going on random directions due to worry.

Today, how would one describe the events of today? Hectic. Hectic was the proper word to describe all of this. To come from one country, not even that, but to come from a sequestered life style because your father wanted to keep you safe, as he called it. To leave home's safety, and see not only your own town for the first time, but an entirely different culture? Well, today was quite overwhelming to say the least. He felt like he was going to overload on stimuli just from trying to talk to people. Thankfully, he could at least understand people, being a letter magic type of mage, so translations weren't going to be lost!

And it was already paying dividends as someone came up to speak to him, someone with white hair that was more than happy to point out that he was being followed. Willow clutched on to his left elbow with his right hand. His left hand brought up over his upper lip, clasping over it with his thumb and index finger's crux. Those red eyes of his being quite expressive while he tried to hide his smile under his hand at his first encounter outside of home. No one that addressed him 'properly' instead, this was what a normal conversation was like wasn't it?

Oh right, someone was following him? He jolted a little when he felt someone stumble in to him, and braced himself against the ground before he looked down to see a pink haired girl who was going gaga over them looking like dolls? He moved the hand from in front of his mouth and pointed down at the girl with one brow raised up, "Is...Is she one of them?" He would ask in an uncertain tone.

In the background, those three were coming closer, so what if the kid knew there was someone after him now? Now, they could just mug three people at once instead of one. They were older, bigger, tougher, and they had the Sea of Humanity's currents to guide them to pass by, get the coin, and get on out of there.

Willow would offer a hand to help the girl up, "You okay? You haven't interrupted anything really. He was just telling me there's three people looking to rob me of my excrement." Part of being a sheltered rich boy meant you didn't get turns of phrase like 'x the shit out of you'. He took 'Mug the shit out of you' to be quite literal. Oh dear sweet Willow, you have a tough time ahead of you.

Caught off-guard by the sheer absurdity of it all. Avain took a moment to consider whether Willow’s statement was witty or an expose of his naivete, a glance in the boy’s direction inclined him towards the later. Sighing deeply the young mage reminded himself that no matter the intellectual capacity of his would-be-companion, he still needed an extra body, so sticking around was likely worth the tedium.

“It’s metaphorical you twa/”

Catching himself before the phrase that followed, Avain pivoted his dialogue.

“Firstly, no, she’s not. Secondly, they want your money, not your fecal matter. And thirdly/”

He turned his attention to the newcomer.

“No, you didn’t. Though if you’re so inclined I’d appreciate your assistance dealing with these would be muggers.”

Careful not to draw too much attention to himself, Avain subtly motioned towards each of the trio making their way through the thinning crowd, realising that this was probably the spot they’d been trying to herd Willow into. In fact, looking around it seemed as though nearly everyone else had disappeared, which made sense in hindsight, they were off the center of town.

“Either of you any good in a fight? Or should I try talking our way out of this one?”

I was the operative word here. First impressions Avain wasn’t all that confident in either of his new associate’s diplomatic capability, and truth be told they didn’t exactly strike him as combatants either. All in he couldn’t help but marvel at how well there would-be muggers had chosen their target.

Then again, Avain supposed that with his stature he likely gave off the same impression.

Shinko really didn't need any help, but oh well. The moment he gave his hand out, Shinko did need to shake it quickly with both of her hands with a wide smile and a fascinated look on her face. In her eyes, both boys were sparkling, especially that crude boy with white hair, whose strands were literally sparkling--due to the reflection of the sunlight, of course.

"Your hand is so soft!" she exclaimed. Quickly, she withdrew her hand away and turned around, softly vibrating with her hands on her face. She looked like she was dancing as she started to softly twist her feet and waists, "To touch a cute boy's hand like that... I don't think I deserve it!" she continued to overreact like this, until she approached the cold boy and softly swiped his hair with her hand. "... your hair's not that silky... but that's okay!" she told him. As they say, a hopeless romantic can get their heart broken easily; but mixed with Shinko's optimism, nobody would think that Shinko would ever get that smile off of her face.

