Welcome to Gaia! ::

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HOUR ONE
6:00 PM

Civilians are flooding in by the thousands, it seems, and there are a trace of parade members trickling into the visitor's center nearby to prepare for their big day. The food stands near the pier are lofting with the sweet scent of feast, and a curious group of circus members are still setting up camp nearby the fireworks lounge.

Music from the festival has been playing for a few minutes, now, and the surrounding band in the Big Belle's lounge, now temporary auditorium, is bursting with music. Nearly every school from Apple District is showcasing their music tonight, and there's an audience to follow. First off, as always, is the Teufel Town school annex's gigantic band, which has traditionally always been the great catalyst and tail end of the Teufel Festival.

Students that volunteered for the talent groups nearby the historical museum are also just now crowding in to prepare their booths, and teacher and parent volunteers are gathering their numbers to hand students their badges. The buses and cars that dropped you off are in the parkway a few blocks ahead, and it's always a show to watch thousands of students parade into the festival grounds.

It's only been a few minutes and it's already incredibly congested, as always, but it's time to find your friends and have fun!

(( ??? - towards the bus grounds ))

"Ah, excuse me... I'm sorry... ah--"

A silver-haired girl bumped shoulders with a crimson-eyed woman and stopped immediately in her tracks. She looked up from the ground at the woman before nervously staring at whom she assumed was her daughter, with her eager red eyes and round face-- the girl stepped a few steps back away from the two to give them some space, first, then rubbed the back of her neck absentmindedly.

"O-oh, excuse me," she clasped her hands together and nodded towards the woman in silent greeting, "I, uh... might you have a map... of the fairgrounds?" She wrung her hands tighter around each other and glanced towards the girl again, blushing somewhat-- she wasn't quite used to being so lost, and strange company made her rather uneasy, however friendly their exterior seemed to be.

"I'm... awfully lost, and I'm trying to find my friend. She was supposed to meet me somewhere around here a few hours ago..."

[[ Meridith - School Buses ]]

Walking along to the event by a different way than her Princess and the Queen was a young looking girl, whose hands were tightly gripped around her messenger bag, and her brows tightly furrowed above a pair of worried looking lavender eyes. It was Meridith, or rather, Prince Meridith, and she had taken it upon herself to take a bus and walk all the way to the grand event without her mother, who was working that night, at home and oddly preoccupied with a pile of papers from her college English class. She bit her lips, looking this way and that, and realized that she was very small compared to the grand displays around her. Balloons were bobbing every which way in the air, people were mulling about, and even while Meri stayed on the sidelines, still pigeon-toed on the side-walk, she was already beginning to feel lost. She glanced around, looking for familiar faces that she was sure to find. After all, she had been told to meet up here with them. They had planned it out over their "royal line" (two paper cups, a string, and a loud voice so that they could talk to each other between their houses).

"Oh..." muttered the Prince worriedly. She looked about, trying to steel her nerves for such an event. It was like a royal ball, she kept telling herself, or the royal games, or perhaps the two combined. These were all pleasant people, their subjects, and there would be dukes and nobles and jesters and...Meri closed her eyes for a moment, imagined the scene and the people, the costumes and the hair, but when she opened her eyes, nothing changed.

A burden weighed heavily on her shoulders, making them slump with the reminder that she wasn't able to do things like that anymore. She wasn't able to pretend. That same burden seeped low over her shoulders, stretching over and into her, grasping at her heart with that dark foreboding feeling of the future, a future without the power of pretend...She took a deep breath, steadying herself, steeling her pout into a line. Pretend or not, she told herself, the world was a world that she could handle. Sophie still believed she was a Prince, and that was all that mattered. Speaking of which, she had to find her Princess.

It was when she heard a tell tale "Yay!" that Meridith's head turned and a brief smile lit up on her face. That was Sophie! She knew the voice of her Princess as easily as she knew her own. Picking up her pace and hopping towards her direction, holding her satchel strap tightly, Meri galloped towards the sound of her voice.

"Princess Sophie!"

