It is early morning and Olivia bustles around, getting ready for her day. She is fully dressed in a charming – if somewhat blinding – blouse and skirt of pink and green, with large, yellow buttons of various shapes running down the front of the blouse. The effect reminds one of a pink, flowering plant. The Skeek is currently in front of her dresser mirror, brushing out her hair before braiding it back.

WHAMWHAMWHAM! breaks into the silence and it's from the front door. Either her door has a problem with some huge termites, or someone is literally pounding on her door. It's almost as if someone is trying to break it down.

Olivia's brush flies out of her hand and skids across the top of the dresser. She jumps at the sound and puts one hand over her now-racing heart. "What in the world… ?" she mutters, going to the door. "Stop scaring me like that!" she calls out to whoever is trying to take her door off its hinges. "What's the problem here??"

"I have you now!" comes a shout from the other side. The voice is … rather familiar.

Olivia does a quick double-back to her desk and grabs the desk chair. Then she goes to the door again in case she needs to wedge the thing under her door handle to deter whoever it is on the other side. "Who is that? And why would you want me, anyway?" she shouts back.

"Bah! You feign ignorance! You know exactly who I am. It's Gunther, your nemesis!" the voice declares. "I've caught you red-handed! I have proof of your evil plans!"

Once Olivia hear this, she immediately wedges the chair underneath the door handle to brace the door. "Oh great," she groans to herself, "I have a nemesis now." Several other Weavers seem to share in her displeasure, as all the ruckus has caused her two neighboring apprentices to bang on the walls and yell at her to keep the noise down. "Gunther, what is it this time??" she calls out in exasperation. "I don't have time for your games – I have to go to work now!"

"This isn't a game!" Gunther calls back. "I found your horde. And it's all thanks to your flaunting of their location on your dress the other night. Didn't think we were clever enough to figure it out, eh? Well, hah, hah, and hah again! Let's see you deny it now!"

Olivia leans her forehead against the cool wood of the door. "Gunther, Amelia told you that to keep you quiet at dinner," she explains wearily. "I am not part of a horde! When will you get that through your thick skull?"

"Are too! I found them and they dress just like you," Gunther insists through the door.

Gunther's last statement catches her attention. "Who dresses like me?" Olivia asks, lifting her head and frowning.

"Your horde!" comes the reply.

"And where is this horde, if you're so smart?" Olivia asks, trying to pry more information out of him.

"I intend to take you to them and reveal I've uncovered their sinister plan," Gunther replies. "I simply followed the diagram on your dress out into the woods, of course."

From the other side of one of the walls, a muffled voice shouts, "Olivia, what in the world is going on in there?" Olivia scurries briefly over to that wall and puts her mouth close to it. "It's Gunther Kettenrad – he's been trying to beat my door down for the past five minutes. If I don't do something he's going to stand out there all day and disrupt work. Will you tell my aunt that I might be a bit late today?" The voice assents and Olivia goes back to the door. "Okay, you weird kid, you've got my attention now," she says. "If I promise to come out just as soon as I'm ready for a trip to the woods, will you quit making such a fuss? People are starting to complain!"

"Fine. And no funny business like trying to climb out a chimney, window, or whatever weird tubes you might have in there. And no disguises; I'll know it's you," Gunther says, quieter this time. "I'll be waiting out here."

"I'm sure you will," Olivia grumbles and goes back to the dresser to finish brushing and braiding her hair. Once that's done, she picks up a small rucksack from beside the bed and starts stuffing a sketchbook, colored pencils, and charcoals into it. "Maybe I'll get some sketching done while on this crazy mission," she says to herself. "At least I'll be able to amuse myself if I'm stuck for hours with him in a tree or something, waiting for this 'horde' to appear." At the very last, she snatches up her flowered hat, puts it on, and goes to the door. "I'm coming out now," she calls, removing the chair and opening the door slowly.

Olivia comes face to face with … an upside-down Gunther. He's apparently been hanging by his feet and glaring at the door. In his hands is his spear. He blinks and comments, "That's one tacky outfit. Uhm, if you're gonna try a disguise, it should really blend in. You make this far too easy."

Olivia starts and backs up a little. She's now really glad she opened the door slowly or she would've had a real shock. "You will be the death of me one day," she says in an annoyed voice. "First that basket over the dam and now some hair-brained scouting adventure! I wouldn't be going at all if I didn't know that my aunt would be really mad at me for letting you stay here and whack at my door! Anyway, let's swing by the kitchens first and get something to eat on the road. I haven't had breakfast yet and something tells me this is going to be a long trip!"

