Welcome to Gaia! ::

Casia's white modish rain boots clunked on the creaking floor of the antique store as she rummaged through a box of musty yet colourful neckerchiefs that probably hadn't seen the light of day since 1969. Unlike the troupe of pirates that had just marched in, Casia was only damp, probably because of the umbrella she had tucked under her arm. She came to this antique store frequently, because despite the fact that it was a bit alarming, it had some interesting vintage accessories, and better then that, it was peaceful. Sure, there was that old lady, and there was dust, but once she had gotten past that, the place was kind of cherry.

Picking up a few of the less gaudy neckerchiefs, she compared them in the lamplight, put one back, and went to march downstairs, humming a mishmash of Beatles melodies that rolled together into one groovy lullaby kind of tune. She would check the hair clips, but she was about ready to go to the register.

Her plan was interrupted and she stopped mid-hum as she saw some oddly dressed characters on the stairs, and considering that Casia was wearing a lime green dress that made her look like she stepped out of a retro drawing, that was saying something. They were dripping miserably, except the redhead, who was wearing a hat and carried herself like she was the leader of the group. Casia attempted to avert her gaze but it was no good.

There were pirates. On the stairs. What were pirates doing antique shopping? Flapping her wings, she eyed them suspiciously.

"Late to a costume party, cool cats?" she asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow at them.

Laughter rang out as the blonde headed girl practically fell against the door to open it, catching her balance as she headed into the shop. Ginger smiled brightly at her partner-in-crime before trying to wring some of the water from the hem of her dress. "C'mon, it's not that bad, Zem. I mean, we found somewhere to hang out till the rain stops; an interesting one, at that." she said, her tone bubbly and chipper despite the weather outside and her currently soaked status.

"We were SUPPOSED to go to the store and back. That's it." the other twin said, annoyed. "A quick trip; ten minutes tops. But NO. We're who-knows-where, and we've been gone for half an hour. And its raining." He huffed, rubbing his arms to warm them up. He looked around; well, his sister had one thing right. This place was interesting, with all the different baubles and knick-knacks. And books. Books were definitely an item of interest; there might be some cook books among them!

Hey look, people their age! Ginger's attention fixed on the group of like-wise damp children, her smile twitching a bit larger. "C'mon, Zem!" she said and, without warning or explanation, began dragging her brother by the arm as she headed to the gathering at the staircase.

Zemel was about to go look at the books when he suddenly felt himself yanked in the opposite direction, stumbling to keep from falling as he was dragged by his twin. "Hey!" he said, frowning in the girl's direction. He tugged, trying to get his arm out of his sister's relentless grip.

If Casia could steam, she would have. As it was, her feathers were ruffled at Polly's comment, and she opened her mouth to retort that Polly could talk when her hat wasn't bigger than her head. Austin butted in just in time, and as he spoke, Casia calmed down.

"I don't need your service anyway," she said quickly, shooting Polly a Look. "I already know a pirate, and he's real keen."

Pause.

"Thank you for offering, though," she added specifically to Austin. "I'm Casia, but I'm not really of anything." She supposed if she had to be of something, it would be the Liberty Center music room, since that was where she spent most of her time, but it was sort of sad to admit she spent most of her free time in a classroom.

As she spoke, two blonde twins skidded over to them, which made five strange kids in the antique store at once. It must have been something in the water, but five was a crowd, and Casia wasn't good with crowds, so she shut up and sized up the new arrivals. If she had been thinking about it, she would have remembered that Nataya said she had younger siblings that were twins, but right after being accosted by pirates, the fact was pretty far from Casia's mind.

"Hi!" Ginger chirped, waving her hand quickly before letting it drop to her side. She glanced around the little group, taking note of the different faces. "Wow, all we need is a pizza and some music, and we could have a full-blown party in here." she said, laughing a little. "My name's Ginger, and this is my brother, Zemel. You all came in here to get out of the rain, too? It's really raining cats and dogs out there.." She glanced over her shoulder, double-checking. Yup, it was still raining something fierce out there.

"Hello," Zemel said quietly, offering a small, stiff wave. This was a bit awkward, to say the least. He finally managed to tug his arm out of his sister's grip, shoving his hands into his pockets. He offered a small, polite smile out of courtesy. A small group here, and not one familiar face, save his sister's. Wasn't this just oh-so-comfortable? Though, he didn't seem to be the only one uncomfortable; the other blonde with wings looked to be in about the same boat, from what he could tell.

Kaeden gave Polly a bit of a glare for that order, but took the paper and the a pen. Then he waited. He wasn't even sure they knew of the ghost. Polly could just be making things up, for all they knew. And they had explored the store before. Having a good memory for places was a necessity for dealing with Austin and Polly.

Kaeden started to draw out the map, sicking out his tongue as he did. It wasn't the greatest of drawings, but would be clear enough to understand.

"A game? Epic!" Ginger said, grinning. She was up for new games! Especially if said new games had treasure! Maybe it was candy? Or gold? Or something else that was equally as awesome! As soon as the word teams was uttered, she looked immediately to her brother. In her mind, they were an inseparable package-deal. Together, she was sure they could find any treasure this shop was hiding!

Zemel smiled. A game? Games were good and all....but he wanted to go read in a corner somewhere or look at some of the neat old gizmos here. Well, he could always read later he supposed. Besides, the grip his sister had on his arm gave him the feeling he didn't have much of a choice. Ah well; treasure sounded nice anyways. "Maybe we should just split off into pairs?" he suggested.

Feathers? She was one to talk! And it was real grody what she had done there, pairing everyone but her with her crew, who Casia could only assume were on her side. The loud girl was turning out to be a real bogue, and Casia's chest puffed out indignantly, which she realized only made her look more like a feathery bird a moment later. She had never felt the urge to tell someone off so badly, that would show her at least. She didn't know much about pirates, but she knew that when a pirate chose off a siren, the sirens usually tended to win.

Not that she lured sailors to their doom. She wasn't that kind of girl, she convinced herself hastily.

Shooting a look at Austin, she said "As soon as this starts, we're gonna book it, dig?"