((Ruthie - School Buses))

Her bus smelled of teenager and body spray. Everyone chattered and laughed but the girl in the back seat. Her hair spread wild and dark, and she pressed her fingers against the glass, tracing the sidewalk until it vanished behind moms and dads and students. She wondered if they realized the festival's closeness to summer solstice and considered that the town derived it from ancient practice. These people could easily dress in Viking garb and tote carcasses for roast. Instead, they carried balloons and cotton candy. Students trailed off the bus, but the stench lingered. They seemed so orderly, yet in class, their thoughts turned into chaotic scribbles on notebooks and bathroom stalls.

She yawned. Maybe she should have slept or read. Did she sleep two nights ago? She couldn't remember. The festival threw her off. She could snag coffee or tea somewhere. Certainly the sugar would wake her up, and after all, this only happened yearly. She would resume her schedule tomorrow. She nodded at the driver on her way out. What a strange job--driving others around. Then, you would drive yourself home. She wondered if the bus driver cared more about himself or his passengers. Probably himself, she figured.

The crowd seemed sweet and lively, and she wondered if she belonged with them. She felt so detached. Her classmates scattered amid parents and friends. Maybe she should have brought a book. Vanity Fair, perhaps? That would distract from the festivities, though. She also wanted to "learn by experience". So many people recommended experience that it possibly had merit. Games seemed like an unusual method of gaining wisdom and insight, however. They moved fast and you often won little. She wondered what she would learn from them. Perhaps she could allegorize and apply them to real life.

Ah, too analytical and far too depressing. Just enjoy yourself, she thought. That's why you're here.

(( Jin Ae Lee - Sidewalk, near Food & Craft stands))

"Jin?"

Jin Ae startled into attention, quickly stepping forward to catch up to Kalina, placing a hand on her shoulder carefully."I'm right here..." she mumbled, stepping to Kalina's side so that she wasn't creepily standing behind her anymore.

She stuck her hands in the pocket of her hoodie. "Sorry, I..." Jin Ae began, but trailed off when she realized she didn't have an excuse to not stay within Kalina's sight at all times. "I'm here now," she finished.

Jin Ae looked sideways at the craft tables, wondering what they had. She always loved crafts, especially really handy ones you have to use tools for, like making birdhouses or wireworks. From this distance, and with the thick crowd it wasn't easy to see what was there.

"Kalina, do you think... we could visit the craft tables later tonight?"

(( Shasta: Sidewalks near the main parade route, the crowds partitioned off ))

"Try not to be late this time." It was still early into the festivities and Shasta's temper was simmering. Her brother Nate's words echoed in her head as loudly as any chime Big Belle could (or would) ring that day. His know-it-all tone, the condescending jerk.. she hated it. As soon as he had started lecturing her on her punctuality (which in truth was only a couple of lines, but she really was not in the mood to hear it), the girl had waved a hand and said, "I know, god," and moved off on her own into the crowd. She had a watch, she knew what time she had to be back, she'd only done Teufel Day celebrations for the whole of her life. Why did he always feel the need to lecture her? Even Auntie Yolanda had cautioned her (although more gently) to be back early. It was going to be Shasta's second time singing solo with the rest of the Chavez clan at a town event, so it would not do to get too wrapped up in other activities. The thought dissipated a fraction of the earlier sourness, although it did not get rid of it entirely. Oh, Teufel Town was in for a treat today, yes it was! She had been working hard with her aunt on the two songs she was going to sing, and come seven o'clock, the whole town would get to hear just how good she was (take that, Nate!). That did not mean, though, that she couldn't take a peek around the festivities first.

So here she was, pushing her way through crowds of festival goers, wearing her newly-made crimson mariachi dress. Her long hair swept up into a loose up do and pinned with a flower. The crowds were thicker here, many elaborately dressed for school events, the parade, or other local happenings, but Teufel Day was always a sight to behold. She ducked around a corner on the sidewalk with the intent to go wander towards the carnival rides. Her plans cut short, however, as she plowed full-on into someone coming the opposite direction. The girl reeled back, her hands gripping her dress to keep it from being stepped on (Grandma Reina would kill her and they would never find the body). She shook her head and frowned accusingly at who she had plowed into, who apparently had been busy texting on some blinged-out monster of a cell phone.