Gunther sniffs, then does a midair flip and lands on his feet. "Just tell them you've been called on official Kettenrad business," he replies calmly and rests his spear on his shoulder. "You're going in front, of course. So, lead on to the kitchen."

Olivia closes the door, then whirls around before Gunther can react and pokes his nose with one forefinger. "Fine, but if you stab me even once with that stick of yours, I am turning right around and marching straight to your mother to tell her what you've done today!"

Gunther snorts on Olivia's finger when she pokes his nose. "I'm just defending my clan," he insists.

Olivia gives Gunther a nasty little smile. "Somehow I don't think your mom would see it that way. So are we clear?"

Gunther doesn't look bothered at all. "Yeah, yeah," he says.

Olivia hmphs at his nonchalance and wipes her finger on his fur. Then she turns and stalks away toward the kitchens.

With Olivia in the lead as requested, the pair march off to the Weavers' kitchen to pack some items for a breakfast and lunch on the road. Gunther and his spear attract more attention than Olivia's outfit does, but after Olivia whispers a few explanations the other Skeeks leave them to their business. Once Olivia has put some apples, an assortment of nuts, a few flasks of cold ginger tea, and some slices of bread and cheese wrapped in waxed paper into her rucksack, she and Gunther leave the Weavers' shop and head towards the woods.

The two travel for probably an hour into the woods. They follow a rather unusual path through the dense undergrowth, which might have some small resemblance to the pattern Olivia was wearing on her dress at the dinner. Well, maybe if you hit your head a lot, or liked to drink, anyway. But at last Gunther seems to have found the spot he was searching for as they step out into a clearing. It's a campsite. A smoldering fire pit sits in the center of the clearing and tracks and wheel marks are all over the ground. Gunther doesn't look pleased. "Dangit, you must have an accomplice," he says. "They knew we were coming."

Olivia sighs. "Say it with me, Gunther: I am not part of a horde!" Then she looks around the clearing. "Well, whoever was here seems to have gone now," she muses, staring at the ashes in the fire pit. "And you say they were people dressed like me? You mean in bright colors or just in unfamiliar clothing?"

"Garish colors," Gunther insists and noticeably does not say Olivia is not part of a horde. "With lots of shiny bits. And they talked funny."

Olivia quirks an eyebrow at Gunther as she kneels to examine a wheel-track. "Carts or carriages, I wonder?" she muses, then says more loudly, "Were they speaking some other language entirely? Or was it Sylvanian with a weird accent?"

"Weird accent," Gunther replies as he kneels down to examine the tracks as well. Behind the two, a high pitched voice says, "Ah, but perhaps 'vou are the ones who speak strangely, yes?"

Olivia looks up hurriedly and tries to search out the speaker. "Oh!" she squeaks. "I'm so sorry, I thought everyone had left this place! Are we intruding?"

She spots behind them a teenage looking almost all black vampiric Eeee (it's the glowing eyes that give that away). The next thing Olivia notices is her clothing; it's definitely colorful. Her upper body is barely covered, except for a white wrap around her chest. Around her waist is a billowy deep red sash-belt and her loose-fitting green pants billow out around her legs. Her ears sparkle, and Olivia notices that each of her large ears are lined with dozens of sparkling bits of jewelry. And then, well, there's her hair. The color has been altered from all black to a series of black and red stripes. She grins fangily and brushes some strands of hair from her face and says pointedly at Gunther, "And it seems our leetle spy has returned. Yes, yes, he has."

Gunther jumps to his feet and spins around, brandishing his spear. "I am not a spy," he declares. "I am a defender of my clan. And you are part of this one's horde." The Eeee blinks at Gunther, then looks at him as if he's lost his mind.

Olivia gapes at the Eeee for a moment, then realizes she's gaping and covers it by getting to her own feet and putting a hand on Gunther's arm. "Calm down, you're going to make her nervous by waving that stick in her face!" she hisses at him. Then she curtsies nervously to the Eeee. "I apologize for Gunther's behavior. Sometimes he's… well, not quite right in the head. I guess it runs in his family. He has an odd brother, too." Realizing that she's babbling now, the insides of Olivia's ears flush pink and she goes quiet.

The Eeee simply looks, well, amused. "All zee Kadies are a leetle off," she comments and saunters towards the two. Her movements are somewhat dancer like. "It makes zem cute, no?" she replies. The then tilts her head and whistles towards the woods. A moment later a lot of movement can be heard around them.

