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 Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:55 am
 Where: The streets of New Hemisect City, a puppet show stage and beyond.
When: Around midnight, a peak up-time.
Why: A child's sideshow attracts two interested trolls and leads to a rather questionable meeting.
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:57 am
It was a clear night and the good weather was apparent through more than just empty skies. Even after wandering out of the inner-city, the streets were still full with trolls running this way and that as if there was a lot to get done today. Aprife could understand it. For him, there was always a lot to get done. A lot of snooping, that is. Since leaving the hive with the rising of the moon, his eyes had been pealed and observant. It was no different than usual. Untucking his notebook from under his arm, he scribbled down a quick few sentences about a performer who was set up, strumming his guitar and singing off-key across the street.
As he went to tuck the book back under his arm, he ended up dropping it instead as he was bumped by a mob of small children rushing past. Huffing, he stooped to pick up both pen and paper. Still, he couldn't stay upset. In truth, Aprife was interested. With notebook hanging precariously from his fingers, his stared off in the direction they had run. It was obvious from their size that they had been a few sweeps younger, most probably, and very intent on getting somewhere. Now, as their shadows disappeared around the corner of a building, he found himself wanting to get there, too. Age was never a limiter when it came to the trolls he was willing to tail. Finally tucking his book back safely, he trotted to catch up, weaving in and out of crowds and gaining looks of ire whenever he accidentally knocked someone's elbow.
Skirting around the corner, he almost ran directly into the same group of kids that had hit him a moment ago. They were crowded around a little booth set up in the dead-ending alley. Clear skies must have also meant perfect opportunities for street performers, this was the second time he had seen one in only minutes, but he just couldn't complain. Not only was this the perfect place to spy for a bit, but he also found his eyes lighting up uncontrollably when they fell on the subject of his particular show.
Puppets. Yes, puppets. It was a puppet show.
Despite himself, Aprife was excited. Maybe he was already 6.92 sweeps old. Maybe he shouldn't have been so amused. Maybe anyone who thought that didn't know Aprife very well. Scooting around the smaller kids, he found a little opening off to the side and inserted himself immediately. As one puppet beat the other over the head with a little felt mallet and the crowd let out a cackle, the yellowblood cracked a cheek-to-cheek grin.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:55 am
Frossa didn't often grace New Hemisect City with her presence. There really wasn't much there that appealed to the highblood; at least, anything she would have wanted from the bustling city she could get elsewhere. Still, NHC had a sort of style that you could only find by having such a diverse selection of residents. Every time Frossa visited the city to pick up an oddity or two, she always ended up distracted and off route thanks to her impressively short attention span. And was New Hemisect full of distractions! It wasn't uncommon for her to come home with a heaping pile of new oddities, either. The highblood didn't like the crowds, she didn't like the masses of lowbloods everywhere, and she didn't like the overall cramped feeling NHC has but-- she found herself mesmerized, and perhaps a bit lost, once more.
Turning down the narrow, winding pathways she couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed. There was just so much packed into so little! All the smells, sights, and potential tastes overwhelmed the petite purple blood. Each of her hands gripped a large canvas bag packed to the brim with delicious things for her to eat later. Frossa had originally come to NHC to pick up a package containing a new charm for her bracelet; but as always, was distracted by the promises of food. A group of children whizzed past her, almost knocking one of the bags from her grip. Her precious food! "Be careful, you brats!" She snapped, although the children had already disappeared behind a corner. Frossa's brows scrunched in annoyance, but even she knew children would be children. Letting out a small sigh, she pressed on. Frossa needed to get her charm and return home before dawn! No time to dawdle. As the highblood stepped up beside the alley the children had disappeared down, she gave it a quick glance to satiate her curiosity. Her eyes widened, jaw dropping slightly in excitement. A PUPPET SHOW.
Nearly dropping her food in a frenzy, Frossa bolted down the alley until she was close enough the the puppet show to make out what was going on. She seemed mesmerized by the simple source of entertainment, eyes widened with attention. Frossa was completely lost if there was some sort of underlying storyline or dialogue, but watching the miniature fabric trolls beat at each other with felt weapons was all she really desired. Frossa's eyes darted around the puppet's stage, admiring the paint job on the simple hunk of wood. Perhaps she should get a puppet theatre! She noted that it would make a nice addition to her front room. Plus, you could play with one!