"Hey, watch it." She snapped back at the girl that she had run into.. before getting a good look at her. Shasta blinked at what she was wearing, her half-mast eyes squinting in confusion. "Wow. You get dressed in the dark?" Not that it fully surprised her, since Teufel Day always brought out the weirdos en masse. And even then, she did not have much room to talk, wearing her crazy dress.

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(( Gemma: School bus drop-offs, with Teufel Town School Annex ))

Gemma's long legs took the steps of the bus in stride, and as she exited into the early evening sunshine, she surveyed the crowd around her. The blue-haired girl felt a tingling of happiness inside, at being asked to help her school with the craft booths they were monitoring. Not that Gemma was particularly crafty (her area was moreso painting, and not like anybody else need know about that), but to have been approached by the girls in her class so amiably and extended the offer.. well, it felt very pleasant. Her class (the girls, mostly) were selling small woven keychains, all particularly cutesy things (cakes, rabbits, cats). In truth, Gemma wanted to buy one as well - Liesel might like one. Then again, she was likely to see Liesel, Rory, and her mother later, as all three had promised to stop by later. Her father would be scarce until much later in the evening, after the fireworks; he and some of his coworkers at the docks volunteered on Teufel Day to help with crowd control and safety. It would be nice to do something together, Gemma thought. She joined some of the other boys with an awkward smile, and allowed the smaller girls to deposit supplies into her arms and point her in the right direction.

Her arms laden with rolls of tablecloth and PVC pipes for the booth, the girl could not help but smile as she joined the others near the booths. It was nice to be useful! The girls monitoring the booth all looked very nicely dressed today, and Gemma recognized the one directing supplies as the one who had asked for her help earlier. Her turn in line came after the girl had a conversation with the boy before her punctuated by laughs, and another of the girl's helpers freed her arms of supplies. Gemma stood there for a moment, smiling hopefully.

"Uhm, do you.. do you need any more help?" The girl's eyes snapped up to her, after they had been surveying the line behind her, and she turned away.

"That's all, just go," she replied with a wave of the hand. "We've got help, don't worry about it." Gemma's heart sank.

Oh.

"O-oh, uhm, sorry then," she mumbled with an apologetic nod of the head. Why was she an idiot? Why was she always such an idiot? She pivoted on her heels and walked back along the line, and as she moved away, her gaze lingered towards the front of the line, where the girl engaged the boy who had been behind Gemma in lengthy conversation. Of course. As she wondered what to do with herself, she heard a distant voice calling her name among the Teufel Town School crowds.. or so she thought. As she shrugged it off, a set of small arms grabbed her own arms and swung to hide around her. The mop of dark blue hair was familiar, as was his out-of-cadence panting.

"Gemmy, hide me." The corners of her lips tugged into a slight smile as her younger brother ducked around her, peering around. For as mature and independent as he tried to make himself seem, Toby could not quite shake certain childish things - the nickname that he and his siblings gave his sister, for example.

"What's the matter?"

"Rob told Mary I had a crush on her and now she won't leave me alone. She's annoying, and she smells funny." The look of disgust on her younger brother's face brought a low laugh bubbling out of her mouth, and he glanced up with annoyance. "What? She does. I think she dumped all of her mom's perfume on herself. It smells like old lady."

"Whatever, don't worry, I'll tell you if she's coming." Gemma had no idea what this Mary girl looked like, but it gave Toby a measure of comfort in any case. At least she knew what his best friend Rob looked like, and if she knew him, he would be right there beside the girl feeding into his teasing plan. Boys will be boys, she supposed. At the mention of boys, she allowed her gaze to drift back towards the craft booth momentarily, her expression sinking, before she turned her attention to her brother. "Hey, let's go get something to eat, sound good?" Toby puzzled over this for a moment - likely figuring out what route Rob might be taking, before nodding.

"Funnel cake and you have a deal," he offered up solemly. Gemma laughed, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Deal," she replied, and the two marched off into the crowds, funnel cake acting as their siren call.