Gunther just puffs up. "So, are you to claiming you don't know each other, then?" he says. He does, however, lower his spear. Maybe Olivia's comment did sink in after all.

Olivia's eyes dart around the clearing towards the sounds of movement. She gulps, wondering just what Gunther has got them into. "Well, I guess it might make them cute if you like that sort of thing, yeah," she mumbles. "Uh… anyway, Gunther apparently found your campsite earlier and brought me here to show it to me. He thinks we're all part of the same evil, invading horde just because we dress in bright colors!" she explains, indicating her own garish outfit.

"Liliana, so keres?" comes a squawk from the forest and a Korv in rather garish dress comes hopping out of the woods.

The Eeee, apparently named Liliana, waves her hand lightly at him. "Aladar, relax" she says, "Just talking to our apparent guests." To Olivia she smiles, revealing rather sharp teeth, "We won't harm you."

Another voice comes from the woods and a tall, athletic, teenage Skreek comes out of the woods now. He's also dressed wildly, all in bright colors and billowy clothing. "Tsk, Liliana, don't smile at dem like that. Vou know what people t'ink when vou do dat," he says. He looks at Olivia and asks her, "So, vat tribe do vou belong to? Didn't know dere was anot'er in the area."

Gunther stiffens up and grips his spear tightly. His eyes dart between the arriving people. "I can take them," he whispers to Olivia.

Olivia tightens her grip on Gunther's arm a bit before she drops her hand to her side. "Gunther, not everything is solved by force. The minute you try to attack them, they go from potential friends to certain enemies," she whispers back. Then she faces the others. "Well, we're not from tribes, exactly. We belong to clans in the town of Stonebarrow, about an hour's walk from here. This is Gunther Kettenrad. He's the little brother of a friend of mine. And I'm Olivia Weaver."

The Skreek slinks up to Olivia and says, "Not from a tribe? Vou jest. You dress as vone of us." He smiles with a rakish grin at her, then suddenly reaches down and takes her hand into his. He raises it and kisses the back of it, then says, "I am Djivan Vesh. It is a pleasure to meet vou."

The Eeee, whom Olivia can easily see, waves her hand up over her forehead in the gesture that's common for the vampiric Eeee to do to indicate a rolling of the eyes. "Down, Djivan," Liliana says and lightly swats the back of his head.

Gunther just glares around the clearing. Around them more strangely dressed people enter. Unfortunately, all of them are staring at Olivia and Gunther.

The insides of Olivia's ears go positively red at this. "It's a, uh, p-pleasure to m-meet you, too," she stammers, taken aback by this behavior. Then she takes a deep breath and plunges on. "So I take it that you are gypsies? I've never had the opportunity to talk to members of a gypsy tribe before! My work in the town keeps me a bit secluded, I'm afraid."

Djivan's grin widens at the reddening of Olivia's ears. "Tut, secluded? Tis such a waste to keep a radiant voung lady like vou secluded. Tis a crime and should be corrected," he remarks slowly, rolling his head and neck as he does so.

Liliana looks, well, annoyed with him. "Oh, vill you stop already," she says and lightly swats him again. "Vou're embarrassing her."

The Korv who arrived earlier comments, "Aye, we're the Shadowsvalk tribe. Ve're just passing t'rough."

Gunther eyes Djivan, then Olivia. "He sure acts like he knows you," he remarks dryly.

Olivia takes back her hand from the Skreek and clears her throat. "Yes, well… I'll explain it to you when you're older, Gunther," she says enigmatically. She says to the group, "I'm really sorry that we disturbed you. I just had to come with Gunther to make sure he didn't accuse someone else of being an invading horde. You know, a someone who doesn't know him like we do an might not take it as kindly."

Djivan laughs at that. "Vou, an invading horde? Such nonsense," he says and grins at Gunther. "I can assure vou, ve do not know her," he says to him, then with a glance to Olivia, adds, "But, I hope dat may change, yes?"

Liliana spins around on one clawed foot, her clothing and wings waving in the breeze. "Oh, ve're used to bein' suspected of bein' up to somet'ing," she says, her striped hair draping over half of her face."Bein' free makes many folk nervous, no?"

Olivia gets a little of her nerve back and arches her eyebrows at Djivan. "Well, if you're only passing through, you may not have the time," she says lightly, making sure the Skreek knows she is joking with him. Then she looks at Liliana. "And, I'm sad to say, differences in dress make people think oddly of you, too." She fingers one of the roses in her cloth hat and smiles.

Gunther eyes Djivan critically. "Then why are you so close to our town? We don't get that many 'visitors'," he asks suspiciously.