Shinko is more likely to give out all her items with love when a person is trying to mug her. Despite that fact, she answered the white-haired boy's question with a thumb up, "Of course! Fighting is [not] my specialty." she appeared as if her nose is getting longer, like what happens to Pinocchio whenever he lies. With confidence, she had her hands on her waists, "So if there are any thieves going all-round, just rely on your... uh." she was being confident, until she had to wonder what kind of nickname she would give herself. She had a finger on her lower lip, the other hand holding the other elbow as she looks up.

So they weren't after his shit as much as they were after what belonged to him? Well, that certainly turned from one trope to a rather overdone cliche rather quick. Willow's face went from one of pure excitement to one that just looked happy to be here. That sort of vacant and content face one puts on when they realize that they have done messed up now.  As for the girl on the ground, who was now getting up, she wasn't here to cause any trouble as much as she was to ogle over the silver haired boy and himself.  Willow just shrugged while Avain was talking and started to walk through the crowd right toward the muggers.

"Look, this cliche is just played out and rather boring, and I would not want to see the whole 'muggers cause a ruckus and bring the authorities in to this matter' trope getting played out in the real world. I've read it enough. So I'll deal with this." He was reaching in to his jacket, looking as if he were going for a weapon, but instead, he pulled out some Jewels, a reasonable sized stack before he was accosted by the three men.

"Alright kid, you know the drill it looks like, so you're gonna hand over your money or your going to--get--hurt?" The would be thief said in confusion as Willow took the time to offer a bit of the stack to each of the potential criminals. What was he doing? Was he daft? Was he mad? "You know that you can't really cause a scene here, right? So I'm giving you something for now, so you get out of here before you get yourself hurt. I wouldn't want to change my mood and my mind," He said while giving a mental nod to the other half of himself in there.

"You have the option of taking what i have given you and leaving, or getting caught up in what can only be called one of the most common openings to mystery, action, suspense, and thriller novels out there. Are you wanting to be original and make a name for yourself? Or are you going to be a carbon copy of someone else while I am busy talking to you and causing a distraction?" He said while pinching the space between his eyebrows. Apparently, he wasn't daft, he knew what he was doing and giving Avain a bit of an opening in the most unconventional way possible.

For someone so averse to tropes, this boy really enjoyed his long speeches. That said, Avain latched onto the intent quickly enough, motioning subtly to Shinko as he moved into position. Careful not to draw too much attention to himself at this stage, the boy settled for pivoting ona dime, bring his left leg within range of the frontmost adversary, the one Willow had chosen to confront with his troupey anti-troupe speech. It was here Avain waited, displaying as calm a disposition as possible without relaxing his body too much. Whilst they didn’t seem like the smartest bunch, the three men were considerably larger than any of them, and whilst Willow mightn’t have been a complete fool, that was only a step up from Avain’s initial impression. The main question however, was how Avain could get through this without relying on his magic, for nothing left a trail like a display of one’s unique powers. It was a concern he’d only recently connected with, but the situation no longer allowed for retreat.

“Dist-”

Recognising the conclusion of Willow’s intent, Avain wasn’t about to lose the element of surprise. Digging his left heel into the dirt and rising upward with a sharp kick to the groin of their would-be adversary. As the man keeled over, Avain took what remained of the element of surprise to re-align himself with the field of play. Behind him, one of the man’s allies rushed in with a roar, drawing a club from his side as he approached. Following raw instinct, Avain’s eyes flashed a brilliant golden red hue for the least of a second, before the boy managed to restrain himself, instead falling to the ground and rolling backwards as this newcomer struck naught but air.

“You gonna just stand there?”

Shooting a glance in Shinko’s direction, Avain stumbled to his feet, keeping the rest of his focus on trying to pinpoint the location of their third attacker. In the midst of that first instant, he’d lost track of the man, and in truth that concerned him much more than the brute with the club.