Noticing a basket peeking out from behind the crude barrier, Frossa's face lit up. Right on top lay a princess puppet, adorned in a dress a few shades more purple than Frossa's own. The puppet lay limp, arm jutting into the air. As if she was beckoning for Frossa to take her... Frossa's eyes darted around the crowd of mostly children. It would be a challenge; but could she get away with snatching the doll and bolting? She stood watching the puppet show blankly, contemplating her next course of action.
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:53 pm
The dancing of the little cloth trolls proved able to keep his attention for a decent stretch. At least until the routine seemed to lull into a samey rhythm of squabble, squabble, hit each other with weapons, chase each other around the stage, squabble, squabble. If there had been a story at some point, Aprife supposed maybe the puppeteers had been at it for so long that they were tired of trying, especially when the young minds of the audience were so easily sated by the violence. The sounds of entertained children never faded, even after the sixth or seventh round with the felt weapons began. By now, the yellowblood was seeking to find his own entertainment in places outside of the puppet show stage.
A quick scan of the crowd revealed mostly younger children, what he had expected, and the occasional lusus. Nothing particularly spectacular was happening, most eyes were trained on the show. It became apparent that no one saw fit to let go of their fun times long enough to give him something unusual to look at. There was a feeling of disappointment, of course, but he was never one to give up so easily. Such a large crowd had gathered here, certainly someone would stand out. Someone would do something worthy of a glorified place in his notebook and his undying attention--at least until the next interesting thing came around. Another, more careful headcount found him just what he thought he was looking for. Each and every shirt he could see was adorned largely with red, orange, yellow, sometimes the occasional green, but nothing else seemed to stand out besides that. Maybe these things were just more suited to lowbloods who had time to spend wandering the streets doing nothing important. But no, there she was, his next mark.
A purpleblood, the freckles under her eyes made it blatantly obvious, and even though she was short, he could tell she was older than most of the other viewers. That in and of itself interested him, since he was sure he was about the only troll over four sweeps who would stop for a puppet show. Not to mention the simple fact that she was a purpleblood and most of the highbloods he got to creep on barely peaked over lower-end blue The longer he looked, the more he realized something, as well. She was... almost familiar. Yes, he was sure of it. She had been at the Battle Royale.
What a discovery. There was no way that this would turn out badly.
Slipping out of his spot across the half-circle, which was quickly filled in by kids shuffling to get a better view, he swooped around until he could see the back of her head past the waves of little bodies. A lot of the kids started complaining rather profusely when he pushed past them without thought to whether or not he was cutting in front of their line of sight. It wasn't like he stayed in one place long, anyway. Not until he parked himself just a short distance away, against the wall of a building. From here he could see the side of her face, at least. Now, do something interesting, he mentally urged. His writing hand was already itching.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:31 am
While the repetitive violence of the puppet show certainly could keep Frossa entertained for an alarmingly long time, the princess doll that seemed to just be gesturing to her was far more interesting. She wanted that doll, gog damnit. Everything was perfect about it; the hue of the dress, the curled horns (although she didn't have four, tcch, Frossa could add two!), and the wide, unwavering stitched smile. It simply needed to get added to her collection. The hidden performers hadn't touched the basket of puppets for quite some time now; the crowd of warmblooded youths seemed far more satiated watching the felt trolls flail against each other in battle. It seemed to be unattended...
Still, when would be a good time? So many eyes were pointed in that direction, even if they were transfixed by the inexpensive fabric-and-cardboard weapons bending off one another. Frossa's own sunken eyes darted back and forth from the performance to the basket, half paying attention to the show as she pondered silently to herseld. She was drawing blanks, honestly- but the audience was just kids. She may have looked a bit young for her age, (heck, Frossa probably wasn't much older than them anyways), but she was positive her highblood would intimidate off a bunch of barely-wrigglers. But what of the performers? The girl didn't know who lay concealed behind the stage, although she was sure they would be a lowblood one way or another. Her indigo hued blood went far in these sorts of situations; but still, it was best to keep out of obvious and immediate trouble. Right?