"Oh, normally ve vould pass through quickly, yes, yes," Djivan says. He takes up his tail in his hand as it hangs limply. He nods dramatically and tries to look sad … for a moment anyway. "But!" he then declares and puts his hand to his chest, "But, now ve know of a town, so ve must visit, no?"

Liliana waves her hand dismissively, then puts her clawed hand to her chest. "Oh, t'at's just because t'ey don' know how to dress at all. Ve dress properly, no?" she says and winks at Olivia. Her ears jingle.

Olivia grins at Djivan. "You could visit," she says mischievously. "I'm sure the Akwavi would love to meet you. Emmett Oggton would be in raptures. Just make sure he doesn't talk your ear off if you do drop by!"

Gunther just snorts. But, he does look a bit placated by the various bits of information. He also looks a bit disappointed and begins muttering to himself.

Olivia turns again to Liliana. "Um, I know this might sound a little odd, but would you mind terribly if I did a sketch of you before we left? I mean, your outfit is so wonderful and you move so well – I wish I were half as graceful!" She hurriedly pulls her sketchbook from her bag and flips it open to show the Eeee some of the pictures she's already drawn, mostly of clothing designs and a few landscapes. "It might give me a great reference for future projects!" she enthuses.

Djivan draws out a long, red, scarf from his pocket and drapes it around Olivia's shoulders. "And, perhaps ve could get vour family to sell you to us, no?" he says mischievously and winks.

Olivia just shakes her head at the Skreek. "I'm not so sure about that, they need me around to work!" she says.

"Oooo!" Liliana says, looking pleased. She spins around again, her clothing once again flowing around her like water. "I vould be honored," she says, looking back over her shoulder at Olivia. It's now Olivia notices her back fur has been dyed as well with stylized redlines going in graceful arcs.

Djivan sniffs and lets the scarf go, leaving it draped on Olivia's shoulders. "T'vould be a pity if t'ey would not," he says with a sigh.

"Thank you so much!" Olivia says to Liliana, sitting down near the smoldering campfire and pulling out her colored pencils. "You can just do a still pose or dance if you like, I can draw you just as easily either way!" Then she gets to work, sketching out the Eeee's form, coloring, and clothes.

Liliana considers that for a moment, then nods, ears jingling. Djivan goes over near the fire pit and settles himself down, stretching out to watch. After a second, its apparent Liliana intends to dance, as she's not satisfied with just posing. She reaches into her own pockets and draws out some deep blue ribbons of cloth. She spins once more and the cloth wraps circles around her gracefully. Her wings spread some, then curl lightly around her, the boning in then outlined in red dye as well. A pause there, then she starts moving her body as if to hidden drums and flutes. Each movement is fluid as the ribbons swirl about her. Her striped hair rippling as well, creating the appearance of more dancing circles.

Djivan lets out a low, appreciative, whistle.

Gunther looks bored. So, he starts to wander away from the group and towards the others. He eyes them critically, his grip on his spear tightening once again.

Olivia looks delighted and quickly sketches several poses of Liliana dancing, making sure that she has the stripes of red dye placed just right in her drawings. One pose is of the Eeee swirling around, the ribbons of blue twirling with her. One is of her standing on her tiptoes and spreading her wings, as if about to leap into the air. Still another is of her with her knees bent and her arms outstretched, in mid-motion before taking another dance-step. As she finishes the third sketch, she tracks Gunther's progress through the crowd so she doesn't lose him. Then she hops up and says, "Finished! Do you want to see?"

Liliana twirls her fingers and coils up her ribbons. "I vould," she says and nods with a jingle.

"She's vone of our best dancers," Djivan replies from where he's laying. Gunther has disappeared from view for the moment.

Olivia nods enthusiastically to Djivan. "I can see why." Then she holds up her page of sketches for Liliana to see. "I really hope I got all of the red dye work in your fur and wings in the correct places. Does it look right to you?"

Liliana sits down by Olivia and leans against her slightly so she can see the pictures. After a few minutes of examination, she says, "I t'ink so. Hard t' see my back, after all. Do vou like the dying?"

Olivia smiles at the Eeee. "I do. It looks rather striking against your black fur. I figure that if you're a dancer and everyone's looking at you anyway, you might as well present them with an interesting visual!" Then she scratches her head and glances around the clearing. "By the way… has anyone seen the Kadie I was with? He's no taround at the moment… and I'd rather keep him from poking around somewhere that he's not welcome!"

"Oh, vell, t'anks. If you vanted dem, I bets we could get one of the tribe to dye yas," Liliana says as she looks over Olivia.

