[Elektra]

Akari nodded one last time to the event organizer before walking up to the bonfire, going closer than most dared to, and delighting in its unpredictable nature.  That was really what she loved about the winter.  She never had to hold herself back.  In the summer, and even in the spring, she risked over heating if she didn't stay near cooler areas with a place to cool off, but in the winter, she could enjoy herself without any little thing nagging at her.

She was tempted to twirl around on her toe a couple of times, and she would have had there not been so many people around.  She just smiled for the time being, and walked away toward the Christmas tree that loomed over them all.

As she made her way there, if one looked closely, they might have been able to see the slightest bit of steam rising off of the majority of her body.  It gave her an eery appearance at the time, but she didn't seem to mind any looks that the adults gave her as she continued on.  In fact, one might have wondered if she even knew that there was anything out of the ordinary about herself.

{Post 2 | Heading to the Christmas Tree}

[Akida]

She was headed back to her seat but noticed some one had already claimed it for themself. She was about to turn when the pink and purple caught her eyes. Was it? She walked a bit closer and looked at the form. A yonyuu. Reema! She had arrived and seemed to be in conversation with someone beside her. The serraptor walked purposefully toward her long-time friend.

***

"Yes. We're open every day except major holidays. Someone with a lot to spend usually can reserve the whole facility for themself or as a treat to someone else on those days."
The stranger nodded and took a sip of their hot chocolate before asking more questions. Reema was delighted to speak about what she did and what the business offered. She was explaining about her friend when..
"Speak of the devil!!"
She stood as she saw the serraptor approaching.

"Hello old friend! I've been looking for you!"
"Likewise, Mira." Reema smiled at the person and excused herself from their conversation. She told her she'd find her before she left. The young lady smiled and nodded.

"So what do you have planned for us? I know I invited you, but you love to take the lead in events like this!"
Reema laughed and this was true. "How about we visit that there magnificent tree?"
"Sounds good to me! I've been eyeing it every now and again."

With that, the two walked toward the Christmas tree. Ooh-ing, ahh-ing, and chatting about how much work that must've taken. Both were curious about who the gifts were for and their reactions when they received them... That is, if these wonderful-looking gifts were all real.

{4 Posts: Moving to the Christmas Tree}

[Mousen]

Mia's expression didn't change, but she blushed very slightly. "Poltergeists? I hate those. One damn near killed a friend of mine, threw an unabridged Oxford dictionary at him and he fell down the stairs." That had been one of the few times she'd been really scared, poor Thursday. Still, he was all right now that was what mattered. "We tend to get more ghosts than anything else, though, at the bookshop. Most of them are just sat and confused."

Ezra had been reduced to glaring at the both of them, but mostly at Dean. "That's not really what you're looking for, though... Mr? The place Mia is referring to is a hotspot for ghosts who've lingered until there's barely anything of them left. They're drawn to it, and they end up haunting it for a couple of days until they finally... pass over. It's a self-regulating system. They're's nothing to, er, hunt."

"Ezra's convinced you're here to kill off all of his friends. Well, friends isn't the right word. I'm the only friend he's got, poor boy."

"Mia, I'm twelve years older than you."

"Eleven and a half. He's delusional too, isn't that sweet?" It was clear to Ezra that Dean had somehow managed to make a good impression on Mia. Rarely was so... loud around strangers, she was incredibly brazen around her friends, but normally, when she was around people she didn't know she was rather guarded.

((5, The Bonfire))

[Mousen]

While Mia and Ezra were talking to the hunter, someone else wandered into the event.

Luke nodded at what the pink and purple unicorn said, and walked into the area where the bonfire was. The fire crackled merrily, and Luke was far too wrapped up in watching it burn to notice that his friends (acquaintances, rather) were mere feet away and they were equally occupied. Despite the chill, he didn't have a coat, just a maroon coloured jumper with snowflakes on it. Not what he would have chosen to wear, but it was the warmest thing he had with the disappearance of his coat. Besides, it was Christmas after all, if you couldn't look silly at Christmas, when could you look silly?

The full moon had been a few nights ago and Luke began to wonder the disappearance of his coat had something to do with that... What had happened then? Luke pinched the bridge of his nose, and tried to think back to the night of the full moon, something he very rarely did, but to no avail. Maybe he'd just put it down somewhere, after all, his concentration wasn't good at the best of times, let alone when he was hours away from turning into a giant blood-thirsty dog.

