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((Vreni Hirsch - Food Stalls))

A girl pushed her way through the crowd, her purple hair caught Vreni's eye. She smiled and motioned towards a stand that had various candy-apples in it, they were all covered in a bright-red layer of sugar. Next to it was another tray. On the waxed paper neat rows of Granny-Smith apples were sitting. Half of them were dipped in caramel, and half weren't.

"We have candy apples that you can have dipped in peanuts, walnuts, M&Ms, milk chocolate, white chocolate, sprinkles, coconut or any combination of the eight. "

Vreni took a deep breath. It was a long list of condiments, and she always seemed to overestimate how long it would take to say it all. There should be a sign to tell customers what toppings and flavors they had, maybe she'd make it later.

"We also have caramel apples if you'd prefer those. You can have the same toppings as candy apples. Toppings are twenty-five cents per, or one dollar for five. What would you like?"

((Vreni Hirsch - Food Stalls))

The girl seemed to be having trouble deciding what she wanted, and Vreni could sympathize with that. There were a lot of combinations, and everything offered was pretty good, though she did not fancy walnuts.

"I recommend just a plain caramel apple actually. The Granny-Smiths are a little tangy by default, and the caramel is nice and buttery. You can always add some nuts if you like, but I think simple is best."

Her attention shifted towards the crowd behind the purple haired girl. There were a lot of people. Vreni was always surprised with the number of people that came to the fair. Did Teufel Town even have this many residents? she chuckled half-heartedly, "You'd think we'd have more business, but these apples are selling pretty slowly."

[[Tilly - LEAVING THE BUSES WITH Lalita + sibling]]

It wouldn't have surprised Tilly if the two girls had turned her away. She was surprised, however, when they did quite the opposite (though the younger of the pair did seem a bit nervous about her presence). Making certain to mind her own manners, the blonde made her gratitude evident quite quickly. "I thank you kindly."

The younger one spoke up, voicing an interest in her dress. When receiving a compliment, a young lady should acknowledge the compliment, then return one to the person who gave it. Gently she ran a hand over the front of her pinafore before doing the proper thing. "Thank you, I am also quite fond of this dress. I have to confess I am a bit envious of your ability to wear shorts." It was an odd compliment, but she was able to explain a bit more in depth while maintaining a good disposition. "I do not have the right kind of legs to wear them."

The elder of the pair seemed quite on top of things, guiding the group ahead. Keeping her hands towards the front of her pinafore and maintaining perfect posture as she walked, she introduced herself. "My name is Tilly. It is lovely to meet both of you." She nodded to the shorter, then the taller of the sibling pair, silently inquiring of their own names.

*
HOUR TWO
7:00 PM

Nothing has changed, but the buses are now seemingly flooding every parking lot within a half-mile radius of the festival gates. Fortunately, most of the students have no set up shop in their craft areas, the food stands are ready to go, and everything is bursting into fruition.

Circus music from the famous troupe is bursting with livelihood, though its volume doesn't quite reach that of the local school bands. Surprisingly, the Teufel Town school annex band is still playing, and they're going strong!

Other than that, the festivities continue, and not much happen: the only eventful thing so far is the festival's First Firework which, this year, is a luminescent and bursting shade of bright green.

((Lalita - Buses -> Food Stalls, with Kamala and Tilly))

People kept pouring into the bus area as Lalita tried to fight her way through the crowds. She held onto Kamala's hand tightly, but didn't feel comfortable doing that with a complete stranger, even if she'd promised the stranger her assistance. "Stay close," she called, "if we get separated, I don't think we'll ever be able to find you." Not that she would try too hard. She had better things to do than search the massive crowd for someone she didn't even know, or at least, she liked to think that she did.

Lalita was focused on finding their way, doing her best to keep going in the direction she remembered her mother leaving in. All of the stalls would be in that general area, if it was anything like previous years. Kamala followed, but also tried to keep out an eye for their new friend. Now that she'd gotten her feelings about the dress out in the open, she was much more talkative. "There's a right kind of legs for shorts? Oh, my name is Kamala. My sister's is Lalita. You're nice, Tilly! What kind of legs do I have? Are shorts just for tall people? But I'm not tall, not like Mommy or Mo-Mo. And Lali's not tall either."

Lalita stopped suddenly, and Kamala frowned. "Why'd you stop? Are you mad 'cause I said you're not tall? But you're not. And that's okay, and..." She trailed off, as the scents in the air reached her brain. "I smell popcorn! And caramel, and cin- cinna- cimmanin!"

"Cinnamon," Lalita corrected automatically, inwardly sighing with relief. She couldn't see any specific stands through all the people, but they had to be in the right general area. She'd managed to fulfill at least part of the request. Now, would it be better to aim for perfection, or to cut her losses and move onto the next project?

Kamala looked around, but what little she couldn't see wasn't enough to top the visions in her head. "I want popcorn and funnel cake and cotton candy and taffy and ice cream and, and... and candy apples! What are you getting, Tilly? You wanna share?"

That answered that question, Lalita sighed. "You can't even eat all of that, and Mom would ground me for a month if I let you try." As Kamala pouted (but only a little- she still had room for a lot of goodies in her tummy), Lalita turned to Tilly. "Is there a specific stand you were looking for? I can't promise I can help you find it, but... I got us this far, right?" If she was going to keep this up, she needed some confirmation that her efforts weren't totally in vain.

(( Sophie - School Busses ))

"Quail?" Sophie's mother repeated, then chuckled, "No, no. Teufel Elementary." She might have responded further, had a familiar voice not cut through the crowd.

"Princess Sophie!"

