Sugar Hollow

The fluff balls scurried off, leading the two down a narrow alleyway. They were surprisingly fast for their size, their little legs moving at breakneck speeds as they bounced off walls and hopped over puddles. They turned corners, scaled fences, and squeezed through holes, making it very difficult for their pursuers to follow. However, if they lagged behind, Appopo and Wah would notice little black spots on the walls and pavement where the fluff balls touched. It looked almost like ink, or possibly charcoal, and would make the squeakers easy to track. Eventually, they would spot the odd little puff balls hop into an open window of a candy shop. Squeaking and banging came from within, as well as the shouting of a shopkeeper and the unmistakable sound of a broom being swung at small creatures. A few moments later, the squeakers came back out, each carrying a single piece of brightly wrapped candy over their heads. They ran to Appopo, offering the candies to him with wide eyes.

Squeak squeak

Seren was lying in the back of the cart with her golden retriever, Ollie, as Typhus angled the donkey pulling it toward the picturesque view of Sugar Hollow. Seren's eyes were closed, her dark lashes striking against the pale color of her skin, but it wouldn't have mattered if they were open.

It was sunny and bright in Sugar Hollow, which meant Seren was as blind as a molerat. Still, she didn't seem to mind, as the girl sang a sea shanty she'd learned from a fatherly sailor figure that had helped Typhus and Seren on their way. Her legs dangled off the edge of the cart and she swung her dainty booted feet back and forth while Ollie rested in the nest of her looooong, looooong dark and sparkling hair.

Her hum stopped, however, when she heard the sounds of the approaching village. She opened her eyes, the swirling, pale lavender depths pupiless, and sat up. "Typhus. Where are we?" She tried to look around, but of course, she could see nothing but darkness.

"Will I like this place?" the enchantingly pretty girl asked. She was a fallen star, after all, with dark hair that was not quite black but more like midnight blue, stars glimmering in the strands. Her skin was as milky white as the moon, and her gaze swirled like trapped galaxies. When she was happy, she even began to sparkle like a star, but that was not this moment.

Right now, Seren's curiosity was piqued, and when it was piqued, a barrage of questions usually followed.

Typhus was wondering what exactly his life had become. Seren had told him she wanted a cart and despite the fact that it had been expensive he'd gotten her a cart. She said she wanted to go to sea so they'd spent a few months aboard a ship. He'd even managed to find someone to teach her how to read. It was really quite remarkable how he'd taken to doing whatever she wanted him to do, even more remarkable that he enjoyed doing it.

Typhus looked as he ever did, his shaggy white hair frames an angular face with sharp features his bright predatory yellow eyes staring out at the world wearily though no longer with the hate that had once been omnipresent. Typhus still didn't trust the world not to do terrible things to good people, but he seemed to not view it as an inherently hateful place anymore.

"Sugar Hollow, I think they make sweet things so yes you will probably like it," Typhus says bracing himself for the deluge of questions that was sure to come only to be cut off by... A kid who didn't smell right. While the boy looked harmless Typhus new looks could be deceiving and his wolf didn't like how the boy smell. His lip curls and a low feral growl rumbles out of his chest as he looks at Roy, but then he remembers he isn't supposed to kill people for no reason. "Yes." He instead says curtly, more than he normally said to strangers since he was prone to letting Serene do the talking she was the people person after all.

Roy patted the dog's head nervously as it ran up to him. Large dogs generally didn't bite, but that didn't stop him from being cautious. After all, he'd been attacked by a duck when he was very young. If a duck could be vicious, who knew what a dog would do? Still, this one seemed like a good dog, so Roy pulled a piece of cornbread from his pocket and offered it to him.

"Here ya go, doggy...there's a good dog, no biting."

He looked up at the other occupants in the cart, and was shocked to realize that they looked to be the same age as him! What a coincidence. He wondered briefly why the girl was dangling off the edge of the cart, but figured that she probably had her reasons. Besides, it wasn't as though she was far from the ground.

"Oh yes, there are lots of sweet things there. Cream puffs and cupcakes and pies and all sorts of wonderful things! I lived there when I was little, but then I had to move away. I haven't been back since. I'm Roy, by the way. What are your names?"

