[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Vanni sighed, as yet another person jostled him out of the way, leering and jeering at his colours. He wasn't even from Evelon, for goodness sake... it wasn't as though he had fought in the last war, or he was wearing the rebel faction's colours on purpose. All right, he was part of their cause now, but that had only happened in the last five minutes or so. It wasn't as though everyone knew about it.

He grinned mentally at the thought of what his current... employer would think of the news. Ever the Purine idealist, he had taken every chance he got to show off what he deemed his 'prize catch' - Vanni, with his Imperial-looking colouring, had been paraded around for all to jeer at. No, he wouldn't regret leaving.

He sighed again, as he rounded yet another stall and paused to avoid a collision with a werecain. It hadn't been like this before, back home; even though they were split into rival factions, soldiers respected all other soldiers for what they were, and there were no civilians there. Everyone either joined the army or left. He felt his heart twitch at the thought of his wife; long-dead as she was, he missed her. This would have been a lot more bearable if she were here - though he had to admit, he would probably not have been here at all if she were alive.

[GrayGriffin]

The old "war team" had decided to split up so as to better enjoy the festival. Despite the potential of an Imperial attack, Tono had actually managed to enjoy himself and check out some of the events. As a matter of fact, he was munching on a Purine-faction cookie right now.

However, his happy mood was spoiled when he first noticed the disdainful mood approaching him. Someone was coming along that most of the people weren't happy to see. Well, Gray had gotten him a job as a protector, and he was all too glad to put that into play. Now, he spread his wings and glided into the air, staring down to see what all the fuss was about. He didn't recognize the specific Kuchi Nagi, but he did recognize the coloring.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding quite peevish, as he glided down, the blue-and-white badge of the Purines shining against his breast feathers.

[168]

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Vanni held in a sneer of contempt when he heard the hatred in the voice addressing him. He exhaled through his nostrils and turned to face the Garudor, almost raising an eyebrow when he noticed the purine badge on his chest. Gods, could this get any more annoying?  He had already been jostled and accosted by hate-filled onlookers throughout his time among the stalls, and now someone was disturbing his peace yet again because he happened to be the wrong colour. It wasn't as though he could change his skin at will, was it? He wasn't a Kami, for goodness sake. When would they realise that he wasn't from here?

He fixed the Garudor with a pointed stare, and answered, a slight hint of irritation creeping into his voice: "Seeing the festival. Not that it's any of your business. What do you want?"

[2]

[GrayGriffin]

Tono had never been able to learn restraint. He also had a tendency to jump to conclusions, neither of which was going to be a help in this conversation.

"Oh? And what's a soldier of the Imperials doing here? I don't personally know your face, but I don't specifically know a lot of you. And judging from the reaction, these people know something I don't." He paused, then smirked. "Oh, sorry, should that be ex-Imperials? Come to stir up trouble or spread propaganda, is it?"

He really did think he was doing his job. Luckily, he had a sibling with more sense.

"Tono!" snapped a voice. Another Garudor glided down, making sure that her wings would cuff him in the head. "Why are you accosting this creature?"

"He was obviously part of the Imperials! Otherwise why would everyone be giving him such a wide berth?"

"Hasn't it occurred to you that he might have wanted to put the war behind him? It's been ages since it ended!" She turned to Vanni. "I apologize for my brother. He gets overzealous a lot."

[169, 39]