Welcome to Gaia! ::

The festivities were already underway. A twirl of color and clapping reverberated from one side of the town center over a troop of troubadours while another wafted the smells of roasting meat over a spit. Cheering and roaring burst into the air from a few a few buildings away.

"Another race over. I wonder if Tamet won?"

Matilda continued past the crowds, ignoring the rest of the thunderstorm of voices coming from the cockatrice track. Tearing a piece of from the drumstick in her hand, she savored the flavorful food as she threw one last glance at the upbeat dancers. Maybe she'd get in another dance later. They were her favorite part of the festival, even over the food, but they always let in the memories...

Tossing the last cherry in her mouth, she picked up her skirts and picked up the pace. She'd been away from her stand long enough. Raff would probably make some joke about finally having been swept away by a big hunk in armor and a sword.

And look, there he was, grinning like an idiot from his seat in the next stall over.

Yup, it was coming alright. Foolish man, but probably one of the few who understood that after her husband's death, there was going to be no other.

"So, Matilda, from what exotic corner of the world did this one sweep you off your feet?" Raff chuckled and teased as she ducked behind her stall and looked over the wares she had left behind. She mostly dealt with the small trinkets that she'd buy off travelers, tapestries, and her card and rune readings - at least over the table.

Behind closed doors and after nightfall, the customers with more coin and more to lose came to look for the more dicey items and information she had to pander. Raff already knew of all this though.

She swallowed the remaining bits of chicken in her mouth. "Enough, Raff," she chided, trying to hide the smile at his jest. "There are others around that do not want to hear your indecent and far-fetched tales."

(And we are now open... wink )

Matilda watched the sun disappear past the hills, drawing a cloak of rosy golden hue across the sky. She had just finished with a customer who had bought one of the silly trinkets she always sold for a quick bit of coin, mementos at best of that year's festivities. A side glance told her Raff had just started packing his wares away into his wagon, getting ready to cart it back to his home to rest and return for the next day of celebration and selling.

It was probably about that time to move her own things back home and then start the ~real~ business that made her money. It was a warm night for harvest season, probably one of the last in fact, and so she took her time as she put away her displays before sitting back and enjoying one last evenings outdoors for a little while longer.

As shades of azure and lilac colored the heavens overhead, a frosty kiss brushed across her neck amidst the auras of the festival attendees. It lingered on her skin, and she looked around.

"Well well well. Been some time since the last ones visited. Wonder what brings them here..." she said to herself curiously.

There was more than one, that she could be certain of. The feeling was too heavy to be just one.

She sat back for a moment in thought.

There was the sound of giggling just before a mid-aged woman stumbled into Sondra's side, her hands holding onto her sleeve and shoulder to keep from tumbling to the ground.

"Go back for another drink! You've still too clear a head!" the woman said as she spun her raven haired head back to laugh at the man she had been talking with to the side.

Pulling herself straight, she took Sondra's hand in her own and looked up imploringly with blushed cheeks.

"Deary me! I'm right-rightfully sorry for that. It gets dark so fast now. Do enjoy the festival!" she said, her red-brown eyes looking into Sondra's own before she spun around to hurry off past the closest house and out of immediate sight.

While Sondra had been left with a drunken apology, that had not been all that she was left with in the few seconds of meeting.

The woman's eyes. They had not been glazed with drunkenness but clear as they looked on at Sondra for that brief moment, as if in confused recognition.

Second, in her hand was a card. The back side of it was rather plain. In fact, it looked as if it had seen better days between a scratch here or there. Flipped over though, the other side seemed almost new - with a picture of a female archer dressed in green, aiming her bow at the sky...

No matter how many times flipped, the picture on the card remained the same.

The scent matching the card led the pair to a little house not far away and as soon as they reached the threshhold, the door swung open and a voice from behind it called pleasantly for them to enter.

"Good, just the two of you. Might make this a little easier, but then again, might not," the woman said with none of the stuttering drunkenness that she had shown earlier. Shutting the door behind them, she then brushed off her hands on the better-than-usual dress she had chosen to wear for the festival that day. "Glad to see when people come back with the card though. Replacing those things can be an utter annoyance sometimes," she said as she looked first at Roman and then toward Sondra.

"Haven't had a vampire here in some time, let alone more than one, I say. What originally brings your group out this way other than the card you're holding that is? Mind if I see what it showed you?" the strange woman asked of Sondra as she nodded toward the card.

She chuckled at the vampire with red hair though her eyes were on the one who came forward with the card.

"Actually it's the other way around. Danger likes me for the secrets I can help it answer," she said as her eyes finally dropped away from Sondra's face and looked at the card in hand. "Well that's interesting," she said as she scrutinized the card. She held it up and turned the picture toward the female vampire. Already, the image of the ranger was beginning to fade away.

"I know you are not her, but what is your tie to her out of curiosity?" she said while the corner of her mouth began to turn upward.

"If you're just visiting then, might I recommend not causing too big of a stir? Granted, it makes for good business when people think their place of residence is haunted but more than that is problematic."

It was amusing to see what only appeared to be the ranger all dolled up in a dress with color painted on her face. It was almost as if it were a twin who had taken all the feminine traits from the other.

"That does sound like her, by all means though. But if that's the case, you must not have been the 'Death' that was following her then," she said as she made her way back toward the door.