A Curious Troupe

[Aramyllis Dae]

To all ordinary eyes, she was just another unexceptional young woman out for a stroll on the edge of the city. Of course, she did have her head cocked to one side as if listening intently, concentration distinct on her slightly furrowed features. Perhaps she was tracking something... But then, with a burst of laughter, the woman's face lit up and she turned until her gaze focused on---well, it sure looked like thin air, several feet up off the ground. She even nodded, eyes riveted on that exact spot. It was a bizarre sight, although those with especially keen magical perception might have been able to sense something wavering in the air in front of her.

And then it was gone.

After a few hundred more feet, Aramyllis turned off the beaten road, aiming for an open, grassy spot; actually, it was more weeds than grass, but still, with her traveling cloak thrown over them, it should do just fine. With a sign of contentment, she folded herself down to sit cross legged on the cloak, only to grimace upon finding she had overestimated the thickness of her makeshift tarpaulin, or perhaps underestimated the stubbornness of those thistles.

"Well, damnation, can't a girl take a little rest with getting herself all poked and prodded full of holes?" she grumbled, rubbing her now itching bottom.

A voice answered back immediately, laughing in a range of deep, pealing tones: Malicious plants, they are... Myllis' only response was to nod decisively, apparently not finding the idea of sentient plants at all strange. She did, however, push herself back up to her feet, casting the thistles a spiteful glare at she gathered up her cloak. Then again, at least they weren't stinging nettles.

It was only upon turning back to the road that she noticed the distinct tingle at the edge of her senses. She was surprised she hadn't sensed its source's presence earlier, but most likely the prickling of the thistles had drawn too much of her attention to itself. Myllis cursed the plants again, silently this time, but was still rewarded with a quiet chuckling. Ignoring it, she focused more closely on that tingle: it meant magic.

Resolutely, the woman set off in the direction of the source, doing her best to keep quiet without slowing to a crawling pace. As she drew nearer, she could differentiate two separate sources; or was it three? It was peculiarly difficult to tell. She couldn't remember having that problem... well, ever. She always knew, as easily as if she were looking at them with her eyes. That is, if one could recognize magical abilities just with a glance. She could, of course; sight wasn't even necessary for her. But from what little Myllis knew, that wasn't very common.

Keeping her hand from the long, wicked knife strapped to her thigh, she crested the road, bringing two figures into sight. A woman and a child, it looked like. So only two. But still, she would've sworn she could almost sense a duality within the woman; and her perception of the child was even more remarkable. Her magic seemed alive, almost... Squinting, Myllis made out nearly translucent wings--not a child afterwards, but fae--followed by the fact that the figure was wearing a coat. Backwards.

Maybe she's just cold, came the deeper voice. I'm not sure I would want to risk damaging those wings by squeezing them into something like that.

Myllis only shrugged in response, coming to a halt once she was close enough to make out the faces of the woman and the fairy. She felt drawn. After all, hadn't she been going to the city in order to learn more about magic and meet other people? Maybe she could accomplish both without even going near the wretched place. She found the idea quite pleasing, and begun to mull over the possibilities. So distracted was Myllis by her own thoughts, in fact, that she forgot to say hello, or anything at all, instead simply standing there staring at the pair.

[Geldenwing]

"Jackets are sure ornery, ain't they?"

She beamed up at Merc, joy pouring from her entire figure. Not only did the jacket look wonderful on her, but it was its own stupid fault for being useless at making her wings invisible. She didn't have to take the blame anymore since now the jacket was at fault.

She continued swinging and flailing her arms about, twirling in a circle with arms wide and shrieking with delight at the small breeze the sleeves made. Whatever her friend was doing was sure to be another game of some kind, which could only lead to More Fun. Her circles left her dizzy, and she stumbled about the ground for a few seconds, staggering this way and that until plop!, she plunked down onto her rump. Her giggling didn't stop for several long moments, during which she raised her sleeve-covered hands to her lips and tittered straight into them.

Her wings suddenly shot up as her eyes lit even more, widening with glee and a considerable amount of energy. She made sure to raise her voice as high as possible, so that Merc could hear her with complete clarity.