Djivan shrugs and says, "He vent dat vay." The Skreek then points off into the edge of the woods.

Olivia wiggles her nose at Liliana so that her whiskers twitch mischievously. "As kind as that offer is, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. What with the clothes I already wear, the whole town thinks I'm strange enough already!" Then she puts her sketchbook back into her sack and prepares to leave, although somewhat reluctantly. "It really was wonderful to meet all of you but I'd better get back to the town. My aunt will raise an unholy fuss if I don't return to work at least part of the day! Oh, and here's your scarf back, Djivan," she says, pulling it off her shoulders and holding it out to him. "I don't think my parents are willing to sell me quite yet," she remarks, and grins.

Djivan tuts and waves his hand. "Keep it. I vill just retrieve it vhen I see vou again," he says, then waggles his eyebrows. "Plus, I can try to convince vour parents, no?" he says and tries to smile winningly. "I have such a trustvorthy face, no?"

"Oh vell," Liliana says and stands up. "I'll go find vour friend for vou."

Olivia thanks Liliana for the offer and says dryly, "If you find him accusing someone of being a horde, just swat him and send him back to me. The boy really needs to grow a brain one of these days." She then snorts at Djivan and remarks, "You're persistent, I'll give you that! At any rate, if you decide to visit Stonebarrow you may want to drop into the Frog and Peach tavern first. Our mayor owns that establishment. Just so no one accuses you of sneaking into town or something." She sighs a little and adds, "I guess it's hard being a gypsy sometimes? When people react badly before they get to know you?"

Djivan is about to reply to Olivia and is interrupted when Liliana lets out a loud squeak! as Gunther comes running out of the woods towards Olivia. "Demon!" Gunther yells!

Not for the first time today, Olivia startles and looks wildly at Gunther. "Demon? Where did you see a demon?" she shouts to him.

"The boy suspected me for a demon," comes a melodic voice from the forest. While Gunther zips and hides behind a tree another person exits the forest. She's definitely older (maybe in her thirties), all black, and a Khatta to boot. She even seems to shimmer strangely as she says, "I am sorry for surprising him. He dropped his stick." She holds up Gunther's staff out to them. This woman is just different, and both Liliana and Djivan change in behavior at her appearance. They watch her nervously.

Since Gunther still seems to be totally spooked by the Khatta's appearance, Olivia edges forward and takes the spear from her. "Thank you very much, ma'am," she says quietly, noting how the others have become subdued all of a sudden. "I hope he didn't intrude?"

"No, child, he did not," the Khatta says gently to Olivia. She then releases the spear, one finger slowly after the other, until it falls into Olivia's hands.

"Ah, Madame Natasha, I am sorry ve let him," Djivan starts to say and she just waves her hand to cut him off. "No harm done, Vash. I seem to have caused more harm to him, than him to me, no? Please tell him I am sorry for startling him." She turns slowly and walks away. When she reaches the edge of the wood, she says, "It vas a pleasure to meet you, Mouse and Sqwuirrul." The Khatta then quickly disappears into the forest shadows.

Olivia lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and turns to Liliana and Djivan. "I've never met a Khatta before," she breathes. "Is she a part of your tribe, too?"

Djivan seems a lot more subdued now. He nods and says, "Aye. She is a mystic. Been part of our tribe for, hm, ten vears? Is bad luck to offend a mystic and her moreso. She's just … different. She could tell you things vou may not vant to know," he says as way of explanation. "She, ah, can see the future. No gypsy vishes to learn of theirs. It would … ruin living, no?"

Olivia's brow furrows. "I see your point," she replies. She hesitates a bit before adding, "We have witches that live in Stonebarrow but I'm not sure if they can see the future like your Madame Natasha. However, as you say, who would want to know? To be ruled by fate is a hard thing."

"I would not vish to be her and be able to see it. No vone would want to see bad things," Djivan says, then shakes his head. "Vell, you said vou had to leave, yes? Something about some evil t'ing called work," he says, his grin returning. "Can't have non' of dat around here. Off wit vou."

"Vou're forgetting ve have things to do, Djivan," Liliana calls over to him, then sticks out her tongue. "Pff, you would have de world believe our lif' is not'ing but fun."

Olivia retrieves her rucksack and puts Djivan's scarf into it before giving a general curtsey to all of them. "Thank you very much for letting us visit! Maybe we'll meet again?" Then she walks over to the tree Gunther is hiding behind and shoves his staff into his hands. "C'mon, hero, let's go home."