He gave the two a friendly, if rather pointy, smile, and petted the dog again.

Appopo continued to follow and watch, his hands behind his back, and his head lowered half way to the ground trying to see what they were made of. When they reached the candy shop, he watched and giggled at the woman inside. For fun, he said a word and shook his wand, causing the broom head to blow up.

When the blobs came back out and offer him candy, he stood upright and pointed at his chest, "For PO?!?!?!?!"

He leaned down to the ground and lowered his face cloths. He pointed at his mouth and closed his eyes, all in hopes they'd feed him candy.

In the mean time, the wanted poster popped up in Wahs hand. Nimpopo and Nimpapa peeked over each of Wahs shoulders, and if wah turned his head either way, he'd be eye to eye with them and they'd probably scream and then act like the cloud was staring him in the eyes.

A cloud hand extended from Nimpapa and a cloud question mark appeared above Nimpopo. Nimpapa then turned into a lightbulb and then an up arrow. Nimpopo turned into an exclamation point and then they both turned into black cloud smily faces dapping eachother. The clouds then shot off into the sky.

Roy nodded at the introductions. The boy seemed rather rough, but the girl was friendly enough for the both of them. She seemed sweet enough, although a little odd. Was she blind? He rubbed Ollie's head, glad that he wasn't a biting dog.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. How did you hear of Sugar Hollow? Almost nobody I've met has ever heard of it, and I only know of it because I lived there when I was little."

He pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket, offering it to Seren and Typhus.

"Would you like some chocolate? My uncle makes it, it's really good."

He held it out of reach of Ollie, not wanting to make the dog sick. After all, it was best not to give chocolate to dogs.

Typhus looks at Seren and then frowns at Roy, not exactly angry at him putting ideas in her head but still, it might be difficult and he was worried she might be disappointed if they didn't get the treats. They still had some coin left over from what he'd looted from her would be kidnappers but he didn't know how much such sweet things would cost. Maybe he could work for more coin if they needed it. "Yes, if we can find those things you can have them." He says to Serene finally.

Turning his attention to Roy Typhus grunts. "Saw a sign last night and Serene insisted we come." He says remembering how her eyes had lit up at a town named after sugar. Typhus eyes the chocolate curiously and shakes his head. He'd never had chocolate and couldn't deny he was curious about what it tasted like since it was normally reserved for the rich, but he was too distrusting to accept such charity from a stranger.

Roy smiled, pleased that she'd enjoyed the chocolate. At least someone was trusting enough to try some chocolate. When she asked him to take her hand and lead her to town, he hesitated, glancing between Seren and Typhus. He had no problem with leading an apparently-blind girl to town, but he didn't want the other boy to get mad at him. He seemed like the dangerous and overprotective sort, and Roy didn't want to get punched. Still, he decided to risk it and took her by the hand. She seemed sweet enough.

"I'm glad you like the chocolate! I can lead you to town, but I don't have any relatives there anymore...I think..."

He thought back, trying to remember if he had any relatives. There certainly weren't any Fletchers in town, not since his parents' alchemy shop exploded. Were there any relatives from his mother's side, though? What was her maiden name again? Waltz, wasn't it? Perhaps there was an aunt or uncle that he was forgetting. He almost certainly wouldn't recognize them, though. It had been so long, he barely even remembered what his mother and father had looked like.

Typhus smiles when Serene eats the chocolate and clearly enjoys it, his face softening suddenly from stern and dangerous to something almost tender. This immediately changes when Serene asks Roy to take her hand and the scowl and glare are back in place. He even growls slightly when Roy actually obeys her, the sound far more like a wolf's growl then any human throat should be able to manage.

Moving to the cart he finds her walking stick and presses it into Serene's hand. Then he moves in close to Roy and whispers low enough so that Serene can't here. "Try anything, hurt her, even make her look upset and I will tear your head from its shoulders." Roy was quite correct Typhus was the over protective type and his tone suggests he isn't joking. Stepping back from the vampire he moves to the opposite side of Serene ready to follow wherever the other boy leads Serene.