Glancing down at the bags of food in her hands, Frossa's lips perused she realized yet another problem with her wants. There was no chance in hell she was leaving her own s**t unattended- the two generous bags of food in her tiny hands were not leaving her immediate vicinity. Food > everything, always.
Well, there really was just one way to do it then, wasn't there? There didn't seem to be any other viable solutions, and Frossa was fixated on owning that doll. It would be hers. It was just a matter of patiently waiting off to the side, biding her time for the exact right moment...
The purpleblood edged her way closer to the basket of puppets, nonchalantly making her way through the edge of the crowd. Completely oblivious to her yellowblooded stalker, Frossa continued to creep towards the princess puppet. She moved both hefty bags of food to one arm, balancing one in her fist and the other in the nook in her arm. Her small body struggled under the weight shift, and Frossa shifted her hips accordingly to compensate. Briefly glancing back to the performance as there was a huge roar of laughter, (nothing had changed, it was the same s**t), she craned her neck over instead at the crowd of kids. A tangle of redbloods at the front were rolling around on the ground in laugher; gaining their peers attention.
Perfect.
While the children were either distracted by the redbloods or the performance, Frossa darted out of the crowd, grabbed the whole damn basket of puppets and dashed off down the alleyways. Letting out a few chuckles of her own as she scurried away from the performance, (had anyone noticed? she couldn't hear over the laughter if anyone called out), the highblood pressed the basket of dolls to her chest as she fled, turning down a few different alleys to shake anyone who might have been perusing her.
Unluckily for her, she was being watched by an expert of sorts...
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:09 pm
For a long time, it seemed like the best he would get out of this highblood was just that, her blood. Not a single thing had prompted him to open his notebook and start recording, nothing but the occasional head movement, and he was starting to grow cross-eyed with disinterest as he waited. How disappointing. It had been such an exciting find among a sea of warmbloods like himself, New Hemisect wasn't exactly ripe with purple the way the Fronds was. Still, Aprife's attention span could be relatively short when the entertainment wasn't funneling in. And highbloods were one thing he wouldn't step right up and bother if he was on his own and didn't know a thing about them. Better than being ******** over.
Eyes finally fluttered back into focus and he started, for a moment, to scan the remainder of the audience. Some of their faces were pretty humorous, not to mention warmly tinted with all the laughter they'd been engaged in for the past few minutes. It made the yellowblood grin a little. Luckily, though, it didn't distract him enough to hide the movement he spotted next from the corner of his eye.
Glancing back to his previous target, Aprife had to admit he was glad to see her moving. Even if, at first, he thought she might be leaving and he might be losing his chance. Instead, she was simply… scooting, edging? It was a very slow pace, almost calculated, but somewhat awkward. He found himself leaning forward before he realized it and soon he was off the wall completely, taking his own, well-timed steps behind her. There was no way he would have guessed, as she shifted the bulk of her load to one side, what she was planning on doing.
It took some effort not to exclaim excitedly when she rushed forward and nabbed the basket, which he hadn't quite noticed was full of unused puppets. Just like her, he took no time to see if anyone else had noticed the theft, and instead was racing down the alleys after her before he could really decide if this was a good idea. Scratch that, of course it was! If this wasn't a story, the pesky yellowblood didn't know what was. It took some effort to keep up with her mad dashing, while still staying a safe distance behind, but Aprife had pulled off such stunts before and had some level of confidence in himself. Perhaps he shouldn't have.
The next corner hid a precarious obstacle, or rather, a regular old metal trash bin. As he rushed to make it around before she disappeared down some other side passageway, his foot contacted, rather loudly, against the can, echoing quite noticeably through the otherwise empty alley. Biting his tongue to keep from cursing, the yellowblood ducked back around the way he'd come. If his luck held out, she wouldn't notice, wouldn't come back looking for anything. He wasn't gonna hold his breath.
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