"Look it's a girl!!!"

[Mercedes D'Amour]

Crouched. Poised. A magnificent leap upwards to grab the bottom rung of the water tower's support. Which was ruined by a high-pitched screech that resonated in her head and made her cringe both inwardly and physically. Fingers slipped off the rusted metal and Merc tumbled face-first into the long grasses around the base of the tower. She only disappeared for the merest of seconds before her body flipped up and out between a set of cross-bars on the other side. Landing in a crouch, she puffed the bangs out of her face and peered out through the remaining hair at the person Gelden had indicated. Aimee had the vague impression that she appeared quite feral and quickly straightened up to greet the newcomer with a smile and an embarrassed wave. Why was she staring?

"Um, hey. Don't mind us. Just...getting a drink."

Aimee cocked her head. Where Gelden was a pure hurricane of colour, this girl had some kind of strange tropical storm going on too. There were wisps of blue and white - and bits of grey and...absence. It wasn't all contained within her either, which was the doubly strange bit. There were tendrils floating out of the dark-haired girl that drifted into a sort of ...

*Enough snooping!*"
~Eep! You scared me, Mercy!~
*Well, really. Don't stare so long, it creeps people out.*

Merc settled back into an almost sullen silence, worried about the mystery surrounding this new arrival - and that she hadn't heard her coming in the first place.

[Aramyllis Dae]

"Impressive how much of a difference a little human blood can make in a person," rumbled the deep voice wryly as Aramyllis studied the spinning winged figure, in reference to the girl's own heritage. The subject of his comment, however, was too distracted by her own meanderings to notice the words in her head; instead, Myllis was wondering how much of herself she could attribute to her fae blood.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the unknown human attempted to launch herself up the water tower, only to be brought short by the faerie's shrill announcement... Myllis winced as the human tumbled back to the ground, and then she turned her attention to glancing around for some newcomer exceptional enough to merit this piercing alarm. Finding no one else, Myllis reasoned, somewhat with a start, that she must be the newcomer. Cheeks suffusing with a red glow, the hybrid reoriented herself towards the strangers in time to catch the human's explanation of her thwarted climb.

"There's... um, there's a river over that direction not far," she offered slowly in an awkward attempt at helpfulness, eyes flicking between them and the ground at their feet. "It might be easier to walk to it than climb the tower."

[Geldenwing]

The little fae remained sat on the ground, gazing up between both women with wide eyes. She saw no reason to stand up just yet, since both of her new friends seemed intent on making this as awkward as possible.

She decided to help. She turned a beaming bright smile to the newest friend, widening her mouth so big that her eyes squinted. She huffed and puffed up both shoulders and chest, then raised one sleeve-covered hand to flop the large patch of fabric dangling longer than her hand at the girl. Because she was facing the new woman and not Merc, she raised her voice again.

"Merc there's a river!"

Now she began to stand, planting her floppy hands on the ground and pushing. The sleeves tightened against her chest, drawing the backwards coat firmly against her and preventing her from standing up.

She tried again, this time with a small "eeef" grunt of effort.

And again.

And finally gave up with a huffy sigh, shoulders and wings dropping in her personal failure. She turned depressed eyes and pouty lips to both women, sniffling a little for the full effect.

"I can't get up."

[Mercedes D'Amour]

Aimee considered telling the girl that she did indeed notice the river running pretty much right alongside them, but couldn't think of a way to phrase it that wouldn't sound snobby or patronizing. So instead she followed Gelden's lead - to a degree - and smiled shyly at the girl with the wind-blown soul.

"Thanks for the heads-up. The river will probably be easier to steal water from."

The last bit was followed up by a wink before Aimee turned to pick up Merc's guitar and satchel from the dust where she'd left it.