The call rang out clear and true amidst the commotion around them. Sophie's red eyes lit up and once she caught Meridith's gaze, she broke away from her mother's grasp and ran toward the purple haired girl with her arms outstretched. "My prince!" she called happily, closing the distance and wrapping her small arms around the older girl's waist, burying her face against Meri's tummy.

Bouncing on the heels of her feet, she reached up for her prince once their hug was finished, calling for her to come down to Sophie's height. She cupped her hands around her mouth to project, keeping her voice to a sharp but overly excited whisper. "There's a beautiful Enchantress speaking with the Queen! She's lost. We're on a quest to help her." This was Sophie's way of summing up the events that had just come to pass and usually it was a suitable way of recounting for Meri, even for her mother sometimes.

Back towards the busses, Chloe smiled and waved as the middle school girl's voice reached her ears and her daughter pulled quickly away. She was trustworthy enough that Sophie wouldn't be lost in the crowd with Meridith and the two would no doubt make their way back. Instead, she turned back to the green eyed girl only to find that she had pitifully taken to hiding behind her. Turning back curiously, her dark brows knit with motherly worry but a sympathetic smile played across her face.

"She's not, really," Chloe explained, glancing over her shoulder toward Sophie, "It's a game. Our house is our castle, she's the princess, I'm the queen, you know -- not actual royalty. She's very imaginative. Just go along with it, if you don't mind," giggling, she masked the hint of worry at the idea that Sophie might throw a tantrum if someone told her she was in fact not a princess. She was eight years old but in a lot of ways she acted like she was still in kindergarten and her level of social maturity left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, it was much easier in public to just go along with it but eventually she and Howie would need to sit her down and assist her in suppressing these flights of fantasy.

In the mean time, she was young and would be allowed to enjoy them.

"Whats your name, hun?" she changed the subject abruptly, brightening her smile, "If you want, you can stay with us until you spot your friend. It'll be a lot safer traveling in a group instead of by yourself." Motherly instinct was kicking in but the fact that this girl seemed so certain she was forgotten by this so-called "friend" was grating quickly on Chloe's nerves. What sort of friend would forget something so important in an event this big? Rude.



(( Meilei - Sidewalk ))

This girl.

This girl was trying on Meilei's last nerve. It didn't take long to jump to that. When she had arrived, she was so calm and ready to enjoy herself, even if loneliness was creeping in, but some how this rude girl in a red dress managed to get under her skin in record time. Their exceptionally brief exchange drew in a spectator as well but this only served as a further annoyance since she couldn't tell whose side she was on.

"Stupid," Meilei chimed back to Shasta with a vicious grin, decorated nails resting on her hips, "TOO stupid. Not even make good comeback." Was the other girl backing down? What a weak priss! "Start a thing, can't finish. Dumb. Lame," the insults continued rolling easily from her mouth but they were promptly ignored when the other girl finally noticed the one watching them and hissed at her.

So this girl wasn't on the rude one's side. This was even further proven when she began speaking in a condescending way towards her and Meilei's chest swelled proudly. Her attentions, then, immediately shifted to the heavily accented French girl, even going so far as to take a few steps in approach. "Bump into Meilei, act like it MY fault, then call Meilei stupid. Meilei not stupid, she stupid. MOST stupid!" The Taiwanese girl was having difficulty keeping her volume at an acceptable level by this point, drawing other eyes from the passing crowd. She didn't care. Her mind was only on the three of them at that precise moment; they were all that existed.

Her heart was pounding frantically, excitement over the antagonistic situation mingling with a possible hope; if this girl wasn't on the rude one's side then surely she was on her side. If that were the case, then maybe it was possible she could connect with this girl over their common "enemy". Just maybe there was a chance they could be more than simple acquaintances over this matter.

(( Olivia: Heading toward the food stands, followed by her brother, Daniel. ))



" AUGH" Came the loud, exasperated grieving of a young lady from within the crowd, pushing forward with a quicker pace than the rest of the festival goers; especially faster than the tall young man trailing casually behind her. " We are SO late! It's already past seven o'clock! God, Daniel, you just had to make us miss the first bus, didn't you!"

" C'mon Sis," the teen rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets as he continued to follow casually behind the blonde sibling. " You still have hours to do whatever you want. Cool your jets already."

Olivia stopped in her tracks, quite abruptly, to pivot herself around and glare daggers at her brother. Pouting, hands on her hips, she continued to reprimand him," The teachers thought we ditched! And... and!! I promised Gloria I'd swing by the Cafe's booth in case she needed extra help! "

" And you still can, shortstuff," he chimed, finally approaching her and reaching a hand down to ruffle her hair with a devious grin," And we didn't ditch and the school knows that. So stop tweaking out, kid."

" Dammit, Daniel, stop calling me tha--- and stop doing that," she retaliated, reaching her own arm forward to unleash a flurry of little punches on her older brother's arm and torso, to which her just let out a comical 'oof', and stumbled backward a few steps.

"Aw s**t, you got me! So much paiiin," he mocked, laughing as he spoke," How could you, Olivia? After all we've been though?"

" Oh, shut up," the rose-eyed girl called after him, though by this time, her voice also carried an lightness to it, and her expression changed from annoyance to a confident playfulness. " You are an idiot, you know that?" Olivia took the time addressing her sibling to tighten the ponytail sitting atop her head before sticking her tongue out at him. " I'm leaving now then! You can't keep me any longer from all the important junk I gotta do. And food. No way are you keeping me from food."

"Yeah yeah," Daniel, looking away as if disinterested, waved her off with a loose flick of his wrist. "Get outta here, already."

When he looked back forward to her, the girl had already turned her back and was dashing toward the nearby food stalls, and the dusty-eyed boy could most distinctly hear her laughing at him as she went.

"Sheesh. "