(( 6, The Bonfire ))

[Mousen]

Deciding that it was best if he explored a little, Luke pulled his hat further down around around his ears and set off for the Christmas tree. Whatever he'd been expecting when the words 'Christmas tree' came to mind, it certainly wasn't this. The sight took his breath away. "Wow." he breathed. It was, by far, the biggest Christmas tree he'd ever seen, and then there was the lights and the baubles and everything else. It was completely stunning.

"Huh," he said to no one in particular. "That's one hell of a tree."

Christmas had always been his favourite time of year (aside from the cold weather, that was), though he rarely got chance to enjoy it. For the past few years, it had always been a bit of a lack lustre affair. He'd spend December first putting up the thread-bare artificial tree and untangle the string of fairy lights (only half of which was working, and then he'd dig out the strings of gold tinsel (which in places were mostly string rather than tinsel), and that'd be the extent of his Christmas. One very shabby tree in an equally shabby apartment that belonged to a shabby werewolf. Still, this Christmas it was going to be different! He could tell.

((Post 7| Luke: Moved to the Christmas tree | Mia & Ezra: The Bonfire))

[jackie125]

Lucario left the bread to the geese, and made his way towards the tent. He looked around and admired all the scenery of the festive square. There were wreaths and snowmen and presents, placed all around the buildings and trees and lamp posts. He carefully picked up a cup of hot chocolate between his teeth, cautious not to spill any, and slowly walked to the table. He placed the cup on the table, and sat on the bench that was attached to the table. He licked his hot chocolate, finding that it was the perfect temperature. He lapped up his drink and deposited his styrofoam cup into a nearby garbage bucket.
    As he dropped his cup into the garbage, he noticed one of the tent flaps waving around. He walked towards it and studied it quizzically. He pushed the flap to the side, and walked out of it, to find himself behind the tent.

Move to area 6

Post 4

[jackie125]

Lucario followed the back wall-flap to the corner, and found himself back in the square. He wanted to find whatever it was, but he seemed to have lost it. He gave up on it and went back into the tent for another cup of  hot chocolate. He sat at the table uncomfortably, because of his canine form, and tried to enjoy his hot chocolate.
     He grew bored of his hot chocolate, so he decided to talk to some of the other people who were about. He approached a Lucain who was also seated at the table. She was sipping at a styrofoam cup, dazed and staring at some point no one else could see. Umm... Hi there...

Area 7

Post 5

[Elektra]

That odd feeling of smiling without any reason really wasn't something she could get used to, but at the same time, she enjoyed it.  So, as she walked toward the other side of the Christmas tree that was hidden from view, she didn't actually try to fight it off.  Instead, she let it play on her face, letting her bright white teeth flash in the night as she walked around, still searching for something around the area.

At that point, though, she was actually content just being able to wander around, since just the area and people around her seemed to be causing her so many emotions that she'd never had before.  Maybe it was the holiday season, which she'd never ventured out in before, that was really causing all of it.  And if that was the case, she was going to really try going out more often.

Even among all of her mixing emotions, Akari couldn't really forget that wonderful smell that had drawn her out in the first place, and it seemed that she was moving ever so closer to the source.  She could see a faint light coming from a smaller building, and she was almost completely sure that was where the scent was coming from, so she sped up a little bit and made her way over.

{Post 3 | Moving to The Bakery}

[Elektra]

“Wow…” Akari mumbled as she came to the front door of a cute little bakery.  There were lights on inside, so she gently pushed the door open, and immediately her nose was overwhelmed with a million different holiday scents.

Despite the small appearance from the exterior view, the inside was quite spacious.  There were rows of delicious sweets, and smaller children running up and down the different ones, and their parents everywhere else.

Everything from gingerbread to snicker doodles to sugar cookies were on display, and the woman behind the front counter seemed more than happy to hand them out.

Some of the larger cakes and pies up front looked especially delicious, but Akari was never really one for sweets late at night to begin with, so she just walked around enjoying the smells while keeping her eye open for anything out of the ordinary.

{Post 4 | The Bakery}

[Elektra]

Despite the fact that the bakery seemed to be the perfect place for Akari to just stay in forever, she began to tire ever so slightly of the smell of sweets, and with a smile to the woman behind the counter, she exited the little building.