*Now's our chance! Let's go while she's distracted and has someone else to take care of her.*
~Mercy! That's not nice!~
*Well, if we're going to find Uluki, I don't think we're going to do it with Gelden. I mean, she's cute and all, but she's kind of a...delay...person.*
~I don't know. Things happen for a reason.~
*Oh don't give me more of that fate crap. "Things happen for a reason." Guh.*
~No, really, Merc! You never know where a path might lead.~
*...*
~Just...let's stick with her for awhile. I'm sure she'll get bored with us at some point and leave US behind. Remember Nutmeg?~
*Yeah. I guess. What's a day or two when we've got a lifetime, right?*
~That's the spirit!~


*Besides...she's got our jacket.*

Aimee had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on outside of their head and how rude it would be to laugh aloud at this exact point in time. Regaining a bit of composure - she couldn't completely wipe the smile from her face - she approached Gelden.

"I told you jackets were tricky. Here, let's teach it a lesson, shall we?"

Pulling the jacket from the fae's shoulders so it lay on the ground between her hands, Aimee pointed to the centre of the fabric.

"Alright, put your feet here and push up with your legs."

If she managed to explain it right, the jacket would peel off the rest of the way and lie submissively under Geldenwing's feet. If not...well, there was always Plan B. Aimee ventured another wink at the other girl, hoping that she was as silently amused as she.

[Aramyllis Dae]

As Aramyllis watched the bizarre incident unfold before her, her mind was rather too busy with speculation to register more than a slight touch of amusement. The extra presence within the woman had seemed to---change, almost, or maybe switch positions with what had at first appeared to be the dominant force. It seemed lighter, less dense. Perhaps it was a parasitic spirit? Myllis would have to be careful until she learned more, but then again, it was a unique opportunity to try to figure out her own abilities.

The voice in her head--whom she had eventually come to call Gabi'Rel, when he had refused to furnish any name--had never explained to her the exact nature of her sixth sense. What was it precisely that she perceived? She could always sense the presence of people, animals, and sometimes even plants. It was---complicated. So complicated, in fact, that trying to reason it out usually left her head spinning. Her awareness of small, individual organisms, such as ants and other insects, was weak, so faint she didn't notice it unless she concentrated, but when amassed together in a hive or colony, they glowed nearly as brightly as a humanoid. And trees were even stranger... As they grew older and came to support other diverse life forms, such as ivies and the animals that made a home in them, such trees to began to give off even more powerful sensations.

Was it simply the life force itself that Myllis could perceive, or was it something more complex: the presence of a spirit, or maybe even a soul? Surely, studying this human would yield up some clues.

"Clever girl," the inaudible voice intoned, so that Myllis couldn't decide whether it was a compliment or if he was mocking her. Knowing him, she settled on the latter.

If you're not going to say anything constructive, why don't you keep it to yourself for once? she bantered in return.

Much to her distress, however, Gabi'Rel seemed to take her words seriously, and with a sigh of, "If that is what you wish," she felt him vanish. It left her feeling bereft, as always.

Suddenly quite alone, Aramyllis' sight latched onto the beings in front of her. Surely Gabi'Rel would return to congratulate her once she started to make some progress. With a determined nod of her head, she stepped forward to aid her supposed subject in freeing the fairy, proclaiming bravely, "I'm Aramyllis."

[Geldenwing]

Gelden followed Merc's directions perfectly. She placed her grubby feet right in the center of the jacket, shifting herself enough to plant her feet flat against the ground. And then she pushed with her legs.

Her first attempt ground the jacket against the dirt in an awkward failed attempt, and the fae harrumphed and puffed out her cheeks to glare angrily at her legs. She wiggled her mouth back and forth, staring hard at the fabric, and then huffed. She would win!

She repeated the position, feet square in the center, heels pressed firmly against the ground, and SHOVED!

The jacket again scraped against the dirt, but her efforts also began the steady process of turning the sleeves inside-out as they pulled away from her arms. The fae examined the odd results, the jacket lying in a semi-circle around her front, only her hands still stuck inside of the backwards sleeves, and decided she'd done a fantastic job. She grinned and beamed proudly up at Merc, very pleased with her own efforts.

"I did it!"

The moment after she spoke, her new friend gave her name and Gelden nearly glowed with pleasure.

