Welcome to Gaia! ::

The hubbub of the city resounds through the streets at dawn. Wooden posts are pulled upright, new awnings draped over, and a cacophony of color slewn about with flags, flowers, and bits of paper that catches in the wind. The enticing smell of food begins to waft in the air as booths line the main streets.

Shiganshina district, the southernmost point on Wall Maria, might not have the wealth that the inner two sections boast, but it certainly had spirit. The 100 Years of Peace festival would obviously take place throughout all three regions, but everyone in Shiganshina knew that the best place for food, parties, and friends was in Shiganshina. It didn't matter if the Utopia district thought it was the best, because clearly it wasn't.

The town square had seemingly built a stage overnight, though parents and grandparents knew that segments of the stage were stored throughout the year in sheds until needed. Still, the magical effect of its abrupt existence tickled children pink as they ran joyously through the crowds, daring each other to steal a tart or run across the stage. The nearby information booth and security station deterred most of their bravado.

Townsfolk had begun congregating about the wooden stage, with a hush beginning to fall only after the exasperated man standing in the middle pulled up a friend with a more well endowed set of lungs to bellow out a polite, "SILEENNCEE."

With a decidedly less pronounced "a-hem", the man in dark robes with golden trim spread his arms in an inviting gesture. "Welcome one and all to the first day of our 100 Years of Peace festival! Sponsored by yours truly, the Wallists, who'd like to remind you that humanity's very existence is in thanks to these walls."

It wasn't until a baby started its angry cries that he realized a good 5 minutes of his speech had passed in his tirade against leaving or defacing the holy walls. A few coughs could be heard in the crowd, and the glazed over eyes made him puff out his chest and focus back on the task at hand.

"Ah, hm, yes. Yes, so. The good people of the district have set up wares and food and games for all! We will be hosting a free banquet, parade, and a bonfire dance throughout the festival, so do make sure to attend. Sign ups for the banquet will begin later today. I recommend checking out the booths in the meantime. We will have flyers posted throughout with the times of the events, so don't be late. "

The sparkle in the crowd's eyes had lit once more, perhaps having started up on the word free, and he could sense the energy pick up in the buzz of whispers. "So let us enjoy these few weeks of merriment! Praise the walls!"

A few chanted with him at the end, but the sudden eruption of chatter drowned out any further effects.

And thus the 100 Years of Peace festival began.

Blah blah blah.

Rikki tuned out the sound of the Wallist in charge giving some thanks to the walls or some s**t. His gaze flittered elsewhere, observing the booths in various states of setting up and opening. The crowd was already pulsing, but that was to be expected. It was a big day, apparently.

There was an electric buzz of energy in the crowd as they reacted to something the man on stage said. There were a lot of whispers of free events that he recalled seeing on a flyer. Nice that they could suddenly share food now, when he'd seen others starving on the street from day to day. Eugh.

Still, food was food, so he'd probably check it out.

Well that gave him some plans for later on, but for now, Shun wanted to get away to somewhere a little quieter. He felt no reason to be lingering around for the time being as there wasn't really anything in the immediate area that garnered his attention.

As he began to back away from the stage area, he ended up bumping right into another young man. With a grunt, he pushed himself away and started to go on his way without a word.

Rikki grunted as someone backed into him, barely managing to flail his way into keeping his balance. When he got over the panic of nearly falling on his a** he looked up to find the man who had caused the fiasco walking away. Not even an excuse me. Or an apology.

"Wow, rude," he said loud enough for the other man to hear. "Sorry to get in your way, didn't mean to just stand here and occupy my own space."

Speaking of the chances of seeing someone again; Danny somehow managed to notice Shun in an entire crowd of people. Don't ask how. She was magical.

She had stopped listening to the man's boring speech about the walls the moment he opened his mouth, and instead began threading her way towards the black haired figure. When she did finally happen enough him, she pounced, throwing her arm around Shun's neck in an all too friendly manner.

"I found you again!! You ran away but I found youuu~" she chimed.

It was only then that she noticed the twosome were interlocked in a less-than-positive atmosphere. "Who's your friend? He's got neat tattoos. Do you have tattoos?" It seemed as though once more, Danny was making conversation in Shun's place.

Lenore listened halfheartedly to the wallist drone on and on about the walls as she split her focus between him and the book in her hands. She sighed as she closed the book, unable to fully enjoy the words within. She imagined a gigantic titan appearing out of nowhere and eating the man to spare the rest of them the trouble, and a small grin crossed over the young girl's lips.

After a while of imagining all of the wallists being systematically eaten, followed by the mass crushing of some of the more-annoying-but-still-less-annoying-than-the-wallists citizens, Lenore found that the speech had concluded during her fantasizing. She looked around at the chattering citizens and momentarily thought about simply returning home, the booth be damned. Sighing again, she shook her head. "If I did that, the manager would never forgive me. And then where would I get books?" She muttered lightly to herself, once more forgetting about the necessity of food. Food. She belatedly remembered that food was being served - free, even. Free food meant less of her wages being spent on food. Less wages being spent on food meant more wages being spent on books.

Lenore made a bee-line for the tables.

Danny let out a loud laugh, once again thinking Shun was just joking about killing her. "Haha you're so funny!" She grinned at Rikki actually giving her his name. It was a gift from god.

"I'm Danny! And I still don't know his name. He's very mysterious. " She nodded, finding this strange relationship entirely normal and not in the slight bit unusual. "He doesn't think we're friends, but I think he's just too shy to admit it."

More assured nods, Danny never considered the way she thought to be unusual. "You and me are friends now too! Want to come see the festival with us?" In case anyone was wondering no. The intensity never went away.

"You think I'm joking," Shun deadpanned. He stared at the two, not even certain how to feel about this anymore. Danny was insane; he had discerned that much. and she laughed like a horse too. Rikki wasn't much better for going along with all of this.

"You have a very strange idea of what a friend is," he noted, shaking his head. Just meeting and talking with someone once was hardly enough for that sort of thing. Giving a light scoff, he decided to try and quietly slip away while the two were conversing with one another. He just wanted to retreat to some place quieter to maybe relax a bit before the banquet came up.