The temperature seemed to have fallen slightly in the short amount of time she'd been inside, but that just made it all the more merry.  After all, what were the holidays without the appropriate weather?

She took a couple of deep breaths, huffing out and watching as her breath came out in puffs of smoke.  She continued on down the little sidewalk, taking the small bits of smoke and willing them into all different shapes and sizes as she headed toward the roasted chestnut stand.

{Post 5 | Moving to the Roasted Chestnut Stand}

[Jessari]

"I've had similar experiences, actually," Dean stated, thinking how surprised the two would be if he told them just how many times he'd nearly been killed by ghosts. "Good to hear most of the ones you've got are passive, though. Poltergeists can go either way, really. I hear some of them act as watchdogs, protecting the 'home team' when things get dangerous." Those were few and far between, however. Most ghosts strong enough to affect the physical world were fueled by emotions that ran just as strong - anger being the most common. It was all very Patrick Swayze-ish. In his experience, even the least dangerous poltergeists tended to be royal pains in the ass.

"Dean," he offered at the man's questioning tone. "Dean Winchester. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." In the old world, he'd have likely given a false name, but he didn't exist on Evelon. Anyone trying to do a name-search would come up with zip - no birth date, no social security number, nothing. Using his real name was as good as using any of his dozen aliases. "I travel a lot, documenting various paranormal occurrences. Actually, I heard there was something odd happening around here, something that seemed unexplainable. Any chance you two know anything about that?"

[4/Bonfire]

[jackie125]

Hi, who are you? Lucario stopped, and thought to himself how out of his element he was. Talking and social interaction were not his strong points. He was much more used to being absorbed in a book, or trying to work out equations. He found that people were many times more complicated than equations. Now he had put himself into an awkward situation.
I-I-I'm L-Lucario, he said as be felt his legs begin to shake. Good thing it was cold enough to use shivering as an excuse. What's your name, he said shakily. She turned around and got up from the table, to face him.

Post 6/Area 6

[Elektra]

That crisp fresh smell that wafted from the chestnut stand seemed to call out to Akari, and she danced her way over, each movement of her arms and legs in perfect time with the breeze, a calm smile still playing on her face.  

While she certainly wanted to go and grab a small handful of chestnuts as a late snack, she figured that the point of being her was to search for those presents, so she set aside her hunger for the time being and began to look around.

She started farther away from the majority of people based on the idea that people would've find the presents hidden in the easier spots at the beginning of the hunt.  She nudged back bushes along the walkways, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but there was nothing to be seen, so she let out a sigh and went for the chestnuts instead, quite content with those instead of a present for the time being.

{Post 6 | Roasted Chestnuts Stand}

[Akida]

The pair of friends stood marvelling at the huge tree. They really and truly couldn't get over the sight of it. Neither had ever seen anything half it's size. Such beautiful lights and decorations. Both looked at each other and laughed at one another's expressions. There wasn't quite much to do but just look at the thing. They weren't at liberty to take a present for themselves and open them to see what's inside.

Reema sighed, "After this I'll have trouble putting up my own trees.."
"Why do you say that?"
"Look at it Mira! I would want a tree asgallant and beautiful and awe-inspiring as this!"
Mira simply shook her head and laughed, "Oh Ree... The trees you put up are wonderful in their own way. Each tree tells about the person or people who decorated it! This tree cannot be yours and your trees cannot be this." She said these words with a warm smile toward her friend.
"Wise and true words old friend..."

They stared at the tree a few more minutes before Reema turned away and walked briskly toward the next attraction.
"Come along Mia! Let's go get something from that bakery!"
"Smells like a great idea to me!"
The smells in the air were taking an effect on them and now that they spoke about eating, both realized just how hungry they really were. They would both be fine filling up on the tasty pastries tonight.

{5 Posts : Moving to The Bakery}

[Elektra]

A small bag of chestnuts in hand, Akari poked around the area one last time, but found nothing of interest.  Well, alright, the squirrel that was doing all kinda of tricks for one of her nuts was pretty amusing, and she had given in and handed it one, but she was also pretty sure that wasn't one of the presents that they'd been talking about them finding.

So, she decided that she was going to go over to the hot chocolate stands next, seeing as hot anything was basically her favorite thing.  And being able to drink it just made it better.

She took out a couple of extra chestnuts and popped them in her mouth before leaving the rest for that little squirrel and any buddies it might have had, and headed toward the hot chocolate stand.

(Post 7)