"Ooo, what a pretty name! Isn't that like a stone? I knew someone with a stone like that once. It's purple an' white an' pretty and it's kinda like crystal but not. Is it like that?"

[Mercedes D'Amour]

Her smile widened with every over-exaggerated emotion that played over Gelden's face. As the jacket slipped down the fae's slender arms, Aimee clapped her hands - sharing in the fairy's joy. Kneeling, she started to help Gelden pull the cuffs over her hands, but paused as the girl drew near with a sudden burst of movement. Immediately, Aimee looked her full in the face and reached out with her senses. What was this newcomer's intent? The very first thing she noticed was that the other bit of swirling energy was gone. It was just the girl - she had introduced herself as Aramyllis – and she was helping Gelden with the coat. Aimee instantly regretted thinking that harm was intended and reddened, though the sharpness of her glance may not have even been noticed. Ararmyllis’ tone belied a nervousness through the sheer boldness of such a simple statement, which made her feel worse still. Endeavoring to make up for her blunder, she purposely relaxed her frame and offered an easy smile.

Aimee was about to reply in kind when Gelden piped up in her tangent way. She laughed lightly as another tug removed Gelden's left hand from the coat and tossed an apologetic smile to Aramyllis. She would let the girl deal with the fairy’s statement. For now, she’d offer what she could to put this new contact at ease.

“It is a beautiful name. Mine’s…Mercedes.”

She caught herself just in time with the slightest of pauses – thanks to Merc. Unsure if handshakes were common here, Aimee merely bowed her head ever so slightly and kept her lips in their customary upturned position. To Gelden, she whispered – as though that alone would keep the fae from losing her train of thought on the origins of Ararmyllis’ name.

“Here, you better let me handle this unruly coat before causes you any more trouble.”

[Aramyllis Dae]

Primarily befuddled by the strange pair, Aramyllis found herself feeling disarmed by the fae's guileless antics and the woman's willing aid, given with a sense of benign amusement. She was furthermore bewildered by the fairy's question, having never before heard of the gem-like stone described, though Myllis imagined it sounded quite pretty; not at all what she would have pictured for her own name, though she supposed it did have a fanciful appeal to it.

She was glad of the brief interruption when Mercedes introduced herself, giving Myllis a moment to stiffle the odd urge to giggle that bubbled up in her chest. After taking a breath to be sure no laughter would sneak out, she tried out the name, rolling it off her tongue. "Mercedes... It has a good ring to it, as well."

Myllis' gaze drifted from the 'unruly' coat, now a rather harmless bundle in Mercedes' hands, to its would-be victim, and replied to the fairy's earlier question regarding her name. "I've never heard of such a stone, but then again, I don't know much on the subject, to be honest. It might be nice to be named after such a lovely thing."

After covertly eyeing the coat once more, she continued, "Are you cold? I have a cloak you could try, if we're going the same way, although I'm not sure it'll be any better than the jacket."

[Geldenwing]

Gelden's immediate reply to Aramyllis was loud and guttural, her throat distending a bit as she forced an odd cacophony of croak-like sounds from her larynx. She did it again, louder, her eyebrows drawing together with the effort of trying to take the woman's advice. She wasn't entirely sure how croaking would help her to warm up, but it was worth a try if her friend said so.

It was in the middle of her third attempt that she realized what her friend had said. The croak stopped abruptly, silenced by widened eyes and a bright-red blush that stretched across her cheeks and down her throat. She stared at Aramyllis and bit her lower lip, looking shy.

"Oh. A cloak."

She looked from Merc to Aramyllis with the same bashful expression, and decided to just let her mistake go. After all, the best way to avoid a mistake is to pretend it never happened.

"Yeah, a cloak! I've never worn a cloak before. What's it like? Merc wants me to hide my wings so we can go into the city 'cause they don't like magic none. Would a cloak be ok?"

[Mercedes D'Amour]

Aimee was comforted by Aramyllis’ kindness and open honesty. Mercy was still on her guard, but she allowed her sister to have her space. She would come around in time. Her eyebrow raised itself almost supernaturally high, metal ring waggling in the air, when Gelden began her caterwauling. It took her as long as the fae to understand what was going on, and merely beamed and nodded understandingly as though mistaking one word for the other happened ever so often that it went quite without saying.