Shinko didn't really want to do anything today since she has been tired since days ago--no, she was just lazy to do anything. She knew to herself that her body is weak and those muggers were big and would put more than one fight. In some course, they might kill the cheeky, smiley boy who's offering his Jewels to them; something Shinko wouldn't do. It took her a few minutes to realize that the cheeky boy was already being mugged; speaking of the devil.

But would she let these men hurt these doll-looking boys that Shinko just encountered? No, of course not, that would badly affect her. What the white-haired boy didn't notice was that Shinko was already writing in the air, even before he asked if she was just 'going to stand there'. In the air, Shinko wrote, "By grace, by Shinko. She points her hands at the filthy men offering chaos to this doll's courage, and his courage affected the area; bring forth, light for Resfeber!"

She swiped these words out of her sight and those letters blew and started to glow on Shinko's hand. She released this towards her target and it pushed him away a little bit, continuing to write her stories in the sky as white, glowing, translucent balls continue to cover her hand. She grinned at the crude, white-haired boy as she continues to write. "Of course not, I'm the heir of the Alnilam family, Shinko Alnilam!" she greeted with no plea, yet her mind had lacked courage and strength.

When those men were camouflaging in the crowd, Shinko took a sigh and wrote another sentence or two in the air, this caused her body to become light. After that boldness, she cried out and stomped her feet. "Wah! I'm hungry, and those guys piss me off! How there they try to hurt youngsters like you boys?" she jumped higher than an average person would--of course, because of magic. "Aye aye, I think I see one over there!" she shouts with her hand on her eyebrows to protect her sight from the sunlight. "Should we chase them off? I want to be submissive for the day!"

Thanks to both Avain and SHinko, the muggers were taken aback by the sudden onslaught. Not only were they expecting an easy pay day, they were hoping for someone on their own. But like any good story, the character being accosted has someone come to help them out. Granted, the little stunt of magic being done in the middle of town had people all spread out and give the mages a wide berth while Willow just yawned out loud, covering his mouth with one hand as the other tucked away his money, letting the men run off.

They could certainly go after them, but, Willow was already turning around, walking away from the whole incident with a big smile on his face, "Well that was certainly fun. How can I thank you both?" He asked both Avain and Shinko, who then complained about being hungry and wanting to be submissive. It brought a light flush to Willow's cheeks who just cleared his throat right after.

"While I can't exactly fill out that second request, we could just go grab something to eat. I could go for some tea. Would you like to join me? My treat. I'd like to know a bit more about the both of you." He declared with joy, hoping that the two would take him up on his offer while those muggers could run off and lick their wounds, and make plans for revenge for later.

The moment the cheeky boy asked if he were to pay back the both, Shinko quickly clasped her hands and shouted, "How about a da--" before she could even finish her sentence, this boy offered tea and other treats. She then realized that she was hungry, and that she missed the sense of Evening Primrose tea which she never liked as a child, but is now her favorite drink on the way to growth. The primrose tea is pretty common to Shinko's place. Hopefully, in Orchidia as well. After all, Orchidia is filled with flowers and plants. Surely, such kind of tea is available.

"Some Primrose tea would be nice!" she told him, quickly forgetting about the 'date' she was asking for; but even if she did ask, she'll just get ignored. She pointed her thumb at the white-haired boy, "I don't know about him, he looks like a rich kid." she muttered, although she, herself, is an heir to a rich family. She should come back soon to take the crown and make sure some thief wouldn't steal it from her, and hopefully her little brother's magic manifests within him. Upon remembering this, she realized that the two other boys never showed any magic, and it was only Shinko. What was her true purpose of using her magic? Is it to save that boy, or to show off the light within her? Nevertheless, she was hungry, and her stomach is shouting for food. My, didn’t she eat cookies this morning already?