Then…it sounded so ugly when she said it that way. Aimee couldn’t help but feel cruel for asking such a thing – not that *she* did, it was Merc – but it had been from necessity. Slowly, she slipped the arms of the jacket back right side out before slipping the familiar leather back over her bare back and shoulders. An unwarranted shiver passed through her, causing Aimee to fold her arms close to her body. She didn’t want Aramyllis to see her sadness. It wouldn’t be fair, having just met and all, and it would be hard to explain why she felt this way. Jerking her chin sideways to look up the cobbled road to where the city centre lay, Aimee tried to think of some way out of her…their…present conundrum. Was it really worth the risk? They would have to risk much to accomplish their goal, she reminded herself, but could she ask anyone else to do the same for someone they didn’t even know? It was several moments before she finally turned back towards the curious troupe she found herself conversing with an apologetic curl to her lip.

“We were going in to look for something to eat.” A pause. “You know, a cloak might not be half-bad…but I think we might have to figure out some other way to snag a meal.”

~What, like a pie on a windowsill?~

“There’ll be something!” Aimee snapped, then instantly paled and reddened, in concert. Her eyes went wide before she coughed politely into her fist.

“Pardon me…*kuf*. Sometimes the theatrical in me needs letting out.”

~So that’s how you're referring to me these days.~

[Geldenwing]

"Ooo, theatricomical! Do you know plays? Can you show me one? I sawed a human play once and it was fun and they were wearing pretty clothing and all the girls were boys in girl's clothing and it made it really silly."

While she spoke, she crouched and began digging one finger into the ground, tracing around and around in a steadily expanding circle. There was no obvious reason to do so beyond bothering the assorted insects that might be living in the dirt, but she continued on with a merry tone and smile.

"Do you think I could act in a play? They sure seem fun, but they only use big people for the people parts. Little people like me get to be bushes and stuff, and I don't think bushes have much fun. I think it's not fair. They should have plays for only little people, then we could all be in the play and it would be fun!"

Once the circle was wide enough to satisfy her, she traced a line down the center, then at diagonals until the circle had 4 slanted lines within. She wiggled her nose and sniffed, concentrating as hard as she could. Then she wiped her hand over the small drawing in wide, dirty arches, pushing dirt to the side and destroying the image. As her hand wiped over the image, blocking it out, chunks of her wings began to disappear in the same pattern, until the pair was entirely shielded by whatever bush magic she'd used. She sniffled, and wiped her nose on her forearm, and stood to look at Merc. Both arms shot out wide and she beamed.

"How's that?"

It was a simple enough charm, channeling her own ability to become invisible into just one body part. She had no idea how long it would last, but her friend wanted her wings concealed so now they were nice and concealed. Merc would be happy and Geld would be happy because she was happy.

[Aramyllis Dae]

Aramyllis watched absent-mindedly as Geldenwing scrawled in the dirt, but she barely heard the fae's words. Instead, her own attention was focused on Mercedes--or, more accurately, on the two distinct beings inside her, and the brief flashes of emotion Myllis caught from them. Most were too vague to make out, except for a momentary wave of sorrow that caught her by surprise. Myllis quickly scanned Merc's face for signs of the sentiment---the slightly narrowed eyes, the furrowing of the forehead as the eyebrows pulled together, the downwards turn to the lips---but the sensation was too fleeting, gone before she could be sure. Resigned, she decided it had most likely been part the normal, ephemeral emotions that skittered across the landscape of every human mind; it was a state of chaos Myllis knew well.

If only she could differentiate more clearly between the two beings. Unfortunately, they interacted so smoothly that it was hard to tell, sometimes even overlapping, like two swimmers circling around each others' submerged bodies. Maybe Merc was possessed... Then again, that seemed like just the kind of ignorant blanket conclusion most magic-fearing beings would come up with, and then subsequently use to justify their mistreatment of the person. Myllis firmly resolved not to join the ranks of such callow fools, and thus wiped the idea of demonic possession from her mental chalkboard.

Abruptly her meandering thoughts vanished as the fairy seemed to pose, arms outstretched... and now apparently wingless. Myllis' gaze roamed over the scuffs in the dirt, and she was immediately regretful that she hadn't been watching more carefully.

You were keeping an eye on the wrong person, you idiot! she berated herself in annoyance, hoping for a response from Gabi'Rel, or at least his laughter. Instead she received more silence.

In attempt to rectify her previous inattention, Myllis regarded the fairy with a smile. "Wow, that's amazing! How did you do that?" She leaned in conspiratorially, though she didn't bother to lower her voice. "Maybe you can teach me. I've got some fairy blood in me, too, you know. Although I don't exactly have any wings to make invisible."

As she spoke, Myllis was paying careful attention to Merc once again, waiting for any clear response. Not everyone approved of her heritage, and she tended to keep quiet about it; but since Merc seemed quite accepting of the full-blooded fairy, Myllis was willing to try letting her guard down in their presence.

[Mercedes D'Amour]

Mercedes and Aimee were unaware that they were the object of careful scrutiny, or they may have been a little more careful with their conversation and emotions. They were listening to Gelden go on about the play she had seen, the acts of tyranny carried out by show people against those of more diminutive stature, and the subsequent rise of the latter against the norms of the day. Merc wasn’t exactly the tallest person, though her acrobatics had earned her a spot in a production or two, but she understood what Gelden was referring to. Yes. She had played a bush. Yes, it was the most boring part to play, not to mention embarrassing. Aimee grinned at her sister’s admission as she knelt down to arrange their meagre possessions in the faded bag before slinging the strap around her shoulder.

“Oh I think you would be great in a play, Gelden. I like the idea of plays only for small people, too. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?”

Her hand closed over the guitar’s neck and lifted it to its accustomed position in her arms. Merc ached to play. She always did when she was frustrated or trying to think. Obliging, Aimee stepped back and let Merc take the first position. As artistic as Aimee was, she was all thumbs when it came to musical instruments – though Mercy gave her lessons as the occasion allowed. Now was not one of those occasions. Nimbly her fingers set about the tuning, her fingers seemed to be twitching of their own accord up and down the strings – a little less tension here, a little more…no less there…

Mercedes’ eyes were closed as she allowed the ‘D’ chord to soar through the hollow walls of the instrument and out through her abdomen. They remained closed even when Gelden asked “How’s that?”. However, when Aramyllis exclaimed “How did you do that?” Merc’s eyes popped open and the sisters regarded a now-wingless Gelden with a slight slack-jawedness before a smirk tugged their lips back together.

~Knew she could do it.~
*If you knew, then what are you all anxious about?*

Merc didn’t respond to Aimee’s query – they both knew the answer – the strings literally sang it. One couldn’t help but second-guess hope and instinct. It was human nature. Speaking of human, it was starting to look like they were a minority in this part of the world. Aramyllis confessed her heritage as though it were a felo… right. Magic was illegal, ergo, so were fae simply by their being. The way the girl looked her in the eye told her that a correct response was needed before further trust would be garnered. There was really no more time for thought, so Merc merely smiled nodded knowingly.

“Lucky.” she said, and meant it.

Turning back to look at Gelden, she cocked her head to look at the fairy from the side and played a celebratory chord on the guitar. “That is really amazing.” she agreed, “Nice one, Gelden. Wish I could use that trick.” Again, Merc was completely serious in her affirmations. Invisibility definitely could have its boons – and right now the one on her mind was the ability to walk into a town that hated fairies without having to worry. Mind, it’s not like Gelden was any less fae…there was definitely still room for worry, though not quite enough to change her mind.

“So,” Merc lilted, with a sweep of her hand in the direction of the road, “Shall we?” The smile she gave Myllis was almost a dare – brimming with mischief and yet grounded in the reality that said they had to behave or face certain deadly consequences. The sisters were made of sterner stuff, but was she?